f a Filipino standing in the water and was held by ankles to
be steadied while our biped mounts proceeded to the shore.

We were now on the ground and face to face with the situation. To give
the reader an idea of the actual conditions met by the first teachers
who went to the Islands, the following is copied from the instructions
given us in Manila:

1. There shall be two sessions daily of all schools, and the
last hour of the morning session shall be devoted solely to
instructing the Filipino teachers.

2. In cases where teachers are sent to a town in which there
is no school-house, they are expected to secure the aid of the
people and have one built.

3. The American teacher is to see that all studying aloud is
stopped.

4. All supplies must be kept under lock and key. In towns
where there is no case or box to lock the supplies in, and it
is also impossible to get the town council to furnish a case,
a requisition may be sent to Manila, and, if an appropriation
can be secured, one will be made and sent out.

Thus it can be easily seen that we were indeed pioneers. In many
places no school-house was to be found, and in some cases it was even
difficult to get the town council to provide a case in which to keep
the supplies.

The work of the teachers was, in short; to "make the English language
the basis of instruction in the public schools." On our arrival at
Bacalod two schools were found in progress, for some soldiers had been
detailed for the work here previous to our coming. One of these was
for boys and the other, for girls. Thus the work here had been in a
measure simplified, but complications that had arisen at Talisay, one
of the largest and richest towns on the island, demanded a change of
teachers and the writer was assigned to the place as superintendent.
Here an attempt had been made to start a school but it had failed
ignominiously and a system of education was to be put into operation
from the very start.

The Filipinos are not strong advocates of co-education, so separate
schools were to be started for the boys and the girls. The one for the
boys was gotten well in hand before the one for the girls was
attempted at all.

A few days after reaching the town and securing a home the
_presidente_ of the town had it publicly announced that the following
Monday morning at eight o'clock a public school for boys would be
opened in a building that had