In the province of Iloilo, in the southern part of the island of Panay, is the town of Iloilo. It is on the sea, and is built on a low, marshy plain. Iloilo is the capital of the province in which it is situated, and it is also one of the principal sea-ports of the colony. The harbor is excellent, being well-protected by the island of Guimaras, which lies just beyond. This island is much higher than the mainland, with which it forms a kind of funnel, so that there is a constant breeze, which makes Iloilo much cooler and healthier than Manila. During the spring-tides the whole town is covered with water. Iloilo is a manufacturing town. Its principal product is piña, a fine cloth made from the fibre of the pineapple-leaf. Jusi--another fabric made from silk and woven into various colors--is also manufactured here. The country around the town is very fertile, and is extensively cultivated. The facilities for transportation to and from the interior of the island are very poor. This, of course, is a great bar to the development of the commerce. However, over 1,000,000 piculs of sugar are raised around Iloilo; also a great amount of tobacco; much rice, too, is raised here. The town is doubtless destined to become a great commercial centre. It is about 250 miles from Manila. Typhoons are not uncommon, though earthquakes are infrequent. Most of the traders are Chinese Mestizos. Some of them are very wealthy. The port of Iloilo is of recent date, its opening being wholly due to foreigners. The produce shipped from there comes mostly in American sailing vessels to the United States. Iloilo has become the shipping centre for the crops of sugar and sapan-wood of the islands of Negros and Panay, and the opening up of this port has greatly encouraged agriculture in the Visayas district. Manila is too far away. The Iloilo district includes the large islands of Panay, Negros, Cebú, and others, and has a second port of rising importance, Cebú, on the island of that name. Cavité is a fortified town, on a small peninsula, in the bay of Manila, about ten miles from the capital. To it a steamboat runs twice daily. The Government arsenal and the only shipyard in the colony are located here, and it is, therefore, the chief naval station in the islands. Cavité is also the residence of most of the Spanish naval officers and of many foreigners: their handsome bungalows are on the outskirts of the town. Some fine shops, a theatre, a few cafés, and the old Cathedral are the most noteworthy objects of interest in the town itself. The Cathedral is large and imposing, and its architecture is characteristic of most of the churches of the colony. The houses in Cavité were formerly of wood, but since a fire, in 1754, which destroyed the town, most of them are built of stone or brick. But even this did not save the town; for the earthquake of 1880 again laid it waste.