re anticipated from
the number being double that stated in the passport. The party
consisted of Messrs. Sturges, Pickering, Eld, Rich, Dana, and
Brackenridge. Mr. Sturges, however, saw no difficulty in dividing the
party after they had passed beyond the precincts of the city, taking
the precaution, at the same time, not to appear together beyond the
number designated on the paper.

On the 14th, they left Manila, and proceeded in carriages to Santa Ana,
on the Pasig, in order to avoid the delay that would ensue if they
followed the windings of the river in a banca, and against the current.

At Santa Ana they found their bancas waiting for them, and
embarked. Here the scene was rendered animated by numerous boats of
all descriptions, from the parao to the small canoe of a single log.

There is a large population that live wholly on the water: for the
padrones of the parao have usually their families with them, which,
from the great variety of ages and sexes, give a very different and
much more bustling appearance to the crowd of boats, than would be the
case if they only contained those who are employed to navigate them. At
times the paraos and bancas, of all sizes, together with the saraboas
and pativas (duck establishments), become jumbled together, and create
a confusion and noise such as is seldom met with in any other country.

[Duck farms.] The pativas are under the care of the original
inhabitants, to whom exclusively the superintendence of the ducklings
seems to be committed. The pens are made of bamboo, and are not
over a foot high. The birds were all in admirable order, and made no
attempt to escape over the low barrier, although so light that it was
thought by some of our gentlemen it would not have sufficed to confine
American ducks, although their wings might have been cut. The mode of
giving them exercise was by causing them to run round in a ring. The
good understanding existing between the keepers and their charge was
striking, particularly when the former were engaged in cleansing the
pens, and assisting the current to carry off the impurities. In the
course of their sail, it was estimated that hundreds of thousands of
ducks of all ages were seen.

The women who were seen were usually engaged in fishing with a hook
and line, and were generally standing in the water, or in canoes. The
saraboas were here also in use. The run of the fish is generally
concentrated by a chevaux-de-frise to guide them towa