Here, however, I am afraid my praise must stop, because I have seen among a great number of them a good deal of dissimulation, or, to speak more plainly, of bad faith,--with regard to which their modes of thinking are very different from those prevailing at home; and among their mercantile people especially, they often appear to imitate, or unconsciously to act upon a smart Yankee trader's modes of getting the best of a bargain, being very frequently rather too unscrupulous in their representations, when it appears to them that it is for their interest to be so. To give an idea of their opinions about the subject of buying and selling, I will tell the reader a story. A lad, the son of a high government officer, sold an unsound horse to a companion as a sound one, which, on being discovered by the purchaser, of course made him very indignant, and he demanded his money back, complaining at the same time to the boy's father, who passes for a person of high character and good sense, about the scurvy trick his son had played him. "Well," said this respectable old gentleman, "I am glad to see that the lad is so sharp; for, if he could get the better of you so well, he will make a capital merchant, and be able to cheat the Chinamen!" Without exaggeration this is a good deal the system on which the Spaniards carry on business. They always appear to be trying to take advantage of a purchaser, and if successful have very complaisant consciences; but should they themselves be taken in, or have the worst of a bargain, their virtuous horror and indignation on discovering it know no bounds. There is very little, or almost none, of that mutual confidence existing between them which exists between British merchants, and which is so necessary in large transactions, or in carrying on an extensive business, as they do. The large number of government _empleados_ residing at Manilla makes an important addition to the society of the place, as, from being idle men to a great extent, they seek how to amuse and be amused, and are cultivators of the society of the English, whose dinner tables are probably the chief causes of the intercourse which exists between them. The entire white population in Manilla amounts to about 5,000, a large proportion of them being officers, sergeants, and corporals of the troops stationed either within the town, or in the immediate vicinity.