ce of Ilocos it buried palm trees, so that only the
tops of their branches were left above the earth's surface; through
the power of the earthquake mountains were pushed against each other;
it threw down many buildings, and killed a great number of people. Its
fury was greatest in Nueva Segovia, where it opened the mountains, and
created new lake basins. The earth threw up immense fountains of sand,
and vibrated so terribly that the people, unable to stand upon it,
laid down and fastened themselves to the ground, as if they had been
on a ship in a stormy sea. In the range inhabited by the Mendayas a
mountain fell in, crushing a village and killing its inhabitants. An
immense portion of the cliff sank into the river; and now, where the
stream was formerly bordered by a range of hills of considerable
altitude, its banks are nearly level with the watercourse. The
commotion was so great in the bed of the river that waves arose like
those of the ocean, or as if the water had been lashed by a furious
wind. Those edifices which were of stone suffered the most damage,
our church and the convent fell in, etc., etc."

CHAPTER II

[Customhouse red tape.] The customs inspection, and the many
formalities which the native minor officials exercised without any
consideration appear all the more wearisome to the new arrival when
contrasted with the easy routine of the English free ports of the
east he has just quitted. The guarantee of a respectable merchant
obtained for me, as a particular favor, permission to disembark after
a detention of sixteen hours; but even then I was not allowed to take
the smallest article of luggage on shore with me.

[Shelter for shipping.] During the south-west monsoon and the stormy
season that accompanies the change of monsoons, the roadstead is
unsafe. Larger vessels are then obliged to seek protection in the
port of Cavite, seven miles further down the coast; but during the
north-east monsoons they can safely anchor half a league from the
coast. All ships under three hundred tons burden pass the breakwater
and enter the Pasig, where, as far as the bridge, they lie in serried
rows, extending from the shore to the middle of the stream, and bear
witness by their numbers, as well as by the bustle and stir going on
amongst them, to the activity of the home trade.

[Silting up of river mouth.] In every rain-monsoon, the Pasig river
sweeps such a quantity of sediment against the breakwater that just
i