eople also," continued the consul. "About every man who can
raise money enough to buy one owns a game-cock, and many take them with
them when they go out.

"Observe that man and woman approaching us; they are Spanish metis. Both
of them wear rather gay colors. On the other side of the street is a
pair of Chinese metis; and one couple is not much different from the
other, except, if you are an expert, you can see something of the high
cheek-bones of the Chinese. Both of the men wear stovepipe hats, which
seems to be the fashion among that class. Some of them are quite
wealthy."

"Do all these different grades fraternize, Mr. Webb?" asked the
commander.

"In business they do, but not socially. The pure Spaniards look down
upon all the native and half-caste people; and in turn all the other
classes do considerable looking down upon some other grades, till you
get to the Tagals, who are so unfortunate as to have no other class to
look down upon."

The tourists walked along this Broadway of the city till they were
tired, and then turned into a side street to observe some of the
dwelling-houses. The first thing that they noticed was that most of the
houses were covered on the roof with red tiles, as in Spain and in other
countries. They all had very small windows, with sliding sashes; and the
panes, of oyster-shells instead of glass, were smaller in proportion
than the windows. Most of them had a balcony of some sort, which was an
out-door sitting-room, used during leisure hours by the people.

The consuls then conducted the party to a stand for carriages, and
enough of them were engaged to accommodate all. They were taken for two
hours, with the proviso that the passengers were to be set down at the
landing by the bridge.

[Illustration: NATIVES PREPARING TOBACCO IN MANILA.

_Page 285._]

"You must pay in advance," said Mr. Webb. "That is the custom here.
The drivers were cheated so often in some former time, that it became
'no pay, no ride.' I bargained at five pesetas an hour for each
vehicle."

The captain, Mrs. Belgrave, and Mr. Webb occupied the first carriage;
and the consul directed the driver where to go.

"Five pesetas," said the lady when they were seated. "How much is that?"

"About one dollar. A peseta is the legal unit of the currency, and is of
the same value as the French franc and the Italian lira, or nineteen
cents, three mills of our money, as estimated by the director of the
United States Mi