The grounds at Malacañan contain, perhaps, twenty acres, and in those days there were fields and swamps in the enclosure as well as lawns and fountains, flowerbeds and kitchen gardens. There were five or six good-sized houses in the grounds for the use of secretaries and aides, and the stables were very large.

I would not care to hazard a guess as to the number of parientes we sheltered in the quarters of our employees. Mr. Taft called these quarters our “Filipino tenement” and “Calle Pariente,” but screened with shrubbery and spreading down the sides of a twenty-acre lot the colony did not seem as conspicuous as our huddled tribe had been in Malate.