by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE DESCRIPTION OF AN EARTHQUAKY CITY
In the afternoon of the second day out Professor Giroud called hispupils together in the library, which was the schoolroom of the ship,and resumed the lessons which had been interrupted since the arrival atSarawak. The long intermission had sharpened the intellects of theclass, and they were very earnest in their studies. But it could be onlyfor the afternoon and the next day, for the commander was very diligentin the business of sight-seeing.
At half-past nine the next forenoon, the passengers were all assembledin Conference Hall, as the captain had appointed; and the siamangs, whospent much of the time aloft running up and down and along theforeyards, were in their usual places, for chairs had been provided forthem; and they looked as grave and attentive as though they understoodthe whole of the lecture. Captain Ringgold appeared on the rostrum,after he had patted Mr. and Mrs. Mingo on the head, and glanced at MissMingo in the lap of Miss Blanche.
"Manila is the capital of all the Spanish possessions in the East, asthe professor has informed you; it has a population of 270,000, which is40,000 greater than Havana," he began. "It is on the south-west coastof Luzon, 650 miles from Hong-Kong, which is a run of about forty-sevenhours for the ship. It is located on both sides of the little riverPasig, which is the outlet of Lake Bahia, or the Lake of the Bay. When Iwas here many years ago, I spoke Spanish enough to get along; but Ishall leave the language now to the professor and Mr. Belgrave, for Iforget most of it.
"In going to the city we have to pass through Manila Bay, which isreally a sea of itself; and, though it is land-locked, it affords littleif any protection for vessels in heavy weather, for it is about thirtymiles long from north to south, and twenty-five from east to west. Awest or south-west wind rakes it about the same as the ocean.
"The city forms a circle, with a piece of it cut off on the bay; and thesuburbs are on several islands in the river and bay. To keep a clearchannel, the Pasig is extended into the bay between two piers, with afort at the end of one, and a lighthouse at the end of the other. Theanchorage in the bay is good enough so far as holding ground isconcerned, except in the south-west monsoon, when vessels of fourhundred tons or more have to go to Cavite, ten miles south south-westfrom the city; and their cargo must be taken to and from them inlighters.
"The oldest part of Manila is on the southern bank of the Pasig, and isstrongly fortified; but it has a dilapidated look, for it was founded in1571. On the north side of the river is the Binondo suburb, as it iscalled, which is more populous than the old part. The foreign merchantslive here, and it is the more important commercial centre. You wouldhardly know, if you waked from a sleep there, whether you were in aSpanish or an Oriental city, for you would see something of both.Gloomy-looking churches, awkward towers, and heavily built stone housesare mixed up with pleasant cottages in groves of tropical trees. Ibelieve the people are now inclined to build more of wood than stone onaccount of the prevalence of earthquakes, which shake down the heavierstructures, and crush the occupants under the weight of the material.
"As in Burma and Siam, the cottages I mentioned are built on posts; forthe land is sometimes inundated, and the water requires a free passage,or it would do more mischief. In the month of August, nearly two feet ofwater falls on a level; and it makes bad work in the low places. Thestreets are wide and not paved; and in the rainy season, with a foot ortwo of water lying loose around, they become very nearly impassable. Thehouses are built in Spanish fashion, with a central court-yard. They aregenerally two stories high; for in an earthquaky country like this,where terra firma becomes terra shaky, the people are not encouraged toerect buildings twenty stories high, as in New York and Chicago.
"An iron suspension bridge connects the old town with Binondo. It wasformerly a stone bridge, built more than two hundred years ago, whichwas thrown down by the earthquake of 1863. A street in the new suburb,called the Escolto, seems to be the Broadway of the city; for it is thegreat shopping locality, and it is flanked with shops and stalls, filledwith people of various races. Beyond this the Chinese, Tagals, andhalf-castes congregate in numerous occupations, as jewellers, oil andsoap dealers, confectioners, painters, and those of other trades. Hereyou will find plenty of gambling-houses, if you are looking for them.
"As in Singapore, certain sections of the city are given up toparticular branches of business. At San Fernando, there are immensecigar manufactories, like the one you saw in Sevilla in Spain, where sixthousand women are employed; and probably as many are to be found insome of them here," continued the commander, consulting memoranda hetook from his pocket. "At Santo Mesa is a cordage manufactory; atAlcaicerfa the Chinese have a landing-place for their sampans; fishermenand weavers live at Tondo, whose gardens supply the markets with fruitand vegetables; Malate is the resort of the embroiderers; Paco isfavored by artists and artisans; and Santa Ana and San Pedro Macati arehealth resorts."
"McCarty!" exclaimed Felix, as he caught what sounded like an Irishname. "I wondher if he comes from Kilkenny."
"A place, and not a man; and it did not come from Kilkenny. It is aSpanish name, spelled Ma-ca-ti," replied the captain. "I have read offall these names from my memoranda, not that I expect you to rememberthem, but to show you how things work here. All the buildings for publicuse in a capital city are found here, and a cathedral, the palaces ofthe governor-general and the archbishop, an elegant town-house,churches, three colleges for young men, and two for young women (notbehind the times, you see), a large theatre, probably not as large asthat in Barcelona, custom-house, barracks, etc. The Prado is the largestpublic square, and is ornamented with a statue of Charles IV., orCarlos, King of Spain from 1788 to 1808; and I wonder there is not oneof Magellan, who discovered the islands, and lost his life here.
"The streets of the city are lighted with kerosene-oil lamps, and notwith gas, for the reason that the earthquakes made bad work of thelatter; and the works were destroyed in a hurricane in 1882, as was halfthe city. They do not build houses of brick or stone now, but of wood,the former being so destructive of human life in an earthquake. Thenative dwellings are constructed of bamboo, thatched with the leaves ofthe nipa palm.
"Glass windows are not used here; but the flat shell of a large oysteris substituted for glass, and the sashes all slide horizontally. Both ofthese departures from ordinary methods are said to be to exclude thegreat heat; but I confess that I cannot see it. I find among mymemoranda that 21,000 women and 1,500 man are employed in makingcigars; which in Sevilla includes the putting up of tobacco in papersfor smoking, and it may be so here. Before I close I wish to say thatauthorities differ in regard to the population of the city; but I thinkthe professor was about right in putting it at 270,000. Lippincott givesit with the suburbs at 160,000, and Chambers at nearly 300,000. You havebeen patient and longer suffering than I intended you should be, and Ithank you."
The commander made his bow, and descended from the rostrum. Heartyapplause followed, and the siamangs joined with repeated cries andsqueaks. Miss Mingo had fallen asleep in her comfortable quarters; butthe noise woke her with a start, and she sprang to the shoulder of MissBlanche, where she gave her "Ra! Ra! Ra!" and the squeak which is the"tiger" at the end of it. As the audience left their chairs for a walkon the deck, Mr. and Mrs. Mingo sprang into the fore-rigging, climbingthe shrouds, and over the futtock-shrouds, disdaining to crawl throughthe lubber-hole to the top.
Miss Mingo looked up at them, and then sprang into the rigging; for herstrength and agility seemed to have greatly increased since she came onboard, making it probable that the sea-air agreed with her. But hermamma did not appear to be quite satisfied with this venture; and shesprang over the futtocks, and seized her with one arm as she began tomount them.
Mr. Mingo ran up the topmast rigging, and seated himself on thecross-trees. The anxious mother looked at him a moment, and then darteddown to the deck with the baby in her arm. Then, seeing Mrs. Belgraveseated in one of the arm-chairs on the promenade, s
he carried Miss Mingoto her, placing the infant in her lap. The lady immediately folded thelittle one in her arms so that she could not escape, caressing her sothat she did not offer to follow her mother up the rigging, though shewatched her ascent.
Mrs. Mingo ascended to the cross-trees, where she and the gentlemansiamang seemed to hold a conference. The latter then sprang up to thetopgallant yard, and was closely followed by his mate. They turnedsomersets, and went through a variety of athletic feats, which greatlyinterested their audience on deck, who gave them a round of applause.They seemed to understand and appreciate this manifestation ofapprobation, for they attempted various other feats.
Mrs. Mingo got hold of the topgallant halliards, and finding them loose,swung out over the lee side of the ship. Captain Ringgold was startledat this movement. She swung out as far as she could, the line yielding,and suddenly she dropped into the water. The captain rang the gong tostop the screw, and then to back it. If the siamang could swim at all,she was very clumsy in the water; and the waves, for there wasconsiderable sea on, seemed to bother her.
"Clear away the second cutter, Mr. Gaskette!" shouted the commander assoon as he had rung the gong to stop the screw, and the ship was asnearly at rest as she could be on the billows.
"All the second cutters, on deck!" shouted Biggs, the boatswain, afterhe had piped his whistle, at the order of the second officer.
The boat was swung out in as much haste as though the cry had been "Manoverboard!" and her crew took their places in good order. The cutter waslowered into the water, and the men gave way on a favoring wave and wentclear of the ship. They pulled with all their might; and Lanark, thecockswain, steered her for the siamang.
"Stand by, bowmen, to haul in the lady!" called Mr. Gaskette, as thecutter approached the unhappy animal. "In bows!" and the two bowmentossed their oars, and brought them down in place, the men springinginto the fore-sheets to seize hold of the creature. "Way enough!"
It looked to those who were anxiously watching the operations of themen, fearful that Miss Mingo would become an orphan, as though the boatwould strike Mrs. Mingo, and kill her by the collision.
"Stern all!" cried Mr. Gaskette with energy.
The order was obeyed, and the cutter came to a stop when near theanimal. The bowmen were reaching to get hold of her, when she made avigorous leap into the fore-sheets, grasping the rail as she did so. Sheshook herself with all her might as soon as she was in the boat, and acheer went up from the deck of the ship. The lady then seated herself onthe little platform in the bow, and seemed to be as happy as ever, andthat was saying a great deal.
"Give way!" said Mr. Gaskette, laughing at the apparent self-possessionof Mrs. Mingo when her troubles were over. The cutter came alongside theship under its davits, the falls were hooked on, and the boat washoisted up. The lady was the first to leap from her place to the rail ofthe ship.
The passengers applauded as she moved aft; and she replied with herusual cry, and ended it with a squeak. She went directly to thepromenade, which she mounted, and then hastened to Mrs. Belgrave'schair. She looked at her baby as though it had been overboard. MissMingo's keeper had taken care that the infant should not see her motherin the water; and the little one could not have told what was the matterif any one had asked her, first because she did not know, and second foran obvious reason.
The ship was going ahead again, and the captain came to the promenade.He took the lady into the sun, and persuaded her to lie down and dryherself. She seemed to understand the matter, and stretched herself out.
"What made her fall overboard, Captain?" asked the lady--meaning Mrs.Belgrave this time, and not the siamang.
SHE MADE A VIGOROUS LEAP INTO THE FORE-SHEETS.
_Page 267._]
"The fore topgallant halliard was not made fast to the cleat, and whenit ran out, it jerked her from it," replied the commander. "It ought notto have been loose, and there is a bit of discipline for some jack-tar."
The ship went along as before; and when the passengers turned out thenext morning Manila was in sight, and not five miles distant.
