Ramon Reyes Lala

“ Turning now from the sugar to the rice crop, I may say that it is the staple food of the people, the crop upon which the very existence of the people depends. It is grown in every province, rice-cultivation being the only branch of agriculture that the people thoroughly understand, and into which they enter with the zest of evident enjoyment. Rice, a native plant of the East, has from time immemorial been the leading food-product of all the nations of Eastern Asia. ”

“ Hundreds of native prisoners were here executed. And such an execution was made occasion of great rejoicing. The fashionable Spanish element, men and women, was not wanting to witness it; and while the band discoursed a lively air, the poor fellows were made to stand on the sea-wall, facing the sea; at a given signal the firing-squad discharged a volley, and they fell dead or mortally wounded, while the onlookers cheered for tyranny and Spain.
Though Manila lies very low, it is by no means unhealthy. It is a pleasant city to live in, but not nearly so pleasant as it might be made to be. ”

“ And the earth possesses no scenes more beautiful than those to be found in this verdant and blooming Archipelago,—from its northern to its southern verge, this magnificent rosary of glowing islands, that Nature has hung above the heaving bosom of the warm Pacific. Of them all, none is more beautiful than Luzon. [153] the largest and the richest of the whole, with its vast variety of attractive scenery, mountain and plain, lake and stream, everywhere rich with glossy leafage, clustered growths of bamboo and palm, fields of yellow cane, and verdant coffee-groves. ”

“ Four months more are needed for the ripening of the grain, during which the fields are kept clear of weeds, the natives wading back and forth through the mud in their task. After cutting and heaping, the paddy is made into stacks. In six weeks more the grain is separated from the straw by treading or by the use of the flail, or by causing ponies to trot over it. It may be said that there is nothing in nature more beautiful than a valley of green ripening rice in the midst of verdant hills. In the flood of rich color beneath my eyes, I have gazed upon such a scene with inexpressible delight. ”

“ An execution in Manila is an interesting, though a gruesome, sight. The populace always flock to see one, and the condemned, with the stoicism natural to their race, as a rule seem perfectly indifferent to their fate. The garrote is the instrument usually employed. There is the pomp and ceremony incident to all Spanish functions of State: a procession of soldiers, a solemn death-cart, draped in mourning, on which sits the culprit apparently enjoying his last ride, two or three priests chanting a dolorous refrain, and the executioner,—all slowly approach the place of execution. ”

“ There are few things more beautiful than a well-ordered coffee estate in full bloom. Straight and stately avenues cross each other in every direction. The plant has long glossy leaves, like the laurel; the blossoms are snowy-white, and in shape resemble the jasmine, and their fragrance is exquisite; while overhead the madre foliage grows dense, protecting the more delicate plant from too much sun, too pelting a storm, too wild a blast. ”

“ They wait to be exploited. Spain has held them for centuries, and knows next to nothing about them. I venture to affirm that the United States would not hold them ten years before they would be veritable mines of wealth. I am satisfied, too, that they are far richer in gold, iron, coal, and some other minerals than is suspected. But this can be proved only by a stirring people, that will cut their way through the tropical jungles, explore the hill-country from base to summit, and cover the islands with a network of rails,—the iron nerves of modern enterprise. ”

“ I have seen groups of boys diving thirty or forty feet for pennies, dropped into the sea by foreign officers on ships anchored in the bay. Many swim miles with the greatest ease; and it is no uncommon sight in the outlying districts to see groups of naked men plunging with drawn dagger among a shoal of sharks, with whom they fight with a fierceness that always results in the victory of the native. ”

“ Life was an easy affair with the merchants of Manila. Business was never a distressing occupation. One or two days in each week were Saint’s days—to be strictly kept. While the galleon was away, there was little to do except to await the Chinese junks and prepare the bales for shipment. There was no rise or fall of market-price, no need of smartness, tact, or enterprise, and only three months in the year when active labor was needed. During the remaining nine months the merchants were cut off from the world, and enjoyed life in their quiet way, with little regard to the doings of mankind. ”

“ The tax-gatherer is at hand, and in a desultory way the native manages to get sufficient of the wherewithal to satisfy his greed. Or a holiday approaches, and there must be a few dollars to gamble away in the cock-pit. All this is done in the intervals of other work,—the planting of his own land, or the gathering of the rice-harvest for his employer. The gold lies about him, upon which he can draw at pleasure for his extra relaxations or needs. It is always there, has always been, will always be there. Why should he trouble himself further? ”

“ One need not, too, go beyond the environs of Manila—that Venice of the East, with its labyrinth of canals and estuaries,—through which the tides of the broad bay daily ebb and flow,—and with its wealth of brilliant flowers and tropic verdure—to imagine oneself in a new world. ”

“ Nothing is ever repaired; a system of “let alone” blights every aspiration, and is fatal to the extension of commerce and industry. Consequently, in the wet season, for vehicles, the public roads are impassable, and, in many parts of the country, for months transportation is practically at a stand-still. As if effectually to close every door to progress, private individuals, too, are forbidden by law to repair the highways.
Did any government ever foster a more imbecile and iniquitous policy for its own damnation? ”

“ The vivid contrasts, the checkered scenery, and the pulchritudinous beauty of the islands would ravish the soul of the impressionistic painter, and inspire his brush to masterpieces. There forest and plain, sky and sea, unroll in unexpected beauty or marvelous grandeur at every turn; until, after visiting the interior or skirting the shores of many islands, one has a kind of kaleidoscopic memory, yet none the less brilliant, perfectly formed, and orderly—each in harmonious sequence—of long lines of shadowy hills, majestic mountain-ranges, with forest-clad slopes verging toward the sea ”

“ The narrowest part of the inlet had been passed, and still no sign that the entering fleet had been discovered. Impressive, indeed, was that long line of gloomy hulls, steering for battle, and courting destruction. The Olympia, the Baltimore, the Raleigh, the Petrel, the Concord, and the Boston, with the two transports the Nanshan and the Zapiro, convoyed by the McCulloch, on the flag-ship’s port quarter—all kept on in the same straight course, while the men on board were partaking of light refreshment. For all felt that a great day’s work was before them. ”

“ Along the beach at Manila, on a summer evening, at the close of the day’s labor, hundreds of hands from the various tobacco factories—men, women, and children, of all ages and sizes, married and unmarried—may be seen disporting themselves, with peals of laughter and squeals of delight, in the cool surf. ”

“ The Spanish Policy.
Commerce has its two forms, the extensive and the intensive; one that considers the world at large, and one that seeks to confine itself to the interests of a nation. The latter, before the nineteenth century, was everywhere the type of colonial commerce. The nations held their colonies in leading strings; cramped and crowded them in their natural growth, and so checked their development that they lost the benefit that they might have gained from a more liberal policy. Of all the nations, Spain pursued this short-sighted policy most rigidly. ”

“ No ship, however, could withstand such a fire, and the gallant Reina Cristina turned round and made for the shore. As she swang round, Captain Gridley gave her a parting shot, that caused her to tremble and stagger, while the 250-pound shell crashed through the bowels of the ship and there exploded, hurling its deadly contents all round, while from the shattered deck rose columns of steam, mingled with human fragments. ”

“ I expect to see an invasion of this island-realm by three classes of modern enterprise. The scientist is sure to find his way there, and tell the world of the new and the strange in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. With him will come the engineer, opening up roads right and left, laying a network of iron rails, where now only the buffalo-cart drags along, introducing the latest machinery for mining and farming-industries, and starting a hum of activity in every quarter of the long-slumbering land. ”

“ The execution usually took place in the cool of the morning, when the Luneta would be thronged with thousands of people, who came to witness this grand vindication of the honor of Spain. Nor was the fair sex lacking in these demonstrations of loyalty. [290] Here come the victims, stolid and indifferent; behind them march the soldiers, with measured tread.
The condemned are then made to stand upon the old sea-wall, and, facing the sea, await their doom. The suspense becomes intense; a hush falls over the expectant multitude, and a succession of sharp commands falls upon the morning air. ”

“ All over the islands are shrines to which the people make long pilgrimages; such pilgrimages, however, partaking more of the character of feasts than of fasts. The self-denial and the self-imposed hardships of the European devotee have never found fruitful soil in the native character. He is never so glad as when a holy-day furnishes him with a pretext for an elaborate feast, and, in truth, the feast-days alone relieve the gloom of his monotonous life. Two of the most famous shrines are the Holy Child of Cebú and the Virgin of Antipolo,—thousands visiting them yearly. ”

“ Here comes a long line of carromatas (small carts) drawn by wiry ponies, driven by well-to-do native planters: with the lofty consciousness of worldly prosperity they sit erect in imperturbable dignity.
A Village Feast.
We join a passing group and follow them past the low, airy houses, all decorated now with gorgeous bunting and gay festoons. Flags and streamers flutter on every house-top; the whole village [161] presents a scene of picturesque animation; for the tropical luxuriance of the trees and the myriad flowers of gorgeous hue, form a brilliant background. ”

“ But there is no doubt that the Chinese have been a great boon to the colony. They have had, in the main, a civilizing influence on the natives, and have taught them many important things: as the working of iron and the manufacture of sugar from the juice of the sugar-cane. They have also ever been the leaders in commerce and the chief middlemen of the colony; and, for this reason mainly they have been deemed an unwelcome necessity; for, without them, trade would almost be brought [105] to a standstill, and, in consequence, labor would suffer and living be rendered dearer to every class. ”

“ There are many drives and promenades in the city of Manila. The principal one, and the most celebrated, is the Luneta, which is by the old sea-wall. Here in the cool summer evening is stationed the Governor’s fine military band, and all Manila comes out to see and to be seen. Thousands of people, natives and foreigners, pair in careless promenade. Here comes a group of English Jack Tars, from some British Man-of-War in the harbor. The sailors are flirting vigorously with a number of bewitching mestiza-girls, just behind. ”

“ Among the chief nuisances in the Philippines are mosquitoes and ants. The ordinary bed is a hemp mat, without sheets, but never without ample mosquito nets, in the absence of which sleep would be banished. The white ants are indeed formidable; not like the locusts, feeding on green things growing, but destroying dry wood and vegetable fibre, wherever found. They can literally devour a house; and I have been gravely told that even the surface of iron is not safe from their ravages. ”

“ But the appointment of secular Spanish or American priests to the parishes would do away with the evils of the other system, without doing violence either to the Church or to the conscience of the natives.
The monks have opposed every attempt at reform. Their policy has ever been the policy of ignorance, knowing that their livelihood depended upon its perpetuation. It has been their aim chiefly to limit public instruction to the mere rudiments of knowledge—giving to every subject a religious bias. Even the colleges and the University of Manila are not free from their narrow supervision ”

“ Fashionable Quarter of Manila.
She is approaching the climax of her passion. Her voice is sharp and shrill as it trembles with scorn or defiance. Forward and backward her body sways with a rhythmic swing that compels the attention of every beholder. Many, in fact, accompany her every motion with the sympathetic movement of unconscious imitation: their faces mirror the feelings of the dancer. ”