than any of
the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his American fleet
entered Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and, by a victory unparalleled in naval
warfare, sunk the Spanish ships, silenced the forts, and dethroned the
power of Spain forever in a land which her tyranny had blighted for more
than three hundred years.

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details
concerning all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor
Worcester, of the University of Michigan, tells us that the population
comprises more than eighty distinct tribes, with individual
peculiarities. They are scattered over hundreds of islands, and one who
really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and towns far
behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid
volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the innermost
wilds. Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold men, led
by the love of science or by the spirit of adventure, have continued to
penetrate these dark regions, there are many sections where the foot of
civilized man has never trod; or, if so, he came not back to tell of the
lands and peoples which his eyes beheld.

DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY.

There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough exploration of
these islands. Spain persistently opposed the representatives of any
other nation entering the country. She suspected every man with a gun of
designing to raise an insurrection or make mischief among the natives.
The account of red tape necessary to secure guns and ammunition for a
little party of four or five explorers admitted through the customs at
Manila is one of the most significant, as well as one of the most
humorous, passages in Professor Worcester's story of his several years'
sojourn while exploring the archipelago.

In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no respect
for Spain's authority, and will have none for ours for years to come.
Two-thirds of them paid no tribute, and many of them never heard of
Spain, or, if so, only remembered that a long time ago white men came
and cruelly persecuted the natives along the shore. These wild tribes
think themselves still the owners of the land. Some of them go naked and
practice cannibalism and other horrible savage customs. Any explorer's
life is in danger among them; consequently mos