Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas Part 7

CHAPTER XI.

An early drive--Visit to Churches--The Cathedral--Description --Reflections--Church of the Binondo Quarter--The Dead Child --Baptism--Life's Entrances and Exit--Ceremony of taking the Veil--Poor Maraquita--An Episode--Don Caesar de Bazan--Interior of the Convent--Interview with the Lady Superior--Interchange of compliments--Spanish Courtesy--An admission.

Sunday morning, took an early drive upon one of the beautiful roads that penetrate the interior of this fruitful island, and returned with a keen appet.i.te for breakfast; this dispatched, drove with a party to visit the churches.

Went first within the walls to the Cathedral. Ma.s.s was over, and they were about to close the church. Had an opportunity, however, to obtain a hasty look at its interior.

It is very s.p.a.cious and very grand, the roof supported by pillars about twelve feet in thickness. No galleries.

The princ.i.p.al altar was quite imposing, and upon it, plate of considerable value was exposed.

There are also other altars, and a number of chapels inclosed.

A full length figure of our Saviour, after His Descent from the Cross, is extended in a gla.s.s case beneath one of the altars, exciting grateful emotion for that love which caused Him to lay down His life for man, but not a proper subject, in my opinion, for exhibition.

The divine mission of Christ, its object, His self-humiliation, denials, struggles, sufferings and sacrifice, cannot be too often presented to our minds, nor too eloquently told. His Gospel cannot lose by repet.i.tion, and His life should be our grand exemplar! But the image of the Incarnate G.o.dhead should never be a.s.sociated with the waxen figure of a revolting corpse, nor should the hand of the creature, however skilful, attempt the presentment of the Great Creator. If Christ took upon Himself to become man, after He had performed His mission, and laid aside the form which He had a.s.sumed in which to perform the work of eternity, His carnal attributes should be swallowed up in the glory of His Being, and the mind should be taught to look up from the humiliation of the grave, and follow, with awe, the hand that rent the vail of the Temple in twain, up to the mercy seat, whence he ascended to plead for his murderers!

There was here an altar, on which the representation of a vine, with cl.u.s.ters of grapes was very elaborately cut, also a statue of an apostle, in wood, very naturally carved, and a conspicuous object.

Entered another church, outside the walls, in the Binondo Quarter. This was not so large as the Cathedral, nor as imposing, but it was crowded with wors.h.i.+ppers, princ.i.p.ally Indians of the Tagalo tribe. They were in every posture of devotion, telling their beads, and praying with apparent fervor. Indeed they appeared very zealous converts.

At the entrance to this church of the Binondo was exposed the corpse of a child of about seven or eight years. It was fantastically dressed and laid out upon a litter. To the left of this "_memento mori_" which appeared to produce but little effect, were quite a number of matrons, holding very young infants in their arms, awaiting their turn for baptism; on some of these baby's heads they had placed wigs!

It was a strange sight, and one in which the entrances and the exits of the stage of life were exhibited--that dead child, flanked by those newly breathing infants!

Had been told that the ceremony of taking the veil would come off that afternoon at a convent within the city walls, but the information was received too late, for, after hastening to the house of our hospitable friends, with whom we drove at once to the convent, found the ceremony over. The vicinity of the convent was all astir, and we saw a number of ladies, and heard some good music from a fine band, which, although the airs were gay, must, we thought, have had a mournful sound in the ears of the poor renouncing soul, henceforth to be immured within those gloomy walls. But no one appeared to care for her, all was life and gayety without, one would have thought some marriage fete was being celebrated, that those joy notes sounded for the binding of the holiest and dearest tie, had he not known their melody jarred upon heart-strings rudely severed, and ties for ever broken. But she was married, yes, _married_ to the church! Poor Maraquita, thy fate was melancholy, and thy story a sad one, but one too often told of the warm-eyed and pa.s.sionate maidens of this "land of the sun."

She had loved, her family opposed. Her lover was beneath her in condition, yet she loved him still the dearer. In these countries, for a daughter to _think_ of mating without consent of priests and parents, is sacrilege. She was guilty of it, her proud and haughty mother had destined Maraquita to be the bride of a wealthy grandee of old Spain--had disposed of those affections, no longer in Maraquita's power to give, for they had already been transferred with all the other treasures of a young and loving heart, to the keeping of a dark-eyed youth of Manilla. He had been rudely repulsed by her parents, but often would the cautious tw.a.n.g of his guitar bring her to a midnight interview. These clandestine meetings were interrupted. Her dark-eyed lover no longer came, and she was told she would never see him more. A marriage with the Don was urged, she resisted--the alternative was a convent! In pity she implored a short delay, and then convinced that her lover had suffered from her cruel parents' jealousy, gave the vows of her broken heart to the church. And that music is her requiem, and his too! For after those vows had been p.r.o.nounced, and the black veil had shut out hope for ever, a haggard youth was released from confinement, of whose few and ill-starred years the turbid waters of the Pasig soon washed away all trace.

Poor Maraquita! Poor Carlos! I know not whose fate the most to deplore--

"The one to end in madness, Both in misery."

With the narrator of this sad tale of pa.s.sion and despair, I dropped a tear to their memory, thinking how truly the poet of all time has written--

"The course of true love never did run smooth."

The foregoing was not related at the time, but afterwards, by a young Spanish gentleman, who had taken some pains to enable us to witness the ceremony. I had hardly expected to hear a serious story from his lips, for his appearance was reckless and gay, and I had a.s.sociated him in my mind with the character of Don Caesar de Bazan, as I had seen it ill.u.s.trated.

He introduced us further into the convent than I would have ventured upon my own responsibility--appeared at home with all the priests towards whom his manner conveyed but little reverence--and inquiring if we had any desire to see the nuns, went up to an opening in which there was a revolving frame, and asked for the Lady Superior. The lady mother soon presented her round and not unhandsome form at a door to the right, and in choice Italian demanded our business. With much _nonchalance_ Don C. expressed a desire to pay his respects to the ladies under her charge, especially to the one just admitted. His coolness somewhat disconcerted the supreme lady Abbess, to whom such a request had never before been preferred, I warrant, and her black eyes sparkled with scarcely a _holy_ fire, as she answered this time in Spanish, and in the tone of dignity which that language can convey so well, "That the nuns were in their place, and the new one did not receive company, especially that of such gay cavaliers," and intimated that in attending to their duties they set an example which would be well followed by those cavaliers.

Don Caesar, his _sang froid_ still retaining its temperature, with the grave courtesy of a true Spaniard, bowing almost to the floor, told her, "Heaven was the proper place for angels such as her n.o.ble self and her ill.u.s.trious daughters," and wis.h.i.+ng the whole family a pleasant journey thither, commended them to G.o.d. "Adios!" and the door was closed a little hastily.

After this interchange of compliments, Don Caesar took us to his father's house, within the walls near the convent, where he gave us introductions to his sisters, cousins, and other ladies, all under the excitement of the event of the day.

The old gentleman placed, with the usual Spanish compliment, his house, and all that it contained in our hands. And when I state, that like Jephtha, he "had a daughter who was pa.s.sing fair," my sensations can be imagined, and it may be understood how small a portion of the "Casa,"

with this appurtenance, would have satisfied me.

CHAPTER XII.

Fabrico del Tobago--Manufacture of the Cheroot--Description of the process--Female Operatives--Gigantic effects--Mids.h.i.+pman attacked--A delightful Evening--Boat ahoy--Disappointed in trip to Lagunade Bay--Funcion Familia--Madame Theodore--The Calcada again--Margarita--Teatro Binondo--Teatro Tagalo de Tondo-- Espana--Anecdote of an Englishman--Farewell to Manilla--Out to Sea.

The greatest curiosity of Manilla is its Tobacco Manufactory, or rather the Segar Factory, for it is only into segars that the tobacco is made here. It is a government monopoly, and the revenue from it is very great.

I forget the number of segars said to be made daily, but there are between eight and nine thousand women employed solely for that purpose, and giving the small average of twelve segars to each, there would be over one hundred thousand produced per diem; and yet the government is unable to meet the demand for them, having, as I learned, orders months ahead.

The article manufactured is called the Cheroot, and is made in two different styles--one called _Cortada_, from having both ends cut; the other, Havana, being twisted at one end like the Cuban segar. They have but lately commenced to make them in this fas.h.i.+on, and these are put up princ.i.p.ally for the California market, where doubtless they are disposed of as the real Habana.

Cheroots, in any shape, are worth in Manilla about eight dollars per M., subject, I believe, to a small export duty, which more than covers the expense for boxes, labels, and packing, so that supposing each woman to make the number stated above, and the whole force to be employed, we have the immense sum of eight hundred thousand dollars worth of segars from this mammoth Tobaccary per diem. Each operative receives one real a day, but there are others not enumerated in this cla.s.s, such as male laborers, overseers, inspectors, accountants, book-keepers, &c., who receive from twelve to thirty dollars per mensem, so that two thousand dollars daily is not a large estimate of wages paid out by this establishment.

The interior is divided into sections, of which there are nine or ten.

In each section from eight hundred to one thousand women are engaged. At the head of each sectional division are rooms for inspection, where are stationed persons to examine the segars, who return those which do not come up to a certain standard. Of those that pa.s.s the test a sample is placed, after being marked and numbered, in a gla.s.s case suspended in the apartment.

Every morning a certain quant.i.ty of tobacco is given to each person, and water is measured out sufficient to dampen it. The operatives are held accountable for the material. Out of the number of hanks of the leaf so many segars are to be produced, and if the water is used for any other than the specified purpose, no more can be procured. They are said to resort to many ingenious expedients to eke out the allowance. From eight to ten women are employed together, squatted at a low table; and there are double rows of these tables, leaving a s.p.a.ce to pa.s.s through the centre of the room. At each table the entire process of making the cheroot is performed. The leaf is untwisted from the form into which it is fas.h.i.+oned by the grower, spread out and dampened. For the purpose of flattening these leaves they are supplied with stones, with which, and their tongues, an incessant and most infernal clatter is kept up. One of the party selects and arranges the tobacco, another fills the segar and hands it to her neighbor, who rolls it into shape and pa.s.ses it to the next person, who cuts it, and it is thus quickly transferred from hand to hand, until the care-dispelling cheroot is perfected and prepared for inspection. As each is completed, it is dropped into a basket placed at the end of the table nearest the pa.s.sage way, from which the cheroots are taken and tied up into bundles. The Cortada into bunches of ten. The Havanas always in bundles of twenty-five.

The factory, as may be supposed, is very extensive, and covers a considerable area. The delineations of it upon the Manilla segar boxes, though rude, are tolerably good ill.u.s.trations, and will convey some idea of the appearance of the building externally. But a visit within its walls is necessary to a realization of its importance.

I am ignorant of the name and t.i.tle of the Narcotian saint who has the honor to preside over these operations, but they have images of several stuck up in niches at the entrance to the different sections; and if the sense of smelling in their originals, be equal to that of _hearing_, which has been attributed to them, there floats about them sufficient of the aroma of tobacco to gratify the nostrils of the most inveterate snuff-taker that ever was canonized.

My companion on this visit was the young gentleman who slid into the sentimentals, as I have recorded, upon the moonlighted mole. He was born and _raised_ (as they say) in the West; nor did he discredit his _raising_, being in the proportion of every thing native to that extensive country, and six feet three or four inches in height. It was amusing to notice the sensation he created as he strode through the different apartments. As he approached, the clatter of both tongues and stones ceased, and hundreds of eyes would be upraised to scan his towering proportions. They have pretty black eyes, those Tagalo girls, and exuberant crops of jet black hair too; but it is coa.r.s.e, and freely anointed with that pungent unguent, cocoanut oil! "Mira! El Gigante!"

would be e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed in Spanish, whilst no less sonorous notes of admiration would be issued in the Tagalo dialect.

Two Spanish soldiers accompanied us as a guard, and I doubt not but that their presence prevented these unsophisticated damsels from laying violent hands upon my virtuous friend. Indeed, I was told of an English mids.h.i.+pman, who, with the usual a.s.surance of his order, disdaining the protection of a soldier, ventured alone into the midst of the female Indian army, which, relying upon its numerical strength, and either prompted by curiosity, or feeling inclined to resent such bold intrusion, surrounded him and handled him so roughly, that he was obliged to "ignominiously cry for quarter;" and was only released after the loss of his uniform jacket and some other articles of male attire.

Of course, we witnessed no demonstration of this kind, and I do not vouch for the truth of the "yarn"--telling it only "as 'twas told to me."

From the segar factory to the bath, which, with a change of garments, found necessary to remove the taint of tobacco obtained by remaining so long amidst such quant.i.ties of it. Then a siesta, and after drove to dine with our kind friends who procured permits for our admission to the "Fabrica del Tobago." After dinner to spend the evening with a Spanish family related to our mercurial friend, Don Caesar de Bazan. Had dancing, polkas and mazourkas being especial favorites; singing also, and music from La Norma and Sonnambula, exquisitely performed. At eleven o'clock were forced to tear ourselves away from as delightful a party as it had been our lot to enjoy since we had left our native land, and pulling off in a rocking banca to exchange the soft and liquid notes of beautiful Senoras, for the gruff salute of the sentry.

Had been strongly pressed to make one of a party to Laguna de Bay, but coming on sh.o.r.e found the day for our departure fixed, and as the party could not be expected to return by that time, were reluctantly compelled to decline.

Found, however, invitations awaiting us for a "Funcion Familia" that evening, which accepted. Determining to make the most of the time that remained, procured a "piscante" and drove through the suburbs. In the "Escolta"--princ.i.p.al street--found the establishment of Madame Theodore, a fine-looking Mestizo woman, who sells pena dresses, etc., and has a splendid a.s.sortment. She is said to be very wealthy, and though still young--a widow, and is doing a very large business. Of course she has plenty of suitors, and is a _match_ for them all; for she appears to have attained perfection in the art of managing men. Should a college of women ever want a professor, she deserves a degree of Mistress of Arts, and would admirably fill the Chair of Coquetry.

Dined again with our kind friends, and then took a last drive upon the Calcada. Backwards and forwards along this beautiful _paseo_ we went, the moon lending her enchantment, and the different bands filling the air with ravis.h.i.+ng strains, odorous plants of the tropics lading it with perfumes, and the dark-eyed Senoras reclining in their luxurious calesas, gave as good an idea of a paradise of Mahomet's order as one could wish. Lingered here as long as we could, and then off to the "Funcion," where spent a delightful evening. This was a family dancing party, such as the French describe by the words "_Soiree dansante_." At it met several of the ladies we had seen on Sunday, after poor Maraquita had taken the veil. Were very kindly received, and warmly greeted by the sunny smile and speaking eyes of Senora Margarita. The ladies danced with much grace, and entered into the spirit of the thing as if they enjoyed it. They were in different costumes, and saw here the only graceful exhibition of the _Jaceto_ and _Sciar_. Many of them had no covering to their beautiful little feet, excepting that magical slipper named before, which they managed to admiration, never allowing it to lose its position, or to touch the floor at any other part but the toe, to which it adhered with singular tenacity, through the most difficult steps of the whirling waltz or puzzling polka.

The lovely daughter of the Don--Margarita, however, was dressed in the latest Parisian fas.h.i.+on, and looked like an--angel, I was going to write, but the recollection of that "lurking devil" in her eye stayed the perjury of my pen. She looked a real bona fide woman, and a specimen of the race I shall be well enough satisfied with, until I am a.s.sured beyond a doubt that angels _are_ feminine, of which there is no proof in either sacred or profane history (all the ill.u.s.trations I have ever seen proving the contrary)--and I can get as close to them as I was to Senora Margarita.

_February 22d._--Birthday of the immortal Was.h.i.+ngton. The day appointed for sailing was fast approaching, and had to make all speed to get through various engagements in Manilla. Having been informed that an opera would be performed on our last evening, and opera being a special delight, went ash.o.r.e for the purpose of attending, but on arriving at the theatre found the opera had been postponed on account of the _primo tenore_ being afflicted with "boils." Had often known _broils_ to have been the cause of disappointment to the lovers of "Ernani" and other rapturous representative music, but here the _artiste_ had gotten hot blood into him, instead of getting into hot water; and thinking of the patient man of Uz, I sympathized with him; for, _par parenthese_, these eruptions of the skin are exceedingly sore in this climate, as you may find out if you but come to the East Indies and eat mangoes.

A comedy had been subst.i.tuted, called El lindo Diego, the part of which we saw was well performed. A disagreeable feature, however, was in the position of the prompter, who was placed in the centre of the footlights, and kept up a continuous recitation of the play in a monotonous tone, which greatly marred the effect.

The _Teatro Binondo_, where I saw this, is a very comfortable place, with good accommodations, splendid box for the Governor, fine airy saloons, and extensive verandahs. The price for admission was moderate--sixty-two and a half cents in United States currency.

Adjourned, after witnessing a dance between the acts, with castanets, to another place of amus.e.m.e.nt, the _Teatro Tagalo de Tonda_ (where the performance was in the Indian tongue), which is of a less imposing style, but where they get along very well.

After stopping here a short time, drove with Don Caesar to his residence in the country, about three miles; and in both going and returning were hailed every square by a sentry, who will permit no one to pa.s.s without a response. The watchword that night was _Espana_, which I was compelled to repeat so often that I heartily wished them all _in Spain_, and felt very much inclined to send them all thither, or to some other warm climate, but that Don C. cautioned me not to trifle with these punctilious privates: as on one occasion an Englishman, annoyed as I had been, having answered the fiftieth hail disrespectfully, in his own language, was marched off to the Calaboose, where he was detained all night, and only released the next morning upon the payment of a heavy fine, with the hint that the next time he insulted a Spanish soldier, it would be better to use some language he did not understand. I, however, got back safely to the "San Fernando," calling out continually, _Presto_, to the cochero, and _Espana_, to the sentries, and turned in.