[Albay roads and bridges.] The roads of the province of Albay are good, but they are by no means kept in good repair:  a state of things that will never be remedied so long as the indolence of the authorities continues.  Most of the stone bridges in the district are in ruins, and the traveller is obliged to content himself with wading through a ford, or get himself ferried across upon a raft or in a small canoe, while his horse swims behind him.  The roads were first laid down in the days of Alcalde Penaranda, a retired officer of the engineer corps, whom we have already mentioned, and who deserves considerable praise for having largely contributed to the welfare of his province, and for having accomplished so much from such small resources.  He took care that all socage service should be duly rendered, or that money, which went towards paying for tools and materials, should be paid in lieu of it.  Many abuses existed before his rule; no real services were performed by anybody who could trace the slightest relationship to any of the authorities; and, when by chance any redemption money was paid, it went, often with the connivance of the alcalde of the period, into the pockets of the gobernadorcillos, instead of into the provincial treasury.  Similar abuses still prevail all over the country, where they are not prevented by the vigilance of the authorities.  The numerous population, and the prosperity which the province now enjoys, would make it an easy matter to maintain and complete the existing highways.  The admirable officials of the district are certainly not wanting in good-will, but their hands are tied.  Nowadays the alcaldes remain only three years in one province (in Penaranda’s time, they remained six); their time is entirely taken up with the current official and judicial business; and, just as they are beginning to become acquainted with the capabilities and requirements of their district, they are obliged to leave it. [Handicapped officials.] This shows the government’s want of confidence in its own servants.  No alcalde could now possibly undertake what Penaranda accomplished.  The money paid in lieu of socage service, which ought to be applied to the wants of the province in which the socage is due, is forwarded to Manila.  If an alcalde proposes some urgent and necessary improvement, he has to send in so many tedious estimates and reports, which frequently remain unnoticed, that he soon loses all desire to attempt any innovation.  Estimates for large works, to carry out which would require a considerable outlay, are invariably returned from headquarters marked “not urgent.” [Funds diverted to Spain.] The fact is not that the colonial government is wanting in good-will, but that the Caja de Comunidad (General Treasury) in Manila is almost always empty, as the Spanish government, in its chronic state of bankruptcy, borrows the money and is never in a position to return it.

[Sorsogon earthquake.] In 1840 Sorsogon suffered severely from an earthquake, which lasted almost continuously for thirty-five days.  It raged with the greatest fury on the 21st of March.  The churches, both of Sorsogon and of Casiguran, as well as the smallest stone houses, were destroyed; seventeen persons lost their lives, and two hundred were injured; and the whole neighborhood sank five feet below its former level.