INTRODUCTION Page xiii

I

Leaving “God’s Country”—Hong Kong—Crossing to Luzon—Manila Bay—First View of the City—Earthquake Precautions—Balconies and Window-gratings—The River Pasig—Promenade of the Malecon—The Old City—The Puente de EspaÑa—Population—A Philippine Bed—The English Club—The Luneta—A Christmas Dinner at the Club, Page 1

II

Shopping at the “Botica Inglesa”—The Chit System—Celebrating New Year’s Eve—Manila Cooking Arrangements—Floors and Windows—Peculiarities of the Tram-car Service—Roosters Everywhere—Italian Opera—Philippine Music—The Mercury at 74° and an Epidemic of “Grippe”—Fight Between a Bull and a Tiger—A Sorry Fiasco—Carnival Sunday, Page 22

III

A Philippine Valet—The Three Days Chinese New Year—Marionettes and Minstrels at Manila—Yankee Skippers—Furnishing a Bungalow—Rats, Lizards, and Mosquitoes—A New Arrival—Pony-races in Santa Mesa—Cigars and Cheroots—Servants—Cool Mountain Breezes—House-snakes—Cost of Living—Holy Week, Page 43

IV

An Up-country Excursion—Steaming up the River to the Lake—Legend of the Chinaman and the Crocodile—Santa Cruz and Pagsanjan—Dress of the Women—Mountain Gorges and River Rapids—Church Processions—Cocoanut Rafts—A “Carromata” Ride to Paquil—An Earthquake Lasting Forty-five Seconds—Small-pox and other Diseases in the Philippines—The Manila Fire Department—How Thatch Dealers Boom the Market—Cost of Living, Page 60

V

Visit of the Sagamore—Another Mountain Excursion—The Caves of Montalvan—A Hundred-mile View—A Village School—A “Fiesta” at Obando—The Manila Fire-tree—A Move to the Seashore—A Waterspout—Captain Tayler’s Dilemma—A Trip Southward—The Lake of Taal and its Volcano—Seven Hours of Poling—A Night’s Sleep in a Hen-coop, Page 87

VI

First Storm of the Rainy Season—Fourth of July—Chinese “Chow” Dogs—Crullers and Pie and a Chinese Cook—A Red-letter Day—The China-Japan War—Manila Newspapers—General Blanco and the Archbishop—An American Fire-engine and its Lively Trial—The Coming of the Typhoon—Violence of the Wind—The Floods Next—Manila Monotony, Page 112

VII

A Series of Typhoons—A Chinese Feast-day—A Bank-holiday Excursion—Lost in the Mist—Los BaÑos—The “Enchanted Lake”—Six Dollars for a Human Life—A Religious Procession—Celebration of the Expulsion of the Chinese—Bicycle Races and Fireworks, Page 137

VIII

A Trip to the South—Contents of the “Puchero”—Romblon—Cebu, the Southern Hemp-centre—Places Touched At—A Rich Indian at Camiguin—Tall Trees—Primitive Hemp-cleaners—A New Volcano—Mindanao Island—Moro Trophies—Iligan—Iloilo—Back Again at Manila, Page 149

IX

Club-house Chaff—Christmas Customs and Ceremonies—New Year’s Calls—A Dance at the English Club—The Royal Exposition of the Philippines—Fireworks on the King’s FÊte Day—Electric Lights and the Natives—The Manila Observatory—A Hospitable Governor—The Convent at Antipolo, Page 173

X

Exacting Harbor Regulations—The Eleanor takes French Leave—Loss of the Gravina—Something about the Native Ladies—Ways of Native Servants—A Sculptor who was a Dentist—Across the Bay to Orani—Children in Plenty—A Public Execution by the Garrote, Page 195

XI

Lottery Chances and Mischances—An American Cigarette-making Machine and its Fate—Closing up Business—How the Foreigner Feels Toward Life in Manila—Why the English and Germans Return—Restlessness among the Natives—Their Persecution—Departure and Farewell, Page 213

CONCLUSION Page 230