During his four-year exile in Dapitan, Rizal built up a rich collection of oncology, which consisted of 346 shells representing 203 species.

He discovered some rare specimens who were named in his honor by the scientists. Among these was Draco rizali (a flying dragon), Apogonia rizali (a small beetle), and Rhacophorus rizali (a rare frog).

Rizal also conducted anthropological, ethnographical, archaeological, geological and geographical studies, as revealed by his voluminous correspondence with his scientist friends in Europe. There was no limit to his scientific versatility.

Linguistic Studies. A born linguist, Rizal continued his studies of languages. N Dapitan he learned the Bisayan, Subanun, and Malay languages. He wrote a Tagalog grammar, made a comparative study of the Bisayan and Malayan languages, and studied the Bisayan (Cebuan) and Subanun languages.

On April 5, 1896, his last year of exile in Dapitan, he wrote to Blumentritt: “I know already Bisayan and I speak it quite well; it is necessary, however, to know other dialects of the Philippines.” By this time, Rizal could rank with the world’s great linguist. He knew 22 languages, as follows: Tagalog, Ilokano, Bisayan, Subanun, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Arabic, Malay, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Dutch, Catalan, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, and Russian.

Artistic Works in Dapitan. Rizal continued his artistic pursuits in Dapitan. He contributed his painting skill to the Sisters of Charity who were preparing the sanctuary of the Holy Virgin in their private chapel. For the sake of economy, the head of the image was “procured from abroad.” The sisters made the vestments concealing all the rest of the figure except the feet, which rested upon a globe encircled by a snake in whose mouth is an apple. Rizal modeled the right foot of the image, the apple, and the serpent’s head. He also designed the exquisite curtain, which was painted in oil by an artist Sister under his direction.

Rizal made sketches of persons and things that attracted him in Dapitan. He drew, for instance, the three rate species of animal life – the dragon, the frog, and the beetle – which he had discovered. He had sketches of the numerous fishes he caught in Dapitan waters.

One day in 1894 some of his pupils secretly went to Dapitan in a boat from Talisay; a puppy of Syria (Rizal’s dog tried to follow and was devoured by a crocodile. Rizal reprimanded them, telling them that had they not disobeyed his advice not to go to town without his permission the puppy would not have died and the mother-dog would have been spared the sorrow of losing an offspring. To stress the moral of the incident; he modeled a statuette representing the mother-dog killing the crocodile, by way of avenging her lost puppy, and called it “The Mother’s Revenge.”

Other sculptural works of Rizal in Dapitan were a bust of Father Guerrico (one of his Ateneo professors), a statue of a girl called “The Dapitan Girl,” woodcarving of Josephine Bracken (his wife), and a bust of St. Paul, which he gave to Father Pastells.

Rizal as Farmer. In Dapitan Rizal devoted much of his time to agriculture. He bought 16 hectares of land in Talisay, where he built his home, school, and hospital, and planted cacao, coffee, sugarcane, coconuts and fruit trees. “My land,” he wrote to his sister Trinidad, “is half an hour from the sea. It is very poetic and very picturesque. If you and our parents come I will build a big house we can all live in.” Later, he acquired more lands until his total holdings reached 70 hectares, containing 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000 coconut trees, and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee and cacao.

On his farms, Rizal introduced modern methods of agriculture, which he had observed in Europe and America. His pupils helped him in the daily farm labor. He encouraged the Dapitan farmers to discard their primitive system of tillage and adopt the modern agricultural methods. He imported agricultural machinery from the United States.

Rizal dreamed of establishing an agricultural colony in the Sitio of Ponot near Sindangan Bay, where there was plenty of water and good port facilities. He believed that this place would be ideal to raise cacao, coffee, coconuts, and cattle. He invited his relatives and friends, especially those in Calamba, to come to his projected agricultural colony. “We will establish a new Kalamba,” he wrote to Hidalgo, his brother-in-law. Unfortunately this colony did not materialize, like his previous Borneo colonization, because he could not get the support of the government.

Rizal as Businessman. Aside from farming, Rizal engaged in business. In partnership with Ramon Carreon, a Dapitan merchant, he made profitable business ventures in fishing, copra, and hemp industries. He invited his relatives, particularly Saturnina and Hidalgo to come to Mindanao, for there “is vast and ample field of business” in the island. He particularly told Saturnina that in Dapitan she could profitably engage in the textile, jewelry, and hemp business.

In a letter to Hidalgo, dated January 19, 1893, he expressed his plan to improve the fishing industry of Dapitan. He said that the two has a good beach like Calamba and there is abundant fish in the sea; however, the fishing folks, using primitive methods of fishing, were able only to catch small fishes. Accordingly, he instructed Hidalgo to help him buy a big net for trawl fishing (puklutan) and to send him two good Calamaba fishermen who could teach the Dapitan folks better methods of fishing.

The most profitable business venture of Rizal in Dapitan was in the hemp industry. At one time, he shipped 150 bales of hemp to a foreign firm in Manila at huge profit for himself and his business partner. He purchased hemp in Dapitan at) 7 and 4 reales per picul and sold it in Manila at P10 and 4 reales, giving him a profit of P3 per picul. In his letter to Blumentritt on July 31, 1894, he said: “To kill time and to help also the people of this town, I have become a merchant. I buy abaca and ship it to Manila. Luck was with me this month. I made a profit of P2000 in one stroke.”

On May 14, 1893, Rizal formed a business partnership with Ramon Carreon (Dapitan businessman () in lime manufacturing. Their lime burner had a monthly capacity of more than 4000 bags of lime.

To break the Chinese monopoly on business in Dapitan, Rizal organized on January 1, 1895 the Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers. According to its constitution, which he had drafted, its purposes were “to improve the farm products, obtain better outlets for them, collect funds for their purchases, and help the producers and workers by establishing a store wherein they can buy prime commodities at moderate prices.”

Rizal’s Inventive Ability. One little knows fact about Rizal was that he was also an inventor. It should be remembered that in 1887, while practicing medicine in Calamba, he invented a cigarette lighter, which he sent as a gift to Blumentritt. He called it “sulpuklan.” This unique cigarette lighter was made of wood. “Its mechanism,” said Rizal, “is based on the principle of compressed air.”

During his exile in Dapitan, he invited a machine for making bricks. This machine could manufacture about 6, 000 bricks daily. Thus Rizal wrote to Blumentritt on November 20, 1895: "I have made a wooden machine for making bricks, and I believe it could make more or less 6,000 bricks a day... When I was in Belgium, I saw the making of bricks out-of-doors without kilns, and during my visit to Baden I saw also a mount of bricks on the ground. I suppose in Bohemia they make bricks on the by means of a different method; if this is so, please inform me how the bricks are baked such that not much heat is wasted".

"My Retreat".  In February 1895, Doña Teodora, with her eyesight fully restored, returned to Manila. During her long stay in Dapitan, she saw how busy her talented son was and regretted that he had neglected the Muses. She requested him to write poetry again.

In response to her request, Rizal wrote a beautiful poem about his serene life as an exile in Dapitan and sent it to her on October 22,1895. This poem was "Mi Retiro" (My Retreat), which is acclaimed by literary critics as one of the best ever penned by Rizal. It is as follows:

Rizal and Josephine Bracken. In the silent hours of the night after the day’s hard work, Rizal was often sad.  He missed his family and relatives, his good friends in foreign lands, the exhilarating life in the cities of Europe, and his happy days in Calamba. The death of Leonora Rivera on August 28, 1893 left a poignant void in his heart. He needed somebody to cheer him up in his lonely exile.

In God’s own time, this “somebody” came to Dapitan, like a sunbeam to dispel his melancholy mood. She was Josephine Bracken, an Irish girl of sweet eighteen, “slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an atmosphere of light gayety.” She was born in Hong Kong on October 3, 1876 of Irish parents – James Bracken, a corporal in the British garrison, and Elizabeth Jane MacBride. Her mother died in childbirth, and Mr. George Taufer, who later became blind, adopted her.

No ophthalmic specialist in Hong Kong could cure Mr. Taufer’s blindness so that he, accompanied by his adopted daughter Josephine went to Manila to seek the services of the famous ophthalmic surgeon, Dr. Rizal. They heard in the city that a Filipino companion, Manuela Orlac, in Dapitan, where they proceeded – accompanied Dr. Rizal. They presented to Rizal a card of introduction by Julio Llorente, his friend and schoolmate.

Rizal and Josephine fell in love with each other at first sight. After a whirlwind romance of one month, they agreed to marry. But Father Obach, the priest of Dapitan, refused to marry then without the permission of the Bishop of Cebu.

When Mr. Taufer heard of their projected marriage, he flared up in violent rage. Unable to endure the thought of losing Josephine, he tried to commit suicide by cutting off his throat with a razor. Rizal, however, grabbed his wrists and prevented him from killing himself. To avoid a tragedy, Josephine went with Taufer to Manila by the first available steamer. The blind man went away uncured because his ailment was venereal in nature, hence incurable.

Mr. Taufer returned alone to Hong Kong. Josephine stayed in Manila with Rizal’s family. Later she returned to Dapitan. Since no priest would marry them, Rizal and Josephine held hands together and married themselves before the eyes of God. They lived as man and wife. Of course, Father Obach was scandalized, and many unsavory tales were circulated by gossips in Dapitan.

Rizal and Josephine lived happily in Dapitan. In several letters to his family, Rizal praised Josephine and revealed his new happiness. He was no longer lonely. Dapitan had become for him a heaven of bliss.

At one time, Rizal wrote a poem for Josephine, which runs as follows:

In the early part of 1896 Rizal was extremely happy because Josephine was expecting a baby. Unfortunately, he played a prank on her, frightening her so that she prematurely gave birth to an eight-month baby boy, who lived only for three hours. This lost son of Rizal was named “Francisco” honor of Don Francisco (he hero’s father) and was buried in Dapitan.

Rizal and the Katipunan. While Rizal was mourning the loss of his son, ominous clouds of revolution gradually darkened the Philippines skies. Andres Bonifacio, the “Great Plebeian” was sowing the seeds of an armed uprising. The secret revolution society, called Katipunan, which he founded on July 7, 1892, was gaining more and more adherents.

In a secret meeting of the Katipunan at a little river called Bitukang Manok, near the town of Pasig, on May 2,1896, Dr. Pio Valenzuela was named emissary to Dapitan, in order to inform Rizal of plan of Katipunan to launch a revolution for freedom’s sake.

Dr. Valenzuela arrived in Dapitan in the evening of June 21, 1896. Rizal, ever a hospitable host, welcomed him. After supper, the two had heart-to-heart talk in the garden. Valenzuela told him of the Katipunan plan and the necessity of his support.

Rizal objected to Bonifacio’s audacious project to plunge the country in bloody revolution. He was of the sincere belief that it was premature, for two reasons: (1) the people are not ready for revolution, and (2) arms and funds must first be collected before raising the cry of revolution. He also disapproved the other plan of the Katipunan to rescue him because he had given his word of honor to the Spanish authorities and he did not want to break it.

Volunteers as Military Doctor IN Cuba. Months before the Katipunan contacted him, Rizal had offered his services as military doctor in Cuba, which was then in the throes of a revolution and a raging yellow fever epidemic. There was a shortage of physicians to minister to the needs of the Spanish troops and Cuban people. It was Blumentritt who told him of the deplorable health situation in war-ridden. Cuba and advised him to volunteer as army physician there.

Act in response to Blumentritts advice, Rizal wrote to governor General Ramon Blanco, Despojul’s successor, on December 17, 1895, offering his services as military doctor in Cuba. Months passed and he received no reply from Malacañang. He gave up hope that his humanitarian offer would ever receive government approval.

When he least expected it, a letter from Governor Blanco dated July 1, 1896 arrived in Dapitan, notifying him of the acceptance of his offer. This letter, which reached him on July 30^th, also stated that the politico-military commander of Dapitan would give him a pass so that he could come to Manila, where he would be given a safe-conduct to Spain, “and there the Minister of War will assign you to the Army of Operations in Cuba, detailed to the Medical Crops”.

The Song of the Travelers”. Great was Rizal’s joy in receiving the gladsome news from Malacañang. At least, he was free! Once more, he was going to travel- to Europe and then to Cuba. It was with this joyous thought of resuming his travels that he wrote his heart-warming poem. “El Canto del Viajero” (The Song of the Traveler) which runs in full:

Adios, Dapitan. On July 31, 19\896, Rizal’s four-year exile in Dapitan came to an end. At midnight of that date, he embarked on board the steamer Espana, He was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa, Angelica (Narcisa’s daughter), his three nephews, and sic pupils. Almost all Dapitan folks, young and old, were at the shore to bid him goodbye. Many wept as the steamer sailed away – especially the other pupils who aware too poor to accompany their beloved teacher to Manila. As farewell music, the town brass band strangely played the dolorous Funereal March of Chopin. As its melancholy melody floated in the air, Rizal must have felt it deeply for with his presentiment of death, it seemed an obsequy or a requiem.

  As the steamer pushed out into the sea, Rizal gazed for the last time on Dapitan with his hands waving in farewell salute to its kind and hospitable folks and with a crying heart filled with tears of nostalgic memories. When he could no longer see the dim shoreline, he sadly went to his cabin and wrote in his diary: “I have been in that district four years, thirteen days, and dew hours.”