arcely a parish, however remote, without
its orchestra, and this natural taste was laudably encouraged by the
priests. Some of these bands acquired great local fame, and were sought
for wherever there was a feast miles away. The players seemed to enjoy
it as much as the listeners, and they would keep at it for hours at a
time, as long as their bodily strength lasted. Girls from six years
of age learn to play the harp almost by instinct, and college girls
quickly learn the piano. There are no native composers--they are but
imitators. There is an absence of sentimental feeling in the execution
of set music (which is all foreign), and this is the only drawback to
their becoming fine instrumentalists. For the same reason, classical
music is very little in vogue among the Philippine people, who prefer
dance pieces and ballad accompaniments. In fact, a native musical
performance is so void of soul and true conception of harmony that
at a feast it is not an uncommon thing to hear three bands playing
close to each other at the same time; and the mob assembled seem to
enjoy the confusion of the melody! There are no Philippine vocalists
worth hearing.

Travelling through the Laguna Province in 1882 I was impressed by
the ingenuity of the natives in their imitation of European musical
instruments. Just an hour before I had emerged from a dense forest,
abundantly adorned with exquisite foliage, and where majestic trees,
flourishing in gorgeous profusion, afforded a gratifying shelter from
the scorching sun. Not a sound was heard but the gentle ripple of a
limpid stream, breaking over the boulders on its course towards the
ravine below. But it was hardly the moment to ponder on the poetic
scene, for fatigue and hunger had almost overcome sentimentality,
and I got as quickly as I could to the first resting-place. This I
found to be a native cane-grower's plantation bungalow, where quite
a number of persons was assembled, the occasion of the meeting being
the baptism and benediction of the sugar-cane mill. Before I was
near enough, however, to be seen by the party--for it was nearly
sunset--I heard the sound of distant music floating through the
air. Such a strange occurrence excited my curiosity immensely, and
I determined to find out what it all meant. I soon discovered that
it was a bamboo band returning from the feast of the "baptism of the
mill." Each instrument was made of bamboo on a semi-European model,
and the players were m