of its buildings are,
if not handsome, at least substantial. But it is cursed with flies:
in our inn, otherwise comfortable enough, the kitchen and the temple of
Venus Cloacina were side by side. The flies were all the more annoying
that we had seen none in the mountains, nor indeed do I recollect ever
having seen them in any number elsewhere in the Archipelago than at
Aparri and in the never-to-be-forgotten plain of Tabuk. However, we
survived the flies, and late in the afternoon of the third day went
on board a Spanish steamer bound for Manila. We used our cabin to
stow our kit, but lived and slept on the deck of the poop, the main
deck between which and the forecastle was crowded with natives. Poor
things! Each family appeared to have an area assigned to it, on which
were piled indiscriminately all its earthly possessions in the shape
of clothes, bags, pots and pans generally; the heap once formed,
its owners sat and slept on it, with the inevitable family rooster
at its highest point lording it over all. In fact, every spot on the
main deck not otherwise occupied was simply filled with roosters,
all challenging one another night and day by indefatigable crowing. As
illustrating the difficulties of navigation in these parts, our steamer
was two hours getting out of the river and across the bar, a matter
of not more than a mile. Once out, she began to roll and pitch in an
incomprehensible manner, seeing there was no wind and no sea. It was
simply the never-ending contest between the Pacific Ocean and the
China Sea. Once fairly in the latter, she behaved steadily enough.

Our journey was without incident; it did not, much to
my disappointment, include the side trip sometimes made to the
Babuyanes Islands for cattle. One of these islands, Fuga, is
especially interesting; urn-burial prevailed in it in the past, the
urns in some cases being arranged in a circle around a central urn
or altar. Moreover, there is in Fuga a stone building known as the
"Castle," with arched doorways, said not to be of Spanish origin,
and near by is a plain strewn with human skulls and other bones,
probably the scene of a battle. The skulls are remarkable from their
great size, some of them being reported as extraordinary in this
respect. The present inhabitants of these islands and of the Batanes
live in stone houses, much like those of North Ireland and the islands
west of Scotland. [44] And so we had hoped, Campbell and I, that
we might get