My native diver informed me that he was much more afraid of the Manta than of any shark, and that once when he was diving for some purpose--I do not recollect when--at the bottom a shade fell on him, and, on looking up, he beheld an enormous manta right above him--in his words, "as big as a lighter." However, it passed on, and he was able to regain the surface. Perhaps the most remarkable talent possessed by the Tagal is his gift for instrumental music. Each parish has its brass band supplied with European instruments, the musicians generally wearing a quasi-military uniform. If the village is a rich one, there is usually a string band as well. They play excellently, as do the military bands. Each infantry battalion had its band, whilst that of the Peninsular Artillery, of ninety performers, under a band-master holding the rank of lieutenant, was one of the finest bands I have ever heard. There were few countries where more music could be heard gratis than in the Philippines, and for private dances these bands could be hired at moderate rates. The Tagal is also a good agriculturist. According to his lights, he cultivates paddy with great care. It is all raised in seed-plots, the soil of which is carefully prepared, and fenced about. The fields are ploughed and harrowed whilst covered with water, so that the surface is reduced to soft mud. When the ground is ready for planting, the whole population turns out, and, being supplied with the young shoots in bundles, of which tally is kept, proceed to plant each individual shoot of paddy by hand. Ankle-deep in the soft mud of the paddy-fields stand long rows of bare-legged men, women and children, each in a stooping position, holding against the body with the left hand a large bundle of rice-plants, incessantly and rapidly seizing a shoot with the right hand, and plunging it into the black slime with the forefinger extended. Hour after hour the patient toil goes on, and day after day, in all the glare of the burning sun, reflected and intensified from the surface of the black water, till the whole vast surface has been planted. The matandang-sa-naya, or village elder, then announces how many millions of rice shoots have been put in. The labour is most exhausting, from the stooping position, which is obligatory, and because the eyes become inflamed from the reflection of the sun on the black water. As the paddy is planted during the rainy season, it often happens that the work is done under a tropical downpour instead of a blazing sun.