[Twin piers.] The entrance to the canal or river Pasig is three hundred feet wide, and is enclosed between two well-constructed piers, which extend for some distance into the bay.  On the end of one of these is the light-house, and on the other a guard-house.  The walls of these piers are about four feet above ordinary high water, and include the natural channel of the river, whose current sets out with some force, particularly when the ebb is making in the bay.

[Suburbs.] The suburbs, or Binondo quarter, contain more inhabitants than the city itself, and is the commercial town.  They have all the stir and life incident to a large population actively engaged in trade, and in this respect the contrast with the city proper is great.

[Walled city.] The city of Manila is built in the form of a large segment of a circle, having the chord of the segment on the river:  the whole is strongly fortified, with walls and ditches.  The houses are substantially built after the fashion of the mother country.  Within the walls are the governor’s palace, custom-house, treasury, admiralty, several churches, convents, and charitable institutions, a university, and the barracks for the troops; it also contains some public squares, on one of which is a bronze statue of Charles iv.

The city is properly deemed the court residence of these islands; and all those attached to the government, or who wish to be considered as of the higher circle, reside here; but foreigners are not permitted to do so.  The houses in the city are generally of stone, plastered, and white or yellow washed on the outside.  They are only two stories high, and in consequence cover a large space, being built around a patio or courtyard.

[Dwellings.] The ground-floors are occupied as storehouses, stables, and for porters’ lodges.  The second story is devoted to the dining-halls and sleeping apartments, kitchens, bath-rooms, etc.  The bed-rooms have the windows down to the floor, opening on wide balconies, with blinds or shutters.  These blinds are constructed with sliding frames, having small squares of two inches filled in with a thin semi-transparent shell, a species of Placuna; the fronts of some of the houses have a large number of these small lights, where the females of the family may enjoy themselves unperceived.

[Business.] After entering the canal, we very soon found ourselves among a motley and strange population.  On landing, the attention is drawn to the vast number of small stalls and shops with which the streets are lined on each side, and to the crowds of people passing to and fro, all intent upon their several occupations.  The artisans in Manila are almost wholly Chinese; and all trades are local, so that in each quarter of the Binondo suburb the privilege of exclusive occupancy is claimed by some particular kinds of shops.  In passing up the Escolta (which is the longest and main street in this district), the cabinet-makers,