ove twenty-five miles in length,
and almost twelve miles broad, and contains one hundred seventy
square miles. As I have already remarked, it is divided from Samar
only by the small strait of San Juanico. The chief town, Tacloban or
Taclobang, lies at the eastern entrance of this strait, with a very
good harbor and uninterrupted communication with Manila, and has
consequently become the chief emporium of trade to Leyte, Biliran,
and South and East Samar. [188]

[Obliging Spanish officials.] The local governor likewise showed me
much obliging attention; indeed, almost without exception I have,
since my return, retained the most agreeable remembrances of the
Spanish officials; and, therefore, if fitting opportunity occurred,
I could treat of the improprieties of the Administration with greater
impartiality.

[Locusts.] In the afternoon of the day after my arrival at Tacloban, on
a sudden there came a sound like the rush of a furious torrent; the air
became dark, and a large cloud of locusts swept over the place. [189]
I will not again recount that phenomenon, which has been so often
described, and is essentially the same in all quarters of the globe,
but will simply remark that the swarm, which was more than five hundred
feet in width, and about fifty feet in depth, its extremity being
lost in the forest, was not thought a very considerable one. It caused
vigilance, but not consternation. Old and young eagerly endeavored to
catch as many of the delicate creatures as they could, with cloths,
nets, and flags, in order, as Dampier relates, "to roast them in
an earthen pan over fire until their legs and wings drop off, and
their heads and backs assume the color of boiled crabs;" after which
process he says they had a pleasant taste. In Burma at the present day,
they are considered as delicacies at the royal court. [190]

[Plan for their extermination.] The locusts are one of the greatest
plagues of the Philippines, and sometimes destroy the harvest of entire
provinces. The Legislacion Ultramarina (iv. 504) contains a special
edict respecting the extirpation of these devastating pests. As soon
as they appear, the population of the invaded localities are to be
drawn out in the greatest possible numbers, under the conduct of the
authorities, in order to effect their destruction. The most approved
means for the attainment of this object are set forth in an official
document referring to the adoption of extraordinary measures i