The only vessels admitted at Manila are those of the Chinese and Indians, on the pretence that these people may thug be made converts; these are the vessels which import into Manila the articles of absolute necessity and of luxury, and take in exchange the piastres brought by the galleon from Acapulco. The commodities which might be drawn from Manila are cordage, pitch and tar, linen cloth, rushes, rotin, indigo, rocon, achiote, and rice. The cotton is of the finest quality, and might be made an important article of exportation to China, where many cargoes of that commodity are sent from Surat, on which the gain is sometimes an hundred per cent. The sugar cane thrives well here, and yields a sugar superior to that produced at Batavia. There is likewise found here the bark of a tree, which answers as a substitute for cinnamon, but to the taste of cinnamon it adds a little tartness: its bark is thick and porous, and the tree deemed a bastard cinnamon. The Spaniards barter it with the Chinese, but they set very little value on it, as the same species is found in Hainam, in Tonquin, and in Cochin China, from whence they import it. Another production is the wild nutmeg, but having no flavour, it is on that account not merchantable. It is small, and the tree which bears it has leaves a foot long; the same species is found at Madagascar. Tobacco succeeds well here; the chiroutes of Manila are in high repute all over India for their agreeable flavour; even the ladies smoke them all day long. The cocoa of Manila is considered as superior to that of America; it is the only tree whose cultivation is attended to in all the Philippines, because so much use is made of chocolate. It is the general beverage, and is presented as refreshment on visits: cocoa, as well as tobacco, are not indigenous in the Philippines; they were imported from New Spain. Wax might likewise be procured from Manila, the mountains swarming with bees which produce it. There is a great deal of gold found in all the rivers, a sufficient proof that there are mines of that metal; the Indians will earn fifteen pence a day by washing the sands for it. Iron is found in its native state, but mixed with some other metal, which renders it softer than ours. They work it exactly as it is found. There is likewise abundance of loadstone, and considerable quarries of marble from whence that is procured, with which the churches are decorated. The Spaniards have but a few insignificant establishments on Mindoro. All travellers have asserted that the inhabitants of this island have tails, but this idea rests on no other ground than that of the Coccix being a little elongated. The principal establishments of the Spaniards, in the island of Panay, are Ilo-Ilo and Antigue; there is no good anchorage on the island of Panay but in this latter place.