iate than "_Jesus_, _Marie_, _Josep_!"

On entering one of the common houses, you would be astonished at the
pitiable lack of furnishings. The floor is made of slats of split
bamboo, tied down with strips of cane. The walls are simply the dried
_nipa_ branches, fastened down with bamboo laths. The only pictures on
the walls are the cheap prints of saints, the "Lady of the Rosary," or
illustrations clipped together with the reading matter from some stray
American magazine. The picture of a certain popular shoe manufacturer
is sometimes given the place of honor near the crucifix. If any attempt
at decoration has been made, the lack of taste of the Visayans is at
once apparent. For the ancient fly-specked chromo of the "Prospect
of Madrid" is as artistic in their eyes as though the advertisement
of a certain cracker factory did not adorn the margin. The undressed
pillars that support the house, run through the floor. The _nipa_
shutters that protect the windows are propped open, making heavy
awnings, and permitting a free circulation of the breeze. There are
no ceilings in these houses, and the entire framework of the roof is
visible. A cheap red curtain, trimmed with lace, is draped before the
entrance to the sleeping-room. While in the better frame-constructed
residences an old Spanish tester bed with a cane bottom may be seen in
this apartment, here only the straw mats and the cotton bolsters are to
be found. A basket hanging from a bamboo spring serves as a cradle for
the baby, but it is a pretty lucky baby that indulges in this luxury,
as most of the children, spreading the mats upon the floor at night,
pillow their heads upon the bolsters, ten in a row, and go to sleep. A
marble-topped table and a few chairs, formally arranged as though in
preparation for a conclave, are the features of the larger homes; but
generally the furniture consists of a long bench, a wooden table, and
a camphorwood box, which contains the family treasures, and the key to
which the woman of the house wears in her belt--a symbol of authority.

On climbing the outside stairway to the living-rooms you find your
passage blocked by a small fence. In trying to step over this you
nearly crush a naked baby, and a yellow dog snaps venomously at
your heels. You enter the main room, where the pony-saddle and the
hemp-scales may be stored. The Filipinos are great visitors, and you
will find a ring of old men squatting upon the benches like so many
hens,