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, shipwrecks2, 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 cyclone5 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 fully6 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 portico7, and great masses of metal banged [138]around outside with the clash of cymbals8. 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 wreck3. One in particular went ashore9 on the bar at the river’s mouth, and at daylight was being swept fore4 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 prostrated10, 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 refreshments11 in their various little junk shops, and some of the more influential12 members of the colony of fifty thousand gave elaborate spreads, followed by dances and concerts. The streets were filled with peculiar14 processions of men carrying banners and graven images, and the sidewalks were lined with spectators.
I went to one of the most pretentious15 of the indoor [139]functions, found myself in a gorgeously furnished suite16 of apartments, decorated in true Chinese fashion, and was royally entertained by a shrewd Celestial17 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 fragrant18 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, apparently19 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 devoted20 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 drizzling21 rain was falling and the weather did not look propitious22, 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 navigating23 the launch along the quays24 of Manila itself, got quite at sea and lost his way in the evening mist. Some of us, however, more nautical25 than the rest, procured26 a chart, consulted a compass which the native mariner27 in his stupidity chose utterly28 to disregard, and by dint29 of perseverance30 brought the frail31 bark back into her proper course, without further mishap32 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 bracing33 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 plentiful34 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 crater35. The way led past several ponds filled to overflowing36 with pink pond-lilies, and, as we wound up along the rising knolls37, 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 foliage38 all about was almost perfectly39 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 spouse40 had reason to suspect the fidelity41 of her husband, and aflame with pious42 rage, she concocted43 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, contrived44 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 absurdity45 of the yarn46, and on investigation47 found that a murder had actually been committed. But someone more credulous48 than the Spaniard gave a friendly warning to the committers of the deed, and they were not brought to justice until some months afterward49. Such is the comparative esteem50 in which the native holds human life and Mexican dollars.
Later we descended51 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 tepid52 water. The group of savages53 living in the huts near by were much startled at our taking plunges54 headlong. They themselves never dive otherwise than feet first, for it is a common superstition55 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 vapor56 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 picturesque57 as the air is healthy. From Los Ba?os we crossed the lake, cruised down along the abrupt58 mountainous shores between the two fine old promontories59 of Halla Halla, that jut60 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 prow61 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 illuminated62 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 underneath63 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 fixed64 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 gracefully65 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 refractory66, and one might easily have imagined himself a spectator at a celebration in Seville.
Many bands all playing different tunes67 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 saluted68 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 promenading69 below. As the various images of the Virgin70 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 invaders71 from the Philippines, about a hundred years ago, and the whole city was aglow72 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 plaza73, 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 contestants74 tipped over going around the sharp corners. After the races a beautiful Spanish maiden75, 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 costly76 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 exclamations77 from the natives, who are not accustomed to look on fireworks with equanimity78. But as of old, everything finally ended in smoke, and the multitude melted away, thoroughly79 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 labor13 attendant on waiting for a boom in the hemp80 market, I hope next week to start off on one of the well-equipped provincial81 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.
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1
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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shipwrecks
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| 海难，船只失事( shipwreck的名词复数 )； 沉船 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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drizzling
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| 下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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navigating
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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concocted
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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51
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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52
tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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54
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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promontories
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| n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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60
jut
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| v.突出；n.突出，突出物 | |
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prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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72
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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78
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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79
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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80
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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81
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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