INTERISLAND TRANSPORTATION.--Water transportation is the key to the interisland trade of the Islands. For hundreds of years before the coming of the steamboat, the Philippine seas were dotted with small sailboats of every description, made out of a log, or of rough hewn planks surmounted by a sail made from abaca cloth. They were manned by sturdy, courageous voyagers inured to hardships, who dared to go forth even into strange oceans, through typhoon and tempest. The following table shows the entrances and clearances of vessels in the Philippine Islands by nationalities during 1920-1923: AGGREGATE VALUE OF MERCHANDISE CARRIED BY VESSELS ENGAGED IN FOREIGN TRADE, BY NATIONALITY -------------+---------+----------------------------------------- | Vessels | 1921 | entered +-------------+-------------+------------- Nationality | and | Imports | Exports | Total of vessels | cleared | | | -------------+---------+-------------+-------------+------------- | | Pesos | Pesos | Pesos Philippine | 170 | 3,379,522 | 484,817 | 3,864,339 American | 336 | 74,809,502 | 64,206,170 | 139,015,672 British | 740 | 109,387,341 | 60,335,999 | 169,723,340 Chinese | 40 | 499,454 | 325,625 | 825,079 Danish | 3 | ----------- | 1,750 | 1,750 Dutch | 94 | 6,314,435 | 13,203,844 | 19,517,779 French | 8 | 482,434 | ----------- | 482,434 German | ------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- Spanish | 13 | 1,304,940 | 5,011,874 | 6,316,814 Swedish | 6 | 17 | 1,788,182 | 1,788,199 Norwegian | 30 | 1,637,253 | ----------- | 1,637,253 Japanese | 319 | 29,169,887 | 20,746,925 | 49,916,812 Mail | ------- | 4,692,363 | 10,125,959 | 14,818,322 +---------+-------------+-------------+------------- Total | 1,759 | 231,677,148 | 176,230,645 | 407,907,793 -------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-------------