[Cock-fighting.] The chief amusement of the Filipinos is cock-fighting, which is carried on with a passionate eagerness that must strike every stranger.  Nearly every man keeps a fighting cock.  Many are never seen out of doors without their favorite in their arms; they pay as much as $50 and upwards for these pets, and heap the tenderest caresses on them.  The passion for cock-fighting can well be termed a national vice; but the practice may have been introduced by the Spaniards, or the Mexicans who accompanied them, as, in a like manner, the habit of smoking opium among the Chinese, which has become a national curse, was first introduced by the English. [Probably Malay Custom.] It is, however, more probable that the Malays brought the custom into the country.  In the eastern portion of the Philippines, cock-fighting was unknown in the days of Pigafetta.  The first cock-fight he met with was at Palawan.  “They keep large cocks, which from a species of superstition, they never eat, but keep for fighting purposes.  Heavy bets are made on the upshot of the contest, which are paid to the owner of the winning bird.” [47] The sight is one extremely repulsive to Europeans. [The cockpit.] The ring around the cockpit is crowded with men, perspiring at every pore, while their countenances bear the imprint of the ugliest passions.  Each bird is armed with a sharp curved spur, three inches long capable of making deep wounds, and which always causes the death of one or both birds by the serious injuries it inflicts.  If a cock shows symptoms of fear and declines the encounter, it is plucked alive.  Incredibly large sums, in proportion to the means of the gamblers, are wagered on the result. [Its bad influence.] It is very evident that these cock-fights must have a most demoralising effect upon a people so addicted to idleness and dissipation, and so accustomed to give way to the impulse of the moment.  Their effect is to make them little able to resist the temptation of procuring money without working for it.  The passion for the game leads many to borrow at usury, to embezzlement, to theft, and even to highway robbery.  The land and sea pirates, of whom I shall speak presently, are principally composed of ruined gamesters. [48]

[Feminine attractiveness.] In the comeliness of the women who lend animation to its streets Manila surpasses all other towns in the Indian Archipelago.  Mallat describes them in glowing colors.  A charming picture of Manila street life, full of local color, is given in the very amusing Aventures d’un Gentilhomme Breton. [49]

[Mestizas.] How many of the prettiest Filipinas are of perfectly unmixed blood, it is, I confess, difficult to decide.  Many of them are very fair and of quite an European type, and are thereby easily distinguished from their sisters in the outlying provinces.  The immediate environs of Manila can boast many beautiful spots, but they are not the resort of the local rank and fashion, the object of whose daily promenade is