Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/118

110 MANILA but the anchorage in the port of Manila is ex- cellent for small vessels. Manila is by law the sole emporium of foreign trade with the Span- ish East Indies. The chief articles of export are sugar, tobacco (exclusively to Great Brit- ain and Spain, the latter receiving annually a state tribute out of the tobacco crop to the amount of $800,000), cigars, hemp, coffee, in- digo, copper, and gums and other tropical products. The imports include cotton, linen, woollen, and silk fabrics, manufactured iron, wines, beer, &c. The total value of the ex- ports for the year ending Sept. 30, 1872, was $18,679,770 19 ; of the imports, $2,557,227 42 ; the amount f duties paid on the latter was $284,406 81. The more important commer- cial relations are with Spain, Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany, China, Chili, and the Hawaiian islands. The tobacco manu- facture, a government monopoly, employs 20,- 000 workers of both sexes. (For other manu- factures, see LUZON, and PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.) Educational establishments are numerous in Manila : there are the university of St. Thomas, with 500 students; that of St. John, with 250 ; a royal marine school (established in 1820), a commercial (1840), and a number of primary schools public and private. Manila was found- ed by the Spaniards in 1571, on the site of a Malay town defended by stockades. Miguel Lo- pez de Legazpi, conqueror of the Philippines and founder of the city, was indefatigable in promoting its growth. He founded the cathe- dral, the metropolitan church of all Catholic Oceanica, and established a municipal organi- zation, which was confirmed by Philip II. of Spain, and continues to be the form of muni- cipal government in Manila. Chinese laborers and traders settled here in large numbers, and in time Became very turbulent. In 1603 an insurrection took place, and 23,000 Chinese were massacred; notwithstanding which, the Chinese population in 1639 numbered in Ma- nila about 30,000. The severity of imposts and religious persecution again led to insurrec- tion, which terminated with the slaughter of about 25,000 Chinese, and the banishment of the remainder ; but they soon again resorted to the city in large numbers, and assisted Ad- miral Cornish and Sir William Draper in the capture of it in 1762. The English expedition, composed of 2,300 Europeans and sepoys, which sailed from Madras, took the city by storm, after a siege of ten days. The gover- nor and archbishop agreed to pay $5,000,000 to save the rich cargoes then lying in the port; but the king of Spain refused to ratify the offer. Sir William Draper has been rendered conspicuous by his controversy with Junius concerning this ransom. Manila was restored to Spain by the peace of Paris, Feb. 10, 1763. The Japanese had much trade with the city, and were settled in it in large numbers during a portion of the 17th century, before their laws excluded them from all communication with the rest of the world. They imported the raw material extensively used in their manufactures directly from the Philippines. Earthquakes have been frequent and disas- trous; in that of 1645, 3,000 lives were lost; and those of 1762, 1824, and 1852 were also destructive of life and property ; while in that of June, 1863, about 1,000 persons perished. In March, 1833, about 10, 000 huts were burned, some lives were lost, and about 30,000 people left homeless. MANILA, or Manila Hemp, the fibre of musa textilis, a native of the Philippine islands, and of the same genus with the banana and plan- tain. The tree, known in the islands by the native name of cibaca, has a similar habit of growth to the banana and other musas; the ManUa Hemp Tree (Musa textilis). stem proper is small, and is surrounded by the broad sheathing petioles of the leaves, together making a kind of false stem, which in the abaca is 15 or 20 ft. high ; the leaves are dark green, and resemble those of the banana; the fruit is small and triangular, resembling an abortive banana, and full of black seeds; the plant is readily multiplied by seeds and by suckers, and propagates itself so freely as to take complete possession of the land. When the stems are about to flower they are cut down, and split longitudinally in four pieces; the petioles, which are the portion furnishing the fibre, are then pulled off, the outer ones, which furnish the coarsest and strongest fibre, being kept separate from the inner; those which grow