more
commonly four, suits are worn out yearly; the women, however, taking
care to weave almost the whole quantity for the family themselves.

[Wages.] The daily wages of the common laborer are 1 real, without
food; and his hours of work are from 6 to 12, and from 2 to 6
o'clock. The women, as a rule, perform no field labor, but plant out
the rice and assist in the reaping; their wages on both occasions
being equal to those of the men. Wood and stone-cutters receive 1.5
r. per day, and calkers 1.75 r.

[Land leases.] The Tercio is a pretty general contract in the
cultivation of the land. The owner simply lets arable land for the
third part of the crop. Some mestizos possess several pieces of ground;
but they are seldom connected together, as they generally acquire
them as mortgages for sums bearing but a small proportion to their
real value.

[Family income.] Under the head of earnings I give the income of a
small family. The man earns daily one real, and the woman, if she
weaves coarse stuff, one-fourth real, and her food (thus a piece
of guinara, occupying the labor of two days, costs half a real in
weavers' wages). The most skilful female weaver of the finer stuffs
obtains twelve reals per piece; but it takes a month to weave; and
the month, on account of the numerous holy-days, must be calculated
at the most as equal to twenty-four working days; she consequently
earns one-fourth real per day and her food. For the knitting of the
fibers of the ananas for the pina web (called sugot) she gets only
an eighth of a real and her food.

[Schools.] In all the pueblos there are schools. The schoolmaster
is paid by the Government, and generally obtains two dollars per
month, without board or lodging. In large pueblos the salary amounts
to three dollars and a half; out of which an assistant must be
paid. The schools are under the supervision of the ecclesiastics
of the place. Reading and writing are taught, the writing copies
being Spanish. The teacher, who has to teach his scholars Spanish
exactly, does not understand it himself, while the Spanish officers,
on the other hand, do not understand the language of the country;
and the priests have no inclination to alter this state of things,
which is very useful to them as a means of influence. Almost the only
Filipinos who speak Spanish are those who have been in the service
of Europeans. A kind of religious horn-book is the first that is
read in the language of the country