HONGKONG TO MANILLA.*

Parma shaken his health by a long service in China and sojourn at Hongkong, Mr. Ellis obtained a six weeks' sick leave, and de- termined to spend it in an excursion to Manilla and the island of Luzon. We suppose it was the best change available, owing to the Spanish courtesy to every one, especially to naval officers and the free and easy mode of living that prevails in all the colonies of the Iberian race. Whereas had he gone to the British settle- ments in China or the Straits, the gallant officer would have had no novelty as regarded manners, and perhaps but a repetition of the stiff, stuck-up proceedings at Hongkong, of which he is loud in complaint, as also of the government and physical features of the island.

"There was' ' as it were a bleakness of life and prisoner-like sensation, in a residence at the latter place, [Hongkong,) arising, in a great measure from a local monotony, from the difficulty experienced in moving more than a mile or two on either side of the town of Victoria, partly from want 'of practicable roads and partly from the unscrupulous treachery and hostility of the Chinese. There had been roads to one or two police and military

• stations on the other side of the island of Hongkong, which is in- itself about thirty miles in circumference' but the Chinamen had broken the bridges down for the sake of the iron fastenings, and the rains were con- tinually washing away the embankments on which the roads were laid round its rocky hills ; so that these circumstances, together with the ne- cessity of being well armed against predatory bands, rendered excursioning, at best, but a search for change of air and scene under difficulties, and was seldom attempted except in large parties or by water, in boats, nor were the latter by any means exempt from attackby local pirates. So that unless you could manage to get a few days' leave occasionally over to the Portu- guese settlement of Macao, distant about thirty miles, it was exceedingly dull, stupid, and monotonous, to say nothing of the baneful influence of the climate on health and spirits. "The English residents at Hongkong, like many other small communi- ties, were divided by exclusive feelings, which rendered society far less agreeable than it might have been had a better understanding existed among them. As each little coterie was headed by its own peculiar lady patroness, it was a difficult matter to find any half-dozen who would meet any other half-dozen, without their evincing mutual marks of contempt or dislike. 'Naval officers, as a rule, mixed but little with them, and caring as little who sank or who swam in these turbid waters, had the best opportunity of judg- - sag of the game, which was often more amusing than edifying. The most „absurd part of this purse-proud, stuck-upiam was, that with the exception of a few Government employ6s, they were all more or less rowing in the same boat, i.e., striving to amass as many dollars as opportunity would ad- mit of; and though some were called merchants, and others storekeepers, such was the undercurrent of retail speculation, that it was hard to define where one batch ended and the other began."

Nor is Luzon itself devoid of attractions for a sailor in early manhood and good spirits, with a touch of the "vapours" rather than it would seem any mortal sickness, accustomed to rough it for years, and possessing the hilarity of a schoolboy on a holi- _ day. The mixed company at a sort of nautical hotel at Manilla, which might repel the fastidious who had travelled from home . by a succession of steamers, only amused a man who had been knocking about among sailors and sea-ports for years. The frank manners, with we fear morals to correspond, of the general population, chiefly Mestizos, a cross between the . Indians and Spaniard,s, and the round of simple hearty entertain- ments to be met with attracted. a man long shut out by proles- eional duty from female society; at once easy and without coarse- ness. The hardships of travel in the interior, either by boats, where you were cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, or on very sorry steeds,

• Honghong to Manilla and the Lakes of Lawn in the Philippine Isles in the year 1856. By Henry T. Ellie, R.N. Publiehed by Smith and Elder.

over very rough -ways, in, as it sometimes happened, very bad weather, and occasionally on short allowance were nothing to Jack ashore. There are moreover things of interest to observe in the island, upon some of which our sailor touches with more penetra-

-tion than might have been expected—such as the probable abori-

gines of Papuan or negro race. The inland lakes, and a re- markable volcano are singular phenomena, worth more attention

than Mr. Ellis gave or perhaps could give them. 'There are also

examples in natural history worth looking at, including buffaloes, alligators, and boa. constrictors, about which last the traveller has strange things to tell—fifty feet long and "the stoutest part as thick round as a very fat man's body," which he saw himself. There is also a notice of Romanism in the island. 'Mr. Ellis relates some jokes at the expense of celibates, but in his more serious moods he speaks favourably of the knowledge and mental activity of the priesthood, as well as of their desire to keep themselves acquainted with what is passing lathe world, and their attention to their leeks.

"Whatever may be said for or against Papistry, the system has certainly not, like our own, left fully one half the population withoutprovision in-the matter of places of worship. There are hardly a dozen houses anywhere about Manilla and the adjacent districts without a largo substantial church, and convento or parsonage attached ; the priests are from all classes, i. e., Spaniards, Mestizos, (half-castes,) and pure Indians, generally men of fair education and attainments, hospitable to strangers, and of inquiring minds. I have frequently been surprised at the information they both possessed and sought, particularly on political questions, and the knowledge of men and things, which one would hardly expect people in their position to interest themselves in, which they displayed. Their influence, especially over the native population, quite equals that found elsewhere under the Romish sys- tem, and if the stories which one sometimes hears with respect to the immo- rality of their lives be true, the fact of their retaining this influence ierstill more wonderful. I have said, especially over the native portion of the people, for I think, from what I have observed both here and elsewhere, that the Spaniards themselves, particularly men among the upper classes, care little about the priests or their doctrines, and the ' Frailes ' [friars] are always fair subjects ofjest, and not unfrequently of most unqualified abuse." Like most places where the manners are primitive, and grada- tions of rank few, or, as among Southern people' not rigidly ob- served, there is much of that sort of hospitality which consists in • welcoming persons to a house. Many carnal comfort-loving Englishmen, however, might scarcely call -the evening par- 'ties hospitable. These passages are from the account of a ball given at a house of either Manilla-born- Spaniards, or very light Mestizos," on the Saints' day of " a very pretty little hija del pais ' daughter-of the country.' lime Mestiza girls, when dressed in 'says' or native costume, in-doors, wear no stockings, and their feet are inserted into the very tiniest em- broidered slippers imaginable ; but the funniest thing is, that as the slipper has nothing to keep it on at the heel, the little tee is always outside the other end of it, gripping it in such a manner as to hinder it from falling off altogether, and very rarely, even in the most fast and furious dancing, doe this occur. On the present occasion,. many of their head-dresses, or rather ornaments for the hair, consistingof all manner of pins and jewellery, were not only exceedingly handsome and becoming, but must have been of great value ; and I was told there generally existed a little rivalry in this man-

ner of displaying wealth." • • • •

"Little is given generally by way of refreshment at these entertainments, unless on some grand occasion, which calls for the display is a regular sup- per. Lemonade, sugar and water, and a few sweet cakes, s about the usual . extent, but in houses where foreigners often visit they.sometimes have beer or spirits for their especial edificationat this dance, a bottle of gin Mafil

placed on a side-table for our i I

use, and must own I found a little of it more congenial to one's habits than sugar and water, which is a very favourite beverage•of the gentlemen of the place.

"Free admission-to any respectably dressed person, without invitation or even previous acquaintance, wherever a bayle' is going on, was and to. a certain extent is still the custom ; indeed, as an Englishman, wherever you hear music at night, if you walk in, make your complimentary 'chin-chin' (as the Chinamen say) to the lady of the house, and behave yourself with propriety, you will always find a welcome. At the house we were visiting this evening, so great was the number of unbidden guests that it was mooted amongst some of the English there that they should receive a hint to make themselves scarce,' but this coming to the ears of a gentleman of the family was at once declared impracticable."

To say that Mr. Ellis .might have furnished more information about the largest of the Philippine Islands even in a six weeks' trip, is only what might be predicated of most books of travels. The narrative fulfils the object of the author, which is to present a lively but rather superfiaial account of what he saw, heard, and did. during a holiday -run to a rarely-visited place. The book -would have been much improved, however, by a closer revision. At times Mr. Ellis pushes his details to such a length, and tells them with such a lone& vivacity, that the reader gets tired, while his animation sometimes passes into exaggeration. In fact, the volume might be entitled "Yarns about Manilla and its Neighbourhood," by a sailor on:the run.