they presented him with some provisions and some bottles of claret, which filled the worthy gentleman with delight, and seemed completely to reconcile him to the "Estranjeros." Some of the members of our Expedition also visited the two villages of Jalla-jalla and Binangonan, lying close to the shore of the lake, places of great interest in a geographical sense, while the remainder of the party returned to Manila in the same way they had come. Unfortunately throughout the entire distance the rain fell worse than ever. It never ceased pouring in deluges, so that for hours together we could not get upon deck, but had to remain below in the small bleak, comfortless cabin. Here there was nothing for it but to wile away the time as best we might. We talked "de omnibus rebus, et quibusdam aliis," we laughed, we sang, and we—SMOKED, a habit, be it remarked incidentally, so constant and universal here, that the Pebete with its glowing top is constantly circulating from hand to hand. This is a sort of tinder in the shape of small thin rods, a cubit long, which is prepared in China from a mixture of fine dried sawdust, fir, and clay, and forms a by no means insignificant article of commerce, the greater part coming from Macao.[107] A chest of eight cubic feet, filled with Pebete or "joss-sticks," as the English call this tinder, the use of which pervades the entire Malay Archipelago as far as Madras, costs from 10s. to 16s. 6d. sterling.
By 11 P.M. we had got back to Manila. The weather had cleared up somewhat, the rain had ceased, and the city and environs were gay with the gleam of innumerable variegated lamps, intended to represent the illuminations expressive of the joy of the people at the birth of a prince of the Asturias. This did not however continue long; the enthusiasm that was finding vent through the glitter of the lamps was drowned in another deluge of rain, and as the exhibition had now lasted for several nights in succession, people at last had got weary of the trouble of constantly relighting them; the gaudy triumphal arches were decomposed into their constituent atoms—rough boards, wooden pegs, nails, and filthy little oil-lamps.
The continuance of the wet weather put more distant excursions out of the question. We had to content ourselves with having seen all that was really worth seeing in the city and environs during our limited stay.
Many additional visits were paid to the interior of the city, to the fort, to the monasteries, and the various public institutions. Of these latter, two call for a more particular notice: the "Biblioteca Militar," and the immense hospital of San Juan de Dios, under the charge of the Charitable Friars.
The attraction of the Military Library, which is situated in one portion of the cloister of the Jesuits which had been almost entirely destroyed[108] by a former earthquake, consisted
far less in its bibliographic treasures, than in a small collection of objects illustrative of natural history, of which the first beginning had been made but a few months before our arrival. It deserves the more notice that it was not the project of a professed naturalist, but solely of an "aficimado," or friend to scientific inquiry, Colonel Miguel Creus. Although very deficient, still the bare experiment has paved the way to a better and more complete collection, which at present comprises, besides about 100 species of birds and a few mammalia, a number of objects illustrative of ethnography, geological specimens, and the various manufactures and natural products of the Archipelago (among which are 37 species of rice). Considering the natural resources of this Archipelago, (some of which, especially the Conchylia,[109] far surpass in richness of colour, beauty, and gracefulness of form anything that has yet been met with in any part of the globe,) the inauguration of this small collection may yet prove the foundation of one of the most magnificent and marvellous museums of natural history, provided the laudable intention
of the founder receive adequate support; and the work, commenced as a labour of love, be continued and promoted with energy and perseverance.[110]
The great Civil Hospital, to which Dr. Fullerton, a Scotchman settled in Manila, was so kind as to accompany us, is a very extensive range of buildings, with large airy rooms, but so unclean and ill-kept, that it is no wonder if the report be true, that many natives in bad health prefer to run the chance of death without, to being brought to this infirmary. Indeed most of the rooms are empty and unoccupied, there being in the whole building but 30 confined to their beds, which in a city of not less than 130,000 souls, with but one hospital, is at all events a remarkable phenomenon. Every year on St. John's day the brethren of the order give a fête, when all the different rooms are scoured, swept, and garnished, and the sick in the hospital are present at the festivities, and, unrestricted by considerations of diet, are regaled with food and wine to their heart's content. This is likewise the period at which the hospital is most extensively patronized, and not only by those actually sick, but far more by those
who qualify for a residence in the hospital by a too great devotion to the plentiful viands provided on St. John's day. When the English were in possession of Manila during the Seven Years' War, this range of buildings was used as a barrack, for which reason the church was considered as desecrated for 90 years, and only in 1857 consecrated once more as a temple of God.