lands, owing to its consumption among
the natives being both great and general; but those of La Pampanga and
Pangasinan are more particularly devoted to it. These two provinces
alone annually produce about 550,000 arrobas (13,750,000 lbs.) of
which one-third is usually exported in Chinese and other foreign
vessels. In extraordinary seasons, the amount exported greatly
exceeds the quantity above stated, as, for example, happened in the
monsoon of 1796, when the planters came down to the port of Manila,
and by contract exported upwards of nine millions weight, of the first
and second qualities. The price of this article has experienced many
variations of late years; but the medium may be estimated at $6 for one
hundred twenty-five pounds of the first quality, and $5 for the second.

[Method of Manufacture.] The superior quality of the sugar of
the Philippines is acknowledged, when compared to that produced
in the Island of Java, China, or Bengal; notwithstanding in the
latter countries it may naturally be concluded that greater pains
and care are bestowed on its manufacture. The pressure of the cane
in the Philippine Islands is performed by means of two coarse stone
cylinders, placed on the ground, and moved in opposite directions by
the slow and unequal pace of a "carabao," a species of ox or buffalo,
peculiar to this and other Asiatic countries. The juice is conveyed to
an iron caldron, and in this the other operations of boiling, skimming
and cleansing take place, till the crystallization or adhering of
the sugar is completed. All these distinct parts of the process, in
other colonies, are performed in four separate vessels, confided to
different hands, and consequently experience a much greater degree of
care and dexterity. After being properly clayed, the sugars acquire
such a state of consistency that, when shipped in canvas bags, they
become almost petrified in the course of the voyage, without moistening
or purging, as I understand is the case with those of Bengal.

[Silk.] Among the useful objects to which the Patriotic Society of
Manila (Amigos del Pais) directed their attention, from the very
moment of their formation, the planting of mulberry trees seems to
have met with peculiar encouragement. The society rightly judged that
the naturalization of so valuable a commodity as silk in these Islands
would materially increase the resources of the colony, and there was
reason to hope that, besides local consumption