a series of typhoons—a chinese feast-day—a bank-holiday excursion—lost in the mist—los ba?os—the “enchanted lake”—six dollars for a human life—a religious procession—celebration of the expulsion of the chinese—bicycle races and fireworks.
october 5th.
phew! we have hardly had time to breathe since the last mail, for we have been in the midst of typhoon after typhoon, shipwrecks, house-wrecks, and telegraph-wrecks, both simplex and duplex. manila had scarcely gotten over talking of the war of the elements, above spoken of, before another cyclone was announced to the south, and soon we were going through an experience similar to that related the other day. when that was over, everybody began to draw breath again, but before the lungs of the populace were fully expanded, the wind suddenly went into that dangerous quarter, the northwest, and up went signal no. 5 again. the blow came on more suddenly than the former one, and all hands left the business offices to go home and sit on their roofs. the tin was again stripped like paper from our portico, and great masses of metal banged [138]around outside with the clash of cymbals. it was a terrific night. the ships in the bay dragged their anchors nearly to the breakwater, and in the morning four spanish brigs were a total wreck. one in particular went ashore on the bar at the river’s mouth, and at daylight was being swept fore and aft by the great seas. eight men were hanging on for dear life, and it looked as if they would be swallowed up in the great drink, but two big lifeboats were got out, and as the sea moderated somewhat, the sailors were at length rescued, just as their ship went all to smash. a thousand houses were blown down, many of the streets in manila were flooded, telegraph lines prostrated, and tram-car service interrupted.
on the banks of the enchanted lake.
on the banks of the enchanted lake.
see page 141.
but things have now quieted down, and sunday was a big feast-day in the chinese quarter. all the wealthy chinamen were celebrating something or other, and they invited all the foreign merchants, as well as their local friends, to the celebration. they served tea and refreshments in their various little junk shops, and some of the more influential members of the colony of fifty thousand gave elaborate spreads, followed by dances and concerts. the streets were filled with peculiar processions of men carrying banners and graven images, and the sidewalks were lined with spectators.
i went to one of the most pretentious of the indoor [139]functions, found myself in a gorgeously furnished suite of apartments, decorated in true chinese fashion, and was royally entertained by a shrewd celestial who was supposed to be worth several million dollars. he began conversation with me by saying that, in his belief, bathing was injurious, and that he had not taken a bath in thirty years. from all i could judge, others of his brethren seemed to hold the same views as he, and the long rooms, halls, and corridors in due season got to be so warm and fragrant that it was a relief to escape.
now and then the bells in the big church rang lustily, and many lanterns lighted it up from cornice to keystone. hundreds of carriages drove through the streets, apparently bound nowhere in particular, and the bands played in all quarters.
it almost seems as if each week in the calendar brought in a religious display of some sort in some one part of the town, and every sunday evening finds a big church somewhere blazing with light or a street blinking with candles.
november 13th.
the monday after the departure of the monthly direct mail from manila to the peninsula is always devoted to our old friend “bank-holiday,” and all the foreign merchants close their doors. this event occurred the first of this week, and on saturday afternoon [140]last some of the more energetic of us, deciding to take another little outing into the hills, started up the river on a small launch, bound for the big lake at the foot of the mountains. a drizzling rain was falling and the weather did not look propitious, but we pushed on, left the mouth of the river where the lake empties into it, and sallied out on the broad waters of the laguna de bay. numerous serving-boys, boxes of china, food, ice, and bedding ballasted the stern of our little steamer, and as it grew dark a feast was prepared for us on deck. in going up the lake, the pilot, who was accustomed only to navigating the launch along the quays of manila itself, got quite at sea and lost his way in the evening mist. some of us, however, more nautical than the rest, procured a chart, consulted a compass which the native mariner in his stupidity chose utterly to disregard, and by dint of perseverance brought the frail bark back into her proper course, without further mishap than running through a series of fish-weirs.
we anchored near a little settlement, los ba?os, shortly before midnight. the deck planking did not make a soft bed, but nevertheless the snoring soon became hard likewise, and sunday morning found us refreshed by the bracing air of the provinces. the rain had cleared away, and after an early breakfast the pilot ran the launch slowly ashore on a smooth [141]beach, beneath a high bank fringed with bamboo. the gang-plank was run out, and several of our little party started off with guns to get some duck, snipe, and pigeons, which were plentiful in the jungle beyond.
those of us who were left, with a couple of native guides, climbed up the steep slopes of an extinct volcano to explore a so-called “enchanted lake” that occupied the low crater. the way led past several ponds filled to overflowing with pink pond-lilies, and, as we wound up along the rising knolls, the air was as fragrant as that of a greenhouse. then came a short climb which brought us to the crater’s edge. the enchanted lake lay like a mirror below, and the rich foliage all about was almost perfectly reflected in the still, green water.
the locality being romantic, it is quite regular that there should be connected with it an interesting story which seems to bear on its face the evidences of truth. it seems there used to live a fisherman and his wife hard by the sloping banks that surround the enchanted lake. one day, so the story goes, the fisherman’s spouse had reason to suspect the fidelity of her husband, and aflame with pious rage, she concocted a scheme to rid herself of her worser half. calling upon two rival fishermen whose hut was not far distant, she promised them the large amount of [142]twelve dollars if they would put her husband out of the way. this being a pot of money to them, they agreed to her proposition, and during one of the next excursions out to the distant fish-weirs in the parent lake below, contrived to tip him overboard and hold him under. coming back in the afternoon, they went to the hut of the freshly made widow and demanded the twelve dollars.
“i can give you but six,” said she, “for i’m hard up.”
“but you promised us twelve if we would do the business,” said they.
“but i tell you i can give you but six,” responded the widow. “take that or nothing.”
angry at having been thus deceived, the two murderers excitedly paddled over to the neighboring village of los ba?os, went to the cuartel, presided over by a spanish official, and addressed him with these words:
“a lady over there by the enchanted lake promised us twelve dollars if we would kill her husband. we have done the job and asked her for our money, but she will only give us six. we want you to arrest her.”
the official, thinking the whole thing a joke, laughingly said he would attend to the matter. the two simple-minded criminals went off, apparently satisfied, and disappeared. [143]
later, our friend the official thought there might be some truth behind the apparent absurdity of the yarn, and on investigation found that a murder had actually been committed. but someone more credulous than the spaniard gave a friendly warning to the committers of the deed, and they were not brought to justice until some months afterward. such is the comparative esteem in which the native holds human life and mexican dollars.
later we descended again to the bold coast-line of the laguna de bay and, to the accompaniment of banging guns, which showed that some of the rest of our party were really on the war-path, returned launch-ward. the hunting-expedition came in soon after with large bags of snipe and pigeon, and all hands then joined in a series of dives off the stern of our boat, or soused around in the tepid water. the group of savages living in the huts near by were much startled at our taking plunges headlong. they themselves never dive otherwise than feet first, for it is a common superstition among the filipinos that the evil water-spirits would catch them by the head and hold them under if this article came along before the feet put in an appearance.
at noontime our native cooks did themselves proud in getting up a game breakfast, and in the afternoon the launch backed off and steamed across the narrow [144]bay to los ba?os itself, a little town clustering around some boiling springs whose vapor floats over a good hotel and some elaborate bathing-establishments. this seems to be a rather favorite resort for the spanish population of manila at certain times of the year, and once or twice a week the old side-wheeler laguna de bay stops here on her way up from the capital to santa cruz.
in the narrow streets of old manila. a procession.
in the narrow streets of old manila. a procession.
see page 145.
behind the town the land slopes steeply up to the mountain heights of still another extinct volcano, whose ghost exists merely to give life to the hot waters of the springs below. in front it runs off to the lake shore, and, all in all, the scenery is as picturesque as the air is healthy. from los ba?os we crossed the lake, cruised down along the abrupt mountainous shores between the two fine old promontories of halla halla, that jut out like the prongs to a w, and stopped every now and then at some particularly attractive little native village coming down to the water’s edge. at about sundown on monday afternoon, the prow was turned manilaward, and after a cool sunset sail of twenty miles we drew in at the portico of the uptown club, all the better for our two day’s trip, which cost us each but a little over five gold dollars.
last night there occurred another one of those religious torch-light processions which are so common [145]in the streets of old manila. it started after sunset, inside the city walls, from a big church brightly illuminated from top to bottom with small candle-cups that gave it the appearance of a great sugar palace. the procession consisted of many richly decorated floats, containing life-size figures of saints and apostles dressed in garments of gold and purple and borne along by sweating coolies, who staggered underneath a draping that shielded from view all save their lower limbs and naked feet. the larger floats were covered with dozens of candelabra and guarded by soldiers with fixed bayonets. other rolling floats of smaller magnitude were pulled along by little children in white gowns, while troops of old maids, young maids, and spanish women marched before and behind, dressed in black and carrying candles. the black mantillas which fell gracefully from the heads of many of the torch-bearers gave their faces a look of saint-like grace, except at such times as the evening breeze made the candle-grease refractory, and one might easily have imagined himself a spectator at a celebration in seville.
many bands all playing different tunes in different times and keys, rows of hard-faced, fat-stomached priests trying to look religious but failing completely to do so, and five hundred small boys, who, like ours at home, formed a sort of rear guard [146]to the solemnities, all went to make up the peculiar performance. the whole long affair started from the church, wound through the narrow streets, and finally brought up at the church again, where it was saluted by fireworks and ringing of bells.
in the balconies of the houses that almost overhung the route were smiling crowds of lookers-on, and roman candles and bengola lights added impressiveness to the scene, or dropped their sparks on the garments of those promenading below. as the various images of the virgin mary and the descent from the cross passed by, everyone took off his hat and appeared deeply impressed with religious feeling. after the carriers of the floats had put down for good their expensive burdens in the vestry of the church, a few liquid refreshments easily started them quarrelling as to the merits of their respective displays. one set claimed that their descent from the cross was more life-like than that carried by their rivals, and they almost came to blows over which of the virgin marys wore the finest clothes.
yesterday was the celebration of the expulsion of the chinese invaders from the philippines, about a hundred years ago, and the whole city was aglow with flags and decorations. in the afternoon everybody went to the luneta to see the bicycle races and to hear the music. a huge crowd surged around the [147]central plaza, and the best places in the band-stand were reserved for the spanish ladies and government dignitaries. the races were slow, but the crowd cheered and seemed perfectly satisfied as one after another of the contestants tipped over going around the sharp corners. after the races a beautiful spanish maiden, whose eyes were so crossed that she must have easily mixed up the winning bicycle with the tail-ender, distributed the prizes, and the police had hard work to keep the crowd from overwhelming the centre of attraction. then everybody listened to the music, walked or drove around in carriages, and waited for the fireworks, which were set off not long after sunset. the costly display was accompanied by murmurings of “oh!” from hundreds of throats. there was an eiffel tower of flame, several mixed-up crosses that twisted in and out of each other, numerous scroll-wheels, fountains, and a burst of bombs and rockets. some of the parachute stars gracefully floated out over the bay and descended into the water, causing startled exclamations from the natives, who are not accustomed to look on fireworks with equanimity. but as of old, everything finally ended in smoke, and the multitude melted away, thoroughly satisfied with the celebration of the anniversary of the victory over the chinese.
as it seems about time to take a longer rest than [148]usual from the labor attendant on waiting for a boom in the hemp market, i hope next week to start off on one of the well-equipped provincial steamers, that makes a run of two thousand miles south, among the sugar-islands and the hemp-ports, and in the next chapter there ought to be a rather long account of what is said to be a very interesting voyage.
