Philippines are usually made of bamboo poles, with a board tied to
their extremities with strips of rattan. If they happen to break, so
much the better; for the fatiguing labor of rowing must necessarily
be suspended till they are mended again.

[Carelessness from lack of responsibility.] In Java the carabao-carts,
which are completely covered in as a protection against the rain,
are ornamented with many tasteful patterns. The roofless wagons used
in the Philippines are roughly put together at the last moment. When
it is necessary to protect their contents from the wet, an old pair
of mats is thrown over them, more for the purpose of appeasing the
prejudices of the "Castilians" than really to keep off the rain.

[Weakened character and want of dignity.] The English and the Dutch are
always looked upon as strangers in the tropics; their influence never
touches the ancient native customs which culminate in the religion of
the country. But the populations whom the Spaniards have converted to
their religion have lost all originality, all sense of nationality;
yet the alien religion has never really penetrated into their inmost
being, they never feel it to be a source of moral support, and it is
no accidental coincidence that they are all more or less stamped with
a want of dignity....

[Spanish rule not benevolent, but beneficial.] With the exception of
this want of national individuality, and the loss of the distinguishing
manners and customs which constitute the chief charm of most eastern
peoples, the Filipino is an interesting study of a type of mankind
existing in the easiest natural conditions. The arbitrary rule of
their chiefs, and the iron shackles of slavery, were abolished by the
Spaniards shortly after their arrival; and peace and security reigned
in the place of war and rapine. The Spanish rule in these Islands was
always a mild one, not because the laws, which treated the natives
like children, were wonderfully gentle, but because the causes did
not exist which caused such scandalous cruelties in Spanish America
and in the colonies of other nations.

[Circumstances have favored the Filipinos.] It was fortunate for
the Filipinos that their islands possessed no wealth in the shape of
precious metals or valuable spices. In the earlier days of maritime
traffic there was little possibility of exporting the numerous
agricultural productions of the colony; and it was scarcely worth
while, therefore, to make the m