vite, or Zamboanga, at sunrise, and led back to jail at sunset. But
as they are not forced by the soldiers to work much harder than they
like, they take care not to injure themselves by overtasking their
powers of labour, and are not apparently much discontented with their
condition, from which I have seldom or never heard of their attempting
to escape, although neither their food nor their lodgings in jail
are very enticing; the former being bad black-looking rice and water,
and the jail generally swarming with vermin.

They appear to prefer the partial liberty of getting out of jail, and
of working in the streets in chains, to the monotony of a residence
within the walls of the prison, and the sedentary labour they might
be forced to pursue there.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Among the amusements of the Indians the greatest is cock-fighting,
for which they have a passion; and nearly every native throughout
the islands gratifies this taste by keeping a fighting cock, which
may be seen carried about with him perched on an arm or a shoulder,
in all the pride of a favourite of its master.

During Sundays and feast-days, when no work is allowed to be done,
nearly the half of the native population, if able to muster a few
rials, repair to the village cockpit, to arrange some match for their
favorite fowl, on which they will sometimes stake large amounts,
or to see the sport of their neighbours.

The privilege of opening a cockpit is an important source of revenue
to the Government, which farms it out to the highest bidder, who, I
believe, has the power to stop fighting for money at any place within
the limits of his district other than the privileged arena, for an
admission to which he exacts a small charge from each person, which is
the mode of reimbursing himself for the amount paid to the Government.

This place is generally a large house, constructed of _cana_, wattled
like a coarse basket, and surrounded by a high paling of the same
description, which forms a sort of court-yard, where the cocks are
kept waiting their turns to come upon the stage, should their owners
have succeeded in arranging a satisfactory match. Passing across
the yard, the door of the house, within which the matches come off,
stands open: after entering and ascending the steps, the arena is
before us, surrounded by seats sloping down from the wall towards it,
so that every one may be able distinctly to witness the event.

After the owners of the