Plan of Manila, ca. 1742
[Photographic facsimile from original MS. in Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar, Madrid]
The fortifications with which this town is girt about are everywhere of irregular shape, in accordance with the surface of the ground. Its walls, although of masonry, are not regarded as inferior—if one considers the good quality of the stone, which is easy to work on account of being soft—to those of mud or brick. On the other hand, I am persuaded that an injustice would be done to our walls if one should deny them the advantage of the former kind and the solidity of the latter, in view of their great resistance; for in the course of more than a century since their construction, some slight decay has been noticed only occasionally, and in places here and there little sheltered from the salt winds; and this is remedied, or the wall is preserved, by applying a thin coat of lime, an idea which has come as the result of experience. Its circuit appears to be 12,498 Castilian feet, both its extremities closing in with the castle of Santiago, which, on account of its position, occupies in Manila the place of the citadel.
The bastions in its circuit are twelve, all furnished with terreplein; nine are small, and the others large, of the regular size. In one of these last, named “San Andres,” there is a powder-magazine, bomb-proof, which the present governor caused to be constructed; an incentive to building this was the little shelter afforded by a mere shed in former times, and the exposed condition of its contents to the shots of a besieger; these risks that were feared have ceased at sight of the present fortification. There are two sentry-towers incorporated with the said wall, and besides this there are a ravelin and a crown-work. All this is a very respectable aggregate, as contributing to the greatest defense of the city; the situation of each of these defenses will be described in the proper place.
The gates of this city are six, two main entrances and four posterns. Of these Santa Lucia and Palacio, which look toward the west, allow passage to the shore—as also on the north side Santo Domingo and Almacenes give passage to the river. The main gates are distinguished by the names Real and Parian. The latter is situated in the middle of the curtain which faces the northeast between the San Lorenzo and San Gabriel bastions; and inside of it is its guard-station, capacious enough to lodge a company of men. Corresponding to the empty space below, in the upper part it has a spacious sentry-tower, furnished with some cannons, which, by favor of its sides defends the collateral bulwarks—a fortification which, it may be supposed, was placed here in order to make up for the defect of the extraordinary length of this curtain.
The outer works of this are thus composed: a crown-work, which masks the gate; a fausse-braye [falsabraga], which extends from the flank of the bastion San Gabriel, until it almost reaches the said gate, there leaving room for a little bridge for communication with the crown-work already mentioned; a ditch, of which we shall treat further on; its covered way, parapet, and palisade, with its esplanade, the whole regularly surrounded, so far as the narrowness of the place permits; and at its foot a quagmire, which serves as an outer ditch. At the end of this, and along its outer margin, extending toward the south, there is a grand highway, which at its beginning is joined with another but small road, which lies between the outer ditch and the river; and both of these connect with a little bridge, next to a small fort which was erected for the guards stationed at the large bridge which, close by, crosses the river.
The ditch of the half-curtain (of which mention was reserved for this place, in order to avoid confusion) is formed by the waters which overflow from the river at the rise of the tides. It starts from the angle defended by the bastion San Gabriel, and extends until it is very near the Parian gate, with a counterscarp—which there leaves it, bending toward the crown-work, and thus is left almost isolated, with a small arm. This, a little farther, adds all its waters, as if on deposit, to the outer ditch already mentioned. Not thus the main ditch; for this, overflowing the right side according to the amount of water which it receives [from the river], continues its course along the margin of the grand highway, more or less closely according to its curves, until, coming close to the walls, it ends its course round about them, close to the bastion San Diego. At this place art has imposed restraints on it, having in mind, no doubt, the frequent inundations to which that vicinity would be exposed if (as was easy for it) this ditch should come to unite its waters with the sea. From this measure of prudence resulted two benefits of special importance, in which both the fortified post and the public are directly interested—the former, on account of the advantage which it enjoys (as may be seen in the plan) in the fact that the ditch serves it as a moat on the eastern and southern sides; and the latter, because it is utilized for the great number of vessels which, aided by the rising tide, come up to the Puerta Real to discharge their lading.
This is one of the two principal gates already mentioned. It is located on the southern side of this town, in the curtain which defends the bastions San Diego and San Andres, although nearer to the latter; and it much resembles the gate of the Parian (although built in different style) in its convenience and its fortifications—for it has, like the former, a guard-station and watchtower, similarly arranged and equipped. It is only noted that this curtain, peculiar among all, is the only one which is furnished with terreplein; for this reason some cannons (which defense the others lack) have been placed in it.