o him. And so you guide him, saying "_silla_,"
left, or "_mano_," right, "_direcho_," straight ahead, and "_'spera_,"
stop. You must be careful when you stop, however, as while you are
busy with your purchases, your man is liable to run away. While,
as a general rule, he shakes his head at the repeated inquires of
"_ocupato?_" (taken?) even though the carriage may not be engaged, if
some one more unscrupulous or desperate should step in, you would find
yourself without a rig. And the result would be the same if dinner-time
came round, and he had not had "_sow sow_." Even the fact that he
had not collected any fare would not deter him from his resolution.

Is it any wonder, then, that, after all these difficulties, no
complaint is made against the rickety, slat-seated carts, with
wheels that seem to bar the entrance of the passenger; against the
sorry-looking _quilez_,--that attenuated two-wheeled 'bus, where
the four passengers must sit with interwoven legs, getting the
more implicated as the cart goes bounding on? No; the Americans
are glad enough to ride in almost any kind of vehicle. But you
must be good-natured, even though the cab is tilted at an angle of
some thirty-odd degrees, and even though, in getting out, which is
accomplished from the _quilez_ in the rear, you lift the tiny pony
off his feet. It is enough to take the breath away to ride in one
of these conveyances through the congested portions of Manila. Not
only does the turning to the left seem strange, but taking the
sharp corners--an accomplishment for which the two-wheeled gig is
well adapted--frequently comes near precipitating a collision;
and, in order to avoid this, the driver pulls the pony to his
haunches. When the coast is clear, you will go rattling merrily away,
the _quilez_ door, unfastened, swinging back and forth abandonedly,
regardless of appearances. It is impossible to satisfy the driver on
discharging him, unless by paying him three times the fee. The stranger
in Manila, counting out the unfamiliar _media pesos_ and _pesetas_,
never knows when he has paid enough. Whether to pay his fifteen cents,
American or Mexican, for the first hour, and ten cents, or _centavos_,
for the hour succeeding, and how many _media pesetas_ make a quarter
of a dollar in our currency,--these are the questions that annoy and
puzzle the newcomer, till he learns to disregard expense, and order
his livery from the hotels or private stables.

At noon the corrug