pineapple fibre; cinemi is a mixture of the two; abaka (a-ba-ka) from
hemp fibre; algodon from the native cotton; sada is silk; sabana is
a mixture of cotton and hemp.

We visited many of the places where the most extensive weaving is done,
and there we saw the most wretched-looking, old women handling the
hair-like threads. Each one had by her side some emblem of the Roman
Church as she sat at her daily task. These poor, dirty, misshapen
creatures, weaving from daylight to dark, earn about fifty cents
a month. So many of the women are deformed and unclean, both the
makers and the sellers, that it seemed utterly incongruous that they
should handle the most delicate materials. In all my observations,
I saw but one nice, clean woman of the lower classes. In our happy
country we do not think of seeing a whole class of people diseased
or maimed. In the Philippines one seldom sees a well formed person;
or if the form is good, the face is disfigured by small-pox.

I was surprised, at first, on looking out after breakfast, to find at
my door every morning from two to a dozen women and boys in sitting
posture, almost nude, only a thin waist on the body, and a piece
of cotton drawn tightly round the legs. Many would be solemnly and
industriously chewing the betel nut, which colors lips and saliva a
vivid red.

It would not only be impertinent on my part to relate particulars of
our army, but I should undoubtedly do as Mrs. Partington did--"open
my patrician mouth and put my plebeian foot in it." The first thing
I did on arriving at Iloilo was to call mess "board" and go to bed
instead of "turning in."

In time of special danger, the various commanders were very kind in
providing guards--mostly, however, to protect Government property. I
felt no great uneasiness about personal safety, though I always
"slept with one eye open." We were so frequently threatened that we
stood ready every moment to move on. Shots during the night are not,
as a rule, conducive to sleep, and I did not like the sound of the
balls as they struck the house. I had my plans laid to get behind
the stone wall at the rear of the passage and lie on the floor. It
was necessary to keep a close watch on the servants who were "muchee
hard luc" (very much afraid) at the slightest change in the movements
of either army, home or foreign.

Their system of wireless telegraphy was most efficient, so much so
that one day at 2 P. M. I was told by a native of an engag