[Change from Malayan character.] A long residence amongst the earnest,
quiet, and dignified Malays, who are most anxious for their honor,
while most submissive to their superiors, makes the contrast in
character exhibited by the natives of the Philippines, who yet belong
to the Malay race, all the more striking. The change in their nature
appears to be a natural consequence of the Spanish rule, for the same
characteristics may be observed in the natives of Spanish America. The
class distinctions and the despotic oppression prevalent under their
former chiefs doubtless rendered the Filipinos of the past more like
the Malays of today.


CHAPTER V


[The familiar field for travellers.] The environs of Manila, the Pasig,
and the Lagoon of Bay, which are visited by every fresh arrival in the
colony, have been so often described that I have restricted myself
to a few short notes upon these parts of the country, and intend to
relate in detail only my excursions into the south-eastern provinces
of Luzon, Camarines, and Albay, and the islands which lie to the east
of them, Samar and Leyte. Before doing this, however, it will not be
out of place to glance at the map and give some slight description
of their geographical conditions.

[Archipelago's great extent.] The Philippine Archipelago lies between
Borneo and Formosa, and separates the northern Pacific Ocean from the
China Sea. It covers fourteen and one-half degrees of latitude, and
extends from the Sulu Islands in the south, in the fifth parallel of