s--are
extinguished, and the occupants of the hut fall asleep together. Once,
as I was sailing into the bay of Manila after a five day's cruise, we
overtook a craft which had sailed from the same port as we had with a
cargo of coconut oil for Manila, and which had spent six months upon
its trip. It is by no means uncommon for a crew which makes a long
stay in the capital to squander the whole proceeds of their cargo,
if they have not done it before reaching town.

[Coasting Luzon.] At last one evening, when the storm had quite passed
away, we sailed out of Mariveles. A small, volcanic, pillar-shaped
rock, bearing a striking resemblance to the Island of the Cyclops,
off the coast of Sicily, lies in front of the harbor--like there, a
sharp pyramid and a small, flat island. We sailed along the coast of
Cavite till we reached Point Santiago, the southwestern extremity of
Luzon, and then turned to the east, through the fine straits that lie
between Luzon to the north and the Bisayan islands to the south. As
the sun rose, a beautiful spectacle presented itself. To the north
was the peak of the Taal volcano, towering above the flat plains of
Batangas; and to the south the thickly-wooded, but rock-bound coast
of Mindoro, the iron line of which was broken by the harbor of Porto
Galera, protected from the fury of the waves by a small islet lying
immediately before it. The waters around us were thickly studded with
vessels which had taken refuge from the storm in the Bisayan ports,
and were now returning to Manila.

[Importance of straits.] These straits, which extend from the
south-east to the northwest, are the great commercial highway of
the Archipelago, and remain navigable during the whole year, being
protected from the fury of the north-easterly winds by the sheltering
peninsula of Luzon, which projects to the south-east, and by Samar,
which extends in a parallel direction; while the Bisayan islands
shield them from the blasts that blow from the south-west. The
Islands of Mindoro, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Bohol, which Nature has
placed in close succession to each other, form the southern borders
of the straits; and the narrow cross channels between them form as
many outlets to the Sea of Mindoro, which is bounded on the west
by Palawan, on the east by Mindanao, and on the south by the Sulu
group. The eastern waters of the straits wash the coasts of Samar
and Leyte, and penetrate through three small channels only to the
gre