[Gambling rather than commerce] The return of a galleon to Manila, laden with silver dollars and new arrivals, was a great holiday for the colony. A considerable portion of the riches they had won as easily as at the gaming table, was soon spent by the crew; when matters again returned to their usual lethargic state. It was no unfrequent event, however, for vessels to be lost. They were too often laden with a total disregard to seaworthiness, and wretchedly handled. It was favor, not capacity, that determined the patronage of these lucrative appointments. [39] Many galleons fell into the hands of English and Dutch cruisers. [40] ["Philippine Company" and smugglers cause change.] But these tremendous profits gradually decreased as the Compañía obtained the right to import Indian cottons, one of the principal articles of trade, into New Spain by way of Vera Cruz, subject to a customs duty of 6 per cent; and when English and American adventurers began to smuggle these and other goods into the country. [41] [Spanish coins in circulation on China coast.] Finally, it may be mentioned that Spanish dollars found their way in the galleons to China and the further Indies, where they are in circulation to this day. CHAPTER III [The walled city of Manila.] The city proper of Manila, inhabited by Spaniards, Creoles, the Filipinos directly connected with them, and Chinese, lies, surrounded by walls and wide ditches, on the left or southern bank of the Pasig, looking towards the sea. [42] It is a hot, dried-up place, full of monasteries, convents, barracks, and government buildings. Safety, not appearance, was the object of its builders. It reminds the beholder of a Spanish provincial town, and is, next to Goa, the oldest city in the Indies. Foreigners reside on the northern bank of the river; in Binondo, the headquarters of wholesale and retail commerce, or in the pleasant suburban villages, which blend into a considerable whole. [Population.] The total population of city and suburbs has been estimated, perhaps with some exaggeration, at 200,000. [Bridges.] A handsome old stone bridge of ten arches serves as the communication between the two banks of the Pasig, which, more recently, has also been spanned by an iron suspension bridge. [43] Very little intercourse exists between the inhabitants of Manila and Binondo. [Friction between classes.] Life in the city proper cannot be very pleasant; pride, envy, place-hunting, and caste hatred, are the order of the day; the Spaniards consider themselves superior to the creoles, who, in their turn, reproach the former with the taunt that they have only come to the colony to save themselves from starvation. A similar hatred and envy exists between the whites and the mestizos. This state of things is to be found in all Spanish colonies, and is chiefly caused by the colonial policy of Madrid, which always does its best to sow discord between the different races