originated in the days before natives were intrusted to drive,
when a postilion rode the left (saddle) pony, and guided his right
(hand) animal with a short rein.

Through the city and suburbs ran lines of tramway with cars drawn
by ponies, and (from October 20, 1888 until 1905) a steam tramway
operated as far as Malabon.

Fortunately, Easter week brought two days of rest every year for
the ponies, namely, Holy Thursday and Good Friday. As in Spain also,
with certain exceptions, such as doctors, urgent Government service,
etc., vehicles were not permitted in the streets and highways on those
days. Soldiers passing through the streets on service carried their
guns with the muzzles pointing to the ground. The church bells were
tolled with muffled hammers; hence, the vibration of the metal being
checked, the peal sounded like the beating of so many tin cans. The
shops were closed, and, so far as was practicable, every outward
appearance of care for worldly concerns was extinguished, whilst it was
customary for the large majority of the population--natives as well as
Europeans--who went through the streets to be attired in black. On Good
Friday afternoon there was an imposing religious procession through
the city and suburbs. On the following Saturday morning (_Sabado de
Gloria_), there was a lively scene after the celebration of Mass. In a
hundred portals and alleys, public and private vehicles were awaiting
the peal of the unmuffled church bells. The instant this was heard
there was a rush in all directions--the clanking of a thousand ponies'
feet; the rumbling sound of hundreds of carriages. The mingled shouts
of the natives and the Chinese coolies showed with what bated anxiety
and forced subjection material interest and the affairs of this life
had been held in check and made subservient to higher thoughts.

An official computation in the year 1885 stated the average number
of vehicles which passed through the main street of the city (_Calle
Real_) _per day_ to be 950; through the _Escolta_, the principal
street of Binondo, 5,000; and across the bridge, connecting Binondo
with Manila City (where the river is 350 feet wide), 6,000.

Sir John Bowring, in the account of his short visit to Manila in 1858,
says he was informed on good authority that the average number of
vehicles passing daily at that date through the _Escolta_ amounted to
915; across the bridge, between Binondo and Manila, 1,256; so that
apparently in