Manila Bay

“ The accounts even state that a large number of women and artisans were taken on board to form the nucleus of the settlement, as soon as the Spaniards should be destroyed. In the latter part of November, 1574, this powerful fleet came sweeping down the western coast of Luzon and on the 29th gathered in the little harbor of Mariveles, at the entrance to Manila Bay. Eight miles south of Manila is the town of Parañaque, on an estuary which affords a good landing-place for boats entering from the bay. ”

“ A drizzling rain was falling and the weather did not look propitious, but we pushed on, left the mouth of the river where the lake empties into it, and sallied out on the broad waters of the Laguna de Bay. Numerous serving-boys, boxes of china, food, ice, and bedding ballasted the stern of our little steamer, and as it grew dark a feast was prepared for us on deck. In going up the lake, the pilot, who was accustomed only to navigating the launch along the quays of Manila itself, got quite at sea and lost his way in the evening mist. ”

“ I know of nothing more satisfying in its way than a stroll in the moonlight on a hard beach of snow-white coral sand bordered by graceful cocoanut palms on the one hand and by rolling surf on the other.
The vegetation in the provinces is a constant delight. Unfortunately, in the immediate vicinity of Manila it is less attractive than in most other parts of the archipelago, but by crossing the bay to the Lanao forest on the slopes of Mariveles Mountain, or by taking an automobile ride to Atimonan, one may see it in all its magnificence. ”

“ Manila, the principal city of the Philippines, is located but four or five days' sail from Hong Kong and there is a regular service of steamers between the two ports. But both Dan and I had seen a good deal of ocean travel on steamers, and we decided to make the trip to Manila Bay in a sailing craft, and, accordingly, took passage on the Dart, a three-masted schooner, carrying a miscellaneous cargo for Manila, Iloilo, and other points. ”

“ From the worst city they have made Manila the best city in the Orient. There is not another city in Japan, China, or India that can equal it in cleanliness and healthfulness, with well-paved roads running through it, and leading out from it in all directions. One of these roads they have made, a hard macadam, none better anywhere, reaches clear across the Island of Luzon, from Manila Bay to the Pacific Ocean, 110 miles. They have actually eclipsed their big white brothers in respect to roads. ”

“ Pasig, and shakes hands with itself in the several bridges that bind one side to the other. On the right bank of the river, coming in from the bay and passing up by the breakwater, lies the old walled town of Manila proper, whose weedy moats, ponderous drawbridges, and heavy gates suggest a troubled past. Old Manila may be figured as a triangle, a mile on a side, and the dingy walls seem, as it were, to herd in a drove of church-steeples, schools, houses, and streets. ”

“ The course was for the island of Luzon, the largest by far of the group, and the one upon which is located Manila, the chief city. The run to Luzon took but a few days, and the first stop made was at Subic Bay, a few miles west of Manila Bay. No Spanish warships were sighted, and then Commodore Dewey steered straight for Manila.
The bay of Manila is large, with a very narrow entrance. Corregidor Island partly blocks the channel, and upon this island was located a Spanish fort with a number of heavy guns. ”

“ But the greatest improvement affecting transportation is the construction of a safe and deep harbour. Although Manila Bay is nearly landlocked, it is so large that in times of strong winds it becomes nearly as turbulent as the open sea, and it was formerly so shallow that vessels drawing more than 16 ft. ”

“ The land on both sides of the entrance and along the western shore is high and forested; that on the east and north is low, and the northern shore especially consists of the marshy delta of the Rio Grande de la Pampanga, which enters the bay through numerous mouths, between which tall reeds grow far out into the shallow water. The greater part of the bay, however, has deep water, with good and ample roadsteads at Manila and Cavité, and for harbor purposes it is the finest in the Far East. ”

“ Queen city of the Archipelago, and Manila again besieged! The loveliest of the winter months was come. The Luneta and the Paseo de Santa Lucia, close to the sparkling waters, were gay every evening with the music of the regimental bands and thronged with the carriages of old-time residents and their new and not too welcome visitors. Spanish dames and damsels, invisible at other hours, drove or strolled along the roadway to enjoy the cool breezes that swept in from the beautiful bay and wistful peeps at the dainty toilets of the American belles now arriving by every boat from Hongkong. ”

“ The vast plain of Panpanga extends to the north of Manila Bay, to the south of which is situated Mount Arayat, of doleritic nature.
The disposition of the mountain ranges in parallel chains affords space for the development of streams both in Luzon and Mindanao. The larger islands contain inland seas, into which pour countless small streams from the inland hills. Many of them open out into broad estuaries, and in numerous instances coasting vessels of light draft can sail to the very foot of the mountains. Rivers and inland lakes swarm with varieties of fish and shellfish. ”

“ By the victory of our fleet at Manila Bay, one more of the world’s side-tracked capitals has been pulled from obscurity into main lines of prominence and the average citizen is no longer left, as in days gone by, to suppose that Manila is spelt with two l’s and is floating around in the South Sea somewhere between Fiji and Patagonia. The Philippines have been discovered, and the daily journals with their cheap maps have at last located Spain’s Havana in the Far East. ”

“ Manila differs from most of the Oriental cities in the fact that American enterprise has constructed great docks and dredged out the harbor so that the largest steamers may anchor alongside the docks. In Yokohama, Kobe, Hongkong and other ports ships anchor in the bay and passengers and freight must be transferred to the shore by launches and lighters. Reinforced concrete is now the favorite building material of the new Manila. ”

“ Several galleys are also stationed at Manila with their general and captains, as well as other war-vessels, of deep draft, and smaller ones built like those used by the natives, to attend to the needs of all the islands.
The majority of the vessels from China, Japon, Maluco, Borney, Sian, Malaca, and India, that come to the Filipinas with their merchandise and articles of trade, gather in the bay and river of Manila. In that city they sell and trade for all the islands and their settlements. ”

“ The city of Manila, with a population numbering about a quarter of a million, lies on the western side of Luzon, the principal island, with a magnificent bay in front, extensive enough to permit all the navies of the world to manœuvre with plenty of elbow room. The entrance to the immense bay is seven miles wide and contains two islands, Corregidor and Caballo, both of which were powerfully fortified, the works containing a number of modern guns. ”

“ Manila’s fine bay.The Bay of Manila is large enough to contain the united fleets of Europe; it has the reputation of being one of the finest in the world. The aspect of the coast, however, to a stranger arriving, as did the author, at the close of the dry season, falls short of the lively descriptions of some travellers. The circular bay, one hundred twenty nautical miles in circumference, the waters of which wash the shores of five different provinces, is fringed in the neighborhood of Manila by a level coast, behind which rises an equally flat table land. ”

“ It is the capital of all the possessions of the Spanish scepter in these islands. Lapping the walls of Manila is a large river which empties at that place into the sea. By it one ascends to the Lake of Bay, and on the opposite shore of that lake one finds the village of Sinilòan. Thence to the port of Lampòn, which is located on the Contracosta of Manila, and comes to be as it were, inside of the arm, one need only pass the mountains of Daraètan, and Cabòan, which is a crossing of five or six leguas. ”

“ It produces all the fruits of the warm climates, and abounds in a most excellent breed of horses, supposed to be carried thither first from Spain. It is very well seated for the Indian and Chinese trade; and the bay and port of Manila, which lies on its western side, is perhaps the most remarkable on the whole globe, the bay being a large circular bason, near ten leagues in diameter, great part of it entirely land-locked. ”

“ Manila, built upon the shore of the bay of that name, which is more than twenty-five leagues in circumference, is at the mouth of a river navigable as far as the lake in which it rises. It is probably the most fortunately situated town in the whole world. Provisions are found there in the greatest profusion, and very cheap; but clothing, European cutlery, and furniture fetch an enormous price. ”

“ Englishmen in town, always covet an invitation to spend Sunday in his company and enjoy various dishes that are not to be procured in Manila markets.
Besides the several steamers that ply between ports on the neighboring coast, there is now a large fleet of American ships at anchor in the bay, and our office, which shelters the only American firm in the Philippines, is a great centre for the various Yankee, nasal-twanged skippers, who, dressed in hot-looking, ready-made tweeds, come ashore without their collars to ask questions about home topics and read newspapers six weeks old. ”

“ There is a good entrance quite near the land, more than one and one-half leguas wide, for the ingress and egress of vessels. All the shores of this bay are well provided with abundant fisheries, of all kinds. They are densely inhabited by natives. Above Manila there is a province of more than twenty leguas in extent called La Pampanga. This province possesses many rivers and creeks that irrigate it. They all flow and empty into the bay. This province contains many settlements of natives, and considerable quantities of rice, fruits, fish, meat, and other foods. ”

“ Many miles of inland water communication with small boats or bamboo rafts are afforded by the Pampanga, Agno, Abra, Pasig and Bícol rivers in Luzon, and by the Agusan and Rio Grande de Mindanao in Mindanao. There are few harbours which admit vessels drawing more than 15 ft. of water, but many which admit smaller vessels, and at the close of 1909 there were 151 steamboats and 424 sailboats engaged in the coasting trade. Manila is the principal port of entry, and since the American occupation Manila harbour has been made accessible to vessels drawing 30 ft. ”

“ Vinton's flotilla came steaming into Honolulu harbor just as the smoke of the Doric was fading away on the westward horizon.
Cheers and acclamations, a banquet tendered to the entire force in the beautiful grounds about the Palace, and a welcome such as even San Francisco had not given awaited them. Three days were spent in coaling for the long voyage to Manila, and during that time officers and men were enabled to spend hours in sea-bathing and sight-seeing. ”

“ On the west lies the swampy foreshore of Panay with a mountain range inland, daring the sunlight with scarpy flanks, on which every ravine and every cleft are sunk in shadows of violet and pink. The water of the straits is glassy and full of jelly-fish, some of the white dome-like kind, but more of the purple ones that float on the water like a petalled flower.
Iloilo was a miniature edition of Manila, save that there were more gardens and that there was a rural atmosphere such as is characteristic of small towns in the States. ”

“ Its circuit, without taking into account certain bays, comprehends four hundred and twelve leguas. Those who make it three hundred are in error, for they do not consider its position. It is all very fertile, and has many large rivers, that of Cagayan or Nueva Segovia being more swollen than the others. They are all navigable, more or less. Ships enter that of Manila at full tide with one-half their cargo, but the galleys enter it generally without any trouble. It furnishes a location for the aforesaid city, on a certain very pleasant and beautiful site on the shores of the sea. ”

“ The Yankee was master of Corregidor, and had possessed himself of both fort and light-house. In all probability Manila itself had fallen.
"Half speed ahead!" was the order, and again the throb of the engines went pulsing through the ship, and the Sacramento slowly forged ahead over a smooth summer sea. At midnight the pilot and glad tidings were aboard, and at dawn the decks were thronged with eager voyagers, and a great, full-throated cheer went up from the forecastle head as the gray, ghost-like shapes of the war-ships loomed up out of the mist and dotted the unruffled surface. ”

“ Accordingly the commerce of this city is extensive, rich, and unusually profitable; for it is carried on by all these Chinese and their ships, with those of all the islands above mentioned and of Tunquin, Cochinchina, Camboja, and Sian—four separate kingdoms, which lie opposite these islands on the continent of Great China—and of the gulfs and the numberless kingdoms of Eastern India, Persia, Bengala, and Ceilan, when there are no wars; and of the empire and kingdoms of Xapon. The diversity of the peoples, therefore, who are seen in Manila and its environs is the greatest in the world ”