hinese. By the Spaniards they
are considered indolent, crafty, untruthful, cowardly and cruel, but
the hatred between the Spaniards and the native races is so intense
and bitter that the Spanish opinion of the natives is of little
or no value. To us they seem industrious and docile, but there are
occasional evidences of deceit and untruthfulness in their dealings
with us. The bulk of the population is engaged in agriculture, and
there were hardly any evidences of manufactures, arts or mining. The
greater number seemed to be able to read and write, but I have been
unable to obtain any exact figures on this subject. They are all
devout Roman Catholics, although they hate the monastic orders.

In Manila (and doubtless also in Cebu and Iloilo) are many thousands of
educated natives, who are merchants, lawyers, doctors and priests. They
are well informed and have accumulated property. They have not traveled
much, but there is said to be quite a numerous colony of rich Filipinos
in Madrid, as well as in Paris and London. The bibliography of the
Philippines is said to number 4,500 volumes, the greater part of which
have been written by Spanish priests and missionaries. The number of
books on the subject in the English language is probably less than
a dozen.

Climate.

The climate is one of the best known in the tropics. The islands extend
from 5 to 21 deg. north latitude, and Manila is in 14d. 35m. The
thermometer during July and August rarely went below 79 or above
85. The extreme ranges in a year are said to be 61 and 97, and the
annual mean, 81. There are three well-marked seasons, temperate
and dry from November to February, hot and dry from March to May,
and temperate and wet from June to October. The rainy season reaches
its maximum in July and August, when the rains are constant and very
heavy. The total rainfall has been as high as 114 inches in one year.

Yellow fever appears to be unknown. The diseases most fatal among
the natives are cholera and smallpox, both of which are brought from
China. Low malarial fever is brought on by sleeping on the ground
or being chilled by remaining, without exercise, in wet clothes;
and diarrhea is produced by drinking bad water or eating excessive
quantities of fruit. Almost all of these diseases are preventable
by proper precautions, even by troops in campaign. The sickness in
our troops was very small, much less than in the cold fogs at camp
in San Francisco.

Mineral We