An Englishwoman in the Philippines . o drove all through dim streets, with a gorgeoussunset fading in the sky, and I could not makethings out very distinctly, but could see that wewere passing along ramshackle, half-country roadswith overshadowing trees, and every now and thenwe passed a row of little open shops with brightlights in them, and natives squatting about. Thereare no bazaars in this country, by-the-bye, onlylittle mat-shed shops where food is sold. That was all I saw of Cebii, as I did not go outthis morning, and we sailed in the afternoon. Whenwe came down to the wharf to
An Englishwoman in the Philippines . o drove all through dim streets, with a gorgeoussunset fading in the sky, and I could not makethings out very distinctly, but could see that wewere passing along ramshackle, half-country roadswith overshadowing trees, and every now and thenwe passed a row of little open shops with brightlights in them, and natives squatting about. Thereare no bazaars in this country, by-the-bye, onlylittle mat-shed shops where food is sold. That was all I saw of Cebii, as I did not go outthis morning, and we sailed in the afternoon. Whenwe came down to the wharf to get on board, thetide, or the Port Doctor, had allowed of the Kai-Fong, drawing up to the wharf, so we came onboard up a plank, when one had to look at theship instead of the water on each side! The shipwas very busy getting a cargo of hemp into one ofthe holds, hemp being the peculiar produce of theIsland of Cebii and the opposite ones of Samarand Leyte, all long-shaped islands lying almostparallel in the middle qf the CEBU AND MACTAN 11 The hemp comes on board in great oblongbales, looking like oakum, and a man told me itwas the fibre of a plant like a banana tree, whichthe natives split and shred very skilfully, and thenit is dried and done up in bales, and that is allthere is to it, as the Americans say. Opposite the town of Cebii is a long, low island called Mactan, where the great Portuguese Navi-,gator Magellan was killed in the year 1521. The /story is that the natives of the islands, findingMagellan invincible, and believing him to beenchanted, lured the great explorer away by .^treachery to the little island of Mactan, where theyhad prepared a pit covered with branches, such asthey use to trap wild pigs. Magellan fell into thistrap, whereupon the savages rushed out of theirhiding-places and shot him in the joints of his harnesswith poisoned arrows, and one bold man finallyfinished him ofi with a spear. They poison theirarrows to this day as they did then
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1906
