Part 1 (2/2)
[Extravagant Spanish claims thru ignorance.] The lat.i.tude was measured with imperfect astrolabes, or wooden quadrants, and calculated from very deficient tables; the variation of the compa.s.s, moreover, was almost unknown, as well as the use of the log. [8] Both method and instruments were wanting for useful longitudinal calculations. It was under these circ.u.mstances that the Spaniards attempted, at Badajoz, to prove to the protesting Portuguese that the eastern boundary line intersected the mouths of the Ganges, and proceeded to lay claim to the possession of the Spice Islands.
[Spain's error in calculation.] The eastern boundary should, in reality, have been drawn 46 1/2 further to the east, that is to say, as much further as it is from Berlin to the coast of Labrador, or to the lesser Altai; for, in the lat.i.tude of Calcutta 46 1/2 are equivalent to two thousand five hundred and seventy-five nautical miles. Albo's log-book gives the difference in longitude between the most eastern islands of the Archipelago and Cape Fermoso (Magellan's Straits), as 106 30', while in reality it amounts to 159 85'.
[Moluccan rights sold to Portugal.] The disputes between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, occasioned by the uncertainty of the eastern boundary--Portugal had already founded a settlement in the Spice Islands--were set at rest by an agreement made in 1529, in which Charles V. abandoned his pretended rights to the Moluccas in favor of Portugal, for the sum of 350,000 ducats. The Philippines, at that time, were of no value.
[Foreign mail facilities.] The distance from Manila to Hongkong is six hundred fifty nautical miles, and the course is almost exactly south-east. The mail steamer running between the two ports makes the trip in from three to four days. This allows of a fortnightly postal communication between the colony and the rest of the world. [9]
[Slight share in world commerce.] This small steamer is the only thing to remind an observer at Hongkong, a port thronged with the s.h.i.+ps of all nations, that an island so specially favored in conditions and fertility lies in such close proximity.
[Little commerce with Spain.] Although the Philippines belong to Spain, there is but little commerce between the two countries. Once the tie which bound them was so close that Manila was wont to celebrate the arrival of the Spanish mail with Te Deums and bell-ringing, in honor of the successful achievement of so stupendous a journey. Until Portugal fell to Spain, the road round Africa to the Philippines was not open to Spanish vessels. The condition of the overland route is sufficiently shown by the fact that two Augustinian monks who, in 1603, were entrusted with an important message for the king, and who chose the direct line through Goa, Turkey, and Italy, needed three years for reaching Madrid. [10]
[Former Spanish s.h.i.+ps mainly carried foreign goods.] The trade by Spanish s.h.i.+ps, which the merchants were compelled to patronize in order to avoid paying an additional customs tax, in spite of the protective duties for Spanish products, was almost exclusively in foreign goods to the colony and returning the products of the latter for foreign ports. The traffic with Spain was limited to the conveyance of officials, priests, and their usual necessaries, such as provisions, wine and other liquors; and, except a few French novels, some atrociously dull books, histories of saints, and similar works.
[Manila's fine bay.] The Bay of Manila is large enough to contain the united fleets of Europe; it has the reputation of being one of the finest in the world. The aspect of the coast, however, to a stranger arriving, as did the author, at the close of the dry season, falls short of the lively descriptions of some travellers. The circular bay, one hundred twenty nautical miles in circ.u.mference, the waters of which wash the sh.o.r.es of five different provinces, is fringed in the neighborhood of Manila by a level coast, behind which rises an equally flat table land. The scanty vegetation in the foreground, consisting chiefly of bamboos and areca palms, was dried up by the sun; while in the far distance the dull uniformity of the landscape was broken by the blue hills of San Mateo. In the rainy season the numerous unwalled ca.n.a.ls overflow their banks and form a series of connected lakes, which soon, however, change into luxuriant and verdant rice-fields.
[City's appearance mediaeval European.] Manila is situated on both sides of the river Pasig. The town itself, surrounded with walls and ramparts, with its low tiled roofs and a few towers, had, in 1859, the appearance of some ancient European fortress. Four years later the greater part of it was destroyed by an earthquake.
[The 1863 earthquake.] On June 3, 1863, at thirty-one minutes past seven in the evening, after a day of tremendous heat while all Manila was busy in its preparations for the festival of Corpus Christi, the ground suddenly rocked to and fro with great violence. The firmest buildings reeled visibly, walls crumbled, and beams snapped in two. The dreadful shock lasted half a minute; but this little interval was enough to change the whole town into a ma.s.s of ruins, and to bury alive hundreds of its inhabitants. [11] A letter of the governor-general, which I have seen, states that the cathedral, the goverment-house, the barracks, and all the public buildings of Manila were entirely destroyed, and that the few private houses which remained standing threatened to fall in. Later accounts speak of four hundred killed and two thousand injured, and estimate the loss at eight millions of dollars. Forty-six public and five hundred and seventy private buildings were thrown down; twenty-eight public and five hundred twenty-eight private buildings were nearly destroyed, and all the houses left standing were more or less injured.
[Damage in Cavite.] At the same time, an earthquake of forty seconds'
duration occurred at Cavite, the naval port of the Philippines, and destroyed many buildings.
[Destruction in walled city.] Three years afterwards, the Duc d'Alencon (Lucon et Mindanao; Paris, 1870, S. 38) found the traces of the catastrophe everywhere. Three sides of the princ.i.p.al square of the city, in which formerly stood the government, or governor's, palace, the cathedral, and the townhouse, were lying like dust heaps overgrown with weeds. All the large public edifices were ”temporarily”
constructed of wood; but n.o.body then seemed to plan anything permanent.
[Former heavy shocks.] Manila is very often subject to earthquakes; the most fatal occurred in 1601; in 1610 (Nov. 30); in 1645 (Nov. 30); in 1658 (Aug. 20); in 1675; in 1699; in 1796; in 1824; in 1852; and in 1863. In 1645, six hundred [12], or, according to some accounts, three thousand [13] persons perished, buried under the ruins of their houses. Their monastery, the church of the Augustinians, and that of the Jesuits, were the only public buildings which remained standing.
[Frequent minor disturbances.] Smaller shocks, which suddenly set the hanging lamps swinging, occur very often and generally remain unnoticed. The houses are on this account generally of but one story, and the loose volcanic soil on which they are built may lessen the violence of the shock. Their heavy tiled roofs, however, appear very inappropriate under such circ.u.mstances. Earthquakes are also of frequent occurrence in the provinces, but they, as a rule, cause so little damage, owing to the houses being constructed of timber or bamboo, that they are never mentioned.
[Scanty data available.] M. Alexis Perrey (Mem. de l'Academie de Dijon, 1860) has published a list, collected with much diligence from every accessible source, of the earthquakes which have visited the Philippines, and particularly Manila. But the accounts, even of the most important, are very scanty, and the dates of their occurrence very unreliable. Of the minor shocks, only a few are mentioned, those which were noticed by scientific observers accidentally present at the time.
[The 1610 catastrophe.] Aduarte (I. 141) mentions a tremendous earthquake which occurred in 1610. I briefly quote his version of the details of the catastrophe, as I find them mentioned nowhere else.
”Towards the close of November, 1610, on St. Andrew's Day, a more violent earthquake than had ever before been witnessed, visited these Islands; its effects extended from Manila to the extreme end of the province of Nueva Segovia (the whole northern part of Luzon), a distance of 200 leagues. It caused great destruction over the entire area; in the province of Ilocos it buried palm trees, so that only the tops of their branches were left above the earth's surface; through the power of the earthquake mountains were pushed against each other; it threw down many buildings, and killed a great number of people. Its fury was greatest in Nueva Segovia, where it opened the mountains, and created new lake basins. The earth threw up immense fountains of sand, and vibrated so terribly that the people, unable to stand upon it, laid down and fastened themselves to the ground, as if they had been on a s.h.i.+p in a stormy sea. In the range inhabited by the Mendayas a mountain fell in, crus.h.i.+ng a village and killing its inhabitants. An immense portion of the cliff sank into the river; and now, where the stream was formerly bordered by a range of hills of considerable alt.i.tude, its banks are nearly level with the watercourse. The commotion was so great in the bed of the river that waves arose like those of the ocean, or as if the water had been lashed by a furious wind. Those edifices which were of stone suffered the most damage, our church and the convent fell in, etc., etc.”
CHAPTER II
[Customhouse red tape.] The customs inspection, and the many formalities which the native minor officials exercised without any consideration appear all the more wearisome to the new arrival when contrasted with the easy routine of the English free ports of the east he has just quitted. The guarantee of a respectable merchant obtained for me, as a particular favor, permission to disembark after a detention of sixteen hours; but even then I was not allowed to take the smallest article of luggage on sh.o.r.e with me.
[Shelter for s.h.i.+pping.] During the south-west monsoon and the stormy season that accompanies the change of monsoons, the roadstead is unsafe. Larger vessels are then obliged to seek protection in the port of Cavite, seven miles further down the coast; but during the north-east monsoons they can safely anchor half a league from the coast. All s.h.i.+ps under three hundred tons burden pa.s.s the breakwater and enter the Pasig, where, as far as the bridge, they lie in serried rows, extending from the sh.o.r.e to the middle of the stream, and bear witness by their numbers, as well as by the bustle and stir going on amongst them, to the activity of the home trade.
[Silting up of river mouth.] In every rain-monsoon, the Pasig river sweeps such a quant.i.ty of sediment against the breakwater that just its removal keeps, as it seems, the dredging machine stationed there entirely occupied.
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