The island of Luzon has a bay thirty leguas in circumference on its southern coast, situated about one hundred leguas from the cape of Espiritu Santo, which is the entrance to the Capul channel. Its entrance is narrow, and midway contains an island called Miraveles [_i.e._, Corregidor] lying obliquely across it, which makes the entrance narrow. This island is about two leguas long and one-half legua wide. It is high land and well shaded by its many trees. It contains a native settlement of fifty persons, and there the watchman of the bay has his fixed abode and residence. There are channels at both ends of the island, where one may enter the bay. The one at the south is one-half legua wide, and has a rock in its middle called El Fraile ["the friar"]. The one on the north is much narrower, but any ships of any draft whatever can enter and go out by both channels. The entire bay is of good depth, and clean, and has good anchorages in all parts. It is eight leguas from these entrances to the colony of Manila and the bar of the river. A large harbor is formed two leguas south of Manila, with a point of land that shelters it. That point has a native settlement called Cabit, [122] and it gives name to the harbor, which is used as a port for the vessels. It is very capacious and well sheltered from the vendavals--whether the southeast, and southwest, the west, and west-southwest, or the north-northeast and north winds. It has a good anchorage, with a clean and good bottom. There is a good entrance quite near the land, more than one and one-half leguas wide, for the ingress and egress of vessels. All the shores of this bay are well provided with abundant fisheries, of all kinds. They are densely inhabited by natives. Above Manila there is a province of more than twenty leguas in extent called La Pampanga. This province possesses many rivers and creeks that irrigate it. They all flow and empty into the bay. This province contains many settlements of natives, and considerable quantities of rice, fruits, fish, meat, and other foods. [123] The bar of the river of Manila, which is in the same bay, near the colony of Manila on one side and Tondo on the other, is not very deep because of certain sand shoals on it, which change their position at the time of the freshets and obstruct it. Consequently, although the water is deep enough for any vessel past the bar, still, unless they are fragatas, vireys, or other small vessels, they cannot pass the bar to enter the river. In respect to galleys, galliots, and the vessels from China, which draw but little water, they must enter empty, and at high tide, and by towing. Such vessels anchor in the bay outside the bar, and, for greater security enter the port of Cabit.