Manila lies in 40° 30' N. latitude. The climate is nearly the same as that of Pondicherry and Madras; the town is large and well built; the houses are handsome, and the streets in straight lines. There are several superb churches. It is fortified, and is situated upon the bank of a considerable river, which washes its walls, and communicates through the island of Luçon in every direction. The country which surrounds it is fertile, and adapted to every species of cultivation; but in the hands of the Spaniards it lies an useless waste. They have neither availed themselves of the position of the town, or of the fertility of the surrounding soil; they allow it to exhaust itself, and bear of its own accord crops which they will not be at the trouble of getting in. Even the law, which ought to lend its aid in support of the cultivator of the soil, is at Manila inimical to his views, and the exportation of that abundance which nature holds out to man is prohibited. The treasures of the earth exceed the wants of the limited number of inhabitants in this island, and they are allowed to perish on the soil which gives them birth. The consequence is, that should it happen in any year that a variable atmosphere, hurricanes, or a wet or dry season, should substitute scarcity for abundance, the most dreadful famine would be the lot of a country which ought never to feel the effects of it. Such is the general ignorance, such their indolence, their blind and culpable confidence in Providence, that the extent of their cultivation, and the collection of their produce, is limited to their immediate wants. The most horrible misery is often the result of this perilous security, so much at variance with the benevolent views of nature. Common animal instinct teaches us to provide for the future, but the Spaniards cannot boast of even this foresight. It is computed that there are about 12,000 Christians in Manila. The population of this city was formerly much more extensive while it was resorted to by the Chinese. Many of that nation were settled there, and others were engaged in commercial intercourse; but a bigoted Governor, under the influence of a wretched policy, absolutely drove them out of the island. Commerce and the arts immediately declined, and have never since recovered. Misery and depopulation have been the fatal consequences of this mal-administration. Vessels do not anchor abreast of Manila; the mouth of the river is interrupted by a bar, which is very dangerous in stormy weather. Small vessels, however, may enter, and their cargoes are discharged at Privateer harbour. Such vessels as are obliged to winter at Manila retire to the port of Cavite, situated in the bottom of the bay to the S. E. and three leagues distant from Manila.