The New International Encyclopædia/Manila Bay

MANILA BAY. A large and beautiful inlet of the China Sea, running into the central part of Luzon on the western coast (Map: Luzon, E 8). It has, roughly, the shape of a triangle with its base line, 37 miles long, forming the head of the bay from southeast to northwest, while its apex is at the entrance, which is 11 miles wide. The depth of the bay from the entrance to the base is 25 miles. The land on both sides of the entrance and along the western shore is high and forested; that on the east and north is low, and the northern shore especially consists of the marshy delta of the Rio Grande de la Pampanga, which enters the bay through numerous mouths, between which tall reeds grow far out into the shallow water. The greater part of the bay, however, has deep water, with good and ample roadsteads at Manila and Cavité, and for harbor purposes it is the finest in the Far East. The entrance is well lighted by a large new lighthouse on Corregidor Island, and another on the smaller island of Caballo. The bay connects through the Pasig River at Manila with the large Bay Lagoon (q.v.) in the interior of Luzon. Manila Bay was the scene of the victory of Admiral Dewey over the Spanish fleet on May 1, 1898. See Spanish-American War.