ds, and
the matter was then brought to the notice of the British Government,
who intimated that either Jolo must be declared a free port or a
Custom-house must be established there. The former alternative was
chosen by the Spaniards, but Zamboanga remained an open port for
foreign trade which very rarely came.

The supreme control of merchant shipping and naval forces was
vested in the same high official. No foreigner was permitted to own
a vessel trading between Spain and her colonies, or between one
Spanish colony and another, or doing a coasting trade within the
Colony. This difficulty was however readily overcome, and reduced to
a mere ineffective formality, by foreigners employing Spaniards to
become nominal owners of their vessels. Thus a very large portion of
the inter-island steamer carrying-trade was virtually conducted by
foreigners, chiefly British.

Mail-steamers, subsidized by the Government, left the capital every
fortnight for the different islands, and there was a quarterly Pacific
Mail Service to the Ladrone Islands. [127] Regular mails arrived from,
and left for, Europe every fortnight, but as there were intermediate
opportunities of remitting and receiving correspondence, really
about three mails were received and three despatched every month. The
mail-route for Europe is _via_ Singapore, but there were some seven
or eight sailings of steamers per month between Manila and Hong-Kong
(the nearest foreign colony--640 miles), whence mails were forwarded
to Europe, Australia, Japan, the United States, etc.

Between the capital and several ports in the adjacent provinces there
was a daily service of passenger and light cargo-steamers.

Between Yloilo and the adjoining Province of Antique, the District
of Concepcion and the Islands of Negros and Cebu, there were some
half-dozen small steamers, belonging to Filipinos and Spaniards,
running regularly with passengers and merchandise, whilst in the
sugar-producing season--from January to May--they were fully freighted
with cargoes of this staple article.

The carrying-trade in sailing craft between the Islands was chiefly
in the hands of natives and half-castes. There were also a few Spanish
sailing-ship owners, and in the Port of Yloilo a few schooners (called
_lorchas_), loading from 40 to 100 tons of sugar, were the property
of foreigners, under the nominal ownership of Spanish subjects,
for the reasons mentioned in the preceding page.

The principal