in the Island of New Providence, last year, we saw
fields of _sisal_, which has in late years come into use as a substitute
for common hemp and manila, and is said to resist the action of
sea-water better than any other material.

"The fauna may seem to be quite limited to the Nimrods of our company,
for the large animals we have found in other islands do not exist in the
Philippines. The buffalo and the gibbon are the largest in the islands,
with a variety of monkeys. The elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, bear, and
orang-outang have no home here. The only dangerous animals are the
crocodile, serpents, and other reptiles. If the Nimrods wish to hunt
they will have to try their hand at the wild buffaloes, though they are
not to be found near Manila.

"Birds are numerous and various, and especially the gallinaceous bipeds,
such as barnyard fowls, grouse, and pheasants; but the most highly
valued here is the 'rooster,' if I may call him by his common American
name, for cock-fighting is one of the national amusements of Spain and
its dependencies. You will see plenty of it in Manila, if you are so
disposed; but it is not an elevating sport, any more than bull-fighting,
which may possibly prevail here. Coal and iron are the most common
minerals, with others; but mining is too severe work for the enterprise
of the people, and I believe most of the mines of Cuba are worked by
Americans.

"The original inhabitants of the Philippines were doubtless Negritos;
and I hasten to explain the name before I am 'picked up.' It was the
word used by the Spaniards to designate, not alone the negroes as we
find them in Africa, but those who are similar to them. People of this
race formerly inhabited all these islands, but there are scarcely any of
them left at the present time. Hindus, Malays, and other natives of the
adjacent countries and islands, came here, and the races mingled.

"The people found here at the present time have a variety of names,
beginning with the pure Spaniards, Creoles, Tagals, Chinese, and
Mestizoes. The Spaniards and the Tagals need no explanation, for the
latter are the pure natives of the islands. Creole, I believe, is
variously used in different locations; but it is a Spanish word, coming
from _criolla_, which means grown up. They are one thing in the Spanish
West Indies, another in Brazil.

"A more general definition is a person born in any country, but not of
native blood. In the Philippines, Creoles are the ch