An Englishwoman in the Philippines by Dauncey Campbell Mrs

Author:Dauncey, Campbell, Mrs. [Dauncey, Campbell, Mrs.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
ISBN: 9781465625373
Google: AXRCAAAAIAAJ
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Published: 2021-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

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LETTER XX.

FILIPINO INDOLENCE—A DROUGHT

Iloilo, March 31, 1905.

Many thanks for your letter of February 23rd. We were greatly interested in your description of the radium baths, though it seems difficult, out here, to imagine that there is anyone anywhere taking so much trouble to get hot! I must say, though, that I don’t feel this heat quite so much as one might imagine, at least, as far as actually feeling hot goes. For an evening or two ago I was quite surprised, when we were in Hoskyn’s stores, to notice that the thermometer was marking 92° Fahrenheit. Of course that was in the cool of the evening, but I had not noticed any particular heat during the day. I thought how much it would interest you to get some idea of the temperature we live in, so we bought a thermometer and have hung it up in the sala. In a way, I am sorry we have done this, as we did not know before how hot we really were, and did not mind the heat half so much.

A watering-cart has begun operations, and as I write, it is passing down the street. It is a most amusing contrivance, consisting of a carabao waggon with a cask laid longways on it, and a native sitting astride the carabao, guiding with a goad and one string. The water flows out of a bamboo pole at the back of the barrel, and a spray is produced by means of a circle of holes, through which the water squirts uncertainly. The only result, as far as the roads are concerned, is a long narrow puddle and a great waste of precious water, though I expect it is sea water they use. The whole contrivance is so amusingly extravagant, shiftless, inefficient—so characteristically Filipino!

À propos of the ways of the natives, a Spanish friend of C——’s, who was here the other day, told us a long and harrowing story, which was to him somewhat of a tragedy, though to me, I am afraid, it was only a source of amusement. This man tried the venture of keeping a small stable of quilezes for hire, which is a favourite speculation with young men who want to play with a little capital, either with the idea of trying to keep body and soul together in this expensive country, or else with the perennial hope of being able to get away from it. One of the Englishmen professes to have made a good thing out of it (quilez-hiring), but when we told our Spanish friend this hopeful news, he refused to be comforted, and hunched up his shoulders and spread out his hands, saying, “Horses are cheap enough, and fares are high, which is very well from our point of view; but you have the eternal Filipino to deal with.”

“What does he do in this case?” we asked.

“He does nothing,” said the Spaniard. “In this, as in every other employment, he does not think it necessary to learn, or to know anything at all.

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