, like the old
woman's soap," interjected Mrs. Blossom, the nurse; and everybody
laughed to hear her say anything.

"The diseases most dreaded in these islands are consumption, dysentery,
and anaemia"--

"Mercy, Professor!" cried Mr. Woolridge.

"The reduction in the amount of blood in the system, and the condition
resulting from this loss, is anaemia. Dr. Hawkes can explain it more
fully," replied the professor.

"Not necessary," added the surgeon.

"As all over the Eastern Archipelago, there are two seasons, the wet and
the dry, produced by the monsoons; but the irregularity of the surface
variously modifies the result. For the southern and western sides of the
mountains the south-west monsoons give the wet season, and the
north-east the dry season, and _vice versa_. Manila is subjected by the
influence of the south-west winds to rains from June to November, with
dry weather the rest of the year.

"The temperature is about the same all the year round. The coolest month
is December, when the glass stays at about 77 deg.; and in May, the hottest
month, at 86 deg.. Of course there are days, and times of day, when the
temperature is lower than the one, and higher than the other. The
extremes where we are going vary only about 25 deg.--from 66 deg. to 91 deg.; and we
have it hotter than the last in New York. The average rainfall is about
seventy inches, varying by months from one-third of an inch in March, to
twenty inches in August.

"The flora of the islands is just what you would expect in this climate.
Nearly or quite all the plants you have found in the other islands you
have visited are to be found here. Particularly plenteous here are the
fibrous plants, and abaca forms in its prepared state one of the most
important exports of the islands. This is a sort of plantain from which
comes the Manila hemp, as it is sometimes called, though it is a
misnomer; and with us it is called simply manila, the sailors tell me.
It is extensively cultivated here, and grows something like the banana.

"The stalks on which the leaves grow are split into long strips, are
threshed, combed, washed, and dried, and then they become manila, of
which many of the ropes of this ship are made, though hemp makes the
better article. The finest fibres are sometimes fifteen feet long, and
from such some very delicate manufactured goods are produced. The
coarser parts are used for cordage, which is very serviceable. When we
were at Nassau,