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+} +p.byline +{ +font-style: italic; +margin-bottom: 2em; +} +.figureHead, .noteref, .pseudonoteref, .marginnote, p.legend, .versenum, .stage +{ +color: #001FA4; +} +.rightnote, .pagenum, .linenum, .pagenum a +{ +color: #AAAAAA; +} +a.hidden:hover, a.noteref:hover +{ +color: red; +} +p.dropcap:first-letter +{ +color: #001FA4; +font-weight: bold; +} +sub, sup +{ +line-height: 0; +} +.pagenum, .linenum +{ +speak: none; +} +</style> + +<style type="text/css"> +.xd20e96width +{ +width:468px; +} +.xd20e102width +{ +width:460px; +} +.xd20e116 +{ +text-align:center; +} +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes, by +Tomás de Comyn and Fedor Jagor and Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow and Charles Wilkes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes + +Author: Tomás de Comyn + Fedor Jagor + Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow + Charles Wilkes + +Editor: Austin Craig + +Release Date: April 14, 2011 [EBook #10770] +First Posted: June 18, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FORMER PHILIPPINES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="front"> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure xd20e96width"><img src="images/front-cover.jpg" alt= +"Original Front Cover." width="468" height="720"></div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"></p> +<div class="figure xd20e102width"><img src="images/titlepage.gif" alt= +"Original Title Page." width="460" height="720"></div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd20e106" href="#xd20e106" name= +"xd20e106">i</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="titlePage"> +<div class="docTitle"> +<div class="mainTitle">The Former Philippines Thru Foreign Eyes</div> +</div> +<div class="byline"><span class="docAuthor">Edited by Austin +Craig</span></div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first xd20e116">Copyright, 1916, by Austin Craig</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd20e119" href="#xd20e119" name= +"xd20e119">iii</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Preface</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Among the many wrongs done the Filipinos by Spaniards, +to be charged against their undeniably large debt to Spain, one of the +greatest, if not the most frequently mentioned, was taking from them +their good name.</p> +<p>Spanish writers have never been noted for modesty or historical +accuracy. Back in 1589 the printer of the English translation of Padre +Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza’s “History of the Great and Mighty +Kingdom of China” felt it necessary to prefix this warning: * * * +the Spaniards (following their ambitious affections) do usually in all +their writings extoll their own actions, even to the setting forth of +many untruthes and incredible things, as in their descriptions of the +conquistes of the east and west Indies, etc., doth more at large +appeare.</p> +<p>Of early Spanish historians Doctor Antonio de Morga seems the single +exception, and perhaps even some of his credit comes by contrast, but +in later years the rule apparently has proved invariable. As the +conditions in the successive periods of Spanish influence were +recognized to be indicative of little progress, if not actually +retrogressive, the practice grew up of correspondingly lowering the +current estimates of the capacity of the Filipinos of the conquest, so +that always an apparent advance appeared. This in the closing period, +in order to fabricate a sufficient showing for over three centuries of +pretended progress, led to the practical denial of human attributes to +the Filipinos found here by Legaspi.</p> +<p>Against this denial to his countrymen of virtues as well as rights, +Doctor Rizal opposed two briefs whose English titles are “The +Philippines A Century Hence” and “The Indolence of the +Filipino.” Almost every page therein shows the influence of the +young student’s early reading of the hereinafter-printed studies +by the German scientist Jagor, friend and counsellor in his maturer +years, and the liberal Spaniard Comyn. Even his acquaintance with +Morga, which eventually led to Rizal’s republication of the 1609 +history long lost to Spaniards, probably was owing to Jagor, although +the life-long resolution for that action can be traced to hearing of +Sir John Bowring’s visit to his uncle’s home and the +proposed Hakluyt Society English translation then mentioned.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd20e135" href="#xd20e135" name= +"xd20e135">iv</a>]</span>The present value and interest of these now +rare books has suggested their republication, to make available to +Filipino students a course of study which their national hero found +profitable as well as to correct the myriad misconceptions of things +Philippine in the minds of those who have taken the accepted Spanish +accounts as gospel truths.</p> +<p>Dr. L. V. Schweibs, of Berlin, made the hundreds of corrections, +many reversing the meanings of former readings, which almost justify +calling the revised Jagor translation a new one. Numerous +hitherto-untranslated passages likewise appear. There have been left +out the illustrations, from crude drawings obsolete since photographic +pictures have familiarized the scenes and objects, and also the +consequently superfluous references to these. No other omission has +been allowed, for if one author leaned far to one side in certain +debatable questions the other has been equally partisan for the +opposite side, except a cerement on religion in general and discussion +of the world-wide social evil were eliminated as having no particular +Philippine bearing to excuse their appearance in a popular work.</p> +<p>The early American quotations of course are for comparison with the +numerous American comments of today, and the two magazine extracts give +English accounts a century apart. Virchow’s matured views have +been substituted for the pioneer opinions he furnished Professor Jagor +thirty years earlier, and if Rizal’s patron in the scientific +world fails at times in his facts his method for research is a safe +guide.</p> +<p>Finally, three points should constantly be borne in mind: (1) +allowance must be made for the lessening Spanish influence, surely more +foreign to this seafaring people than the present modified Anglo-Saxon +education, and so more artificial, i.e., less assimilable, as well as +for the removal of the unfavorable environment, before attempting to +from an opinion of the present-day Filipino from his prototype pictured +in those pages; (2) foreign observers are apt to emphasize what is +strange to them in describing other lands than their own and to leave +unnoted points of resemblance which may be much more numerous; (3) +Rizal’s judgment that his countrymen were more like backward +Europeans than Orientals was based on scientific studies of +Europe’s rural districts and Philippine provincial conditions as +well as of oriental country life, so that it is entitled to more weight +than the commoner opinion to the contrary which though more popular has +been less carefully formed.</p> +<p class="signed">University of the Philippines,</p> +<p class="dateline">Manila, March 11th, 1916. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="xd20e147" href="#xd20e147" name= +"xd20e147">v</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="toc" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Contents</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><a href="#bk01">Jagor’s Travels in the +Philippines</a> <span class= +"tocPagenum">1</span></p> +<p>(<i>The out-of-print 1875 English translation corrected from the +original German text</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk02">State of the Philippines in 1810</a>. By Tomas de +Comyn <span class="tocPagenum">357</span></p> +<p>(<i>William Walton’s 1821 translation modernized</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk03">Manila and Sulu in 1842</a>. By Com. Chas. Wilkes, +U.S.N. <span class="tocPagenum">459</span></p> +<p>(<i>Narrative of U. S. Exploring Expedition 1838–42, Vol. +5</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk04">Manila in 1819</a>. By Lieut. John White, U.S.N. + <span class="tocPagenum">530</span></p> +<p>(<i>From the “History of a Voyage to the China +Sea”</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk05">The Peopling of the Philippines</a>. By Doctor +Rudolf Virchow <span class= +"tocPagenum">536</span></p> +<p>(<i>O. T. Mason’s translation; Smithsonian Institution 1899 +Report</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk06">People and Prospects of the Philippines</a>. By An +English Merchant, 1778, and A Consul, 1878 +<span class="tocPagenum">550</span></p> +<p>(<i>From Blackwood’s and the Cornhill Magazine</i>)</p> +<p><a href="#bk07">Filipino Merchants of the Early 1890s</a>. By F. +Karuth, F.R.G.S. <span class= +"tocPagenum">552</span></p> +<p><a href="#index">Index</a> <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb1" href= +"#pb1" name="pb1">1</a>]</span></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="body"> +<div class="div0" id="bk01"> +<h2 class="super">The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes</h2> +<h2 class="main">Jagor’s Travels in the Philippines</h2> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">I</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Difference from European +time.</span>When the clock strikes twelve in Madrid,<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e249src" href="#xd20e249" name="xd20e249src">1</a> it is 8 +hours, 18 minutes, and 41 seconds past eight in the evening at Manila; +that is to say, the latter city lies 124° 40′ 15″ to +the east of the former (7 hours, 54 minutes, 35 seconds from Paris). +Some time ago, however, while the new year was being celebrated in +Madrid, it was only New Year’s eve at Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Magellan’s mistake in +reckoning.</span>As Magellan, who discovered the Philippines in his +memorable first circumnavigation of the globe, was following the sun in +its apparent daily path around the world, every successive degree he +compassed on his eastern course added four minutes to the length of his +day; and, when he reached the Philippines, the difference amounted to +sixteen hours. This, however, apparently escaped his notice, for +Elcano, the captain of the only remaining vessel, was quite unaware, on +his return to the longitude of his departure, why according to his +ship’s log-book, he was a day behind the time of the port which +he had reached again by continuously sailing westward.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e256src" href="#xd20e256" name= +"xd20e256src">2</a><a class="noteref" id="xd20e258src" href="#xd20e258" +name="xd20e258src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb2" href="#pb2" name= +"pb2">2</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Change to the Asian +day.</span>The error remained also unheeded in the Philippines. It was +still, over there the last day of the old year, while the rest of the +world was commencing the new one; and this state of things continued +till the close of 1844, when it was resolved, with the approval of the +archbishop, to pass over New Year’s eve for once +altogether.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e269src" href="#xd20e269" name= +"xd20e269src">4</a> Since that time the Philippines are considered to +lie no longer in the distant west, but in the far east, and are about +eight hours in advance of their mother country. The proper field for +their commerce, however, is what is to Europeans the far west; they +were colonized thence, and for centuries, till 1811, they had almost no +other communication with Europe but the indirect one by the annual +voyage of the galleon between Manila and Acapulco. Now, however, when +the eastern shores of the Pacific are at last beginning to teem with +life, and, with unexampled speed, are pressing forward to grasp their +stupendous future, the Philippines will no longer be able to remain in +their past seclusion. No tropical Asiatic colony is so favorably +situated for communication with the west coast of America, and it is +only in a few matters that the Dutch Indies can compete with them for +the favors of the Australian market. But, <span class= +"marginnote">Future in American and Australian trade.</span>on the +other hand, they will have to abandon their traffic with China, whose +principal emporium Manila originally was, as well as that with those +westward-looking countries of Asia, Europe’s far east, which lie +nearest to the Atlantic ports.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e275src" href= +"#xd20e275" name="xd20e275src">5</a><a class="noteref" id="xd20e277src" +href="#xd20e277" name="xd20e277src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb3" href="#pb3" name= +"pb3">3</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Commercially in the New +World.</span>When the circumstances mentioned come to be realized, the +Philippines, or, at any rate, the principal market for their commerce, +will finally fall within the limits of the western hemisphere, to which +indeed they were relegated by the illustrious Spanish geographers at +Badajoz.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Pope’s world-partitive.</span>The +Bull issued by Alexander VI,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e289src" +href="#xd20e289" name="xd20e289src">7</a> on May 4, 1493, which divided +the earth into two hemispheres, decreed that all heathen lands +discovered in the eastern half should belong to the Portuguese; in the +western half to the Spaniards. According to this arrangement, the +latter could only claim the Philippines under the pretext that they +were situated in the western hemisphere. The demarcation line was to +run from the north to the south, a hundred leagues to the south-west of +all the so-called Azores and Cape de Verde Islands. In accordance with +the treaty of Tordesillas, negotiated between Spain and Portugal on +June 7, 1494, and approved by Julius II, in 1506, this line was +drawn three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape de Verde +Islands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Faulty Spanish and Portuguese +geography.</span>At that time Spanish and Portuguese geographers +reckoned seventeen and one-half leagues to a degree on the equator. In +the latitude of the Cape de Verde Islands, three hundred and seventy +leagues made 21° 55′. If to this we add the longitudinal +difference between the westernmost point of the group and Cadiz, a +difference of 18° 48′, we get 40° 43′ west, and +139° 17′ east from Cadiz (in round numbers 47° west and +133° east), as the limits of the Spanish hemisphere. At that time, +however, the existing means for such calculations were entirely +insufficient.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Extravagant Spanish claims thru +ignorance.</span>The latitude was measured with imperfect astrolabes, +or wooden quadrants, and calculated from very deficient <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb4" href="#pb4" name="pb4">4</a>]</span>tables; the +variation of the compass, moreover, was almost unknown, as well as the +use of the log.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e302src" href="#xd20e302" +name="xd20e302src">8</a> Both method and instruments were wanting for +useful longitudinal calculations. It was under these circumstances that +the Spaniards attempted, at Badajoz, to prove to the protesting +Portuguese that the eastern boundary line intersected the mouths of the +Ganges, and proceeded to lay claim to the possession of the Spice +Islands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spain’s error in +calculation.</span>The eastern boundary should, in reality, have been +drawn 46½° further to the east, that is to say, as much +further as it is from Berlin to the coast of Labrador, or to the lesser +Altai; for, in the latitude of Calcutta 46½° are equivalent +to two thousand five hundred and seventy-five nautical miles. +Albo’s log-book gives the difference in longitude between the +most eastern islands of the Archipelago and Cape Fermoso +(Magellan’s Straits), as 106° 30′, while in reality it +amounts to 159° 85′.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Moluccan rights sold to Portugal.</span>The +disputes between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, occasioned by the +uncertainty of the eastern boundary—Portugal had already founded +a settlement in the Spice Islands—were set at rest by an +agreement made in 1529, in which Charles V. abandoned his pretended +rights to the Moluccas in favor of Portugal, for the sum of 350,000 +ducats. The Philippines, at that time, were of no value.</p> +<hr class="tb"> +<p><span class="marginnote">Foreign mail facilities.</span>The distance +from Manila to Hongkong is six hundred fifty nautical miles, and the +course is almost exactly south-east. The mail steamer running between +the two <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb5" href="#pb5" name= +"pb5">5</a>]</span>ports makes the trip in from three to four days. +This allows of a fortnightly postal communication between the colony +and the rest of the world.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e330src" href= +"#xd20e330" name="xd20e330src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Slight share in world commerce.</span>This +small steamer is the only thing to remind an observer at Hongkong, a +port thronged with the ships of all nations, that an island so +specially favored in conditions and fertility lies in such close +proximity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Little commerce with Spain.</span>Although +the Philippines belong to Spain, there is but little commerce between +the two countries. Once the tie which bound them was so close that +Manila was wont to celebrate the arrival of the Spanish mail with <i>Te +Deums</i> and bell-ringing, in honor of the successful achievement of +so stupendous a journey. Until Portugal fell to Spain, the road round +Africa to the Philippines was not open to Spanish vessels. The +condition of the overland route is sufficiently shown by the fact that +two Augustinian monks who, in 1603, were entrusted with an important +message for the king, and who chose the direct line through Goa, +Turkey, and Italy, needed three years for reaching Madrid.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e345src" href="#xd20e345" name= +"xd20e345src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Former Spanish ships mainly carried foreign +goods.</span>The trade by Spanish ships, which the merchants were +compelled to patronize in order to avoid paying an additional customs +tax, in spite of the protective duties for Spanish products, was almost +exclusively in foreign goods to the colony and returning the products +of the latter for foreign ports. The traffic with Spain was limited to +the conveyance of officials, priests, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb6" href="#pb6" name="pb6">6</a>]</span>their usual necessaries, such +as provisions, wine and other liquors; and, except a few French novels, +some atrociously dull books, histories of saints, and similar +works.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila’s fine bay.</span>The Bay of +Manila is large enough to contain the united fleets of Europe; it has +the reputation of being one of the finest in the world. The aspect of +the coast, however, to a stranger arriving, as did the author, at the +close of the dry season, falls short of the lively descriptions of some +travellers. The circular bay, one hundred twenty nautical miles in +circumference, the waters of which wash the shores of five different +provinces, is fringed in the neighborhood of Manila by a level coast, +behind which rises an equally flat table land. The scanty vegetation in +the foreground, consisting chiefly of bamboos and areca palms, was +dried up by the sun; while in the far distance the dull uniformity of +the landscape was broken by the blue hills of San Mateo. In the rainy +season the numerous unwalled canals overflow their banks and form a +series of connected lakes, which soon, however, change into luxuriant +and verdant ricefields.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">City’s appearance mediaeval +European.</span>Manila is situated on both sides of the river Pasig. +The town itself, surrounded with walls and ramparts, with its low tiled +roofs and a few towers, had, in 1859, the appearance of some ancient +European fortress. Four years later the greater part of it was +destroyed by an earthquake.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The 1863 earthquake.</span>On June 3, 1863, +at thirty-one minutes past seven in the evening, after a day of +tremendous heat while all Manila was busy in its preparations for the +festival of Corpus Christi, the ground suddenly rocked to and fro with +great violence. The firmest buildings reeled visibly, walls crumbled, +and beams snapped in two. The dreadful shock lasted half a minute; but +this little interval <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb7" href="#pb7" +name="pb7">7</a>]</span>was enough to change the whole town into a mass +of ruins, and to bury alive hundreds of its inhabitants.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e368src" href="#xd20e368" name="xd20e368src">11</a> A +letter of the governor-general, which I have seen, states that the +cathedral, the government-house, the barracks, and all the public +buildings of Manila were entirely destroyed, and that the few private +houses which remained standing threatened to fall in. Later accounts +speak of four hundred killed and two thousand injured, and estimate the +loss at eight millions of dollars. Forty-six public and five hundred +and seventy private buildings were thrown down; twenty-eight public and +five hundred twenty-eight private buildings were nearly destroyed, and +all the houses left standing were more or less injured.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Damage in Cavite.</span>At the same time, +an earthquake of forty seconds’ duration occurred at Cavite, the +naval port of the Philippines, and destroyed many buildings.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Destruction in walled city.</span>Three +years afterwards, the Duc d’Alencon (<i>Lucon et Mindanao;</i> +Paris, 1870, S. 38) found the traces of the catastrophe everywhere. +Three sides of the principal square of the city, in which formerly +stood the government, or governor’s, palace, the cathedral, and +the townhouse, were lying like dust heaps overgrown with weeds. All the +large public edifices were “temporarily” constructed of +wood; but nobody then seemed to plan anything permanent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Former heavy shocks.</span>Manila is very +often subject to earthquakes; the most fatal occurred in 1601; in 1610 +(Nov. 30); in 1645 (Nov. 30); in 1658 (Aug. 20); in 1675; in 1699; in +1796; in 1824; in 1852; and in 1863. In 1645, six hundred<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e386src" href="#xd20e386" name="xd20e386src">12</a>, +or, according to some accounts, three thousand<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e391src" href="#xd20e391" name="xd20e391src">13</a> persons +perished, buried under the ruins of their houses. Their <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb8" href="#pb8" name="pb8">8</a>]</span>monastery, +the church of the Augustinians, and that of the Jesuits, were the only +public buildings which remained standing.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Frequent minor disturbances.</span>Smaller +shocks, which suddenly set the hanging lamps swinging, occur very often +and generally remain unnoticed. The houses are on this account +generally of but one story, and the loose volcanic soil on which they +are built may lessen the violence of the shock. Their heavy tiled +roofs, however, appear very inappropriate under such circumstances. +Earthquakes are also of frequent occurrence in the provinces, but they, +as a rule, cause so little damage, owing to the houses being +constructed of timber or bamboo, that they are never mentioned.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Scanty data available.</span>M. Alexis +Perrey (<i lang="fr">Mém. de l’Académie de +Dijon</i>, 1860) has published a list, collected with much diligence +from every accessible source, of the earthquakes which have visited the +Philippines, and particularly Manila. But the accounts, even of the +most important, are very scanty, and the dates of their occurrence very +unreliable. Of the minor shocks, only a few are mentioned, those which +were noticed by scientific observers accidentally present at the +time.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The 1610 catastrophe.</span>Aduarte (I. +141) mentions a tremendous earthquake which occurred in 1610. I briefly +quote his version of the details of the catastrophe, as I find them +mentioned nowhere else.</p> +<div class="q">“Towards the close of November, 1610, on St. +Andrew’s Day, a more violent earthquake than had ever before been +witnessed, visited these Islands; its effects extended from Manila to +the extreme end of the province of Nueva Segovia (the whole northern +part of Luzon), a distance of 200 leagues. It caused great destruction +over the entire area; in the province of Ilocos it buried palm trees, +so that only the tops of their branches were left above the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb9" href="#pb9" name= +"pb9">9</a>]</span>earth’s surface; through the power of the +earthquake mountains were pushed against each other; it threw down many +buildings, and killed a great number of people. Its fury was greatest +in Nueva Segovia, where it opened the mountains, and created new lake +basins. The earth threw up immense fountains of sand, and vibrated so +terribly that the people, unable to stand upon it, laid down and +fastened themselves to the ground, as if they had been on a ship in a +stormy sea. In the range inhabited by the Mendayas a mountain fell in, +crushing a village and killing its inhabitants. An immense portion of +the cliff sank into the river; and now, where the stream was formerly +bordered by a range of hills of considerable altitude, its banks are +nearly level with the watercourse. The commotion was so great in the +bed of the river that waves arose like those of the ocean, or as if the +water had been lashed by a furious wind. Those edifices which were of +stone suffered the most damage, our church and the convent fell in, +etc., etc.”</div> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e249" href="#xd20e249src" name="xd20e249">1</a></span> New York +noon is Manilla 1:04 next morning.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e256" href="#xd20e256src" name="xd20e256">2</a></span> Navarrete, +IV, 97 Obs. 2a.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e258" href="#xd20e258src" name="xd20e258">3</a></span> According +to Albo’s ship journal, he perceived the difference at the Cape +de Verde Islands on July 9, 1522; “<span lang="es">Y este +día fué miercoles, y este día tienen ellos pot +jueves.</span>” (And this day was Wednesday and this day they had +as Thursday.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e269" href="#xd20e269src" name="xd20e269">4</a></span> In a note +on the 18th page of the masterly English (Hakluyt Society) translation +of Morga, I find the curious statement that a similar rectification was +made at the same time at Macao, where the Portuguese, who reached it on +an easterly course, had made the mistake of a day the other way.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e275" href="#xd20e275src" name="xd20e275">5</a></span> Towards the +close of the sixteenth century the duty upon the exports to China +amounted to $40,000 and their imports to at least $1,330,000. In 1810, +after more than two centuries of undisturbed Spanish rule, the latter +had sunk to $1,150,000. Since then they have gradually increased; and +in 1861 they reached $2,130,000.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e277" href="#xd20e277src" name="xd20e277">6</a></span> The Panama +canal prevents this.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e289" href="#xd20e289src" name="xd20e289">7</a></span> Navarrete, +IV, 54 Obs. 1a.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e302" href="#xd20e302src" name="xd20e302">8</a></span> According +to Gehler’s <i>Phys. Lex.</i> VI, 450, the log was first +mentioned by Purchas in an account of a voyage to the East Indies in +1608. Pigafetta does not cite it in his treatise on navigation; but in +the forty-fifth page of his work it is said: “<span lang= +"it">Secondo la misura che facevamo del viaggio colla cadena a poppa, +noi percorrevamo 60 a 70 leghe al giorno.</span>” This was as +rapid a rate as that of our (1870) fastest steamboats—ten knots +an hour.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e330" href="#xd20e330src" name="xd20e330">9</a></span> The +European mail reaches Manila through Singapore and Hongkong. Singapore +is about equidistant from the other two places. Letters therefore could +be received in the Philippines as soon as in China, if they were sent +direct from Singapore. In that case, however, a steamer communication +with that port must be established, and the traffic is not yet +sufficiently developed to bear the double expense. According to the +report of the English Consul (May, 1870), there is, besides the +Government steamer, a private packet running between Hongkong and +Manila. The number of passengers it conveyed to China amounted, in +1868, to 441 Europeans and 3,048 Chinese; total, 3,489. The numbers +carried the other way were 330 Europeans and 4,664 Chinese; in all, +4,994. The fare is $80 for Europeans and $20 for Chinamen.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e345" href="#xd20e345src" name="xd20e345">10</a></span> +Zuñiga, Mavers, I, 225.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e368" href="#xd20e368src" name="xd20e368">11</a></span> Dr. Pedro +Pelaez, in temporary charge of the diocese and dying in the cathedral, +was the foremost Filipino victim. Funds raised in Spain for relief +never reached the sufferers, but not till the end of Spanish rule was +it safe to comment on this in the Philippines.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e386" href="#xd20e386src" name="xd20e386">12</a></span> +Zuñiga, XVIII, M. Velarde, p. 139.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e391" href="#xd20e391src" name="xd20e391">13</a></span> Captain +Salmon, Goch., S. 33.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">II</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Customhouse red +tape.</span>The customs inspection, and the many formalities which the +native minor officials exercised without any consideration appear all +the more wearisome to the new arrival when contrasted with the easy +routine of the English free ports of the east he has just quitted. The +guarantee of a respectable merchant obtained for me, as a particular +favor, permission to disembark after a detention of sixteen hours; but +even then I was not allowed to take the smallest article of luggage on +shore with me.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Shelter for shipping.</span>During the +south-west monsoon and the stormy season that accompanies the change of +monsoons, the roadstead is unsafe. Larger vessels are then obliged to +seek protection in the port of Cavite, seven miles further down the +coast; but during the north-east monsoons they can safely anchor half a +league from the coast. All ships under three hundred tons burden pass +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb10" href="#pb10" name= +"pb10">10</a>]</span>the breakwater and enter the Pasig, where, as far +as the bridge, they lie in serried rows, extending from the shore to +the middle of the stream, and bear witness by their numbers, as well as +by the bustle and stir going on amongst them, to the activity of the +home trade.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Silting up of river mouth.</span>In every +rain-monsoon, the Pasig river sweeps such a quantity of sediment +against the breakwater that just its removal keeps, as it seems, the +dredging machine stationed there entirely occupied.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Few foreign vessels.</span>The small number +of the vessels in the roadstead, particularly of those of foreign +countries, was the more remarkable as Manila was the only port in the +Archipelago that had any commerce with foreign countries. It is true +that since 1855 three other ports, to which a fourth may now be added, +had gotten this privilege; but at the time of my arrival, in March, +1859, not one of them had ever been entered by a foreign vessel, and it +was a few weeks after my visit that the first English ship sailed into +Iloilo to take in a cargo of sugar for Australia.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e440src" href="#xd20e440" name="xd20e440src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Antiquated restrictions on trade.</span>The +reason of this peculiarity laid partly in the feeble development of +agriculture, in spite of the unexampled fertility of the soil, but +chiefly in the antiquated and artificially limited conditions of trade. +The customs duties were in themselves not very high. They were +generally about seven per cent. upon merchandise conveyed under the +Spanish flag, and about twice as much for that carried in foreign +bottoms. When the cargo was of Spanish production, the duty was three +per cent. if carried in national vessels, eight per cent. if in foreign +ships. The latter were only allowed, as a rule, to enter the port in +ballast.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e447src" href="#xd20e447" name= +"xd20e447src">2</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb11" href="#pb11" name= +"pb11">11</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Discouragements for +foreign ships.</span>As, however, the principal wants of the colony +were imported from England and abroad, these were either kept back till +an opportunity occurred of sending them in Spanish vessels, which +charged nearly a treble freight (from £4 to £5 instead of +from £1½, to £2 per ton), and which only made their +appearance in British ports at rare intervals, or they were sent to +Singapore and Hongkong, where they were transferred to Spanish ships. +Tonnage dues were levied, moreover, upon ships in ballast, and upon +others which merely touched at Manila without unloading or taking in +fresh cargo; and, if a vessel under such circumstances landed even the +smallest parcel, it was no longer rated as a ship in ballast, but +charged on the higher scale. Vessels were therefore forced to enter the +port entirely devoid of cargo, or carrying sufficient to cover the +expense of the increased harbor dues; almost an impossibility for +foreign ships, on account of the differential customs rates, which +acted almost as a complete prohibition. The result was that foreign +vessels came there only in ballast, or when summoned for some +particular object.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Export taxes.</span>The exports of the +colony were almost entirely limited to its raw produce, which was +burdened with an export duty of three per cent. Exports leaving under +the Spanish flag were only taxed to the amount of one per cent.; but, +as scarcely any export trade existed with Spain, and as Spanish +vessels, from their high rates of freight, were excluded from the +carrying trade of the world, the boon to commerce was a delusive +one.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e459src" href="#xd20e459" name= +"xd20e459src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Laws drove away trade.</span>These inept +excise laws, hampered with a hundred suspicious forms, frightened away +the whole carrying trade from the port; and its commission merchants +were <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb12" href="#pb12" name= +"pb12">12</a>]</span>frequently unable to dispose of the local produce. +So trifling was the carrying trade that the total yearly average of the +harbor dues, calculated from the returns of ten years, barely reached +$10,000.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila’s favorable +location.</span>The position of Manila, a central point betwixt Japan, +China, Annam, the English and Dutch ports of the Archipelago and +Australia, is in itself extremely favorable to the development of a +world-wide trade.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e472src" href="#xd20e472" +name="xd20e472src">4</a> At the time of the north-eastern monsoons, +during our winter, when vessels for the sake of shelter pass through +the Straits of Gilolo on their way from the Indian Archipelago to +China, they are obliged to pass close to Manila. They would find it a +most convenient station, for the Philippines, as we have already +mentioned, are particularly favorably placed for the west coast of +America.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The 1869 reform.</span>A proof that the +Spanish Ultramar minister fully recognizes and appreciates these +circumstances appears in his decree, of April 5, 1869, which is of the +highest importance for the future of the colony. It probably would have +been issued earlier had not the Spanish and colonial shipowners, +pampered by the protective system, obstinately struggled against an +innovation which impaired their former privileges and forced them to +greater activity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bettered conditions.</span>The most +noteworthy points of the decree are the moderation of the differential +duties, and their entire extinction at the expiration of two years; the +abrogation of all export duties; and the consolidation of the more +annoying port dues into one single charge.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pre-Spanish foreign commerce.</span>When +the Spaniards landed in the Philippines they found the inhabitants clad +in silks and cotton stuffs, which were imported by Chinese ships to +exchange for <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb13" href="#pb13" name= +"pb13">13</a>]</span>gold-dust, sapan wood,<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e490src" href="#xd20e490" name="xd20e490src">5</a> holothurian, +edible birds’ nests, and skins. The Islands were also in +communication with Japan, Cambodia, Siam,<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e498src" href="#xd20e498" name="xd20e498src">6</a> the Moluccas, +and the Malay Archipelago. De Barros mentions that vessels from Luzon +visited Malacca in 1511.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e504src" href= +"#xd20e504" name="xd20e504src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Early extension under Spain.</span>The +greater order which reigned in the Philippines after the advent of the +Spaniards, and still more the commerce they opened with America and +indirectly with Europe, had the effect of greatly increasing the Island +trade, and of extending it beyond the Indies to the Persian Gulf. +Manila was the great mart for the products of Eastern Asia, with which +it loaded the galleons that, as early as 1565, sailed to and from New +Spain (at first to Navidad, after 1602 to Acapulco), and brought back +silver as their principal return freight.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e513src" href="#xd20e513" name="xd20e513src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Jealousy of Seville monopolists.</span>The +merchants in New Spain and Peru found this commerce so advantageous, +that the result was very damaging to the exports from the mother +country, whose manufactured goods were unable to compete with the +Indian cottons and the Chinese silks. The spoilt monopolists of Seville +demanded therefore the abandonment <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb14" +href="#pb14" name="pb14">14</a>]</span>of a colony which required +considerable yearly contributions from the home exchequer, which stood +in the way of the mother country’s exploiting her American +colonies, and which let the silver of His Majesty’s dominions +pass into the hands of the heathen. Since the foundation of the colony +they had continually thrown impediments in its path.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e522src" href="#xd20e522" name="xd20e522src">9</a> Their +demands, however, were vain in face of the ambition of the throne and +the influence of the clergy; rather, responding to the views of that +time the merchants of Peru and New Spain were forced, in the interests +of the mother country, to obtain merchandise from China, either +directly, or through Manila. The inhabitants of the Philippines were +alone permitted to send Chinese goods to America, but only to the +yearly value of $250,000. The return trade was limited to +$500,000.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e525src" href="#xd20e525" name= +"xd20e525src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Prohibition of China trading.</span>The +first amount was afterwards increased to $300,000, with a proportionate +augmentation of the return freight; but the Spanish were forbidden to +visit China, so that they were obliged to await the arrival of the +junks. Finally, in 1720, Chinese goods were strictly prohibited +throughout the whole of the Spanish possessions in both hemispheres. A +decree of 1734 (amplified in 1769) once more permitted trade with +China, and increased the maximum value of the annual freightage to +Acapulco to $500,000 (silver) and that of the return trade to twice the +amount.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Higher limit on suspension of galleon +voyages.</span>After the galleons to Acapulco, which had been +maintained at the expense of the government treasury, had stopped their +voyages, commerce with America was <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb15" +href="#pb15" name="pb15">15</a>]</span>handled by merchants who were +permitted in 1820, to export goods up to $750,000 annually from the +Philippines and to visit San Blas, Guayaquil and Callao, besides +Acapulco.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">British occupation inspired new +wants.</span>This concession, however, was not sufficient to compensate +Philippine commerce for the injuries it suffered through the separation +of Mexico from Spain. The possession of Manila by the English, in 1762, +made its inhabitants acquainted with many industrial products which the +imports from China and India were unable to offer them. To satisfy +these new cravings Spanish men-of-war were sent, towards the close of +1764, to the colony with products of Spanish industries, such as wine, +provisions, hats, cloth, hardware, and fancy articles.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila oppositions to trade +innovations.</span>The Manila merchants, accustomed to a lucrative +trade with Acapulco, strenuously resisted this innovation, although it +was a considerable source of profit to them, for the Crown purchased +the Indian and Chinese merchandise for its return freights from Manila +at double their original value. In 1784, however, the last of these +ships arrived.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Subterfuges of European +traders.</span>After the English invasion, European vessels were +strictly forbidden to visit Manila; but as that city did not want to do +without Indian merchandise, and could not import it in its own ships, +it was brought there in English and French bottoms, which assumed a +Turkish name, and were provided with an Indian sham-captain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The “Philippine Company” +monopoly.</span>In 1785, the <i lang="es">Compañía de +Filipinas</i> obtained a monopoly of the trade between Spain and the +colony, but it was not allowed to interfere with the direct traffic +between Acapulco and Manila. The desire was to acquire large quantities +of colonial produce, silk, indigo, cinnamon, cotton, pepper, etc., in +order to export it somewhat <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb16" href= +"#pb16" name="pb16">16</a>]</span>as was done later on by the system of +culture in Java; but as it was unable to obtain compulsory labor, it +entirely failed in its attempted artificial development of +agriculture.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Losses by bad management.</span>The +<i lang="es">Compañía</i> suffered great losses through +its erroneous system of operation, and the incapacity of its officials +(it paid, for example, $13.50 for a picul of pepper which cost from +three to four dollars in Sumatra).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Entrance of foreign ships and +firms.</span>In 1789 foreign ships were allowed to import Chinese and +Indian produce, but none from Europe. In 1809 an English commercial +house obtained permission to establish itself in Manila.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e571src" href="#xd20e571" name="xd20e571src">11</a> +In 1814, after the conclusion of the peace with France, the same +permission, with greater or less restrictions, was granted to all +foreigners.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Trade free but port charges +discriminating.</span> In 1820 the direct trade between the Philippines +and Spain was thrown open without any limitations to the exports of +colonial produce, on the condition that the value of the Indian and +Chinese goods in each expedition should not exceed $50,000. Ever since +1834, when the privileges of the <i lang= +"es">Compañía</i> expired, free trade has been permitted +in Manila; foreign ships, however, being charged double dues. Four new +ports have been thrown open to general trade since 1855; and in 1869 +the liberal tariff previously alluded to was issued.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Port’s importance lessened under +Spain.</span> Today, after three centuries of almost undisturbed +Spanish rule, Manila has by no means added to the importance it +possessed shortly after the advent of the Spaniards. The isolation of +Japan and the Indo-Chinese empires, a direct consequence of the +importunities and pretensions of the Catholic missionaries,<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e585src" href="#xd20e585" name="xd20e585src">12</a> +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb17" href="#pb17" name= +"pb17">17</a>]</span>the secession of the colonies on the west coast of +America, above all the long continuance of a distrustful commercial and +colonial policy—a policy which exists even at the present +day—while important markets, based on large capital and liberal +principles, were being established in the most favored spots of the +British and Dutch Indies; all these circumstances have contributed to +this result and thrown the Chinese trade into other channels. The cause +is as clear as the effect, yet it might be erroneous to ascribe the +policy so long pursued to short-sightedness. The Spaniards, in their +schemes of <span class="corr" id="xd20e590" title= +"Source: colonisation">colonization</span>, had partly a religious +purpose in view, but the government discovered a great source of +influence in the disposal of the extremely lucrative colonial +appointments. The crown itself, as well as its favorites, thought of +nothing but extracting the most it could from the colony, and had +neither the intention or the power to develop the natural wealth of the +country by agriculture and commerce. Inseparable from this policy, was +the persistent exclusion of foreigners.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e593src" href="#xd20e593" name="xd20e593src">13</a> It seemed even +more necessary in the isolated Philippines than in America to cut off +the natives from all contact with foreigners, if the Spaniards had any +desire to remain in undisturbed possession of the colony. In face, +however, of the developed trade of today and the claims of the world to +the productive powers of such an extraordinarily fruitful soil, the old +restrictions can no longer be maintained, and the lately-introduced +liberal tariff must be hailed as a thoroughly well-timed measure.</p> +<hr class="tb"> +<p><span class="marginnote">Galleon story sidelight on colonial +history.</span> The oft-mentioned voyages of the galleons betwixt +Manila and Acapulco hold such a prominent position <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb18" href="#pb18" name="pb18">18</a>]</span>in the +history of the Philippines, and afford such an interesting glimpse into +the old colonial system, that their principal characteristics deserve +some description.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese part in galleon trade.</span> In +the days of Morga, towards the close of the sixteenth century, from +thirty to forty Chinese junks were in the habit of annually visiting +Manila (generally in March); towards the end of June a galleon used to +sail for Acapulco. The trade with the latter place, the active +operations of which were limited to the three central months of the +year, was so lucrative, easy, and safe, that the Spaniards scarcely +cared to engage in any other undertakings.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Favoritism in allotment of cargo +space.</span> As the carrying power of the annual galleon was by no +means proportioned to the demand for cargo room, the governor divided +it as he deemed best; the favorites, however, to whom he assigned +shares in the hold, seldom traded themselves, but parted with their +concessions to the merchants.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Division of space and character of +cargo.</span>According to De Guignes,<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e616src" href="#xd20e616" name="xd20e616src">14</a> the hold of +the vessel was divided into 1,500 parts, of which the majority were +allotted to the priests, and the rest to favored persons. As a matter +of fact, the value of the cargo, which was officially limited to +$600,000, was considerably higher. It chiefly consisted of Indian and +Chinese cottons and silk stuffs (amongst others fifty thousand pairs of +silk stockings from China), and gold ornaments. The value of the return +freight amounted to between two and three millions of dollars.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Profit in trade.</span>Everything in this +trade was settled beforehand; the number, shape, size, and value of the +bales, and even their selling price. As this was usually double the +original cost, the permission to ship goods to a certain amount was +equivalent, under ordinary circumstances, to the bestowal of a present +of a like value. These <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb19" href="#pb19" +name="pb19">19</a>]</span>permissions or licenses (<i lang= +"es">boletas</i>) were, at a later period, usually granted to +pensioners and officers’ widows, and to officials, in lieu of an +increase of salary; these favorites were forbidden, however, to make a +direct use of them, for to trade with Acapulco was the sole right of +those members of the <span lang="es">Consulado</span> (a kind of +chamber of commerce) who could prove a long residence in the country +and the possession of a capital of at least $8,000.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Evasion of regulations.</span>Legentil, the +astronomer, gives a full description of the regulations which prevailed +in his day and the manner in which they were disobeyed. The cargo +consisted of a thousand bales, each composed of four packets,<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e637src" href="#xd20e637" name="xd20e637src">15</a> +the maximum value of each packet being fixed at $250. It was impossible +to increase the amount of bales, but they pretty generally consisted of +more than four packets, and their value so far exceeded the prescribed +limits, that a <i>boleta</i> was considered to be worth from $200 to +$225. The officials took good care that no goods should be smuggled on +board without a <i>boleta</i>. These were in such demand, that, at a +later period, Comyn<a class="noteref" id="xd20e646src" href="#xd20e646" +name="xd20e646src">16</a> saw people pay $500 for the right to ship +goods, the value of which scarcely amounted to $1,000. The merchants +usually borrowed the money for these undertakings from the <i lang= +"es">obras pias</i>, charitable foundations, which, up to our own time, +fulfil in the Islands the purposes of banks.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e656src" href="#xd20e656" name="xd20e656src">17</a> In the early +days of the trade, the galleon used to leave Cavite in July and sail +with a south-westerly wind beyond the tropics, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb20" href="#pb20" name="pb20">20</a>]</span>until it +met with a west wind at the thirty-eighth or <span class= +"marginnote">Route outward.</span> fortieth parallel.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e671src" href="#xd20e671" name="xd20e671src">18</a> Later on +the vessels were ordered to leave Cavite with the first south-westerly +winds to sail along the south coast of Luzon, through San Bernardino +straits, and to continue along the thirteenth parallel of north +latitude<a class="noteref" id="xd20e676src" href="#xd20e676" name= +"xd20e676src">19</a> as far to the east as possible, until the +north-easterly trade wind compelled them to seek a north-west breeze in +higher latitudes. They were then obliged to try the thirtieth parallel +as long as possible, instead of, as formerly, the thirty-seventh. The +captain of the galleon was not permitted to sail immediately northward, +although to have done so would have procured him a much quicker and +safer passage, and would have enabled him to reach the rainy zone more +rapidly. To effect the last, indeed, was a matter of the greatest +importance to him, for his vessel, overladen <span class= +"marginnote">Water-supply crowded out by cargo.</span> with +merchandise, had but little room crowded out for water; and although he +had a crew of from four hundred to six hundred hands to provide for, he +was instructed to depend upon the rain he caught on the voyage; for +which purpose, the galleon was provided with suitable mats and bamboo +pails.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e683src" href="#xd20e683" name= +"xd20e683src">20</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Length of voyage.</span>Voyages in these +low latitudes were, owing to the inconstancy of the winds, extremely +troublesome, and often lasted five months and upwards. The fear of +exposing the costly, cumbrous vessel to the powerful and sometimes +stormy winds of the higher latitudes, appears to have been the cause of +these sailing orders.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb21" href="#pb21" name= +"pb21">21</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">California +landfall.</span>As soon as the galleon had passed the great Sargasso +shoal, it took a southerly course, and touched at the southern point of +the Californian peninsula (San Lucas), where news and provisions +awaited it.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e697src" href="#xd20e697" name= +"xd20e697src">21</a> In their earlier voyages, however, they must have +sailed much further to the north, somewhere in the neighborhood of Cape +Mendocino, and have been driven southward in sight of the coast; for +Vizcaino, in the voyage of discovery he undertook in 1603, from Mexico +to California, found the principal mountains and capes, although no +European had ever set his foot upon them, already christened by the +galleons, to which they had served as landmarks.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e702src" href="#xd20e702" name="xd20e702src">22</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Speedy return voyage.</span>The return +voyage to the Philippines was an easy one, and only occupied from forty +to sixty days.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e714src" href="#xd20e714" +name="xd20e714src">23</a> The galleon left Acapulco in February or +March, sailed southwards till it fell in with the trade wind (generally +in from 10° to 11° of north latitude), which carried it easily +to the Ladrone Islands, and thence reached Manila by way of +Samar.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e717src" href="#xd20e717" name= +"xd20e717src">24</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Galleon’s size and armament.</span>A +galleon was usually of from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred tons +burden, and carried fifty or sixty guns. The latter, however, were +pretty generally banished to the hold during the eastward voyage. When +the ship’s bows were turned towards home, and there was no longer +any press of space, the guns were remounted.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Capture of “Santa +Anna”.</span>San Augustin says of the <i>Santa Anna</i>, which +Thomas Candish captured and burnt in 1586 off the Californian coast: +“Our people sailed so carelessly that they used their guns for +ballast; .... the pirate’s venture was such a fortunate one that +he returned to London with <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb22" href= +"#pb22" name="pb22">22</a>]</span>sails of Chinese damask and silken +rigging.” The cargo was sold in Acapulco at a profit of 100 per +cent., and was paid for in silver, cochineal, quicksilver, etc. +<span class="marginnote">Value of return freight</span> The total value +of the return freight amounted perhaps to between two and three million +dollars,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e736src" href="#xd20e736" name= +"xd20e736src">25</a> of which a quarter of a million, at least, fell to +the king.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Gambling rather than commerce</span>The +return of a galleon to Manila, laden with silver dollars and new +arrivals, was a great holiday for the colony. A considerable portion of +the riches they had won as easily as at the gaming table, was soon +spent by the crew; when matters again returned to their usual lethargic +state. It was no unfrequent event, however, for vessels to be lost. +They were too often laden with a total disregard to seaworthiness, and +wretchedly handled. It was favor, not capacity, that determined the +patronage of these lucrative appointments.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e744src" href="#xd20e744" name="xd20e744src">26</a> Many galleons +fell into the hands of English and Dutch cruisers.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e750src" href="#xd20e750" name="xd20e750src">27</a> +<span class="marginnote">“Philippine Company” and smugglers +cause change.</span>But these tremendous profits gradually decreased as +the <i lang="es">Compañía</i> obtained the right to +import Indian cottons, one of the principal articles of trade, into New +Spain by way of Vera Cruz, subject to a customs duty of 6 per cent; and +when English and American adventurers began to smuggle these and other +goods into the country.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e762src" href= +"#xd20e762" name="xd20e762src">28</a> <span class="marginnote">Spanish +coins in circulation on China coast.</span>Finally, it may be mentioned +that Spanish dollars found their way in the galleons to China and the +further Indies, where they are in circulation to this day. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb23" href="#pb23" name="pb23">23</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e440" href="#xd20e440src" name="xd20e440">1</a></span> The opening +of this port proved so advantageous that I intended to have given a few +interesting details of its trade in a separate chapter, chiefly +gathered from the verbal and written remarks of the English +Vice-Consul, the late Mr. N. Loney, and from other consular +reports.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e447" href="#xd20e447src" name="xd20e447">2</a></span> In 1868, +112 foreign vessels, to the aggregate of 74,054 tons, and Spanish ships +to the aggregate of 26,762 tons, entered the port of Manila. Nearly all +the first came in ballast, but left with cargoes. The latter both came +and left in freight. (English Consul’s Report, 1869.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e459" href="#xd20e459src" name="xd20e459">3</a></span> In 1868 the +total exports amounted to $14,013,108; of this England alone accounted +for $4,857,000, and the whole of the rest of Europe for only $102,477. +The first amount does not include the tobacco duty paid to Spain by the +colony, $3,169,144. (English Consul’s Report, 1869.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e472" href="#xd20e472src" name="xd20e472">4</a></span> La +Pérouse said that Manila was perhaps the most fortunately +situated city in the world.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e490" href="#xd20e490src" name="xd20e490">5</a></span> +<i>Sapan</i> or <i>Sibucao, Caesalpinia Sapan</i>. Pernambuco or Brazil +wood, to which the empire of Brazil owes its name, comes from the +Caesalpinia echinat and the Caesalpinia Braziliensis. (The oldest maps +of America remark of Brazil: “Its only useful product is Brazil +(wood).”) The sapan of the Philippines is richer in dye stuff +than all other eastern asiatic woods, but it ranks below the Brazilian +sapan. It has, nowadays, lost its reputation, owing to its being often +stupidly cut down too early. It is sent especially to China, where it +is used for dyeing or printing in red. The stuff is first macerated +with alum, and then for a finish dipped in a weak alcoholic solution of +alkali. The reddish brown tint so frequently met with in the clothes of +the poorer Chinese is produced from sapan.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e498" href="#xd20e498src" name="xd20e498">6</a></span> Large +quantities of small mussel shells (<i>Cypraea moneta</i>) were sent at +this period to Siam, where they are still used as money.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e504" href="#xd20e504src" name="xd20e504">7</a></span> +Berghaus’ <i>Geo. hydrogr. Memoir.</i></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e513" href="#xd20e513src" name="xd20e513">8</a></span> Manila was +first founded in 1571, but as early as 1565, Urdaneta, Legaspi’s +pilot, had found the way back through the Pacific Ocean while he was +seeking in the higher northern latitudes for a favorable north-west +wind. Strictly speaking, however, Urdaneta was not the first to make +use of the return passage, for one of Legaspi’s five vessels, +under the command of Don Alonso de Arellano, which had on board as +pilot Lope Martin, a mulatto, separated itself from the fleet after +they had reached the Islands, and returned to New Spain on a northern +course, in order to claim the promised reward for the discovery. Don +Alonso was disappointed, however, by the speedy return of Urdaneta.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e522" href="#xd20e522src" name="xd20e522">9</a></span> Kottenkamp +I., 1594.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e525" href="#xd20e525src" name="xd20e525">10</a></span> At first +the maximum value of the imports only was limited, and the Manila +merchants were not over scrupulous in making false statements as to +their worth; to put an end to these malpractices a limit was placed to +the amount of silver exported. According to Mas, however, the silver +illegally exported amounted to six or eight times the prescribed +limit.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e571" href="#xd20e571src" name="xd20e571">11</a></span> La +Pérouse mentions a French firm (Sebis), that, in 1787, had been +for many years established in Manila.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e585" href="#xd20e585src" name="xd20e585">12</a></span> R. Cocks +to Thomas Wilson (Calendar of State Papers, India, No. 823) .... +“The English will obtain a trade in China, so they bring not in +any padres (as they term them), which the Chinese cannot abide to hear +of, because heretofore they came in such swarms, and are always begging +without shame.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e593" href="#xd20e593src" name="xd20e593">13</a></span> As late as +1857 some old decrees, passed against the establishment of foreigners, +were renewed. A royal ordinance of 1844 prohibits the admission of +strangers into the interior of the colony under any pretext +whatsoever.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e616" href="#xd20e616src" name="xd20e616">14</a></span> +<i>Vide</i> Pinkerton.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e637" href="#xd20e637src" name="xd20e637">15</a></span> Each +packet was 5 × 2½ × 1½ = 18.75 Spanish cubic +feet. St. Croix.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e646" href="#xd20e646src" name="xd20e646">16</a></span> Vide +Comyn’s <i lang="es">comercio exterior</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e656" href="#xd20e656src" name="xd20e656">17</a></span> The +<i lang="es">obras pias</i> were pious legacies which usually +stipulated that two-thirds of their value should be advanced at +interest for the furtherance of maritime commercial undertakings until +the premiums, which for a voyage to Acapulco amounted to 50, to China +25, and to India 35 per cent., had increased the original capital to a +certain amount. The interest of the whole was then to be devoted to +masses for the founders, or to other pious and benevolent purposes. A +third was generally kept as a reserve fund to cover possible losses. +The government long since appropriated these reserve funds as +compulsory loans, “but they are still considered as +existing.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd20e663" href= +"#xd20e663" name="xd20e663">20n</a>]</span>When the trade with Acapulco +came to an end, the principals could no longer be laid out according to +the intentions of the founders, and they were lent out at interest in +other ways. By a royal ordinance of November 3, 1854, a junta was +appointed to administer the property of the . The total capital of the +five endowments (in reality only four, for one of them no longer +possessed anything) amounted to nearly a million of dollars. The +profits from the loans were distributed according to the amounts of the +original capital, which, however, no longer existed in cash, as the +government had disposed of them.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e671" href="#xd20e671src" name="xd20e671">18</a></span> +<i>Vide</i> Thevenot.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e676" href="#xd20e676src" name="xd20e676">19</a></span> According +to Morga, between the fourteenth and fifteenth.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e683" href="#xd20e683src" name="xd20e683">20</a></span> +<i>Vide</i> De Guignes, Pinkerton XI, and Anson X.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e697" href="#xd20e697src" name="xd20e697">21</a></span> +<i>Vide</i> Anson.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e702" href="#xd20e702src" name="xd20e702">22</a></span> +Randolph’s <i>History of California</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e714" href="#xd20e714src" name="xd20e714">23</a></span> In +Morga’s time, the galleons took seventy days to the Ladrone +Islands, from ten to twelve from thence to Cape Espiritu Santo, and +eight more to Manila.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e717" href="#xd20e717src" name="xd20e717">24</a></span> A very +good description of these voyages may be found in the 10th chapter of +Anson’s work, which also contains a copy of a sea map, captured +in the Cavadonga, displaying the proper track of the galleons to and +from Acapulco.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e736" href="#xd20e736src" name="xd20e736">25</a></span> <i>De +Guignes.</i></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e744" href="#xd20e744src" name="xd20e744">26</a></span> The +officer in command of the expedition, to whom the title of general was +given, had always a captain under his orders, and his share in the gain +of each trip amounted to $40,000. The pilot was content with $20,000. +The first lieutenant (master) was entitled to 9 per cent on the sale of +the cargo, and pocketed from this and from the profits of his own +private ventures upwards of $350,000. (<i>Vide</i> Arenas.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e750" href="#xd20e750src" name="xd20e750">27</a></span> The value +of the cargoes Anson captured amounted to $1,313,000, besides 35,682 +ounces of fine silver and cochineal. While England and Spain were at +peace, Drake plundered the latter to the extent of at least one and a +half million of dollars. Thomas Candish burnt the rich cargo of the +<i>Santa Anna</i>, as he had no room for it on board his own +vessel.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e762" href="#xd20e762src" name="xd20e762">28</a></span> For +instance, in 1786 the <i>San Andres</i>, which had a cargo on board +valued at a couple of millions, found no market for it in Acapulco; the +same thing happened in 1787 to the <i>San Jose</i>, and a second time +in 1789 to the <i>San Andres</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">III</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">The walled city of +Manila.</span>The city proper of Manila, inhabited by Spaniards, +Creoles, the Filipinos directly connected with them, and Chinese, lies, +surrounded by walls and wide ditches, on the left or southern bank of +the Pasig, looking towards the sea.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e786src" +href="#xd20e786" name="xd20e786src">1</a> It is a hot, dried-up place, +full of monasteries, convents, barracks, and government buildings. +Safety, not appearance, was the object of its builders. It reminds the +beholder of a Spanish provincial town, and is, next to Goa, the oldest +city in the Indies. Foreigners reside on the northern bank of the +river; in Binondo, the headquarters of wholesale and retail commerce, +or in the pleasant suburban villages, which blend into a considerable +whole. <span class="marginnote">Population.</span>The total population +of city and suburbs has been estimated, perhaps with some exaggeration, +at 200,000. <span class="marginnote">Bridges.</span>A handsome old +stone bridge of ten arches serves as the communication between the two +banks of the Pasig, which, more recently, has also been spanned by an +iron suspension bridge.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e798src" href= +"#xd20e798" name="xd20e798src">2</a> Very little intercourse exists +between the inhabitants of Manila and Binondo. <span class= +"marginnote">Friction between classes.</span>Life in the city proper +cannot be very pleasant; pride, envy, place-hunting, and caste hatred, +are the order of the day; the Spaniards consider themselves superior to +the creoles, who, in their turn, reproach the former with the taunt +that they have only come to the colony to save themselves from +starvation. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb24" href="#pb24" name= +"pb24">24</a>]</span>A similar hatred and envy exists between the +whites and the <i>mestizos</i>. This state of things is to be found in +all Spanish colonies, and is chiefly caused by the colonial policy of +Madrid, which always does its best to sow discord between the different +races and classes of its foreign possessions, under the idea that their +union would imperil the sway of the mother country.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e810src" href="#xd20e810" name="xd20e810src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Few large landowners.</span>In Manila, +moreover, this state of things was rendered worse by the fact that the +planter class, whose large landed possessions always give it a strong +interest in the country of its inhabitance, was entirely wanting. At +the present day, however, the increasing demand for the produce of the +colony seems to be bringing about a pleasant change in this respect. +<span class="marginnote">Spaniards transient.</span>The manner in which +the Spanish population of the Islands was affected by the gambling +ventures of the galleons, at one time the only source of commercial +wealth, is thus described by Murillo Velarde (page +272):—“The Spaniards who settle here look upon these +Islands as a tavern rather than a permanent home. If they marry, it is +by the merest chance; where can a family be found that has been settled +here for several generations? The father amasses wealth, the son spends +it, the grandson is a beggar. The largest capitals are not more stable +than the waves of the ocean, across the crests of which they were +gathered.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Discomforts and the high cost of +living.</span>There is nothing like the same amount of sociability +amongst the foreigners in Binondo as prevails in English and Dutch +colonies; and scarcely any intercourse at all with the Spaniards, who +envy the strangers and almost seem to look upon the gains the latter +make in the country as so many robberies committed upon themselves, its +owners. Besides all this, living is very expensive, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb25" href="#pb25" name="pb25">25</a>]</span>much +more so than in Singapore and Batavia. To many, the mere cost of +existence seems greatly out of proportion to their official salaries. +The (European style) houses, which are generally spacious, are gloomy +and ugly, and not well ventilated for such a climate. Instead of light +jalousies, they are fitted with heavy sash windows, which admit the +light through thin oyster shells, forming small panes scarcely two +square inches in area, and held together by laths an inch thick. The +ground floors of the houses are, on account of the great damp, sensibly +enough, generally uninhabited; and are used as cellars, stables, and +servant’s offices.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Native houses comfortable and +unchanged.</span>The unassuming, but for their purposes very practical +houses, of boards, bamboos, and (nipa) palm leaves, are supported on +account of the damp on isolated beams or props; and the space beneath, +which is generally fenced in with a railing, is used as a stable or a +warehouse; such was the case as early as the days of Magellan. These +dwellings<a class="noteref" id="xd20e833src" href="#xd20e833" name= +"xd20e833src">4</a> are very lightly put together. La Pérouse +estimates the weight of some of them, furniture and all, at something +less than two hundred pounds. Nearly all these houses, as well as the +huts of the natives, are furnished with an <i>azotea</i>, that is, an +uncovered space, on the same level as the dwelling, which takes the +place of yard and balcony. The Spaniards appear to have copied this +useful contrivance from the Moors, but the natives were acquainted with +them before the arrival of the Europeans, for Morga mentions similar +<i>batalanes</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Neglected river and canals +offensive.</span>In the suburbs nearly every hut stands in its own +garden. The river is often quite covered with green scum; and dead cats +and dogs surrounded with weeds, which look like cabbage-lettuce, +frequently adorn its <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb26" href="#pb26" +name="pb26">26</a>]</span>waters. In the dry season, the numerous +canals of the suburbs are so many stagnant drains, and at each ebb of +the tide the ditches around the town exhibit a similar spectacle.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Dreary and unprogressive life.</span>Manila +offers very few opportunities for amusement. There was no Spanish +theatre open during my stay there, but Tagalog plays (translations) +were sometimes represented. The town possessed no club, and contained +no readable books. Never once did the least excitement enliven its +feeble newspapers, for the items of intelligence, forwarded fortnightly +from Hongkong, were sifted by priestly censors, who left little but the +chronicles of the Spanish and French courts to feed the barren columns +of the local sheets.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e852src" href= +"#xd20e852" name="xd20e852src">5</a> The pompously celebrated religious +festivals were the only events that sometimes chequered the wearisome +monotony.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cock-fighting.</span>The chief amusement of +the Filipinos is cock-fighting, which is carried on with a passionate +eagerness that must strike every stranger. Nearly every man keeps a +fighting cock. Many are never seen out of doors without their favorite +in their arms; they pay as much as $50 and upwards for these pets, and +heap the tenderest caresses <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb27" href= +"#pb27" name="pb27">27</a>]</span>on them. The passion for +cock-fighting can well be termed a national vice; but the practice may +have been introduced by the Spaniards, or the Mexicans who accompanied +them, as, in a like manner, the habit of smoking opium among the +Chinese, which has become a national curse, was first introduced by the +English. <span class="marginnote">Probably Malay Custom.</span>It is, +however, more probable that the Malays brought the custom into the +country. In the eastern portion of the Philippines, cock-fighting was +unknown in the days of Pigafetta. The first cock-fight he met with was +at Palawan. “They keep large cocks, which from a species of +superstition, they never eat, but keep for fighting purposes. Heavy +bets are made on the upshot of the contest, which are paid to the owner +of the winning bird.”<a class="noteref" id="xd20e873src" href= +"#xd20e873" name="xd20e873src">6</a> The sight is one extremely +repulsive to Europeans. <span class="marginnote">The cockpit.</span>The +ring around the cockpit is crowded with men, perspiring at every pore, +while their countenances bear the imprint of the ugliest passions. Each +bird is armed with a sharp curved spur, three inches long capable of +making deep wounds, and which always causes the death of one or both +birds by the serious injuries it inflicts. If a cock shows symptoms of +fear and declines the encounter, it is plucked alive. Incredibly large +sums, in proportion to the means of the gamblers, are wagered on the +result. <span class="marginnote">Its bad influence.</span>It is very +evident that these cock-fights must have a most demoralising effect +upon a people so addicted to idleness and dissipation, and so +accustomed to give way to the impulse of the moment. Their effect is to +make them little able to resist the temptation of procuring money +without working for it. The passion for the game leads many to borrow +at usury, to embezzlement, to theft, and even to <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb28" href="#pb28" name="pb28">28</a>]</span> highway +robbery. The land and sea pirates, of whom I shall speak presently, are +principally composed of ruined gamesters.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e887src" href="#xd20e887" name="xd20e887src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Feminine attractiveness.</span>In the +comeliness of the women who lend animation to its streets Manila +surpasses all other towns in the Indian Archipelago. Mallat describes +them in glowing colors. A charming picture of Manila street life, full +of local color, is given in the very amusing <i lang="fr">Aventures +d’un Gentilhomme Breton</i>.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e909src" +href="#xd20e909" name="xd20e909src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mestizas.</span>How many of the prettiest +Filipinas are of perfectly unmixed blood, it is, I confess, difficult +to decide. Many of them are very fair and of quite an European type, +and are thereby easily distinguished from their sisters in the outlying +provinces. The immediate environs of Manila can boast many beautiful +spots, but they are not the resort of the local rank and fashion, the +object of whose daily promenade is the display of their toilettes, and +not the enjoyment of nature. In the hot season, all who can afford it +are driven every evening along the <span class="marginnote">The +Luneta.</span>dusty streets to a promenade on the beach, which was +built a short time back, where several times a week the band of a +native regiment plays fairly good music, and there walk formally up and +down. All the Spaniards <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb29" href= +"#pb29" name="pb29">29</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The +Angelas.</span>are in uniform or in black frock coats. When the bells +ring out for evening prayer, carriages, horsemen, pedestrians, all +suddenly stand motionless; the men take off their hats, and everybody +appears momentarily absorbed in prayer.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Botanical gardens.</span>The same governor +who laid out the promenade established a botanical garden. It is true +that everything he planted in it, exposed on a marshy soil to the full +heat of a powerful sun, soon faded away; but its ground was enclosed +and laid out, and though it was overgrown with weeds, it had at least +received a name. At present it is said to be in better +condition.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e927src" href="#xd20e927" name= +"xd20e927src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pretty girls in gay garments.</span>The +religious festivals in the neighborhood of Manila are well worth a +visit, if only for the sake of the numerous pretty Filipinas and +<i>mestizas</i> in their best clothes who make their appearance in the +evening and promenade up and down the streets, which are illuminated +and profusely decked with flowers and bright colors. They offer a +charming spectacle, particularly to a stranger lately arrived from +Malaysia. The Filipinas are very beautifully formed. They have +luxuriant black hair, and large dark eyes; the upper part of their +bodies is clad in a homespun but often costly material of transparent +fineness and snow-white purity; and, from their waist downwards, they +are wrapped in a brightly-striped cloth (<i>saya</i>), which falls in +broad folds, and which, as far as the knee, is so tightly compressed +with a dark shawl (<i>lapis</i>), closely drawn around the <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb30" href="#pb30" name="pb30">30</a>]</span>figure, +that the rich variegated folds of the saya burst out beneath it like +the blossoms of a pomegranate. This swathing only allows the young +girls to take very short steps, and this timidity of gait, in unison +with their downcast eyes, gives them a very modest appearance. On their +naked feet they wear embroidered slippers of such a small size that +their little toes protrude for want of room, and grasp the outside of +the sandal.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e946src" href="#xd20e946" name= +"xd20e946src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Dress of the poorer women.</span>The poorer +women clothe themselves in a <i>saya</i> and in a so-called chemise, +which is so extremely short that it frequently does not even reach the +first fold of the former. In the more eastern islands grown-up girls +and women wear, with the exception of a Catholic amulet, nothing but +these two garments, which are, particularly after bathing, and before +they get dried by the sun, nearly transparent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Men’s clothing.</span>A hat, +trousers, and a shirt worn outside them, both made of coarse Guinara +cloth, compose the dress of the men of the poorer classes. The shirts +worn by the wealthy are often made of an extremely expensive home-made +material, woven from the fibers of the pineapple or the banana. Some of +them are ornamented with silk stripes, some are plain. They are also +frequently manufactured entirely of <i>jusi</i> (Chinese floret silk), +in which case they will not stand washing, and can only be worn once. +The hat (<i>salacot</i>), a round piece of home-made plaiting, is used +as both umbrella and sunshade, and is often adorned with silver +ornaments of considerable value. <span class="marginnote">The +“Principales”.</span>The <i>principalia</i> class enjoy the +special privilege of wearing short jackets above their shirts, and are +usually easily recognizable by their amusing assumption of dignity, and +by the faded cylindrical hats, yellow with age, family heirlooms, +constantly <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb31" href="#pb31" name= +"pb31">31</a>]</span>worn. <span class="marginnote">The +dandies.</span>The native dandies wear patent leather shoes on their +naked feet, tight-fitting trousers of some material striped with black +and white or with some other glaringly-contrasted colors, a starched +plaited shirt of European make, a chimney-pot silk hat, and carry a +cane in their hands. <span class="marginnote">The servants.</span>The +servants waiting at dinner in their white starched shirts and trousers +are by no means an agreeable spectacle, and I never realised the full +ludicrousness of European male costume till my eye fell upon its +caricature, exemplified in the person of a “Manila +dandy.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mestiza costume.</span>The <i>mestizas</i> +dress like the Filipinas, but do not wear the <i>tapis</i>, and those +of them who are married to Europeans are generally clad in both shoes +and stockings. Many of the <i>mestizas</i> are extremely pretty, but +their gait drags a little, from their habit of wearing slippers. As a +rule they are prudent, thrifty, and <span class="marginnote">Clever +business women.</span>clever business women, but their conversation is +often awkward and tedious. Their want of education is, however, not the +cause of this latter failing, for Andalusian women who never learn +anything but the elementary doctrines of Christianity, are among the +most charming creatures in the world, in their youth. <span class= +"marginnote">Ill at ease in society.</span>Its cause lies rather in +this equivocal position; they are haughtily repelled by their white +sisters, whilst they themselves disown their mother’s kin. They +are wanting in the ease, in the tact, that the women of Spain show in +every relation of existence.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mestizos.</span>The <i>mestizos</i>, +particularly those born of Chinese and Tagal mothers, constitute the +richest and the most enterprising portion of the native population. +They are well acquainted with all the good and bad qualities of the +Filipino inhabitants, and use them unscrupulously for their own +purposes. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb32" href="#pb32" name= +"pb32">32</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e786" href="#xd20e786src" name="xd20e786">1</a></span> In 1855 its +population consisted of 586 European Spaniards, 1,378 Creoles, 6,323 +Malay Filipinos and <i>mestizos</i>, 332 Chinamen, 2 Hamburgers, 1 +Portuguese, and 1 Negro.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e798" href="#xd20e798src" name="xd20e798">2</a></span> The +earthquake of 1863 destroyed the old bridge. It is intended, however, +to restore it; the supporting pillars are ready, and the superincumbent +iron structure is shortly expected from Europe (April, 1872).—The +central span, damaged in the high water of 1914, was temporarily +replaced with a wooden structure and plans have been prepared for a new +bridge, permitting ships to pass and to be used also by the railway, +nearer the river mouth.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e810" href="#xd20e810src" name="xd20e810">3</a></span> +Roescher’s <i>Colonies</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e833" href="#xd20e833src" name="xd20e833">4</a></span> A brief +description of a nipa house, accompanying an illustration, is here +omitted.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e852" href="#xd20e852src" name="xd20e852">5</a></span> The +following figures will give an idea of the contents of the newspapers. +I do not allude to the <i lang="es">Bulletin Official</i>, which is +reserved for official announcements, and contains little else of any +importance. The number lying before me of the <i lang="es">Comercio</i> +(Nov. 29, 1858), a paper that appears six times a week, consists of +four pages, the printed portion in each of which is 11 inches by 17; +the whole, therefore, contains 748 square inches of printed matter. +They are distributed as follows:—</p> +<p class="footnote">Title, 27½ sq. in.; an essay on the +population of Spain, taken from a book, 102½ sq. in.; under the +heading “News from Europe,” an article, quoted from the +Annals of La Caridad, upon the increase of charity and Catholic +instruction in France, 40½ sq. in.; Part I, of a treatise on Art +and its Origin (a series of truisms), 70 sq. in.; extracts from the +official sheet, 20½ sq. in.; a few ancient anecdotes, 59 sq. in. +Religious portion (this is divided into two parts—official and +unofficial). The first contains the saints for the different days of +the year, etc., and the announcements of religious festivals; the +second advertises a forthcoming splendid procession, and contains the +first half of a sermon preached three years before, on the anniversary +of the same festival, 99 sq. in., besides an instalment of an old +novel, 154, and advertisements, 175 sq. in.; total, 748 sq. in. In the +last years, however, the newspapers sometimes have contained serious +essays, but of late these appear extremely seldom.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e873" href="#xd20e873src" name="xd20e873">6</a></span> <i>Vide</i> +Pigafetta.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e887" href="#xd20e887src" name="xd20e887">7</a></span> +Cock-fighting is not alluded to in the “Ordinances of good +government,” collected by Hurtado Corcuera in the middle of the +seventeenth century. In 1779 cock-fights were taxed for the first time. +In 1781 the government farmed the right of entrance to the +<i>galleras</i> (derived from <i>gallo</i>, rooster) for the yearly sum +of $14,798. In 1863 the receipts from the galleras figured in the +budget for $106,000.</p> +<p class="footnote">A special decree of 100 clauses was issued in +Madrid on the 21st of March, 1861, for the regulation of cock-fights. +The 1st clause declares that since cock-fights are a source of revenue +to the State, they shall only take place in arenas licensed by the +Government. The 6th restricts them to Sundays and holidays; the 7th, +from the conclusion of high mass to sunset. The 12th forbids more than +$50 to be staked on one contest. The 38th decrees that each cock shall +carry but one weapon, and that on its left spur. By the 52nd the fight +is to be considered over when one or both cocks are dead, or when one +shows the white feather. In the <i>London Daily News</i> of the 30th +June, 1869, I find it reported that five men were sentenced at Leeds to +two months’ hard labor for setting six cocks to fight one another +with iron spurs. From this it appears that this once favorite spectacle +is no longer permitted in England.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e909" href="#xd20e909src" name="xd20e909">8</a></span> The raw +materials of these adventures were supplied by a French planter, M. de +la Gironiere, but their literary parent is avowedly Alexander +Dumas.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e927" href="#xd20e927src" name="xd20e927">9</a></span> Botanical +gardens do not seem to prosper under Spanish auspices. Chamisso +complains that, in his day, there were no traces left of the botanical +gardens founded at Cavite by the learned Cuellar. The gardens at +Madrid, even, are in a sorry plight; its hothouses are almost empty. +The grounds which were laid out at great expense by a wealthy and +patriotic Spaniard at Orotava (Teneriffe), a spot whose climate has +been of the greatest service to invalids, are rapidly going to decay. +Every year a considerable sum is appropriated to it in the national +budget, but scarcely a fraction of it ever reaches Orotava. When I was +there in 1867, the gardener had received no salary for twenty-two +months, all the workmen were dismissed, and even the indispensable +water supply had been cut off.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e946" href="#xd20e946src" name="xd20e946">10</a></span> For a +proof of this <i>vide</i> the Berlin <i>Ethnographical Museum</i>, Nos. +294–295.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">IV</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Native distrust of +Europeans.</span>A Scotch merchant to whom I brought a letter of +introduction invited me with such cordiality to come and stay with him, +that I found myself unable to refuse. While thus living under the roof +and protection of one of the wealthiest and most respected men in the +city, the cabmen I employed insisted on being paid beforehand every +time I rode in their vehicles. This distrust was occasioned by the +scanty feeling of respect most of the Europeans in Manila inspired in +the minds of the natives. Many later observations confirmed this +impression. What a different state of things exists in Java and +Singapore! The reason, however, is easily explained.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Dutch and English stand well in their +colonies.</span>The Dutch are as little able as the English to +acclimatize themselves in tropical countries. They get all they can out +of countries in which they are only temporary sojourners, the former by +forced service and monopoly, the latter by commerce. In both cases, +however, the end is accomplished by comparatively few individuals, +whose official position and the largeness of whose undertakings place +them far above the mass of the population. In Java, moreover, the +Europeans constitute the governing classes, the natives the governed; +and even in Singapore where both races are equal before the law the few +white men understand how to mark the difference of race so +distinctively that the natives without demur surrender to them, though +not by means of the law, the privileges of a higher caste. The +difference of religion does but widen the gap; and, finally, every +European there speaks the language of the country, while the natives +are totally ignorant of that spoken by the foreigners.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb33" href="#pb33" name= +"pb33">33</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Dutch colonials well +educated.</span>The Dutch officials are educated at home in schools +specially devoted to the East Indian service. The art of managing the +natives, the upholding of prestige, which is considered the secret of +the Dutch power over the numerous native populations, forms an +essential particular in their education. The Dutch, therefore, manage +their intercourse with the natives, no matter how much they intend to +get out of them, in strict accordance with customary usage +(<i>adat</i>); they never wound the natives’ <i>amor propio</i> +and never expose themselves in their own mutual intercourse, which +remains a sealed book to the inhabitants.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish officials +undesirables.</span>Things are different in the Philippines. With the +exception of those officials whose stay is limited by the rules of the +service, or by the place-hunting that ensues at every change in the +Spanish ministry, few Spaniards who have once settled in the colony +ever return home. It is forbidden to the priests, and most of the rest +have no means of doing so. A considerable portion of them consist of +subaltern officers, soldiers, sailors, political delinquents and +refugees whom the mother-country has got rid of; and not seldom of +adventurers deficient both in means and desire for the journey back, +for their life in the colony is far pleasanter than that they were +forced to lead in Spain. These latter arrive without the slightest +knowledge of the country and without being in the least prepared for a +sojourn there. Many of them are so lazy that they won’t take the +trouble to learn the language even if they marry a daughter of the +soil. Their servants understand Spanish, and clandestinely watch the +conversation and the actions, and become acquainted with all the +secrets, of their indiscreet masters, to whom the Filipinos remain an +enigma which their conceit prevents them attempting to decipher.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb34" href="#pb34" name= +"pb34">34</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Spanish lack of prestige +deserved.</span>It is easy to understand how Filipino respect for +Europeans must be diminished by the numbers of these uneducated, +improvident, and extravagant Spaniards, who, no matter what may have +been their position at home, are all determined to play the master in +the colony. <span class="marginnote">Social Standing of Filipinos thus +enhanced.</span>The relative standing of the Filipinos naturally +profits by all this and it would be difficult to find a colony in which +the natives, taken all in all, feel more comfortable than in the +Philippines. They have adopted the religion, the manners, and the +customs of their rulers; and though legally not on an equal footing +with the latter, they are by no means separated from them by the high +barriers with which, not to mention Java, the churlish reserve of the +English has surrounded the natives of the other colonies.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish-Filipino bonds of union.</span>The +same religion, a similar form of worship, an existence intermixed with +that of the indigenous population, all tend to bring the Europeans and +the Indians together. That they have done so is proved by the existence +of the proportionately very numerous band of <i>mestizos</i> who +inhabit the Islands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Latin races better for colonists in the +tropics.</span>The Spaniards and the Portuguese appear, in fact, to be +the only Europeans who take root in tropical countries. They are +capable of permanent and fruitful amalgamation<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1059src" href="#xd20e1059" name="xd20e1059src">1</a> with the +natives.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1070src" href="#xd20e1070" name= +"xd20e1070src">2</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb35" href="#pb35" name= +"pb35">35</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Initiative and +individuality missing.</span>The want of originality, which among the +<i>mestizos</i>, appears to arise from their equivocal position, is +also to be found among the natives. Distinctly marked national customs, +which one would naturally expect to find in such an isolated part of +the world, are sought for in vain, and again and again the stranger +remarks that everything has been learned and is only a veneer.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A compromise civilization.</span>As Spain +forcibly expelled the civilization of the Moors, and in Peru that of +the Incas, so in the Philippines it has understood how to set aside an +equally well-founded one, by appropriating in an incredible manner, in +order to take root itself the more quickly, all existing forms and +abuses.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1085src" href="#xd20e1085" name= +"xd20e1085src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Imitation instilled and self-respect +banished.</span>The uncivilized inhabitants of the Philippines quickly +adopted the rites, forms, and ceremonies of the strange religion, and, +at the same time, copied the personal externalities of their new +masters, learning to despise their own manners and customs as +heathenish and barbarian. Nowadays, forsooth, they sing Andalusian +songs, and dance Spanish dances; but in what sort of way? They imitate +everything that passes before their eyes without using their +intelligence to appreciate it. It is this which makes both themselves +and their artistic productions wearisome, devoid of character, and, I +may add, unnatural, in spite of the skill and patience they devote to +them. These two peculiarities, moreover, are invariably to be found +amongst nations whose civilization is but little developed; the +patience so much admired is often nothing but waste of time and breath, +quite <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb36" href="#pb36" name= +"pb36">36</a>]</span>out of proportion to the end in view, and the +skill is the mere consequence of the backward state of the division of +labor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Educated Filipino unnatural.</span>If I +entered the house of a well-to-do Filipino, who spoke Spanish, I was +received with the same phrases his model, a Spaniard, would employ; but +I always had the feeling that it was out of place. In countries where +the native population remains true to its ancient customs this is not +the case; and whenever I have not been received with proper respect, I +have remarked that the apparent fact proceeded from a difference in +social forms, not more to be wondered at than a difference in weights +and measures. In Java, and particularly in Borneo and the Moluccas, the +utensils in daily use are ornamented with so refined a feeling for form +and color, that they are praised by our artists as patterns of +ornamentation and afford a proof that the labor is one of love, and +that it is presided over by an acute intelligence. <span class= +"marginnote">Native art-sense spoiled.</span>Such a sense of beauty is +seldom to be met with in the Philippines. Everything there is imitation +or careless makeshift. Even the piña embroideries, which are +fabricated with such wonderful patience and skill, and are so +celebrated for the fineness of the work, are, as a rule, spiritless +imitations of Spanish patterns. One is involuntarily led to these +conclusions by a comparison of the art products of the Spanish-American +communities with those of more barbarous races. The Berlin +Ethnographical Museum contains many proofs of the facts I have just +mentioned.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indolence from absence of +incentive.</span>The oars used in the Philippines are usually made of +bamboo poles, with a board tied to their extremities with strips of +rattan. If they happen to break, so much the better; for the fatiguing +labor of rowing must necessarily be suspended till they are mended +again.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb37" href="#pb37" name= +"pb37">37</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Carelessness from lack of +responsibility.</span>In Java the carabao-carts, which are completely +covered in as a protection against the rain, are ornamented with many +tasteful patterns. The roofless wagons used in the Philippines are +roughly put together at the last moment. When it is necessary to +protect their contents from the wet, an old pair of mats is thrown over +them, more for the purpose of appeasing the prejudices of the +“Castilians” than really to keep off the rain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Weakened character and want of +dignity.</span>The English and the Dutch are always looked upon as +strangers in the tropics; their influence never touches the ancient +native customs which culminate in the religion of the country. But the +populations whom the Spaniards have converted to their religion have +lost all originality, all sense of nationality; yet the alien religion +has never really penetrated into their inmost being, they never feel it +to be a source of moral support, and it is no accidental coincidence +that they are all more or less stamped with a want of dignity....</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish rule not benevolent, but +beneficial.</span>With the exception of this want of national +individuality, and the loss of the distinguishing manners and customs +which constitute the chief charm of most eastern peoples, the Filipino +is an interesting study of a type of mankind existing in the easiest +natural conditions. The arbitrary rule of their chiefs, and the iron +shackles of slavery, were abolished by the Spaniards shortly after +their arrival; and peace and security reigned in the place of war and +rapine. The Spanish rule in these Islands was always a mild one, not +because the laws, which treated the natives like children, were +wonderfully gentle, but because the causes did not exist which caused +such scandalous cruelties in Spanish America and in the colonies of +other nations.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Circumstances have favored the +Filipinos.</span>It was fortunate for the Filipinos that their islands +possessed no wealth in the shape of precious metals or valuable spices. +In the earlier days of maritime traffic <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb38" href="#pb38" name="pb38">38</a>]</span>there was little +possibility of exporting the numerous agricultural productions of the +colony; and it was scarcely worth while, therefore, to make the most of +the land. The few Spaniards who resided in the colony found such an +easy method of making money in the commerce with China and Mexico, by +means of the galleons, that they held themselves aloof from all +economical enterprises, which had little attraction for their haughty +inclinations, and would have imposed the severest labor on the +Filipinos. Taking into consideration the wearisome and dangerous +navigation of the time, it was, moreover, impossible for the Spaniards, +upon whom their too large possessions in America already imposed an +exhausting man-tax, to maintain a strong armed force in the +Philippines. The subjection, which had been inaugurated by a dazzling +military exploit, was chiefly accomplished by the assistance of the +friar orders, whose missionaries were taught to employ extreme prudence +and patience. The Philippines were thus principally won by a peaceful +conquest.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Have fared better than the +Mexicans.</span>The taxes laid upon the peoples were so trifling that +they did not suffice for the administration of the colony. The +difference was covered by yearly contributions from Mexico. The +extortions of unconscientious officials were by no means conspicuous by +their absence. Cruelties, however, such as were practised in the +American mining districts, or in the manufactures of Quito, never +occurred in the Philippines.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A land of opportunity.</span>Uncultivated +land was free, and was at the service of any one willing to make it +productive; if, however, it remained untilled for two years, it +reverted to the crown.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1133src" href= +"#xd20e1133" name="xd20e1133src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb39" href="#pb39" name= +"pb39">39</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Low taxes.</span>The only +tax which the Filipinos pay is the poll-tax, known as the <i lang= +"es">tributo</i>, which originally, three hundred years ago, amounted +to one dollar for every pair of adults, and in a country where all +marry early, and the sexes are equally divided, really constituted a +family-tax. By degrees the tribute has been raised to two and +one-sixteenth dollars. An adult, therefore, male or female, pays one +and one-thirty-second dollar, and that from his sixteenth to his +sixtieth year. Besides this, every man has to give forty days’ +labor every year to the State. This vassalage (<i lang="es">polos y +servicios</i>) is divided into ordinary and extraordinary services: the +first consists of the duties appertaining to a watchman or messenger, +in cleaning the courts of justice, and in other light labors; the +second in road-making, and similar heavier kinds of work, for the +benefit of villages and provinces. The little use, however, that is +made of these services, is shown by the fact that any one can obtain a +release from them for a sum which at most is not more than three +dollars. No personal service is required of women. A little further on, +important details about the tax from official sources, which were +placed at my disposal in the colonial office, appear in a short special +chapter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fortunate factors.</span>In other +countries, with an equally mild climate, and an equally fertile soil, +the natives, unless they had reached a higher degree of civilization +than that of the Philippine Islanders, would have been ground down by +native princes, or ruthlessly plundered and destroyed by foreigners. In +these isolated Islands, so richly endowed by nature, where pressure +from above, impulse from within, and every stimulus from the outside +are wanting, the satisfaction of a few trifling wants is sufficient for +an existence with ample comfort. Of all countries in the world, the +Philippines have the greatest claim to be considered a lotos-eating +Utopia. The traveller, whose <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb40" href= +"#pb40" name="pb40">40</a>]</span>knowledge of the <i lang="it">dolce +far niente</i> is derived from Naples, has no real appreciation of it; +it only blossoms under the shade of palm-trees. These notes of travel +will contain plenty of examples to support this. One trip across the +Pasig gives a foretaste of life in the interior of the country. Low +wooden cabins and bamboo huts, surmounted with green foliage and +blossoming flowers, are picturesquely grouped with areca palms, and +tall, feather-headed bamboos, upon its banks. Sometimes the enclosures +run down into the stream itself, some of them being duck-grounds, and +others bathing-places. The shore is fringed with canoes, nets, rafts, +and fishing apparatus. Heavily-laden boats float down the stream, and +small canoes ply from bank to bank between the groups of bathers. The +most lively traffic is to be seen in the <i>tiendas</i>, large sheds, +corresponding to the Javanese <i>harongs</i>, which open upon the +river, the great channel for traffic.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">River resorts.</span>They are a source of +great attraction to the passing sailors, who resort to them for eating, +drinking, and other convivialities; and while away the time there in +gambling, betel chewing, and smoking, with idle companions of both +sexes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sleeping pilots.</span>At times somebody +may be seen floating down the stream asleep on a heap of coconuts. If +the nuts run ashore, the sleeper rouses himself, pushes off with a long +bamboo, and contentedly relapses into slumber, as his eccentric raft +regains the current of the river. One cut of his bolo-knife easily +detaches sufficient of the husk of the nuts to allow of their being +fastened together; in this way a kind of wreath is formed which +encircles and holds together the loose nuts piled up in the middle.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Labor-saving conditions.</span>The arduous +labors of many centuries have left as their legacy a perfect system of +transport; but in these Islands man can obtain many of his requirements +direct <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb41" href="#pb41" name= +"pb41">41</a>]</span>with proportionately trifling labor, and a large +amount of comfort for himself.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Easy food.</span>Off the Island of Talim, +in the great Lagoon of Bay, my boatmen bought for a few <i>cuartos</i> +several dozens of fish quite twelve inches long; and those which they +couldn’t eat were split open, salted, and dried by a few +hours’ exposure to the heat of the sun on the roof of the boat. +When the fishermen had parted with their contemplated breakfast, they +stooped down and filled their cooking-vessels with sand-mussels +(<i>paludina costata</i>, 2.a G.), first throwing away the dead ones +from the handfuls they picked up from the bottom of the shallow +water.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">River’s importance.</span>Nearly all +the dwellings are built by the water’s edge. The river is a +natural self-maintaining highway, on which loads can be carried to the +foot of the mountains. The huts of the people, built upon piles, are to +be seen thickly scattered about its banks, and particularly about its +broad mouths. The appropriateness of their position is evident, for the +stream is at once the very center of activity and the most convenient +spot for the pursuit of their callings. At each tide the takes of fish +are more or less plentiful, and at low-water the women and children may +be seen picking up shell-fish with their toes, for practice has enabled +them to use their toes as deftly as their fingers, or gathering in the +sand-crabs and eatable seaweed.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Riverside gaiety.</span> The riverside is a +pretty sight when men, women, and children are bathing and frolicking +in the shade of the palm-trees; and others are filling their +water-vessels, large bamboos, which they carry on their shoulders, or +jars, which they bear on their heads; and when the boys are standing +upright on the broad backs of the carabaos and riding triumphantly into +the water.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb42" href="#pb42" name= +"pb42">42</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Coco-palms.</span>It is +here too that the coco-palm most flourishes, a tree that supplies not +only their food and drink, but also every material necessary for the +construction of huts and the manufacture of the various articles which +they use. While the greatest care is necessary to make those growing +further inland bear even a little fruit, the palm-trees close to the +shore, even when planted on wretched soil, grow plentiful crops without +the slightest trouble. Has a palm-tree ever been made to blossom in a +hothouse? Thomson<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1200src" href="#xd20e1200" +name="xd20e1200src">5</a> mentions that coco-trees growing by the +sea-side are wont to incline their stems over the ocean, the waters of +which bear their fruit to desert shores and islands, and render them +habitable for mankind. Thus the coco-tree would seem to play an +essential part in the ocean vagabondage of Malaysia and Polynesia.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nipa-palms.</span>Close to the coco-trees +grow clumps of the stunted <i>nipa</i>-palms, which only flourish in +brackish waters;<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1212src" href="#xd20e1212" +name="xd20e1212src">6</a> their leaves furnish the best roof-thatching. +Sugar, brandy, and vinegar are manufactured from their sap. Three +hundred and fifty years ago Pigafetta found these manufactures in full +swing, but nowadays they seem to be limited to the Philippines. Besides +these, the <i>pandanus</i>-tree, from the leaves of which the softest +mats are woven, is always found in near proximity to the shore.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fertile fields.</span>Towards the interior +the landscape is covered with rice-fields, which yearly receive a fresh +layer of fertile soil, washed down from the mountains by the river, and +spread over their surface by the overflowing of its waters; and which +in consequence never require any fertilizer. <span class= +"marginnote">The carabao.</span>The carabao, the favorite domestic +animal of the Malays, and which they keep especially for agricultural +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb43" href="#pb43" name= +"pb43">43</a>]</span>purposes, prefers these regions to all others. It +loves to wallow in the mud, and is not fit for work unless permitted to +frequent the water.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bamboo.</span>Bamboos with luxuriant leafy +tops grow plentifully by the huts in the rice-fields which fringe the +banks of the river. In my former sketches of travel I have endeavored +to describe how much this gigantic plant contributes to the comfort and +convenience of tropical life. Since then I have become acquainted with +many curious purposes to which it is turned, but to describe them here +would be out of place.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1231src" href= +"#xd20e1231" name="xd20e1231src">7</a> I may be allowed, however, to +briefly cite a few examples showing what numerous results are obtained +from simple means. Nature has endowed these splendid plants, which +perhaps surpass all others in beauty, with so many useful qualities, +and delivered them into the hands of mankind so ready for immediate +use, that a few sharp cuts suffice to convert them into all kinds of +various utensils. <span class="marginnote">Strength.</span>The bamboo +possesses, in proportion to its lightness, an extraordinary strength; +the result of its round shape, and the regularity of the joints in its +stem. The parallel position and toughness of its fibers render it easy +to split, and, when split, its pieces are of extraordinary pliability +and elasticity. To the gravelly soil on which it grows it owes its +durability, and its firm, even, and always clean surface, the +brilliancy and color of which improve by use. <span class= +"marginnote">Convenience.</span>And finally, it is a great thing for a +population with such limited means of conveyance that the bamboo is to +be found in such abundance in all kinds of localities and of all +dimensions, from a few millimeters to ten or fifteen centimeters in +diameter, even <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb44" href="#pb44" name= +"pb44">44</a>]</span>sometimes to twice this amount; and that, on +account of its unsurpassed floating power, it is pre-eminently fitted +for locomotion in a country poor in roads but rich in watercourses. A +blow with a bolo is generally enough to cut down a strong stem. +<span class="marginnote">Usefulness.</span>If the thin joints are taken +away, hollow stems of different thicknesses can be slid into one +another like the parts of a telescope. From bamboos split in half, +gutters, troughs, and roofing tiles can be made. Split into several +slats, which can be again divided into small strips and fibers for the +manufacture of baskets, ropes, mats, and fine plaiting work, they can +be made into frames and stands. Two cuts in the same place make a round +hole through which a stem of corresponding diameter can be firmly +introduced. If a similar opening is made in a second upright, the +horizontal stem can be run through both. Gates, closing perpendicularly +or horizontally in frames moving without friction on a perpendicular or +horizontal axis, can be made in this way.</p> +<p>Two deep cuts give an angular shape to the stem; and when its two +sides are wide enough apart to admit of a cross-stem being placed +between them, they can be employed as roof-ridges or for the framework +of tables and chairs; a quantity of flat split pieces of bamboo being +fastened on top of them with chair-cane. These split pieces then form +the seats of the chairs and the tops of the tables, instead of the +boards and large bamboo laths used at other times. It is equally easy +to make an oblong opening in a large bamboo in which to fit the laths +of a stand.</p> +<p>A couple of cuts are almost enough to make a fork, a pair of tongs +or a hook.</p> +<p>If one makes a hole as big as the end of one’s finger in a +large bamboo close under a joint, one obtains by fastening a small +piece of cloth to the open end, a syphon <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb45" href="#pb45" name="pb45">45</a>]</span>or a filter. If a piece +of bamboo is split down to the joint in strips, and the strips be bound +together with others horizontally interlaced, it makes a conical +basket. If the strips are cut shorter, it makes a peddler’s pack +basket. If a long handle is added, and it is filled with tar, it can be +used as a signal torch. If shallower baskets of the same dimensions, +but with their bottoms cut off or punched out, are placed inside these +conical ones, the two together make capital snare baskets for crabs and +fish. If a bamboo stem be cut off just below the joint, and its lower +edge be split up into a cogged rim, it makes, when the partition of the +joint is punched out, an earth-auger, a fountain-pipe, and many things +of the kind.</p> +<hr class="tb"> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pleasures of travel.</span>Strangers +travelling in the interior have daily fresh opportunities of enjoying +the hospitality of nature. The atmosphere is so equitably warm that one +would gladly dispense with all clothing except a sun-hat and a pair of +light shoes. Should one be tempted to pass the night in the open air, +the construction of a hut from the leaves of the palm and the fern is +the work of a few minutes; <span class="marginnote">Village rest +houses.</span>but in even the smallest village the traveller finds a +“common house” (<i>casa real</i>), in which he can take up +his quarters and be supplied with the necessaries of life at the market +price. There too he will always meet with <i>semaneros</i> (those who +perform menial duties) ready to serve him as messengers or porters for +the most trifling remuneration. But long practice has taught me that +their services principally consist in doing nothing. On one occasion I +wanted to send a man who was playing cards and drinking <i>tuba</i> +(fresh or weakly-fermented palm-sap) with his companions, on an errand. +<span class="marginnote">Pleasant prison life.</span>Without stopping +his game the fellow excused himself on the ground of being a prisoner, +and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb46" href="#pb46" name= +"pb46">46</a>]</span>one of his guardians proceeded in the midst of the +intense heat to carry my troublesome message. Prisoners have certainly +little cause to grumble. <span class="marginnote">Frequent floggings +little regarded.</span>The only inconvenience to which they are exposed +are the floggings which the local authorities very liberally dispense +by the dozens for the most trifling offences. Except the momentary +bodily pain, however, these appear in most cases to make little +impression on a people who have been accustomed to corporal punishment +from their youth upwards. Their acquaintances stand round the +sufferers, while the blows are being inflicted, and mockingly ask them +how it tastes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Change from Malayan character.</span>A long +residence amongst the earnest, quiet, and dignified Malays, who are +most anxious for their honor, while most submissive to their superiors, +makes the contrast in character exhibited by the natives of the +Philippines, who yet belong to the Malay race, all the more striking. +The change in their nature appears to be a natural consequence of the +Spanish rule, for the same characteristics may be observed in the +natives of Spanish America. The class distinctions and the despotic +oppression prevalent under their former chiefs doubtless rendered the +Filipinos of the past more like the Malays of today.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1059" href="#xd20e1059src" name="xd20e1059">1</a></span> +Bertillon (<i>Acclimatement et Acclimatation, Dict. Encycl. des +Science, Médicales</i>) ascribes the capacity of the Spaniards +for acclimatization in tropical countries to the large admixture of +Syrian and African blood which flows in their veins. The ancient +Iberians appear to have reached Spain from Chaldea across Africa; the +Phoenicians and Carthaginians had flourishing colonies in the +peninsula, and, in later times, the Moors possessed a large portion of +the country for a century, and ruled with great splendor, a state of +things leading to a mixture of race. Thus Spanish blood has three +distinct times been abundantly crossed with that of Africa. The warm +climate of the peninsula must also largely contribute to render its +inhabitants fit for life in the tropics. The pure Indo-European race +has never succeeded in establishing itself on the southern shores of +the Mediterranean, much less in the arid soil of the tropics.</p> +<p class="footnote">In Martinique, where from eight to nine thousand +whites live on the proceeds of the toil of 125,000 of the colored race, +the population is diminishing instead of increasing. The French creoles +seem to have lost the power of maintaining themselves, in proportion to +the existing means of subsistence, and of multiplying. Families which +do not from time to time fortify themselves with a strain of fresh +European blood, die out in from three to four generations. The same +thing happens in the English, but not in the Spanish Antilles, although +the climate and the natural surroundings are the same. According to +Ramón de la Sagra, the death-rate is smaller among the creoles, +and greater among the natives, than it is in Spain; the mortality among +the garrison, however, is considerable. The same writer states that the +real acclimatization of the Spanish race takes place by selection; the +unfit die, and the others thrive.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1070" href="#xd20e1070src" name="xd20e1070">2</a></span> An +unnecessary line is here omitted.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1085" href="#xd20e1085src" name="xd20e1085">3</a></span> Depons, +speaking of the means employed in America to obtain the same end, says, +“I am convinced that it is impossible to engraft the Christian +religion on the Indian mind without mixing up their own inclinations +and customs with those of Christianity; this has been even carried so +far, that at one time theologians raised the question, whether it was +lawful to eat human flesh? But the most singular part of the proceeding +is, that the question was decided in favor of the +anthropophagi.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1133" href="#xd20e1133src" name="xd20e1133">4</a></span> As a +matter of fact, productive land is always appropriated, and in many +parts of the Islands is difficult and expensive to purchase. Near +Manila, and in Bulacan, land has for many years past cost over $225 +(silver) an acre.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1200" href="#xd20e1200src" name="xd20e1200">5</a></span> <i>Ind. +Arch.</i> IV; 307.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1212" href="#xd20e1212src" name="xd20e1212">6</a></span> In +Buitenzorger’s garden, Java, the author observed, however, some +specimens growing in fresh water.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1231" href="#xd20e1231src" name="xd20e1231">7</a></span> Boyle, +in his <i>Adventures among the Dyaks</i>, mentions that he actually +found pneumatic tinder-boxes, made of bamboo, in use among the Dyaks; +Bastian met with them in Burmah. Boyle saw a Dyak place some tinder on +a broken piece of earthenware, holding it steady with his thumb while +he struck it a sharp blow with a piece of bamboo. The tinder took fire. +Wallace observed the same method of striking a light in Ternate.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">V</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">The familiar field for +travellers.</span>The environs of Manila, the Pasig, and the Lagoon of +Bay, which are visited by every fresh arrival in the colony, have been +so often described that I have restricted myself to a few short notes +upon these parts of the country, and intend to relate in detail only my +excursions into the south-eastern provinces of Luzon, Camarines, and +Albay, and the islands which lie to the east of them, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb47" href="#pb47" name="pb47">47</a>]</span>Samar +and Leyte. Before doing this, however, it will not be out of place to +glance at the map and give some slight description of their +geographical conditions.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Archipelago’s great extent.</span>The +Philippine Archipelago lies between Borneo and Formosa, and separates +the northern Pacific Ocean from the China Sea. It covers fourteen and +one-half degrees of latitude, and extends from the Sulu Islands in the +south, in the fifth parallel of north latitude, to the Babuyans in the +north in latitude 19° 30′. If, however, the Bashee or Batanes +Islands be included, its area may be said to extend to the twenty-first +parallel of north latitude. But neither southwards or northwards does +Spanish rule extend to these extreme limits, nor, in fact, does it +always reach the far interior of the larger islands. From the eastern +to the western extremity of the Philippines the distance is about nine +degrees of longitude. Two islands, Luzon, with an area of two thousand, +and Mindanao, with one of more than one thousand five hundred square +miles, are together larger than all the rest. The seven next largest +islands are Palawan, Samar, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Negros, and Cebu; of +which the first measures about two hundred and fifty, and the last +about one hundred square miles. Then come Bohol and Masbate, each about +half the size of Cebu; twenty smaller islands, still of some +importance; and numerous tiny islets, rocks, and reefs.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Favored by position and +conditions.</span>The Philippines are extremely favored by their +position and conditions. Their extension from north to south, over +16° of latitude, obtains for them a variety of climate which the +Dutch Indies, whose largest diameter, their extent in latitude north +and south of the equator being but trifling, runs from the east to the +west, by no means enjoy. The advantages accruing from their +neighborhood to the equator are added to those <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb48" href="#pb48" name="pb48">48</a>]</span>acquired +from the natural variety of their climate; and the produce of both the +torrid and temperate zones, the palm-tree and the fir, the pine-apple, +the corn ear and the potato, flourish side by side upon their +shores.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Harbors and water highways.</span>The +larger islands contain vast inland seas, considerable navigable rivers, +and many creeks running far into the interior; they are rich, too, in +safe harbors and countless natural ports of refuge for ships in +distress. Another attribute which, though not to be realized by a +glance at the map, is yet one of the most fortunate the Islands +possess, is the countless number of small streams which pour down from +the inland hills, and open out, ere they reach the ocean, into broad +estuaries; up these watercourses coasting vessels of shallow draught +can sail to the very foot of the mountains and take in their cargo. +<span class="marginnote">Soil and sea alike productive.</span>The +fertility of the soil is unsurpassed; both the sea around the coasts +and the inland lakes swarm with fish and shell-fish, while in the whole +archipelago there is scarcely a wild beast to be found. It seems that +only two civets happen to appear: Miro (<i>paradoxurus +philippinensis</i> Tem.) and galong (<i>viverra tangalunga</i> Gray). +Luzon surpasses all the other islands, not only in size, but in +importance; and its fertility and other natural superiority well +entitle it to be called, as it is by Crawfurd, “the most +beautiful spot in the tropics.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Luzon.</span>The mainland of the isle of +Luzon stretches itself in a compact long quadrangle, twenty-five miles +broad, from 18° 40′ north latitude to the Bay of Manila +(14° 30′); and then projects, amid large lakes and deep +creeks, a rugged promontory to the east, joined to the main continent +by but two narrow isthmuses which stretch east and west of the large +inland Lagoon of Bay. Many traces of recent upheavals betoken that the +two portions were once separated and formed two distinct islands. The +large eastern promontory, well-nigh as long as the <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb49" href="#pb49" name="pb49">49</a>]</span>northern +portion, is nearly cut in half by two deep bays, which, starting from +opposite points on the south-eastern and north-western coasts, almost +merge their waters in the center of the peninsula; the Bay of Ragay, +and the Bay of Sogod. In fact, the southern portion of Luzon may be +better described as two small peninsulas lying next to one another in +parallel positions, and joined together by a narrow neck of land +scarcely three miles broad. Two small streams which rise nearly in the +same spot and pour themselves into the two opposite gulfs, make the +separation almost complete, and form at the same time the boundary +between the province of Tayabas on the west, and that of Camarines on +the east. The western portion, indeed, consists almost entirely of the +first-named district, and the eastern is divided into the provinces of +North Camarines, South Camarines, and Albay. The first of these three +is divided from Tayabas by the boundary already mentioned, and from +South Camarines by a line drawn from the southern shore of the Bay of +San Miguel on the north to the opposite coast. The eastern extremity of +the peninsula forms the province of Albay; separated from South +Camarines by a line which runs from Donzol, on the south coast, +northwards across the volcano of Mayon, and which then, inclining to +the west, reaches the northern shore. A look at the map will make these +explanations clearer.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The monsoons.</span>There are two seasons +in the Philippines, the wet and the dry. The south-west monsoon brings +the rainy season, at the time of our summer, to the provinces which lie +exposed to the south and west winds. On the northern and eastern coasts +the heaviest downpours take place (in our winter months) during the +north-eastern monsoons. The ruggedness of the country and its numerous +mountains cause, in certain districts, many variations in these normal +meteorological conditions. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb50" href= +"#pb50" name="pb50">50</a>]</span>The dry season lasts in Manila from +November till June (duration of the north-east monsoon); rain prevails +during the remaining months (duration of the south-west monsoon). The +heaviest rainfall occurs in September; March and April are frequently +free from rain. From October to February inclusively the weather is +cool and dry (prevalence of N.W., N., and N.E. winds); March, April, +and May are warm and dry (prevalence of E.N.E., E., and E.S.E. winds); +and from June till the end of September it is humid and moderately +warm.</p> +<p>There has been an observatory for many years past in Manila under +the management of the Jesuits. The following is an epitome of the +yearly meteorological report for 1867, for which I am indebted to +Professor Dove: <i>Barometrical readings</i>.—The average height +of the mercury was, in 1867, 755.5; in 1865, 754.57; and in 1866, +753.37 millimeters.</p> +<p>In 1867 the difference between the highest and lowest barometrical +readings was not more than 13.96 millimetres, and would have been much +less if the mercury had not been much depressed by storms in July and +September. The hourly variations amounted to very few millimeters. +<i>Daily reading of the barometer</i>.—The mercury rises in the +early morning till about 9 a.m., it then falls up to 3 or 4 p.m., from +then it rises again till 9 p.m., and then again falls till towards +day-break. Both the principal atmospheric currents prevalent in Manila +exercise a great influence over the mercury in the barometer; the +northern current causes it to rise (to an average height of 756 +millimeters), the southern causes it to fall (to about 753 +millimeters). <i>Temperature</i>.—The heat increases from January +till the end of May, and then decreases till December. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb51" href="#pb51" name="pb51">51</a>]</span>Average +yearly temperature, 27.9° C. The highest temperature ever recorded +(on the 15th of April at 3 p.m.) was 37.7° C.; the lowest (on the +14th of December and on the 30th of January at 6 a.m.), 19.4° C. +Difference, 18.3° C.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e1347src" href= +"#xd20e1347" name="xd20e1347src">1</a> <i>Thermometrical +variations</i>.—The differences between the highest and lowest +readings of the thermometer were, in January, 13.9°; in February, +14.2°; in March, 15°; in April, 14.6°; in May, 11.1°; +in June, 9.9°; in July, 9°; in August, 9°; in September, +10°; in October, 11.9°; in November, 11.8°; and in +December, 11.7°. <i>Coolest months</i>.—November, December +and January, with northerly winds. <i>Hottest months</i>.—April +and May. Their high temperature is caused by the change of monsoon from +the north-east to the south-west. The state of the temperature is most +normal from June to September; the variations are least marked during +this period owing to the uninterrupted rainfall and the clouded +atmosphere. <i>Daily variations of the thermometer</i>.—The +coolest portion of the day is from 6 to 7 a.m.; the heat gradually +increases, reaches its maximum about 2 or 3 p.m., and then again +gradually decreases. During some hours of the night the temperature +remains unchanged, but towards morning it falls rapidly.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Winds.</span>The direction of the wind is +very regular at all seasons of the year, even when local causes make it +vary a little. In the course of a twelvemonth the wind goes around the +whole compass. In January and February north winds prevail; in March +and April they blow from the south-east; and in May, June, July, +August, and September, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb52" href="#pb52" +name="pb52">52</a>]</span>from the south-west. In the beginning of +October they vary between south-east and south-west, and settle down +towards the close of the month in the north-east, in which quarter they +remain tolerably fixed during the two following months. The two changes +of monsoon always take place in April and May, and in October. As a +rule, the direction of both monsoons preserves its equilibrium; but in +Manila, which is protected towards the north by a high range of hills, +the north-east monsoon is often diverted to the south-east and +north-west. The same cause gives greater force to the south-west +wind.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sunshine and rain.</span>The sky is +generally partially clouded; entirely sunny days are of rare +occurrence, in fact, they only occur from January to April during the +north-east monsoons. Number of rainy days in the year, 168. The most +continuous and heaviest rain falls from June till the end of October. +During this period the rain comes down in torrents; in September alone +the rainfall amounted to 1.5 meters, nearly as much as falls in Berlin +in the course of the whole year, 3,072.8 millimeters of rain fell in +the twelve month; but this is rather more than the average.</p> +<p>The evaporation only amounted to 2,307.3 millimeters; in ordinary +years it is generally about equal to the downfall, taking the early +averages, not those of single months.</p> +<p>The average daily evaporation was about 6.3 millimeters.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Storms.</span>The changes of monsoons are +often accompanied with tremendous storms; during one of these, which +occurred in September, the velocity of the wind was as much as +thirty-seven or thirty-eight meters per second. An official report of +the English vice-consul mentions a typhoon which visited the Islands on +September 27, 1865, and which did much damage at Manila, driving +seventeen vessels ashore.</p> +<hr class="tb"> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb53" href="#pb53" name= +"pb53">53</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Provinces and +districts.</span>The Philippines are divided into provinces (P), and +districts (D), each of which is administered by an alcalde of the 1st +(A1), 2nd (A2), or 3rd class (A3) (<i>de termino</i>, <i>de +ascenso</i>, <i>de entrada</i>); by a political and military governor +(G), or by a commandant (C). In some provinces an alcalde of the 3rd +class is appointed as coadjutor to the governor. These divisions are +frequently changed.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Population.</span>The population is +estimated approximately at about five millions.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Language and dialects.</span>In spite of +the long possessions of the Islands by the Spaniards their language has +scarcely acquired any footing there. A great diversity of languages and +dialects prevails; amongst them the Bisayan, Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicol, +Pangasinan, and Pampangan are the most important.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Luzon Provinces and their languages and +populations.</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<h4 class="tablecaption">Island of Luzon</h4> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td>Rank of Official</td> +<td>Rank of District</td> +<td>Name</td> +<td>Prevailing Dialect</td> +<td>Population</td> +<td>Pueblos</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Abra</td> +<td>Ilocano</td> +<td>34,337</td> +<td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Albay</td> +<td>Bicol</td> +<td>330,121</td> +<td>34</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Bataan</td> +<td>Tagalog, Pampangan</td> +<td>44,794</td> +<td>10</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Batangas</td> +<td>Tagalog</td> +<td>280,100</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Benguet</td> +<td>Igorot, Ilocano, Pangasinan</td> +<td>8,465</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Bontoc</td> +<td>Suflin, Ilocano, Igorot</td> +<td>7,052</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Bulacan</td> +<td>Tagalog</td> +<td>240,341</td> +<td>23</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Cagayan</td> +<td>Ibanag, Itanes, Idayan, Gaddan, Ilocano, Dadaya, Apayao, +Malaneg</td> +<td>64,437</td> +<td>16</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Camarines Norte</td> +<td>Tagalog, Bicol</td> +<td>25,372</td> +<td>7</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2(?)</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Camarines Sur</td> +<td>Bicol</td> +<td>81,047</td> +<td>31</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Cavite</td> +<td>Spanish, Tagalog</td> +<td>109,501</td> +<td>17</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Ilocos Norte</td> +<td>Ilocano, Tinguian</td> +<td>134,767</td> +<td>12</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Ilocos Sur</td> +<td>Ilocano</td> +<td>105,251</td> +<td>18</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>C.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Infanta</td> +<td>Tagalog</td> +<td>7,813</td> +<td>2</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Isabela</td> +<td>Ibanag, Gaddan, Tagalog</td> +<td>29,200</td> +<td>9</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Laguna</td> +<td>Tagalog, Spanish</td> +<td>121,251</td> +<td>25</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Lepanto</td> +<td>Igorot, Ilocano</td> +<td>8,851</td> +<td>48</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>3A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Manila</td> +<td>Tagalog, Spanish, Chinese</td> +<td>323,683</td> +<td>23</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>C.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Morong</td> +<td>Tagalog</td> +<td>44,239</td> +<td>12</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Nueva Ecija</td> +<td>Tagalog, Pangasinan, Pampangan, Ilocano</td> +<td>84,520</td> +<td>12</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Nueva Vizcaya</td> +<td>Gaddan, Ifugao, Ibilao, Ilongote</td> +<td>32,961</td> +<td>8</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Pampanga</td> +<td>Pampangan, Ilocano</td> +<td>193,423</td> +<td>24</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A1.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Pangasinan</td> +<td>Pangasinan, Ilocano</td> +<td>253,472</td> +<td>25</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Porac</td> +<td>Pampangan</td> +<td>6,950</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>C.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Principe</td> +<td>Tagalog, Ilocano, Ilongote</td> +<td>3,609</td> +<td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Saltan</td> +<td>Gaddan</td> +<td>6,540</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Tayabas</td> +<td>Tagalog, Bicol</td> +<td>93,918</td> +<td>17</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Tiagan</td> +<td>Different Igorot dialects</td> +<td>5,723</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Union</td> +<td>Ilocano</td> +<td>88,024</td> +<td>11</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Zambales</td> +<td>Zambal, Ilocano, Acta, Pampangan, Tagalog, Pangasinan</td> +<td>72,936</td> +<td>16</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb54" href="#pb54" name= +"pb54">54</a>]</span></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bisayas.</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<h4 class="tablecaption">Islands between Luzon and Mindanao</h4> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Antique (Panay)</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>88,874</td> +<td>13</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Bohol</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>187,327</td> +<td>26</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>C.</td> +<td></td> +<td>Burias</td> +<td>Bicol</td> +<td>1,786</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Capiz (Panay)</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>206,288</td> +<td>26</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Cebu</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>318,715</td> +<td>44</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Iloilo (Panay)</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>565,500</td> +<td>35</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Leyte</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>170,591</td> +<td>28</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Masbate, Ticao</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>12,457</td> +<td>9</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A2.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Mindoro</td> +<td>Tagalog</td> +<td>23,050</td> +<td>10</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Negros</td> +<td>Cebuan, Panayan, Bisayan</td> +<td>144,923</td> +<td>31</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Romblon</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>21,579</td> +<td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Samar</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>146,539</td> +<td>28</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mindanao.</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<h4 class="tablecaption">Mindanao</h4> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Cotabato</td> +<td>Spanish, Manobo</td> +<td>1,103</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Misamis (J)</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>63,639</td> +<td>14</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Surigao (J)</td> +<td></td> +<td>24,104</td> +<td>12</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Zamboanga (J)</td> +<td>Mandaya, Spanish</td> +<td>9,608</td> +<td>2</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>D.</td> +<td>Davao</td> +<td>Bisayan</td> +<td>1,537</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Outlying Islands.</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<h4 class="tablecaption">Distant Islands</h4> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Batanes</td> +<td>Ibanag</td> +<td>8,381</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G a3.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Calamianes</td> +<td>Coyuvo, Agutaino Calamiano</td> +<td>17,703</td> +<td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>G.</td> +<td>P.</td> +<td>Marianas</td> +<td>Chamorro, Carolino</td> +<td>5,940</td> +<td>6</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unreliability of government +reports.</span>The statistics of the above table are taken from a small +work, by Sr. [Vicente] Barrantes, the Secretary-General of the +Philippines; but I have arranged them differently to render them more +easily intelligible to the eye. Although Sr. Barrantes had the best +official materials at his disposal, too much value must not be +attributed to his figures, for the sources from which he drew them are +tainted with errors to an extent that can hardly be realized in Europe. +For example, he derives the following contradictory statements from his +official sources:—The population of Cavite is set down as 115,300 +and 65,225; that of Mindoro as 45,630, and 23,054; that of Manila as +230,443, and 323,683; and that of Capiz as 788,947, and 191,818. +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb55" href="#pb55" name= +"pb55">55</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e1347" href="#xd20e1347src" name="xd20e1347">1</a></span> +Centigrade is changed to Fahrenheit by multiplying by nine-fifths and +adding thirty-two.—C.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">To Bulacan by steamer.</span> +My first excursion was to the province of Bulacan, on the northern +shore of the Bay of Manila. A couple of hours brought the steamer to +the bar of Binuanga (not Bincanga as it is called in Coello’s +map), and a third to Bulacan, the capital of the province, situated on +the flat banks of an influent of the Pampanga delta. I was the only +European passenger, the others were composed of Tagalogs, +<i>mestizos</i>, and a few Chinese; the first more particularly were +represented by women, who are generally charged with the management of +all business affairs, for which they are much better fitted than the +men. As a consequence, there are usually more women than men seen in +the streets, and it appears to be an admitted fact that the female +births are more numerous than the male. According, however, to the +church-record which I looked through, the reverse was, at any rate in +the eastern provinces, formerly the case.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Carromatas.</span> At the landing-place a +number of <i>carromatas</i> were waiting for us,—brightly +painted, shallow, two-wheeled boxes, provided with an awning, and +harnessed to a couple of horses, in which strangers with money to spend +are quickly driven anywhere they may desire.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Town of Bulacan.</span> The town of Bulacan +contains from 11,000 to 12,000 inhabitants; but a month before my +arrival, the whole of it, with the exception of the church and a few +stone houses, had been burnt to the ground. All were therefore occupied +in building themselves new houses, which, oddly enough, but very +practically, were commenced at the roof, like houses in a drawing. Long +rows of roofs composed of palm-leaves and bamboos were laid in +readiness on the ground, and in the meantime were used as tents.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb56" href="#pb56" name= +"pb56">56</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Frequence of +fires.</span> Similar destructive fires are very common. The houses, +which with few exceptions are built of bamboo and wood, become +perfectly parched in the hot season, dried into so much touchwood by +the heat of the sun. Their inhabitants are extremely careless about +fire, and there are no means whatever of extinguishing it. If anything +catches fire on a windy day, the entire village, as a rule, is utterly +done for. During my stay in Bulacan, the whole suburb of San Miguel, in +the neighborhood of Manila, was burnt down, with the exception of the +house of a Swiss friend of mine, which owed its safety to the vigorous +use of a private fire-engine, and the intermediation of a small garden +full of bananas, whose stems full of sap stopped the progress of the +flames.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">To Calumpit by carriage.</span> I travelled +to Calumpit, a distance of three leagues, in the handsome carriage of +an hospitable friend. The roads were good, and were continuously shaded +by fruit-trees, coco and areca palms. The aspect of this fruitful +province reminded me of the richest districts of Java; but the +<i>pueblos</i> here exhibited more comfort than the <i>desas</i> there. +The houses were more substantial; numerous roomy constructions of wood, +in many cases, even, of stone, denoted in every island the residence of +official and local magnates. But while even the poorer Javanese always +give their wicker huts a smart appearance, border the roads of their +villages with blooming hedges, and display everywhere a sense of +neatness and cleanliness, there were here far fewer evidences of taste +to be met with. I missed too the <i>alun-alun</i>, that pretty and +carefully tended open square, which, shaded by <i>waringa</i> trees, is +to be met with in every village in Java. And the quantity and variety +of the fruit trees, under whose leaves the <i>desas</i> of Java are +almost hidden, were by no means as great in this province, although it +is the garden of the Philippines, as in its Dutch prototype.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb57" href="#pb57" name= +"pb57">57</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Calumpit.</span> I +reached Calumpit towards evening, just as a procession, resplendent +with flags and torches, and melodious with song, was marching round the +stately church, whose worthy priest, on the strength of a letter of +introduction from Madrid, gave me a most hospitable reception. +Calumpit, a prosperous place of 12,250 inhabitants, is situated at the +junction of the Quingua and Pampanga rivers, in an extremely fruitful +plain, fertilized by the frequent overflowing of the two streams.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mt. Arayat.</span> About six leagues to the +north-west of Calumpit, Mount Arayat, a lofty, isolated, conical hill, +lifts its head. Seen from Calumpit, its western slope meets the horizon +at an angle of 20°, its eastern at one of 25°; and the profile +of its summit has a gentle inclination of from 4° to 5°.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Picking fish.</span> At Calumpit I saw some +Chinese catching fish in a peculiar fashion. Across the lower end of +the bed of a brook which was nearly dried up, and in which there were +only a few rivulets left running, they had fastened a hurdle of bamboo, +and thrown up a shallow dam behind it. The water which collected was +thrown over the dam with a long-handled winnowing shovel. The shovel +was tied to a bamboo frame work ten feet high, the elasticity of which +made the work much easier. As soon as the pool was emptied, the +fisherman was easily able to pick out of the mud a quantity of small +fish (<i>Ophiocephalus vagus</i>). These fishes, which are provided +with peculiar organisms to facilitate respiration, at any rate, +enabling them to remain for some considerable time on dry land, are in +the wet season so numerous in the ditches, ponds, and rice-fields, that +they can be killed with a stick. When the water sinks they also retire, +or, according to Professor Semper, bore deeply into the ooze at the +bottom of the watercourses, where, protected by a hard crust of earth +from the persecutions of mankind, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb58" +href="#pb58" name="pb58">58</a>]</span>they sleep away the winter. This +Chinese method of fishing seems well adapted to the habits of the fish. +The circumstances that the dam is only constructed at the lower end of +the watercourse, and that it is there that the fish are to be met with +in the greatest numbers, seem to indicate that they can travel in the +ooze, and that as the brooks and ditches get dried up, they seek the +larger water channels.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">To Baliwag.</span> Following the Quingua in +its upward and eastward course as it meandered through a +well-cultivated and luxuriantly fertile country, past stone-built +churches and chapels which grouped themselves with the surrounding +palm-trees and bamboo-bushes into sylvan vignettes, Father +Llano’s four-horsed carriage brought me to the important town of +Baliwag, the industry of which is celebrated beyond the limits of the +province.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Board houses and their furniture.</span> I +visited several families and received a friendly reception from all of +them. The houses were built of boards and were placed upon piles +elevated five feet above the ground. Each consisted of a spacious +dwelling apartment which opened on one side into the kitchen, and on +the other on to an open space, the azotea; a lofty roof of palm-trees +spread itself above the dwelling, the entrance to which was through the +azotea. The latter was half covered by the roof I have just mentioned. +The floor was composed of slats an inch in width, laid half that +distance apart. Chairs, tables, benches, a cupboard, a few small +ornaments, a mirror, and some lithographs in frames, composed the +furniture of the interior. The cleanliness of the house and the +arrangement of its contents testified to the existence of order and +prosperity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tapis weaving.</span> I found the women in +almost all the houses occupied in weaving <i>tapis</i>, which have a +great reputation in the Manila market. They are narrow, thickly-woven +silk <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb59" href="#pb59" name= +"pb59">59</a>]</span>scarves, six <i>varas</i> in length, with oblique +white stripes on a dark-brown ground. They are worn above the +<i>sarong</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Petaca cigar cases.</span> Baliwag is also +especially famous for its <i>petaca</i><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2180src" href="#xd20e2180" name="xd20e2180src">1</a>cigar-cases, +which surpass all others in delicacy of workmanship. They are not made +of straw, but of fine strips of Spanish cane, and particularly from the +lower ends of the leaf-stalks of the <i>calamusart</i>, which is said +to grow only in the province of Nueva Ecija.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Preparation of material.</span> A bundle of +a hundred selected stalks, a couple of feet long, costs about six +reals. When these stalks have been split lengthways into four or five +pieces, the inner wood is removed, till nothing but the outer part +remains. The thin strips thus obtained are drawn by the hand between a +convex block and a knife fixed in a sloping position, and between a +couple of steel blades which nearly meet.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Costly weaving.</span> It is a task +requiring much patience and practice. In the first operation, as a +rule, quite one-half of the stems are broken, and in the second more +than half, so that scarcely twenty per cent of the stalks survive the +final process. In very fine matting the proportionate loss is still +greater. The plaiting is done on wooden cylinders. A case of average +workmanship, which costs two dollars on the spot, can be manufactured +in six days’ uninterrupted labor. Cigar-cases of exceptionally +intricate workmanship, made to order for a connoisseur, frequently cost +upwards of fifty dollars.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Volcanic stone quarries.</span> Following +the Quingua from Baliwag up its stream, we passed several quarries, +where we saw the thickly-packed strata of volcanic stone which is used +as a building material. The banks of the river are thickly studded with +prickly bamboos from ten to twelve feet high. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb60" href="#pb60" name="pb60">60</a>]</span>The +water overflows in the rainy season, and floods the plain for a great +distance. Hence the many shells of large freshwater mussels which are +to be seen lying on the earth which covers the volcanic deposit. The +country begins to get hilly in the neighborhood of Tobog, a small place +with no church of its own, and dependent for its services upon the +priest of the next parish. The gentle slopes of the hills are, as in +Java, cut into terraces and used for the cultivation of rice. Except at +Lucban I have never observed similar <i>sawas</i> anywhere else in the +Philippines. Several small sugar-fields, which, however, the people do +not as yet understand how to manage properly, show that the rudiments +of agricultural prosperity are already in existence. The roads are +partly covered with awnings, beneath which benches are placed affording +repose to the weary traveller. I never saw these out of this province. +One might fancy oneself in one of the most fertile and +thickly-populated districts of Java.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A convento and the parish priest.</span>I +passed the night in a <i>convento</i>, as the dwelling of the parish +priest is called in the Philippines. It was extremely dirty, and the +priest, an Augustinian, was full of proselytish ardor. I had to undergo +a long geographical examination about the difference between Prussia +and Russia; was asked whether the great city of Nuremberg was the +capital of the grand-duchy or of the empire of Russia; learnt that the +English were on the point of returning to the bosom of the Catholic +Church, and that the “others” would soon follow, and was, +in short, in spite of the particular recommendation of Father Llanos, +very badly received. Some little time afterwards I fell into the hands +of two young Capuchins, who tried to convert me, but who, with the +exception of this little impertinence, treated me capitally. They gave +me <i>pâtés de foie gras</i> boiled in water, which I +quickly <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb61" href="#pb61" name= +"pb61">61</a>]</span>recognized by the truffles swimming about in the +grease. To punish them for their importunity I refrained from telling +my hosts the right way to cook the pâtés, which I had the +pleasure of afterwards eating in the forest, as I easily persuaded them +to sell me the tins they had left. These are the only two occasions on +which I was subjected to this kind of annoyance during my eighteen +months’ residence in the Philippines.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Arrangements for travellers.</span>The +traveller who is provided with a passport is, however, by no means +obliged to rely upon priestly hospitality, as he needs must do in many +isolated parts of Europe. Every village, every hamlet, has its +commonhouse, called <i>casa real</i> or <i>tribunal</i>, in which he +can take up his quarters and be supplied with provisions at the market +price, a circumstance that I was not acquainted with on the occasion of +my first trip. The traveller is therefore in this respect perfectly +independent, at least in theory, though in practice he will often +scarcely be able to avoid putting up at the conventos in the more +isolated parts of the country. In these the priest, perhaps the only +white man for miles around, is with difficulty persuaded to miss the +opportunity of housing such a rare guest, to whom he is only too +anxious to give up the best bedroom in his dwelling, and to offer +everything that his kitchen and cellar can afford. Everything is placed +before the guest in such a spirit of sincere and undisguised +friendliness, that he feels no obligation, but on the contrary easily +persuades himself that he is doing his host a favor by prolonging his +stay. Upon one occasion, when I had determined, in spite of an +invitation from the padre, to occupy the <i>casa real</i>, just as I +was beginning to instal myself, the priest appeared upon the scene with +the municipal officials and a band of music which was in the +neighborhood pending the preparations for a religious festival. +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb62" href="#pb62" name= +"pb62">62</a>]</span>He made them lift me up, chair and all, and with +music and general rejoicing carried me off to his own house.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Kupang iron-foundry.</span>On the following +day I paid a visit to Kupang, an iron-foundry lying to the N.N.E of +Angat, escorted by two armed men, whose services I was pressed to +accept, as the district had a bad reputation for robberies. After +travelling three or four miles in a northerly direction, we crossed the +Banauon, at that time a mere brook meandering through shingle, but in +the rainy season an impetuous stream more than a hundred feet broad; +and in a couple of hours we reached the iron-works, an immense shed +lying in the middle of the forest, with a couple of wings at each end, +in which the manager, an Englishman, who had been wrecked some years +before in Samar, lived with his wife, a pretty <i>mestiza</i>. If I +laid down my handkerchief, my pencil, or any other object, the wife +immediately locked them up to protect them from the kleptomania of her +servants. These poor people, whose enterprise was not a very successful +one, had to lead a wretched life. Two years before my visit a band of +twenty-seven robbers burst into the place, sacked the house, and threw +its mistress, who was alone with her maid at the time, out of the +window. She fortunately alighted without receiving any serious hurt, +but the maid, whom terror caused to jump out of the window also, died +of the injuries she received. The robbers, who turned out to be miners +and residents in Angat, were easily caught, and, when I was there, had +already spent a couple of years in prison awaiting their trial.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A negrito family.</span>I met a negrito +family here who had friendly relations with the people in the +iron-works, and were in the habit of exchanging the produce of the +forest with them for provisions. The father of this family accompanied +me on a hunting expedition. He was armed with a bow <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb63" href="#pb63" name="pb63">63</a>]</span>and a +couple of arrows. The arrows had spear-shaped iron points a couple of +inches long; one of them had been dipped into arrow-poison, a mixture +that looked like black tar. The women had guitars (<i>tabaua</i>) +similar to those used by the Mintras in the Malay peninsula. They were +made of pieces of bamboo a foot long, to which strings of split +chair-cane were fastened.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2258src" href= +"#xd20e2258" name="xd20e2258src">2</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unwelcome hospitality.</span>Upon my +return, to avoid spending the night at the wretched convento where I +had left my servant with my luggage, I took the advice of my friends at +the iron-works and started late, in order to arrive at the +priest’s after ten o’clock at night; for I knew that the +padre shut up his house at ten, and that I could therefore sleep, +without offending him, beneath the roof of a wealthy mestizo, an +acquaintance of theirs. About half-past ten I reached the +latter’s house, and sat down to table with the merry women of the +family, who were just having their supper. Suddenly my friend the +parson made his appearance from an inner room, where with a couple of +Augustinian friars, he had been playing cards with the master of the +house. He immediately began to compliment me upon my good fortune, +“for had you been but one minute later,” said he, +“you certainly wouldn’t have got into the +convento.”</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2180" href="#xd20e2180src" name="xd20e2180">1</a></span> Tylor +(Anahuac 227) says that this word is derived from the Mexican +<i>petlatl</i>, a mat. The inhabitants of the Philippines call this +<i>petate</i>, and from the Mexican <i>petla-calli</i>, a mat +“house,” derive <i>petaca</i>, a cigar case.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2258" href="#xd20e2258src" name="xd20e2258">2</a></span> Four +lines, re an omitted sketch, left out.—C.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">The Lagoon of Bay.</span>My +second trip took me up the Pasig to the great Lagoon of Bay. I left +Manila at night in a <i>banca</i>, a boat hollowed out of a tree-trunk, +with a vaulted roof made of bamboo and so low that it was almost +impossible to sit upright under it, which posture, indeed, the +banca-builder appeared to have neglected to consider. A <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb64" href="#pb64" name="pb64">64</a>]</span>bamboo +hurdle placed at the bottom of the boat protects the traveller from the +water and serves him as a couch. Jurien de la Gravière<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e2277src" href="#xd20e2277" name="xd20e2277src">1</a> +compares the banca to a cigar-box, in which the traveller is so tightly +packed that he would have little chance of saving his life if it +happened to upset. The crew was composed of four rowers and a helmsman; +their daily pay was five reals apiece, in all nearly seven pesos, high +wages for such lazy fellows in comparison with the price of provisions, +for the rice that a hard-working man ate in a day seldom cost more than +seven centavos (in the provinces often scarcely six), and the rest of +his food (fish and vegetables), only one centavo. We passed several +villages and <i>tiendas</i> on the banks in which food was exposed for +sale. My crew, after trying to interrupt the journey under all sorts of +pretences, left the boat as we came to a village, saying that they were +going to fetch some sails; but they forgot to return. At last, with the +assistance of the night watchman I succeeded in hauling them out of +some of their friends’ houses, where they had concealed +themselves. After running aground several times upon the sandbanks, we +entered the land and hill-locked Lagoon of Bay, and reached Jalajala +early in the morning.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Pasig.</span>The Pasig forms a natural +canal, about six leagues long, between the Bay of Manila and the Lagoon +of Bay, a fresh water lake, thirty-five leagues in circumference, that +washes the shores of three fertile provinces, Manila, Laguna and +Cavite. Formerly large vessels full of cargo used to be able to sail +right up to the borders of the lake; now they are prevented by +sandbanks. Even flat-bottomed boats frequently run aground on the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb65" href="#pb65" name= +"pb65">65</a>]</span>Napindan and Taguig banks.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2293src" href="#xd20e2293" name="xd20e2293src">2</a> Were the +banks removed, and the stone bridge joining Manila to Binondo replaced +by a swing bridge, or a canal made round it, the coasting vessels would +be able to ship the produce of the lagoon provinces at the very foot of +the fields in which they grow. The traffic would be very profitable, +the waters would shrink, and the shallows along the shore might be +turned into rice and sugar fields. A scheme of this kind was approved +more than thirty years ago in Madrid, but it was never carried into +execution. The sanding up of the river has, on the contrary, been +increased by a quantity of fish reels, the erection of which has been +favored by the Colonial Waterways Board because it reaped a small tax +from them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A famous plantation.</span>Jalajala, an +estate which occupies the eastern of the two peninsulas which run +southward into the lake, is one of the first places visited by +strangers. It owes this preference to its beautiful position and +nearness to Manila, and to the fantastic description of it by a former +owner, De la Gironnière. The soil of the peninsula is volcanic; +its range of hills is very rugged, and the watercourses bring down +annually a quantity of soil from the mountains, which increases the +deposits at their base. The shore-line, overgrown with grass and +prickly sensitive-plants quite eight feet high, makes capital pasture +for carabaos. Behind it broad fields of rice and sugar extend +themselves up to the base of the hills. Towards the north the estate is +bounded by the thickly-wooded Sembrano, the highest mountain in the +peninsula; on the remaining sides it is surrounded with water. With +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb66" href="#pb66" name= +"pb66">66</a>]</span>the exception of the flat shore, the whole place +is hilly and overgrown with grass and clumps of trees, capital pasture +for its numerous herds—a thousand carabaos, one thousand five +hundred to two thousand bullocks, and from six to seven hundred nearly +wild horses. As we were descending one of the hills, we were suddenly +surrounded by half-a-dozen armed men, who took us for cattle-thieves, +but who, to their disappointment, were obliged to forego their expected +chance of a reward.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Los Baños hot springs.</span>Beyond +Jalajala, on the south coast of the Lagoon of Bay, lies the hamlet of +Los Baños, so called from a hot spring at the foot of the +Makiling volcano. Even prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the +natives used its waters as a remedy,<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2306src" href="#xd20e2306" name="xd20e2306src">3</a> but they are +now very little patronized. The shore of the lake is at this point, and +indeed all round its circumference, so flat that it is impossible to +land with dry feet from the shallowest canoe. It is quite covered with +sand mussels. North-west of Los Baños there lies a small +volcanic lake fringed with thick woods, called Dagatan (the enchanted +lagoon of travellers), to distinguish it from Dagât, as the +Tagals call the great Lagoon of Bay. I saw nothing of the crocodiles +which are supposed to infest it, but we flushed several flocks of wild +fowl, disturbed by our invasion of their solitude. From Los +Baños I had intended to go to Lupang Puti (white earth), where, +judging from the samples shown me, there is a deposit of fine white +silicious earth, which is purified in Manila and used as paint. I did +not reach the place, as the guide whom I had with difficulty obtained, +pretended, after a couple of miles, to be dead beat. From the inquiries +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb67" href="#pb67" name= +"pb67">67</a>]</span>I made, however, I apprehend that it is a kind of +<i>solfatara</i>. Several deposits of it appear to exist at the foot of +the Makiling.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2317src" href="#xd20e2317" +name="xd20e2317src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Talim island.</span>On my return I paid a +visit to the Island of Talim, which, with the exception of a clearing +occupied by a few miserable huts, is uninhabited and thickly overgrown +with forest and undergrowth. In the center of the Island is the +Susong-Dalaga (maiden’s bosom), a dolerite hill with a +beautifully formed crest. Upon the shore, on a bare rock, I found four +eggs containing fully developed young crocodiles. When I broke the +shells the little reptiles made off.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">M. de la Gironnière.</span>Although +the south-west monsoons generally occur later in Jalajala than in +Manila, it was already raining so hard that I decided to go to Calauan, +on the southern shore of the lake, which is protected by Mount +Makiling, and does not experience the effect of the rainy monsoons till +later in the season. I met M. de la Gironnière in Calauan, the +“<span lang="fr">gentilhomme Breton</span>” who is so well +known for telling the most terrible adventures. He had lately returned +from Europe to establish a large sugar manufactory. His enterprise, +however, was a failure. The house of the lively old gentleman, whose +eccentricity had led him to adopt the dress and the frugal habits of +the natives, was neither clean or well kept, although he had a couple +of friends to assist him in the business, a Scotchman, and a young +Frenchman who had lived in the most refined Parisian society.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb68" href="#pb68" name= +"pb68">68</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Llanura de +Imuc.</span>There were several small lakes and a few empty volcanic +basins on the estate. To the south-west, not very far from the house, +and to the left of the road leading to San Pablo, lies the Llanura de +Imuc, a valley of dolerite more than a hundred feet deep. Large blocks +of basalt enable one to climb down into the valley, the bottom of which +is covered with dense growths. The center of the basin is occupied by a +neglected coffee plantation laid out by a former proprietor. The +density of the vegetation prevented my taking more precise +observations. There is another shallower volcanic crater to the north +of it. Its soil was marshy and covered with cane and grass, but even in +the rainy season it does not collect sufficient water to turn it into a +lake. It might, therefore, be easily drained and cultivated. To the +south-west of this basin, and to the right of the road to San Pablo, +lies the <span class="marginnote">Tigui-mere.</span>Tigui-mere. From a +plain of whitish-grey soil, covered with concentric shells as large as +a nut, rises a circular embankment with gently-sloping sides, +intersected only by a small cleft which serves as an entrance, and +which shows, on its edges denuded of vegetation, the loose +<i>rapilli</i> of which the embankment is formed. The sides of this +natural amphitheatre tower more than a hundred feet above its flat +base. A path runs east and west right through the center. The northern +half is studded with cocopalm trees and cultivated plants; the southern +portion is full of water nearly covered with green weeds and slime. The +ground consists of black <i>rapilli</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Leaf imprints in lava.</span> From the +Tigui-mere I returned to the <i>hacienda</i> a bank formed of volcanic +lava two feet in thickness and covered with indistinct impressions of +leaves. Their state of preservation did not allow me to distinguish +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb69" href="#pb69" name= +"pb69">69</a>]</span>their species, but they certainly belonged to some +tropical genus, and are, according to Professor A. Braun, of the same +kind as those now growing there.</p> +<p>There are two more small lakes half a league to the south-east. The +road leading to them is composed of volcanic remains which cover the +soil, and large blocks of lava lie in the bed of the stream.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Maycap Lake.</span> The first of the two, +the Maycap Lake, is entirely embanked with the exception of a small +opening fitted with sluices to supply water to a canal; and from its +northern side, which alone admits of an open view, the southern peak of +San Cristobal may be seen, about 73° to the north-east. Its banks, +which are about eighty feet high, rise with a gentle slope in a +westerly direction, till they join Mount Maiba, a hill about 500 feet +high. The soil, like that of the embankments of the other volcanic +lakes, consists of rapilli and lava, and is thickly wooded.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lake Palakpakan.</span> Close by is another +lake, Palakpakan, of nearly the same circumference, and formed in a +similar manner (of black sand and rapilli). Its banks are from thirty +to one hundred feet high. From its north-western edge San Cristobal +lifts its head 70° to the northeast. Its waters are easily reached, +and are much frequented by fishermen.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Palm brandy.</span> About nine +o’clock, a.m., I rode from Calauan to Pila, and thence in a +northeasterly direction to Santa Cruz, over even, broad, and well-kept +roads, through a palm-grove a mile long and a mile and a half broad, +which extends down to the very edge of the lagoons. The products of +these palm trees generally are not used for the production of oil but +for the manufacture of brandy. Their fruit is not allowed to come to +maturity; but the buds are slit open, and the sweet sap is collected +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb70" href="#pb70" name= +"pb70">70</a>]</span> as it drips from them. It is then allowed to +ferment, and subjected to distillation.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2374src" href="#xd20e2374" name="xd20e2374src">5</a> As the sap +is collected twice a day, and as the blossoms, situated at the top of +the tree, are forty or fifty feet above the ground, bamboos are +fastened horizontally, one above the other, from one tree to another, +to facilitate the necessary ascent and descent. The sap collector +stands on the lower cross-piece while he holds on to the upper.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bought by government.</span>The sale of +palm-brandy was at the time of my visit the monopoly of the government, +which retailed it in the <i lang="es">Estanco</i> (government sale +rooms) with cigars, stamped paper, and religious indulgences. The +manufacture was carried on by private individuals; but the whole of the +brandy was of necessity disposed of to the administration, which, +however, paid such a high price for it that the contractors made large +profits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Profit in manufacture.</span>I afterwards +met a Spaniard in Camarines who, according to his own account, must +have made considerable and easy gains from these contracts. He had +bought palm-trees at an average price of five reals apiece (they +usually cost more, though they can be sometimes purchased for two +reals). Thirty-five palms will furnish daily at least thirty-six quarts +of <i>tuba</i> (sugar-containing sap), from which, after fermentation +and distillation, six quarts of brandy of the prescribed strength can +be manufactured. One man is sufficient to attend to them, and receives +for his trouble half the proceeds. The <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb71" href="#pb71" name="pb71">71</a>]</span>administration pays six +<i>cuartos</i> for a quart of brandy. My friend the contractor was in +annual receipt, therefore, from every thirty-five of his trees, of 360 +× ½ × 5 cuartos = $40.50. As the thirty-five trees +only cost him $21.875, his invested capital brought him in about 200 +per cent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Wine and liquor monopoly a failure.</span> +The proceeds of this monopoly (wines and liquors) were rated at +$1,622,810 in the colonial budget for 1861; but its collection was so +difficult, and so disproportionately expensive, that it nearly +swallowed up the whole profit. It caused espionage, robberies of all +sorts, embezzlement, and bribery on a large scale. The retail of the +brandy by officials, who are paid by a percentage on the consumption, +did a good deal to injure the popular respect for the government. +Moreover, the imposition of this improper tax on the most important +industry of the country not only crippled the free trade in palms, but +also the manufacture of raw sugar; for the government, to favor their +own monopoly, had forbidden the sugar manufacturers to make rum from +their molasses, which became in consequence so valueless that in Manila +they gave it to their horses. The complaints of the manufacturers at +last stirred up the administration to allow the manufacture of rum; but +the palm-brandy monopoly remained intact. The Filipinos now drank +nothing but rum, so that at last, in self-defence, the government +entirely abandoned the monopoly (January, 1864). Since that, the rum +manufacturers pay taxes according to the amount of their sale, but not +upon the amount of their raw produce. In order to cover the deficit +occasioned by the abandonment of the brandy monopoly, the government +has made a small increase in the poll-tax. The practice of drinking +brandy has <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb72" href="#pb72" name= +"pb72">72</a>]</span>naturally much increased; it is, however, a very +old habit.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2411src" href="#xd20e2411" name= +"xd20e2411src">6</a> With this exception, the measure has had the most +favorable consequences.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Santa Cruz.</span> Santa Cruz is a lively, +prosperous place (in 1865 it contained 11,385 inhabitants), through the +center of which runs a river. As the day on which we passed through it +was Sunday, the stream was full of bathers, amongst them several women, +their luxuriant hair covered with broad-brimmed hats to shade them from +the sun. From the ford the road takes a sharp turn and inclines first +to the east and then to the south-east, till it reaches Magdalena, +between which and Majaijai the country becomes hilly. Just outside the +latter, a viaduct takes the road across a deep ravine full of +magnificent ferns, which remind the traveller of the height—more +than 600 feet—above the sea level to which he has attained. The +spacious convento at Majaijai, built by the Jesuits, is celebrated for +its splendid situation. The Lagoon of Bay is seen to extend far to the +north-east; in the distance the Peninsula of Jalajala and the Island of +Talim, from which rises the Susong-Dalaga volcano, terminate the vista. +From the convento to the lake stretches an endless grove of coco-trees, +while towards the south the slope of the distant high ground grows +suddenly steeper, and forms an abruptly precipitous conical hill, +intersected by deep ravines. This is the Banajao or Majaijai volcano, +and beside it Mount San Cristobal rears its bell-shaped summit.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Scenery along Lucban-Maubon road.</span>As +everybody was occupied with the preparations for an ensuing religious +festival, I betook myself, through Lucban on the eastern shore, to +Mauban, situated amidst deep ravines and masses of lava at the foot of +Mount <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb73" href="#pb73" name= +"pb73">73</a>]</span>Majaijai. The vegetation was of indescribable +beauty, and the miserable road was enlivened with cheerful knots of +pedestrians hastening to the festival.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2424src" href="#xd20e2424" name="xd20e2424src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lucban.</span>I reached Lucban in three +hours; it is a prosperous place of 13,000 inhabitants, to the +north-east of Majaijai. A year after my visit it burnt to the ground. +The agricultural produce of the district is not very important, owing +to the mountainous nature of the country; but considerable industrial +activity prevails there. The inhabitants weave fine straw hats from the +fibre of the leaf of the <i>buri</i> palm-tree (<i>corypha sp.</i>), +manufacture <i>pandanus</i> mats, and carry on a profitable trade at +Mauban with the placer miners of North Camarines. The entire breadth of +the road is covered with cement, and along its center flows, in an open +channel, a sparkling rivulet.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Java-like rice fields.</span>The road from +Lucban to Mauban, which is situated on the bay of Lamon, opposite to +the Island of Alabat, winds along the narrow watercourse of the Mapon +river, through deep ravines with perpendicular cliffs of clay. I +observed several terrace-formed rice-fields similar to those so +prevalent in Java, an infrequent sight in the Philippines. Presently +the path led us into the very thick of the forest. Nearly all the trees +were covered with <i>aroides</i> and creeping ferns; amongst them I +noticed the <i>angiopteris</i>, <i>pandanus</i>, and several large +specimens of the fan palm.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mapon river.</span> Three leagues from +Lucban the river flows under a rock supported on prismatically shaped +pillars, and then runs through a bed of round pebbles, composed of +volcanic stone and white lime, as hard as marble, in which impressions +of shell-fish and coral can be traced. Further up the river the +volcanic rubble disappears, and the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb74" +href="#pb74" name="pb74">74</a>]</span>containing strata then consist +of the marble-like pebbles cemented together with calcareous spar. +These strata alternate with banks of clay and coarse-grained soil, +which contain scanty and badly preserved imprints of leaves and +mussel-fish. Amongst them, however, I observed a flattened but still +recognizable specimen of the fossil <i>melania</i>. The river-bed must +be quite five hundred feet above the level of the sea.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bamboo raft ferry.</span>About a league +beyond Mauban, as it was getting dusk, we crossed the river, then +tolerably broad, on a wretched leaking bamboo raft, which sank at least +six inches beneath the water under the weight of our horses, and ran +helplessly aground in the mud on the opposite side.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Visitors to festival.</span>The tribunal or +common-house was crowded with people who had come to attend the +festival which was to take place on the following day. The +<i>cabezas</i> wore, in token of their dignity, a short jacket above +their shirts. A quantity of brightly decorated tables laden with fruit +and pastry stood against the walls, and in the middle of the principal +room a dining-table was laid out for forty persons.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hospitality of tribunal.</span>A European +who travels without a servant—mine had run away with some wages I +had rashly paid him in advance—is put down as a beggar, and I was +overwhelmed with impertinent questions on the subject, which, however, +I left unanswered. As I hadn’t had the supper I stood +considerably in need of, I took the liberty of taking a few savory +morsels from the meatpot, which I ate in the midst of a little knot of +wondering spectators; I then laid myself down to sleep on the bench +beside the table, to which a second set of diners were already sitting +down. When I awoke on the following morning there were already so many +people stirring that I had no opportunity of performing my <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb75" href="#pb75" name="pb75">75</a>]</span>toilet. +I therefore betook myself in my dirty travelling dress to the residence +of a Spaniard who had settled in the <i>pueblo</i>, and who received me +in the most hospitable manner as soon as the description in my passport +satisfied him that I was worthy of a confidence not inspired by my +appearance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Trade in molaze.</span>My friendly host +carried on no trifling business. Two English ships were at that moment +in the harbor, which he was about to send to China laden with +<i>molave</i>, a species of wood akin to teak.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Butucan waterfall.</span>On my return I +visited the fine waterfall of Butucan, between Mauban and Lucban, a +little apart from the high road. A powerful stream flows between two +high banks of rocky soil thickly covered with vegetation, and, leaping +from a ledge of volcanic rock suddenly plunges into a ravine, said to +be three hundred and sixty feet in depth, along the bottom of which it +is hurried away. The channel, however, is so narrow, and the vegetation +so dense, that an observer looking at it from above can not follow its +course. This waterfall has a great similarity to that which falls from +the Semeru in Java. Here, as there, a volcanic stream flowing over vast +rocky deposits forms a horizontal watercourse, which in its turn is +overshadowed with immense masses of rock. The water easily forces its +way between these till it reaches the solid lava, when it leaves its +high, narrow, and thickly-wooded banks, and plunges into the deep chasm +it has itself worn away. The pouring rain unfortunately prevented me +from sketching this fine fall. It was raining when I reached the +convento of Majaijai, and it was still raining when I left it three +days later, nor was there any hope of improvement in the weather for +another month to come. “The wet season lasts for eight or nine +months in Majaijai, and during the whole period scarcely a day passes +without the rain falling in torrents.”—<i>Estado +geograph</i>.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb76" href="#pb76" name= +"pb76">76</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Majaijai.</span>To ascend +the volcano was under such circumstances impracticable. According to +some notes written by the Majaijai priest, an ascent and survey of +Mount Banajao was made on the 22nd of April, 1858, by Senors Roldan and +Montero, two able Spanish naval officers, specially charged with the +revision of the marine chart of the archipelago. From its summit they +took observations of Manila cathedral, of Mayon, another volcano in +Albay, and of the Island of Polillo. They estimated the altitude of +Banajao to be seven thousand and twenty Spanish feet, and the depth of +its crater to be seven hundred. The crater formerly contained a lake, +but the last eruption made a chasm in its southern side through which +the water flowed away.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2505src" href= +"#xd20e2505" name="xd20e2505src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Calauan.</span>I reached Calauan in the +pouring rain, wading through the soft spongy clay upon wretched, +half-starved ponies, and found I must put off my water journey to +Manila till the following day, as there was no boat on the lake at this +point. The next morning there were no horses to be found; and it was +not till the afternoon that I procured a cart and a couple of carabaos +to take me to Santa Cruz, whence in the evening the market-vessel +started for Manila. One carabao was harnessed in front; the other was +fastened behind the cart in order that I might have a change of animals +when the first became tired. Carabao number one wouldn’t draw, +and number two acted as a drag—rather useless apparatus on a +level <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb77" href="#pb77" name= +"pb77">77</a>]</span>road—so I changed them. As soon as number +two felt the load it laid down. A few blows persuaded it to pick itself +up, when it deliberately walked to the nearest pool and dropped into +it. It was with the greatest trouble that we unharnessed the cart and +pushed it back on to the road, while our two considerate beasts took a +mud bath. At last we reloaded the baggage, the carabaos were +reharnessed in the original positions, and the driver, leaning his +whole weight upon the nose-rope of the leading beast, pulled with might +and main. To my great delight the animal condescended to slowly advance +with the cart and its contents. <span class="marginnote">Pila.</span>At +Pila I managed to get a better team, with which late in the evening, in +the midst of a pouring rain, I reached a little hamlet opposite Santa +Cruz. The market-vessel had left; our attempts to get a boat to take us +across to the village only led to barefaced attempts at extortion, so I +entered one of the largest of the hamlet’s houses, which was +occupied by a widow and her daughter. After some delay my request for a +night’s lodging was granted. I sent for some oil, to give me a +little light, and something to eat. The women brought in some of their +relations, who helped to prepare the food and stopped in the house to +protect its owners. The next morning I crossed the river, teeming with +joyous bathers, to Santa Cruz, and hired a boat there to take me across +the lake to Pasig, and from thence to Manila. A contrary wind, however, +forced us to land on the promontory of Jalajala, and there wait for the +calm that accompanies the dawn. <span class="marginnote">Earthquake +evidences.</span>Betwixt the extreme southern point of the land and the +houses I saw, in several places, banks of mussels projecting at least +fifteen feet above the surface of the water, similar to those which are +so frequently found on the sea-coast;—a proof that earthquakes +have taken place in this neighborhood. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb78" href="#pb78" name="pb78">78</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2277" href="#xd20e2277src" name="xd20e2277">1</a></span> +<i>Voyage en Chine</i>, vol. II., page 33.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2293" href="#xd20e2293src" name="xd20e2293">2</a></span> +According to the report of an engineer, the sand banks are caused by +the river San Mateo, which runs into the Pasig at right angles shortly +after the latter leaves the Lagoon; in the rainy season it brings down +a quantity of mud, which is heaped up and embanked by the south-west +winds that prevail at the time. It would, therefore, be of little use +to remove the sandbanks without giving the San Mateo, the cause of +their existence, a direct and separate outlet into the lake.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2306" href="#xd20e2306src" name="xd20e2306">3</a></span> They +take baths for their maladies, and have hot springs for this purpose, +particularly along the shore of the king’s lake (Estang du Roy, +instead of Estang de Bay by a printer’s mistake apparently), +which is in the Island of Manila.—<i>Thevenot</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2317" href="#xd20e2317src" name="xd20e2317">4</a></span> +“One can scarcely walk thirty paces between Mount Makiling and a +place called Bacon, which lies to the east of Los Baños, without +meeting several kinds of natural springs, some very hot, some lukewarm, +some of the temperature of the atmosphere, and some very cold. In a +description of this place given in our archives for the year 1739, it +is recorded that a hill called Natognos lies a mile to the south-east +of the village, on the plateau of which there is a small plain 400 feet +square, which is kept in constant motion by the volume of vapor issuing +from it. The soil from which this vapor issues is an extremely white +earth; it is sometimes thrown up to the height of a yard or a yard and +a half, and meeting the lower temperature of the atmosphere falls to +the ground in small pieces.”—<i>Estado geograph</i>., +1865.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2374" href="#xd20e2374src" name="xd20e2374">5</a></span> +Pigafetta says that the natives, in order to obtain palm-wine, cut the +top of the tree through to the pith, and then catch the sap as it oozes +out of the incision. According to Regnaud, <i>Natural History of the +Coco-tree</i>, the negroes of Saint Thomas pursue a similar method in +the present day, a method that considerably injures the trees and +produces a much smaller quantity of liquor. Hernandez describes an +indigenous process of obtaining wine, honey, and sago from the +<i>sacsao</i> palm, a tree which from its stunted growth would seem to +correspond with the <i>acenga saccharifera</i>. The trees are tapped +near the top, the soft part of the trunks is hollowed out, and the sap +collects in this empty space. When all the juice is extracted, the tree +is allowed to dry up, and is then cut into thin pieces which, after +desiccation in the sun, are ground into meal.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2411" href="#xd20e2411src" name="xd20e2411">6</a></span> +Pigafetta mentions that the natives were in the habit of making oil, +vinegar, wine, and milk, from the coco-palm, and that they drank a +great deal of the wine. Their kings, he says, frequently intoxicated +themselves at their banquets.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2424" href="#xd20e2424src" name="xd20e2424">7</a></span> A number +of the <i>Illustrated London News</i>, of December, 1857, or January, +1858, contains a clever drawing, by an accomplished artist, of the mode +of travelling over this road, under the title, “A macadamized +road in Manila.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2505" href="#xd20e2505src" name="xd20e2505">8</a></span> Erd and +Picketing, of the United States exploring expedition, determined the +height to be 6,500 English feet (7,143 Spanish), not an unsatisfactory +result, considering the imperfect means they possessed for making a +proper measurement. In the Manila <i lang="es">Estado <span class= +"corr" id="xd20e2509" title="Source: geographico">geografico</span></i> +for 1865, the height is given, without any statement as to the source +whence the estimate is derived, as 7,030 feet. The same authority says, +“the large volcano is extinct since 1730, in which year its last +eruption took place. The mountain burst into flames on the southern +side, threw up streams of water, burning lava, and stones of an +enormous size; traces of the last can be observed as far as the village +of Sariaya. The crater is perhaps a league in circumference, it is +highest on the northern side, and its interior is shaped like an +egg-shell: the depth of the crater apparently extends half-way down the +height of the mountain.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">VIII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">To Albay by +schooner.</span>Towards the end of August I started from Manila for +Albay in a schooner which had brought a cargo of hemp and was returning +in ballast. It was fine when we set sail; but on the following day the +signs of a coming storm increased so rapidly that the captain resolved +to return and seek protection in the small but secure harbor of +Mariveles, a creek on the southern shore of Bataan, the province +forming the western boundary of Manila bay. We reached it about two +o’clock in the night after cruising about for fourteen hours +before the entrance; and we were obliged to remain here at anchor for a +fortnight, as it rained and stormed continuously for that period.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mariveles.</span>The weather obliged me to +limit my excursions to the immediate neighborhood of Mariveles. +Unfortunately it was not till the close of our stay that I learnt that +there was a colony of negritos in the mountains; and it was not till +just before my departure that I got a chance of seeing and sketching a +couple of them, male and female. The inhabitants of Mariveles have not +a very good reputation. The place is only visited by ships which run in +there in bad weather, when their idle crews spend the time in drinking +and gambling. Some of the young girls were of striking beauty and of +quite a light color; often being in reality of mixed race, though they +passed as of pure Tagal blood. This is a circumstance I have observed +in many seaports, and in the neighborhood of Manila; but, in the +districts which are almost entirely unvisited by the Spaniards, the +natives are much darker and of purer race.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Storm-bound shipping.</span>The number of +ships which were seeking protection from the weather in this port +amounted to ten, of which three were schooners. Every morning regularly +a small <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb79" href="#pb79" name= +"pb79">79</a>]</span><i>pontin</i><a class="noteref" id="xd20e2544src" +href="#xd20e2544" name="xd20e2544src">1</a> used to attempt to set +sail; but it scarcely got a look at the open sea before it returned, +when it was saluted with the jeers and laughter of the others. It was +hunger that made them so bold. The crew, who had taken some of their +own produce to Manila, had spent the proceeds of their venture, and had +started on their return voyage scantily provided with provisions, with +the hope and intention of soon reaching their home, which they could +have done with any favorable wind. Such cases frequently occur. A few +natives unite to charter a small vessel, and load it with the produce +of their own fields, which they set off to sell in Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The straits.</span>The straits between the +Islands resemble beautiful wide rivers with charming spots upon the +banks inhabited by small colonies; and the sailors generally find the +weather gets squally towards evening, and anchor till the morning +breaks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Filipino hospitality.</span>The hospitable +coast supplies them with fish, crabs, plenty of mussels, and frequently +unprotected coconuts. If it is inhabited, so much the better. Filipino +hospitality is ample, and much more comprehensive than that practised +in Europe. The crews are accommodated in the different huts. After a +repast shared in common, and washed down by copious draughts of +palm-wine, mats are streched on the floor; the lamps—large +shells, fitted with rush wicks—are extinguished, and the +occupants of the hut fall asleep together. Once, as I was sailing into +the bay of Manila after a five day’s cruise, we overtook a craft +which had sailed from the same port as we had with a cargo of coconut +oil for Manila, and which had spent six months upon its trip. It is by +no means uncommon for a crew which makes a long stay <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb80" href="#pb80" name="pb80">80</a>]</span>in the +capital to squander the whole proceeds of their cargo, if they have not +done it before reaching town.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coasting Luzon.</span>At last one evening, +when the storm had quite passed away, we sailed out of Mariveles. A +small, volcanic, pillar-shaped rock, bearing a striking resemblance to +the Island of the Cyclops, off the coast of Sicily, lies in front of +the harbor—like there, a sharp pyramid and a small, flat island. +We sailed along the coast of Cavite till we reached Point Santiago, the +southwestern extremity of Luzon, and then turned to the east, through +the fine straits that lie between Luzon to the north and the Bisayan +islands to the south. As the sun rose, a beautiful spectacle presented +itself. To the north was the peak of the Taal volcano, towering above +the flat plains of Batangas; and to the south the thickly-wooded, but +rock-bound coast of Mindoro, the iron line of which was broken by the +harbor of Porto Galera, protected from the fury of the waves by a small +islet lying immediately before it. The waters around us were thickly +studded with vessels which had taken refuge from the storm in the +Bisayan ports, and were now returning to Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Importance of straits.</span>These straits, +which extend from the south-east to the northwest, are the great +commercial highway of the Archipelago, and remain navigable during the +whole year, being protected from the fury of the north-easterly winds +by the sheltering peninsula of Luzon, which projects to the south-east, +and by Samar, which extends in a parallel direction; while the Bisayan +islands shield them from the blasts that blow from the south-west. The +Islands of Mindoro, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Bohol, which Nature has +placed in close succession to each other, form the southern borders of +the straits; and the narrow cross channels between them form as many +outlets to the Sea of Mindoro, which is bounded on the west by +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb81" href="#pb81" name= +"pb81">81</a>]</span>Palawan, on the east by Mindanao, and on the south +by the Sulu group. The eastern waters of the straits wash the coasts of +Samar and Leyte, and penetrate through three small channels only to the +great ocean; the narrow straits of San Bernardino, of San Juanico, and +of Surigao. Several considerable, and innumerable smaller islets, lie +within the area of these cursorily explained outlines.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Batangas coast.</span>A couple of bays on +the south coast of Batangas offer a road-stead, though but little real +protection, to passing vessels, which in stormy weather make for Porto +Galera, in the Island of Mindoro, which lies directly opposite. A +river, a league and a half in length, joins Taal, the principal port of +the province, to the great inland sea of Taal, or Bombon. This stream +was formerly navigable; but it has now become so sanded up that it is +passable only at flood tides, and then only by very small vessels.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Batangas exports.</span>The province of +Batangas supplies Manila with its best cattle, and exports sugar and +coffee.</p> +<p>A hilly range bounds the horizon on the Luzon side; the striking +outlines of which enable one to conjecture its volcanic origin. Most of +the smaller islands to the south appear to consist of superimposed +mountainous ranges, terminating seaward in precipitous cliffs. The +lofty and symmetrical peak of Mount Mayon is the highest point in the +panoramic landscape. Towards evening we sighted Mount Bulusan, in the +south-eastern extremity of Luzon; and presently we turned northwards, +and sailed up the Straits of San Bernardino, which separate Luzon from +Samar.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bulusan like Vesuvius.</span>The Bulusan +volcano, “which appears to have been for a long time extinct, but +which again began to erupt in 1852,”<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2585src" href="#xd20e2585" name="xd20e2585src">2</a> is +surprisingly like Vesuvius in outline. It <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb82" href="#pb82" name="pb82">82</a>]</span>has, like its prototype, +a couple of peaks. The western one, a bell-shaped summit, is the +eruption cone. The eastern apex is a tall, rugged mound, probably the +remains of a huge circular crater. As in Vesuvius, the present crater +is in the center of the extinct one. The intervals between them are +considerably larger and more uneven than the <i>Atrio del Cavallo</i> +of the Italian volcano.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">San Bernardino current.</span>The current +is so powerful in the Straits of San Bernardino that we were obliged to +anchor twice to avoid being carried back again. To our left we had +continually in view the magnificent Bulusan volcano, with a hamlet of +the same name nestling at the foot of its eastern slope in a grove of +coco-trees, close to the sea. Struggling with difficulty against the +force of the current, we succeeded, with the assistance of light and +fickle winds, in reaching Legaspi, the port of Albay, on the following +evening. Our skipper, a Spaniard, had determined to accomplish the trip +as rapidly as possible.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A native captain.</span>On my return +voyage, however, I fell into the hands of a native captain; and, as my +cruise under his auspices presented many peculiarities, I may quote a +few passages relating to it from my diary.... The skipper intended to +have taken a stock of vegetables for my use, but he had forgotten them. +He therefore landed on a small island, and presently made his +reappearance with a huge palm cabbage, which, in the absence of its +owner, he had picked from a tree he cut down for the purpose.... On +another occasion the crew made a descent upon a hamlet on the +north-western coast of Leyte to purchase provisions. Instead of laying +in a stock for the voyage at Tacloban, the sailors preferred doing so +at some smaller village on the shores of the straits, where food is +cheaper, and where their landing gave them a pretext to run about the +country. The straits of San Juanico, never more than a mile, and often +only eight <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb83" href="#pb83" name= +"pb83">83</a>]</span>hundred feet broad, are about twenty miles in +length: yet it often takes a vessel a week to sail up them; for +contrary winds and an adverse current force it to anchor frequently and +to lie to for whole nights in the narrower places. Towards evening our +captain thought that the sky appeared very threatening, so he made for +the bay of Navo, of Masbate. <span class="marginnote">An intermittent +voyage.</span>There he anchored, and a part of the crew went on shore. +The next day was a Sunday; the captain thought “the sky still +appeared very threatening;” and besides he wanted to make some +purchases. So we anchored again off Magdalena, where we passed the +night. On Monday a favorable wind took us, at a quicker rate, past +Marinduque and the rocky islet of Elefante, which lies in front of it. +Elefante appears to be an extinct volcano; it looks somewhat like the +Iriga, but is not so lofty. It is covered with capital pasture, and its +ravines are dotted with clumps of trees. Nearly a thousand head of +half-wild cattle were grazing on it. They cost four dollars a-piece; +and their freight to Manila is as much more, where they sell for +sixteen dollars. They are badly tended, and many are stolen by the +passing sailors. My friend the captain was full of regret that the +favorable wind gave him no opportunity of landing; perhaps I was the +real obstacle. “They were splendid beasts! How easy it would be +to put a couple on board! They could scarcely be said to have any real +owners; the nominal proprietors were quite unaware how many they +possessed, and the herd was continually multiplying without any +addition from its masters. A man lands with a little money in his +pocket. If he meets a herdsman, he gives him a dollar, and the poor +creature thinks himself a lucky fellow. If not, so much the better. He +can do the business himself; a barrel of shot or a sling suffices to +settle the matter.”</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb84" href="#pb84" name= +"pb84">84</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Plunder.</span>As we +sailed along we saw coming towards us another vessel, the <i>Luisa</i>, +which suddenly executed a very extraordinary tack; and in a minute or +two its crew sent up a loud shout of joy, having succeeded in stealing +a fishbox which the fishermen of Marinduque had sunk in the sea. They +had lowered a hook, and been clever enough to grapple the rope of the +floating buoy. Our captain was beside himself with envy of their +prize.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Legaspi.</span>Legaspi is the principal +port of the province of Albay. Its road-stead, however, is very unsafe, +and, being exposed to the north-easterly storms, is perfectly useless +during the winter. The north-east wind is the prevailing one on this +coast; the south-west breeze only blows in June and July. The heaviest +storms occur between October and January. They generally set in with a +gentle westerly wind, accompanied with rain. The gale presently veers +round to the north or the south, and attains the height of its fury +when it reaches the north-east or the south-east. After the storm a +calm generally reigns, succeeded by the usual wind of the prevailing +monsoon. The lightly-built elastic houses of the country are capitally +suited to withstand these storms; but roofs and defective houses are +frequently carried away. The traffic between Manila and Legaspi is at +its height between January and October; but during the autumn months +all communication by water ceases. The letter-post, which arrives +pretty regularly every week, is then the only link between the two +places. At this season heavy packages can be sent only by a circuitous +and expensive route along the south coast, and thence by water to +Manila. Much more favorably situated for navigation is the port of +<span class="marginnote">Sorsogon.</span>Sorsogon, the mouth of which +opens to the west, and is protected by the Island of Bagalao, which +lies in front of it. Besides its security as a harbor, it has the +advantage of a rapid and unbroken communication <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb85" href="#pb85" name="pb85">85</a>]</span>with the +capital of the archipelago, while vessels sailing from Legaspi, even at +the most favorable time of the year, are obliged to go round the +eastern peninsula of Luzon, and meet the principal current of the +Straits of San Bernardino, frequently a very difficult undertaking; +and, moreover, small vessels obliged to anchor there are in great +danger of being captured by pirates. The country about Sorsogon, +however, is not so fertile as the neighborhood of Legaspi.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A worthy official.</span>I took letters of +introduction with me to both the Spanish authorities of the province; +who received me in the most amiable way, and were of the greatest use +to me during the whole of my stay in the vicinity. I had also the good +fortune to fall in with a model alcalde, a man of good family and of +most charming manners; in short, a genuine <i>caballero</i>. To show +the popular appreciation of the honesty of his character, it was said +of him in Samar that he had entered the province with nothing but a +bundle of papers, and had left it as lightly equipped.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2544" href="#xd20e2544src" name="xd20e2544">1</a></span> From +<i>ponte</i>, deck; a two-masted vessel, with mat sails, of about 100 +tons burden.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2585" href="#xd20e2585src" name="xd20e2585">2</a></span> +<i>Estado Geogr.</i>, p. 314.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">IX</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Daraga.</span>My Spanish +friends enabled me to rent a house in Daraga,<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2639src" href="#xd20e2639" name="xd20e2639src">1</a> a well-to-do +town of twenty thousand inhabitants at the foot of the Mayon, a league +and a half from Legaspi. The summit of this volcano was considered +inaccessible until two young Scotchmen, Paton and <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb86" href="#pb86" name="pb86">86</a>]</span>Stewart +by name, demonstrated the contrary.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2644src" +href="#xd20e2644" name="xd20e2644src">2</a> Since then several natives +have ascended the mountain, but no Europeans.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ascent of Mayon.</span>I set out on +September 25th, and passed the night, by the advice of Señor +Muños, in a hut one thousand feet above the level of the sea, in +order to begin the ascent the next morning with unimpaired vigor. But a +number of idlers who insisted on following me, and who kept up a +tremendous noise all night, frustrated the purpose of this friendly +advice; and I started about five in the morning but little refreshed. +The fiery glow I had noticed about the crater disappeared with the +dawn. The first few hundred feet of the ascent were covered with a tall +grass quite six feet high; and then came a slope of a thousand feet or +so of short grass succeeded by a quantity of moss; but even this soon +disappeared, and the whole of the upper part of the mountain proved +entirely barren. We reached the summit about one o’clock. It was +covered with fissures which gave out sulphurous gases and steam in such +profusion that we were obliged to stop our mouths and nostrils with our +handkerchiefs to prevent ourselves from being suffocated. We came to a +halt at the edge of a broad and deep chasm, from which issued a +particularly dense vapor. Apparently we were on the brink of a crater, +but the thick fumes of the disagreeable vapor made it impossible for us +to guess <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb87" href="#pb87" name= +"pb87">87</a>]</span>at the breadth of the fissure. The absolute top of +the volcano consisted of a ridge, nearly ten feet thick, of solid +masses of stone covered with a crust of lava bleached by the action of +the escaping gas. Several irregular blocks of stone lying about us +showed that the peak had once been a little higher. When, now and +again, the gusts of wind made rifts in the vapor, we perceived on the +northern corner of the plateau several rocky columns at least a hundred +feet high, which had hitherto withstood both storm and eruption. I +afterwards had an opportunity of observing the summit from Daraga with +a capital telescope on a very clear day, when I noticed that the +northern side of the crater was considerably higher than its southern +edge.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The descent.</span>Our descent took some +time. We had still two-thirds of it beneath us when night overtook us. +In the hope of reaching the hut where we had left our provisions, we +wandered about till eleven o’clock, hungry and weary, and at last +were obliged to wait for daylight. This misfortune was owing not to our +want of proper precaution, but to the unreliability of the carriers. +Two of them, whom we had taken with us to carry water and refreshments, +had disappeared at the very first; and a third, “a very +trustworthy man,” whom we had left to take care of our things at +the hut, and who had been ordered to meet us at dusk with torches, had +bolted, as I afterwards discovered, back to Daraga before noon. My +servant, too, who was carrying a woolen blanket and an umbrella for me, +suddenly vanished in the darkness as soon as it began to rain, and +though I repeatedly called him, never turned up again till the next +morning. We passed the wet night upon the bare rocks, where, as our +very thin clothes were perfectly wet through, we chilled till our teeth +chattered. As soon, however, as the sun <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb88" href="#pb88" name="pb88">88</a>]</span>rose we got so warm that +we soon recovered our tempers. Towards nine o’clock we reached +the hut and got something to eat after twenty-nine hours’ +fast.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A suspicious medal.</span>In the <i lang= +"es">Trabajos y Hechos Nolables de la Soc. Econom. de los Amigos del +Pais</i>, for September 4th, 1823, it is said that “Don Antonio +Siguenza paid a visit to the volcano of Albay on March 11th,” and +that the Society “ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration +of the event, and in honor of the aforesaid Siguenza and his +companions.” Everybody in Albay, however, assured me that the two +Scotchmen were the first to reach the top of the mountain. It is true +that in the above notice the ascent of the volcano is not directly +mentioned; but the fact of the medal naturally leads us to suppose that +nothing less can be referred to. Arenas, in his memoir, says: +“Mayon was surveyed by Captain Siguenza. From the crater to the +base, which is nearly at the level of the sea, he found that it +measured sixteen hundred and eighty-two Spanish feet or four +sixty-eight and two-third meters.” A little further on, he adds, +that he had read in the records of the Society that they had had a gold +medal struck in honor of Siguenza, who had made some investigations +about the volcano’s crater in 1823. He, therefore, appears to +have had some doubt about Siguenza’s actual ascent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An early friar attempt.</span>According to +the Franciscan records a couple of monks attempted the ascent in 1592, +in order to cure the natives of their superstitious belief about the +mountain. One of them never returned; but the other, although he did +not reach the summit, being stopped by three deep abysses, made a +hundred converts to Christianity by the mere relation of his +adventures. He died in the same year, in consequence, it is recorded, +of the many variations of temperature to which he was exposed in his +ascent of the volcano.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb89" href="#pb89" name= +"pb89">89</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Estimates of +height</span>Some books say that the mountain is of considerable +height; but the <i lang="es">Estado Geografico</i> of the Franciscans +for 1855, where one could scarcely expect to find such a thoughtless +repetition of so gross a typographical error, says that the +measurements of Siguenza give the mountain a height of sixteen hundred +and eighty-two feet. According to my own barometrical reading, the +height of the summit above the level of the sea was twenty-three +hundred and seventy-four meters, or eighty-five hundred and fifty-nine +Spanish feet.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2639" href="#xd20e2639src" name="xd20e2639">1</a></span> +Officially called Cagsaua. The old town of Cagsaua, which was built +higher up the hill and was destroyed by the eruption of 1814, was +rebuilt on the spot where formerly stood a small hamlet of the name of +Daraga.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2644" href="#xd20e2644src" name="xd20e2644">2</a></span> I learnt +from Mr. Paton that the undertaking had also been represented as +impracticable in Albay. “Not a single Spaniard, not a single +native had ever succeeded in reaching the summit; in spite of all their +precautions they would certainly be swallowed up in the sand.” +However, one morning, about five o’clock, they set off, and soon +reached the foot of the cone of the crater. Accompanied by a couple of +natives, who soon left them, they began to make the ascent. Resting +half way up, they noticed frequent masses of shining lava, thrown from +the mouth of the crater, gliding down the mountain. With the greatest +exertions they succeeded, between two and three o’clock, in +reaching the summit, where, however, they were prevented by the noxious +gas from remaining more than two or three minutes. During their +descent, they restored their strength with some refreshments Sr. +Muñoz had sent to meet them; and they reached Albay towards +evening, where during their short stay they were treated as heroes, and +presented with an official certificate of their achievement, for which +they had the pleasure of paying several dollars.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">X</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">An accident and a +month’s rest.</span>I sprained my foot so badly in ascending +Mayon that I was obliged to keep the house for a month. Under the +circumstances, I was not sorry to find myself settled in a roomy and +comfortable dwelling. My house was built upon the banks of a small +stream, and stood in the middle of a garden in which coffee, cacao, +oranges, papayas, and bananas grew luxuriantly, in spite of the tall +weeds which surrounded them. Several over-ripe berries had fallen to +the ground, and I had them collected, roasted, mixed with an equal +quantity of sugar, and made into chocolate; an art in which the natives +greatly excel. With the Spaniards chocolate takes the place of coffee +and tea, and even the <i>mestizos</i> and the well-to-do natives drink +a great deal of it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cacao</span>The cacao-tree comes from +Central America. It flourishes there between the 23rd parallel north +and the 20th south latitude; but it is only at its best in the hottest +and dampest climates. In temperate climates, where the thermometer +marks less than 23° C., it produces no fruit.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb90" href="#pb90" name= +"pb90">90</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">High quality.</span>It +was first imported into the Philippines from Acapulco; either, +according to Camarines, by a pilot called Pedro Brabo de Lagunas, in +1670; or, according to Samar, by some Jesuits, during Salcedo’s +government, between 1663 and 1668. Since then it has spread over the +greater part of the Island; and, although it is not cultivated with any +excessive care, its fruit is of excellent quality. The cacao of Albay, +if its cheapness be taken into consideration, may be considered at +least equal to that of Caracas, which is so highly-prized in Europe, +and which, on account of its high price, generally is largely mixed +with inferior kinds.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2698src" href= +"#xd20e2698" name="xd20e2698src">1</a> The bushes are usually found in +small gardens, close to the houses; but so great is the native laziness +that frequently the berries are allowed to decay, although the local +cacao sells for a higher price than the imported. At Cebu and Negros a +little more attention is paid to its cultivation; <span class= +"marginnote">Scanty production.</span>but it does not suffice to supply +the wants of the colony, which imports the deficiency from Ternate and +Mindanao. The best cacao of the Philippines is produced in the small +Island of Maripipi, which lies to the north-west of Leyte; and it is +difficult to obtain, the entire crop generally being long bespoke. It +costs about one dollar per liter, whereas the Albay cacao costs from +two to two and a half dollars per “ganta” (three +liters).</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb91" href="#pb91" name= +"pb91">91</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Culture.</span>The +natives generally cover the kernels, just as they are beginning to +sprout, with a little earth, and, placing them in a spirally-rolled +leaf, hang them up beneath the roof of their dwellings. They grow very +rapidly, and, to prevent their being choked by weeds, are planted out +at very short intervals. This method of treatment is probably the +reason that the cacao-trees in the Philippines never attain a greater +height than eight or ten feet, while in their native soil they +frequently reach thirty, and sometimes even forty feet. The tree begins +to bear fruit in its third or fourth year, and in its fifth or sixth it +reaches maturity, when it usually yields a “ganta” of +cacao, which, as I have mentioned, is worth from two to two and a half +dollars, and always finds a purchaser.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2712src" href="#xd20e2712" name="xd20e2712src">2</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Neglect.</span>The profits arising from a +large plantation would, therefore, be considerable; yet it is very rare +to meet with one. I heard it said that the Economical Society had +offered a considerable reward to any one who could exhibit a plantation +of ten thousand berry-bearing trees; but in the Society’s report +I found no mention of this reward.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Damage by storms.</span>The great obstacles +in the way of large plantations are the heavy storms which recur almost +regularly every year, and often destroy an entire plantation in a +single day. In 1856 a hurricane visited the Island just before the +harvest, and completely tore up several large plantations by the roots; +a catastrophe that naturally has caused much discouragement to the +cultivators.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2723src" href="#xd20e2723" +name="xd20e2723src">3</a> One consequence of this state of things was +that the free <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb92" href="#pb92" name= +"pb92">92</a>]</span>importation of cacao was permitted, and people +were enabled to purchase Guayaqual cacao at fifteen dollars per quintal +while that grown at home cost double the money.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Diseases and pests.</span>The plant is +sometimes attacked by a disease, the origin of which is unknown, when +it suffers severely from certain noxious insects.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2735src" href="#xd20e2735" name="xd20e2735src">4</a> It is also +attacked by rats and other predatory vermin; the former sometimes +falling upon it in such numbers that they destroy the entire harvest in +a single night. Travellers in America say that a well-kept cacao +plantation is a very picturesque sight. In the Philippines, however, or +at any rate in East Luzon, the closely-packed, lifeless-looking, +moss-covered trees present a dreary spectacle. Their existence is a +brief one. Their oval leaves, sometimes nearly a foot long, droop +singly from the twigs, and form no luxuriant masses of foliage. Their +blossoms are very insignificant; they are of a reddish-yellow, no +larger than the flowers of the lime, and grow separately on long weedy +stalks. The fruit ripens in six months. When it is matured, it is of +either a red or a yellow tint, and is somewhat like a very rough +gherkin. Only two varieties appear to be cultivated in the +Philippines.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2741src" href="#xd20e2741" +name="xd20e2741src">5</a> The pulp of the fruit is white, tender, and +of an agreeable acid taste, and contains from eighteen to twenty-four +kernels, arranged in five rows. These kernels are as large as almonds, +and, like them, consist of a couple of husks and a small core. This is +the cacao bean; which, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb93" href="#pb93" +name="pb93">93</a>]</span>roasted and finely ground, produces cacao, +and with the addition of sugar, and generally of spice, makes +chocolate. Till the last few years, every household in the Philippines +made its own chocolate, of nothing but cacao and sugar. The natives who +eat chocolate often add roasted rice to it. Nowadays there is a +manufactory in Manila, which makes chocolate in the European way. The +inhabitants of the eastern provinces are very fond of adding roasted +<i>pili</i> nuts to their chocolate.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2749src" href="#xd20e2749" name="xd20e2749src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chocolate.</span>Europeans first learnt to +make a drink from cacao in Mexico, where the preparation was called +<i>chocolatl</i>.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2764src" href="#xd20e2764" +name="xd20e2764src">7</a> Even so far back as the days of Cortes, who +was a tremendous chocolate drinker, the cacao-tree was extensively +cultivated. The Aztecs used the beans as money; and Montezuma used to +receive part of his tribute in this peculiar coin. It was only the +wealthy among the ancient Mexicans who ate pure cacao; the poor, on +account of the value of the beans as coins, used to mix maize and +mandioca meal with them. Even in our own day the inhabitants of Central +America make use of the beans as small coins, as they have no copper +money, nor smaller silver coins than the half-real. Both in Central +America and in Orinoco there yet are many <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb94" href="#pb94" name="pb94">94</a>]</span>unpenetrated forests +which are almost entirely composed of wild cacao-trees. I believe the +natives gather some of their fruit, but it is almost worthless. By +itself it has much less flavor than the cultivated kinds. Certainly it +is not picked and dried at the proper season, and it gets spoilt in its +long transit through the damp woods.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An uncertain venture.</span>Since the +abolition of slavery, the crops in America have been diminishing year +by year, and until a short time ago, when the French laid out several +large plantations in Central America, were of but trifling value. +According to F. Engel, a flourishing cacao plantation required less +outlay and trouble, and yields more profit than any other tropical +plant; yet its harvests, which do not yield anything for the first five +or six years, are very uncertain, owing to the numerous insects which +attack the plants. In short, cacao plantations are only suited to large +capitalists, or to very small cultivators who grow the trees in their +own gardens. Moreover, as we have said, since the abolition of slavery +most of the plantations have fallen into decay, for the freed slaves +are entirely wanting in industry.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Use in Europe.</span>The original chocolate +was not generally relished in Europe. When, however, at a later period, +it was mixed with sugar, it met with more approbation. The exaggerated +praise of its admirers raised a bitter opposition amongst the opponents +of the new drink; and the priests raised conscientious scruples against +the use of so nourishing an article of food on fast days. The quarrel +lasted till the seventeenth century, by which time cacao had become an +everyday necessity in Spain. It was first introduced into Spain in +1520; but chocolate, on account of the monopoly of the Conquistadores, +was for a long time secretly prepared on the other side of the ocean. +In 1580, however, it was in common use in Spain, though <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb95" href="#pb95" name="pb95">95</a>]</span>it was +so entirely unknown in England that, in 1579, an English captain burnt +a captured cargo of it as useless. It reached Italy in 1606, and was +introduced into France by Anne of Austria. The first chocolate-house in +London was opened in 1657, and in 1700 Germany at last followed +suit.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2801src" href="#xd20e2801" name= +"xd20e2801src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coffee.</span>The history of coffee in the +Philippines is very similar to that of cacao. The plant thrives +wonderfully, and its berry has so strongly marked a flavor that the +worst Manila coffee commands as high a price as the best Java. In spite +of this, however, the amount of coffee produced in the Philippines is +very insignificant, and, until lately, scarcely deserved mention. +According to the report of an Englishman in 1828, the coffee-plant was +almost unknown forty years before, and was represented only by a few +specimens in the Botanical Gardens at Manila. It soon, however, +increased and multiplied, thanks to the moderation of a small predatory +animal (<i>paradoxurus musanga</i>), which only nibbled the ripe fruit, +and left the hard kernels (the coffee beans) untouched, as +indigestible. The Economical Society bestirred itself in its turn by +offering rewards to encourage the laying out of large coffee +plantations. In 1837 it granted to M. de la Gironnière a premium +of $1,000, for exhibiting a coffee plantation of sixty thousand plants, +which were yielding their second harvest; and four premiums to others +in the following year. But as soon as the rewards were obtained the +plantations were once more allowed to fall into neglect. From this it +is pretty evident that the enterprise, in the face of the then market +prices and the artificially high rates of freight, did not afford a +sufficient profit.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb96" href="#pb96" name= +"pb96">96</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Exports.</span>In 1856 +the exports of coffee were not more than seven thousand piculs; in 1865 +they had increased to thirty-seven thousand, five hundred and +eighty-eight; and in 1871, to fifty-three thousand, three hundred and +seventy. This increase, however, affords no criterion by which to +estimate the increase in the number of plantations, for these make no +returns for the first few years after being laid out. In short, larger +exports may be confidently expected. But even greatly increased exports +could not be taken as correct measures of the colony’s resources. +Not till European capital calls large plantations into existence in the +most suitable localities will the Philippines obtain their proper rank +in the coffee-producing districts of the world.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Highest grades.</span>The best coffee comes +from the provinces of Laguna, Batangas and Cavite; the worst from +Mindanao. The latter, in consequence of careless treatment, is very +impure, and generally contains a quantity of bad beans. The coffee +beans of Mindanao are of a yellowish-white color and flabby; those of +Laguna are smaller, but much firmer in texture.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">French preference.</span>Manila coffee is +very highly esteemed by connoisseurs, and is very expensive, though it +is by no means so nice looking as that of Ceylon and other more +carefully prepared kinds. It is a remarkable fact that in 1865 France, +which imported only $21,000 worth of hemp from the Philippines, +imported more than $200,000 worth of Manila coffee, a third of the +entire coffee produce of the Islands.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2825src" href="#xd20e2825" name="xd20e2825src">9</a> Manila +coffee is not much prized in London, and does not fetch much more than +good Ceylon ($15 per cwt.).<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2828src" href= +"#xd20e2828" name="xd20e2828src">10</a> This, however, is no reproach +to the coffee, as every one acquainted with an Englishman’s +appreciation of coffee will allow.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb97" href="#pb97" name= +"pb97">97</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Prices.</span>California, +an excellent customer, always ready to give a fair price for a good +article, will in time become one of its principal consumers.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e2836src" href="#xd20e2836" name= +"xd20e2836src">11</a> In 1868, coffee in Manila itself cost an average +of $16 per <i>picul</i>.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2842src" href= +"#xd20e2842" name="xd20e2842src">12</a> In Java, the authorities pay +the natives, who are compelled to cultivate it, about $3.66 per +<i>picul</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Philippine exports.</span>Although the +amount of coffee exported from the Philippines is trifling in +comparison with the producing powers of the colony, it compares +favorably with the exports from other countries.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Javan and Ceylon crops.</span>In my +<i>Sketches of Travel</i>, I compared the decrease of the coffee +produced in Java under the forced system of cultivation with the +increase of that voluntarily grown in Ceylon, and gave the Javanese +produce for 1858 as sixty-seven thousand tons, and the Cingalese as +thirty-five thousand tons. Since that time the relative decrease and +increase have continued; and in 1866 the Dutch Indies produced only +fifty-six thousand tons, and Ceylon thirty-six thousand tons.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e2859src" href="#xd20e2859" name= +"xd20e2859src">13</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Amateur scientists.</span>During my +enforced stay in Daraga the natives brought me mussels and snails for +sale; and several of them wished to enter my service, as they felt +“a particular vocation for Natural History.” At last my +kitchen was always full of them. They sallied forth every day to +collect insects, and as a rule were not particularly <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb98" href="#pb98" name= +"pb98">98</a>]</span>fortunate in their search; but this was of no +consequence; in fact, it served to give them a fresh appetite for their +meals. Some of the neighboring Spaniards paid me almost daily visits; +and several of the native and mestizo dignitaries from a distance were +good enough to call upon me, not so much for the purpose of seeing my +humble self as of inspecting my hat, the fame of which had spread over +the whole province. It was constructed in the usual judicious mushroom +shape, covered with <i>nito</i>,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e2871src" +href="#xd20e2871" name="xd20e2871src">14</a> and its pinnacle was +adorned with a powerful oil lamp, furnished with a closely fitting lid, +like that of a dark lantern, so that it could be carried in the pocket. +This last was particularly useful when riding about on a dark +night.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nito cigar cases.</span>In the neighboring +<i>pueblo</i> cigar-cases were made out of this <i>nito</i>. They are +not of much use as an article of commerce, and usually are only made to +order. To obtain a dozen a would-be purchaser must apply to as many +individuals, who, at the shortest, will condescend to finish one in a +few months. The stalk of the fern, which is about as thick as a lucifer +match, is split into four strips. The workman then takes a strip in his +left hand, and, with his thumb on the back and his forefinger on the +edge, draws the strips up and down against the knife blade until the +soft pithy parts are cut away, and what remains has become fine enough +for the next process. The cases are made on pointed cylindrical pieces +of wood almost a couple of feet long. A pin is stuck into the center of +the end of the cylinder, and the workman commences by fastening the +strips of fern stalk to it. The size of the case corresponds to the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb99" href="#pb99" name= +"pb99">99</a>]</span> diameter of the roller, and a small wooden disk +is placed in the bottom of the case to keep it steady while the sides +are being plaited.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A Filipino theater.</span>When my ankle +began to get better, my first excursion was to Legaspi, where some +Filipinos were giving a theatrical performance. A Spanish political +refugee directed the entertainment. On each side of the stage, roofed +in with palm leaves, ran covered galleries for the dignitaries of the +place; the uncovered space between these was set apart for the common +people. The performers had chosen a play taken from Persian history. +The language was Spanish, and the dresses were, to say the least, +eccentric. The stage was erected hard by a public street, which itself +formed part of the auditorium, and the noise was so great that I could +only catch a word here and there. The actors stalked on, chattering +their parts, which not one of them understood, and moving their arms up +and down; and when they reached the edge of the stage, they tacked and +went back again like ships sailing against the wind. Their countenances +were entirely devoid of expression, and they spoke like automatons. If +I had understood the words, the contrast between their meaning and the +machine-like movements of the actors would probably have been droll +enough; but, as it was, the noise, the heat, and the smoke were so +great that we soon left the place.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An indifferent performance.</span>Both the +theatrical performance and the whole festival bore the impress of +laziness, indifference, and mindless mimicry. When I compared the frank +cheerfulness I had seen radiating from every countenance at the +religious holidays of Europe with the expressionless and immobile faces +of the natives, I found it difficult to understand how the latter were +persuaded to waste so much time and money upon a matter they seemed so +thoroughly indifferent to.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb100" href="#pb100" name= +"pb100">100</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Interest in +festival.</span>Travellers have remarked the same want of gaiety +amongst the Indians of America; and some of them ascribe it to the +small development of the nervous system prevalent among these peoples, +to which cause also they attribute their wonderful courage in bearing +pain. But Tylor observes that the Indian’s countenance is so +different from ours that it takes us several years to rightly interpret +its expression. There probably is something in both these explanations. +And, although I observed no lively expression of amusement among my +native friends at Legaspi, I noticed that they took the greatest +possible pleasure in decorating their village, and that the procession +which formed part of the festival had extraordinary charms for them. +Every individual was dressed in his very best; and the honor of +carrying a banner inspired those who attained it with the greatest +pride, and raised an amazing amount of envy in the breasts of the +remainder. Visitors poured in from all the surrounding hamlets, and +erected triumphal arches which they had brought with them ready-made +and which bore some complimentary inscription. I am obliged to confess +that some of the holiday-makers were very drunk. The inhabitants of the +Philippines have a great love for strong drink; even the young girls +occasionally get intoxicated. When night came on, the strangers were +hospitably lodged in the dwellings of the village. On such occasions +native hospitality shows itself in a very favorable light. The door of +every house stands open, and even balls take place in some of the +larger hamlets. The Spanish and mestizo cavaliers, however, condescend +to dance only with mestiza partners, and very seldom invite a pretty +native girl to join them. The natives very rarely dance together; but +in Samar I was present on one occasion at a by no means ungraceful +native dance where “improvised” verses were sung. +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb101" href="#pb101" name= +"pb101">101</a>]</span>The male dancer compared his partner with a +rose, and she answered he should be careful in touching it as a rose +had thorns. This would have been thought a charming compliment in the +mouth of an Andalusian.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Servant subterfuges.</span>The idle +existence we spent in Daraga was so agreeable to my servants and their +numerous friends that they were anxious I should stay there as long as +possible; and they adopted some very ingenious means to persuade me to +do so. Twice, when everything was prepared for a start the next +morning, my shoes were stolen in the night; and on another occasion +they kidnapped my horse. When a native has a particularly heavy load to +carry, or a long journey to make, he thinks nothing of coolly +appropriating the well-fed beast of some Spaniard; which, when he has +done with it, he turns loose without attempting to feed it, and it +wanders about till somebody catches it and stalls it in the nearest +“Tribunal.” There it is kept tied up and hungry until its +master claims it and pays its expenses. I had a dollar to pay when I +recovered mine, although it was nearly starved to death, on the +pretence that it had swallowed rice to that value since it had been +caught.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Petty robberies.</span>Small robberies +occur very frequently, but they are committed—as an acquaintance, +a man who had spent some time in the country, informed me one evening +when I was telling him my troubles—only upon the property of new +arrivals; old residents, he said, enjoyed a prescriptive freedom from +such little inconveniences. I fancy some waggish native must have +overheard our conversation, for early the next morning my friend, the +old resident, sent to borrow chocolate, biscuits, and eggs of me, as +his larder and his hen-house had been rifled during the night.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb102" href="#pb102" name= +"pb102">102</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Daraga +market.</span>Monday and Friday evenings were the Daraga market nights, +and in fine weather always afforded a pretty sight. The women, neatly +and cleanly clad, sat in long rows and offered their provisions for +sale by the light of hundreds of torches; and, when the business was +over, the slopes of the mountains were studded all over with flickering +little points of brightness proceeding from the torches carried by the +homeward-bound market women. Besides eatables, many had silks and +stuffs woven from the fibers of the pine-apple and the banana for sale. +These goods they carried on their heads; and I noticed that all the +younger women were accompanied by their sweethearts, who relieved them +of their burdens.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2698" href="#xd20e2698src" name="xd20e2698">1</a></span> From +36,000,000 to 40,000,000 lbs. of cacao are consumed in Europe annually; +of which quantity nearly a third goes to France, whose consumption of +it between 1853 and 1866 has more than doubled. In the former year it +amounted to 6,215,000 lbs., in the latter to 12,973,534 lbs. Venezuela +sends the finest cacaos to the European market, those of Porto Cabello +and Caracas. That of Caracas is the dearest and the best, and is of +four kinds: Chuao, Ghoroni, O’Cumar, and Rio Chico. England +consumes the cacao grown in its own colonies, although the duty +(1<i>d</i> per lb.) is the same for all descriptions. Spain, the +principal consumer, imports its supplies from Cuba, Porto Rico, +Ecuador, Mexico, and Trinidad. Several large and important plantations +have recently been established by Frenchmen in Nicaragua. The cacao +beans of Soconusco (Central America) and Esmeralda (Ecuador) are more +highly esteemed than the finest of the Venezuela sorts; but they are +scarcely ever used in the Philippines, and cannot be said to form part +of their commerce. Germany contents itself with the inferior kinds. +Guayaquil cacao, which is only half the price of Caracas, is more +popular amongst the Germans than all the other varieties together.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2712" href="#xd20e2712src" name="xd20e2712">2</a></span> C. +Scherzer, in his work on Central America, gives the cacao-tree an +existence of twenty years, and says that each tree annually produces +from 15 to 20 ounces of cacao. 1,000 plants will produce 1,250 lbs. of +cacao, worth $250; so that the annual produce of a single tree is worth +a quarter of a dollar. Mitscherlich says that from 4 to 6 lbs. of raw +beans is an average produce. A liter of dried cacao beans weighs 630 +grains; of picked and roasted, 610 grains.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2723" href="#xd20e2723src" name="xd20e2723">3</a></span> In 1727 +a hurricane destroyed at a single blast the important cacao plantation +of Martinique, which had been created by long years of extraordinary +care. The same thing happened at +Trinidad.—<i>Mitscherlich</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2735" href="#xd20e2735src" name="xd20e2735">4</a></span> F. Engel +mentions a disease (<i>mancha</i>) which attacks the tree in America, +beginning by destroying its roots. The tree soon dies, and the disease +spreads so rapidly that whole groves of cacao-trees utterly perish and +are turned into pastures for cattle. Even in the most favored +localities, after a long season of prosperity, thousands of trees are +destroyed in a single night by this disease, just as the harvest is +about to take place. An almost equally dangerous foe to cultivation is +a moth whose larva entirely destroys the ripe cacao beans; and which +only cold and wind will kill. Humboldt mentions that cacao beans which +have been transported over the chilly passes of the Cordilleras are +never attacked by this pest.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2741" href="#xd20e2741src" name="xd20e2741">5</a></span> G. +Bornoulli quotes altogether eighteen kinds; of which he mentions only +one as generally in use in the Philippines.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2749" href="#xd20e2749src" name="xd20e2749">6</a></span> +<i>Pili</i> is very common in South Luzon, Samar, and Leyte; it is to +be found in almost every village. Its fruit, which is almost of the +size of an ordinary plum but not so round, contains a hard stone, the +raw kernel of which is steeped in syrup and candied in the same manner +as the kernel of the sweet pine, which it resembles in flavor. The +large trees with fruit on them, “about the size of almonds and +looking like sweet-pine kernels,” which Pigafetta saw at Jomonjol +were doubtless <i>pili</i>-trees. An oil is expressed from the kernels +much resembling sweet almond oil. If incisions are made in the stems of +the trees, an abundant pleasant-smelling white resin flows from them, +which is largely used in the Philippines to calk ships with. It also +has a great reputation as an anti-rheumatic plaster. It is twenty years +since it was first exported to Europe; and the first consignees made +large profits, as the resin, which was worth scarcely anything in the +Philippines, became very popular and was much sought in Europe.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2764" href="#xd20e2764src" name="xd20e2764">7</a></span> The +general name for the beverage was <i>Cacahoa-atl</i> (cacao water). +<i>Chocolatl</i> was the term given to a particular kind. F. Hernandez +found four kinds of cacao in use among the Axtecs, and he describes +four varieties of drinks that were prepared from them. The third was +called <i>chocolatl</i>, and apparently was prepared as +follows:—Equal quantities of the kernels of the <i>pochotl</i> +(<i>Bombaz ceiba</i>) and <i>cacahoatl</i> (<i>cacao</i>) trees were +finely ground, and heated in an earthen vessel, and all the grease +removed as it rose to the surface. Maize, crushed and soaked, was added +to it, and a beverage prepared from the mixture; to which the oily +parts that had been skimmed off the top were restored, and the whole +was drunk hot.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2801" href="#xd20e2801src" name="xd20e2801">8</a></span> Berthold +Seemann speaks of a tree with finger-shaped leaves and small round +berries, which the Indians sometimes offered for sale. They made +chocolate from them, which in flavor much surpassed that usually made +from cacao.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2825" href="#xd20e2825src" name="xd20e2825">9</a></span> Report +of the French consul.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2828" href="#xd20e2828src" name="xd20e2828">10</a></span> Mysore +and Mocha coffees fetch the highest prices. From $20 to $22.50 per cwt. +is paid for Mysore; and as much as $30, when it has attained an age of +five or six years, for Mocha.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2836" href="#xd20e2836src" name="xd20e2836">11</a></span> In +1865–66–67 California imported three and one-half, eight +and ten million lbs. of coffee, of which two, four and five millions +respectively came from Manila. In 1868 England was the best customer of +the Philippines.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2842" href="#xd20e2842src" name="xd20e2842">12</a></span> Report +of the Belgian consul.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2859" href="#xd20e2859src" name="xd20e2859">13</a></span> Coffee +is such an exquisite beverage, and is so seldom properly prepared, that +the following hints from a master in the art (Report of the Jury, +Internat. Exhib., Paris, 1868) will not be unwelcome:—1st. Select +good coffees. 2nd. Mix them in the proper proportions. 3rd. Thoroughly +dry the beans; otherwise in roasting them a portion of the aroma +escapes with the steam. 4th. Roast them in a dry atmosphere, and roast +each quality separately. 5th. Allow them to cool rapidly. If it is +impossible to roast the beans at home, then purchase only sufficient +for each day’s consumption. With the exception of the fourth, +however, it is easy to follow all these directions at home; and small +roasting machines are purchasable, in which, with the aid of a spirit +lamp, small quantities can be prepared at a time. It is best, when +possible, to buy coffee in large quantities, and keep it stored for two +or three years in a dry place.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2871" href="#xd20e2871src" name="xd20e2871">14</a></span> A +creeping, or rather a running fern, nearly the only one of the kind in +the whole species.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Change of +season.</span>During the whole time I was confined to the house at +Daraga, the weather was remarkably fine; but unfortunately the bright +days had come to an end by the time I was ready to make a start, for +the north-east monsoon, the sure forerunner of rain in this part of the +Archipelago, sets in in October. In spite, however, of the weather, I +determined to make another attempt to ascend the mountain at Bulusan. I +found I could go by boat to Bacon in the Bay of Albay, a distance of +seven leagues, whence I could ride to Gubat, on the east coast, three +leagues further, and then in a southerly direction along the shore to +Bulusan. An experienced old native, who provided a boat and crew, had +appointed ten o’clock at night as the best time for my departure. +Just as we were about to start, however, we were told that four +piratical craft had been seen in the bay. In a twinkling, the crew +disappeared, and I was left alone in the darkness; and it took me four +hours with the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb103" href="#pb103" name= +"pb103">103</a>]</span>assistance of a Spaniard to find them again, and +make a fresh start. About nine o’clock in the morning we reached +Bacon, whence I rode across a very flat country to San Roque, where the +road leading to Gubat took a sharp turn to the south-east, and +presently became an extremely bad one. After I had passed Gubat, my way +lay along the shore; and I saw several ruined square towers, made of +blocks of coral, and built by the Jesuits as a protection against the +<span class="marginnote">Moro pirates.</span>Moros, or +“Moors”—a term here applied to the pirates, because, +like the Moors who were formerly in Spain, they are Mahometans. They +come from Mindanao and from the north-west coast of Borneo. At the time +of my visit, this part of the Archipelago was greatly infested with +them; and a few days before my arrival they had carried off some +fishermen, who were busy pulling their fish-stakes, close to Gubat. A +little distance from the shore, and parallel to it, ran a coral reef, +which during the south-west monsoon was here and there bare at low +tide; but, when the north-east wind blew, the waves of the Pacific +Ocean entirely concealed it. Upon this reef the storms had cast up many +remains of marine animals, and a quantity of fungi, amongst which I +noticed some exactly resembling the common sponge of the Mediterranean. +They were just as soft to the touch, of a dark brown tint, as large as +the fist, and of a conical shape. They absorbed water with great +readiness, and might doubtless be made a profitable article of +commerce. Samples of them are to be seen in the Zoological Museum at +Berlin. As I went further on, I found the road excellent; and wooden +bridges, all of which were in good repair, led me across the mouths of +the numerous small rivers. But almost all the arches of the stone +bridges I came to had fallen in, and I had to cross the streams they +were supposed to span in a small boat, and make my horse swim after +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb104" href="#pb104" name= +"pb104">104</a>]</span>me. Just before I reached Bulusan, I had to +cross a ravine several hundred feet deep, composed almost entirely of +white pumice stone.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bulusan.</span>Bulusan is so seldom visited +by strangers that the “tribunal” where I put up was soon +full of curiosity-mongers, who came to stare at me. The women, taking +the places of honor, squatted round me in concentric rows, while the +men peered over their shoulders. One morning when I was taking a +shower-bath in a shed made of open bamboo work, I suddenly noticed +several pairs of inquisitive eyes staring at me through the +interstices. The eyes belonged exclusively to the gentler sex; and +their owners examined me with the greatest curiosity, making remarks +upon my appearance to one another, and seeming by no means inclined to +be disturbed. Upon another occasion, when bathing in the open air in +the province of Laguna, I was surrounded by a number of women, old, +middle-aged, and young, who crowded round me while I was dressing, +carefully inspected me, and pointed out with their fingers every little +detail which seemed to them to call for special remark.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Storm damage.</span>I had travelled the +last part of the road to Bulusan in wind and rain; and the storm lasted +with little intermission during the whole night. When I got up in the +morning I found that part of the roof of the tribunal had been carried +away, that the slighter houses in the hamlet were all blown down, and +that almost every dwelling in the place had lost its roof. This +pleasant weather lasted during the three days of my stay. The air was +so thick that I found it impossible to distinguish the volcano, though +I was actually standing at its foot; and, as the weather-wise of the +neighborhood could hold out no promise of a favorable change at that +time of the year, I put off my intended ascent till a better +opportunity, and resolved to return. A former alcalde, +Peñeranda, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb105" href="#pb105" +name="pb105">105</a>]</span>was reported to have succeeded in reaching +the top fifteen years before, after sixty men had spent a couple of +months in building a road to the summit; and the ascent was said to +have taken him two whole days. But an experienced native told me that +in the dry season he thought four men were quite sufficient to open a +narrow path to the plateau, just under the peak, in a couple of days; +but that ladders were required to get on to the actual summit.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Arrival of assistance.</span>The day after +my arrival the inspector of highways and another man walked into the +tribunal, both of them wet to the skin and nearly blown to pieces. My +friend the alcalde had sent them to my assistance; and, as none of us +could attempt the ascent, they returned with me. As we were entering +Bacon on our way back, we heard the report of cannon and the sound of +music. Our servants cried out “Here comes the alcalde,” and +in a few moments he drove up in an open carriage, accompanied by an +irregular escort of horsemen, Spaniards and natives, the latter +prancing about in silk hats and shirts fluttering in the wind. The +alcalde politely offered me a seat, and an hour’s drive took us +into Sorsogon.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Albay roads and bridges.</span>The roads of +the province of Albay are good, but they are by no means kept in good +repair: a state of things that will never be remedied so long as the +indolence of the authorities continues. Most of the stone bridges in +the district are in ruins, and the traveller is obliged to content +himself with wading through a ford, or get himself ferried across upon +a raft or in a small canoe, while his horse swims behind him. The roads +were first laid down in the days of Alcalde Peñaranda, a retired +officer of the engineer corps, whom we have already mentioned, and who +deserves considerable praise for having largely contributed to the +welfare of his province, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb106" href= +"#pb106" name="pb106">106</a>]</span>and for having accomplished so +much from such small resources. He took care that all socage service +should be duly rendered, or that money, which went towards paying for +tools and materials, should be paid in lieu of it. Many abuses existed +before his rule; no real services were performed by anybody who could +trace the slightest relationship to any of the authorities; and, when +by chance any redemption money was paid, it went, often with the +connivance of the alcalde of the period, into the pockets of the +<i>gobernadorcillos</i>, instead of into the provincial treasury. +Similar abuses still prevail all over the country, where they are not +prevented by the vigilance of the authorities. The numerous population, +and the prosperity which the province now enjoys, would make it an easy +matter to maintain and complete the existing highways. The admirable +officials of the district are certainly not wanting in good-will, but +their hands are tied. Nowadays the alcaldes remain only three years in +one province (in Peñaranda’s time, they remained six); +their time is entirely taken up with the current official and judicial +business; and, just as they are beginning to become acquainted with the +capabilities and requirements of their district, they are obliged to +leave it. <span class="marginnote">Handicapped officials.</span>This +shows the government’s want of confidence in its own servants. No +alcalde could now possibly undertake what Peñaranda +accomplished. The money paid in lieu of socage service, which ought to +be applied to the wants of the province in which the socage is due, is +forwarded to Manila. If an alcalde proposes some urgent and necessary +improvement, he has to send in so many tedious estimates and reports, +which frequently remain unnoticed, that he soon loses all desire to +attempt any innovation. Estimates for large works, to carry out which +would require a considerable outlay, are invariably returned from +headquarters marked “not <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb107" +href="#pb107" name="pb107">107</a>]</span>urgent.” <span class= +"marginnote">Funds diverted to Spain.</span>The fact is not that the +colonial government is wanting in good-will, but that the <i lang= +"es">Caja de Comunidad</i> (General Treasury) in Manila is almost +always empty, as the Spanish government, in its chronic state of +bankruptcy, borrows the money and is never in a position to return +it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sorsogon earthquake.</span>In 1840 Sorsogon +suffered severely from an earthquake, which lasted almost continuously +for thirty-five days. It raged with the greatest fury on the 21st of +March. The churches, both of Sorsogon and of Casiguran, as well as the +smallest stone houses, were destroyed; seventeen persons lost their +lives, and two hundred were injured; and the whole neighborhood sank +five feet below its former level.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Casiguran.</span>The next morning I +accompanied the alcalde in a <i>falua</i> (felucca), manned by fourteen +rowers, to Casiguran, which lies directly south of Sorsogon, on the +other side of a small bay, of two leagues in breadth, which it took us +an hour and a half to cross. The bay was as calm as an inland lake. It +is almost entirely surrounded by hills, and its western side, which is +open to the sea, is protected by the Island of Bagalao, which lies in +front of it. As soon as we landed, we were received with salutes of +cannon and music, and flags and shirts streamed in the wind. I declined +the friendly invitation of the alcalde to accompany him any further; as +to me, who had no official business to transact, the journey seemed +nothing but a continually recurring panorama of dinners, lunches, cups +of chocolate, music, and detonations of gunpowder.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Quicksilver.</span>In 1850 quicksilver was +discovered on a part of the coast now covered by the sea. I examined +the reported bed of the deposit, and it appeared to me to consist of a +stratum of clay six feet in depth, superimposed over a layer of +volcanic sand and fragments of pumice stone. An Englishman who was +wrecked in this part of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb108" href= +"#pb108" name="pb108">108</a>]</span>Archipelago, the same individual I +met at the iron works at Angat, had begun to collect it, and by washing +the sand had obtained something like a couple of ounces. Somebody, +however, told the priest of the district that quicksilver was a poison; +and, as he himself told me, so forcibly did he depict the dangerous +nature of the new discovery to his parishioners that they abandoned the +attempt to collect it. Since then none of them have ever seen a vestige +of mercury, unless it might be from some broken old barometer. Towards +evening Mount Bulusan in the south-east, and Mount Mayon in the +north-west, were visible for a short time. They are both in a straight +line with Casiguran.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sea’s encroachments.</span>Every year +the sea makes great inroads upon the coast at Casiguran; as far as I +could decide from its appearance and from the accounts given me, about +a yard of the shore is annually destroyed. The bay of Sorsogon is +protected towards the north by a ridge of hills, which suddenly +terminate, however, at its north-eastern angle; and through this +opening the wind sometimes blows with great fury, and causes +considerable havoc in the bay, the more particularly as its coast is +principally formed of clay and sand.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pirate rumors and robberies.</span>When I +reached Legaspi again in the evening I learnt that the alarm about the +pirates which had interrupted my departure had not been an idle one. +Moros they certainly could not have been, for at that season none of +the Mahometan corsairs could reach that part of the coast; but they +were a band of deserters and vagabonds from the surrounding country, +who in this part of the world find it more agreeable to pursue their +freebooting career on sea than on land. During my absence they had +committed many robberies and carried off several people.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e2989src" href="#xd20e2989" name= +"xd20e2989src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb109" href="#pb109" name= +"pb109">109</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Real pirates.</span>The +beginning of November is the season of storms; when water communication +between Albay and Manila entirely ceases, no vessel daring to put out +to sea, even from the south coast. On the 9th of the month, however, a +vessel that had been given up for lost entered the port, after having +incurred great perils and being obliged to throw overboard the greater +part of its cargo. Within twelve days of its leaving the straits of San +Bernardino behind it, a sudden storm compelled it to anchor amongst the +Islands of Balicuatro. One of the passengers, a newly-arrived Spaniard, +put off in a boat with seven sailors, and made for four small vessels +which were riding at anchor off the coast; taking them for fishermen, +whereas they were pirates. They fired at him as soon as he was some +distance from his ship, and his crew threw themselves into the water; +but both he and they were taken prisoners. The captain of the trading +brig, fearing that his vessel would fall into their clutches, slipped +anchor and put out to sea again, escaping shipwreck with the greatest +difficulty. The pirates, as a rule, do not kill their prisoners, but +employ them as rowers. But Europeans seldom survive their captivity: +the tremendous labor and the scanty food are too much for them. Their +clothes always being stripped off their back, they are exposed naked to +all sorts of weather, and their sole daily support is a handful of +rice.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e2989" href="#xd20e2989src" name="xd20e2989">1</a></span> The +official accounts stated that they had kidnapped twenty-one persons in +a couple of weeks.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Camarines.</span>No favorable +change in the weather was expected in Albay before the month of +January. It stormed and rained all day. I therefore determined to +change my quarters to South Camarines, which, protected from the +monsoon by the high range of hills running along its north-eastern +boundary, enjoyed more decent weather. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb110" href="#pb110" name="pb110">110</a>]</span>The two provinces of +Camarines form a long continent, with its principal frontage of shore +facing to the north-east and to the south-west; which is about ten +leagues broad in its middle, and has its shores indented by many bays. +From about the center of its north-eastern shore there boldly projects +the Peninsula of Caramuan, connected with the mainland of Camarines by +the isthmus of Isarog. The north-eastern portion of the two provinces +contains a long range of volcanic hills; the south-western principally +consisted, as far as my investigations permitted me to discover, of +chalk, and coral reefs; in the midst of the hills extends a winding and +fertile valley, which collects the waters descending from the slopes of +the mountain ranges, and blends them into a navigable river, on the +banks of which several flourishing hamlets have established themselves. +This river is called the Bicol. The streams which give it birth are so +abundant, and the slope of the sides of the valley, which is turned +into one gigantic rice-field, is so gentle that in many places the lazy +waters linger and form small lakes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A chain of volcanoes.</span>Beginning at +the south-eastern extremity, the volcanoes of Bulusan, Albay, Mazaraga, +Iriga, Isarog, and Colasi—the last on the northern side of San +Miguel bay—are situated in a straight line, extending from the +south-east to the north-west. Besides these, there is the volcano of +Buhi, or Malinao, a little to the north-east of the line. The hamlets +in the valley I have mentioned are situated in a second line parallel +to that of the volcanoes. The southern portion of the province is +sparsely inhabited, and but few streams find their way from its plateau +into the central valley. The range of volcanoes shuts out, as I have +said, the north-east winds, and condenses their moisture in the little +lakes scattered on its slopes. The south-west portion of Camarines, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb111" href="#pb111" name= +"pb111">111</a>]</span>therefore, is dry during the north-east monsoon, +and enjoys its rainy season during the prevalence of the winds that +blow from the south-west. The so-called dry season which, so far as +South Camarines is concerned, begins in November, is interrupted, +however, by frequent showers; but from January to May scarcely a drop +of rain falls. The change of monsoon takes place in May and June; and +its arrival is announced by violent thunderstorms and hurricanes, which +frequently last without cessation for a couple of weeks, and are +accompanied by heavy rains. These last are the beginning of the wet +season proper, which lasts till October. The road passes the hamlets of +Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao, Oas and Polangui, situated in a straight +line on the banks of the river Quinali, which, after receiving numerous +tributary streams, becomes navigable soon after passing Polangui. Here +I observed a small settlement of huts, which is called after the river. +Each of the hamlets I have mentioned, with the exception of the last, +has a population of about fourteen thousand souls, although they are +situated not more than half a league apart.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Priestly assistance.</span>The convents in +this part of the country are large, imposing buildings, and their +incumbents, who were mostly old men, were most hospitable and kind to +me. Every one of them insisted upon my staying with him, and, after +doing all he could for me, passed me on to his next colleague with the +best recommendations. I wished to hire a boat at Polangui to cross the +lake of Batu, but the only craft I could find were a couple of +<i>barotos</i> about eight feet long, hollowed out of the trunks of +trees and laden with rice. To prevent my meeting with any delay, the +padre purchased the cargo of one of the boats, on the condition of its +being immediately unladen; and this kindness enabled me to continue my +journey in the afternoon.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb112" href="#pb112" name= +"pb112">112</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The priests’ +importance.</span>If a traveller gets on good terms with the priests he +seldom meets with any annoyances. Upon one occasion I wished to make a +little excursion directly after lunch, and at a quarter past eleven +everything was ready for a start; when I happened to say that it was a +pity to have to wait three-quarters of an hour for the meal. In a +minute or two twelve o’clock struck; all work in the village +ceased, and we sat down to table: it was noon. A message had been sent +to the village bell-ringer that the Señor Padre thought he must +be asleep, and that it must be long past twelve as the Señor +Padre was hungry. <i lang="fr">Il est l’heure que votre +Majesté désire.</i></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Franciscan friars.</span>Most of the +priests in the eastern provinces of Luzon and Samar are Franciscan +monks (The barefooted friars of the orthodox and strictest rule of Our +Holy Father St. Francis, in the Philippine Islands, of the Holy and +Apostolic Province of St. Gregory the Great), brought up in seminaries +in Spain specially devoted to the colonial missions. Formerly they were +at liberty, after ten years’ residence in the Philippines, to +return to their own country; but, since the abolition of the +monasteries in Spain, they can do this no longer, for they are +compelled in the colonies to abandon all obedience to the rule of their +order, and to live as laymen. They are aware that they must end their +days in the colony, and regulate their lives accordingly. On their +first arrival they are generally sent to some priest in the province to +make themselves acquainted with the language of the country; then they +are installed into a small parish, and afterwards into a more lucrative +one, in which they generally remain till their death. Most of them +spring from the very lowest class of Spaniards. A number of pious +trusts and foundations in Spain enable a very poor man, who cannot +afford to send his son to school, to put him into a religious seminary, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb113" href="#pb113" name= +"pb113">113</a>]</span>where, beyond the duties of his future +avocation, the boy learns nothing. If the monks were of a higher social +grade, as are some of the English missionaries, they would have less +inclination to mix with the common people, and would fail to exercise +over them the influence they wield at present. The early habits of the +Spanish monks, and their narrow knowledge of the world, peculiarly fit +them for an existence among the natives. This mental equality, or +rather, this want of mental disparity, has enabled them to acquire the +influence they undoubtedly possess.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Young men developed by +responsibility.</span>When these young men first come from their +seminaries they are narrow-brained, ignorant, frequently almost devoid +of education, and full of conceit, hatred of heretics, and proselytish +ardor. These failings, however, gradually disappear; the consideration +and the comfortable incomes they enjoy developing their benevolence. +The insight into mankind and the confidence in themselves which +distinguish the lower classes of the Spaniards, and which are so +amusingly exemplified in Sancho Panza, have plenty of occasions to +display themselves in the responsible and influential positions which +the priests occupy. The padre is frequently the only white man in his +village, probably the only European for miles around. He becomes the +representative not only of religion, but of the government; he is the +oracle of the natives, and his decisions in everything that concerns +Europe and civilization are without appeal. His advice is asked in all +important emergencies, and he has no one whom he in his turn can +consult. Such a state of things naturally develops his brain. The same +individuals who in Spain would have followed the plough, in the +colonies carry out great undertakings. Without any technical education, +and without any scientific knowledge, they build churches and bridges, +and construct <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb114" href="#pb114" name= +"pb114">114</a>]</span>roads. <span class="marginnote">Poor +architects.</span>The circumstances therefore are greatly in favor of +the development of priestly ability; but it would probably be better +for the buildings if they were erected by more experienced men, for the +bridges are remarkably prone to fall in, the churches look like +sheep-pens, and the roads soon go to rack and ruin. I had much +intercourse in Camarines and Albay with the priests, and conceived a +great liking for them all. As a rule, they are the most unpretending of +men; and a visit gives them so much pleasure that they do all in their +power to make their guest’s stay as agreeable as possible. Life +in a large convent has much resemblance to that of a lord of the manor +in Eastern Europe. Nothing can be more unconstrained, more +unconventional. A visitor lives as independently as in an hotel, and +many of the visitors behave themselves as if it were one. I have seen a +subaltern official arrive, summon the head servant, move into a room, +order his meal, and then inquire casually whether the padre, who was an +utter stranger to him, was at home.</p> +<p>The priests of the Philippines have often been reproached with gross +immorality. They are said to keep their convents full of bevies of +pretty girls, and to lead somewhat the same sort of life as the Grand +Turk. This may be true of the native padres; but I myself never saw, in +any of the households of the numerous Spanish priests I visited, +anything that could possibly cause the least breath of scandal. Their +servants were exclusively men, though perhaps I may have noticed here +and there an old woman or two. Ribadeneyra says:—“The +natives, who observe how careful the Franciscan monks are of their +chastity, have arrived at the conclusion that they are not really men, +and that, though the devil had often attempted to lead these holy men +astray, using the charms of some pretty Indian <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb115" href="#pb115" name="pb115">115</a>]</span>girl +as a bait, yet, to the confusion of both damsel and devil, the monks +had always come scathless out of the struggle.” Ribadeneyra, +however, is a very unreliable author; and, if his physiological +mistakes are as gross as his geographical ones (he says somewhere that +Luzon is another name for the island of Cebu!), the monks are not +perhaps as fireproof as he supposes. At any rate, his description does +not universally apply nowadays. The younger priests pass their +existence like the lords of the soil of old; the young girls consider +it an honor to be allowed to associate with them; and the padres in +their turn find many convenient opportunities. They have no jealous +wives to pry into their secrets, and their position as confessors and +spiritual advisers affords them plenty of pretexts for being alone with +the women. The confessional, in particular, must be a perilous +rock-a-head for most of them. In an appendix to the “Tagal +Grammar” (which, by-the-bye, is not added to the editions sold +for general use) a list of questions is given for the convenience of +young priests not yet conversant with the Tagal language. These +questions are to be asked in the confessional, and several pages of +them relate exclusively to the relations between the sexes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superiority over government +officials.</span>As the alcaldes remain only three years in any one +province, they never understand much of its language; and, being much +occupied with their official business, they have neither the time nor +the desire to become acquainted with the peculiarities of the districts +over which they rule. The priest, on the other hand, resides +continually in the midst of his parishioners, is perfectly acquainted +with each of them, and even, on occasion, protects them against the +authorities; his, therefore, is the real jurisdiction in the district. +The position of the priests, in contradistinction to that of the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb116" href="#pb116" name= +"pb116">116</a>]</span>government officials, is well expressed by their +respective dwellings. The <i>casas reales</i>, generally small, ugly, +and frequently half-ruined habitations, are not suited to the dignity +of the chief authority of the province. The <i>convento</i>, on the +contrary, is almost always a roomy, imposing, and well-arranged +building. In former days, when governorships were sold to adventurers +whose only care was to enrich themselves, the influence of the minister +of religion was even greater than it is now.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3059src" href="#xd20e3059" name="xd20e3059src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Former legal status.</span>The following +extract from the General Orders, given by Le Gentil, will convey a +clear idea of their former position:—</p> +<div class="q">“Whereas the tenth chapter of the ordinances, +wherein the governor of Arandia ordained that the alcaldes and the +justices should communicate with the missionary priests only by letter, +and that they should never hold any interview with them except in the +presence of a witness, has been frequently disobeyed, it is now +commanded that these disobediences shall no longer be allowed; and that +the alcaldes shall make it their business to see that the priests and +ministers of religion treat the <i>gobernadorcillos</i> and the +subaltern officers of justice with proper respect, and that the +aforesaid priests be not allowed either to beat, chastise, or ill-treat +the latter, or make them wait at table.”</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Alcaldes formerly in trade.</span>The +former alcaldes who, without experience in official business, without +either education or knowledge, and without either the brains or the +moral qualifications for such responsible and influential posts, +purchased their appointments from the State, or received them in +consequence of successful intrigues, received a nominal salary from the +government, and paid it tribute for the right to carry on trade. Arenas +considered this tribute <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb117" href= +"#pb117" name="pb117">117</a>]</span>paid by the alcaldes as a fine +imposed upon them for an infringement of the law; “for several +ordinances were in existence, strenuously forbidding them to dabble in +any kind of commerce, until it pleased his Catholic Majesty to grant +them a dispensation.” The latter sources of mischief were, +however, abolished by royal decree in September and October, 1844.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Their borrowed capital.</span>The alcaldes +were at the same time governors, magistrates, commanders of the troops, +and, in reality, the only traders in their province.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e3086src" href="#xd20e3086" name="xd20e3086src">2</a> They +purchased with the resources of the <i>obras pias</i> the articles +required in the province; and they were entirely dependent for their +capital upon these endowments, as they almost always arrived in the +Philippines without any means of their own. The natives were forced to +sell their produce to the alcaldes and, besides, to purchase their +goods at the prices fixed by the latter.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3092src" href="#xd20e3092" name="xd20e3092src">3</a> In this +corrupt state of things the priests were the only protectors of the +unfortunate Filipinos; though occasionally they also threw in their lot +with the alcaldes, and shared in the spoil wrung from their unfortunate +flocks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Improvement in present +appointees.</span>Nowadays men with some knowledge of the law are sent +out to the Philippines as alcaldes; the government pays them a small +salary, and they are not allowed to trade. The authorities also attempt +to diminish the influence of the priests by improving the position of +the civil tribunals; a state of things they will not find easy of +accomplishment unless they lengthen the period of service of the +alcaldes, and place them in a pecuniary position that will put them +beyond the temptation of pocketing perquisites.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3099src" href="#xd20e3099" name="xd20e3099src">4</a> <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb118" href="#pb118" name="pb118">118</a>]</span></p> +<p>In Huc’s work on China I find the following passage, relating +to the effects of the frequent official changes in China, from which +many hints may be gathered:—</p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Similarity with Chinese +conditions.</span>“The magisterial offices are no longer bestowed +upon upright and just individuals and, as a consequence, this once +flourishing and well-governed kingdom is day by day falling into decay, +and is rapidly gliding down the path that leads to a terrible and, +perhaps, speedy dissolution. When we seek to discover the cause of the +general ruin, the universal corruption which too surely is undermining +all classes of Chinese society, we are convinced that it is to be found +in the complete abandonment of the old system of government effected by +the Manchu dynasty. It issued a decree forbidding any mandarin to hold +any post longer than three years in the same province, and prohibiting +any one from possessing any official appointment in his native +province. One does not form a particularly high idea of the brain which +conceived this law; but, when the Manchu Tartars found that they were +the lords of the empire, they began to be alarmed at their small +numbers, which were trifling in comparison with the countless swarms of +the Chinese; and they dreaded lest the influence which the higher +officials would acquire in their districts might enable them to excite +the populace against their foreign rulers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unidentified with country.</span>“The +magistrates, being allowed to remain only a year or two in the same +province, lived there like strangers, without acquainting themselves +with the wants of the people they governed; there was no tie between +them. The only care of the mandarins was to amass as much wealth as +possible before they quitted their posts; and they then began the same +game in a fresh locality, until finally they returned home in +possession of a handsome fortune gradually collected in their different +appointments. They were only birds of passage. What did it matter? The +morrow would find them at the other end of the kingdom, where the cries +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb119" href="#pb119" name= +"pb119">119</a>]</span>of their plundered victims would be unable to +reach them. In this manner the governmental policy rendered the +mandarins selfish and indifferent. The basis of the monarchy is +destroyed, for the magistrate is no longer a paternal ruler residing +amongst and mildly swaying his children, but a marauder, who arrives no +man knows whence, and who departs no one knows whither. The consequence +is universal stagnation; no great undertakings are accomplished; and +the works and labors of former dynasties are allowed to fall into +decay. The mandarins say to themselves: ‘Why should we undertake +what we can never accomplish? Why should we sow that others may +reap?’... They take no interest in the affairs of the district; +as a rule, they are suddenly transplanted into the midst of a +population whose dialect even they do not understand. <span class= +"marginnote">Dependence on interpreters.</span>When they arrive in +their mandarinates they usually find interpreters, who, being permanent +officieals and interested in the affairs of the place, know how to make +their services indispensable; and these in reality are the absolute +rulers of the district.”</p> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Importance of interpreters in +Philippines.</span> Interpreters are especially indispensable in the +Philippines, where the alcaldes never by any chance understand any of +the local dialects. In important matters the native writers have +generally to deal with the priest, who in many cases becomes the +virtual administrator of authority. He is familiar with the characters +of the inhabitants and all their affairs, in the settlement of which +his intimate acquaintance with the female sex stands him in good stead. +An eminent official in Madrid told me in 1867 that the then minister +was considering a proposal to abolish the restriction of office in the +colonies to three years.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3136src" href= +"#xd20e3136" name="xd20e3136src">5</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb120" href="#pb120" name= +"pb120">120</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Fear of +officials’ popularity.</span>The dread which caused this +restriction, <i>viz</i>., that an official might become too powerful in +some distant province, and that his influence might prove a source of +danger to the mother country, is no longer entertained. Increased +traffic and easier means of communication have destroyed the former +isolation of the more distant provinces. The customs laws, the +increasing demand for colonial produce, and the right conceded to +foreigners of settling in the country, will give a great stimulus to +agriculture and commerce, and largely increase the number of Chinese +and European residents. Then at last, perhaps, the authorities will see +the necessity of improving the social position of their officials by +decreasing their number, by a careful selection of persons, by +promoting them according to their abilities and conduct, and by +increasing their salaries, and allowing them to make a longer stay in +one post. The commercial relations of the Philippines with California +and Australia are likely to become very active, and liberal ideas will +be introduced from those free countries. Then, indeed, the mother +country will have earnestly to consider whether it is advisable to +continue its exploitation of the colony by its monopolies, its +withdrawal of gold, and its constant satisfaction of the unfounded +claims of a swarm of hungry place-hunters.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3147src" href="#xd20e3147" name="xd20e3147src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Different English and Dutch +policy.</span>English and Dutch colonial officials are carefully and +expressly educated for their difficult and responsible positions. They +obtain their appointments after passing <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb121" href="#pb121" name="pb121">121</a>]</span>a stringent +examination at home, and are promoted to the higher colonial offices +only after giving proofs of fitness and ability. What a different state +of things prevails in Spain! When a Spaniard succeeds in getting an +appointment, it is difficult to say whether it is due to his personal +capacity and merit or to a series of successful political +intrigues.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3159src" href="#xd20e3159" name= +"xd20e3159src">7</a></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3059" href="#xd20e3059src" name="xd20e3059">1</a></span> Le +Gentil, in his <i>Travels in the Indian Seas</i>, (1761) says: +“The monks are the real rulers of the provinces.... Their power +is so unlimited that no Spaniard cares to settle in the +neighborhood.... The monks would give him a great deal of +trouble.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3086" href="#xd20e3086src" name="xd20e3086">2</a></span> St. +Croix.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3092" href="#xd20e3092src" name="xd20e3092">3</a></span> St. +Croix.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3099" href="#xd20e3099src" name="xd20e3099">4</a></span> There +are three classes of alcaldeships, namely, <i>entrada</i>, +<i>ascenso</i>, and <i>termino</i> (<i>vide</i> Royal Ordinances of +March, 1837); in each of which an alcalde must serve for three years. +No official is allowed, under any pretence, to serve more than ten +years in any of the Asiatic magistracies.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3136" href="#xd20e3136src" name="xd20e3136">5</a></span> The law +limiting the duration of appointments to this short period dates from +the earliest days of Spanish colonization in America. There was also a +variety of minor regulations, based on suspicion, prohibiting the +higher officials from mixing in friendly intercourse with the +colonists.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3147" href="#xd20e3147src" name="xd20e3147">6</a></span> A +secular priest in the Philippines once related to me, quite of his own +accord, what had led him to the choice of his profession. One day, when +he was a non-commissioned officer in the army, he was playing cards +with some comrades in a shady balcony. “See,” cried one of +his friends, observing a peasant occupied in tilling the fields in the +full heat of the sun, “how the donkey yonder is toiling and +perspiring while we are lolling in the shade.” The happy conceit +of letting the donkeys work while the idle enjoyed life made such a +deep impression on him that he determined to turn priest; and it is the +same felicitous thought that has impelled so many impecunious gentlemen +to become colonial officials. The little opening for civil labor in +Spain and Portugal, and the prospect of comfortable perquisites in the +colonies, have sent many a starving <i>caballero</i> across the +ocean.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3159" href="#xd20e3159src" name="xd20e3159">7</a></span> The +exploitation of the State by party, and the exploitation of party by +individuals, are the real secrets of all revolutions in the Peninsula. +They are caused by a constant and universal struggle for office. No one +will work, and everybody wants to live luxuriously; and this can only +be done at the expense of the State, which all attempt to turn and +twist to their own ends. Shortly after the expulsion of Isabella, an +alcalde’s appointment has been known to have been given away +three times in one day. (<i>Prussian Year-Book</i>, January, 1869.)</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Batu.</span>In an hour and a +half after leaving Polangui we reached Batu, a village on the +north-western shore of the lake of the same name. The inhabitants, +particularly the women, struck me by their ugliness and want of +cleanliness. Although they lived close to the lake, and drew their +daily drinking water from it, they never appeared to use it for the +purpose of washing. The streets of the village also were dirty and +neglected; a circumstance explained, perhaps, by the fact of the priest +being a native.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The lake.</span>Towards the end of the +rainy season, in November, the lake extends far more widely than it +does in the dry, and overflows its shallow banks, especially to the +south-west. A great number of water-plants grow on its borders; amongst +which I particularly noticed a delicate seaweed<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3176src" href="#xd20e3176" name="xd20e3176src">1</a>, as fine as +horse hair, but intertwined in such close and endless ramifications +that it forms a flooring strong enough to support the largest +waterfowl. I <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb122" href="#pb122" name= +"pb122">122</a>]</span> saw hundreds of them hopping about and eating +the shell fish and prawns, which swarmed amidst the meshes of the +net-like seaweed and fell an easy prey to their feathered enemies. The +natives, too, were in the habit of catching immense quantities of the +prawns with nets made for the purpose. Some they ate fresh; and some +they kept till they were putrid, like old cheese, and then used them as +a relish to swallow with their rice. These small shell-fish are not +limited to the Lake of Batu. They are caught in shoals in both the salt +and the fresh waters of the Philippine and Indian archipelagos, and, +when salted and dried by the natives, form an important article of +food, eaten either in soup or as a kind of potted paste. They are found +in every market, and are largely exported to China. I was unable to +shoot any of the waterfowl, for the tangles of the seaweed prevented my +boat from getting near them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A neglected product.</span>When I revisited +the same lake in February, I found its waters so greatly fallen that +they had left a circular belt of shore extending all around the lake, +in most places nearly a hundred feet broad. The withdrawal of the +waters had compressed the tangled seaweed into a kind of matting, +which, bleached by the sun, and nearly an inch thick, covered the whole +of the shore, and hung suspended over the stunted bushes which, on my +first visit, had been under water. I have never either seen elsewhere, +or heard any one mention, a similar phenomenon. This stuff, which could +be had for nothing, was excellent for rifle-stoppers and for the +stuffing of birds, so I took a great quantity of it with me. This time +the bird-hunting went well, too.</p> +<p>The native priest of Batu was full of complaints about his +parishioners, who gave him no opportunities of gaining an honest penny. +“I am never asked for a mass, sir; in fact, this is such a +miserable hole that it is shunned <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb123" +href="#pb123" name="pb123">123</a>]</span>by Death itself. In D., where +I was for a long time coadjutor, we had our couple of burials regularly +every day at three dollars a head, and as many masses at a dollar +apiece as we had time to say, besides christenings and weddings, which +always brought a little more grist to the mill. But here nothing takes +place, and I scarcely make anything.” This stagnant state of +things had induced him to turn his attention to commerce. The average +native priest, of those I saw, could hardly be called a credit to his +profession. Generally ignorant, often dissipated, and only +superficially acquainted with his duties, the greater part of his time +was given over to gambling, drinking, and other objectionable +amusements. Little care was taken to preserve a properly decorous +behavior, except when officiating in the church, when they read with an +absurd assumption of dignity, without understanding a single word. The +conventos are often full of girls and children, all of whom help +themselves with their fingers out of a common dish. The worthy padre of +Batu introduced a couple of pretty girls to me as his two poor sisters, +whom, in spite of his poverty, he supported; but the servants about the +place openly spoke of these young ladies’ babies as being the +children of the priest.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The native clergy.</span>The guiding +principle of Spanish colonial policy—to set one class against +another, and to prevent either from becoming too powerful—seems +to be the motive for placing so many native incumbents in the +parsonages of the Archipelago. The prudence of this proceeding, +however, seems doubtful. A Spanish priest has a great deal of influence +in his own immediate circle, and forms, perhaps, the only enduring link +between the colony and the mother-country. The native priest is far +from affording any compensation for the lack of either of these +advantages. He generally is but little respected <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb124" href="#pb124" name="pb124">124</a>]</span>by +his flock, and certainly does nothing to attach them to Spain; for he +hates and envies his Spanish brethren, who leave him only the very +worst appointments, and treat him with contempt.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nabua.</span>I rode from Batu to Nabua over +a good road in half an hour. The country was flat, with rice-fields on +both sides of the road; but, while in Batu the rice was only just +planted, in Nabua it already was almost ripe. I was unable to obtain +any explanation of this incongruity, and know not how to account for +such a difference of climate between two hamlets situated in such close +proximity to one another, and separated by no range of hills. The +inhabitants of both were ugly and dirty, and were different in these +respects from the Tagalogs. Nabua, a place of 10,875 inhabitants, is +intersected by several small streams, whose waters, pouring down from +the eastern hills, form a small lake, which empties itself into the +river Bicol. Just after passing the second bridge beyond Nabua the +road, inclining eastwards, wends in a straight line to Iriga, a place +lying to the south-west of the volcano of the same name.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Remontados.</span>I visited a small +settlement of pagans situated on the slope of the volcano. The people +of the plains call them indifferently Igorots, Cimarrons, Remontados, +Infieles, or Montesinos. None of these names, however, with the +exception of the two last, are appropriate ones. The first is derived +from the term applied in the north of the Island to the mixed +descendants of Chinese and Filipino parents. The word Cimarron (French, +marrow) is borrowed from the American slave colonies, where it denoted +negroes who escaped from slavery and lived in a state of freedom; but +here it is applied to natives who prefer a wild existence to the +comforts of village life, which they consider are overbalanced by the +servitude and bondage which accompany them. The term <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb125" href="#pb125" name= +"pb125">125</a>]</span>Remontado explains itself, and has the same +signification as Cimarron. As the difference between the two +states—on account of the mildness of the climate, and the ease +with which the wants of the natives are supplied—is far less than +it would be in Europe, these self-constituted exiles are more +frequently to be met with than might be supposed; the cause of their +separation from their fellowmen sometimes being some offence against +the laws, sometimes annoying debts, and sometimes a mere aversion to +the duties and labors of village life. Every Filipino has an innate +inclination to abandon the hamlets and retire into the solitude of the +woods, or live isolated in the midst of his own fields; and it is only +the village prisons and the priests—the salaries of the latter +are proportionate to the number of their parishioners—that +prevent him from gradually turning the <i>pueblos</i> into +<i>visitas</i>,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3217src" href="#xd20e3217" +name="xd20e3217src">2</a> and the latter into <i>ranchos</i>. Until a +visit to other <i>ranchos</i> in the neighborhood corrected my first +impression, I took the inhabitants of the slopes of the Iriga for +cross-breeds between the low-landers and <i>negritos</i>. The color of +their skin was not black, but a dark brown, scarcely any darker than +that of Filipinos who have been much exposed to the sun; and only a few +of them had woolly hair. The <i>negritos</i> whom I saw at Angat and +Mariveles knew nothing whatever about agriculture, lived in the open +air, and supported themselves upon the spontaneous products of nature; +but the half-savages of the Iriga dwell in decent huts, and cultivate +several vegetables and a little sugar-cane. No pure <i>negritos</i>, as +far as I could ascertain, are to be met with in Camarines. A +thickly-populated province, only sparsely dotted with lofty hills, +would be ill-suited for the residence of a nomadic hunting race +ignorant of agriculture.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb126" href="#pb126" name= +"pb126">126</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Iriga +settlements.</span>The <i>ranchos</i> on the Iriga are very accessible, +and their inhabitants carry on a friendly intercourse with the +lowlanders; indeed, if they didn’t, they would have been long ago +exterminated. In spite of these neighborly communications, however, +they have preserved many of their own primitive manners and customs. +The men go about naked with the exception of a cloth about the loins; +and the women are equally unclad, some of them perhaps wearing an apron +reaching from the hip to the knee.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3244src" +href="#xd20e3244" name="xd20e3244src">3</a> In the larger +<i>ranchos</i> the women were decently clad in the usual Filipino +fashion. Their household belongings consisted of a few articles made of +bamboo, a few calabashes of coconut-shell, and an earthen cooking-pot, +and bows and arrows. <span class="marginnote">Poison +arrows.</span>These latter are made very carefully, the shaft from +reeds, the point from a sharp-cut bamboo, or from a palm-tree, with one +to three sharp points. In pig-hunting iron-pointed poison arrows are +used. <span class="marginnote">Crucifixes.</span>Although the Igorots +are not Christians, they decorate their huts with crucifixes, which +they use as talismans. If they were of no virtue, an old man remarked +to me, the Spaniards would not employ them so numerously.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e3257src" href="#xd20e3257" name="xd20e3257src">4</a> +The largest <i>rancho</i> I visited was nominally under the charge of a +captain, who, however, had little real power. At my desire he called to +some naked boys idly squatting about on the trees, who required +considerable persuasion before they obeyed his summons; but a few small +presents—brazen earrings and combs for the women, and cigars for +the men—soon put me on capital terms with them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mt. Iriga.</span>After a vain attempt to +reach the top of the Iriga volcano I started for Buhi, a place situated +on the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb127" href="#pb127" name= +"pb127">127</a>]</span>southern shore of the lake of that name. Ten +minutes after leaving Iriga I reached a spot where the ground sounded +hollow beneath my horse’s feet. A succession of small hillocks, +about fifty feet high, bordered each side of the road; and towards the +north I could perceive the huge crater of the Iriga, which, in the +distance, appeared like a truncated cone. I had the curiosity to ascend +one of the hillocks, which, seen from its summit, looked like the +remains of some former crater, which had probably been destroyed by an +earthquake and split up into these small mounds.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Advertising.</span> When I got to Buhi the +friendly priest had it proclaimed by sound of drum that the +newly-arrived strangers wished to obtain all kinds of animals, whether +of earth, of air, or of water; and that each and all would be paid for +in cash. The natives, however, only brought us moths, centipedes, and +other vermin, which, besides enabling them to have a good stare at the +strangers, they hoped to turn into cash as extraordinary +curiosities.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A church procession.</span> The following +day I was the spectator of a gorgeous procession. First came the +Spanish flag, then the village kettle-drums, and a small troop of +horsemen in short jackets and shirts flying in the wind, next a dozen +musicians, and finally, as the principal figure, a man carrying a +crimson silk standard. The latter individual evidently was deeply +conscious of his dignified position, and his countenance eloquently +expressed the quantity of palm wine he had consumed in honor of the +occasion. He sat on his horse dressed out in the most absurd manner in +a large cocked hat trimmed with colored paper instead of gold lace, +with a woman’s cape made of paper outside his coat, and with +short, tight-fitting yellow breeches and immense white stockings and +shoes. Both his coat and his breeches were liberally ornamented with +paper trimmings. His steed, led by a couple of <i>cabezas</i>, was +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb128" href="#pb128" name= +"pb128">128</a>]</span>appointed with similar trappings. After marching +through all the streets of the village the procession came to a halt in +front of the church.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Papal concessions to Spain.</span>This +festival is celebrated every year in commemoration of the concession +made by the Pope to the King of Spain permitting the latter to +appropriate to his own use certain revenues of the Church. The Spanish +Throne consequently enjoys the right of conferring different +indulgences, even for serious crimes, in the name of the Holy See. This +right, which, so to speak, it acquired wholesale, it sells by retail to +its customers (it formerly disposed of it to the priests) in the +<i>estanco</i>, and together with its other monopolies, such as +tobacco, brandy, lottery tickets, stamped paper, etc., all through the +agency of the priests; without the assistance of whom very little +business would be done. The receipts from the sale of these indulgences +have always been very fluctuating. In 1819 they amounted to $15,930; in +1839 to $36,390; and in 1860 they were estimated at $58,954. In the +year 1844–5 they rose to $292,115. The cause of this large +increase was that indulgences were then rendered compulsory; so many +being alloted to each family, with the assistance and under the +superintendence of the priests and tax-collectors who received a +commission of five and eight per cent on the gross amount +collected.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3290src" href="#xd20e3290" name= +"xd20e3290src">5</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lake Buhi.</span>The Lake of Buhi (300 feet +above the sea-level) presents an extremely picturesque appearance, +surrounded as it is on all sides by hills fully a thousand feet high; +and its western shore is formed by what still remains of the Iriga +volcano. I was informed by the priests of the neighboring hamlets that +the volcano, until the commencement of the seventeenth century, had +been a closed cone, and that the lake did not come into <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb129" href="#pb129" name= +"pb129">129</a>]</span>existence till half of the mountain fell in, at +the time of its great eruption. This statement I found confirmed in the +pages of the <i lang="es">Estado Geografico</i>:—“On the +fourth of January, 1641—a memorable day, for on that date all the +known volcanoes of the Archipelago began to erupt at the same +hour—a lofty hill in Camarines, inhabited by heathens, fell in, +and a fine lake sprang into existence upon its site. The then +inhabitants of the village of Buhi migrated to the shores of the new +lake, which, on this account, was henceforward called the Lake of +Buhi.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">1628 Camarines earthquake.</span>Perrey, in +the <i lang="fr">Mémoires de l’Académie de +Dijon</i>, mentions another outbreak which took place in Camarines in +1628: “In 1628, according to trustworthy reports, fourteen +different shocks of earthquake occurred on the same day in the province +of Camarines. Many buildings were thrown down, and from one large +mountain which the earthquake rent asunder there issued such an immense +quantity of water that the whole neighborhood was flooded, trees were +torn up by the roots, and, in one hour, from the seashore all plains +were covered with water (the direct distance to the shore is two and +one-half leagues).<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3309src" href= +"#xd20e3309" name="xd20e3309src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A mistranslation.</span>It is very strange +that the text given in the footnote does not agree with A. +Perrey’s translation. The former does not mention that water came +out of the mountains and says just the contrary, that trees, which were +torn up by the roots, took the place of the sea for one hour on the +shore, so that no water could be seen.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb130" href="#pb130" name= +"pb130">130</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Unreliable +authorities.</span>The data of the <i lang="es">Estado Geografico</i> +are apt to create distrust as the official report on the great +earthquake of 1641 describes in detail the eruptions of three +volcanoes, which happened at the same time (of these two were in the +South of the Archipelago and one in Northern Luzon) while Camarines is +not mentioned at all. This suspicion is further strengthened by the +fact that the same author (Nierembergius) whose remarks on the +eruptions of 1628 in Camarines are quoted, gives in another book of his +a detailed report on the events of 1641 without mentioning this +province. If one considers the indifference of the friars toward such +events in Nature, it is not improbable that the eruptions of 1641 when +a mountain fell in in Northern Luzon and a lake took its place, has +been transferred on the Iriga. To illustrate the indifference it may be +mentioned that even the padres living at the foot of the Albay could +not agree upon the dates of its very last eruptions.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Another attempt at mountain +climbing.</span>When I was at Tambong, a small hamlet on the shore of +the lake belonging to the parochial district of Buhi, I made a second +unsuccessful attempt to reach the highest point of the Iriga. We +arrived in the evening at the southern point of the crater’s edge +(1,041 meters above the level of the sea by my barometrical +observation), where a deep defile prevented our further progress. Here +the Igorots abandoned me, and the low-landers refused to bivouac in +order to pursue the journey on the following day; so I was obliged to +return. Late in the evening, after passing through a coco plantation, +we reached the foot of the mountain and found shelter from a tempest +with a kind old woman; to whom my servants lied so shamelessly that, +when the rain had abated, we were, in spite of our failure, conducted +with torches to Tambong, where we found the palm-grove <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb131" href="#pb131" name= +"pb131">131</a>]</span>round the little hamlet magically illuminated +with bright bonfires of dry coconut-leaves in honor of the +<i>Conquistadores del Iriga</i>; and where I was obliged to remain for +the night, as the people were too timorous or too lazy to cross the +rough water of the lake.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pineapple fiber preparations.</span>Here I +saw them preparing the fiber of the pine-apple for weaving. The fruit +of the plants selected for this purpose is generally removed early; a +process which causes the leaves to increase considerably both in length +and in breadth. A woman places a board on the ground, and upon it a +pine-apple-leaf with the hollow side upwards. Sitting at one end of the +board, she holds the leaf firmly with her toes, and scrapes its outer +surface with a potsherd; not with the sharp fractured edge but with the +blunt side of the rim; and thus the leaf is reduced to rags. In this +manner a stratum of coarse longitudinal fiber is disclosed, and the +operator, placing her thumb-nail beneath it, lifts it up, and draws it +away in a compact strip; after which she scrapes again until a second +fine layer of fiber is laid bare. Then, turning the leaf round, she +scrapes its back, which now lies upwards, down to the layer of fiber, +which she seizes with her hand and draws at once, to its full length, +away from the back of the leaf. When the fiber has been washed, it is +dried in the sun. It is afterwards combed, with a suitable comb, like +women’s hair, sorted into four classes, tied together, and +treated like the fiber of the <i>lupi</i>. In this crude manner are +obtained the threads for the celebrated web nipis de <span class= +"marginnote">Piña.</span>Piña, which is considered by +experts the finest in the world. Two shirts of this kind are in the +Berlin Ethnographical Museum (Nos. 291 and 292). Better woven samples +are in the Gewerbe Museum of Trade and Commerce. In the Philippines, +where the fineness of the work is best <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb132" href="#pb132" name="pb132">132</a>]</span>understood and +appreciated, richly-embroidered costumes of this description have +fetched more than $1,400 each.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3349src" +href="#xd20e3349" name="xd20e3349src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rain prevents another ascent.</span>At +Buhi, which is not sufficiently sheltered towards the north-east, it +rained almost as much as at Daraga. I had found out from the Igorots +that a path could be forced through the tall canes up to the summit; +but the continual rain prevented me; so I resolved to cross the +Malinao, returning along the coast to my quarters, and then, freshly +equipped, descend the river Bicol as far as Naga.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mountaineers’ arrow +poison.</span>Before we parted the Igorots prepared for me some arrow +poison from the bark of two trees. I happened to see neither the leaves +nor the blossoms, but only the bark. A piece of bark was beaten to +pieces, pressed dry, wetted, and again pressed. This was done with the +bare hand, which, however, sustained no injury. The juice thus +extracted looked like pea-soup, and was warmed in an earthen vessel +over a slow fire. During the process it coagulated at the edges; and +the coagulated mass was again dissolved, by stirring it into the +boiling fluid mass. When this had reached the consistency of syrup, a +small quantity was scraped off the inner surface of a second piece of +bark, and its juice squeezed into the vessel. This juice was a dark +brown color. When the mass had attained the consistency of a thin +jelly, it was scraped out of the pot with a chip and preserved on a +leaf sprinkled with ashes. For poisoning an arrow they use a piece of +the size of a hazel-nut, which, after being warmed, is distributed +uniformly over the broad iron point; and the poisoned arrow serves for +repeated use.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb133" href="#pb133" name= +"pb133">133</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Sapa river.</span>At +the end of November I left the beautiful lake of Buhi, and proceeded +from its eastern angle for a short distance up the little river +Sapa<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3371src" href="#xd20e3371" name= +"xd20e3371src">8</a>, the alluvial deposits of which form a +considerable feature in the configuration of the lake. Across a marshy +meadow we reached the base of the Malinao or Buhi mountain, the +slippery clay of the lower slope merging higher up into volcanic sand. +<span class="marginnote">Leeches.</span>The damp undergrowth swarmed +with small leeches; I never before met with them in such numbers. These +little animals, no stouter when streched out than a linen thread, are +extraordinarily active. They attach themselves firmly to every part of +the body, penetrating even into the nose, the ears, and the eyelids, +where, if, they remain unobserved, they gorge themselves to such excess +that they become as round as balls and look like small cherries. While +they are sucking no pain is felt; but afterwards the spots attacked +often itch the whole day long.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3377src" +href="#xd20e3377" name="xd20e3377src">9</a> <span class= +"marginnote">Fig-trees.</span>In one place the wood consisted for the +most part of fig-trees, with bunches of fruit quite six feet in length +hanging from the stems and the thicker branches; and between the trees +grew ferns, aroids, and orchids. After nearly six hours’ toil we +reached the pass (841 meters above the sea level), and descended the +eastern slope. The forest on the eastern side of the mountain is still +more magnificent than that on the west. From a clearing we obtained a +fine view of the sea, the Island of Catanduanes, and the plain of +Tabaco. <span class="marginnote">Prison as hotel.</span> At sunset we +reached Tibi, where I quartered myself in the prison. This, a tolerably +clean place, enclosed with strong bamboos, was the most habitable part +of a long <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb134" href="#pb134" name= +"pb134">134</a>]</span>shed which supplied the place of the tribunal +destroyed in a storm two years before. At Tibi I had an opportunity of +sketching Mount Malinao (called also Buhi and Takit), which from this +side has the appearance of a large volcano with a distinct crater. From +the lake of Buhi it is not so clearly distinguishable.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Igabo hot spring.</span>Not far from Tibi, +exactly north-east of Malinao, we found a small hot spring called +Igabo. In the middle of a plot of turf encircled by trees was a bare +spot of oval form, nearly a hundred paces long and seventy wide. The +whole space was covered with stones, rounded by attrition, as large as +a man’s head and larger. Here and there hot water bubbled out of +the ground and discharged into a little brook; beside it some women +were engaged in cooking their food, which they suspended in nets in the +hottest parts of the water. On the lower surfaces of some of the stones +a little sulphur was sublimated; of alum hardly a trace was +perceptible. In a cavity some caolin had accumulated, and was used as a +stain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Naglegbeng silicious springs.</span>From +here I visited the stalactite springs, not far distant, of +Naglegbeng.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3401src" href="#xd20e3401" name= +"xd20e3401src">10</a> I had expected to see a calcareous fountain, but +found the most magnificent masses of silica of infinite variety of +form; shallow cones with cylindrical summits, pyramidal flights of +steps, round basins with ribbed margins, and ponds of boiling water. +One spot, denuded of trees, from two to three hundred paces in breadth +and about five hundred in length, was, with the exception of a few +places overgrown with turf, covered with a crust of silicious dross, +which here and there formed large connected areas, but was generally +broken up into flaky plates by the vertical springs which pierced it. +In numerous localities boiling hot mineral water containing silica was +forcing itself out of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb135" href= +"#pb135" name="pb135">135</a>]</span>ground, spreading itself over the +surface and depositing a crust, the thickness of which depended on its +distance from the center point. In this manner, in the course of time, +a very flat cone is formed, with a basin of boiling water in the +middle. The continuous deposit of dross contracts the channel, and a +less quantity of water overflows, while that close to the edge of the +basin evaporates and deposits a quantity of fine silicious earth; +whence the upper portion of the cone not only is steeper than its base, +but frequently assumes a more cylindrical form, the external surface of +which on account of the want of uniformity in the overflow, is ribbed +in the form of stalactites. When the channel becomes so much obstructed +that the efflux is less than the evaporation, the water ceases to flow +over the edge, and the mineral dross, during the continual cooling of +the water, is then deposited, with the greatest uniformity, over the +inner area of the basin. When, however, the surface of the water sinks, +this formation ceases at the upper portion of the basin; the interior +wall thickens; and, if the channel be completely stopped up and all the +water evaporated, there remains a bell-shaped basin as even as if +excavated by the hand of man. The water now seeks a fresh outlet, and +bursts forth where it meets with the least obstruction, without +destroying the beautiful cone it has already erected. Many such +examples exist. In the largest cones, however, the vapors generated +acquire such power that, when the outlet is completely stopped up, they +break up the overlying crust in concentrically radiating flakes; and +the water, issuing anew copiously from the center, deposits a fresh +crust, which again, by the process we have just described is broken up +into a superimposed layer of flakes. In this manner are formed annular +layers, which in turn are gradually covered by fresh deposits from the +overflowing <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb136" href="#pb136" name= +"pb136">136</a>]</span>water. After the pyramid of layers is complete +and the outlet stopped up, the water sometimes breaks forth on the +slope of the same cone; a second cone is then formed near the first, on +the same base. In the vicinity of the silicious springs are seen +deposits of white, yellow, red, and bluish-grey clays, overlaying one +another in narrow strata-like variegated marl, manifestly the +disintegrated produce of volcanic rocks transported hither by rain and +stained with oxide of iron. These clays perhaps come from the same +rocks from the disintegration of which the silicious earth has been +formed. Similar examples occur in Iceland and in New Zealand; but the +products of the springs of Tibi are more varied, finer, and more +beautiful than those of the Iceland Geysers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A world wonder.</span>The wonderful +conformations of the red cone are indeed astonishing, and hardly to be +paralleled in any other quarter of the world.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3412src" href="#xd20e3412" name="xd20e3412src">11</a></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3176" href="#xd20e3176src" name="xd20e3176">1</a></span> +According to Grunow, <i lang="la">Cladophona arrisgona</i> +Kuetzing—<i lang="la">Conferva arrisgona</i> Montague.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3217" href="#xd20e3217src" name="xd20e3217">2</a></span> A visita +is a small hamlet or village with no priest of its own, and dependent +upon its largest neighbor for its religious ministrations.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3244" href="#xd20e3244src" name="xd20e3244">3</a></span> +Pigafetta mentions that the female musicians of the King of Cebu were +quite naked, or only covered with an apron of bark. The ladies of the +Court were content with a hat, a short cloak, and a cloth around the +waist.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3257" href="#xd20e3257src" name="xd20e3257">4</a></span> Perhaps +the same reason induced the Chinese to purchase crucifixes at the time +of their first intercourse with the Portuguese; for Pigafetta says: +“The Chinese are white, wear clothes, and eat from tables. They +also possess crucifixes but it is difficult to say why or where they +got them.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3290" href="#xd20e3290src" name="xd20e3290">5</a></span> One line +here omitted.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3309" href="#xd20e3309src" name="xd20e3309">6</a></span> +<span lang="la">Apud Camarines quoque terrain eodem die quator decies +contremuisse, fide dignis testimoniis renuntiatum est: multa interim +aedificia diruta. Ingentem montem medium crepuisse immani hiatu, ex +immensa vi excussisse arbores per oras pelagi, ita ut leucam occuparent +aequoris, nec humor per illud intervallum appareret. Accidit hoc anno +1628.—<i>S. Eusebius Nieremberqius, Historia Naturae</i>, lib. +xvi., 383. Antwerpiae, 1635.</span></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3349" href="#xd20e3349src" name="xd20e3349">7</a></span> At Fort +William, Calcutta, experiments have proved the extraordinary endurance +of the pine-apple fibre. A cable eight centimeters in circumference was +not torn asunder until a force of 2,850 kilogrammes had been applied to +it.—<i>Report of the Jury</i>, <i>London International +Exhibition</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3371" href="#xd20e3371src" name="xd20e3371">8</a></span> Sapa +means shallow.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3377" href="#xd20e3377src" name="xd20e3377">9</a></span> To the +extraordinary abundance of these annulates in Sikkin, Hooker +(<i>Himalayan Journal</i>, i, 167) ascribes the death of many animals, +as also the murrain known as rinderpest, if it occurred after a very +wet season, when the leech appears in incredible numbers. It is a known +fact that these worms have existed for days together in the nostrils, +throat, and stomach of man, causing inexpressible pain and, finally, +death.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3401" href="#xd20e3401src" name="xd20e3401">10</a></span> Gemelli +Careri has already mentioned them.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3412" href="#xd20e3412src" name="xd20e3412">11</a></span> I +discovered similar formations, of extraordinary beauty and extent, in +the great silicious beds of Steamboat Springs in Nevada.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIV</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Quinali river.</span>On my +second journey in Camarines, which I undertook in February, I went by +water from Polangui, past Batu, as far as Naga. The Quinali, which runs +into the south-eastern corner of the lake of Batu, runs out again on +the north side as the Bicol River, and flows in a north-westerly +direction as far as the Bay of San Miguel. It forms the medium of a not +inconsiderable trade between Albay and Camarines, particularly in rice; +of which the supply grown in the former province does not suffice for +the population, who consume the superfluity of Camarines. The rice is +conveyed in large boats up the river as far as Quinali, and thence +transported <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb137" href="#pb137" name= +"pb137">137</a>]</span>further on in carabao carts; and the boats +return empty. During the dry season of the year, the breadth of the +very tortuous Bicol, at its mouth, is a little over sixty feet, and +increases but very gradually. There is considerable variety of +vegetation upon its banks, and in animal life it is highly attractive. +I was particularly struck with its numerous monkeys and water-fowl. +<span class="marginnote">Plotus water-fowl.</span>Of the latter the +Plotus variety was most abundant, but difficult to shoot. They sit +motionless on the trees on the bank, only their thin heads and necks, +like those of tree-snakes, overtopping the leaves. On the approach of +the boat they precipitate themselves hastily into the water; and it is +not until after many minutes that the thin neck is seen rising up again +at some distance from the spot where the bird disappeared. The Plotus +appears to be as rapid on the wing as it is in swimming and diving.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Naga.</span>In Naga, the chief city of +South Camarines, I alighted at the tribunal, from which, however, I was +immediately invited by the principal official of the district—who +is famed for his hospitality far beyond the limits of his +province—to his house, where I was loaded with civilities and +favors. This universally beloved gentleman put everybody under +contribution in order to enrich my collections, and did all in his +power to render my stay agreeable and to further my designs.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nueva Caceres.</span>Naga is the seat of a +bishopric and of the provincial government. In official documents it is +called Nueva Caceres, in honor of the Captain-General, D. Fr. de Sande, +a native of Caceres, who about 1578 founded Naga (the Spanish town) +close to the Filipino village. At the beginning of the seventeenth +century it numbered nearly one hundred Spanish inhabitants; at the +present time it hardly boasts a dozen. Murillo Velarde remarks (xiii, +272), in contrast to the state of things in <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb138" href="#pb138" name= +"pb138">138</a>]</span>America, that of all the towns founded in the +Philippines, with the exception of Manila, only the skeletons, the +names without the substance, have been preserved. The reason is, as has +been frequently shown, that up to the present time plantations, and +consequently proper settlers, have been wanting. Formerly Naga was the +principal town of the whole of that district of Luzon lying to the east +of Tayabas, which, on account of the increased population, was divided +into the three provinces of North and South Camarines and Albay. The +boundaries of these governmental districts, those between Albay and +South Camarines more especially, have been drawn very arbitrarily; +although, the whole of the territory, as is shown by the map, +geographically is very well defined. <span class="marginnote">Land of +the Bicols.</span>The country is named Camarines; but it might more +suitably be called the country of the Bicols, for the whole of it is +inhabited by one race, the Bicol-Filipinos, who are distinguished by +their speech and many other peculiarities from their neighbors, the +Tagals on the west, and the Bisayans on the islands to the south and +east.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Bicols.</span>The Bicols are found only +in this district and in a few islands lying immediately in front of it. +Of their coming hither no information is to be obtained from the +comprehensive but confused histories of the Spanish monks. Morga +considers them to be natives of the island; on the other hand, it is +asserted by tradition that the inhabitants of Manila and its vicinity +are descended from Malays who have migrated thither, and from the +inhabitants of other islands and more distant provinces.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e3444src" href="#xd20e3444" name="xd20e3444src">1</a> +Their speech is midway between that of the Tagalogs and the Bisayans, +and they themselves appear, in both their <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb139" href="#pb139" name="pb139">139</a>]</span>manners and customs, +to be a half-breed between these two races. Physically and mentally +they are inferior to the Tagalogs, and superior to the inhabitants of +the eastern Bisayan Islands. <span class="marginnote">Bicol +language.</span>Bicol is spoken only in the two Camarines, Albay, +Luzon, the Islands of Masbate, Burias, Ticao, and Catanduanes, and in +the smaller adjoining islands. The inhabitants of the volcanic mountain +Isarog and its immediate neighborhood speak it in the greatest purity. +Thence towards the west the Bicol dialect becomes more and more like +Tagalog, and towards the east like Bisayan, until by degrees, even +before reaching the boundaries of their ethnographical districts, it +merges into these two kindred languages.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice cultivation.</span>In South Camarines +the sowing of the rice in beds begins in June or July, always at the +commencement of the rainy season; but in fields artificially watered, +earlier, because thus the fruit ripens at a time when, the store in the +country being small, its price is high. Although the rice fields could +very well give two crops yearly, they are tilled only once. It is +planted out in August, with intervals of a hand’s-breadth between +each row and each individual plant; and within four months the rice is +ripe. The fields are never fertilized, and but seldom ploughed; the +weeds and the stubble being generally trodden into the already soaked +ground by a dozen carabaos, and the soil afterwards simply rolled with +a cylinder furnished with sharp points, or loosened with the harrow +(<i>sorod</i>). Besides the agricultural implements named above, there +are the Spanish hatchet (<i>azadon</i>) and a rake of bamboo +(<i>kag-kag</i>) in use. The harvest is effected in a peculiar manner. +The rice which is soonest ripe is cut for ten per cent, that is, the +laborer receives for his toil the tenth bundle for himself. At this +time of year rice is very scarce, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb140" +href="#pb140" name="pb140">140</a>]</span>want is imminent, and labor +reasonable. The more fields, however, that ripen, the higher become the +reapers’ wages, rising to twenty, thirty, forty, even fifty per +cent; indeed, the executive sometimes consider it to be necessary to +force the people to do harvest by corporal punishment and imprisonment, +in order to prevent a large portion of the crop from rotting on the +stalk. Nevertheless, in very fruitful years a part of the harvest is +lost. The rice is cut halm by halm (as in Java) with a +peculiarly-formed knife, or, failing such, with the sharp-edged flap of +a mussel<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3467src" href="#xd20e3467" name= +"xd20e3467src">2</a> found in the ditches of the rice-fields, which one +has only to stoop to pick up.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice land production.</span>A +<i>quiñon</i> of the best rice land is worth from sixty to one +hundred dollars ($5.50 to $9 per acre). Rice fields on rising grounds +are dearest, as they are not exposed to devastating floods as are those +in the plain, and may be treated so as to insure the ripening of the +fruit at the time when the highest price is to be obtained.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The harvest.</span>A <i>ganta</i> of rice +is sufficient to plant four <i>topones</i> (1 topon = 1 loan); from +which 100 <i>manojos</i> (bundles) are gathered, each of which yields +half a ganta of rice. The old ganta of Naga, however, being equal to a +modern ganta and a half, the produce may be calculated at 75 +<i>cavanes</i> per quiñon, about 9¾ bushels per +acre.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3496src" href="#xd20e3496" name= +"xd20e3496src">3</a> In books 250 cavanes are usually stated to be the +average produce of a quiñon; but that is an exaggeration. The +fertility of the fields certainly varies very much; but, when it is +considered that the land in the Philippines is never fertilized, but +depends, for the maintenance of its vitality, exclusively upon the +overflowing of the mud which is washed down from the mountains, it may +be believed that the first numbers better express the true <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb141" href="#pb141" name= +"pb141">141</a>]</span>average. In Java the harvest, in many provinces, +amounts to only 50 cavanes per quiñon; in some, indeed, to three +times this amount; and in China, with the most careful culture and +abundant manure, to 180 cabanes.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3517src" +href="#xd20e3517" name="xd20e3517src">4</a> <span class= +"marginnote">Sweet potatoes.</span> Besides rice, they cultivate the +<i>camote</i> (sweet potato, <i>Convolvulus batatas</i>). This +flourishes like a weed; indeed, it is sometimes planted for the purpose +of eradicating the weeds from soil intended for coffee or cacao. It +spreads out into a thick carpet, and is an inexhaustible storehouse to +its owner, who, the whole year through, can supply his wants from his +field. <i>Gabi</i> (<i>Caladium</i>), <i>Ubi</i> (<i>Dioscorea</i>), +maize, and other kinds of grain, are likewise cultivated.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cattle and horses.</span>After the rice +harvest the carabaos, horses, and bullocks, are allowed to graze in the +fields. During the rice culture they remain in the <i>gogonales</i>, +cane-fields which arise in places once cultivated for mountain-rice and +afterwards abandoned. (Gogo is the name of a cane 7 to 8 feet high, +<i>Saccharum sp.</i>). Transport then is almost impossible, because +during the rainy season the roads are impassable, and the cattle find +nothing to eat. The native does not feed his beast, but allows it to +die when it cannot support itself. In the wet season of the year it +frequently happens that a carabao falls down from starvation whilst +drawing a cart. A carabao costs from $7 to $10; a horse $10 to $20; and +a cow $6 to $8. Very fine horses are valued at from $30 to $50, and +occasionally as much as $80; but the native horses are not esteemed in +Manila, because they have no stamina. The bad water, the bad hay, and +the great heat of the place at once point out the reason; otherwise it +would be profitable to export horses in favorable seasons to Manila, +where they would fetch twice their <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb142" +href="#pb142" name="pb142">142</a>]</span>value. According to Morga, +there were neither horses nor asses on the Island until the Spaniards +imported them from China and New Spain.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3557src" href="#xd20e3557" name="xd20e3557src">5</a> They were at +first small and vicious. Horses were imported also from Japan, +“not swift but powerful, with large heads and thick manes, +looking like Friesland horses;”<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3563src" href="#xd20e3563" name="xd20e3563src">6</a> and the +breed improved rapidly. Those born in the country, mostly cross-breeds, +drive well.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Black cattle.</span>Black cattle are +generally in the hands of a few individuals; some of whom in Camarines +possess from 1000 to 3000 head; but they are hardly saleable in the +province, although they have been exported profitably for some years +past to Manila. The black cattle of the province are small but make +good beef. They are never employed for labor, and the cows are not +milked. The Filipinos, who generally feed on fish, crabs, mussels, and +wild herbs together with rice, prefer the flesh of the carabao to that +of the ox; but they eat it only on feastdays.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sheep.</span>The old race of sheep, +imported by the Spaniards previous to this century, still flourishes +and is easily propagated. Those occasionally brought from Shanghai and +Australia are considered to be deficient in endurance, unfruitful, and +generally short-lived. Mutton is procurable every day in Manila; in the +interior, however, at least in the eastern provinces, very rarely; +although the rearing of sheep might there be carried on without +difficulty, and in many places most profitably; the people being too +idle to take care of the young lambs, which they complain are torn to +pieces by the dogs <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb143" href="#pb143" +name="pb143">143</a>]</span>when they wander about free. The sheep +appear to have been acclimatized with difficulty. Morga says that they +were brought several times from New Spain, but did not multiply; so +that in his time this kind of domestic animal did not exist. +<span class="marginnote">Swine.</span>Pork is eaten by wealthy +Europeans only when the hog has been brought up from the litter at +home. In order to prevent its wandering away, it is usually enclosed in +a wide meshed cylindrical hamper of bamboo, upon filling which it is +slaughtered. The native hogs are too nauseous for food, the animals +maintaining themselves almost entirely on ordure.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Guesses at history from +language.</span>Crawfurd observes that the names of all the domestic +animals in the Philippines belong to foreign languages, Those of the +dog, swine, goat, carabao, cat, even of the fowl and the duck, are +Malay or Javanese; while those of the horse, ox, and sheep, are +Spanish. Until these animals were first imported from Malaysia, the +aborigines were less fortunate in this respect than the Americans, who +at least had the alpaca, llamanda, vicuña. The names likewise of +most of the cultivated plants, such as rice, yams, sugar-cane, cacao +and indigo, are said to be Malay, as well as those for silver, copper, +and tin. Of the words relating to commerce, one-third are Malay; to +which belong most of the terms used in trades, as well as the +denominations for weights and measures, for the calendar—so far +as it exists—and for numbers, besides the words for writing, +reading, speaking, and narrative. On the other hand, only a small +number of terms which refer to war are borrowed from the Malay.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ancient Filipino +civilization.</span>Referring to the degree of civilization which the +Philippines possessed previous to their intercourse with the Malays, +Crawfurd concludes from the purely domestic words that they cultivated +no corn, their vegetable food consisting of batata(?) and banana. They +had not a single domestic animal; they were acquainted with +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb144" href="#pb144" name= +"pb144">144</a>]</span>iron and gold, but with no other metal, and were +clothed in stuffs of cotton and alpaca, woven by themselves. They had +invented a peculiar phonetic alphabet; and their religion consisted in +the belief in good and evil spirits and witches, in circumcision, and +in somewhat of divination by the stars. They therefore were superior to +the inhabitants of the South Sea, inasmuch as they possessed gold, +iron, and woven fabrics, and inferior to them in that they had neither +dog, pig, nor fowl.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Progress under Spain.</span>Assuming the +truth of the above sketch of pre-Christian culture, which has been put +together only with the help of defective linguistic sources, and +comparing it with the present, we find, as the result, a considerable +progress, for which the Philippines are indebted to the Spaniards. The +influence of social relations has been already exhibited in the text. +The Spaniards have imported the horse, the bullock, and the sheep; +maize, coffee, sugar-cane, cacao, sesame, tobacco, indigo, many fruits, +and probably the batata, which they met with in Mexico under the name +of camotli.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3594src" href="#xd20e3594" name= +"xd20e3594src">7</a> From this circumstance the term camote, universal +in the Philippines, appears to have had its origin, Crawfurd, indeed, +erroneously considering it a native term. According to a communication +from Dr. Witmack, the opinion has lately been conceived that the batata +is indigenous not only to America, but also to the East Indies, as it +has two names in Sanscrit, <i>sharkarakanda</i> and +<i>ruktaloo</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Slight industrial progress.</span>With the +exception of embroidery, the natives have made but little progress in +industries, in the weaving and the plaiting of mats; and the +handicrafts are entirely carried on by the Chinese.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice and abaca exported.</span>The exports +consist of rice and abaca. The province exports about twice as much +rice as it consumes; a large <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb145" href= +"#pb145" name="pb145">145</a>]</span>quantity to Albay, which, less +adapted for the cultivation of rice, produces only abaca; and a fair +share to North Camarines, which is very mountainous, and little +fertile. The rice can hardly be shipped to Manila, as there is no high +road to the south side of the province, near to the principal town, and +the transport by water from the north side, and from the whole of the +eastern portion of Luzon, would immediately enhance the price of the +product. <span class="marginnote">Chinese monopolize trade.</span> The +imports are confined to the little that is imported by Chinese traders. +The traders are almost all Chinese who alone possess shops in which +clothing materials and woolen stuffs, partly of native and partly of +European manufacture, women’s embroidered slippers, and imitation +jewelry, may be obtained. The whole amount of capital invested in these +shops certainly does not exceed $200,000. In the remaining pueblos of +Camarines there are no Chinese merchants; and the inhabitants are +consequently obliged to get their supplies from Naga.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Land for everybody.</span>The land belongs +to the State, but is let to any one who will build upon it. The +usufruct passes to the children, and ceases only when the land remains +unemployed for two whole years; after which it is competent for the +executive to dispose of it to another person.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Homes.</span>Every family possesses its own +house; and the young husband generally builds with the assistance of +his friends. In many places it does not cost more than four or five +dollars, as he can, if necessary, build it himself free of expense, +with the simple aid of the forest-knife (<i>bolo</i>), and of the +materials to his hand, bamboo, Spanish cane, and palm-leaves. These +houses, which are always built on piles on account of the humidity of +the soil, often consist of a single shed, which serves for all the uses +of a dwelling, and are the cause of great laxity and of filthy habits, +the whole family sleeping <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb146" href= +"#pb146" name="pb146">146</a>]</span>therein in common, and every +passer-by being a welcome guest. A fine house of boards for the family +of a cabeza perhaps costs nearly $100; and the possessions of such a +family in stock, furniture, ornaments, etc. (of which they are obliged +to furnish an annual inventory), would range in value between $100 and +$1,000. Some reach even as much as $10,000, while the richest family of +the whole province is assessed at $40,000.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">People not travellers.</span>In general it +may be said that every pueblo supplies travellers, its own necessaries, +and produces little more. To the indolent native, especially to him of +the eastern provinces, the village in which he was born is the world; +and he leaves it only under the most pressing circumstances. Were it +otherwise even, the strictness of the poll-tax would place great +obstacles in the way of gratifying the desire for travel, generated by +that oppressive impost.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Meals.</span>The Filipino eats three times +a day—about 7 a.m., 12, and at 7 or 8 in the evening. Those +engaged in severe labor consume at each meal a chupa of rice; the +common people, half a chupa at breakfast, one at mid-day, and half +again in the evening, altogether two chupas. Each family reaps its own +supply of rice, and preserves it in barns, or buys it winnowed at the +market; in the latter case purchasing only the quantity for one day or +for the individual meals. The average retail price is 3 cuartos for 2 +chupas (14 chupas for 1 real). To free it from the husk, the quantity +for each single meal is rubbed in a mortar by the women. This is in +accordance with an ancient custom; but it is also due to the fear lest, +otherwise, the store should be too quickly consumed. The rice, however, +is but half cooked; and it would seem that this occurs in all places +where it constitutes an essential part of the sustenance of the people, +as may be seen, indeed, in Spain and Italy. Salt and much Spanish +pepper (<i>capsicum</i>) are eaten <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb147" +href="#pb147" name="pb147">147</a>]</span>as condiments; the latter, +originally imported from America, growing all round the houses. To the +common cooking-salt the natives prefer a so-called rock-salt, which +they obtain by evaporation from sea-water previously filtered through +ashes; and of which one chinanta (12 lbs. German) costs from one and +one-half to two reals. The consumption of salt is extremely small.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Buyo and cigars.</span>The luxuries of the +Filipinos are buyo<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3652src" href= +"#xd20e3652" name="xd20e3652src">8</a> and cigars—a cigar costing +half a centavo, and a buyo much less. Cigars are rarely smoked, but are +cut up into pieces, and chewed with the buyo. The women also chew buyo +and tobacco, but, as a rule, very moderately; but they do not also +stain their teeth black, like the Malays; and the young and pretty +adorn themselves assiduously with veils made of the areca-nut tree, +whose stiff and closely packed parallel fibers, when cut crosswise, +form excellent tooth-brushes. They bathe several times daily, and +surpass the majority of Europeans in cleanliness. Every native, above +all things, keeps a fighting-cock; even when he has nothing to eat, he +finds money for cock-fighting.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Household affairs.</span>The details of +domestic economy may be summarized as follows:</p> +<p>For cooking purposes an earthen pot is used, costing between 3 and +10 cuartos; which, in cooking rice, is closed firmly with a +banana-leaf, so that the steam of a very small quantity of water is +sufficient. No other cooking utensils are used by the poorer classes; +but those better off have a few cast-iron pans and dishes. In the +smaller houses, the hearth consists of a portable earthen pan or a flat +chest, frequently of an old cigar-chest <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb148" href="#pb148" name="pb148">148</a>]</span>full of sand, with +three stones which serve as a tripod. In the larger houses it is in the +form of a bedstead, filled with sand or ashes, instead of a mattress. +The water in small households is carried and preserved in thick +bamboos. In his bolo (forest-knife), moreover, every one has an +universal instrument, which he carries in a wooden sheath made by +himself, suspended by a cord of loosely-twisted bast fibers tied round +his body. This, and the rice-mortar (a block of wood with a suitable +cavity), together with pestles and a few baskets, constitute the whole +of the household <span class="marginnote">Furniture.</span>furniture of +a poor family; sometimes a large snail, with a rush wick, is also to be +found as a lamp. They sleep on a mat of pandanus (fan-palm, +<i>Corypha</i>), when they possess one; if not, on the splittings of +bamboo, with which the house is floored. By the poor oil for lighting +is rarely used; but torches of resin, which last a couple of days, are +bought in the market for half a cuarto.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Clothing.</span>Their clothing requirements +I ascertained to be these: A woman wears a camisa de guinára (a +short shift of abacá fiber), a patadíon (a gown reaching +from the hip to the ancles), a cloth, and a comb. A piece of +guinára, costing 1 real, gives two shifts; the coarsest +patadíon costs 3 reals; a cloth, at the highest, 1 real; and a +comb, 2 cuartos; making altogether 4 reals, 12 cuartos. Women of the +better class wear a camisa, costing between 1 and 2 r., a +patadíon 6 r., cloth between 2 and 3 r., and a comb 2 cu. The +men wear a shirt, 1 r., hose, 3 r., hat (<i>tararura</i>) of Spanish +cane, 10 cu., or a <i>salacot</i> (a large rain-hat, frequently +decorated), at least 2 r.—often, when ornamented with silver, as +much as $50. At least three, but more commonly four, suits are worn out +yearly; the women, however, taking care to weave almost the whole +quantity for the family themselves.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb149" href="#pb149" name= +"pb149">149</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Wages.</span>The daily +wages of the common laborer are 1 real, without food; and his hours of +work are from 6 to 12, and from 2 to 6 o’clock. The women, as a +rule, perform no field labor, but plant out the rice and assist in the +reaping; their wages on both occasions being equal to those of the men. +Wood and stone-cutters receive 1.5 r. per day, and calkers 1.75 r.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Land leases.</span>The <i>Tercio</i> is a +pretty general contract in the cultivation of the land. The owner +simply lets arable land for the third part of the crop. Some mestizos +possess several pieces of ground; but they are seldom connected +together, as they generally acquire them as mortgages for sums bearing +but a small proportion to their real value.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Family income.</span>Under the head of +earnings I give the income of a small family. The man earns daily one +real, and the woman, if she weaves coarse stuff, one-fourth real, and +her food (thus a piece of <i>guinára</i>, occupying the labor of +two days, costs half a real in weavers’ wages). The most skilful +female weaver of the finer stuffs obtains twelve reals per piece; but +it takes a month to weave; and the month, on account of the numerous +holy-days, must be calculated at the most as equal to twenty-four +working days; she consequently earns one-fourth real per day and her +food. For the knitting of the fibers of the ananas for the piña +web (called <i>sugot</i>) she gets only an eighth of a real and her +food.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Schools.</span>In all the pueblos there are +schools. The schoolmaster is paid by the Government, and generally +obtains two dollars per month, without board or lodging. In large +pueblos the salary amounts to three dollars and a half; out of which an +assistant must be paid. The schools are under the supervision of the +ecclesiastics of the place. Reading and writing are taught, the writing +copies being Spanish. The teacher, who has to teach his scholars +Spanish exactly, does not understand it himself, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb150" href="#pb150" name= +"pb150">150</a>]</span>while the Spanish officers, on the other hand, +do not understand the language of the country; and the priests have no +inclination to alter this state of things, which is very useful to them +as a means of influence. Almost the only Filipinos who speak Spanish +are those who have been in the service of Europeans. A kind of +religious horn-book is the first that is read in the language of the +country (Bicol); and after that comes the Christian Doctrine, the +reading-book called <i>Casayayan</i>. On an average, half of all the +children go to school, generally from the seventh to the tenth year. +They learn to read a little; a few even write a little: but they soon +forget it again. Only those who are afterwards employed as clerks write +fluently; and of these most write well.</p> +<p>Some priests do not permit boys and girls to attend the same school; +and in this case they pay a second teacher, a female, a dollar a month. +The Filipinos learn arithmetic very quickly, generally aiding +themselves by the use of mussels or stones, which they pile in little +heaps before them and then count through.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Marriage age.</span>The women seldom marry +before the fourteenth year, twelve years being the legal limit. In the +church-register of Polángui I found a marriage recorded +(January, 1837) between a Filipino and a Filipina having the ominous +name of Hilaria Concepción, who at the time of the performance +of the marriage ceremony was, according to a note in the margin, only +nine years and ten months old. Frequently people live together +unmarried, because they cannot pay the expenses of the +ceremony.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3717src" href="#xd20e3717" name= +"xd20e3717src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Woman’s work.</span>European females, +and even mestizas, never seek husbands amongst the natives. The women +generally are well treated, doing only light work, such as sewing, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb151" href="#pb151" name= +"pb151">151</a>]</span>weaving, embroidery, and managing the household; +while all the heavy labor, with the exception of the beating of the +rice, falls to the men.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3726src" href= +"#xd20e3726" name="xd20e3726src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A patriarch.</span>Instances of longevity +are frequent amongst the Filipinos, particularly in Camarines. The +<i>Diario de Manila</i>, of March 13th, 1866, mentions an old man in +Darága (Albay) whom I knew well—Juan Jacob, born in 1744, +married in 1764, and a widower in 1845. He held many public posts up to +1840, and had thirteen children, of whom five are living. He has one +hundred and seventy direct descendants, and now, at one hundred and +twenty-two years of age, is still vigorous, with good eyes and teeth. +Extreme unction was administered to him seven times!</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Snake bite and rabies remedy.</span>The +first excretion of a new-born child is carefully preserved, and under +the name of triaca (<i>theriacum</i>) is held to be a highly +efficacious and universal remedy for the bites of snakes and mad dogs. +It is applied to the wound externally, and at the same time is taken +internally.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Infant mortality.</span>A large number of +children die in the first two weeks after birth. Statistical data are +wanting; but, according to the opinion of one of the first physicians +in Manila, at least one-fourth die. This mortality must arise from +great uncleanliness and impure air; since in the chambers of the sick, +and of women lying-in, the doors and windows are so closely shut that +the healthy become sick from the stench and heat, and the sick recover +with difficulty. Every aperture of the house is closed up by the +husband early during travail, in order that <i>Patianac</i> may not +break in—an evil spirit who brings mischief to lying-in women, +and endeavors to hinder the birth. The custom has been further +maintained even amongst many who <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb152" +href="#pb152" name="pb152">152</a>]</span>attach no belief to the +superstition, but who, from fear of a draught of air through a hole, +have discovered a new explanation for an old custom—namely, that +instances of such practices occur amongst all people. <span class= +"marginnote">The itch.</span>One very widely-spread malady is the itch, +although, according to the assurance of the physician above referred +to, it may be easily subdued; and, according to the judgment of those +who are not physicians and who employ that term for any eruptions of +the skin, the natives generally live on much too low a diet; the Bicols +even more than the Tagalogs.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3756src" href= +"#xd20e3756" name="xd20e3756src">11</a> Under certain conditions, which +the physicians, on being questioned, could not define more precisely, +the natives can support neither hunger nor thirst; of which fact I have +on many occasions been a witness. It is reported of them, when forced +into such a situation as to suffer from unappeased wants, that they +become critically ill; and thus they often die.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Imitation mania.</span>Hence arises the +morbid mania for imitation, which is called in Java Sakit-latar, and +here Mali-mali. In Java many believe that the sickness is only assumed, +because those who pretend to be afflicted with it find it to their +advantage to be seen by newly arrived Europeans. Here, however, I saw +one instance where indeed no simulation could be suspected. My +companions availed themselves of the diseased condition of a poor old +woman who met us in the highway, to practice some rough jokes upon her. +The old woman imitated every motion as if impelled by an irresistible +impulse, and expressed at the same time the most extreme indignation +against those who abused her infirmity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The sickness in Siberia.</span>In R. +Maak’s “Journey to the Amour,” it is +recorded:—“It is not unusual for the Maniagri to suffer +also from a nervous malady of the most peculiar kind, with <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb153" href="#pb153" name= +"pb153">153</a>]</span>which we had already been made acquainted by the +descriptions of several travellers.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3769src" +href="#xd20e3769" name="xd20e3769src">12</a> This malady is met with, +for the most part, amongst the wild people of Siberia, as well as +amongst the Russians settled there. In the district of the Jakutes, +where this affliction very frequently occurs, those affected by it, +both Russians and Jakutes, are known by the name of +‘Emiura;’ but here (that is, in that part of Siberia where +the Maniagri live) the same malady is called by the Maniagri +‘Olon,’ and by the Argurian Cossacks +‘Olgandshi.’ The attacks of the malady which I am now +mentioning consist in this, that a man suffering from it will, if under +the influence of terror or consternation, unconsciously, and often +without the smallest sense of shame, imitate everything that passes +before him. Should he be offended, he falls into a rage, which +manifests itself by wild shrieks and raving; and he precipitates +himself at the same time, with a knife or any other object which may +fall to his hand, upon those who have placed him in this predicament. +Amongst the Maniagri, women, especially the very aged, are the chief +sufferers from this malady; and instances, moreover, of men who were +affected by it are likewise known to me. It is worthy of remark that +those women who returned home on account of this sickness were +notwithstanding strong, and in all other respects enjoyed good +health.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Running amuck.</span>Probably it is only an +accidental coincidence that in the Malay countries Sakit-latar and Amok +exist together, if not in the same individual, yet amongst the same +people. Instances of Amok seem to occur also in the +Philippines.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3779src" href="#xd20e3779" +name="xd20e3779src">13</a> I find the following account in the <i lang= +"es">Diario de Manila</i> of February 21, 1866: In <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb154" href="#pb154" name= +"pb154">154</a>]</span>Cavite, on February 18, a soldier rushed into +the house of a school-teacher, and, struggling with him, stabbed him +with a dagger, and then killed the teacher’s son with a second +stab. Plunging into the street, he stabbed two young girls of ten and +twelve years of age and wounded a woman in the side, a boy aged nine in +the arm, a coachman (mortally) in the abdomen, and, besides another +woman, a sailor and three soldiers; and arriving at his barracks, where +he was stopped by the sentry, he plunged the dagger into his own +breast.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Regard for the sleeping.</span>It is one of +the greatest insults to stride over a sleeping native, or to awaken him +suddenly. They rouse one another, when necessity requires, with the +greatest circumspection and by the slowest degrees.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e3791src" href="#xd20e3791" name="xd20e3791src">14</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sense of smell.</span>The sense of smell is +developed amongst the natives to so great a degree that they are able, +by smelling at the pocket-handkerchiefs, to tell to which persons they +belong (“Reisesk.,” p. 39); and lovers at parting exchange +pieces of the linen they may be wearing, and during their separation +inhale the odor of the beloved being, besides smothering the relics +with kisses.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3801src" href="#xd20e3801" +name="xd20e3801src">15</a></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3444" href="#xd20e3444src" name="xd20e3444">1</a></span> Arenas +thinks that the ancient annals of the Chinese probably contain +information relative to the settlement of the present inhabitants of +Manila, as that people had early intercourse with the Archipelago.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3467" href="#xd20e3467src" name="xd20e3467">2</a></span> Probably +the <i>Anodonta Purpurea</i>, according to V. Martens.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3496" href="#xd20e3496src" name="xd20e3496">3</a></span> 1 +<i>ganta</i> = 3 liters. 1 <i>quiñon</i> = 100 +<i>loànes</i> = 2.79495 hectares = 6.89 acres. 1 <i>caban</i> = +25 <i>gantas</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3517" href="#xd20e3517src" name="xd20e3517">4</a></span> +Scherzer, <i>Miscellaneous Information</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3557" href="#xd20e3557src" name="xd20e3557">5</a></span> More +than one hundred years later, Father Taillandier +writes:—“The Spaniards have brought cows, horses, and sheep +from America; but these animals cannot live there on account of the +dampness and inundations.”—(<i>Letters from Father +Taillandier to Father Willard</i>.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3563" href="#xd20e3563src" name="xd20e3563">6</a></span> At the +present time the Chinese horses are plump, large-headed, hairy, and +with bushy tails and manes; and the Japanese, elegant and enduring, +similar to the Arabian. Good Manila horses are of the latter type, and +are much prized by the Europeans in Chinese seaport towns.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3594" href="#xd20e3594src" name="xd20e3594">7</a></span> Compare +Hernandez, <i>Opera Omnia</i>; Torquemada, <i>Monarchia Indica</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3652" href="#xd20e3652src" name="xd20e3652">8</a></span> Buyo is +the name given in the Philippines to the preparation of betel suitable +for chewing. A leaf of betel pepper (Chavica betel), of the form and +size of a bean-leaf, is smeared over with a small piece of burnt lime +of the size of a pea, and rolled together from both ends to the middle; +when, one end of the roll being inserted into the other, a ring is +formed, into which a smooth piece of areca nut of corresponding size is +introduced.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3717" href="#xd20e3717src" name="xd20e3717">9</a></span> Twelve +lines are omitted here.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3726" href="#xd20e3726src" name="xd20e3726">10</a></span> 4 lines +are omitted.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3756" href="#xd20e3756src" name="xd20e3756">11</a></span> In the +country it is believed that swine’s flesh often causes this +malady. A friend, a physiologist, conjectures the cause to be the free +use of very fat pork; but the natives commonly eat but little flesh, +and the pigs are very seldom fat.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3769" href="#xd20e3769src" name="xd20e3769">12</a></span> Compare +A. Erman, <i>Journey Round the Earth Through Northern Asia</i>, vol. +iii, sec i, p. 191.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3779" href="#xd20e3779src" name="xd20e3779">13</a></span> +According to Semper, p. 69, in Zamboanga and Basilan.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3791" href="#xd20e3791src" name="xd20e3791">14</a></span> The +fear of waking sleeping persons really refers to the widely-spread +superstition that during sleep the soul leaves the body; numerous +instances of which occur in Bastian’s work. Amongst the +Tinguianes (North Luzon) the worst of all curses is to this effect: +“May’st thou die sleeping!”—<i>Informe</i>, i. +14.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3801" href="#xd20e3801src" name="xd20e3801">15</a></span> Lewin +(“Chittagong Hill Tracks,” 1869, p. 46) relates of the +mountain people at that place: “Their manner of kissing is +peculiar. Instead of pressing lip to lip, they place the mouth and nose +upon the cheek, and inhale the breath strongly. Their form of speech is +not ‘Give me a kiss,’ but ‘Smell +me.’ ”</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XV</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">A scientific +priest-poet.</span>From Naga I visited the parish priest of Libmanan +(Ligmanan), who, possessing poetical talent, and having the reputation +of a natural philosopher, collected and <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb155" href="#pb155" name="pb155">155</a>]</span>named pretty beetles +and shells, and dedicated the most elegant little sonnets. He favored +me with the following narrative:—</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Prehistoric remains</span>In 1851, during +the construction of a road a little beyond Libmanan, at a place called +Poro, a bed of shells was dug up under four feet of mould, one hundred +feet distant from the river. It consisted of Cyrenae (<i>C. +suborbicularis</i>, Busch.), a species of bivalve belonging to the +family of Cyclades which occurs only in warm waters, and is +extraordinarily abundant in the brackish waters of the Philippines. On +the same occasion, at the depth of from one and a half to three and a +half feet, were found numerous remains of the early +inhabitants—skulls, ribs, bones of men and animals, a +child’s thighbone inserted in a spiral of brass wire, several +stags’ horns, beautifully-formed dishes and vessels, some of them +painted, probably of Chinese origin; striped bracelets, of a soft, +gypseous, copper-red rock, gleaming as if they were varnished;<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e3820src" href="#xd20e3820" name="xd20e3820src">1</a> +small copper knives, but no iron utensils; and several broad flat +stones bored through the middle;<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3823src" +href="#xd20e3823" name="xd20e3823src">2</a> besides a wedge of +petrified wood, embedded in a cleft branch of a tree. The place, which +to this day may be easily recognized in a hollow, might, by excavation +systematically carried on, yield many more interesting results. What +was not immediately useful was then and there destroyed, and the +remainder dispersed. In spite of every endeavor, I could obtain, +through the kindness of Señor Fociños in Naga, only one +small vessel. Similar remains of more primitive <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb156" href="#pb156" name= +"pb156">156</a>]</span>inhabitants have been found at the mouth of the +Bigajo, not far from Libmánan, in a shell-bed of the same kind; +and an urn, with a human skeleton, was found at the mouth of the +Perlos, west of Sitio de Poro, in 1840. At the time when I wrote down +these statements of the priest, neither of us was familiar with the +discoveries made within the last few years relating to the lake +dwellings (pile villages); or these notes might have been more exact, +although probably they would not have been so easy and natural.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ancient Chinese jar.</span>Mr. W. A. +Franks, who had the kindness to examine the vessel, inclines to the +opinion that it is Chinese, and pronounces it to be of very great +antiquity, without however, being able to determine its age more +exactly; and a learned Chinese of the Burlingame Embassy expressed +himself to the same effect. He knew only of one article, now in the +British Museum, which was brought from Japan by Kaempfer, the color, +glazing, and cracks in the glazing, of which (craqueles) corresponded +precisely with mine. According to Kaempfer, the Japanese found similar +vessels in the sea; and they value them very highly for the purpose of +preserving their tea in them.</p> +<p>Morga writes:—</p> +<div class="q"><span class="marginnote">Used as tea canisters.</span> +“On this island, Luzon, particularly in the provinces of Manila, +Pampánga, Pangasinán, and Ilócos, very ancient +clay vessels of a dark brown color are found by the natives, of a sorry +appearance; some of a middling size, and others smaller; marked with +characters and stamps. They are unable to say either when or where they +obtained them; but they are no longer to be acquired, nor are they +manufactured in the islands. The Japanese prize them highly, for they +have found that the root of a herb which they call Tscha (tea), and +which when drunk hot is considered as a great delicacy and of medicinal +efficacy by the kings and lords in Japan, cannot be effectively +preserved except in these vessels; which <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb157" href="#pb157" name="pb157">157</a>]</span>are so highly +esteemed all over Japan that they form the most costly articles of +their show-rooms and cabinets. Indeed, so highly do they value them +that they overlay them externally with fine gold embossed with great +skill, and enclose them in cases of brocade; and some of these vessels +are valued at and fetch from two thousand tael to eleven reals. The +natives of these islands purchase them from the Japanese at very high +rates, and take much pains in the search for them on account of their +value, though but few are now found on account of the eagerness with +which they have been sought for.”</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Strict search in Japan.</span>When +Carletti, in 1597, went from the Philippines to Japan, all the +passengers on board were examined carefully, by order of the governor, +and threatened with capital punishment if they endeavored to conceal +“certain earthen vessels which were wont to be brought from the +Philippines and other islands of that sea,” as the king wished to +buy them all.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Prized by Japanese.</span>“These +vessels were worth as much as five, six, and even ten thousand scudi +each; but they were not permitted to demand for them more then one +Giulio (about a half Paolo).” In 1615 Carletti met with a +Franciscan who was sent as ambassador from Japan to Rome, who assured +him that he had seen one hundred and thirty thousand scudi paid by the +King of Japan for such a vessel; and his companions confirmed the +statement. Carletti also alleges, as the reason for the high price, +“that the leaf <i>cia</i> or <i>tea,</i> the quality of which +improves with age, is preserved better in those vessels than in all +others. The Japanese besides know these vessels by certain characters +and stamps. They are of great age and very rare, and come only from +Cambodia, Siam, Cochin-China, the Philippines, and other neighboring +islands. From their external appearance they would be estimated at +three or four quatrini (two dreier).... It is perfectly true that the +king and the princes of that kingdom possess a very large number of +these vessels, and prize <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb158" href= +"#pb158" name="pb158">158</a>]</span>them as their most valuable +treasure and above all other rarities .... and that they boast of their +acquisitions, and from motives of vanity strive to outvie one another +in the multitude of pretty vessels which they possess.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e3857src" href="#xd20e3857" name= +"xd20e3857src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Found in Borneo.</span>Many travellers +mention vessels found likewise amongst the Dyaks and the Malays in +Borneo, which, from superstitious motives, were estimated at most +exaggerated figures, amounting sometimes to many thousand dollars.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">$3,500 for a jar</span>St. John<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e3868src" href="#xd20e3868" name="xd20e3868src">4</a> +relates that the Datu of Tamparuli (Borneo) gave rice to the value of +almost $3,500 for a jar, and that he possessed a second jar of almost +fabulous value, which was about two feet high, and of a dark olive +green. The Datu fills both jars with water, which, after adding plants +and flowers to it, he dispenses <span class="marginnote">A speaking +jar.</span>to all the sick persons in the country. But the most famous +jar in Borneo is that of the Sultan of Brunei, which not only possesses +all the valuable properties of the other jars but can also speak. St. +John did not see it, as it is always kept in the women’s +apartment; but the sultan, a credible man, related to him that the jar +howled dolefully the night before the death of his first wife, and that +it emitted similar tones in the event of impending misfortunes. St. +John is inclined to explain the mysterious phenomenon by a probably +peculiar form of the mouth of the vessel, in passing over which the +air-draught is thrown into resonant verberations, like the Aeolian +harp. The vessel is generally enveloped in gold brocade, and is +uncovered only when it is to be consulted; and hence, of course, it +happens that it speaks only on solemn occasions. St. John states +further that <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb159" href="#pb159" name= +"pb159">159</a>]</span>the Bisayans used formerly to bring presents to +the sultan; in recognition of which they received some water from the +sacred jar to sprinkle over their fields and thereby ensure plentiful +harvests. When the sultan was asked whether he would sell his jar for +$100,000, he answered that no offer in the world could tempt him to +part with it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Morga’s +description.</span>Morga’s description suits neither the vessel +of Libmánan nor the jar of the British Museum, but rather a +vessel brought from Japan a short time ago to our Ethnographical +Museum. This is of brown clay, small but of graceful shape, and +composed of many pieces cemented together; the joints being gilt and +forming a kind of network on the dark ground. How highly ancient pots +of a similar kind, even of native origin, are esteemed in Japan down to +the present day, is shown by the following certificate translated by +the interpreter of the German Consulate:—</p> +<div class="q"><span class="marginnote">A consecrated +jar.</span>“This earthen vessel was found in the porcelain +factory of Tschisuka in the province of Odori, in South Idzumi, and is +an object belonging to the thousand graves.... It was made by +Giogiboosat (a celebrated Buddhist priest), and after it had been +consecrated to heaven was buried by him. According to the traditions of +the people, this place held grave mounds with memorial stones. That is +more than a thousand years ago. ....In the pursuit of my studies, I +remained many years in the temple Sookuk, of that village, and found +the vessel. I carried it to the high priest Shakudjo, who was much +delighted therewith and always bore it about with him as a treasure. +When he died it fell to me, although I could not find it. Recently, +when Honkai was chief priest, I saw it again, and it was as if I had +again met the spirit of Shakudjo. Great was my commotion, and I clapped +my hands with astonishment; and, as <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb160" href="#pb160" name="pb160">160</a>]</span>often as I look upon +the treasure, I think it is a sign that the spirit of Shakudjo is +returned to life. Therefore I have written the history, and taken care, +of this treasure.—Fudji Kuz Dodjin.”</div> +<p>Baron Alexander von Siebold communicates the following:—</p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Tea societies.</span>The +value which the Japanese attach to vessels of this kind rests upon the +use which is made of them by the mysterious tea societies called +<i>Cha-no-yu</i>. Respecting the origin of these societies, which still +are almost entirely unknown to Europeans, different legends exist. They +flourished, however, principally during the reign of the emperor +Taikosama, who, in the year 1588, furnished the society of +<i>Cha-no-yu</i> at Kitano near Myako with new laws. In consequence of +the religious and civil wars, the whole of the people had deteriorated +and become ungovernable, having lost all taste for art and knowledge, +and holding only rude force in any esteem; brute strength ruling in the +place of the laws. The observant Taikosama perceived that, in order to +tame these rough natures, he must accustom them to the arts of peace, +and thus secure prosperity to the country, and safety for himself and +his successors. With this in view he recalled the <i>Cha-no-yu</i> +society anew into life, and assembled its masters and those acquainted +with its customs around him.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Their object.</span>The object of the +<i>Cha-no-yu</i> is to draw man away from the influences of the +terrestrial forces which surround him, to plant within him the feeling +of complete repose, and to dispose him to self-contemplation. All the +exercises of the <i>Cha-no-yu</i> are directed to this object.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ceremonies.</span>Clothed in light white +garments, and without weapons, the members of the <i>Cha-no-yu</i> +assemble round the master’s house, and, after resting some time +in the ante-room, are conducted into a pavilion appropriated +exclusively to these assemblies. This consists of the most costly kinds +of wood, but is without any ornament which could possibly be abstracted +from it; without color, and without varnish, dimly lighted by small +windows thickly overgrown with plants, and so low that it is impossible +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb161" href="#pb161" name= +"pb161">161</a>]</span>to stand upright. The guests tread the apartment +with solemn measured steps, and, having been received by him according +to the prescribed formulas, arrange themselves in a half-circle on both +sides of him. All distinctions of rank are abolished. The ancient +vessels are now removed with solemn ceremonies from their wrappings, +saluted and admired; and, with the same solemn and rigidly prescribed +formulas, the water is heated on the hearth appropriated to the +purpose, and the tea taken from the vessels and prepared in cups. The +tea consists of the young green leaves of the tea-shrub rubbed to +powder, and is very stimulating in its effect. The beverage is taken +amidst deep silence, while incense is burning on the elevated pedestal +of honor, <i>toko</i>; and, after the thoughts have thus been +collected, conversation begins. It is confined to abstract subjects; +but politics are not always excluded.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Reward of valor.</span>The value of the +vessels employed in these assemblages is very considerable; indeed, +they do not fall short of the value of our most costly paintings; and +Taikosama often rewarded his generals with vessels of the kind, instead +of land, as was formerly the practice. After the last revolution some +of the more eminent Daimios (princes) of the Mikado were rewarded with +similar <i>Cha-no-yu</i> vessels, in acknowledgment of the aid rendered +to him in regaining the throne of his ancestors. The best of them which +I have seen were far from beautiful, simply being old, weather-worn, +black or dark-brown jars, with pretty broad necks, for storing the tea +in; tall cups of cracked Craquelé, either porcelain or +earthenware, for drinking the infusion; and deep, broad cisterns; +besides rusty old iron kettles with rings, for heating the water: but +they were enwrapped in the most costly silken stuffs, and preserved in +chests lacquered with gold. Similar old vessels are preserved amongst +the treasures of the Mikado and the Tycoon, as well as in some of the +temples, with all the care due to the most costly jewels, together with +documents relating to their history.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb162" href="#pb162" name= +"pb162">162</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Yamtik and Visita +Bicul.</span> From Libmánan I visited the mountain, Yamtik +(Amtik, Hantu),<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3939src" href="#xd20e3939" +name="xd20e3939src">5</a> which consists of lime, and contains many +caverns. Six hours westward by water, and one hour S.S.W. on foot, +brought us to the Visita Bícul, surrounded by a thousand little +limestone hills; from which we ascended by a staircase of sinter in the +bed of a brook, to a small cavern tenanted by multitudes of bats, and +great long-armed spiders of the species <i>Phrynus</i>, known to be +poisonous.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3954src" href="#xd20e3954" name= +"xd20e3954src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ant activities.</span>A thick branch of a +tree lying across the road was perforated from end to end by a small +ant. Many of the natives did not venture to enter the cave; and those +who did enter it were in a state of great agitation, and were careful +first to enjoin upon each other the respect to be observed by them +towards <i>Calapnitan</i>.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e3970src" href= +"#xd20e3970" name="xd20e3970src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superstitions.</span>One of the principal +rules was to name no object in the cave without adding “Lord +Calapnitan’s.” Thus they did not bluntly refer to either +gun or torch, but devoutly said “Lord C.’s gun,” or +“Lord C.’s torch.” At a thousand paces from this lies +another cave, “San Vicente,” which contains the same +insects, but another kind of bat. Both caves are only of small extent; +but in Libmánan a very large stalactite cave was mentioned to +me, the description of which, notwithstanding the fables mixed up with +it, could not but have a true foundation. Our guides feigned ignorance +of it; and it was not till after two days’ wandering about, and +after many debates, that they came to the decision, since I adhered to +my purpose, to encounter the risk; when, to my great astonishment, they +conducted me back to Calapnitan’s <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb163" href="#pb163" name="pb163">163</a>]</span>cave; from which a +narrow fissure, hidden by a projection of rock, led into one of the +most gorgeous stalactite caves in the world. Its floor was everywhere +firm and easy to the tread, and mostly dry; and it ran out into several +branches, the entire length of which probably exceeds a mile; and the +whole series of royal chambers and cathedrals, with the columns, +pulpits, and altars which it contained, reflected no discredit upon its +description. No bones or other remains were to be found in it. My +intention to return subsequently with laborers, for the purpose of +systematic excavation, was not carried out.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unsuccessful climb.</span>I was not lucky +enough to reach the summit of the mountain, upon which was to be found +a lake, “from where else should the water come?” For two +days we labored strenuously at different points to penetrate the thick +forest; but the guide, who had assured the priest in Libmanan that he +knew the road, now expressed himself to the contrary effect. I +therefore made the fellow, who had hitherto been unburdened, now carry +a part of the baggage as a punishment; but he threw it off at the next +turning of the road and escaped, so that we were compelled to return. +Stags and wild boars are very numerous in these forests; and they +formed the principal portion of our meals, at which, at the +commencement of our expedition, we had as many as thirty individuals; +who, in the intervals between them, affected to search for snails and +insects for me, but with success not proportionate to their zeal.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A clever pilfering servant.</span>Upon my +departure from Daraga I took with me a lively little boy, who had a +taste for the calling of a naturalist. In Libmanan he was suddenly +lost, and with him, at the same time, a bundle of keys; and we looked +for him in vain. The fact was, as I afterwards came to learn, that he +went straight to Naga, and, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb164" href= +"#pb164" name="pb164">164</a>]</span>identifying himself by showing the +stolen keys, got the majordomo of my host to deliver to him a white +felt hat; with which he disappeared. I had once seen him, with the hat +on his head, standing before a looking-glass and admiring himself; and +he could not resist the temptation to steal it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Trip with Internal Revenue +Collector.</span>In the beginning of March I had the pleasure of +accompanying the Collector (<span lang="es">Administrador</span>) of +Camarines and a Spanish head-man, who were travelling across Daet and +Mauban to the chief town. At five p.m. we left Butungan on the Bicol +River, two leagues below Naga, in a falúa of twelve oars, +equipped with one 6-pounder and two 4-pounders, and reinforced by armed +men; and about six we reached Cabusao, at the mouth of the Bicol, +whence we put to sea about nine. The falua belonged to the collector of +taxes, and had, in conjunction with another under the command of the +alcalde, to protect the north coast of the province against smugglers +and pirates, who at this time of the year are accustomed to frequent +the hiding-places of the bay of San Miguel. Two similar gun-boats +performed the duty on the south coast of the province.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Four volcanos.</span>Both the banks of the +Bicol River are flat, and expand into broad fields of rice; and to the +east are simultaneously visible the beautiful volcanos of Mayon, Iriga, +Malina, and Isarog.</p> +<p>At daybreak we reached the bar of Daet, and, after two hours’ +travelling, the similarly named chief city of the province of North +Camarines, where we found an excellent reception at the house of the +alcalde, a polished Navarrese; marred only by the tame monkey, who +should have welcomed the guests of his master, turning his back towards +them with studiously discourteous gestures, and going towards the door. +However, upon the majordomo placing a spirit flask preserving +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb165" href="#pb165" name= +"pb165">165</a>]</span>a small harmless snake on the threshold, the +monkey sprang quickly back and concealed himself, trembling, behind his +master. <span class="marginnote">A danceless ball.</span>In the evening +there was a ball, but there were no dancers present. Some Filipinas, +who had been invited, sat bashfully at one end of the apartment and +danced with one another when called upon, without being noticed by the +Spaniards, who conversed together at the other end.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish prejudice against +bathing.</span>Our departure hence was delayed by festivities and +sudden showers for about two days, after which the spirited horses of +the alcalde carried us within an hour on a level road north-west, to +Talisáy, and in another hour to Indang, where a bath and +breakfast were ready. Up to this time I had never seen a bath-room in +the house of a Spaniard; whereas with the Northern Europeans it is +never wanting. The Spaniards appear to regard the bath as a species of +medicine, to be used only with caution; many, even to the present day, +look upon it as an institution not quite Christian. At the time of the +Inquisition frequent bathing, it is known, was a characteristic of the +Moors, and certainly was not wholly free from danger. In Manila, only +those who live near the Pasig are the exceptions to the rule; and there +the good or bad practice prevails of whole families bathing, in the +company of their friends, in the open air.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An unfortified fort.</span>The road ends at +Indáng. In two boats we went down the river till stopped by a +bar, and there at a well-supplied table prepared for us by the kindness +of the alcalde we awaited the horses which were being brought thither +along a bad road by our servants. In the waste of Barre a tower, +surrounded by two or three fishermen’s huts and as many +camarines, has been erected against the Moros, who, untempted by the +same, seldom go so far westward, for it consists only of an open hut +covered with palm-leaves—a kind of parasol—supported on +stakes as thick <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb166" href="#pb166" +name="pb166">166</a>]</span>as one’s arm and fifteen feet high; +and the two cannons belonging to it ought, for security, to be buried. +We followed the sea-shore, which is composed of silicious sand, and +covered with a carpet of creeping shore plants in full bloom. On the +edge of the wood, to the left, were many flowering shrubs and +<i>pandanus</i> with large scarlet-red flowers. After an hour we +crossed the river Longos in a ferry, and soon came to the spur of a +crystalline chain of mountains, which barred our road and extended +itself into the sea as Point Longos. The horses climbed it with +difficulty, and we found the stream on the other side already risen so +high that we rode knee-deep in the water. After sunset we crossed +singly, with great loss of time, in a miserable ferry-boat, over the +broad mouth of the Pulundaga, where a pleasant road through a forest +led us, in fifteen minutes, over the mountain-spur, Malanguit, which +again projected itself right across our path into the sea, to the mouth +of the Paracale. The long bridge here was so rotten that we were +obliged to lead the horses over at wide intervals apart; and on the +further side lies the place called Paracale, from which my companions +continued their journey across Mauban to Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Red lead.</span>Paracale and Mambulao are +two localities well known to all mineralogists, from the red lead ore +occurring there. On the following morning I returned to Longos; which +consists of only a few miserable huts inhabited by gold-washers, who go +about almost naked, probably because they are laboring during the +greater part of the day in the water; but they are also very poor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Gold mining.</span>The soil is composed of +rubbish, decomposed fragments of crystalline rock, rich in broken +pieces of quartz. The workmen make holes in the ground two and one-half +feet long, two and one-half broad, and to thirty feet deep. At three +feet below the surface the rock is generally <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb167" href="#pb167" name= +"pb167">167</a>]</span>found to contain gold, the value increasing down +to eighteen feet of depth, and then again diminishing, though these +proportions are very uncertain, and there is much fruitless search. The +rock is carried out of the holes in baskets, on ladders of bamboo, and +the water in small pails; but in the rainy season the holes cannot +possibly be kept free from water, as they are situated on the slope of +the mountain, and are filled quicker than they can be emptied. The want +of apparatus for discharging water also accounts for the fact that the +pits are not dug deeper.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A primitive rock breaker.</span>The +breaking of the auriferous rock is effected with two stones; of which +one serves as anvil, and the other as hammer. The former, which is +slightly hollowed in the center, is laid flat upon the ground; and the +latter, four by eight by eight inches in dimensions, and therefore of +about twenty-five pounds weight, is made fast with rattan to the top of +a slender young tree, which lies in a sloping position in a fork, and +at its opposite end is firmly fixed in the ground. The workman with a +jerk forces the stone that serves for hammer down upon the auriferous +rock, and allows it to be again carried upwards by the elasticity of +the young tree.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An arrastre.</span>The crushing of the +broken rock is effected with an apparatus equally crude. A thick stake +rises from the center of a circular support of rough-hewn stones (which +is enclosed in a circle of exactly similar stones) having an iron pin +at its top, to which a tree, bent horizontally in the middle, and +downwards at the two ends, is fixed. Being set in motion by two +carabaos attached in front, it drags several heavy stones, which are +bound firmly to it with rattans, round the circle, and in this manner +crushes the broken rock, which has been previously mixed with water, to +a fine mud. The same apparatus is employed by the Mexican gold-washers, +under the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb168" href="#pb168" name= +"pb168">168</a>]</span>name of <i>Rastra</i>. <span class= +"marginnote">Gold-washing.</span>The washing-out of the mud is done by +women. They kneel before a small wooden gutter filled with water up to +the brim, and provided with boards, sloping downwards, in front of the +space assigned to each woman; the gutter being cut out at these places +in a corresponding manner, so that a very slender stream of water flows +evenly across its whole breadth downwards over the board. With her hand +the work-woman distributes the auriferous mud over the board, which, at +the lower edge, is provided with a cross-piece; and, when the light +sand is washed away, there remains a stratum consisting chiefly of +iron, flint, and ore, which is taken up from time to time with a flat +piece of board, and laid on one side; and at the end of the day’s +work, it is washed out in a flat wooden dish (<i>batea</i>), and, for +the last time, in a coco-shell; when, if they are lucky, a fine yellow +dust shows itself on the edge.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4056src" +href="#xd20e4056" name="xd20e4056src">8</a> During the last washing the +slimy juice of the <i>Gogo</i> is added to the water, the fine heavy +sand remaining suspended therein for a longer time than in pure water, +and thus being more easily separated from the gold-dust.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4063src" href="#xd20e4063" name= +"xd20e4063src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The clean-up.</span>It is further to be +mentioned that the refuse from the pits is washed at the upper end of +the water-gutter, so that the sand adhering to the stones intended for +pounding may deposit its gold in the gutter or on the washing-board. In +order to melt the gold thus obtained into a lump, in which form it is +bought by the dealers, it is poured into a small heart-shell +(<i>cardium</i>), and, after being covered with a handful of charcoal, +placed <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb169" href="#pb169" name= +"pb169">169</a>]</span> in a potsherd; when a woman blows through a +narrow bamboo-cane on the kindled coals, and in one minute the work is +completed.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4084src" href="#xd20e4084" name= +"xd20e4084src">10</a></p> +<p>The result of many inquiries shows the profit per head to average +not more than one and one-half reals daily. Further to the south-west +from here, on the mountain Malaguit, are seen the ruins of a Spanish +mining company; a heap of rubbish, a pit fifty feet deep, a large house +fallen to ruin, and a stream-work four feet broad and six feet high. +The mountain consists of gneiss much decomposed, with quartz veins in +the stream-work, with the exception of the bands of quartz, which are +of almost pure clay earth with sand.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Edible bird’s nests.</span>On the +sides hung some edible nests of the <i>salangane</i>, but not of the +same kind as those found in the caverns on the south coast of Java. +These, which are of much less value than the latter, are only +occasionally collected by the Chinese dealers, who reckon them +nominally at five cents each. We also found a few of the nest-building +birds (<i>Collocalia troglodytes</i>, Gray).<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4130src" href="#xd20e4130" name="xd20e4130src">11</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abandoned workings.</span>Around lay so +large a number of workings, and there were so many little abandoned +pits, wholly or half fallen to ruin, and more or less grown over, that +it was necessary to step between with great caution. Some of them +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb170" href="#pb170" name= +"pb170">170</a>]</span>were still being worked after the mode followed +at Lóngos, but with a few slight improvements. The pits are +twice as large as those excavated there, and the rock is lifted, up by +a pulley to a cylindrical framework of bamboo, which is worked by the +feet of a lad who sits on a bank higher up.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lead and mica.</span>Ten minutes north of +the village of Malaguit is a mountain in which lead-glance and red lead +have been obtained; the rock consisting of micaceous gneiss much +decomposed. There is a stream-work over one hundred feet in length. The +rock appears to have been very poor.</p> +<p>The highly prized red-lead ores have been found on the top of this +same hill, N. 30° W. from the village. The quarry was fallen to +ruin and flooded with rain, so that only a shallow hollow in the ground +remained visible; and after a long search amongst the bushes growing +there a few small fragments were found, on which <span class= +"marginnote">Chrome-lead ore.</span>chrome-lead ore was still clearly +to be recognized. Captain Sabino, the former governor of Paracale, a +well-informed Filipino, who, at the suggestion of the alcalde, +accompanied me, had for some years caused excavations to be carried on, +in order to find specimens for a speculator who had in view the +establishment of a new mining company in Spain; but the specimens which +were found had not been removed, as speculation in mines in the +Philippines had, in the interval, fallen into discredit on the Exchange +of Madrid; and as yet only a little box full of sand, out of a few +small drusy cavities, has been fixed upon and pounded, to be sold as +variegated writing-sand, after being carefully sifted.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A pretty fan-palm.</span>A peculiarly +beautiful fan-palm grows on this hill. Its stem is from thirty to forty +feet high, cylindrical and dark-brown, with white rings a quarter of an +inch broad at distances of four inches, and, at similar intervals, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb171" href="#pb171" name= +"pb171">171</a>]</span>crown-shaped bands of thorns two inches long. +Near the crown-leaf the stem passes into the richest brown of burnt +sienna.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rooming in a +powder-magazine.</span>Notwithstanding a very bad road, a pleasant ride +carried us from Paracale to the sea-shore, and, through a beautiful +wood, to Mambulao, which lies W. by N. I alighted at the tribunal, and +took up my lodgings in the room where the ammunition was kept, as being +the only one that could be locked. For greater security, the powder was +stored in a corner and covered with carabao-hide; but such were my +arrangements that my servant carried about a burning tallow light, and +his assistant a torch in the hand. When I visited the Filipino priest, +I was received in a friendly manner by a young girl who, when I offered +my hand, thanked me with a bow, saying, “<i lang="es">Tengo las +sarnas</i>” (“I have the itch”). The malady, which is +very common in the Philippines, appears to have its focus in this +locality.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Gneiss and crystalline rock.</span>A +quarter of a league N.N.E. we came upon the ruins of another mining +undertaking, the <i lang="es">Ancla de Oro</i>. Shaft and water-cutting +had fallen in, and were thickly grown over; and only a few of the +considerable buildings were still standing; and even those were ready +to fall. In a circle some natives were busily employed, in their +manner, collecting grains of gold. The rock is gneiss, weathered so +much that it cannot be recognized; and at a thousand paces on the other +side is a similar one, clearly crystalline.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hornblende and hornblende slate.</span>Half +a league N. by E. from Mambulao is the lead-mountain of Dinianan. Here +also all the works were fallen in, choked with mud and grown over. Only +after a long search were a few fragments found with traces of red-lead +ore. This mountain consists of hornblende rock; in one place, of +hornblende slate, with very beautiful large crystals.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb172" href="#pb172" name= +"pb172">172</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Copper.</span>A league +and a half S. from Mambulao a shallow hollow in the ground marks the +site of an old copper-mine, which must have been eighty-four feet deep. +Copper ores are found in several places in Luzon; and specimens of +solid copper were obtained by me at the Bay of Luyang, N. of the +Enseñada de Patag, in Caramuan.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unsuccessful copper-mining.</span>Very +considerable beds of copper ore occur in Mancayán, in the +district of Lepanto, and in the central mountain-range of Luzon between +Cagayán and Ilocos, which have been worked by a mining company +in Manila since 1850; but the operations seem to have been most +unsuccessful. In 1867 the society expended a considerable capital in +the erection of smelting furnaces and hydraulic machinery; but until a +very recent date, owing to local difficulties, particularly the want of +roads, it has not produced any copper.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4191src" href="#xd20e4191" name="xd20e4191src">12</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Paying minus dividends.</span>In 1869 I +heard, in London, that the undertaking had been given up. According to +my latest information, however, it is certainly in progress; but the +management have never, I believe, secured a dividend. The statement of +1872, in fact, shows a loss, or, as the Spaniards elegantly say, <i>a +dividendo pasivo</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Igorot-mining successful.</span>What +Europeans yet appear unable to accomplish, the wild Igorots, who +inhabit that trackless range of mountains, have carried on successfully +for centuries, and to a proportionally larger extent; and this is the +more remarkable as the metal in that district occurs only in the form +of flints, which even in Europe can be made profitable only by +particular management, and not without expense.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Long-established and +considerable.</span>The copper introduced into commerce by the Igorots +from 1840 to 1855, partly in a raw state, partly manufactured, is +estimated at three hundred piculs yearly. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb173" href="#pb173" name="pb173">173</a>]</span>The extent of their +excavations, and the large existing masses of slag, also indicate the +activity of their operations for a long period of time.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Copper kettles attributed to +Negritos.</span>In the Ethnographical Museum at Berlin is a copper +kettle made by those wild tribes. Meyer, who brought it, states that it +was made by the Negritos in the interior of the island, and certainly +with hammers of porphyry, as they have no iron; and that he further +found, in the collection of the Captain General of the Philippines, a +large shallow kettle of three and one-half feet in diameter, which had +been bought for only three dollars; whence it may be inferred that, in +the interior of the island, the copper occurs in large masses, and +probably solid; for how could those rude, uncultivated negritos +understand the art of smelting copper?</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Copper-working a pre-Spanish art.</span>The +locality of these rich quarries was still unknown to the Governor, +although the copper implements brought thence had, according to an +official statement of his in 1833, been in use in Manila over two +centuries. It is now known that the copper-smiths are not Negritos but +Igorots; and there can be no question that they practiced this art, and +the still more difficult one of obtaining copper from flint, for a long +period perhaps previous to the arrival of the Spaniards. They may +possibly have learnt them from the Chinese or Japanese. The chief +engineer, Santos<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4219src" href="#xd20e4219" +name="xd20e4219src">13</a>, and many others with him, are of opinion +that this race is descended from the Chinese or Japanese, from whom he +insists that it acquired not only its features (several travellers +mention the obliquely placed eyes of the Igorots), its idols, and some +of its customs, but also the art of working in copper. At all events, +the fact that a wild people, living isolated in the mountains, should +have made such progress in the science of smelting, is of so great +interest that a description of their procedure by Santos (essentially +only a repetition of an earlier account by Hernandez, in the <i lang= +"es">Revista Minera</i>, i. 112) will certainly be acceptable.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb174" href="#pb174" name= +"pb174">174</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The Igorots’ +Method.</span>The present mining district acquired by the society +mentioned, the <i lang="es">Sociedad Minero-metalurgica +Cantabrofilipina de Mancayan</i>, was divided amongst the Igorots into +larger or smaller parcels strictly according to the number of the +population of the adjacent villages, whose boundaries were jealously +watched; and the possessions of each separate village were again +divided between certain families; whence it is that those mountain +districts exhibit, at the present day, the appearance of a honeycomb. +To obtain the ore, they made cavities, in which they lighted fires in +suitable spots, for the purpose of breaking the rock into pieces by +means of the elasticity of the heated water contained in the crevices, +with the additional assistance of iron implements. The first +breaking-up of the ore was done in the stream-work itself, and the dead +heaps lay piled up on the ground, so that, in subsequent fires, the +flame of the pieces of wood always reached the summit; and by reason of +the quality of the rock, and the imperfection of the mode of procedure, +very considerable down-falls frequently occurred. The ores were divided +into rich and quartziferous; the former not being again melted, but the +latter being subjected to a powerful and persistent roasting, during +which, after a part of the sulphur, antimony, and arsenic had been +exhaled, a kind of distillation of sulphate of copper and sulphate of +iron took place, which appeared as “stone,” or in balls on +the surface of the quartz, and could be easily detached.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4236src" href="#xd20e4236" name= +"xd20e4236src">14</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb175" href="#pb175" name= +"pb175">175</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The Smelter.</span>The +furnace or smelting apparatus consisted of a round hollow in clayey +gound, thirty centimeters in diameter and fifteen deep; with which was +connected a conical funnel of fire-proof stone, inclined at an angle of +30°, carrying up two bamboo-canes, which were fitted into the lower +ends of two notched pine-stems; in these two slips, covered all over +with dry grass or feathers, moved alternately up and down, and produced +the current required for the smelting.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Smelting.</span>When the Igorots obtained +black copper or native copper by blasting, they prevented loss (by +oxidation) by setting up a crucible of good fire-proof clay in the form +of a still; by which means it was easier for them to pour the metal +into the forms which it would acquire from the same clay. The furnace +being arranged, they supplied it with from eighteen to twenty kilograms +of rich or roasted ore, which, according to the repeated experiments of +Hernandez, contained twenty per cent of copper; and they proceeded +quite scientifically, always exposing the ore at the mouth of the +funnel, and consequently to the air-drafts, and placing the coals at +the sides of the furnace, which consisted of loose stones piled one +over another to the height of fifty centimeters. The fire having been +kindled and the blowing apparatus, already described, in operation, +thick clouds of white, yellow, and orange-yellow smoke were evolved +from the partial volatilization of the sulphur, arsenic, and antimony, +for the space of an hour; but as soon as only sulphurous acid was +formed, and the heat by this procedure had attained its highest degree, +the blowing was discontinued and the product taken out. This consisted +of a dross, or, rather, of the collected pieces of ore themselves, +which, on account of the flinty contents of the stones composing the +funnel, were transformed by the decomposition of the sulphurous metal +into a porous <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb176" href="#pb176" name= +"pb176">176</a>]</span>mass, and which could not be converted into +dross nor form combinations with silicious acid, being deficient in the +base as well as in the requisite heat; and also of a very impure +“stone,” of from four to five kilograms weight, and +containing from fifty to sixty per cent of copper.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The copper +“stone”.</span>Several of these “stones” were +melted down together for the space of about fifteen hours, in a +powerful fire; and by this means a great portion of the three volatile +substances above named was again evolved; after which they placed them, +now heated red-hot, in an upright position, but so as to be in contact +with the draught; the coals, however, being at the sides of the +furnace. After blowing for an hour or half-an-hour, they thus obtained, +as residuum, a silicate of iron with antimony and traces of arsenic, a +“stone” containing from seventy to seventy-five per cent of +copper, which they took off in very thin strips, at the same time using +refrigerating vessels; and at the bottom of the hollow there remained, +according as the mass was more or less freed from sulphur, a larger or +smaller quantity (always, however, impure) of black copper.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Purifying the product.</span>The purified +stones obtained by this second process were again made red-hot by +placing them between rows of wood, in order that they might not melt +into one another before the fire had freed them from impurities.</p> +<p>The black copper obtained from the second operation, and the stones +which were re-melted at the same time, were then subjected to a third +process in the same furnace (narrowed by quarry stones and provided +with a crucible); which produced a residuum of silicious iron and black +copper, which was poured out into clay moulds, and in this shape came +into commerce. This black copper contained from ninety-two to +ninety-four per cent of copper, and was tinged by a carbonaceous +compound of the same metal known by its yellow color, and <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb177" href="#pb177" name="pb177">177</a>]</span>the +oxide on the surface arising from the slow cooling, which will occur +notwithstanding every precaution; and the surface so exposed to +oxidation they beat with green twigs. When the copper, which had been +thus extracted with so much skill and patience by the Igorots, was to +be employed in the manufacture of kettles, pipes, and other domestic +articles, or for ornament, it was submitted to another process of +purification, which differed from the preceding only in one particular, +that the quantity of coals was diminished and the air-draught increased +according as the process of smelting drew near to its termination, +which involved the removal of the carbonaceous compound by oxidation. +Santos found, by repeated experiment, that even from ores of the mean +standard of twenty per cent, only from eight to ten per cent of black +copper was extracted by the third operation; so that between eight to +twelve per cent still remained in the residuum or porous quartz of the +operation.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tagalog women traders.</span>It was +difficult to procure the necessary means of transport for my baggage on +the return journey to Paracale, the roads being so soaked by the +continuous rains that no one would venture his cattle for the purpose. +In Mambulao the influence of the province on its western border is very +perceptible, and Tagalog is understood almost better than Bicol; the +Tagalog element being introduced amongst the population by women, who +with their families come here, from Lucban and Mauban, in the pursuit +of trade. They buy up gold, and import stuffs and other wares in +exchange. The gold acquired is commonly from fifteen to sixteen carats, +and a mark determines its quality. The dealers pay on the average $11 +per ounce; but when, as is usually the case, it is <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb178" href="#pb178" name= +"pb178">178</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Miners uncertain +returns.</span>offered in smaller quantities than one ounce, only +$10.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4371src" href="#xd20e4371" name= +"xd20e4371src">15</a> They weigh with small Roman scales, and have no +great reputation for honesty.</p> +<p>North Camarines is thinly inhabited, the population of the mining +districts having removed after the many undertakings which were +artificially called into existence by the mining mania had been ruined. +The goldwashers are mostly dissolute and involved in debt, and +continually expecting rich findings which but very seldom occur, and +which, when they do occur, are forthwith dissipated;—a fact which +will account for champagne and other articles of luxury being found in +the shops of the very poor villagers.</p> +<p>Malaguit and Matango, during the dry season, are said to be +connected by an extremely good road; but, when we passed, the two +places were separated by a quagmire into which the horses sank up to +their middle.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Labo.</span>In Labo, a little village on +the right bank of the river Labo (which rises in the mountain of the +same name), the conditions to which we have adverted are +repeated—vestiges of the works of former mining companies fast +disappearing, and, in the midst, little pits being worked by the +natives. Red lead has not been found here, but gold has been, and +especially “platinum,” which some experiments have proved +to be lead-glance. The mountain Labo appears from its bell-shape and +the strata exposed in the river bed to consist of trachytic hornblende. +Half a league W.S.W., after wading through mud a foot deep, we reached +the mountain Dallas where lead-glance and gold were formerly obtained +by a mining company; and to the present day gold is obtained by a few +natives in the usual mode.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb179" href="#pb179" name= +"pb179">179</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Wild Cat +Mining.</span>Neither in the latter province, nor in Manila, could I +acquire more precise information respecting the histories of the +numerous unfortunate mining enterprises. Thus much, however, appears +certain, that they were originated only by speculators, and never +properly worked with sufficient means. They therefore, of necessity, +collapsed so soon as the speculators ceased from their operations.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Small output.</span>North Camarines yields +no metal with the exception of the little gold obtained by the natives +in so unprofitable a manner. The king of Spain at first received a +fifth, and then a tenth, of the produce; but the tax subsequently +ceased. In Morga’s time the tenth amounted on an average to +$10,000 (“which was kept quite secret”); the profit, +consequently, to above $100,000. Gemelli Carreri was informed by the +governor of Manila that gold to the value of $200,000 was collected +annually without the help of either fire or quicksilver, and that +Paracale, in particular, was rich in gold. No data exist from which I +could estimate the actual rate of produce; and the answers to several +inquiries deserve no mention. The produce is, at all events, very +small, as well on account of the incompleteness of the mode of +procedure as of the irregularity of labor, for the natives work only +when they are compelled by necessity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indang.</span>I returned down the stream in +a boat to Indang, a comparatively flourishing place, of smaller +population but more considerable trade than Daet; the export consisting +principally of <span class="corr" id="xd20e4396" title= +"Source: abacâ">abacá</span>, and the import of rice.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Storms.</span>An old mariner, who had +navigated this coast for many years, informed me that the same winds +prevail from Daet as far as Cape Engaño, the north-east point of +Luzon. From October to March the north-east wind prevails, the monsoon +here beginning with north winds, which are of short duration and soon +pass into <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb180" href="#pb180" name= +"pb180">180</a>]</span>the north-east; and in January and February the +east winds begin and terminate the monsoon. The heaviest rains fall +from October to January, and in October typhoons sometimes occur. +Beginning from the north or north-east, they pass to the north-west, +where they are most violent; and then to the north and east, sometimes +as far as to the south-east, and even to the south. In March and April, +and sometimes in the beginning of May, shifting winds blow, which bring +in the south-west monsoon; but the dry season, of which April and May +are the driest months, is uninterrupted by rain. Thunder storms occur +from June to November; most frequently in August. During the south-west +monsoon the sea is very calm; but in the middle of the north-east +monsoon all navigation ceases on the east coast. In the outskirts of +Baler rice is sown in October, and reaped in March and April. Mountain +rice is not cultivated.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3820" href="#xd20e3820src" name="xd20e3820">1</a></span> Probably +pot-stone, which is employed in China in the manufacture of cheap +ornaments. Gypseous refers probably only to the degree of hardness.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3823" href="#xd20e3823src" name="xd20e3823">2</a></span> In the +Christy collection, in London, I saw a stone of this kind from the +Schiffer Islands, employed in a contrivance for the purpose of +protection against rats and mice. A string being drawn through the +stone, one end of it is suspended from the ceiling of the room, and the +objects to be preserved hang from the other. A knot in the middle of +the string prevents its sliding below that point, and, every touch +drawing it from its equilibrium, it is impossible for rats to climb +upon it. A similar contrivance used in the Viti Islands, but of wood, +is figured in the Atlas to Dumont D’Urville’s “Voyage +to the South Pole,” (i. 95).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3857" href="#xd20e3857src" name="xd20e3857">3</a></span> +“Carletti’s Voyages,” ii. 11.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3868" href="#xd20e3868src" name="xd20e3868">4</a></span> +“Life in the Forests of the Far East,” i. 300.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3939" href="#xd20e3939src" name="xd20e3939">5</a></span> +According to Father Camel (“Philisoph. Trans. London,” vol. +xxvi, p. 246), <i>hantu</i> means black ants the size of a wasp; +<i>amtig</i>, smaller black; and <i>hantic</i>, red ants.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3954" href="#xd20e3954src" name="xd20e3954">6</a></span> +According to Dr. Gerstaecker, probably <i>Phrynus Grayi Walck +Gerv.</i>, bringing forth alive. “<span lang="de">S. Sitzungsb. +Ges. Naturf. Freunde, Berl.</span>” March 18, 1862, and portrayed +and described in G. H. Bronn, “Ord. Class.,” vol. v. +184.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e3970" href="#xd20e3970src" name="xd20e3970">7</a></span> +<i>Calapnit</i>, Tagal and Bicol, the bat; <i>calapnitan</i>, +consequently, lord of the bats.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4056" href="#xd20e4056src" name="xd20e4056">8</a></span> In only +one out of several experiments made in the Berlin Mining College did +gold-sand contain 0.014 gold; and, in one experiment on the heavy sand +remaining on a mud-board, no gold was found.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4063" href="#xd20e4063src" name="xd20e4063">9</a></span> The +<i>Gogo</i> is a climbing Mimosa (<i>Entada purseta</i>) with large +pods, very abundant in the Philippines; the pounded stem of which is +employed in washing, like the soap-bark of Chili (<i>Quillaja +saponaria</i>); and for many purposes, such as baths and washing the +hair of the head, is preferred to soap.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4084" href="#xd20e4084src" name="xd20e4084">10</a></span> A small +gold nugget obtained in this manner, tested at the Berlin Mining +College, consisted of—</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Gold</td> +<td>77.4</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Silver</td> +<td>19.0</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Iron</td> +<td>0.5</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Flint earth</td> +<td>3.</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Loss</td> +<td>0.1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>100.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4130" href="#xd20e4130src" name="xd20e4130">11</a></span> The +nest and bird are figured in Gray’s “Genera of +Birds”; but the nest does not correspond with those found here. +These are hemispherical in form, and consist for the most part of coir +(coco fibers); and, as if prepared by the hand of man, the whole +interior is covered with an irregular net-work of fine threads of the +glutinous edible substance, as well as the upper edge, which swells +gently outwards from the center towards the sides, and expands into two +wing-shaped prolongations, resting on one another, by which the nest is +fixed to the wall. Dr. v. Martens conjectures that the designation +salangane comes from <i>langayah</i>, bird, and the Malay prefix +<i>sa</i>, and signifies especially the <i>nest</i> as something coming +from the bird.—(“Journal of Ornith.,” Jan., +1866.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4191" href="#xd20e4191src" name="xd20e4191">12</a></span> Spanish +Catalogue of the Paris Exhibition, 1867.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4219" href="#xd20e4219src" name="xd20e4219">13</a></span> +“<span lang="es">Informe sobre las Minas de Cobre</span>,” +Manila, 1862.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4236" href="#xd20e4236src" name="xd20e4236">14</a></span> +According to the Catalogue, the following ores are +found:—Variegated copper ore (<i>cobre gris abigarrado</i>), +arsenious copper (<i>c. gris arsenical</i>), vitreous copper (<i>c. +vitreo</i>), copper pyrites (<i>pirita de cobre</i>), solid copper +(<i>mata cobriza</i>), and black copper (<i>c. negro</i>). The ores of +most frequent occurrence have the following composition—A, +according to an analyzed specimen in the School of Mines at Madrid; B, +according to the analysis of Santos, the mean of several specimens +taken from different places:—</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td></td> +<td>A</td> +<td>B</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Silicious Acid</td> +<td>25.800</td> +<td>47.06</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Sulphur</td> +<td>31.715</td> +<td>44.44</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Copper</td> +<td>24.640</td> +<td>16.64</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Antimony</td> +<td>8.206</td> +<td>5.12</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Arsenic</td> +<td>7.539</td> +<td>4.65</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Iron</td> +<td>1.837</td> +<td>1.84</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Lime</td> +<td>in traces</td> +<td>—</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Loss</td> +<td>0.263</td> +<td>0.25</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>——</td> +<td>——</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>100.000</td> +<td>100.00</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4371" href="#xd20e4371src" name="xd20e4371">15</a></span> +According to the prices current with us, the value would be calculated +at about $12; the value of the analyzed specimen, to which we have +before referred, $14.50.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">On foot to San Miguel +bay.</span>Sending my baggage from Daet to Cabusao in a schooner, I +proceeded on foot, by the road to that place, to the coast on the west +side of the Bay of San Miguel. We crossed the mouth of the river in a +boat, which the horses swam after; but they were soon abandoned from +unfitness. At the mouth of the next river, Sacavin, the water was so +high that the bearers stripped themselves naked and carried the baggage +over on their heads. In simple jacket and cotton hose, I found this +precaution needless; indeed, according to my experience, it is both +refreshing and salutary to wear wet clothes, during an uniformly high +temperature; besides which, one is thereby spared many a spring over +ditches, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb181" href="#pb181" name= +"pb181">181</a>]</span>many a roundabout course to avoid puddles, +which, being already wet through, we no longer fear. After having waded +over eight other little rivers we were obliged to leave the shore and +pursue the road to Colasi along steep, slippery, forest paths, the +place lying right in the middle of the west side of the bay. The +sea-shore was very beautiful. Instead of a continuous and, at the ebb, +ill-smelling border of mangroves, which is never wanting in those +places where the land extends into the sea, the waves here reach the +foot of the old trees of the forest, many of which were washed +underneath. Amongst the most remarkable was a fringe of stately old +<i>Barringtoni</i>, covered with orchids and other +epiphytes—gorgeous trees when in flower; the red stamens, five +inches long, with golden yellow anthers like tassels, depending from +the boughs; and their fruit, of the size of the fist, is doubly useful +to the fisherman, who employs them, on account of their specific +gravity, in floating his nets, and beats them to pieces to stupefy the +fish. The foremost trees stood bent towards the sea, and have been so +deflected probably for a long time, like many others whose remains +still projected out of the water. The destruction of this coast appears +to be very considerable. Amongst the climbing palms one peculiar kind +was very abundant, the stem of which, as thick as the arm, either +dragged itself, leafless, along the ground, or hung in arches above the +branches, carrying a crown of leaves only at its extremity; while +another, from its habitat the common calamus, had <i>caryota</i> +leaves. Wild boars are very plentiful here; a hunter offered us two at +one real each.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Colasi.</span>The direction of the flat +coast which extends N.N.W. to S.S.E. from the point of Daet is here +interrupted by the little peak of Colasi, which projects to the east, +and has grown so rapidly that all old people remember <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb182" href="#pb182" name="pb182">182</a>]</span>it +to have been lower. In the Visita Colasi, on the northern slope of the +mountain, the sea is so rough that no boat can live in it. The +inhabitants carry on fishing; their fishing-grounds lie, however, on +the southern slope of the mountain, in the sheltered bay of Lalauigan, +which we reached after thee hours’ journey over the ridge.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">By sea to Cabusao.</span>A four-oared +<i>baroto</i>, hired at this place, as the weather was favorable, was +to have conveyed us in two hours to Cabusao, the port of Naga; but the +wind swung round, and a storm ensued. Thoroughly wet and not without +loss, we ran to Barceloneta, a <i>visita</i> situated at a third of the +distance. The intelligent Teniente of Colasi, whom we met here, also +confirmed the fact of the rapid growth of the little peak.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unreliable excuses.</span>In opposition to +my wish to ascend the mountain, great obstacles were said to exist when +every one would be occupied in preparations for the Easter festival, +which would hardly occur during the succeeding weeks. As these +objections did not convince me, a more substantial reason was +discovered the next morning. Inland shoes are excellent for the mud, +and particularly for horseback; but for climbing mountains, or rough +ground, they would not last a day; and the one remaining pair of strong +European shoes, which I reserved for particular purposes, had been +given away by my servant, who did not like climbing mountains, on the +pretext they were very much too heavy for me.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A shipwrecked family.</span>The shore from +Barceloneta to Cabusao is of the same character as the Daet-Colasi but +running north and south; the ground, sandy clay, is covered with a +thick stratum of broken bivalves. The road was very difficult, as the +high tide forced us to climb between the trees and thick underwood. On +the way we met an enterprising family who had left Daet with a cargo +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb183" href="#pb183" name= +"pb183">183</a>]</span>of coconuts for Naga, and had been wrecked here; +saving only one out of five tinajas of oil, but recovering all the +nuts.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4446src" href="#xd20e4446" name= +"xd20e4446src">1</a> They were living in a small hastily-run-up hut, +upon coconuts, rice, fish, and mussels, in expectation of a favorable +wind to return. There were several varieties of shore-birds; but my gun +would not go off, although my servant, in expectation of a hunt, had +cleaned it with especial care. As he had lost the ramrod whilst +cleaning it, the charge was not withdrawn before we reached Cabusao, +when it was discovered that both barrels were full of sand to above the +touchhole.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Making palm-sugar.</span>The coast was +still more beautiful than on the preceding day, particularly in one +place where the surge beat against a wood of fan-palms (<i>Corypha +sp.</i>). On the side facing the sea, in groups or rows stood the +trees, bereft of their crowns, or lying overthrown like columns amid +the vast ruins of temples (one of them was three feet in diameter); and +the sight immediately reminded me of Pompeii. I could not account for +the bareness of the trunks, until I discovered a hut in the midst of +the palms, in which two men were endeavoring to anticipate the waves in +their work of destruction by the preparation of sugar +(<i>tunguleh</i>). For this purpose, after stripping off the leaves +(this palm flowering at the top), the upper end of the stem is cut +across, the surface of the incision being inclined about five degrees +towards the horizon, and, near its lower edge, hollowed out to a very +shallow gutter. The juice exudes over the whole surface of the cut, +with the exception of the intersected exterior petioles, and, being +collected in the shallow channel, is conducted by a piece of +banana-leaf, two inches broad, and four inches long, into a bamboo-cane +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb184" href="#pb184" name= +"pb184">184</a>]</span>attached to the trunk. In order to avert the +rain from the saccharine issue, which has a faint, pleasantly aromatic +flavor as of barley-sugar, all the trees which have been tapped are +provided with caps formed of bent and folded palm-leaves. The average +daily produce of each tree is four bamboos, the interior of which is +about three inches and a half in diameter. When removed, they are full +to about eighteen inches; which gives somewhat more than ten quarts +daily.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The money side.</span>The produce of each +tree of course is very unequal. Always intermittent, it ceases +completely after two months—at the utmost, three months; but, the +proportion of those newly cut to those cut at an earlier date being the +same, the yield of the incisions is about equal. The juice of +thirty-three palms, after evaporation in an iron pan immediately upon +each collection, produces one ganta, or (there being four such +collections) four gantas, daily; the weekly result being twenty gantas, +or two tinajas of sugar, each worth two dollars and a half on the spot. +This statement, derived from the people themselves, probably shows the +proportion somewhat more unfavorable than it really is; still, +according to the opinion of an experienced mestizo, the difference +cannot be very considerable. Assuming the above figures as correct, +however, one of these magnificent trees would give about one dollar and +two-thirds, or, after deducting the laborers’ wages one real per +diem, about a thaler and two-thirds; not a large sum truly; but it is +some consolation to know that, even if man did not interfere, these +trees would in process of time fall victims to the breakers, and that, +even if protected against external ravages, they are doomed to natural +extinction after once producing fruit.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Neglected roads.</span>Cabusao lies in the +southern angle of San Miguel Bay which is, almost on every side, +surrounded by high <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb185" href="#pb185" +name="pb185">185</a>]</span>mountains, and affords good anchorage for +ships. From here I repaired across Naga to the south coast. Four +leagues from Naga, in the heart of Ragay, on the southern border of +Luzon, is the small but deep harbor of Pasacao; and two hours by water +conducted us to the intermediate Visita Pamplona, whence the route is +pursued by land. The still-existing remnant of the old road was in a +miserable condition, and even at that dry season of the year scarcely +passable; the bridges over the numerous little ditches were broken +down, and in many places, right across the road, lay large stones and +branches of trees which had been brought there years before to repair +the bridges, and, having been unused, have ever since continued to +obstruct the road.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A French planter.</span>In Quitang, between +Pamplona and Pasacao, where two brooks unite themselves into one little +river debouching at the latter place, a young Frenchman had established +a hacienda. He was contented and hopeful, and loudly praised the +industry and friendliness of his people. Probably because they make +fewer exactions, foreigners, as a rule, seem to agree better with the +natives than Spaniards. Of these exactions, the bitterest complaints +are rife of the injustice of the demands made upon the lower classes in +the settlement of their wages; which, if they do not immediately find +the necessary hands for every employment, do not correspond with the +enhanced value of the products; and, according to them, the natives +must even be driven from public employments, to labor in their +service.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4475src" href="#xd20e4475" name= +"xd20e4475src">2</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Filipino as a laborer.</span>The +Filipino certainly is more independent than the European laborer, +because he has fewer wants and, as a <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb186" href="#pb186" name="pb186">186</a>]</span>native landowner, is +not compelled to earn his bread as the daily laborer of another; yet, +with reference to wages, it may be questioned whether any colony +whatever offers more favorable conditions to the planter than the +Philippines. In Dutch India, where the prevalence of monopoly almost +excludes private industry, free laborers obtain one-third of a +guilder—somewhat more than one real, the usual wages in the +wealthy provinces of the Philippines (in the poorer it amounts to only +the half); and the Javanese are not the equals of the Filipinos, either +in strength, or intelligence, or skill; and the rate of wages in all +the older Slave States is well known. For the cultivation of sugar and +coffee, Mauritius and Ceylon are obliged to import foreign laborers at +great expense, and to pay them highly; and yet they are successful.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pasacao.</span>From Quitang to Pasacao the +road was far worse than it had heretofore been; and this is the most +important road in the province! Before reaching Pasacao, evident signs +are visible, on the denuded sides of the limestone, of its having been +formerly washed by the sea. Pasacao is picturesquely situated at the +end of the valley which is intersected by the Itulan, and extends from +Pamplona, between wooded mountains of limestone, as far as the sea. The +ebb tides here are extremely irregular. From noon to evening no +difference was observable, and, when the decrease just became visible, +the tide rose again. Immediately to the south, and facing the district, +the side of a mountain, two thousand feet high and above one thousand +feet broad, had two years ago given way to the subterranean action of +the waves. The rock consists of a tough calcareous breccia, full of +fragments of mussels and corals; but, being shoeless, I could not +remain on the sharp rock sufficiently long to make a closer +examination.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb187" href="#pb187" name= +"pb187">187</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">A beautiful +coast.</span>For the same reason, I was obliged to leave the ascent of +the Yamtik, which I had before vainly attempted from Libmanan, +unaccomplished from this point, although I had the advantage of the +company of an obliging French planter in a boat excursion in a +north-westerly direction along the coast. Here our boat floated along +over gardens of coral, swarming with magnificently colored fishes; and +after two hours we reached a cavern in the limestone, +<i>Suminabang</i>, so low that one could stir in it only by creeping; +which contained a few swallows and bats. On the Calebayan river, on the +further side of Point Tanaun, we came upon a solitary shed, our +night-quarters. Here the limestone range is interrupted by an isolated +cliff on the left bank of the little river, consisting of a crystalline +rock chiefly composed of hornblende; which moreover, on the side +exposed to the water, is surrounded completely by limestone.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cattle.</span>The surrounding mountains +must swarm with wild boars. Under the thatched roof of our hut, which +serves as a shelter to occasional hunters, more than a hundred and +fifty lower jaw-bones were set up as hunting trophies. The place +appeared as if created for the breeding of cattle. Soft with fodder +grass, and covered with a few groups of trees, with slopes intersected +by rustling brooks, it rose up out of the sea, and was encompassed by a +steep wall of rock in the form of a semicircle; and here cattle would +find grass, water, shade, and the protection of an enclosing rampart. +While travelling along the coast, we had remarked a succession of +similar localities, which however, from lack of enterprise and from the +dread of pirates, were not utilized. As soon as our supper was +prepared, we carefully extinguished our fire, that it might not serve +as a signal to the vagabonds of the sea, and kept night watches.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb188" href="#pb188" name= +"pb188">188</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">A delusive +cave.</span>On the following morning we intended to visit a cave never +before entered; but, to our astonishment, we found no proper cavern, +but only an entrance to a cavern a few feet in depth. Visible from a +distance, it must often have been passed by the hunters, although, as +we were assured by our companions—who were astonished at the +delusion—-no one had ventured to enter it from stress of +superstitious terror.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Isolation of fertile regions.</span>The +north coast of Camarines, as I have frequently mentioned, is, during +the north-east monsoon, almost unapproachable; while the south coast, +screened by the outlying islands, remains always accessible. The most +fertile districts of the eastern provinces, which during summer export +their produce by the northern ports, in the winter often remain for +months cut off from all communication with the chief town, because +there is no road over the small strip of land to the south coast. How +much has been done by Nature, and how little by man, to facilitate this +intercourse, is very evident when we reflect upon the condition of the +road to Pasacao, lately described, in connection with the condition of +matters in the east, as shown by the map.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">River highways.</span>Two rivers, one +coming from the north-west, and the other from the south-east, and both +navigable before they reach the borders of the province, flow through +the middle of it in a line parallel with the coast (taking no account +of its windings), and, after their junction, send their waters together +through the estuary of Cabusao into the Bay of San Miguel. The whole +province, therefore, is traversed through its center by two navigable +rivers, which, as regards commerce, form only one.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cabusao and Pasacao harbors.</span>But the +harbor of Cabusao, at the bottom of the Bay of San Miguel, is not +accessible during the north-east monsoon, and has this further +disadvantage, that the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb189" href= +"#pb189" name="pb189">189</a>]</span>intercourse of the whole of the +eastern part of Luzon with Manila can be carried on only by a very +circuitous route. On the south coast, on the other hand, is the harbor +of Pasacao, into which a navigable little river, above a mile in width, +discharges itself; so that the distance between this river highway and +the nearest point of the Bicol River amounts to a little more than a +mile. The road connecting the two seas, laid out by an active alcalde +in 1847, and maintained up to 1852, was however, at the date of my +inquiry, in so bad a condition that a picul of abacá paid two +reals freight for this short distance, in the dry season; and in the +wet season it could not be forwarded for double the price.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4520src" href="#xd20e4520" name= +"xd20e4520src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bad roads raise freights.</span>Many +similar instances may be brought forward. In 1861 the English +vice-consul reported that in Iloilo a picul of sugar had risen more +than 2 r. in price (as much as the cost of freight from Iloilo to +Manila), in consequence of the bad state of the road between the two +places, which are only one league asunder.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Social and political reasons for bad +roads.</span>If, without reference to transport by sea, the islands +were not favored in so extraordinary a manner by innumerable rivers +with navigable mouths, a still greater proportion of their produce +would not have been convertible into money. The people, as well as the +local authorities, have no desire for roads, which they themselves +construct by forced labor, and, when completed, must maintain by the +same method; for, when no roads are made, the laborers are so much more +easily employed in private operations. Even the parish priests, +generally, are as little favorable to the planning of commercial +intercourse, by means of which trade, prosperity, and enlightenment +would be introduced into the country, and their authority undermined. +Indeed the Government <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb190" href= +"#pb190" name="pb190">190</a>]</span>itself, up to within a short time +since, favored such a state of affairs; for bad roads belong to the +essence of the old Spanish colonial policy, which was always directed +to effect the isolation of the separate provinces of their great +transmarine possessions, and to prevent the growth of a sense of +national interest, in order to facilitate their government by the +distant mother country.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish economic +backwardness.</span>Besides, in Spain itself matters are no better. The +means of communication there are so very deficient that, as an +instance, merchandise is sent from Santander to Barcelona, round the +whole Iberian peninsula, in preference to the direct route, which is +partly accomplished by railway.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4540src" +href="#xd20e4540" name="xd20e4540src">4</a> In Estremadura the hogs +were fed with wheat (live animals can be transported without roads), +while at the same time the seaports were importing foreign +grain.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4544src" href="#xd20e4544" name= +"xd20e4544src">5</a> The cause of this condition of affairs in that +country is to be sought less in a disordered state of finance, than in +the enforcement of the Government maxim which enjoins the isolation of +separate provinces.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4446" href="#xd20e4446src" name="xd20e4446">1</a></span> In Daet +at that season six nuts cost one cuarto; and in Nags, only fifteen +leagues away by water, they expected to sell two nuts for nine cuartos +(twenty-sevenfold). The fact was that in Naga, at that time, one nut +fetched two cuartos—twelve times as much as in Daet.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4475" href="#xd20e4475src" name="xd20e4475">2</a></span> N. Loney +asserts, in one of his excellent reports, that there never is a +deficiency of suitable laborers. As an example, at the unloading of a +ship in Iloilo, many were brought together at one time, induced by the +small rise of wages from one to one and one-half reales; even more +hands than could be employed. The Belgian consul, too, reports that in +the provinces where the abacá grows the whole of the male +population is engaged in its cultivation, in consequence of a small +rise of wages.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4520" href="#xd20e4520src" name="xd20e4520">3</a></span> An +unfinished canal, to run from the Bicol to the Pasacao River, was once +dug, as is thought, by the Chinese, who carried on commerce in great +numbers.—<i>Arenas</i>, p. 140.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4540" href="#xd20e4540src" name="xd20e4540">4</a></span> <i lang= +"fr">La Situation Economique de l’Espagne.</i></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4544" href="#xd20e4544src" name="xd20e4544">5</a></span> Lesage, +“<span lang="fr">Coup d’Oeil</span>,” in <i lang= +"fr">Journal des Economistes</i>, September, 1868.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Mt. Isaróg.</span>The +Isaróg (pronounced Issaró) rises up in the middle of +Camarines, between San Miguel and Lagonoy bays. While its eastern slope +almost reaches the sea, it is separated on its western side by a broad +strip of inundated land from San Miguel Bay. In circumference it is at +least twelve leagues; and its height 1,966 meters.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e4560src" href="#xd20e4560" name="xd20e4560src">1</a> Very flat +at its base, it swells gradually to 16°, and higher <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb191" href="#pb191" name="pb191">191</a>]</span>up +to 21° of inclination, and extends itself, in its western aspect, +into a flat dome-shaped summit. But, if viewed from the eastern side, +it has the appearance of a circular chain of mountains rent asunder by +a great ravine. On Coello’s map this ravine is erroneously laid +down as extending from south to north; its bearing really is west to +east. Right in front of its opening, and half a league south from Goa, +lies the pretty little village of Rungus, by which it is known. The +exterior sides of the mountain and the fragments of its large crater +are covered with impenetrable wood. Respecting its volcanic eruptions +tradition says nothing.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Primitive mountaineers.</span>The higher +slopes form the dwelling-place of a small race of people, whose +independence and the customs of a primitive age have almost entirely +separated them from the inhabitants of the plain. One or two Cimarrons +might occasionally have been attracted hither, but no such instance is +remembered. The inhabitants of the Isaróg are commonly, though +mistakenly, called Igorots; and I retain the name, since their tribal +relationship has not yet been accurately determined; they themselves +maintaining that their ancestors always dwelt in that locality. There +are some who, in the opinion of the parish priest of Camarines, speak +the Bicol language in the purest manner. Their manners and customs are +very similar, in many respects, to what they were on the arrival of the +Spaniards; and sometimes they also remind one of those prevailing among +the Dyaks of Borneo at the present day.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4595src" href="#xd20e4595" name="xd20e4595src">2</a> These +circumstances give rise to the conjecture that they may be the last of +a race which maintained its independence against the Spanish rule, and +probably also against the little <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb192" +href="#pb192" name="pb192">192</a>]</span>tyrants who ruled over the +plain before the arrival of the Europeans. When Juan de Salcedo +undertook his triumphal march round North Luzon he found everywhere, at +the mouths of the rivers, seafaring tribes living under many chieftains +who, after a short struggle, were slain by the superior discipline and +better arms of the Spaniards, or submitted voluntarily to the superior +race; but he did not succeed in subduing the independent tribes in the +interior; and these are still to be found in all the larger islands of +the Philippine group.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Similarity to Indian Archipelago +conditions.</span>Similar conditions are found in many places in the +Indian Archipelago. The Malays, carrying on trade and piracy, possess +the shore, and their language prevails there; the natives being either +subdued by them, or driven into the forests, the inaccessibility of +which ensures to them a miserable but independent existence.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4604src" href="#xd20e4604" name= +"xd20e4604src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Policy of non-intercourse with +heathens.</span>In order to break down the opposition of the wild +races, the Spanish Government forbade its subjects, under the penalty +of one hundred blows and two years of forced labor, “to trade or +to have any intercourse with the heathens in the mountains who pay no +tribute to his Catholic Majesty, for although they would exchange their +gold, wax, etc., for other necessaries, they will never change for the +better.” Probably this law has for centuries directly contributed +to save the barbarians, notwithstanding their small numbers, from +complete extermination; for free intercourse between a people existing +by agriculture, and another living principally by the chase, speedily +leads to the destruction of the latter.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb193" href="#pb193" name= +"pb193">193</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Christian +Mountaineers’ villages.</span>The number of the Igorots of the +Isaróg however, been much diminished by deadly battles between +the different ranchos, and by the marauding expeditions which, until a +short time since, were annually undertaken by the commissioners of +taxes, in the interest of the Government monopoly, against the tobacco +fields of the Igorots. Some few have been “pacified” +(converted to Christianity and tribute); in which case they are obliged +to establish themselves in little villages of scattered huts, where +they can be occasionally visited by the priest of the nearest place; +and, in order to render the change easier to them, a smaller tax than +usual is temporarily imposed upon such newly-obtained subjects.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tobacco monopoly wars.</span>I had deferred +the ascent of the mountain until the beginning of the dry season of the +year; but I learned in Naga that my wish was hardly practicable, +because the expeditions against the ranchos of the mountain, which I +have already mentioned, usually occurred about this time. As the wild +people could not understand why they should not cultivate on their own +fields a plant which had become a necessity to them, they saw in the +<i>Cuadrilleros</i>, not functionaries of a civilized State, but +robbers, against whom they were obliged to defend themselves by force; +and appearances contributed no less to confirm them in their error; for +these did not content themselves with destroying the plantations of +tobacco, but the huts were burnt to the ground, the fruit-trees hewn +down, and the fields laid waste. Such forays never occurred without +bloodshed, and often developed into a little war which was carried on +by the mountaineers for a long time afterwards, even against people who +were entirely uninterested in it—Filipinos and Europeans. The +expedition this year was to take place in the beginning of April; the +Igorots consequently were in a state of great agitation, and +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb194" href="#pb194" name= +"pb194">194</a>]</span>had, a few days previously, murdered a young +unarmed Spaniard in the vicinity of Mabotoboto, at the foot of the +mountain, by bringing him to the ground with a poisoned arrow, and +afterwards inflicting twenty-one wounds with the wood-knife (bolo).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A policy of peace.</span>Fortunately there +arrived soon after a countermand from Manila, where the authorities +seemed to have been gradually convinced of the harmful tendency of such +violent measures. It could not be doubted that this intelligence would +quickly spread amongst the ranchos; and, acting upon the advice of the +commandant (upon whom, very much against his inclination, the conduct +of the expedition had devolved), I lost no time in availing myself of +the anticipated season of quiet. The Government have since adopted the +prudent method of purchasing the tobacco, which is voluntarily +cultivated by the Igorots, at the ordinary rate, and, where +practicable, encouraging them to lay out new fields, instead of +destroying those in existence.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A populous fertile district.</span>The next +day at noon I left Naga on horseback. The pueblos of Mogarao, Canaman, +Quipayo, and Calabanga, in this fertile district follow so thickly upon +one another that they form an almost uninterrupted succession of houses +and gardens. Calabanga lies half a league from the sea, between the +mouths of two rivers, the more southerly of which is sixty feet broad +and sufficiently deep for large trading vessels.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4633src" href="#xd20e4633" name="xd20e4633src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A bare plain and wretched +village.</span>The road winds round the foot of the Isaróg first +to the north-east and then to the east. Soon the blooming hedges cease, +and are succeeded by a great bare plain, out of which numerous flat +hillocks raise themselves. Both hills and plain, when we passed, served +for pasturage; but from August to January they are sown with rice; and +fields of batata are occasionally seen. After four hours we arrived at +the little village <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb195" href="#pb195" +name="pb195">195</a>]</span>of Maguiring (Manguirin), the church of +which, a tumble-down shed, stood on an equally naked hillock; and from +its neglected condition one might have guessed that the priest was a +native.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Many mountain water courses.</span>This +hillock, as well as the others which I examined, consisted of the +<i>débris</i> of the Isaróg, the more or less decomposed +trachytic fragments of hornblende rock, the spaces between which were +filled up with red sand. The number of streams sent down by the +Isaróg, into San Miguel and Lagonoy bays, is extraordinarily +large. On the tract behind Maguiring I counted, in three-quarters of an +hour, five considerable estuaries, that is to say, above twenty feet +broad; and then, as far as Goa, twenty-six more; altogether, +thirty-one: but there are more, as I did not include the smallest; and +yet the distance between Maguiring and Goa, in a straight line, does +not exceed three miles. This accounts for the enormous quantity of +steam with which this mighty condenser is fed. I have not met with this +phenomenon on any other mountain in so striking a manner. One very +remarkable circumstance is the rapidity with which the brimming +rivulets pass in the estuaries, enabling them to carry the trading +vessels, sometimes even ships, into a main stream (if the expression +may be allowed), while the scanty contributions of their kindred +streams on the northern side have scarcely acquired the importance of a +mill-brook. These waters, from their breadth, look like little rivers, +although in reality they consist of only a brook, up to the foot of the +mountain, and of a river’s mouth in the plain; the intermediate +part being absent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Comparison with Javan Mountain +district.</span>The country here is strikingly similar to the +remarkable mountain district of the Gelungúng, described by +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb196" href="#pb196" name= +"pb196">196</a>]</span>Junghuhn;<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4656src" +href="#xd20e4656" name="xd20e4656src">5</a> yet the origin of these +rising grounds differs in some degree from that of those in Java. The +latter were due to the eruption of 1822, and the great fissure in the +wall of the crater of the Gelungúng, which is turned towards +them, shows unmistakably whence the materials for their formation were +derived; but the great chasm of the Isaróg opens towards the +east, and therefore has no relation to the numberless hillocks on the +north-west of the mountain. Behind Maguiring they run more closely +together, their summits are flatter, and their sides steeper; and they +pass gradually into a gently inclined slope, rent into innumerable +clefts, in the hollows of which as many brooks are actively employed in +converting the angular outlines of the little islands into these +rounded hillocks. The third river behind Maguiring is larger than those +preceding it; on the sixth lies the large Visita of Borobod; and on the +tenth, that of Ragay. The rice fields cease with the hill country, and +on the slope, which is well drained by deep channels, only wild cane +and a few groups of trees grow. Passing by many villages, whose huts +were so isolated and concealed that they might remain unobserved, we +arrived at five o’clock at Tagunton; from which a road, +practicable for carabao carts, and used for the transport of the +abacá grown in the district, leads to Goa; and here, detained by +sickness, I hired a little house, in which I lay for nearly four weeks, +no other remedies offering themselves to me but hunger and repose.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Useful friends.</span>During this time I +made the acquaintance of some newly-converted Igorots, and won their +confidence. Without them I would have had great difficulty in ascending +the mountains as well as to visit their tribe in its <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb197" href="#pb197" name= +"pb197">197</a>]</span>farms without any danger.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4667src" href="#xd20e4667" name="xd20e4667src">6</a> When, at +last, I was able to quit Goa, my friends conducted me, as the first +step, to their settlement; where, having been previously recommended +and expected, I easily obtained the requisite number of attendants to +take into their charge the animals and plants which were collected for +me.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A heathen Mountaineers’ +settlement.</span>On the following morning the ascent was commenced. +Even before we arrived at the first rancho, I was convinced of the good +report that had preceded me. The master of the house came towards us +and conducted us by a narrow path to his hut, after having removed the +foot-lances, which projected obliquely out of the ground, but were +dexterously concealed by brushwood and leaves.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4674src" href="#xd20e4674" name="xd20e4674src">7</a> A woman +employed in weaving, at my desire, continued her occupation. The loom +was of the simplest kind. The upper end, the chain-beam, which consists +of a piece of bamboo, is fixed to two bars or posts; and the weaver +sits on the ground, and to the two notched ends of a small lath, which +supplies the place of the weaving beam, hooks on a wooden bow, in the +arch of which the back of the lath is fitted. Placing her feet against +two pegs in the ground and bending her back, she, by means of the bow, +stretches the material out straight. A netting-needle, longer than the +breadth of the web, serves instead of the weaver’s shuttle, but +it can be pushed through only by considerable friction, and not always +without breaking the chains of threads. A lath of hard wood (caryota), +sharpened like a knife, represents the trestle, and after every stroke +it is placed upon the edge; after which the comb is pushed <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb198" href="#pb198" name= +"pb198">198</a>]</span>forward, a thread put through, and struck fast, +and so forth. The web consisted of threads of the abacá, which +were not spun, but tied one to another.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A giant fern hedge.</span>The huts I +visited deserve no special description. Composed of bamboos and +palm-leaves, they are not essentially different from the dwellings of +poor Filipinos; and in their neighborhood were small fields planted +with batata, maize, caladium and sugar-cane, and enclosed by +magnificent polypody ferns. One of the highest of these, which I caused +to be felled for the purpose, measured in the stem nine meters, thirty +centimeters; in the crown, two meters, twelve centimeters; and its +total length was eleven meters, forty-two centimeters or over +thirty-six feet.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Simple stringed instruments.</span>A young +lad produced music on a kind of lute, called <i>baringbau</i>; +consisting of the dry shaft of the <i>scitamina</i> stretched in the +form of a bow by means of a thin tendril instead of gut. Half a coco +shell is fixed in the middle of the bow, which, when playing, is placed +against the abdomen, and serves as a sounding board; and the string +when struck with a short wand, gave out a pleasing humming sound, +realizing the idea of the harp and plectrum in their simplest forms. +Others accompanied the musician on Jews’ harps of bamboos, as +accurate as those of the Mintras on the Malay Peninsula; and there was +one who played on a guitar, which he had himself made, but after a +European pattern. The hut contained no utensils besides bows, arrows, +and a cooking pot. The possessor of clothes bore them on his person. I +found the women as decently clad as the Filipino Christian women, and +carrying, besides, a forest knife, or bolo. As a mark of entire +confidence, I was taken into the tobacco fields, which were well +concealed and protected by foot-lances; and they appeared to be +carefully looked after.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb199" href="#pb199" name= +"pb199">199</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The people and their +crops.</span>The result of my familiarity with this people, both before +and after this opportunity, may be briefly summed up: They live on the +higher slopes of the mountain, never, indeed, below 1,500 feet; each +family by itself. It is difficult to ascertain how many of them there +may now be, as but little intercourse takes place amongst them. In the +part of the mountain belonging to the district of Goa, their number is +estimated at about fifty men and twenty women, including the children: +but twenty years before the population was more numerous. Their food +consists principally of <i>batata</i>, besides some gabi +(<i>caladium</i>). A little maize is likewise cultivated, as well as +some ubi (<i>dioscorea</i>), and a small quantity of sugar-cane for +chewing.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Batatas.</span>In laying out a batata +field, a wood is partially cleared, the earth loosened with the blunt +forest knife (bolo), and the bulbs or layers then planted; and within +four months the harvest begins, and continues uninterruptedly from the +time the creeping plant strikes root and forms tubers. <span class= +"marginnote">Rotation of crops.</span>After two years, however, the +produce is so much diminished that the old plants are pulled up, in +order to make room for new ones obtained from the runners. The field is +then changed, or other fruits cultivated thereon, but with the addition +of manure. A piece of land, fifty brazas long, and thirty wide, is +sufficient for the support of a family. Only occasionally in the wet +season does this resource fail, and then they resort to gabi, which +appears to be as easily cultivated on wet as on dry ground, but is not +so profitable as batata. The young shoots of the gabi are planted at +distances of a vara, and if consumed in a proper manner, ought not to +be cropped till after a year. Each family kills weekly one or two wild +hogs. Stags are rare, although I obtained a fine pair of horns; and +they do not use the skin. Bows and arrows are used in hunting; some +poisoned, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb200" href="#pb200" name= +"pb200">200</a>]</span>and some not. Every rancho keeps dogs, which +live principally on <i>batata</i>, and also cats to protect the fields +against rats; and they also have poultry, <span class="marginnote">Game +cocks a Spanish innovation.</span>but no game cocks; which, having been +first introduced into the Philippines by the Spaniards are seldom if +ever, wanting in the huts of the Filipinos; but the inhabitants of the +Isaróg are as yet free from this passion.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Trade.</span>The few products of a more +advanced civilization which they require, they obtain by the sale of +the spontaneous productions of their forests, chiefly wax and resin +(pili),<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4726src" href="#xd20e4726" name= +"xd20e4726src">8</a> apnik, dagiangan (a kind of copal), and some +abacá. Wax, which is much in request for church solemnities, +fetches half a dollar per catty; and resin averages half a real per +chinanta. Business is transacted very simply. Filipinos, having +intercourse with the Igorots, make a contract with them; and they +collect the products and bring them to a place previously agreed on, +where the Filipinos receive them, after paying down the stipulated +price.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Religion.</span>Physicians and magicians, +or persons supposed to be possessed of secret powers, are unknown; +every one helps himself. In order to arrive at a clear understanding of +their religious views, a longer intercourse would be necessary. But +they certainly believe in one God, or, at least, say so, when they are +closely questioned by Christians; and have also loosely acquired +several of the external practices of Catholicism, which they employ as +spells.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Respect for women and aged.</span>Hunting +and hard labor constitute the employment of man in general, as well as +in the Philippines. The practice of employing women as beasts of +burden—which, although it exists among many of the peoples of +Europe, for example, the Basques, Wallachians, and <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb201" href="#pb201" name= +"pb201">201</a>]</span>Portuguese, is almost peculiar to barbarous +nations,—seems to have been lost in the Philippines as far back +as the time of its discovery by the Spaniards; and even among the wild +people of the Isaróg, the women engage only in light labor, and +are well treated. Every family supports its aged and those unfit for +labor. <span class="marginnote">Medicine.</span>Headaches and fevers +were stated to me as the prevalent maladies; for which burnt rice, +pounded and mixed to a pap with water, is taken as a remedy; and in +case of severe headache they make an incision in the forehead of the +sufferer. Their prevalence is explained by the habit of neutralizing +the ill effects of drinking water in excess, when they are heated, by +the consumption of warm water in large doses; and the rule holds with +regard to coco-water; the remedy for immoderate use of which is warm +coco-water. Their muscular power is small, and they are not able to +carry more than fifty pounds weight to any considerable distance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manufactures.</span>Besides the chase and +agriculture, their occupations are restricted to the manufacture of +extremely rude weapons, for which they purchase the iron, when +required, from the Filipinos, and of the coarse webs made by the women, +and of wicker work. Every father of a family is master in his own +house, and acknowledges no power higher than himself. In the event of +war with neighboring tribes, the bravest places himself at the head, +and the rest follow him as long as they are able; there is no +deliberate choosing of a leader.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Death customs.</span>On the whole, they are +peaceful and honorable towards each other, although the idle +occasionally steal the fruits of the fields; and, should the thief be +caught, the person robbed punishes him with blows of the rattan, +without being under any apprehensions of vengeance in consequence. If a +man dies, his nearest kinsmen go out to requite his death by the death +of some other individual, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb202" href= +"#pb202" name="pb202">202</a>]</span>taken at random. The rule is +strictly enforced. For a dead man a man must be killed; for a woman a +woman; and for a child a child. Unless, indeed, it be a friend they +encounter, the first victim that offers is killed. Latterly, however, +owing to the unusual success attained by some of them in representing +the occurrence of death as an unavoidable destiny, the custom is said +to have fallen into desuetude; and the relatives do not exact the +satisfaction. This was easy in the case of the deceased being an +ordinary person; but, to the present day, vengeance is required in the +event of the death of a beloved child or wife. If a man kills a woman +of another house, her nearest kinsman endeavors to kill a woman of the +house of the murderer; but to the murderer himself he does nothing; and +the corpse of the victim thus slain as a death-offering is not buried, +nor is its head cut off; and her family, in their turn, seek to avenge +the death by murder. This is reckoned the most honorable course. Should +the murderer, however, be too strong to be so overcome, any weaker +person, be it who it may, is slain in retaliation; and hence, probably, +the comparatively small number of women.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Marriage.</span>Polygamy is permitted; but +even the most courageous and skilful seldom or never have more than one +wife. A young man wishing to marry commissions his father to treat with +the father of the bride as to the price; which latterly has greatly +increased; but the average is ten bolos, costing from four to six reals +each, and about $12 in cash; and the acquisition of so large a sum by +the sale of wax, resin, and abacá, often takes the bridegroom +two years. The bride-money goes partly to the father, and partly to the +nearest relations; every one of whom has an equal interest. If there +should <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb203" href="#pb203" name= +"pb203">203</a>]</span>be many of them, almost nothing remains for the +father, who has to give a great feast, on which occasion much palm-wine +is drunk.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sexual crimes.</span>Any man using violence +towards a girl is killed by her parents. If the girl was willing, and +the father hears of it, he agrees upon a day with the former, on which +he is to bring the bride’s dowry; which should he refuse to do, +he is caught by the relations, bound to a tree, and whipped with a +cane. Adultery is of most rare occurrence; but, when it does take +place, the dowry is returned either by the woman, who then acquires her +freedom, or by the seducer, whom she then follows. The husband has not +the right to detain her, if he takes the money, or even if he should +refuse it; but the latter contingency is not likely to arise, since +that sum of money will enable him to buy for himself a new wife.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Basira ravine.</span>In the afternoon we +reached a vast ravine, called “Basira,” 973 meters above +Uacloy, and about 1,134 meters above the sea, extending from south-east +to north-west between lofty, precipitous ranges, covered with wood. Its +base, which has an inclination of 33°, consists of a naked bed of +rock, and, after every violent rainfall, gives issue to a torrent of +water, which discharges itself violently. Here we bivouacked; and the +Igorots, in a very short time, built a hut, and remained on the watch +outside. At daybreak the thermometer stood at 13.9° R.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4767src" href="#xd20e4767" name= +"xd20e4767src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">At the summit.</span>The road to the summit +was very difficult on account of the slippery clay earth and the tough +network of plants; but the last five hundred feet were unexpectedly +easy, the very steep summit being covered with a very thick growth of +thinly leaved, knotted, mossy <i>thibaudia</i>, <i>rhododendra</i>, and +other dwarf woods, whose innumerable <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb204" href="#pb204" name="pb204">204</a>]</span>tough branches, +running at a very small height along the ground and parallel to it, +form a compact and secure lattice-work, by which one mounted upwards as +on a slightly inclined ladder. The point which we reached * * * was +evidently the highest spur of the horseshoe-shaped mountain side, which +bounds the great ravine of Rungus on the north. The top was hardly +fifty paces in diameter, and so thickly covered with trees that I have +never seen its like; we had not room to stand. My active hosts, +however, went at once to work, though the task of cutting a path +through the wood involved severe labor, and, chopping off the branches, +built therewith, on the tops of the lopped trees, an observatory, from +which I should have had a wide panoramic view, and an opportunity for +taking celestial altitudes, had not everything been enveloped in a +thick mist. The neighboring volcanoes were visible only in glimpses, as +well as San Miguel Bay and some lakes in the interior. Immediately +after sunset the thermometer registered 12.5° R.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e4782src" href="#xd20e4782" name="xd20e4782src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The descent.</span>On the following morning +it was still overcast; and when, about ten o’clock, the clouds +became thicker, we set out on our return. It was my intention to have +passed the night in a rancho, in order next day to visit a solfatara +which was said to be a day’s journey further; but my companions +were so exhausted by fatigue that they asked for at least a few +hours’ rest.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ferns and orchids.</span>On the upper slope +I observed no palms with the exception of calamus; but polypodies +(ferns) were very frequent, and orchids surprisingly abundant. In one +place all the trees were hung, at a convenient height, with flowering +aërids; of which one could have collected <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb205" href="#pb205" name= +"pb205">205</a>]</span>thousands without any trouble. The most +beautiful plant was a Medinella, of so delicate a texture that it was +impossible to preserve it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Carbonic acid spring.</span>Within a +quarter of an hour north-east of Uacloy, a considerable spring of +carbonic acid bursts from the ground, depositing abundance of +calcareous sinter. Our torches were quickly extinguished, and a fowl +covered with a cigar-box died in a few minutes, to the supreme +astonishment of the Igorots, to whom these phenomena were entirely +new.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Farewell to mountaineers.</span>On the +second day of rest, my poor hosts, who had accompanied me back to +Uacloy, still felt so weary that they were not fit for any undertaking. +With naked heads and bellies they squatted in the burning sun in order +to replenish their bodies with the heat which they had lost during the +bivouac on the summit; for they are not allowed to drink wine. When I +finally left them on the following day, we had become such good friends +that I was compelled to accept a tamed wild pig as a present. A troop +of men and women accompanied me until they saw the glittering roofs of +Maguiring, when, after the exchange of hearty farewells, they returned +to their forests. The natives whom I had taken with me from Goa had +proved so lazy and morose that nearly the whole task of making the path +through the forest had fallen upon the Igorots. From sheer laziness +they threw away the drinking water of which they were the porters; and +the Igorots were obliged to fetch water from a considerable distance +for our bivouac on the summit. In all my troublesome marches, I have +always done better with Cimarrons than with the civilized natives. The +former I have found obliging, trustworthy, active and acquainted with +localities, while the latter generally displayed the opposite +qualities. It would, however, be unjust to form a conclusive opinion as +to their comparative <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb206" href="#pb206" +name="pb206">206</a>]</span>merits from these facts; for the wild +people are at home when in the forest; what they do is done +voluntarily, and the stranger, when he possesses their confidence, is +treated as a guest. <span class="marginnote">Forced labor.</span>But +the Filipinos are reluctant companions, <i>Polistas</i>, who, even when +they receive a high rate of wages, consider that they are acting most +honorably when they do as little as possible. At any rate, it is no +pleasure to them to leave their village in order to become +luggage-porters or beaters of roads on fatiguing marches in +impracticable districts, and to camp out in the open air under every +deprivation. For them, still more than for the European peasant, repose +is the most agreeable refreshment. The less comfort any one enjoys at +home, the greater is the reluctance with which he leaves it; and the +same thing may be observed in Europe.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A petition for liquors.</span>As the +Igorots were not permitted to have cocoa-palms for the preparation of +wine, vinegar and brandy, so that they might not infringe the monopoly +of the government, they presented me with a petition entreating me to +obtain this favor for them. The document was put together by a Filipino +writer in so ludicrously confused a manner that I give it as a specimen +of Philippine clerkship.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4815src" href= +"#xd20e4815" name="xd20e4815src">11</a> At all events, it had the best +of results, for the petitioners were accorded twice as much as they had +prayed for.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb207" href="#pb207" name= +"pb207">207</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Winds and planting +season.</span>The south-west monsoon lasts in this region (district of +Goa) from April to October. April is very calm (<i lang= +"es">navegación de señoras</i>). From June to August the +south-west winds blow steadily; March, April, and May are the driest +months; there are shifting winds in March and the beginning of April; +while from October to December is the time of storms; “S. +Francisco (4th October) brings bad weather.” Rice is planted in +September and reaped in February.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4560" href="#xd20e4560src" name="xd20e4560">1</a></span> From +barometrical observations—</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="unit"> +<td></td> +<td>m.</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Goa, on the northern slope of the Isaróg</td> +<td>32</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Uacloy, a settlement of Igorots</td> +<td>161</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Ravine of Baira</td> +<td>1,134</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Summit of the Isarog</td> +<td>1,966</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4595" href="#xd20e4595src" name="xd20e4595">2</a></span> The +skull of a slain Igorot, as shown by Professor Virchow’s +investigation, has a certain similarity to Malay skulls of the +adjoining Islands of Sunda, especially to the skulls of the Dyaks.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4604" href="#xd20e4604src" name="xd20e4604">3</a></span> +Pigafetta found Amboyna inhabited by Moors (Mohammedans) and heathens; +“but the first possessed the seashore, the latter the +interior.” In the harbor of Brune (Borneo) he saw two towns; one +inhabited by Moors, and the other, larger than that, and standing +entirely in the salt-water, by heathen. The editor remarks that +Sonnerat (“Voyage aux Irides”) subsequently found that the +heathen had been driven from the sea, and had retired into the +mountains.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4633" href="#xd20e4633src" name="xd20e4633">4</a></span> On +Coello’s map these proportions are wrongly stated.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4656" href="#xd20e4656src" name="xd20e4656">5</a></span> +“Java, seine Gestalt (its formation)” II. 125.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4667" href="#xd20e4667src" name="xd20e4667">6</a></span> An +intelligent mestizo frequently visited me during my sickness. According +to his statements, besides the copper already mentioned, coal is found +in three places, and even gold and iron were to be had. To the same man +I am indebted for Professor Virchow’s skull of Caramuan, referred +to before, which was said to have come from a cavern in Umang, one +league from Caramuan. Similar skulls are also said to be found at the +Visita Paniniman, and on a small island close to the Visita Guialo.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4674" href="#xd20e4674src" name="xd20e4674">7</a></span> They are +made of bamboo.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4726" href="#xd20e4726src" name="xd20e4726">8</a></span> The +fruit of the wild pili is unfit for food.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4767" href="#xd20e4767src" name="xd20e4767">9</a></span> 17.375 +Cent. or 63 Far.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4782" href="#xd20e4782src" name="xd20e4782">10</a></span> 15.6 +Cent. or 60 Far.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote" lang="es"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" +id="xd20e4815" href="#xd20e4815src" name="xd20e4815">11</a></span> Sor +Inspector por S. M.</p> +<p class="footnote">Nosotros dos Capnes actuales de Rancherias de Lalud +y Uacloy comprension del pueblo de Goa prov. a de Camarines Sur. Ante +los pies de vmd postramos y decimos. Que por tan deplorable estado en +que nos hallabamos de la infedelidad recienpoblados esta visitas de +Rancherias ya nos Contentamos bastantemente en su felis llegada y +suvida de este eminente monte de Isarog loque havia con quiztado +industriamente de V. bajo mis consuelos, y alibios para poder con +seguir a doce ponos (<i>i.e.</i> arboles) de cocales de mananguiteria +para Nuestro uso y alogacion a los demas Igorotes, o montesinos q. no +quieren vendirnos; eta utilidad publica y reconocer a Dios y a la +soberana Reyna y Sofa Doña Isabel 2a (que Dios Gue) Y por +intento.</p> +<p class="footnote">A. V. pedimos, y suplicamos con humildad secirva +proveer y mandar, si es gracia segun lo q. imploramos, etc. Domingo +Tales†. Jose Laurenciano†.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XVIII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Mt. Iriga.</span>From the +Isarog I returned through Naga and Nabua to Iriga, the ascent of which +I at length accomplished.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The ascent.</span>The chief of the +Montesinos had received daily rations for twenty-two men, with whom he +professed to make a road to the summit; but when, on the evening of the +third day, he came himself to Iriga, in order to fetch more provisions, +on the pretext that the work still required some time for execution, I +explained that I should endeavor to ascend the mountain on the +following morning, and requested him to act as guide. He consented, but +disappeared, together with his companions, during the night; the +Filipinos in the tribunal having been good enough to hold out the +prospect of severe punishment in case the work performed should not +correspond to the working days. After fruitless search for another +guide, we left Buhi in the afternoon, and passed the night in the +rancho, where we had previously been so hospitably received. The fires +were still burning, but the inhabitants, on our approach, had fled. +About six o’clock on the following morning the ascent began. +After we had gone through the forest, by availing ourselves of the path +which we had previously <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb208" href= +"#pb208" name="pb208">208</a>]</span>beaten, it led us through grass +three or four feet in height, with keen-edged leaves; succeeded by +cane, from seven to eight feet high, of the same habitat with our +<i>Arundo phragmites</i> (but it was not in flower), which occupied the +whole of the upper part of the mountain as far as the edge. Only in the +ravine did the trees attain any height. The lower declivities were +covered with aroids and ferns; towards the summit were tendrils and +mosses; and here I found a beautiful, new, and peculiarly shaped +orchid.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4850src" href="#xd20e4850" name= +"xd20e4850src">1</a> The Cimarrons had cut down some cane; and, beating +down our road for ourselves with bolos, we arrived at the summit a +little before ten o’clock. It was very foggy. In the hope of a +clear evening or morning I caused a hut to be erected, for which +purpose the cane was well fitted. The natives were too lazy to erect a +lodging for themselves, or to procure wood for a watchfire. They +squatted on the ground, squeezed close to one another to warm +themselves, ate cold rice, and suffered thirst because none of them +would fetch water. Of the two water-carriers whom I had taken with me, +one had “inadvertently” upset his water on the road, and +the other had thrown it away “because he thought we should not +require it.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Altitude.</span>I found the highest points +of the Iriga to be 1,212 meters, 1,120 meters above the surface of the +Buhi Lake. From Buhi I went to Batu.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Changes in Batu Lake.</span>The Batu Lake +(one hundred eleven meters above the sea) had sunk lower since my last +visit in February. The carpet of algae had increased considerably in +breadth, its upper edge being in many places decomposed; and the lower +passed gradually into a thick consistency of putrid water-plants +(charae, algae, pontederiae, valisneriae, pistiae, etc.), which +encompassed the surface of the water so that only through a few gaps +could one reach the bank. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb209" href= +"#pb209" name="pb209">209</a>]</span>Right across the mouth of the +Quinali lies, in the lake, a bar of black mud, the softest parts of +which were indicated by some insignificant channels of water. As we +could not get over the bar in a large boat, two small skiffs were bound +together with a matting of bamboo, and provided with an awning. By +means of this contrivance, which was drawn by three strong carabaos +(the whole body of men with evident delight and loud mirth wading +knee-deep in the black mud and assisting by pushing behind) we +succeeded, as if on a sledge, in getting over the obstacle into the +river; which on my first visit overflowed the fields in many places, +till the huts of the natives rose out of the water like so many ships: +but now (in June) not one of its channels was full. We were obliged in +consequence to continue our sledge journey until we were near to +Quinali.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ascent of Mt. Mazaraga.</span>At Ligao I +alighted at a friendly Spaniard’s, a great part of the place, +together with the tribunal and convent, having been burnt down since my +last visit. After making the necessary preparations, I went in the +evening to Barayong, a little rancho of Cimarrons at the foot of the +Mazaraga, and, together with its inhabitants, ascended the mountain on +the following morning. The women also accompanied us for some distance, +and kept the company in good humor; and when, on the road, a Filipino +who had been engaged for the purpose wished to give up carrying a +bamboo full of water, and, throwing it away, ran off, an old woman +stepped forward in his stead, and dragged the water cheerfully along up +to the summit. This mountain was moister than any I had ever ascended, +the Semeru in Java, in some respects, excepted; and half-way up I found +some rotten rafflesia.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4869src" href= +"#xd20e4869" name="xd20e4869src">2</a> Two miserable-looking Cimarron +dogs drove a young stag towards us, which was slain by one of the +people <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb210" href="#pb210" name= +"pb210">210</a>]</span>with a blow of his bolo. The path ceased a third +of the way up, but it was not difficult to get through the wood. The +upper portion of the mountain, however, being thickly overgrown with +cane, again presented great obstacles. About twelve we reached the +summit-level, which, pierced by no crater, is almost horizontal, +smoothly arched, and thickly covered with cane. <span class= +"marginnote">Altitude.</span>Its height is 1,354 meters. In a short +time the indefatigable Cimarrons had built a fine large hut of cane: +one room for myself and the baggage, a large assembly-room for the +people, and a special apartment for cooking. Unfortunately the cane was +so wet that it would not burn. In order to procure firewood to cook the +rice, thick branches were got out of the wood, and their comparatively +dry pith extracted with great labor. The lucifer-matches, too, were so +damp that the phosphorus was rubbed away in friction; but, being +collected on blotting-paper, and kneaded together with the sulphurous +end of the match-wood, it became dry and was kindled by friction. Not a +trace of solid rock was to be seen. All was obstructed by a thick +overgrowth from where the path ceased, and the ground covered with a +dense bed of damp wood-earth. The following morning was fine, and +showed a wide panorama; but, before I had completed my drawing, it +again became misty; and as, after several hours of waiting, the heavens +were overspread with thick rain-clouds, we set out on our return.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Butterflies.</span>Numerous butterflies +swarmed around the summit. We could, however, catch only a few, as the +passage over the cane-stubble was too difficult for naked feet; and, +the badly-stitched soles of two pairs of new shoes which I had brought +from Manila having dropped off some time before I reached the summit, I +was compelled to perform the journey to Ligao barefoot.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb211" href="#pb211" name= +"pb211">211</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Native contempt for +private Spaniards.</span>On the following day my Spanish host went +twice to the tribunal to procure the carabao carts which were necessary +for the furtherance of my collections. His courteous request was +unsuccessful; but the command of the parish priest, who personally +informed the Gobernadorcillo in his house, was immediately obeyed. The +Filipino authorities have, as a rule, but little respect for private +Spanish people, and treat them not seldom with open contempt. An +official recommendation from the alcalde is usually effectual, but not +in all the provinces; for many alcaldes do hurt to their own authority +by engaging the assistance or connivance of the native magistrates in +the furtherance of their personal interests.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Giant bats.</span>I here shot some +<i>panikes</i>, great bats with wings nearly five feet wide when +extended, which in the day time hang asleep from the branches of trees, +and, among them, two mothers with their young sucking ones uninjured. +It was affecting to see how the little animals clung more and more +firmly to the bodies of their dying parents, and how tenderly they +embraced them even after these were dead. The apparent feeling, +however, was only self-interest at bottom, for, when their store of +milk was exhausted, the old ones were treated without respect, like +empty bottles. As soon as the young ones were separated, they fed on +bananas, and lived several days, until I at length placed them in +spirits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A muddy dry season.</span>Early in the +morning I rode on the priest’s horse to Legaspi, and in the +evening through deep mud to the alcalde at Albay. We were now (June) in +the middle of the so-called dry season, but it rained almost every day; +and the road between Albay and Legaspi was worse than ever. During my +visit information arrived from the commandant of the faluas on the +south coast that, as he was pursuing two pirate vessels, <span class= +"marginnote">Power of Moro pirates.</span>six others suddenly made +their appearance, in order to cut off his return; <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb212" href="#pb212" name="pb212">212</a>]</span>for +which reason he bad quickly made his way back. The faluas are very +strongly manned, and provided with cannon, but the crews furnished by +the localities on the coast are entirely unpractised in the use of +fire-arms, and moreover hold the Moros in such dread that, if the +smallest chance offers of flight, they avail themselves of it to ensure +their safety by making for the land. The places on the coast, destitute +of other arms than wooden pikes, were completely exposed to the +pirates, who had firmly established themselves in Catanduanes, Biri, +and several small islands, and seized ships with impunity, or robbed +men on the land. Almost daily fresh robberies and murders were +announced from the villages on the shore. During a plundering +expedition the men caught are employed at the oars and at its close +sold as slaves; and, on the division of the spoil, one of the crew +falls to the share of the dato (Moro chief) who fitted out the +vessel.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4904src" href="#xd20e4904" name= +"xd20e4904src">3</a> The coasting vessels in these waters, it is true, +are mostly provided with artillery, but it is generally placed in the +hold of the ship, as no one on board knows how to use it. If the cannon +be upon deck, either the powder or the shot is wanting; and the captain +promises to be better prepared next time.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4907src" href="#xd20e4907" name="xd20e4907src">4</a> The alcalde +reported the outrages of the pirates by every post to Manila, as well +as the great injury done to trade, and spoke of the duty of the +<span class="marginnote">No protection from +Government.</span>Government to protect its subjects, especially as the +latter were not permitted to use fire-arms;<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4917src" href="#xd20e4917" name="xd20e4917src">5</a> and from the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb213" href="#pb213" name= +"pb213">213</a>]</span>Bisayan Islands came the same cry for help. The +Government, however, was powerless against the evil. If the complaints +were indeed very urgent, they would send a steamer into the waters most +infested; but it hardly ever came in sight of pirates, although the +latter were carrying on their depredations close in front and +behind.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Government steamer easily eluded.</span>At +Samars, the principal town, I subsequently met with a Government +steamer, which for fourteen days past had been nominally engaged in +cruising against the pirates; but the latter, generally forewarned by +their spies, perceive the smoke of the steamers sufficiently soon to +slip away in their flat boats; and the officers knew beforehand that +their cruise would have no other result than to show the distressed +provinces that their outcry was not altogether unnoticed.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e4929src" href="#xd20e4929" name= +"xd20e4929src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Steam gunboats more +successful.</span>Twenty small steam gunboats of light draught had +shortly before been ordered from England, and were nearly ready. The +first two indeed arrived soon after in Manila (they had to be +transported in pieces round the Cape), and were to be followed by the +rest; and they were at one time almost successful in delivering the +archipelago from these burdensome pests;<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4937src" href="#xd20e4937" name="xd20e4937src">7</a> at least, +from the proscribed Moros who came every year from the Sulu Sea, mostly +from the island of Tawitawi, arriving in May at the Bisayas, and +continuing their depredations in the archipelago until the change of +the monsoon <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb214" href="#pb214" name= +"pb214">214</a>]</span>in October or November compelled them to +return.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4945src" href="#xd20e4945" name= +"xd20e4945src">8</a> <span class="marginnote">Renegades join pirates +and bandits.</span>In the Philippines they gained new recruits among +vagabonds, deserters, runaway criminals, and ruined spendthrifts; and +from the same sources were made up the bands of highway robbers +(tulisanes), which sometimes started up, and perpetuated acts of +extraordinary daring. Not long before my arrival they had made an +inroad into a suburb of Manila, and engaged with the military in the +highways. Some of the latter are regularly employed in the service +against the tulisanes. The robbers are not, as a rule, cruel to their +victims when no opposition is offered.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4951src" href="#xd20e4951" name="xd20e4951src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Plants from Berlin.</span>In Legaspi I +found awaiting me several chests with tin lining, which had been +sixteen months on their passage by overland route, instead of seven +weeks, having been conveyed from Berlin by way of Trieste, on account +of the Italian war. Their contents, which had been intended for use in +the Philippines exclusively, were now for the most part useless. In one +chest there were two small flasks with glass stoppers, one filled with +moist charcoal, and the other with moist clay, both <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb215" href="#pb215" name= +"pb215">215</a>]</span>containing seeds of the Victoria Regia and +tubers of red and blue nymphae (water-lily). Those in the first flask +were spoiled, as might have been expected; but in that filled with +moist clay two tubers had thrown out shoots of half an inch in length, +and appeared quite sound. I planted them at once, and in a few days +vigorous leaves were developed. One of these beautiful plants, which +had been originally intended for the Buitenzorg Garden in Java, +remained in Legaspi; the other I sent to Manila, where, on my return, I +saw it in full bloom. In the charcoal two Victoria seeds had thrown out +roots above an inch in length, which had rotted off. Most likely they +had been torn up by the custom-house inspectors, and had afterwards +rotted, for the neck of the bottle was broken, and the charcoal +appeared as if it had been stirred. I communicated the brilliant result +of his mode of packing to the Inspector of the Botanical Gardens at +Berlin, who made a second consignment direct to Java, which arrived in +the best condition; so that not only the Victoria, but also the one +which had been derived in Berlin from an African father and an Asiatic +mother, now adorn the water-basins of Java with red pond-roses (the +latter plants probably those of the Philippines also).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Carpentering difficulties.</span>Being +compelled by the continuous rain to dry my collections in two ovens +before packing them, I found that my servant had burned the greater +part, so that the remains found a place in a roomy chest which I +purchased for a dollar at an auction. This unfortunately lacked a lid; +to procure which I was obliged, in the first place, to liberate a +carpenter who had been imprisoned for a small debt; secondly, to +advance money for the purchase of a board and the redemption of his +tools out of pawn; and even then the work, when it was begun, was +several times broken off because previous claims of violent creditors +had to be discharged by labor. In <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb216" +href="#pb216" name="pb216">216</a>]</span>five days the lid was +completed, at the cost of three dollars. It did not last long, however, +for in Manila I had to get it replaced by a new one.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Off to Samar.</span>At Legaspi I availed +myself of an opportunity to reach the island of Samar in a small +schooner. It is situated south-east from Luzon, on the farther side of +the Strait of San Bernardino, which is three leagues in breadth. At the +moment of my departure, to my great regret, my servant left me, +“that he might rest a little from his fatigue,” for Pepe +was good-natured, very skilful, and always even-tempered. <span class= +"marginnote">Losing a clever assistant.</span>He had learned much from +the numerous Spanish soldiers and sailors resident in Cavite, his +native place, where he used to be playfully called the “Spaniard +of Cavite.” Roving from one place to another was his delight; and +he quickly acquired acquaintances. He knew especially how to gain the +favor of the ladies, for he possessed many social accomplishments, +being equally able to play the guitar and to milk the carabao-cows. +When we came to a pueblo, where a mestiza, or even a “daughter of +the country” (creole), dwelt, he would, when practicable, ask +permission to milk a cow; and after bringing the señora some of +the milk, under pretext of being the interpreter of my wishes, he would +maintain such a flow of ingeniously courteous conversation, praising +the beauty and grace of the lady, and most modestly allowing his +prodigious travelling adventures to be extracted from him, that both +knight and esquire beamed with brilliant radiance. A present was always +welcome, and brought us many a little basket of oranges; and carabao +milk is excellent with chocolate: but it seemed as if one seldom has +the opportunity of milking a cow. Unfortunately Pepe did not like +climbing mountains, and when he was to have gone with me he either got +the stomach-ache or gave away my strong shoes, or allowed them to be +stolen; <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb217" href="#pb217" name= +"pb217">217</a>]</span>the native ones, however, being allowed to +remain untouched, for he knew well that they were fit only for riding, +and derived comfort from the fact. In company with me he worked quickly +and cheerfully; but, when alone, it became tedious to him. Particularly +he found friends, who hindered him, and then he would abandon his +skinning of the birds, which therefore became putrid and had to be +thrown away. Packing was still more disagreeable to him, and +consequently he did it as quickly as possible, though not always with +sufficient care, as on one occasion he tied up, in one and the same +bundle, shoes, arsenic-soap, drawings, and chocolate. Notwithstanding +trifling faults of this kind, he was very useful and agreeable to me; +but he did not go willingly to such an uncivilized island as Samar; and +when he received his wages in full for eight months all in a lump, and +so became a small capitalist, he could not resist the temptation to +rest a little from his labors.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4850" href="#xd20e4850src" name="xd20e4850">1</a></span> +<i>Dendrobium ceraula</i>, Reichenbach.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4869" href="#xd20e4869src" name="xd20e4869">2</a></span> +<i>Rafflesia Cumingii</i> R. Brown, according to Dr. Kuhn.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4904" href="#xd20e4904src" name="xd20e4904">3</a></span> +According to E. Bernaldez (“Guerra al Sur”) the number of +Spaniards and Filipinos kidnapped and killed within thirty years +amounted to twenty thousand.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4907" href="#xd20e4907src" name="xd20e4907">4</a></span> The +richly laden <i>Nao</i> (Mexican galleon) acted in this way.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4917" href="#xd20e4917src" name="xd20e4917">5</a></span> Extract +from a letter of the alcalde to the captain-general, June 20, +’60:—“For ten days past ten pirate vessels have been +lying undisturbed at the island of San Miguel, two leagues from Tabaco, +and interrupt the communication with the island of Catanduanes and the +eastern part of Albay. * * * They have committed several robberies, and +carried off six men. Nothing can be done to resist them as there are no +fire-arms in the villages, and the only two faluas have been detained +in the roads of San Bernardino by stress of weather.”</p> +<p class="footnote">Letter of June 25:—“Besides the above +private ships four large pancos and four small vintas have made their +appearance in the straits of San Bernardino. * * * Their force amounts +from four hundred and fifty to five hundred men. * * * Already they +have killed sixteen men, kidnapped ten, and captured one +ship.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4929" href="#xd20e4929src" name="xd20e4929">6</a></span> In +Chamisso’s time it was even worse. “The expeditions in +armed vessels, which were sent from Manila to cruise against the enemy +(the pirates) * * * serve only to promote smuggling, and Christians and +Moros avoid one another with equal diligence on such occasions.” +(“Observations and Views,” p. 73.) * * * Mas (i. iv. 43) +reports to the same effect, according to notices from the +secretary-general’s office at Manila, and adds that the cruisers +sold even the royal arms and ammunition, which had been entrusted to +them, whence much passed into the hands of the Moros. The alcaldes were +said to influence the commanders of the cruisers, and the latter to +overreach the alcaldes; but both usually made common cause. La +Pérouse also relates (ii., p. 357), that the alcaldes bought a +very large number of persons who had been made slaves by the pirates +(in the Philippines); so that the latter were not usually brought to +Batavia where they were of much less value.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4937" href="#xd20e4937src" name="xd20e4937">7</a></span> +According to the <i>Diario de Manila</i>, March 14, 1866, piracy on the +seas had diminished, but had not ceased. Paragua, Calamianes, Mindoro, +Mindanao, and the Bisayas still suffer from it. Robberies and +kidnapping are frequently carried on as opportunity favors; and such +casual pirates are to be extirpated only by extreme severity. According +to my latest accounts, piracy is again on the increase.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4945" href="#xd20e4945src" name="xd20e4945">8</a></span> The +Spaniards attempted the conquest of the Sulu Islands in 1628, 1629, +1637, 1731, and 1746; and frequent expeditions have since taken place +by way of reprisals. A great expedition was likewise sent out in +October, 1871, against Sulu, in order to restrain the piracy which +recently was getting the upper hand; indeed, a year or two ago, the +pirates had ventured as far as the neighborhood of Manila; but in April +of this year (1872) the fleet returned to Manila without having +effected its object. The Spaniards employed in this expedition almost +the whole marine force of the colony, fourteen ships, mostly steam +gunboats; and they bombarded the chief town without inflicting any +particular damage, while the Moros withdrew into the interior, and +awaited the Spaniards (who, indeed, did not venture to land) in a +well-equipped body of five thousand men. After months of inactivity the +Spaniards burnt down an unarmed place on the coast, committing many +barbarities on the occasion, but drew back when the warriors advanced +to the combat. The ports of the Sulu archipelago are closed to trade by +a decree, although it is questionable whether all navigators will pay +any regard to it. Not long since the sovereignty of his district was +offered by the Sultan of Sulu to the King of Prussia; but the offer was +declined.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4951" href="#xd20e4951src" name="xd20e4951">9</a></span> The +<i lang="es">Diario de Manila</i> of June 4, 1866, +states:—“Yesterday the military commission, established by +ordinance of the 3rd August, 1865, discontinued its functions. The +ordinary tribunals are again in force. The numerous bands of thirty, +forty, and more individuals, armed to the teeth, which have left behind +them their traces of blood and fire at the doors of Manila and in so +many other places, are annihilated. * * * More than fifty robbers have +expiated their crimes on the gallows, and one hundred and forty have +been condemned to presidio (forced labor) or to other +punishments.”</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XIX</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Samar.</span>The island of +Samar, which is of nearly rhomboidal outline, and with few indentations +on its coasts, stretches from the north-west to the south-east from +12° 37′ to 10° 54′ N.; its mean length being +twenty-two miles, its breadth eleven, and its area two hundred and +twenty square miles. It is separated on the south by the small strait +of San Juanico from the island of Leyte, with which it was formerly +united into one province. At the present time each island has its +separate governor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Former names.</span>By the older authors +the island is called Tendaya, Ibabao, and also Achan and Filipina. In +later times the eastern side was called Ibabao, and the western +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb218" href="#pb218" name= +"pb218">218</a>]</span>Samar, which is now the official denomination +for the whole island, the eastern shore being distinguished as the +Contracosta.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e4991src" href="#xd20e4991" +name="xd20e4991src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Seasons and weather.</span>As on the +eastern coasts of Luzon, the north-east monsoon here exceeds that from +the south-west in duration and force, the violence of the latter being +arrested by the islands lying to the southwest, while the north-east +winds break against the coasts of these easterly islands with their +whole force, and the additional weight of the body of water which they +bring with them from the open ocean. In October winds fluctuating +between north-west and north-east occur; but the prevalent ones are +northerly. In the middle of November the north-east is constant; and it +blows, with but little intermission, from the north until April. This +is likewise the rainy season, December and January being the wettest, +when it sometimes rains for fourteen days without interruption. In +Lauang, on the north coast, the rainy season lasts from October to the +end of December. From January to April it is dry; May, June, and July +are rainy; and August and September, again, are dry; so that here there +are two wet and two dry seasons in the year. From October to January +violent storms (baguios or typhoons) sometimes occur. Beginning +generally with a north wind, they pass to the north-west, accompanied +by a little rain, then back to the north, and with increasing violence +to the north-east and east, where they acquire their greatest power, +and then moderate <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb219" href="#pb219" +name="pb219">219</a>]</span>to the south. Sometimes, however, they +change rapidly from the east to the south, in which quarter they first +acquire their greatest force.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Winds and storms.</span>From the end of +March to the middle of June inconstant easterly winds (N.E.E. and S.E.) +prevail, with a very heavy sea on the east coast. May is usually calm; +but in May and June there are frequent thunderstorms, introducing the +south-west monsoon, which though it extends through the months of July, +August, and September, is not so constant as the north-east. The +last-named three months constitute the dry season, which, however, is +often interrupted by thunderstorms. Not a week, indeed, passes without +rain; and in many years a storm arises every afternoon. At this season +of the year ships can reach the east coast; but during the north-east +monsoon navigation there is impossible. These general circumstances are +subject to many local deviations, particularly on the south and west +coasts, where the uniformity of the air currents is disturbed by the +mountainous islands lying in front of them. According to the <i lang= +"es">Estado geografico</i> of 1855, an extraordinarily high tide, +called <i>dolo</i>, occurs every year at the change of the monsoon in +September or October. It rises sometimes sixty or seventy feet, and +dashes itself with fearful violence against the south and east coasts, +doing great damage, but not lasting for any length of time. The climate +of Samar and Leyte appears to be very healthy on the coasts; in fact, +to be the best of all the islands of the archipelago. Dysentery, +diarrhoea, and fever occur less frequently than in Luzon, and Europeans +also are less subject to their attacks than in that place.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Only the coast settled.</span>The civilized +natives live almost solely on its coasts, and there are also Bisayans +who differ in speech and manners from the Bicols in about the same +degree that the latter do from the Tagalogs. Roads and villages +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb220" href="#pb220" name= +"pb220">220</a>]</span>are almost entirely wanting in the interior, +which is covered with a thick wood, and affords sustenance to +independent tribes, who carry on a little tillage (vegetable roots and +mountain rice), and collect the products of the woods, particularly +resin, honey, and wax, in which the island is very rich.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A tedious but eventful voyage.</span>On the +3rd of July we lost sight of Legaspi, and, detained by frequent calms, +crawled as far as Point Montufar, on the northern edge of Albay, then +onwards to the small island of Viri, and did not reach Lauang before +evening of the 5th. The mountain range of Bacon (the Pocdol of Coello), +which on my previous journeys had been concealed by night or mist, now +revealed itself to us in passing as a conical mountain; and beside it +towered a very precipitous, deeply-cleft mountain-side, apparently the +remnant of a circular range. After the pilot, an old Filipino and +native of the country, who had made the journey frequently before, had +conducted us, to begin with, to a wrong port, he ran the vessel fast on +to the bar, although there was sufficient water to sail into the harbor +conveniently.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lauang.</span>The district of Lauang +(Lahuan), which is encumbered with more than four thousand five hundred +inhabitants, is situated at an altitude of forty feet, on the +south-west shore of the small island of the same name, which is +separated from Samar by an arm of the Catubig. According to a +widely-spread tradition, the settlement was originally in Samar itself, +in the middle of the rice-fields, which continue to the present day in +that place, until the repeated inroads of sea-pirates drove the +inhabitants, in spite of the inconvenience attending it, to protect +themselves by settling on the south coast of the little island, which +rises steeply out of the sea.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5024src" href= +"#xd20e5024" name="xd20e5024src">2</a> The latter <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb221" href="#pb221" name= +"pb221">221</a>]</span>consists of almost horizontal banks of tufa, +from eight to twelve inches in thickness. The strata being continually +eaten away by the waves at low watermark, the upper layers break off; +and thus the uppermost parts of the strata, which are of a tolerably +uniform thickness, are cleft by vertical fissures, and look like the +walls of a fortress. Pressed for space, the church and the convent have +taken up every level bit of the rock at various heights; and the effect +of this accommodation of architecture to the requirements of the +ground, though not designed by the architect, is most picturesque.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Deterioration in the town.</span>The place +is beautifully situated; but the houses are not so frequently as +formerly surrounded by little gardens while there is a great want of +water, and foul odors prevail. Two or three scanty springs afford a +muddy, brackish water, almost at the level of the sea, with which the +indolent people are content so that they have just enough. Wealthy +people have their water brought from Samar, and the poorer classes are +sometimes compelled, by the drying-up of the springs, to have recourse +to the same place. The spring-water is not plentiful for bathing +purposes; and, sea-bathing not being in favor, the people consequently +are very dirty. Their clothing is the same as in Luzon; but the women +wear no <i>tapis</i>, only a <i>camisa</i> (a short chemise, hardly +covering the breast), and a <i>saya</i>, mostly of coarse, stiff +guinara, which forms ugly folds, and when not colored black is very +transparent. But dirt and a filthy existence form a better screen than +opaque garments. The inhabitants of Lauang rightly, indeed, enjoy the +reputation of being very idle. Their industry is limited to a little +tillage, even fishing being so neglected that frequently there is a +scarcity of fish. In the absence of roads by land, there <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb222" href="#pb222" name="pb222">222</a>]</span>is +hardly any communication by water; and trade is mostly carried on by +mariners from Catbalogan, who exchange the surplus of the harvests for +other produce.</p> +<p>From the convent a view is had of part of the island of Samar, the +mountain forms of which appear to be a continuation of the horizontal +strata. In the centre of the district, at the distance of some miles, a +table mountain, famous in the history of the country, towers aloft. +<span class="marginnote">The Palapat revolt.</span>The natives of the +neighboring village of Palapat retreated to it after having killed +their priest, a too covetous Jesuit father, and for years carried on a +guerilla warfare with the Spaniards until they were finally overpowered +by treachery.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pirate outrages.</span>The interior of the +country is difficult to traverse from the absence of roads, and the +coasts are much infested by pirates. Quite recently several pontins and +four schooners, laden with abacá, were captured, and the crews +cruelly murdered, their bodies having been cut to pieces. This, +however, was opposed to their general practice, for the captives are +usually employed at the oars during the continuance of the foray, and +afterwards sold as slaves in the islands of the Sulu sea. It was well +that we did not encounter the pirates, for, although we carried four +small cannons on board, nobody understood how to use them.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e5056src" href="#xd20e5056" name= +"xd20e5056src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Electing officers.</span> The governor, who +was expected to conduct the election of the district officials in +person, but was prevented by illness, sent a deputy. As the annual +elections are conducted in the same manner over the whole country, that +at which I was present may be taken as typical of the rest. It took +place in the common hall; the governor <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb223" href="#pb223" name="pb223">223</a>]</span>(or his deputy) +sitting at the table, with the pastor on his right hand, and the clerk +on his left—the latter also acting as interpreter; while Cabezas +de Barangay, the gobernadorcillo, and those who had previously filled +the office, took their places all together on benches. First of all, +six cabezas and as many gobernadorcillos are chosen by lot as electors; +the actual gobernadorcillo is the thirteenth, and the rest quit the +hall. After the reading of the statutes by the president, who exhorts +the electors to the conscientious performance of their duty, the latter +advance singly to the table, and write three names on a piece of paper. +Unless a valid protest be made either by the parish priest or by the +electors, the one who has the most votes is forthwith named +gobernadorcillo for the coming year, subject to the approval of the +superior jurisdiction at Manila; which, however, always consents, for +the influence of the priest would provide against a disagreeable +election. The election of the other functionaries takes place in the +same manner, after the new gobernadorcillo has been first summoned into +the hall, in order that, if he have any important objections to the +officers then about to be elected, he may be able to make them. The +whole affair was conducted very quietly and with dignity.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e5066src" href="#xd20e5066" name= +"xd20e5066src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unsatisfactory forced labor.</span>On the +following morning, accompanied by the obliging priest, who was followed +by nearly all the boys of the village, I crossed over in a large boat +to Samar. Out of eleven strong baggage porters whom the +governor’s representative had selected for me, four took +possession of some trifling articles and sped away with them, three +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb224" href="#pb224" name= +"pb224">224</a>]</span>others hid themselves in the bush, and four had +previously decamped at Lauang. The baggage was divided and distributed +amongst the four porters who were detained, and the little boys who had +accompanied us for their own pleasure. We followed the sea-shore in a +westerly direction, and at a very late hour reached the nearest visita +(a suburban chapel and settlement) where the priest was successful, +after much difficulty, in supplying the places of the missing porters. +On the west side of the mouth of the Pambujan a neck of land projects +into the sea, which is a favorite resort of the <span class= +"marginnote">A pirate base.</span>sea-pirates, who from their shelter +in the wood command the shore which extends in a wide curve on both +sides, and forms the only communication between Lauang and Catarman. +Many travellers had already been robbed in this place; and the father, +who was now accompanying me thus far, had, with the greatest +difficulty, escaped the same danger only a few weeks before.</p> +<p>The last part of our day’s journey was performed very +cautiously. A messenger who had been sent on had placed boats at all +the mouths of rivers, and, as hardly any other Europeans besides +ecclesiastics are known in this district, I was taken in the darkness +for a Capuchin in travelling attire; the men lighting me with torches +during the passage, and the women pressing forward to kiss my hand. I +passed the night on the road, and on the following day reached Catarman +(Caladman on Coello’s map), a clean, spacious locality numbering +6,358 souls, at the mouth of the river of the same name. Six pontins +from Catbalogan awaited their cargoes of rice for Albay. The +inhabitants of the north coast are too indifferent sailors to export +their products themselves, and leave it to the people of <span class= +"marginnote">Catbalogan monopoly of interisland +traffic.</span>Catbalogan, who, having no rice-fields, are obliged to +find employment for their activity in other places.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb225" href="#pb225" name= +"pb225">225</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">A changed river and a +new town.</span>The river Catarman formerly emptied further to the +east, and was much choked with mud. In the year 1851, after a +continuous heavy rain, it worked for itself, in the loose soil which +consists of quartz sand and fragments of mussels, a new and shorter +passage to the sea—the present harbor, in which ships of two +hundred tons can load close to the land; but in doing so it destroyed +the greater part of the village, as well as the stone church and the +priest’s residence. In the new convent there are two salons, one +16.2 by 8.8, the other 9 by 7.6 paces in dimensions, boarded with +planks from a single branch of a dipterocarpus (guiso). The pace is +equivalent to 30 inches; and, assuming the thickness of the boards, +inclusive of waste, to be one inch, this would give a solid block of +wood as high as a table (two and one-half feet), the same in breadth, +eighteen feet in length, and of about one hundred and ten cubic +feet.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5088src" href="#xd20e5088" name= +"xd20e5088src">5</a> The houses are enclosed in gardens; but some of +them only by fencing, within which weeds luxuriate. At the rebuilding +of the village, after the great flood of water, the laying out of +gardens was commanded; but the industry which is required to preserve +them is often wanting. Pasture grounds extend themselves, on the south +side of the village, covered with fine short grass; but, with the +exception of some oxen and sheep belonging to the priest, there are no +cattle.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Up the river.</span>Still without servants, +I proceeded with my baggage in two small boats up the river, on both +sides of which rice-fields and coco-groves extended; but the latter, +being concealed by a thick border of Nipa palms and lofty cane, are +only visible occasionally through the gaps. The sandy banks, at first +flat, became gradually steeper, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb226" +href="#pb226" name="pb226">226</a>]</span>and the rock soon showed +itself close at hand, with firm banks of sandy clay containing +occasional traces of indistinguishable petrifactions. A small +mussel<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5097src" href="#xd20e5097" name= +"xd20e5097src">6</a> has pierced the clay banks at the water-line, in +such number that they look like honeycombs. About twelve we cooked our +rice in an isolated hut, amongst friendly people. The women whom we +surprised in dark ragged clothing of guinara drew back ashamed, and +soon after appeared in clean chequered sayas, with earrings of brass +and tortoise-shell combs. When I drew a little naked girl, the mother +forced her to put on a garment. About two we again stepped into the +boat, and after rowing the whole night reached a small visita, +Cobocobo, about nine in the forenoon. The rowers had worked without +interruption for twenty-four hours, exclusive of the two hours’ +rest at noon, and though somewhat tired were in good spirits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Salta Sangley ridge.</span>At half-past two +we set out on the road over the Salta Sangley (Chinese leap) to +Tragbucan, which, distant about a mile in a straight line, is situated +at the place where the Calbayot, which empties on the west coast at +Point Hibaton, becomes navigable for small boats. By means of these two +rivers and the short but troublesome road, a communication exists +between the important stations of Catarman on the north coast, and +Calbayot on the west coast. The road, which at its best part is a small +path in the thick wood uninvaded by the sun, and frequently is only a +track, passes over slippery ridges of clay, disappearing in the mud +puddles in the intervening hollows, and sometimes running into the bed +of the brooks. The watershed between the Catarman and Calbayot is +formed by the Salta Sangley already <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb227" href="#pb227" name="pb227">227</a>]</span>mentioned, a flat +ridge composed of banks of clay and sandstone, which succeed one +another ladder-wise downwards on both its sides, and from which the +water collected at the top descends in little cascades. In the most +difficult places rough ladders of bamboo are fixed. I counted fifteen +brooks on the north-east side which feed the Catarman, and about the +same number of feeders of the Calbayot on the south-west side. About +forty minutes past four we reached the highest point of the Salta +Sangley, about ninety feet above the sea; and at half-past six we got +to a stream, the highest part of the Calbayot, in the bed of which we +wandered until its increasing depth forced us, in the dark, laboriously +to beat out our path through the underwood to its bank; and about eight +o’clock we found ourselves opposite the visita Tragbucan. The +river at this place was already six feet deep, and there was not a +boat. After shouting entreaties and threats for a long time, the +people, who were startled out of sleep by a revolver shot, agreed to +construct a raft of bamboo, on which they put us and our baggage. The +little place, which consists of only a few poor huts, is prettily +situated, surrounded as it is by wooded hillocks on a plateau of sand +fifty feet above the reed-bordered river.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">On the Calbayot River.</span>Thanks to the +activity of the teniente of Catarman who accompanied me, a boat was +procured without delay, so that we were able to continue our journey +about seven o’clock. The banks were from twenty to forty feet +high; and, with the exception of the cry of some rhinoceros birds which +fluttered from bough to bough on the tops of the trees, we neither +heard nor saw a trace of animal life. About half-past eleven we reached +Taibago, a small visita, and about half-past one a similar one, +Magubay; and after two hours’ rest at noon, about five +o’clock, we got into a current down which we skilfully +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb228" href="#pb228" name= +"pb228">228</a>]</span>floated, almost without admitting any water. The +river, which up to this point is thirty feet broad, and on account of +many projecting branches of trees difficult to navigate, here is twice +as broad. About eleven at night we reached the sea, and in a complete +calm rowed for the distance of a league along the coast to Calbayot, +the convent at which place affords a commanding view of the islands +lying before it.</p> +<p>A thunderstorm obliged us to postpone the journey to the chief town, +Catbalogan (or Catbalonga), which was seven leagues distant, until the +afternoon. In a long boat, formed out of the stem of one tree, and +furnished with outriggers, we travelled along the shore, which is +margined by a row of low-wooded hills with many small visitas; and as +night was setting in we rounded the point of Napalisan, a rock of +trachytic conglomerate shaped by perpendicular fissures with rounded +edges into a series of projections like towers, which rises up out of +the sea to the height of sixty feet, like a knight’s castle. +<span class="marginnote">Catbalogan.</span>At night we reached +Catbalogan, the chief town of the island, with a population of six +thousand, which is picturesquely situated in the middle of the western +border, in a little bay surrounded by islands and necks of land, +difficult to approach and, therefore, little guarded. Not a single +vessel was anchored in the harbor.</p> +<p>The houses, many of which are of boards, are neater than those in +Camarines; and the people, though idle, are more modest, more +honorable, more obliging, and of cleaner habits, than the inhabitants +of South Luzon. Through the courtesy of the governor I quickly obtained +a roomy dwelling, and a servant who understood Spanish. <span class= +"marginnote">An ingenious mechanic.</span>Here I also met a very +intelligent Filipino who had acquired great skill in a large variety of +crafts. With the simplest tools he improved in many points on my +instruments <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb229" href="#pb229" name= +"pb229">229</a>]</span>and apparatus, the purpose of which he quickly +comprehended to my entire satisfaction, and gave many proofs of +considerable intellectual ability.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The flying monkey.</span>In Samar the +flying monkey or lemur (the kaguang of the +Bisayans—<i>galeopithecus</i>) is not rare. These animals, which +are of the size of the domestic cat, belong to the quadrumana; but, +like the flying squirrels, they are provided with a bird-like membrane, +which, commencing at the neck, and passing over the fore and hinder +limbs, reaches to the tail; by means of which they are able to glide +from one tree to another at a very obtuse angle.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5134src" href="#xd20e5134" name="xd20e5134src">7</a> Body and +membrane are clothed with a very short fur, which nearly equals the +chinchilla in firmness and softness, and is on that account in great +request. While I was there, six live kaguangs arrived as a present for +the priest (three light grey, one dark brown, and two greyish brown; +all with irregularly distributed spots); and from these I secured a +little female with her young.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A hasty and unfounded judgment.</span>It +appeared to be a very harmless, awkward animal. When liberated from its +fetters, it remained lying on the ground with all its four limbs +stretched out, and its belly in contact with the earth, and then hopped +in short awkward leaps, without thereby raising itself from the ground, +to the nearest wall, which was of planed boards. Arrived there, it felt +about it for a long time with the sharp claw, which is bent inwards, of +its fore-hand, until at length it realized the impossiblity of climbing +it at any part. It succeeded by means of a corner or an accidental +crevice in climbing a foot upwards, and fell down again immediately, +because it had abandoned the comparatively secure footing of its hinder +limbs before its fore-claws had obtained a firm hold. It <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb230" href="#pb230" name= +"pb230">230</a>]</span>received no hurt, as the violence of the fall +was broken by the flying membrane which was rapidly extended. These +attempts, which were continued with steady perseverance, showed an +astonishing deficiency of judgment, the animal endeavoring to do much +more than was in its power to accomplish. All its endeavors, therefore, +were unsuccessful, though made without doing itself any +hurt—thanks to the parachute with which Nature had provided it. +Had the kaguang not been in the habit of relying so entirely on this +convenient contrivance, it probably would have exercised its judgment +to a greater extent, and formed a more correct estimate of its ability. +The animal repeated its fruitless efforts so often that I no longer +took any notice of it, and after some time it disappeared: but I found +it again in a dark corner, under the roof, where it would probably have +waited for the night in order to continue its flight. Evidently it had +succeeded in reaching the upper edge of the boarded wall by squeezing +its body between this and the elastic covering of bamboo hurdle-work +which lay firmly imposed upon it; so that the poor creature, which I +had rashly concluded was stupid and awkward, had, under the +circumstances, manifested the greatest possible skill, prudence, and +perseverance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A promise of rare animals and wild +people.</span>A priest who was present on a visit from Calbigan +promised me so many wonders in his district—abundance of the +rarest animals, and Cimarrones uncivilized in the highest +degree—that I accompanied him, on the following day, in his +journey home. In an hour after our departure we reached the little +island of Majava, which consists of perpendicular strata of a hard, +fine-grained, volcanic tufa, with small, bright crystals of hornblende. +The island of Buat (on Coello’s map) is called by our mariners +Tubigan. In three hours we reached Umauas, a dependency of Calbigan. It +is <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb231" href="#pb231" name= +"pb231">231</a>]</span>situated, fifty feet above the sea, in a bay, +before which (as is so often the case on this coast) a row of small +picturesque islands succeed one another, and is exactly four leagues +from Catbalogan. But Calbigan, which we reached towards evening, is +situated two leagues N.N.E. from Umauas, surrounded by rice-fields, +forty feet above the river of the same name, and almost a league and a +half from its mouth. A tree with beautiful violet-blue panicles of +blossoms is especially abundant on the banks of the Calbigan, and +supplies a most valuable wood for building purposes in the Philippines. +It is considered equal to teak, like which it belongs to the class +verbenaceae; and its inland name is <span class= +"marginnote">Molave.</span>molave (<i>Vitex geniculata</i>, +Blanco).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Serpent-charmers.</span>According to the +statements of credible men, there are serpent-tamers in this country. +They are said to pipe the serpents out of their holes, directing their +movements, and stopping and handling them at will, without being +injured by them. The most famous individual amongst them, however, had +been carried off by the sea-pirates a short time before; another had +run away to the Cimarronese in the mountains; and the third, whose +reputation did not appear to be rightly established, accompanied me on +my excursion, but did not justify the representations of his friends. +He caught two poisonous serpents,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5163src" +href="#xd20e5163" name="xd20e5163src">8</a> which we encountered on the +road, by dexterously seizing them immediately behind the head, so that +they were incapable of doing harm; and, when he commanded them to lie +still, he took the precaution of placing his foot on their necks. In +the chase I hurt my foot so severely against a sharp-pointed branch +which was concealed by the mud that I was obliged to return to +Catbalogan without effecting my object. The inhabitants of Calbigan are +considered more active <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb232" href= +"#pb232" name="pb232">232</a>]</span>and circumspect than those on the +west coast, and they are praised for their honesty. I found them very +skilful; and they seemed to take an evident pleasure in making +collections and preparing plants and animals, so that I would gladly +have taken with me a servant from the place; but they are so reluctant +to leave their village that all the priest’s efforts to induce +one to ride with us were fruitless.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A coral garden.</span>At a short distance +north-west from Catbalogan a most luxuriant garden of corals is to be +observed in less than two fathoms, at the ebb. On a yellow carpet of +calcareous polyps and sponges, groups of leather-like stalks, +finger-thick, lift themselves up like stems of vegetable growth; their +upper ends thickly covered with polyps (<i>Sarcophyton pulmo</i> Esp.), +which display their roses of tentacula wide open, and resplendent with +the most beautiful varying colors, looking, in fact, like flowers in +full bloom. Very large serpulites extend from their calcareous tubes, +elegant red, blue, and yellow crowns of feelers, and, while little +fishes of marvellously gorgeous color dart about in this fairy garden, +in their midst luxuriantly grow delicate, feathered plumulariae.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ornamental but useless forts.</span>Bad +weather and the flight of my servant, who had gambled away some money +with which he had been entrusted, at a cock-fight, having detained me +some days in the chief town, I proceeded up the bay, which extends +southwards from Catbalogan and from west to east as far as Paranas. Its +northern shore consists of ridges of earth, regular and of equal +height, extending from north to south, with gentle slopes towards the +west, but steep declivities on the east, and terminating abruptly +towards the sea. Nine little villages are situated on this coast +between Catbalogan and Paranas. From the hollows, amidst coco and betel +palms, they expand in isolated groups of houses up the gentle western +slopes, and, on <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb233" href="#pb233" +name="pb233">233</a>]</span>reaching the summit, terminate in a little +castle, which hardly affords protection against the pirates, but +generally forms a pretty feature in the landscape. In front of the +southern edge of the bay, and to the south-west, many small islands and +wooded rocks are visible, with the mountains of Leyte in the +high-ground, constituting an ever-shifting series of views.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Paranas.</span>As the men, owing to the +sultry heat, the complete calm, and almost cloudless sky, slept quite +as much as they rowed, we did not reach Paranas before the afternoon. +It is a clean village, situated on a declivity between twenty and a +hundred and fifty feet above the sea. The sides, which stand +perpendicularly in the sea, consist of grey banks of clay receding +landwards, and overspread with a layer of fragments of mussels, the +intervals between which are filled up with clay, and over the latter is +a solid breccia, cemented with lime, composed of similar fragments. In +the clay banks are well-preserved petrifactions, so similar in color, +habitat, and aspect to many of those in the German tertiary formations +that they might be taken for them. The breccia also is fossil, probably +also tertiary; at all events, the identity of the few species which +were recognisable in it—Cerithium, Pecten, and Venus—with +living species could not be determined.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5188src" href="#xd20e5188" name="xd20e5188src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A canal through the bog.</span>On the +following morning I proceeded northwards by a small canal, through a +stinking bog of rhizophora (mangroves), and then continued my journey +on land to Loquilocun, a little village which is situated in the +forest. Half-way we passed through a river, twenty feet broad, flowing +east to west, with steep banks rendered accessible by ladders.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb234" href="#pb234" name= +"pb234">234</a>]</span><span class= +"marginnote">Hammock-travelling.</span>As I still continued lame +(wounds in the feet are difficult to heal in warm countries), I caused +myself to be carried part of the way in the manner which is customary +hereabouts. The traveller lies on a loose mat, which is fastened to a +bamboo frame, borne on the shoulders of four robust polistas. About +every ten minutes the bearers are relieved by others. As a protection +against sun and rain, the frame is furnished with a light roof of +pandanus.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Poor roads.</span>The roads were pretty +nearly as bad as those at the Salta Sangley; and, with the exception of +the sea-shore, which is sometimes available, there appear to be none +better in Samar. After three hours we reached the Loquilocun, which, +coming from the north, here touches its most southerly point, and then +flows south-east to the great ocean. Through the kind care of the +governor, I found two small boats ready, which were propelled with +wonderful dexterity by two men squatted at the extreme ends, and +<span class="marginnote">Running the rapids.</span>glided between the +branches of the trees and rocks into the bed of the rapid mountain +torrent. Amidst loud cheers both the boats glided down a cascade of a +foot and a half in height without shipping any water.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Loquilocun.</span>The little village of +Loquilocun consists of three groups of houses on three hillocks. The +inhabitants were very friendly, modest, and obliging, and so successful +in collecting that the spirits of wine which I had with me was quickly +consumed. In Catbalogan my messengers were able with difficulty to +procure a few small flasks. Through the awkward arrangements of a too +obliging friend, my own stores, having been sent to a wrong address, +did not reach me until some months afterwards; and the palm-wine, which +was to be bought in Samar, was too weak. One or two boats went out +daily to fish for me; but I obtained only a few specimens, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb235" href="#pb235" name= +"pb235">235</a>]</span>which belonged to almost as many species and +genera. Probably the bad custom of poisoning the water in order to kill +the fish (the pounded fruit of a Barringtonia here being employed for +the purpose) is the cause of the river being so empty of fish.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Numerous small streams.</span>After a few +days we left the little place about half-past nine in the forenoon, +packed closely in two small boats; and, by seven minutes past one when +we reached an inhabited hut in the forest, we had descended more than +forty streams of a foot and a foot and a half and more in depth. The +more important of them have names which are correctly given on +Coello’s map; and the following are their distances by the +watch:—At ten o’clock we came to a narrow, rocky chasm, at +the extremity of which the water falls several feet below into a large +basin; and here we unloaded the boats, which hitherto had, under +skilful management, wound their way, like well-trained horses, between +all the impediments in the bed of the river and over all the cascades +and waves, almost without taking any water; only two men remaining in +each boat, who, loudly cheering, shot downwards; in doing which the +boats were filled to the brim.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Jasper and Coal.</span>Opposite this +waterfall a bank of rubbish had been formed by the alluvium, in which, +besides fragments of the subjacent rock, were found well-rounded pieces +of jasper and porphyry, as well as some bits of coal containing several +pyrites, which had probably been brought during the rain from higher up +the river. Its origin was unknown to the sailors. From fifty-six +minutes past eleven to twelve o’clock there was an uninterrupted +succession of rapids, which were passed with the greatest dexterity, +without taking in water. Somewhat lower down, at about three minutes +past twelve, we took in so much water that we were compelled to land +and bale <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb236" href="#pb236" name= +"pb236">236</a>]</span>it out. At about fifteen minutes past twelve, we +proceeded onwards, the river now being on the average sixty feet broad. +On the edge of the wood some slender palms, hardly ten feet high, were +remarkable by their frequency, and many phalaenopses by their display +of blossoms, which is of rare occurrence. Neither birds nor apes, nor +serpents were observed; but large pythons, as thick as one’s leg +are said to be not unfrequent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Big pythons.</span>About thirty-six minutes +past twelve we reached one of the most difficult places—a +succession of waves, with many rocks projecting out of the water, +between which the boats, now in full career, and with rapid evolutions, +glided successfully. The adventure was accomplished with equal skill by +the two crews, who exerted their powers to the utmost. At seventeen +minutes past one we arrived at <span class="marginnote">Dini +portage.</span>Dini, the most considerable waterfall in the whole +distance; and here we had to take the boats out of the water; and, +availing ourselves of the lianas which hung down from the lofty forest +trees like ropes, we dragged them over the rocks. At twenty-one minutes +past two we resumed our journey; and from twenty-two minutes past to +half past eight we descended an irregular stair composed of several +ledges, shipping much water. Up to this point the Loquilocun flowed in +a rocky bed, with (for the most part) steep banks, and sometimes for a +long distance under a thick canopy of boughs, from which powerful +tendrils and ferns, more than a fathom in length, were suspended. Here +the country was to some extent open; flat hillocks, with low underwood, +came to view, and, on the north-west, loftier wooded mountains. The +last two hours were notable for a heavy fall of rain, and, about half +past five, we reached a solitary house occupied by friendly people, +where we took up our quarters for the night.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb237" href="#pb237" name= +"pb237">237</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Down the +river.</span>On the following morning the journey was continued down +the river. Within ten minutes we glided past the last waterfall, +between white calcareous rocks of a kind of marble, covered with +magnificent vegetation. Branches, completely covered with phalaenopses +(<i>P. Aphrodite</i>, Reichb. fls.), projected over the river, their +flowers waving like large gorgeous butterflies over its foaming +current. Two hours later the stream became two hundred feet broad, and, +after leaping down a ladder of fifty meters in height from Loquilocun, +it steals away in gentle windings through a flat inundated country to +the east coast; forming a broad estuary, on the right bank of which, +half a league from the sea, the district of Jubasan or Paric +(population 2,300) is situated. The latter give their names to the +lower portion of the stream. Here the excellent fellows of Loquilocun +left me in order to begin their very arduous return journey.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Along the coast.</span>Owing to bad +weather, I could not embark for Tubig (population 2,858), south of +Paric, before the following day; and, being continually hindered by +difficulties of land transit, I proceeded in the rowboat along the +coast to Borongan (population 7,685), with the equally intelligent and +obliging priest with whom I remained some days, and then continued my +journey to Guiuan (also Guiuang, Guiguan), the most important district +in Samar (population 10,781), situated on a small neck of land which +projects from the south-east point of the island into the sea.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A tideland spring.</span>Close to the shore +at the latter place a copious spring bursts out of five or six +openings, smelling slightly of sulphuretted hydrogen. It is covered by +the sea during the flow, but is open during the ebb, when its salt +taste is hardly perceptible. In order to test the water, a well was +formed by sinking a deep bottomless jar, and from this, after the water +had flowed for the space of half <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb238" +href="#pb238" name="pb238">238</a>]</span>an hour, a sample was taken, +which, to my regret, was afterwards lost. The temperature of the water +of the spring, at eight o’clock in the forenoon, was 27.7°; +of the atmosphere, 28.7°; of the sea-water, 31.2°C. The spring +is used by the women to dye their sarongs. The materials, after being +steeped in the decoction of a bark abounding in tannin (materials made +of the abacá are first soaked in a calcareous preparation), and +dried in the sun, are placed in the spring during the ebb, taken out +during the flow, re-dried, dipped in the decoction of bark, and again, +while wet, placed in the spring; and this is repeated for the space of +three days; when the result is a durable, but ugly inky black +(<i>gallussaures</i>, oxide of iron).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">East Indian monkeys.</span>At Loquilocun +and Borongan I had an opportunity of purchasing two live +macaques.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5275src" href="#xd20e5275" name= +"xd20e5275src">10</a> These extremely delicate and rare little animals, +which belong to the class of semi-apes, are, as I was assured in Luzon +and Leyte, to be found only in Samar, and live exclusively on charcoal. +My first “mago” was, in the beginning, somewhat voracious, +but he disdained vegetable food, and was particular in his choice of +insects, devouring live grasshoppers with delight.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e5283src" href="#xd20e5283" name="xd20e5283src">11</a> It was +extremely ludicrous, when he was fed in the day time, to see the animal +standing, perched up perpendicularly on his two thin legs with his bare +tail, and turning his large head—round as a ball, and with very +large, yellow, owl-like eyes—in every direction, looking like a +dark lantern on a pedestal with a circular swivel. Only gradually did +he succeed in fixing his eyes on the object presented to him; but, as +soon as he did perceive it, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb239" href= +"#pb239" name="pb239">239</a>]</span>he immediately extended his little +arms sideways, as though somewhat bashful, and then, like a delighted +child, suddenly seizing it with hand and mouth at once, he deliberately +tore the prey to pieces. During the day the mago was sleepy, +short-sighted, and, when disturbed, morose; but with the decreasing +daylight he expanded his pupils, and moved about in a lively and agile +manner, with rapid noiseless leaps, generally sideways. He soon became +tame, but to my regret died after a few weeks; and I succeeded only for +a short time in keeping the second little animal alive.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e4991" href="#xd20e4991src" name="xd20e4991">1</a></span> +According to Arenas (“Memorias,” 21) Albay was formerly +called Ibalon; Tayabas, Calilaya; Batangas, Comintan; Negros, Buglas; +Cebu, Sogbu; Mindoro, Mait; Samar, Ibabao; and Basilan, Taguima. +Mindanao is called Cesarea by B. de la Torre, and Samar, by R. Dudleo +“Arcano del Mare” (Florence, 1761), Camlaia. In +Hondiv’s map of the Indian islands (Purchas, 605) Luzon is +Luconia; Samar, Achan; Leyte, Sabura; Camarines, Nebui. In Albo’s +“Journal,” Cebu is called Suba; and Leyte, Seilani. +Pigafetta describes a city called Cingapola in Zubu, and Leyte, on his +map, is in the north called Baybay, and in the south Ceylon.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5024" href="#xd20e5024src" name="xd20e5024">2</a></span> No +mention is made of it in the <i lang="es">Estado geografico</i> of the +Franciscans, published at Manila in 1855.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5056" href="#xd20e5056src" name="xd20e5056">3</a></span> Small +ships which have no cannon should be provided with pitchers filled with +water and the fruit of the sacchariferous arenga, for the purpose of be +sprinkling the pirates, in the event of an attack, with the corrosive +mixture, which causes a burning heat. Dumont d’Urville mentions +that the inhabitants of Solo had, during his visit, poisoned the wells +with the same fruit. The kernels preserved in sugar are an agreeable +confection.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5066" href="#xd20e5066src" name="xd20e5066">4</a></span> There +were also elected a teniente mayor (deputy of the gobernadorcillo, a +juez mayor (superior judge) for the fields, who is always an +ex-captain; a second judge for the police; a third judge for disputes +relating to cattle; a second and third teniente; and first and second +policemen; and finally, in addition, a teniente, a judge, and a +policeman for each visita. All three of the judges can be ex-capitanes, +but no ex-capitan can be teniente. The first teniente must be taken +from the higher class, the others may belong either to that or to the +common people. The policemen (alguacils) are always of the latter +class.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5088" href="#xd20e5088src" name="xd20e5088">5</a></span> G. +Squier (“States of Central America,” 192) mentions a block +of mahogany, seventeen feet in length, which, at its lowest section, +measured five feet six, inches square, and contained altogether five +hundred fifty cubic feet.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5097" href="#xd20e5097src" name="xd20e5097">6</a></span> +According to Dr. V. Martens, <i>Modiola striatula</i>, Hanley, who +found the same bivalve at Singapore, in brackish water, but +considerably larger. Reeve also delineates the species collected by +Cumming in the Philippines, without precise mention of the locality, as +being larger (38 mm.), that from Catarman being 17 mm.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5134" href="#xd20e5134src" name="xd20e5134">7</a></span> In +Sumatra Wallace saw, in the twilight, a lemur run up the trunk of a +tree, and then glide obliquely through the air to another trunk, by +which he nearly reached the ground. The distance between the two trees +amounted to 210 feet, and the difference of height was not above 35 or +40 feet; consequently, less than l:5.—(“Malay +Archipelago,” i. 211).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5163" href="#xd20e5163src" name="xd20e5163">8</a></span> +According to W. Peters, <i>Tropidolaenus Philippinensis</i>, Gray.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5188" href="#xd20e5188src" name="xd20e5188">9</a></span> V. +Martens identified amongst the tertiary mussels of the banks of clay +the following species, which still live in the Indian +Ocean:—<i>Venus (Hemitapes) hiantina</i>, Lam.; <i>V. +squamosa</i>, L.; <i>Arca cecillei</i>, Phil.; <i>A. inaequivalvis</i>, +Brug.; <i>A. chalcanthum</i>, Rv., and the genera <i>Yoldia, +Pleurotoma, Cuvieria, Dentalium</i>, without being able to assert their +identity with living species.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5275" href="#xd20e5275src" name="xd20e5275">10</a></span> +<i>Tarsius spectrum</i>, Tem.; in the language of the +country—<i>mago</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5283" href="#xd20e5283src" name="xd20e5283">11</a></span> Father +Camel mentions that the little animal is said to live only on coal, but +that it was an error, for he ate the ficus Indica (by which we here +understand him to mean the banana) and other fruits. (Camel de +quadruped. <i>Phil. Trans.</i>, 1706–7. London.) Camel also gives +(p. 194) an interesting account of the kaguang, which is accurate at +the present day.—<i>Ibid.</i>, ii. S. 2197.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XX</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Pearl divers from the +Carolines.</span>In Guiuan I was visited by some Micronesians, who for +the last fourteen days had been engaged at Sulangan on the small neck +of land south-east from Guiuan, in diving for pearl mussels +(mother-of-pearl), having undertaken the dangerous journey for the +express purpose.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5301src" href="#xd20e5301" +name="xd20e5301src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hardships and perils of their +voyage.</span>They had sailed from Uleai (Uliai, 7° 20′ N., +143°57′ E. Gr.) in five boats, each of which had a crew of +nine men and carried forty gourds full of water, with coconuts and +batata. Every man received one coconut daily, and two batatas, which +they baked in the ashes of the coco shells; and they caught some fish +on the way, and collected a little rain-water. During the day they +directed their course by the sun, and at night by the <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb240" href="#pb240" name= +"pb240">240</a>]</span>stars. A storm destroyed the boats. Two of them +sank, together with their crews, before the eyes of their companions, +and of these, only one—probably the sole individual +rescued—two weeks afterwards reached the harbor of Tandag, on the +east coast of Mindanao. The party remained at Tandag two weeks, working +in the fields for hire, and then proceeded northwards along the coast +to Cantilang, 8° 25′ N.; Banouan (called erroneously Bancuan +by Coello), 9° 1′ N.; Taganaan, 9° 25′ N.; thence +to Surigao, on the north point of Mindanao; and then, with an easterly +wind, in two days, direct to Guiuan. In the German translation of +Captain Salmon’s “History of the Oriental Islands” +(Altona, 1733), it is stated that:</p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Castaways from the +Pelews.</span>“Some other islands on the east of the Philippines +have lately been discovered which have received the name of the New +Philippines because they are situated in the neighborhood of the old, +which have been already described. Father Clan (Clain), in a letter +from Manila, which has been incorporated in the ‘Philosophical +Transactions,’ makes the following statement respecting +them:—It happened that when he was in the town of Guivam, on the +island of Samar, he met twenty-nine Palaos (there had been thirty, but +one died soon after in Guiuan), or natives of certain recently +discovered islands, who had been driven thither by the east winds, +which prevail from December to May. According to their own statement, +they were driven about by the winds for seventy days, without getting +sight of land, until they arrived opposite to Guivam. When they sailed +from their own country, their two boats were quite full, carrying +thirty-five souls, including their wives and children; but several had +died miserably on the way from the fatigue which they had undergone. +When some one from Guivam wished to go on board to them, they were +thrown into such a state of terror that all who were in one of the +boats sprang overboard, along with their wives and children. However, +they at last thought it <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb241" href= +"#pb241" name="pb241">241</a>]</span>best to come into the harbor; so +they came ashore on December 28, 1696. They fed on coconuts and roots, +which were charitably supplied to them, but refused even to taste +cooked rice, which is the general food of the Asiatic nations. +<span class="marginnote">Previous castaways.</span><i>Two women who had +previously been cast away on the same islands</i> acted as interpreters +for them....</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lived by sea-fishing and rain +water.</span>“The people of the country went half naked, and the +men painted their bodies with spots and all kinds of devices.... As +long as they were on the sea they lived on fish, which they caught in a +certain kind of fish-basket, with a wide mouth but tapering to a point +at the bottom, which was dragged along underneath the boats; and +rain-water, when they could catch it (or, as is stated in the letter +itself, preserved in the shells of the coconut), served them for drink. +When they were about to be taken into the presence of the Father, whom, +from the great respect which was shown to him, they took for the +governor, they colored their bodies entirely yellow, an operation which +they considered highly important, as enabling them to appear as persons +of consideration. They are very skilful divers, and now and then find +pearls in the mussels which they bring up, which, however, they throw +away as useless things.”</p> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Not the first time for one.</span>But one +of the most important parts of Father Clain’s letter has been +omitted by Capt. Salmon:—“<i>The oldest of these strangers +had once before been cast away on the coast of the province of +Caragan</i>, on one of our islands (Mindanao); but as he found only +heathens (infidels), who lived in the mountains or on the desert shore, +he returned to his own country.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Yap camotes from Philippines.</span>In a +letter from Father Cantova to Father d’Aubenton, dated from +Agdana (<i>i.e.</i> Agaña, of the Marianne Islands), March 20, +1722, describing the Caroline and Pelew Islands, it is +said:—“The fourth district lies to the west. Yap (9° +25′ N., 138° 1′ E. Gr.),<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5341src" href="#xd20e5341" name="xd20e5341src">2</a> which is the +principal island, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb242" href="#pb242" +name="pb242">242</a>]</span>is more than forty leagues in +circumference. Besides the different roots which are used by the +natives of the island instead of bread, there is the batata, which they +call camote, and which they have acquired <i>from the Philippines</i>, +as I was informed by one of our Caroline Indians, who is a native of +the island. He states <i>that his father, named Coorr, ... three of his +brothers, and himself had been cast away in a storm on one of the +provinces in the Philippines, which was called Bisayas</i>; that a +missionary of our society (Jesus) received them in a friendly manner +... that on returning to their own island they took with them the seeds +of different plants, amongst others the <span class="marginnote">Other +arrivals of Micronesians.</span>batata, which multiplied so fast that +they had sufficient to supply the other islands of the Archipelago with +them.” Murillo Velarde states that in 1708 some Palaos were +wrecked in a storm on Palapag (north coast of Samar); and I personally +had the opportunity, in Manila, of photographing a company of Palaos +and Caroline islanders, who had been the year before cast on the coast +of Samar by foul weather. Apart from the question of their transport, +whether voluntary or not, these simply were six examples, such as still +occur occasionally, of Micronesians cast up on the shore of the +Philippines; and probably it would not be difficult to find several +more; but how often, both before and after the arrival of the +Spaniards, might not vessels from those islands have come within the +influence of the north-east storms, and been driven violently on the +east coast of the Philippines without any record of such facts being +preserved?<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5359src" href="#xd20e5359" name= +"xd20e5359src">3</a> Even as, on the west side of the Archipelago, the +type of the race seems to have been modified by its long intercourse +with China, Japan, Lower India, and later with Europe, so likewise may +Polynesian <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb243" href="#pb243" name= +"pb243">243</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Possible influence on +Filipinos.</span>influences have operated in a similar manner on the +east side; and the further circumstance that the inhabitants of the +Ladrones<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5366src" href="#xd20e5366" name= +"xd20e5366src">4</a> and the Bisayans<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5369src" href="#xd20e5369" name="xd20e5369src">5</a> possess the +art of coloring their teeth black, seems to point to early intercourse +between the Bisayans and the Polynesians.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5373src" href="#xd20e5373" name="xd20e5373src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A futile sea voyage in an open +boat.</span>At Guiuan I embarked on board an inconveniently cranky, +open boat, which was provided with an awning only three feet square, +for Tacloban, the chief town of Leyte. After first experiencing an +uninterrupted calm, we incurred great danger in a sudden tempest, so +that we had to retrace the whole distance by means of the oars. The +passage was very laborious for the crew, who were not protected by an +awning (temperature in the sun 35° R., of the water 25° +R.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5389src" href="#xd20e5389" name= +"xd20e5389src">7</a>), and lasted thirty-one hours, with few +intermissions; the party voluntarily abridging their intervals of rest +in order to get back quickly to Tacloban, which keeps up an active +intercourse with Manila, and has all the attractions of a luxurious +city for the men living on the inhospitable eastern coast. <span class= +"marginnote">Beauty of Samar-Leyte strait.</span> It is questionable +whether the sea anywhere washes over a spot of such peculiar beauty as +the narrow strait which divides Samar from Leyte. On the west it is +enclosed by steep banks of tuff, which tolerate no swamps of mangroves +on their borders. There the lofty primeval forest approaches in all its +sublimity close to the shore, interrupted only here and there by groves +of cocos, in whose sharply defined shadows solitary <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb244" href="#pb244" name="pb244">244</a>]</span>huts +are to be found; and the steep hills facing the sea, and numerous small +rocky islands, are crowned with little castles of blocks of coral. At +the eastern entrance of the strait the south coast of Samar consists of +white limestone, like marble, but of quite modern date, which in many +places forms precipitous cliffs.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5399src" +href="#xd20e5399" name="xd20e5399src">8</a> At Nipa-Nipa, a small +hamlet two leagues from Basey, they project into the sea in a +succession of picturesque rocks, above one hundred feet in height, +which, rounded above like a dome, thickly covered with vegetation, and +corroded at the base by the waters of the sea, rise out of the waves +like gigantic mushrooms. A peculiar atmosphere of enchantment pervades +this locality, whose influence upon the native mariner must be all the +more powerful when, fortunately escaping from the billows outside and +the buffeting of the north-east wind, he suddenly enters this tranquil +place of refuge. No wonder that superstitious imagination has peopled +the place with spirits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Burial caves.</span>In the caverns of these +rocks the ancient Pintados interred the corpses of their heroes and +ancestors in well-locked coffins, surrounded by those objects which had +been held in the highest regard by them during life. Slaves were also +sacrificed by them at their obsequies, in order that they might not be +without attendance in the world of shadows;<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5431src" href="#xd20e5431" name="xd20e5431src">9</a> and the +numerous coffins, implements, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb245" +href="#pb245" name="pb245">245</a>]</span>arms, and trinkets, protected +by superstitious terrors, continued to be undisturbed for centuries. No +boat ventured to cross over without the observance of a religious +ceremony, derived from heathen times, to propitiate the spirits of the +caverns who were believed to punish the omission of it with storm and +ship-wreck.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Objects destroyed but superstition +persists.</span>About thirty years ago a zealous young ecclesiastic, to +whom these heathen practices were an abomination, determined to +extirpate them by the roots. With several boats well equipped with +crosses, banners, pictures of saints, and all the approved machinery +for driving out the Devil, he undertook the expedition against the +haunted rocks, which were climbed amidst the sounds of music, prayers, +and the reports of fireworks. A whole pailful of holy water first +having been thrown into the cave for the purpose of confounding the +evil spirits, the intrepid priest rushed in with elevated cross, and +was followed by his faithful companions, who were fired with his +example. A brilliant victory was the reward of the well-contrived and +carefully executed plot. The coffins were broken to fragments, the +vessels dashed to pieces, and the skeletons thrown into the sea; and +the remaining caverns were stormed with like results. The objects of +superstition have indeed been annihilated, but the superstition itself +survives to the present day.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Skulls from a rock near Basey.</span>I +subsequently learned from the priest at Basey that there were still +some remains on a rock, and a few days afterwards the worthy man +surprised me with several skulls and a child’s coffin, which he +had had brought from the place. Notwithstanding the great respect in +which he was held by his flock, he had to exert all his powers of +persuasion to induce the boldest of them to engage in so daring an +enterprise. A boat manned by sixteen rowers was fitted out for the +purpose; with a smaller crew they would not have ventured to undertake +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb246" href="#pb246" name= +"pb246">246</a>]</span>the journey. On their return home a thunderstorm +broke over them, and the sailors, believing it to be a punishment for +their outrage, were prevented only by the fear of making the matter +worse from throwing coffin and skulls into the sea. Fortunately the +land was near, and they rowed with all their might towards it; and, +when they arrived, I was obliged to take the objects out of the boat +myself, as no native would touch them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The cavern’s +contents.</span>Notwithstanding, I was the next morning successful in +finding some resolute individuals who accompanied me to the caverns. In +the first two which we examined we found nothing; the third contained +several broken coffins, some skulls, and potsherds of glazed and +crudely painted earthenware, of which, however, it was impossible to +find two pieces that belonged to each other. A narrow hole led from the +large cavern into an obscure space, which was so small that one could +remain in it only for a few seconds with the burning torch. This +circumstance may explain the discovery, in a coffin which was eaten to +pieces by worms, and quite mouldered away, of a well-preserved +skeleton, or rather a mummy, for in many places there were carcasses +clothed with dry fibers of muscle and skin. It lay upon a mat of +pandanus, which was yet recognizable, with a cushion under the head +stuffed with plants, and covered with matting of pandanus. There were +no other remains of woven material. The coffins were of three shapes +and without any ornament. Those of the first form, which were of +excellent molave-wood, showed no trace of worm-holes or decay, whereas +the others had entirely fallen to dust; and those of the third kind, +which were most numerous, were distinguishable from the first only by a +less curved form and inferior material.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Impressive location of burial +cave.</span>No legend could have supplied an enchanted royal sepulchre +with a more suitable approach than that of <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb247" href="#pb247" name="pb247">247</a>]</span>the +last of these caverns. The rock rises out of the sea with perpendicular +sides of marble, and only in one spot is to be observed a natural +opening made by the water, hardly two feet high, through which the boat +passed at once into a spacious court, almost circular, and over-arched +by the sky, the floor of which was covered by the sea, and adorned with +a garden of corals. The steep sides are thickly hung with lianas, +ferns, and orchids, by help of which one climbs upwards to the cavern, +sixty feet above the surface of the water. To add to the singularity of +the situation, we also found at the entrance to the grotto, on a large +block of rock projecting two feet above the ground, <span class= +"marginnote">A sea snake.</span>a sea-snake, which tranquilly gazed at +us, but which had to be killed, because, like all genuine sea-snakes, +it was poisonous. Twice before I had found the same species in crevices +of rock on the dry land, where the ebb might have left it; but it was +strange to meet with it in this place, at such a height above the sea. +It now reposes, as <i>Platurus fasciatus Daud</i>., in the Zoological +Museum of the Berlin University.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese dishers from a cave.</span>In +Guiuan I had an opportunity of purchasing four richly painted Chinese +dishes which came from a similar cavern, and a gold signet ring; the +latter consisting of a plate of gold, originally bent into a tube of +the thickness of a quill with a gaping seam, and afterwards into a ring +as large as a thaler, which did not quite meet. The dishes were stolen +from me at Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Burial caves.</span>There are similar +caverns which have been used as burial-places in many other localities +in this country; on the island of Andog, in Borongan (a short time ago +it contained skulls); also at Batinguitan, three hours from Borongan, +on the banks of a little brook; and in Guiuan, on the little island of +Monhon, which is difficult of approach by reason of the boisterous sea. +In Catubig trinkets of gold have been found, but they have been +converted <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb248" href="#pb248" name= +"pb248">248</a>]</span>into modern articles of adornment. One cavern at +Lauang, however, is famous over the whole country on account of the +gigantic, flat, compressed skulls, without sutures, which have been +found in it.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5485src" href="#xd20e5485" +name="xd20e5485src">10</a> It will not be uninteresting to compare the +particulars here described with the statements of older authors; and +for this reason I submit the following extracts:—</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Embalming.</span>Mas (<i>Informe</i>, i. +21), who does not give the sources of his information, thus describes +the customs of the ancient inhabitants of the archipelago at their +interments:—They sometimes embalmed their dead with aromatic +substances * * * and placed those who were of note in chests carved out +of a branch of a tree, and furnished with well-fitted lids * * * The +coffin was placed, in accordance with the wish of the deceased, +expressed before his death, either in the uppermost room of the house, +where articles of value were secreted, or under the dwelling-house, in +a kind of grave, which was not covered, but enclosed with a railing; or +in a distant field, or on an elevated place or rock on the bank of a +river, where he might be venerated by the pious. A watch was set over +it for a certain time, lest boats should cross over, and the dead +person should drag the living after him.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Burial customs.</span>According to Gaspar +San Agustín (p. 169), the dead were rolled up in cloths, and +placed in clumsy chests, carved out of a block of wood, and buried +under their houses, together with their jewels, gold rings, and some +plates of gold over the mouth and eyes, and furnished with provisions, +cups, and dishes. They were also accustomed to bury slaves along with +men of note, in order that they might be attended in the other +world.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb249" href="#pb249" name= +"pb249">249</a>]</span>“Their chief idolatry consisted in the +worship of those of their ancestors who had most distinguished +themselves by courage and genius, whom they regarded as deities * * * * +They called them <i>humalagar</i>, which is the same as manes in the +Latin * * * Even the aged died under this conceit, choosing particular +places, such as one on the island of Leyte, which allowed of their +being interred at the edge of the sea, in order that the mariners who +crossed over might acknowledge them as deities, and pay them +respect.” (Thévenot, <i>Religieux</i>, p. 2.)</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Slaves sacrificed.</span>“They did +not place them (the dead) in the earth, but in coffins of very hard, +indestructible wood * * * Male and female slaves were sacrificed to +them, that they should not be unattended in the other world. If a +person of consideration died, silence was imposed upon the whole of the +people, and its duration was regulated by the rank of the deceased; and +under certain circumstances it was not discontinued until his relations +had killed many other persons to appease the spirit of the dead.” +(<i>Ibid</i>., p. 7.)</p> +<p>“For this reason (to be worshipped as deities) the oldest of +them chose some remarkable spot in the mountains, and particularly on +headlands projecting into the sea, in order to be worshipped by the +sailors.” (<i>Gemelli Careri</i>, p. 449.)</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Basey and its river.</span>From Tacloban, +which I chose for my headquarters on account of its convenient +tribunal, and because it is well supplied with provisions, I returned +on the following day to Samar, and then to Basey, which is opposite to +Tacloban. The people of Basey are notorious over all Samar for their +laziness and their stupidity, but are advantageously distinguished from +the inhabitants of Tacloban by their purity of manners. Basey is +situated on the delta of the river, which is named after it. We +proceeded up a small arm of the principal stream, which <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb250" href="#pb250" name= +"pb250">250</a>]</span>winds, with a very slight fall, through the +plain; the brackish water, and the fringe of nipa-palms which +accompanies it, consequently extending several leagues into the +country. Coco plantations stretch behind them; and there the floods of +water (<i>avenidas</i>), which sometimes take place in consequence of +the narrow rocky bed of the upper part of the river, cause great +devastation, as was evident from the mutilated palms which, torn away +from their standing-place, rise up out of the middle of the river. +After five hours’ rowing we passed out of the flat country into a +narrow valley, with steep sides of marble, which progressively closed +in and became higher. In several places they are underwashed, cleft, +and hurled over each other, and with their naked side-walls form a +beautiful contrast to the blue sky, the clear, greenish river, and the +luxuriant lianas, which, attaching themselves to every inequality to +which they could cling, hung in long garlands over the rocks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A frontage.</span>The stream became so +rapid and so shallow that the party disembarked and dragged the boat +over the stony bed. In this manner we passed through a sharp curve, +twelve feet in height, formed by two rocks thrown opposite to each +other, into a tranquil oval-shaped basin of water enclosed in a circle +of limestone walls, inclining inwards, of from sixty to seventy feet in +height; on the upper edge of which a circle of trees permitted only a +misty sunlight to glimmer through the thick foliage. A magnificent +gateway of rock, fifty to sixty feet high, and adorned with numerous +stalactites, raised itself up opposite the low entrance; and through it +we could see, at some distance, the upper portion of the river bathed +in the sun. <span class="marginnote">A beautiful grotto.</span>A cavern +of a hundred feet in length, and easily climbed, opened itself in the +left side of the oval court, some sixty feet above the surface of the +water; and it ended in a small gateway, through which you <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb251" href="#pb251" name= +"pb251">251</a>]</span>stepped on to a projection like a balcony, +studded with stalactites. From this point both the landscape and the +rocky cauldron are visible, and the latter is seen to be the remainder +of a stalactitic cavern, the roof of which has fallen in. The beauty +and peculiar character of the place have been felt even by the natives, +who have called it Sogoton (properly, a bay in the sea). In the very +hard limestone, which is like marble, I observed traces of bivalves and +multitudes of spines of the sea-urchin, but no well-defined remains +could be knocked off. The river could still be followed a short +distance further upwards; and in its bed there were disjointed +fragments of talcose and chloritic rocks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fishing.</span>A few small fishes were +obtained with much difficulty; and amongst them was a new and +interesting species, viviparous.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5548src" +href="#xd20e5548" name="xd20e5548src">11</a> An allied species (<i>H. +fluviatilis</i>, Bleeker) which I had two years previously found in a +limestone cavern on Nusa Kambangan, in Java, likewise contained living +young ones. The net employed in fishing appears to be suited to the +locality, which is a shallow river, full of transparent blocks. It is a +fine-meshed, longish, four-cornered net, having its ample sides +fastened to two poles of bamboo, which at the bottom were provided with +a kind of wooden shoes, which curve upwards towards the stems when +pushed forwards. The fisherman, taking hold of the upper ends of the +poles, pushes the net, which is held obliquely before him, and the +wooden shoes cause it to slide over the stones, while another person +drives the fish towards him.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fossil beds.</span>On the right bank, below +the cavern, and twenty feet above the surface of the water, there are +beds of fossils, pectunculus, tapes, and placuna, some of which, from +the fact of their barely adhering by the tip, must be of very recent +date. I passed the night in a small hut, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb252" href="#pb252" name="pb252">252</a>]</span>which was quickly +erected for me, and on the following day attempted to pass up the river +as far as the limits of the crystalline rock, but in vain. In the +afternoon we set out on our return to Basey, which we reached at +night.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Recent elevation of coast.</span>Basey is +situated on a bank of clay, about fifty feet above the sea, which +towards the west elevates itself into a hill several hundred feet in +height, and with steep sides. At twenty-five to thirty feet above the +sea I found the same recent beds of mussels as in the stalactitic +cavern of Sogoton. From the statements of the parish priest and of +other persons, a rapid elevation of the coasts seems to be taking place +in this country. Thirty years ago ships could lie alongside the land in +three fathoms of water at the flood, whereas the depth at the same +place now is not much more than one fathom. Immediately opposite to +Basey lie two small islands, Genamok and Tapontonan, which, at the +present time, appear to be surrounded by a sandbank at the lowest +ebb-tide. Twenty years ago nothing of the kind was to be seen. +Supposing these particulars to be correct, we must next ascertain what +proportion of these changes of level is due to the floods, and how much +to volcanic elevation; which, if we may judge by the neighboring active +solfatara at Leyte, must always be of considerable amount.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Crocodiles.</span>As the priest assured us, +there are crocodiles in the river Basey over thirty feet in length, +those in excess of twenty feet being numerous. The obliging father +promised me one of at least twenty-four feet, whose skeleton I would +gladly have secured; and he sent out some men who are so practised in +the capture of these animals that they are dispatched to distant places +for the purpose. Their contrivance for capturing them, which I, +however, never personally witnessed, consists of a light raft of +bamboo, with a stage, on which, several <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb253" href="#pb253" name="pb253">253</a>]</span>feet above the water, +a dog or a cat is bound. Alongside the animal is placed a strong iron +hook, which is fastened to the swimming bamboo by means of fibers of +abacá. The crocodile, when it has swallowed the bait and the +hook at the same time, endeavors in vain to get away, for the +pliability of the raft prevents its being torn to pieces, and the +peculiar elasticity of the bundle of fibers prevents its being bitten +through. The raft serves likewise as a buoy for the captured animal. +According to the statements of the hunters, the large crocodiles live +far from human habitations, generally selecting the close vegetation in +an oozy swamp, in which their bellies, dragging heavily along, leave +trails behind them which betray them to the initiated. After a week the +priest mentioned that his party had sent in three crocodiles, the +largest of which, however, measured only eighteen feet, but that he had +not kept one for me, as he hoped to obtain one of thirty feet. His +expectation, however, was not fulfilled.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ignatius bean.</span>In the environs of +Basey the Ignatius bean grows in remarkable abundance, as it also does +in the south of Samar and in some other of the Bisayan islands. It is +not met with in Luzon, but it is very likely that I have introduced it +there unwittingly. Its sphere of propagation is very limited; and my +attempts to transplant it to the Botanical Garden of Buitenzorg were +fruitless. Some large plants intended for that purpose, which during my +absence arrived for me at Daraga, were incorporated by one of my +patrons into his own garden; and some, which were collected by himself +and brought to Manila, were afterwards lost. Every effort to get these +seeds (kernels), which are used over the whole of Eastern Asia as +medicine, to germinate miscarried, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb254" +href="#pb254" name="pb254">254</a>]</span>they having been boiled +before transmission, ostensibly for their preservation, but most +probably to secure the monopoly of them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Strychnine.</span>According to +Flueckinger,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5586src" href="#xd20e5586" +name="xd20e5586src">12</a> the gourd-shaped berry of the climbing shrub +(<i>Ignatia amara</i>, L. <i>Strychnos Ignatii</i>, Berg. <i>Ignatiana +Philippinica</i>. Lour.) contains twenty-four irregular egg-shaped +seeds of the size of an inch which, however, are not so poisonous as +the Ignatius beans, which taste like crack-nuts. In these seeds +strychnine was found by Pelletier and Caventou in 1818, as it +subsequently was in crack-nuts. The former contained twice as much of +it as the latter, viz. one and a half per cent; but, as they are four +times as dear, it is only produced from the latter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cholera and snake-bite cure.</span>In many +households in the Philippines the dangerous drug is to be found as a +highly prized remedy, under the name of Pepita de Catbalonga. Gemelli +Careri mentions it, and quotes thirteen different uses of it. Dr. +Rosenthal (“Synopsis Plantarum Diaphor.” p. 363) +says:—“In India it has been employed as a remedy against +cholera under the name of <i>Papecta</i>.” Papecta is probably a +clerical error. In K. Lall Dey’s “Indigenous Drugs of +India,” it is called Papeeta, which is pronounced Pepita in +English; and Pepita is the Spanish word for the kernel of a fruit. It +is also held in high estimation as an antidote for the bite of +serpents. Father Blanco (“Flora of the Philippines,” 61), +states that he has more than once proved its efficacy in this respect +in his own person; but he cautions against its employment internally, +as it had been fatal in very many cases. It should not be taken into +the mouth, for should the spittle be swallowed, and vomiting not ensue, +death would be inevitable. The parish priest of Tabaco, however, almost +always <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb255" href="#pb255" name= +"pb255">255</a>]</span>carried a pepita in his mouth. From 1842 he +began occasionally to take an Ignatius bean into his mouth as a +protection against cholera, and so gradually accustomed himself to it. +When I met him in 1860 he was quite well, and ascribed his health and +vigor expressly to that habit. According to his communication, in cases +of cholera the decoction was successfully administered in small doses +introduced into tea; but it was most efficacious when, mixed with +brandy, it was applied as a liniment.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superstitions regarding the +“Bisayan” bean.</span>Huc also (“Thibet,” I. +252) commends the expressed juice of the kouo-kouo (<i>Faba Ign. +amar.</i>) both for internal and external use, and remarks that it +plays a great part in Chinese medicine, no apothecary’s shop +being without it. Formerly the poisonous drug was considered a charm, +as it is still by many. Father Camel<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5618src" href="#xd20e5618" name="xd20e5618src">13</a> states that +the Catbalogan or Bisayan-bean, which the Indians call Igasur or +Mananaog (the victorious), was generally worn as an amulet round the +neck, being a preservative against poison, contagion, magic, and +philtres, so potent, indeed, that the Devil <i>in propia persona</i> +could not harm the wearer. Especially efficacious is it against a +poison communicated by breathing upon one, for not only does it protect +the wearer, but it kills the individual who wishes to poison him. Camel +further mentions a series of miracles which superstition ascribed to +the Ignatius bean.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coconuts.</span>On the southern half of the +eastern border, on the shore from Borongan by Lauang as far as Guiuan, +there are considerable plantations of cocos, which are most imperfectly +applied to the production of oil. From Borongan and its visitas twelve +thousand pitchers of coconut oil are yearly exported to Manila, and the +nuts consumed by men and pigs would suffice for at least <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb256" href="#pb256" name= +"pb256">256</a>]</span>eight thousand pitchers. As a thousand nuts +yield eight pitchers and a half, the vicinity of Borongan alone yields +annually six million nuts; for which, assuming the average produce at +fifty nuts, one hundred-twenty thousand fullbearing palms are required. +The statement that their number in the above-mentioned district amounts +to several millions must be an exaggeration.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Getting coco oil.</span>The oil is obtained +in a very rude manner. The kernel is rasped out of the woody shell of +the nut on rough boards, and left to rot; and a few boats in a state of +decay, elevated on posts in the open air, serve as reservoirs, the oil +dropping through their crevices into pitchers placed underneath; and +finally the boards are subjected to pressure. This operation, which +requires several months for its completion, yields such a bad, +dark-brown, and viscid product that the pitcher fetches only two +dollars and a quarter in Manila, while a superior oil costs six +dollars.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5636src" href="#xd20e5636" name= +"xd20e5636src">14</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Oil factory.</span>Recently a young +Spaniard has erected a factory in Borongan for the better preparation +of oil. A winch, turned by two carabaos, sets a number of rasps in +motion by means of toothed wheels and leather straps. They are somewhat +like a gimlet in form, and consist of five iron plates, with dentated +edges, which are placed radiating on the end of an iron rod, and close +together, forming a blunt point towards the front. The other end of the +rod passes through the center of a disk, which communicates the rotary +motion to it, and projects beyond it. The workman, taking a divided +coconut in his two hands, holds its interior arch, which contains the +oil-bearing nut, with a firm pressure against the revolving rasp, at +the same time urging with his breast, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb257" href="#pb257" name="pb257">257</a>]</span>which is protected by +a padded board, against the projecting end of the rod. The fine shreds +of the nut remain for twelve hours in flat pans, in order that they may +be partially decomposed. They are then lightly pressed in hand-presses; +and the liquor, which consists of one-third oil and two-thirds water, +is caught in tubs, from which, at the end of six hours, the oil, +floating on the surface, is skimmed off. It is then heated in iron +pans, containing 100 liters, until the whole of the water in it has +evaporated, which takes from two to three hours. In order that the oil +may cool rapidly, and not become dark in color, two pailfuls of cold +oil, freed from water, are poured into it, and the fire quickly removed +to a distance. The compressed shreds are once more exposed to the +atmosphere, and then subjected to a powerful pressure. After these two +operations have been twice repeated, the rasped substance is suspended +in sacks between two strong vertical boards and crushed to the utmost +by means of clamp screws, and repeatedly shaken up. The refuse serves +as food for pigs. The oil which runs from the sacks is free from water, +and is consequently very clear, and is employed in the cooling of that +which is obtained in the first instance.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5645src" href="#xd20e5645" name="xd20e5645src">15</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Limited output.</span>The factory produces +fifteen hundred tinajas of oil. It is in operation only nine months in +the year; from December to February the transport of nuts being +prevented by the tempestuous seas, there being no land communication. +The manufacturer was not successful in procuring nuts from the +immediate vicinity in sufficient quantity to enable him to carry on his +operations <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb258" href="#pb258" name= +"pb258">258</a>]</span>without interruption, nor, during the favorable +season of the year, could he lay up a store for the winter months, +although he paid the comparatively high price of three dollars per +thousand.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Illogical business.</span>While the natives +manufactured oil in the manner just described, they obtained from a +thousand nuts three and a half pots, which, at six reals each, fetched +twenty-one reals; that is three reals less than was offered them for +the raw nuts. These data, which are obtained from the manufacturers, +are probably exaggerated, but they are in the main well founded; and +the traveller in the Philippines often has the opportunity of observing +similar anomalies. For example, in Daet, North Camarines, I bought six +coconuts for one cuarto, at the rate of nine hundred and sixty for one +dollar, the common price there. On my asking why no oil-factory had +been erected, I received for answer that the nuts were cheaper singly +than in quantities. In the first place, the native sells only when he +wants money; but he knows that the manufacturer cannot well afford to +have his business suspended; so, careless of the result, he makes a +temporary profit, and never thinks of ensuring for himself a permanent +source of income.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sugar venders.</span>In the province of +Laguna, where the natives prepare coarse brown sugar from sugar-cane, +the women carry it for leagues to the market, or expose it for sale on +the country roads, in small loaves (<i>panoche</i>), generally along +with buyo. Every passenger chats with the seller, weighs the loaf in +the hand, eats a bit, and probably passes on without buying any. In the +evening the woman returns to her home with her wares, and the next day +repeats the same process.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Disproportionate prices.</span>I have lost +my special notes, but I remember that in two cases at least the price +of the sugar in these loaves was cheaper than by the picul. Moreover, +the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb259" href="#pb259" name= +"pb259">259</a>]</span>Government of the day anticipated the people in +setting the example, by selling cigars cheaper singly than in +quantities.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Uncertain trading.</span>In Europe a +speculator generally can calculate beforehand, with the greatest +certainty, the cost of production of any article; but in the +Philippines it is not always so easy. Independently of the uncertainty +of labor, the regularity of the supply of raw material is disturbed, +not only by laziness and caprice, but also by jealousy and distrust. +The natives, as a rule, do not willingly see Europeans settle amongst +them and engage successfully in local operations which they themselves +do not understand how to execute; and in like manner the creoles are +reserved with foreigners, who generally are superior to them in +capital, skill, and activity. Besides jealousy, suspicion also plays a +great part, and this influences the native as well against the mestizo +as against the Castilian. Enough takes place to the present day to +justify this feeling; but formerly, when the most thrifty subjects +could buy governorships, and shamelessly fleece their provinces, such +outrageous abuses are said to have been permitted until, in process of +time, suspicion has become a kind of instinct amongst the +Filipinos.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5301" href="#xd20e5301src" name="xd20e5301">1</a></span> The +following communication appeared for the first time in the reports of a +session of the Anthropological Society of Berlin; but my visitors were +there denominated Palaos islanders. But, as Prof. Semper, who spent a +long time on the true Palaos (Pelew) islands, correctly shows in the +“Corresp.-Bl. f. Anthropol.,” 1871, No. 2, that Uliai +belongs to the group of the Carolinas, I have here retained the more +common expression, Micronesian, although those men, respecting whose +arrival from Uliai no doubt existed, did not call themselves Caroline +islanders, but Palaos. As communicated to me by Dr. Graeffe, who lived +many years in Micronesia, Palaos is a loose expression like Kanaka and +many others, and does not, at all events, apply exclusively to the +inhabitants of the Pelew group.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5341" href="#xd20e5341src" name="xd20e5341">2</a></span> Dumont +d’Urville, <i>Voyage to the South Pole</i>, v. 206, remarks that +the natives call their island Gouap or Ouap, but never Yap; and that +the husbandry in that place was superior to anything he had seen in the +South Sea.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5359" href="#xd20e5359src" name="xd20e5359">3</a></span> The +voyages of the Polynesians were also caused by the tyranny of the +victorious parties, which compelled the vanquished to emigrate.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5366" href="#xd20e5366src" name="xd20e5366">4</a></span> +Pigafetta, p. 51.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5369" href="#xd20e5369src" name="xd20e5369">5</a></span> Morga, +f. 127.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5373" href="#xd20e5373src" name="xd20e5373">6</a></span> +“The Bisayans cover their teeth with a shining varnish, which is +either black, or of the color of fire, and thus their teeth become +either black, or red like cinnabar; and they make a small hole in the +upper row, which they fill with gold, the latter shining all the more +on the black or red ground.”—(Thévenot, +<i>Religieux</i>, 54.) Of a king of Mindanao, visited by Magellan at +Massana, it is written:—“In every tooth he had three +<i>machie</i> (spots?) of gold, so that they had the appearance of +being tied together with gold;” which Ramusio +interprets—“On each finger he had three rings of +gold.”—Pigafetta, p. 66; and compare also Carletti, +<i>Voyages</i>, i. 153.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5389" href="#xd20e5389src" name="xd20e5389">7</a></span> 42 and +30 Cent. or 108 and 86 Fahr.—<i>C.</i></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5399" href="#xd20e5399src" name="xd20e5399">8</a></span> In one +of these cliffs, sixty feet above the sea, beds of mussels were found: +<i>ostrea</i>, <i>pinna</i>, <i>chama</i>; according to Dr. V. +M.—<i>O. denticula</i>, Bron.; <i>O. cornucopiae</i>, Chemn.; +<i>O. rosacea</i>, Desh.; <i>Chama sulfurea</i>, Reeve; <i>Pinna +Nigrina</i>, Lam. (?).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5431" href="#xd20e5431src" name="xd20e5431">9</a></span> In the +<i>Athenaeum</i> of January 7, 1871, Captain Ullmann describes a +funeral ceremony (<i>tiwa</i>) of the Dyaks, which corresponds in many +points with that of the ancient Bisayans. The coffin is cut out of the +branch of a tree by the nearest male kinsman, and it is so narrow that +the body has to be pressed down into it, lest another member of the +family should die immediately after to fill up the gap. As many as +possible of his effects must be heaped on the dead person, in order to +prove his wealth and to raise him in the estimation of the spirit +world; and under the coffin are placed two vessels, one containing rice +and the other water.</p> +<p class="footnote">One of the principal ceremonies of the <i>tiwa</i> +consisted formerly (and does still in some places) in human sacrifices. +Where the Dutch Government extended these were not permitted; but +sometimes carabaos or pigs were killed in a cruel manner, with the +blood of which the high priest smeared the forehead, breast, and arms +of the head of the family. Similar sacrifices of slaves or pigs were +practised amongst the ancient Filipinos, with peculiar ceremonies by +female priests (Catalonas).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5485" href="#xd20e5485src" name="xd20e5485">10</a></span> In the +chapter <i lang="la">De monstris et quasi monstris * * *</i> of Father +Camel, <i>London Philos. Trans.</i>, p. 2259, it is stated that in the +mountains between Guiuan and Borongan, footsteps, three times as large +as those of ordinary men, have been found. Probably the skulls of +Lauang, which are pressed out in breadth, and covered with a thick +crust of calcareous sinter, the gigantic skulls (skulls of giants) have +given rise to the fable of the giants’ footsteps.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5548" href="#xd20e5548src" name="xd20e5548">11</a></span> +<i>Hemiramphus viviparus</i>, W. Peters (<i>Berlin Monatsb</i>., March +16, 1865).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5586" href="#xd20e5586src" name="xd20e5586">12</a></span> +<i lang="de">Lehrbuch der Pharmakognosie des <span class="corr" id= +"xd20e5589" title="Source: Pflauzenreichs">Pflanzenreichs</span></i> +(Compendium of the “Pharmacopoeia of the Vegetable +Kingdom,”) p. 698.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5618" href="#xd20e5618src" name="xd20e5618">13</a></span> +<i>Philos. Trans.</i> 1699, No. 249, pages 44, 87.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5636" href="#xd20e5636src" name="xd20e5636">14</a></span> At +Borongan the tinaja of 12 gantas cost six reals (one quart about two +pesetas), the pot two reals, the freight to Manila three reals, or, if +the product is carried as cargo (matrose), two and one-half reals. The +price at Manila refers to the tinaja of sixteen gantas.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5645" href="#xd20e5645src" name="xd20e5645">15</a></span> Newly +prepared coconut oil serves for cooking, but quickly becomes rancid. It +is very generally used for lighting. In Europe, where it seldom appears +in a fluid state, as it does not dissolve until 16° R., (20 C. or +68 Fahr.) it is used in the manufacture of tapers, but especially for +soap, for which it is peculiarly adapted. Coconut soap is very hard, +and brilliantly white, and is dissolved in salt water more easily than +any other soap. The oily nut has lately been imported from Brazil into +England under the name of “copperah,” (copra) and pressed +after heating.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Leyte.</span>The island of +Leyte, between 9° 49′ and 11° 34′ N., and 124° +7′ and 125° 9′ E. Gr., is above twenty-five miles in +length, and almost twelve miles broad, and contains one hundred seventy +square miles. As I have already remarked, it is divided from Samar only +by the small strait of San Juanico. The chief town, Tacloban or +Taclobang, lies at the eastern entrance of this <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb260" href="#pb260" name= +"pb260">260</a>]</span>strait, with a very good harbor and +uninterrupted communication with Manila, and has consequently become +the chief emporium of trade to Leyte, Biliran, and South and East +Samar.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5686src" href="#xd20e5686" name= +"xd20e5686src">1</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Obliging Spanish officials.</span>The local +governor likewise showed me much obliging attention; indeed, almost +without exception I have, since my return, retained the most agreeable +remembrances of the Spanish officials; and, therefore, if fitting +opportunity occurred, I could treat of the improprieties of the +Administration with greater impartiality.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Locusts.</span>In the afternoon of the day +after my arrival at Tacloban, on a sudden there came a sound like the +rush of a furious torrent; the air became dark, and a large cloud of +locusts swept over the place.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5700src" href= +"#xd20e5700" name="xd20e5700src">2</a> I will not again recount that +phenomenon, which has been so often described, and is essentially the +same in all quarters of the globe, but will simply remark that the +swarm, which was more than five hundred feet in width, and about fifty +feet in depth, its extremity being lost in the forest, was not thought +a very considerable one. It caused vigilance, but not consternation. +Old and young eagerly endeavored to catch as many of the delicate +creatures as they could, with cloths, nets, and flags, in order, as +Dampier relates, “to roast them in an earthen pan over fire until +their legs and wings drop off, and their heads and backs assume the +color of boiled crabs;” after which <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb261" href="#pb261" name="pb261">261</a>]</span>process he says they +had a pleasant taste. In Burma at the present day, they are considered +as delicacies at the royal court.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5720src" +href="#xd20e5720" name="xd20e5720src">3</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Plan for their extermination.</span>The +locusts are one of the greatest plagues of the Philippines, and +sometimes destroy the harvest of entire provinces. The <i lang= +"es">Legislación Ultramarina</i> (iv. 504) contains a special +edict respecting the extirpation of these devastating pests. As soon as +they appear, the population of the invaded localities are to be drawn +out in the greatest possible numbers, under the conduct of the +authorities, in order to effect their destruction. The most approved +means for the attainment of this object are set forth in an official +document referring to the adoption of extraordinary measures in cases +of public emergency; and in this the locusts are placed midway between +sea-pirates and conflagrations. Of the various means that have been +contrived against the destructive creatures, that, at times, appear in +incredible numbers, but have been as frequently ineffectual as +otherwise, only a few will be now mentioned. On April 27, 1824, the +<i lang="es">Sociedad Economica</i> determined to import the bird, the +martin (<i>Gracula sp.</i>), “which feeds by instinct on +locusts.” In the autumn of the following year the first +consignment arrived from China; in 1829 a second; and in 1852 again +occurs the item of $1,311 for martins.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tacloban to Tanauan.</span>On the following +day I proceeded with the priest of Dagami (there are roads in Leyte) +from Tacloban southwards to Palos and Tanauan, two flourishing places +on the east coast. Hardly half a league from the latter place, and +close to the sea, a cliff of crystal lime rock rises up out of the +sandy plain, which was level up to this point. It is of a greyish-green +quartzose chlorite schist, from <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb262" +href="#pb262" name="pb262">262</a>]</span>which the enterprising Father +had endeavored, with a perseverance worthy of better success, to +procure lime by burning. After an ample breakfast in the convent, we +proceeded in the afternoon to Dagami, and, on the next day, to +Burauen.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5745src" href="#xd20e5745" name= +"xd20e5745src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A pleasing people.</span>The country was +still flat. Coco-groves and rice-fields here and there interrupted the +thick forest; but the country is thinly inhabited, and the people +appear more cheerful, handsomer, and cleaner than those of Samar. South +of Burauen rises the mountain ridge of Manacagan, on the further slope +of which is a large solfatara, which yields sulphur for the powder +manufactory in Manila, and for commerce. A Spanish sailor accompanied +me. Where the road passed through swamp we rode on carabaos. The pace +of the animals is not unpleasant, but the stretching across the broad +backs of the gigantic carabaos of the Philippines is very fatiguing. A +quarter of an hour beyond Burauen we crossed the Daguitan, which flows +south-west to north-east, and is a hundred feet broad, its bed being +full of large volcanic blocks; and, soon after, a small river in a +broad bed; and, some hundred paces farther, one of a hundred and fifty +feet in breadth; the two latter being arms of the Burauen. They flow +from west to east, and enter the sea at Dulag. The second arm was +originated only the preceding year, during a flood.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The height of hospitality.</span>We passed +the night in a hut on the northern slope of the Manacagan, which the +owner, on seeing us approach, had voluntarily quitted, and with his +wife and child sought other lodgings. The customs of the country +require this when the accommodation does not suffice for both parties; +and payment for the same is neither demanded nor, except very rarely, +tendered.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb263" href="#pb263" name= +"pb263">263</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Up the +Manacagan.</span>About six o’clock on the following morning we +started; and about half-past six climbed, by a pleasant path through +the forest, to the ridge of the Manacagan, which consists of trachytic +hornblende; and about seven o’clock we crossed two small rivers +flowing north-west, and then, by a curve, reached the coast at Dulag. +From the ridge we caught sight, towards the south, of the great white +heaps of <i>débris</i> of the mountain Danan glimmering through +the trees. About nine o’clock we came through the thickly-wooded +crater of the Kasiboi, and, further south, to some sheds in which the +sulphur is smelted.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sulphur.</span>The raw material obtained +from the solfatara is bought in three classes: firstly, sulphur already +melted to crusts; secondly, sublimated, which contains much condensed +water in its interstices; and thirdly, in the clay, which is divided +into the more or less rich, from which the greatest quantity is +obtained. Coconut oil, which is thrown into flat iron pans holding six +arrobas, is added to the sulphurous clay, in the proportion of six +quarts to four arrobas, and it is melted and continually stirred. The +clay which floats on the surface, now freed from the sulphur, being +skimmed off, fresh sulphurous clay is thrown into the cauldron, and so +on. In two or three hours six arrobas of sulphur, on an average, may be +obtained in this manner from twenty-four arrobas of sulphurous clay, +and, poured into wooden chests, it is moulded into blocks of about four +arrobas. Half the oil employed is recovered by throwing the clay which +has been saturated with it into a frame formed by two narrow bamboo +hurdles, placed at a sharp angle. The oil drops into a sloping gutter +of bamboo which is placed underneath, and from that flows into a pot. +The price of the sulphur at Manila varies between <span class= +"marginnote">Prices.</span>$1.25 and $4.50 per picul. I saw the frames, +full of clay, from which the oil exuded; but the operation itself I did +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb264" href="#pb264" name= +"pb264">264</a>]</span>not, unfortunately, then witness, and I cannot +explain in what manner the oil is added. From some experiments made on +a small scale, therefore under essentially different conditions, and +never with the same material, it appeared that the oil accelerates the +separation of the sulphur, and retards the access of the air to the +sulphur. In these experiments, the sulphur contained in the bottom of +the crucible was always colored black by the separation of charcoal +from the oil, and it was necessary to purify it by distillation +beforehand. Of this, however, the smelters at Leyte made no mention, +and they even had no apparatus for the purpose, while their sulphur was +of a pure yellow color.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hot spring.</span>Some hundreds of paces +further south, a hot spring (50° R.),<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5777src" href="#xd20e5777" name="xd20e5777src">5</a> twelve feet +broad, flows from the east, depositing silicious sinter at its +edges.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A solfatara.</span>As we followed a ravine +stretching from north to south, with sides one hundred to two hundred +feet in height, the vegetation gradually ceased, the rock being of a +dazzling white, or colored by sublimated sulphur. In numerous places +thick clouds of vapor burst from the ground, with a strong smell of +sulphurated water. At some thousand paces further, the ravine bends +round to the left (east), and expands itself to the bay; and here +numerous silicious springs break through the loose clay-earth, which is +permeated with sulphur. This solfatara must formerly have been much +more active than it is now. The ravine, which has been formed by its +destruction of the rock, and is full of lofty heaps of +<i>débris,</i> may be one thousand feet in breadth, and quite +five times as long. At the east end there are a number of small, +boiling quagmires, which, on forcing a stick into the matted ground, +send forth water and steam. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb265" href= +"#pb265" name="pb265">265</a>]</span>In some deep spots further west, +grey, white, red, and yellow clays have been deposited in small beds +over each other, giving them the appearance of variegated marls.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Petrifying water</span>To the south, right +opposite to the ridge which leads to Burauen, may be seen a basin +twenty-five feet broad, in a cavern in the white decomposed rock, from +which a petrifying water containing silicious acid flows abundantly. +The roof of the cavern is hung with stalactites, which either are +covered with solid sulphur, or consist entirely of that substance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Danan solfatara.</span>On the upper slope +of the Danan mountain, near to the summit, so much sulphur is deposited +by the vapors from the sulphurated water that it may be collected with +coconut shells. In some crevices, which are protected against the +cooling effects of the atmospheric air, it melts together in thick, +brown crusts. The solfatara of Danan is situated exactly south of that +below, at the end of the ravine of the Kasiboi. The clay earth, from +which the silicic acid has been washed out by the rains, is carried +into the valley, where it forms a plain, the greater part of which is +occupied by a small lake, Malaksan (sour), slightly impregnated with +sulphuric acid. Its surface, which, by reason of the very flat banks, +is protected against the weather, I found to be about five hundred +paces long and one hundred broad. From the elevation of the solfatara, +a rather large fresh-water lake, surrounded by wooded mountains, is +seen through a gap, exactly south, which is named Jaruanan. The night +was passed in a ruined shed at the south-east of the lake Malaksan; and +on the following morning we climbed the south side of the mountain +ridge and, skirting the solfatara of the Danan, arrived in an hour and +a half at lake Jaruanan.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Jaruanan Lake.</span>This lake, as well as +the Malaksan, inspires the natives with superstitious fear on account +of the suspicious <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb266" href="#pb266" +name="pb266">266</a>]</span>neighborhood of the solfatara, and +therefore has not been profaned by either mariner, fisher, or swimmer, +and was very full of fish. For the purpose of measuring its depth, I +had a raft of bamboos constructed; and when my companions saw me +floating safely on the lake, they all, without exception, sprang into +it, and tumbled about in the water with infinite delight and loud +outcries, as if they wished to indemnify themselves for their long +abstinence; so that the raft was not ready before three o’clock. +The soundings at the centre of the basin, which was, at the southern +edge, steeper than on the north, gave thirteen brazas, or over +twenty-one meters of depth; the greatest length of the lake amounted to +nearly eight hundred varas (six hundred and sixty-eight meters), and +the breadth to about half as much. As we returned in the evening, by +torchlight, over the crest of the mountain to our night-quarters at the +lake, we passed by the very modest dwelling-place of a married pair. +Three branches, projecting outwards from the principal trunk of a tree, +and lopped at equal points, sustained a hut of bamboos and palm-leaves +of eight feet square. A hole in the floor formed the entrance, and it +was divided into a chamber and ante-chamber, and four bamboo poles +supported, above and below, two layers of bamboos, one of which +furnished a balcony, and the other a shop in which betel was sold.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">To Dulag.</span>The day after my return to +Burauen an obliging Spanish merchant drove me through the fertile plain +of volcanic sand, on which rice, maize, and sugar-cane were cultivated, +to Dulag, which lies directly to the west, on the shore of the tranquil +sea. The distance (according to Coello three leagues) hardly amounts to +two leagues. From this place, Point Guiuan, the south point of Samar, +appears like an island separated from the mainland, and further south +(N. 102° 4′ to 103° 65° S.) Jomonjol <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb267" href="#pb267" name="pb267">267</a>]</span>is +seen, the first island of the Archipelago sighted by Magellan on April +16, 1521. At Dulag, my former companion joined us in order to accompany +us on the journey to the Bito Lake. The arrangement of transportation +and of provisions, and, still more, the due consideration of all the +propositions of three individuals, each of whose claims were entitled +to equal respect, occupied much time and required some address. We at +length sailed in a large <i>casco</i> (barge) southwards along the +coast to the mouth of the river <span class="marginnote">Up Mayo +River.</span>Mayo, which, according to the map and the information +there given, is said to come from the Bito Lake. We proceeded upwards +in a boat, but were informed at the first hut that the lake could be +reached only by making a long circuit through swampy forest; when most +of our party proposed to return. Various reasons besides the want of +unanimity in the conduct of our adventure, which had proceeded thus +far, delayed our arrival at Abuyog until eleven o’clock at night. +In the first place, on our way, we had to cross a small branch of the +Mayo, and after that the Bito River. The distance of the latter from +Abuyog (extravagantly set down on Coello’s map) amounts to +fourteen hundred brazas, according to the measurement of the +gobernadorcillo, which is probably correct.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5819src" href="#xd20e5819" name="xd20e5819src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">An unpromising road.</span>The following +day, as it rained heavily, was employed in making inquiries respecting +the road to the Bito Lake. We received very varied statements as to the +distance, but all agreed in painting the road thither in a discouraging +light. A troublesome journey of at least ten hours appeared to us to be +what most probably awaited us.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bito Lake.</span>On the morrow, through a +pleasant forest road, we reached in an hour the Bito River, and +proceeded in boats, which we met there, up the river between flat +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb268" href="#pb268" name= +"pb268">268</a>]</span>sandy banks covered with tall cane and reeds. In +about ten minutes, some trees fallen right across the stream compelled +us to make a circuit on land, which in half an hour brought us again to +the river, above the obstacles. Here we constructed rafts of bamboo, +upon which, immersed to the depth of half a foot, the material being +very loosely adjusted, we reached the lake in ten minutes. We found it +covered with green confervae; a double border of pistia and +broad-leaved reed grasses, six to seven feet high, enclosing it all +round. On the south and west some low hillocks rose up, while from the +middle it appeared to be almost circular, with a girdle of forest. +Coello makes the lake much too large (four instead of one square mile), +and its distance from Abuyog can be only a little over a league. With +the assistance of a cord of lianas tied together, and rods placed in a +line, we found its breadth five hundred and eighty-five brazas or nine +hundred and seventy-seven meters, (in the broadest part it might be a +little over one thousand meters); and the length, as computed from some +imperfect observations, one thousand and seven brazas (sixteen hundred +and eighty meters), consequently less than one square mile. Soundings +showed a gently inclined basin, eight brazas, or over thirteen meters, +deep in the middle. I would gladly have determined the proportions with +more accuracy; but want of time, the inaccessibility of the edge of the +bank, and the miserable condition of our raft, allowed of only a few +rough measurements.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A forest home.</span>Not a trace of human +habitations was observable on the shore; but a quarter of an +hour’s distance from the northern edge we found a comfortable +hut, surrounded by deep mud and prickly calamus, the tenants of which, +however, were living in plenty, and with greater conveniences than many +dwellers in the villages. We were <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb269" +href="#pb269" name="pb269">269</a>]</span>very well received and had +fish in abundance, as well as tomatoes, and capsicum to season them +with, and dishes of English earthenware out of which to eat them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Snaring swine.</span>The abundance of wild +swine had led the settlers to invent a peculiar contrivance, by which +they are apprised of their approach even when asleep, and guided to +their trail in the darkness. A rope made of strips of banana tied +together, and upwards of a thousand feet in length, is extended along +the ground, one end of which is attached to a coconut shell, full of +water, which is suspended immediately over the sleeping-place of the +hunter. When a pig comes in contact with the rope, the water is +overturned by the jerk upon the sleeper, who, seizing the rope in his +hand, is thereby conducted to his prey. The principal employment of our +hosts appeared to be fishing, which is so productive that the roughest +apparatus is sufficient. There was not a single boat, but only +loosely-bound rafts of bamboo, on which the fishers, sinking, as we +ourselves did on our raft, half a foot deep, moved about amongst the +crocodiles, which I never beheld in such numbers and of so large a size +as in this lake. Some swam about on the surface with their backs +projecting out of the water. It was striking to see the complete +indifference with which even two little girls waded in the water in the +face of the great monsters. Fortunately the latter appeared to be +satisfied with their ample rations of fish. Four kinds of fish are said +to be found in the lake, amongst them an eel; but we got only +one.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5842src" href="#xd20e5842" name= +"xd20e5842src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A secret still.</span>Early on the +following morning our native attendants were already intoxicated. This +led to the discovery of another occupation of the settlers, which I do +not hesitate to disclose now that the Government monopoly <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb270" href="#pb270" name="pb270">270</a>]</span>has +been abolished. They secretly distilled palm-brandy and carried on a +considerable trade in it; and this also explained to me why the horrors +of the road to the Mayo River and to Abuyog had been painted in such +warm colors.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5853src" href="#xd20e5853" +name="xd20e5853src">8</a> We returned on our rafts to the place where +we had found them, a distance of about fifteen hundred feet; and +onwards, through wild cane with large clusters of flowers (<i>Saccharum +sp</i>.), sixteen feet high, east by north, we got to our boats, and +then to the bar, whence, after a march of an hour and a half, we +reached Abuyog. From Abuyog we returned by water to Dulag, and by land +to Burauen, where we arrived at night, sooner than our hostlers had +expected, for we caught them sleeping in our beds.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tobacco prohibition.</span>Not long ago +much tobacco was cultivated in this country, and was allowed to be sold +to the peasantry under certain conditions; but recently it was +forbidden to be sold, except by the Government, who themselves +determined its value at so very low a rate that the culture of tobacco +has almost entirely ceased. As the tobacco company, however, had +already erected stores and appointed collectors, the knowing ones +rightly foresaw that these steps would be followed by compulsory labor, +even as it occurred in other places. The east coast of Leyte is said to +be rising while the west is being destroyed by the sea, and at Ormog +the sea is said to have advanced about fifty ells<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5863src" href="#xd20e5863" name="xd20e5863src">9</a> in six +years. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb271" href="#pb271" name= +"pb271">271</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5686" href="#xd20e5686src" name="xd20e5686">1</a></span> On +Pigafetta’s map Leyte is divided into two parts, the north being +called Baibay, and the south Ceylon. When Magellan in Massana +(Limasana) inquired after the most considerable places of business, +Ceylon (<i>i.e.</i> Leyte), Calagan (Caraga), and Zubu (Cebu) were +named to him. Pigaf., 70.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5700" href="#xd20e5700src" name="xd20e5700">2</a></span> +According to Dr. <span class="corr" id="xd20e5702" title= +"Source: Gerstaceker">Gerstaecker</span>: <i>Oedipoda subfasciata</i>, +Haan, <i>Acridium Manilense</i>, Meyen. The designation of Meyen which +the systemists must have overlooked, has the priority of Haan’s; +but it requires to be altered to <i>Oedipoda Manilensis</i>, as the +species does not belong to the genus acridium in the modern sense. It +occurs also in Luzon and in Timor, and is closely allied to our +European migratory locusts <i>Oedipoda migratoria</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5720" href="#xd20e5720src" name="xd20e5720">3</a></span> After +the king had withdrawn * * * “sweetmeats and cakes in abundance +were brought, and also roasted locusts, which were pressed upon the +guests as great delicacies.”—“Col. Fytche’s +Mission to Mandalay Parliament,” <i>Papers</i>, June, 1869.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5745" href="#xd20e5745src" name="xd20e5745">4</a></span> The +names of these two localities, on Coello’s map, are confounded. +Burauen lies south of Dagami.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5777" href="#xd20e5777src" name="xd20e5777">5</a></span> 62.5 +Cent. or 144.5 Fahr.—<i>C</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5819" href="#xd20e5819src" name="xd20e5819">6</a></span> A small +river enters the sea 950 brazas south of the tower of Abuyog.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5842" href="#xd20e5842src" name="xd20e5842">7</a></span> <i lang= +"la">Gobius giuris</i> Buch. Ham.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5853" href="#xd20e5853src" name="xd20e5853">8</a></span> The lake +at that time had but one outlet, but in the wet season it may be in +connection with the Mayo, which, at its north-east side, is quite +flat.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5863" href="#xd20e5863src" name="xd20e5863">9</a></span> Or some +thirty-eight yards if the old Dutch ell is meant.—<i>C</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">The Bisayans.</span>The +Bisayans—at least the inhabitants of the Islands of Samar and +Leyte (I have not become closely acquainted with any +others)—belong to one race.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5877src" +href="#xd20e5877" name="xd20e5877src">1</a> They are, physically and +intellectually, in character, dress, manners and customs, so similar +that my notes, which were originally made at different points of the +two Islands, have, after removal of the numerous repetitions, fused +into one, which affords a more complete picture, and affords, at the +same time, opportunity for the small differences, where they do occur, +to stand out more conspicuously.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mountaineers.</span>There are no Negritos +either in Samar or Leyte, but Cimarronese, who pay no tribute, and who +do not live in villages, but independently in the forests. +Unfortunately I have had no personal intercourse with them, and what I +have learned respecting them from the Christian inhabitants of Samar is +too uncertain to be repeated. But it does seem certain that all these +Cimarronese or their ancestors have traded with the Spaniards, and that +their religion has appropriated many Catholic forms. Thus, when +planting rice, and, according to ancient practices, setting apart some +of the seed to be offered in the four corners of the field as +sacrifice, they are accustomed to repeat some mutilated Catholic +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb272" href="#pb272" name= +"pb272">272</a>]</span>prayers, which they appear to consider as +efficacious as their old heathenish ones. Some have their children +baptized as well, as it costs nothing; but, save in these respects, +they perform no other Christian or civil obligations. They are very +peaceable, neither making war with one another, nor having poisoned +arrows. Instances of Cimarronese, who go over to Christianity and +village life, together with tribute and servitude, are very rare; and +the number of the civilized, who return to the forests in order to +become Cimarronese, is, on the other hand, very inconsiderable +indeed—still smaller than in Luzon, as the natives, from the +dull, almost vegetating life which they lead, are not easily brought +into such straitened circumstances as to be compelled to leave their +village, which, still more than in Luzon, is all the world to them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice-farming.</span>The culture of rice +follows the seasons of the year. In some places where there are large +fields the plough (arado) and the sod-sod (here called surod) are +employed; but, almost universally, the rice-field is only trodden over +by carabaos in the rainy season. Sowing is done on the west coast in +May and June, planting in July and August, and reaping from November to +January. One ganta of seed-corn gives two, sometimes from three to +four, cabanes (<i>i.e.</i>, fifty, seventy-five, and a hundred fold). +In the chief town, Catbalogan, there are but very few irrigated fields +(<i>tubigan</i>, from <i>tubig</i>, water), the produce of which does +not suffice for the requirements, and the deficiency is made up from +other places on the coasts of the Island. On the other hand, Catbalogan +produces abaca, coconut oil, wax, balate (edible holothuria, sea +cucumber), dried fish, and woven stuffs. On the north and east coasts +sowing takes place from November to January, and reaping six months +later. During the remaining six months the field serves as <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb273" href="#pb273" name= +"pb273">273</a>]</span>pasture for the cattle; but in many places rice +culture goes on even during these months, but on other fields. A large +portion of this rice is frequently lost on account of the bad +weather.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Land tenure.</span>Purchases of land are +seldom made, it being generally acquired by cultivation, by +inheritance, or forfeiture. In Catbalogan the best rice land was paid +for at the rate of one dollar for a ganta of seed-corn, and, on the +north coast of Lauang, a field producing yearly one hundred cabanes was +purchased for thirty dollars. Reckoning, as in Naga, one ganta of +seed-corn at four loanes, and seventy-five cabanes of produce at one +quiñon, the eastern rice land costs, in the first instance, +three thalers and a third, in the second three thalers. The owner lets +the bare property out on leases, and receives one-half the harvest as +rent.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5913src" href="#xd20e5913" name= +"xd20e5913src">2</a> The cultivation of rice in Leyte is conducted as +in Samar, but it has given way to the cultivation of abacá; the +governors, while they were allowed to trade, compelled the natives to +devote a part of their fields and of their labor to it. Should a +peasant be in arrears, it is the prevalent custom in the country for +him to pay to the dealer double the balance remaining due at the next +harvest.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mountain rice.</span>Mountain-rice culture, +which in Catbalogan is almost the only cultivation, requires no other +implement of agriculture than the bolo to loosen the soil somewhat, and +a sharp stick for making holes at distances of six inches for the +reception of five or six grains of rice. Sowing is done from May to +June, weeding twice, and five months later it is cut stalk by stalk; +the reaper receiving half a real daily wages and food. The produce is +between two and three cabanes per ganta, or fifty <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb274" href="#pb274" name="pb274">274</a>]</span>to +seventy fold. The land costs nothing, and wages amount to nearly five +reals per ganta of seed-corn. After a good harvest the caban fetches +four reales; but just before the harvest the price rises to one dollar, +and often much higher. The ground is used only once for dry rice; +camote (batata), abacá, and caladium being planted on it after +the harvest. Mountain rice is more remunerative than watered rice about +in the proportion of nine to eight.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Other products.</span>Next to rice the +principal articles of sustenance are camote (<i>convolvulus +batatas</i>), ubi (<i>dioscorea</i>), gabi (<i>caladium</i>), palauan +(a large <i>arum</i>, with taper leaves and spotted stalk). Camote can +be planted all the year around, and ripens in four months; but it takes +place generally when the rice culture is over, when little labor is +available. When the cultivation of camote is retained, the old plants +are allowed to multiply their runners, and only the tubers are taken +out of the ground. But larger produce is obtained by cleaning out the +ground and planting anew. From eighteen to fifteen gantas may be had +for half a real.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abacá.</span>Although there are +large plantations of abacá, during my visit it was but little +cultivated, the price not being sufficiently remunerative.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tobacco.</span>Tobacco also is cultivated. +Formerly it might be sold in the country, but now it has to be +delivered to the government.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Balao oil.</span>A resinous oil +(<i>balao</i> or <i>malapajo</i>) is found in Samar and Albay, probably +also in other provinces. It is obtained from a dipterocarpus +(<i>apiton</i>), one of the loftiest trees of the forest, by cutting in +the trunk a wide hole, half a foot deep, hollowed out into the form of +a basin, and from time to time lighting a fire in it, so as to free the +channels, through which it flows, of obstructions. The oil thus is +collected daily and comes <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb275" href= +"#pb275" name="pb275">275</a>]</span>into commerce without any further +preparation. Its chief application is in the preservation of iron in +shipbuilding. Nails dipped in the oil of the balao, before being driven +in, will, as I have been assured by credible individuals, defy the +action of rust for ten years; but it is principally used as a varnish +for ships, which are painted with it both within and without, and it +also protects wood against termites and other insects. The balao is +sold in Albay at four reals for the tinaja of ten gantas (the liter at +eight pence). A cement formed by the mixture of burnt lime, gum elemi, +and coconut oil, in such proportions as to form a thick paste before +application, is used for the protection of the bottoms of ships; and +the coating is said to last a year.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e5961src" +href="#xd20e5961" name="xd20e5961src">3</a> <span class= +"marginnote">Wax.</span>Wax is bartered by the Cimarronese. The whole +of Samar annually yields from two hundred to three hundred piculs, +whose value ranges between twenty-five and fifty dollars per picul, +while in Manila the price is generally five to ten dollars higher; but +it fluctuates very much, as the same product is brought from many other +localities and at very irregular intervals of time.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Scarcity of stock.</span>There is hardly +any breeding of cattle, notwithstanding the luxuriant growth of grasses +and the absence of destructive animals. Horses and carabao are very +rare, and are said to have been introduced late, not before the present +century. As in Samar there are hardly any other country roads than the +seashore and the shallow beds of rivers (it is better in the north of +Leyte), the carabao is used only once every year in treading over the +earth of the rice-field. During the year he roams at large on the +pastures, in the forest, or on a small island, where such exists, in +the neighborhood. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb276" href="#pb276" +name="pb276">276</a>]</span>Some times in the year one may see several +carabaos, attached to the large trunk of a tree, dragging it to the +village. Their number, consequently, is extremely small. Carabaos which +tread the rice land well are worth as much as ten dollars. The mean +price is three dollars for a carabao, and five to six dollars for a +caraballa. Horned cattle are only occasionally used as victims at +festivals. The property of several owners, they are very limited in +number, and live half-wild in the mountains. There is hardly any trade +in them, but the average price is three dollars for a heifer, and five +or six dollars for a cow. <span class="marginnote">Swine.</span>Almost +every family possesses a pig; some, three or four of them. A fat pig +costs six or seven dollars, even more than a cow. Many Filipino tribes +abstain strictly from beef; but pork is essential to their feasts. +Grease, too, is so dear that from three to four dollars would, under +favorable circumstances, be got on that account for a fat animal. +<span class="marginnote">Sheep and goats.</span>Sheep and goats thrive +well, and propagate easily, but also exist only in small numbers, and +are hardly utilized either for their wool or their flesh. Creoles and +mestizos are for the most part too idle even to keep sheep, preferring +daily to eat chicken. The sheep of Shanghai, imported by the governor +of Tacloban, also thrive and propagate famously. <span class= +"marginnote">Poultry.</span>A laying hen costs half a real, a rooster +the same, and a game cock as much as three dollars, often considerably +more. Six or eight hens, or thirty eggs, may be bought for one +real.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cost of food.</span>A family consisting of +father, mother, and five children requires daily nearly twenty-four +chupas of palay (rice in the husk), which, after winnowing, comes to +about twelve chupas. This at the average price of four reals per cavan +costs about half a real. The price, however, varies. Sometimes, after +the harvest, it is three reals per cavan; before it, ten; and in Albay, +even about <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb277" href="#pb277" name= +"pb277">277</a>]</span>thirty reals. Then about three cuartos are +wanted for extras (as fish, crabs, vegetables, etc.), which, however, +are generally collected by the children; and, lastly, for oil two +cuartos, buyo one cuarto, tobacco three cuartos (three leaves for one +cuarto), the latter being smoked, not chewed. A woman consumes half as +much buyo and tobacco as a man. Buyo and tobacco are less used in Leyte +than in Samar.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Clothing cost.</span>For clothing a man +requires yearly—four rough shirts of <i>guinara</i>, costing from +one to two reals; three or four pairs of trousers, at one to two and a +half reals; two kerchiefs for the head, at one and a half real (hats +are not worn on the south and west coasts), and for the church +festivals generally one pair of shoes, seven reals; one fine shirt, a +dollar or more; and fine pantaloons, at four reals. A woman +requires—four to six camisas of <i>guinara</i>, at one real; two +to three sayas of <i>guinara</i>, at three to four reals, and one or +two sayas of European printed cotton, at five reals; two head-kerchiefs +at one and a half to two reals; and one or two pairs of slippers +(<i>chinelas</i>) to go to mass in, at two reals and upwards.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Women’s extras.</span>The women +<span class="corr" id="xd20e6019" title= +"Source: genrally">generally</span> have, besides, a fine camisa +costing at least six reals; a mantilla for churchgoing, six reals (it +lasts four years); and a comb, two cuartos. Many also have under skirts +(<i>nabuas</i>), two pieces at four reals, and earrings of brass and a +rosary, which last articles are purchased once for all. In the poorer +localities, Lauang for instance, only the home-woven <i>guinaras</i> +are worn; and there a man requires—three shirts and three pairs +of trousers, which are cut out of three pieces of <i>guinara</i>, at +two reals, and a <i>salacot</i> (hat), generally home made, worth half +a real; while a woman uses yearly—four sayas, value six reals; +and a camisa, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb278" href="#pb278" name= +"pb278">278</a>]</span>with a finer one for the festivals, eight reals. +Underskirts are not worn; and the clothing of the children may be +estimated at about half of the above rates.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Household furniture.</span>For household +furniture a family has a cooking pot<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6041src" href="#xd20e6041" name="xd20e6041src">4</a> of unglazed +burnt clay, imported by ships from Manila, the cost of which is fixed +by the value of its contents in rice; a supply of bamboo-canes; seven +plates, costing between two and five cuartos; a <i>carahai</i> (iron +pan), three to four reals; coconut shells serving for glasses; a few +small pots, altogether half a real; a <i>sundang</i>, four to six +reals, or a <i>bolo</i> (large forest knife), one dollar; and a pair of +scissors (for the women), two reals. The loom, which every household +constructs for itself of bamboo of course costs nothing.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Wages.</span>The rate of daily wages, in +the case of Filipino employers, is half a real, without food; but +Europeans always have to give one real and food, unless, by favor of +the gobernadorcillo, they get <i>polistas</i> at the former rate, which +then regularly goes into the public coffers. An ordinary carpenter +earns from one to two reals; a skilful man, three reals daily. The +hours of work are from six to noon, and from two to six in the +evening.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Industries.</span>Almost every village has +a rude smith, who understands the making of sundangs and bolos; but the +iron and the coal required for the purpose must be supplied with the +order. No other work in metal is executed. With the exception of a +little ship-building, hardly any other pursuit than weaving is carried +on; the loom is rarely wanting in a household. <i>Guinara, i.e</i>., +stuff made of the abacá, is manufactured, as well as also some +piña, or figured silk stuffs, the silk being brought from +Manila, and of Chinese origin. All these fabrics are made in private +homes; there are no factories.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb279" href="#pb279" name= +"pb279">279</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Barter.</span>In places +where rice is scarce the lower class of people catch fish, salt and dry +them, and barter them for rice. In the chief towns purchases are made +with the current money; but, in the interior, where there is hardly any +money, fabrics and dried fish are the most usual means of exchange. +Salt is obtained by evaporating the seawater in small iron hand-pans +(carahais), without previous evaporation in the sun. The navigation +between Catbalogan and Manila continues from December to July, and in +the interval between those months the ships lie dismantled under sheds. +<span class="marginnote">Communication.</span>There also is +communication by the coast eastwards to Guian, northwards to Catarman, +and sometimes to Lauang. The crews consist partly of natives, and +partly of foreigners, as the natives take to the sea with great +reluctance; indeed, almost only when compelled to leave their villages. +Samar has scarcely any other means of communication besides the +navigation of the coast and rivers, the interior being roadless; and +burdens have to be conveyed on the shoulders. An able-bodied porter, +who receives a real and a half without food, will carry three arrobas +(seventy-five pounds at most) six leagues in a day, but he cannot +accomplish the same work on the following day, requiring at least one +day’s rest. A strong man will carry an arroba and a half daily +for a distance of six leagues for a whole week.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">No markets.</span>There are no markets in +Samar and Leyte; so that whoever wishes to buy seeks what he requires +in the houses, and in like manner the seller offers his goods.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Debts.</span>A Filipino seeking to borrow +money has to give ample security and pay interest at the rate of one +real for every dollar per month (twelve and one-half per cent. +monthly); and it is not easy for him to borrow more than five dollars, +for which sum only he is legally liable. Trade and credit are less +developed in eastern and northern Samar than <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb280" href="#pb280" name="pb280">280</a>]</span>in +the western part of the island, which keeps up a more active +communication with the other inhabitants of the Archipelago. There +current money is rarely lent, but only its value in goods is advanced +at the rate of a real per dollar <i lang="la">per mensem</i>. If the +debtor fails to pay within the time appointed, he frequently has to +part with one of his children, who is obliged to serve the lender for +his bare food, without wages, until the debt has been extinguished. I +saw a young man who had so served for the term of five years, in +liquidation of a debt of five dollars which his father, who had +formerly been a gobernadorcillo in Paranas, owed to a mestizo in +Catbalogan; and on the east coast a pretty young girl, who, for a debt +of three dollars due by her father, had then, for two years, served a +native, who had the reputation of being a spendthrift. I was shown in +Borongan a coconut plantation of three hundred trees, which was pledged +for a debt of ten dollars about twenty years ago, since which period it +had been used by the creditor as his own property; and it was only a +few years since that, upon the death of the debtor, his children +succeeded, with great difficulty, in paying the original debt and +redeeming the property. It is no uncommon thing for a native to borrow +two dollars and a half from another in order to purchase his exemption +from the forty days of annual service, and then, failing to repay the +loan punctually, to serve his creditor for a whole year.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6088src" href="#xd20e6088" name= +"xd20e6088src">5</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">People of Samar and Leyte.</span>The +inhabitants of Samar and Leyte, who are at once idler and filthier than +those of Luzon, seem to be as much behind the Bicols as the latter are +behind the Tagalogs. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb281" href="#pb281" +name="pb281">281</a>]</span>In Tacloban, where a more active +intercourse with Manila exists, these qualities are less pronounced, +and the women, who are agreeable, bathe frequently. For the rest, the +inhabitants of the two islands are friendly, obliging, tractable, and +peaceable. Abusive language or violence very rarely occurs, and, in +case of injury, information is laid against the offender at the +tribunal. Great purity of manners seems to prevail on the north and +west coasts, but not on the east coast, nor in Leyte. External piety is +universally conspicuous, through the training imparted by the priests; +the families are very united, and great influence is wielded by the +women, who are principally engaged in household employments, and are +tolerably skilful in weaving, and to whom only the lighter labors of +the field are assigned. The authority of the parents and of the eldest +brother is supreme, the younger sisters never venturing to oppose it; +women and children are kindly treated.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Leyte.</span>The natives of Leyte, clinging +as strongly to their native soil as those of Samar, like them, have no +partiality for the sea, though their antipathy to it is not quite so +manifest as that of the inhabitants of Samar.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6104src" href="#xd20e6104" name="xd20e6104src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Public charity not accepted.</span>There +are no benevolent institutions in either of the two islands. Each +family maintains its own poor and crippled, and treats them tenderly. +In Catbalogan, the chief town of the island, with five to six thousand +inhabitants, there were only eight recipients of charity; but in Albay +mendicants are not wanting. In Lauang, when a Spaniard, on a solemn +festival, had caused it to be proclaimed that he would distribute rice +to the poor, not a single applicant came forward. The honesty +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb282" href="#pb282" name= +"pb282">282</a>]</span>of the inhabitants of Samar is much commended. +Obligations are said to be contracted almost always without written +documents, and never forsworn, even if they make default in payment. +Robberies are of rare occurrence in Samar, and thefts almost unknown. +There are schools also here in the pueblos, which accomplish quite as +much as they do in Camarines.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Amusements.</span>Of the public amusements +cock-fighting is the chief, but it is not so eagerly pursued as in +Luzon. At the church festivals they perform a drama translated from the +Spanish, generally of a religious character; and the expense of the +entertainment is defrayed by voluntary contributions of the wealthy. +The chief vices of the population are play and drunkenness; in which +latter even women and young girls occasionally indulge. The marriage +feasts, combining song and dance, often continue for several days and +nights together, where they have a sufficient supply of food and drink. +<span class="marginnote">Suitor’s service.</span>The suitor has +to serve in the house of the bride’s parents two, three, and even +five years, before he takes his bride home; and money cannot purchase +exemption from this onerous restriction. He boards in the house of the +bride’s parents who furnish the rice, but he has to supply the +vegetables himself.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6126src" href= +"#xd20e6126" name="xd20e6126src">7</a> At the expiration of his term of +service he builds, with the assistance of his relations and friends, +the house for the family which is about to be newly established.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Morals.</span>Though adultery is not +unknown, jealousy is rare, and never leads to violence. The injured +individual generally goes with the culprit to the minister, who, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb283" href="#pb283" name= +"pb283">283</a>]</span>with a severe lecture to one, and words of +consolation to the other, sets everything straight again. Married women +are more easily accessible than girls, whose prospect of marriage, +however, it seems is not greatly diminished by a false step during +single life. While under parental authority girls, as a rule, are kept +under rigid control, doubtless in order to prolong the time of +servitude of the suitor. External appearance is more strictly regarded +among the Bisayans than by the Bicols and Tagalogs. Here also the +erroneous opinion prevails, that the number of the women exceeds that +of the men. Instances occur of girls of twelve being mothers; but they +are rare; and though women bear twelve or thirteen children, many of +these, however, do not live. <span class="marginnote">Great infant +mortality.</span>So much so is this the case, that families of more +than six or eight children are very rarely met with.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superstitions.</span>Superstition is rife. +Besides the little church images of the Virgin, which every Filipina +wears by a string round the neck, many also have heathen amulets, of +which I had an opportunity of examining one that had been taken from a +very daring criminal. It consisted of a small ounce flask, stuffed full +of vegetable root fibres, which appeared to have been fried in oil. +This flask, which is prepared by the heathen tribes, is accredited with +the virtue of making its owner strong and courageous. The capture of +this individual was very difficult; but, as soon as the little flask +was taken from him, he gave up all resistance, and allowed himself to +be bound. In almost every large village there are one or more +<span class="marginnote">Ghouls.</span><i>Asuang</i> families who are +generally dreaded and avoided, and regarded as outlaws, and who can +marry only amongst themselves. They have the reputation of being +cannibals.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6156src" href="#xd20e6156" name= +"xd20e6156src">8</a> Perhaps they are descended from such tribes? At +any rate, the belief is very general and firmly <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb284" href="#pb284" name="pb284">284</a>]</span> +rooted; and intelligent old natives when questioned by me on the +subject, answered that they certainly did not believe that the Asuangs +ate men at the present time, but that their forefathers had assuredly +done so.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6167src" href="#xd20e6167" name= +"xd20e6167src">9</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ancient Literature.</span>Of ancient +legends, traditions, or ballads, it is stated that there are none. It +is true they have songs at their dances, but these are spiritless +improvisations, and mostly in a high key. They have not preserved any +memorials of former civilization. “The ancient Pintados possessed +no temples, every one performing his <i>anitos</i> in his own house, +without any special solemnity”—(<i>Morga</i>, f. 145 v). +Pigafetta (p. 92) certainly mentions that the King of Cebu, after his +conversion to Christianity, caused many temples built on the seashore +to be destroyed; but these might only have been structures of a very +perishable kind. <span class="marginnote">Festivals and +shrines.</span>On certain occasions the Bisayans celebrated a great +festival, called <i>Pandot</i>, at which they worshipped their gods in +huts, which were expressly built for the purpose, covered with foliage, +and adorned with flowers and lamps. They called these huts <i>simba</i> +or <i>simbahan</i> (the churches are so called to the present day), +“and this is the only thing which they have similar to a church +or a temple”—(<i>Informe</i>, I., i., 17). According to +Gemelli Careri they prayed to some particular gods, derived from their +forefathers, who are called by the Bisayans <i>Davata</i> +(<i>Divata</i>), and by the Tagalogs <i>Anito</i>; one anito being for +the sea and another for the house, to watch over the children.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6205src" href="#xd20e6205" name= +"xd20e6205src">10</a> <span class="marginnote">Ancestor +worship.</span>In the number of these anitos they placed their +grandfathers and great-grandfathers, whom they invoked in all their +necessities, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb285" href="#pb285" +name="pb285">285</a>]</span>in whose honor they preserved little +statues of stone, wood, gold, and ivory, which they called <i>liche</i> +or <i>laravan</i>. Amongst their gods they also reckoned all who +perished by the sword, or were killed by lightning, or devoured by +crocodiles, believing that their souls ascended to heaven on a bow +which they called <i>balangas</i>. Pigafetta thus describes the idols +which were seen by him:—“They are of wood, and concave, or +hollow, without any hind quarters, with their arms extended, and their +legs and feet bent upwards. They have very large faces, with four +powerful teeth like boars’ tusks, and are painted all +over.”<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6223src" href="#xd20e6223" +name="xd20e6223src">11</a></p> +<p>In conclusion, let me take a brief account of the religion of the +ancient Bisayans from Fr. Gaspar San Agustin (Conquest, 169):</p> +<div class="q"><span class="marginnote">Old religion.</span>The daemon, +or genius, to whom they sacrificed was called by them <i>Divata</i>, +which appears to denote an antithesis to the Deity, and a rebel against +him. Hell was called <i>Solad</i>, and Heaven (in the language of the +educated people) <i>Ologan</i> * * * The souls of the departed go to a +mountain in the province of Oton,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6250src" +href="#xd20e6250" name="xd20e6250src">12</a> called <i>Medias</i>, +where they are well entertained and served. The creation of the +universe is thus explained. <span class="marginnote">Creation +myth.</span>A vulture hovering between heaven and earth finds no place +to settle himself upon, and the water rises towards heaven; whereupon +Heaven, in its wrath, creates islands. The vulture splits a bamboo, out +of which spring man and woman, who beget many children, and, when their +number becomes too great, drive them out with blows. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb286" href="#pb286" name="pb286">286</a>]</span>Some +conceal themselves in the chamber, and these become the Datos; others +in the kitchen, and these become the slaves. The rest go down the +stairs and become the people.</div> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5877" href="#xd20e5877src" name="xd20e5877">1</a></span> +<i>Pintados</i>, or <i>Bisayas</i>, according to a native word denoting +the same, must be the inhabitants of the islands between Luzon and +Mindanao, and must have been so named by the Spaniards from their +practice of tattooing themselves. Crawfurd (“Dict.” 339) +thinks these facts not firmly established, and they are certainly not +mentioned by Pigafetta; who, however, writes, p. 80:—“He +(the king of Zubut) was ... painted in various ways with fire.” +Purchas (“Pilgrimage,” fo. i. 603)—“The king of +Zubut has his skinne painted with a hot iron pensill;” and Morga, +fo. 4—“<span lang="es">Traen todo il cuerpo labrado con +fuego</span>.” From this they appear to have tattooed themselves +in the manner of the Papuas, by burning in spots and stripes into the +skin. But Morga states in another place (f. 138)—“They are +distinguished from the inhabitants of Luzon by their hair which the men +cut into a pigtail after the old Spanish manner, and paint their bodies +in many patterns, without touching the face.” The custom of +tattooing, which appears to have ceased with the introduction of +Christianity, for the clergymen so often quoted (Thevenot, p. 4) +describes it as unknown, cannot be regarded as a characteristic of the +Bisayans; and the tribes of the northern part of Luzon tattoo at the +present day.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5913" href="#xd20e5913src" name="xd20e5913">2</a></span> Mezzeria +(Italian); métayer (French).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e5961" href="#xd20e5961src" name="xd20e5961">3</a></span> In China +an oil is procured from the seeds of <i>vernicia montana</i>, which, by +the addition of alum, litharge, and steatite, with a gentle heat, +easily forms a valuable varnish which, when mixed with resin, is +employed in rendering the bottoms of vessels watertight. P. Champion, +<i lang="fr">Indust. Anc. et Mod. de l’Emp. Chinois</i>.” +114.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6041" href="#xd20e6041src" name="xd20e6041">4</a></span> +Petzholdt (“Caucasus,” i. 203) mentions that in Bosslewi +the price of a clay vessel is determined by its capacity of maize.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6088" href="#xd20e6088src" name="xd20e6088">5</a></span> As usual +these abuses spring from the non-enforcement of a statute passed in +1848 (<i>Leg. ult</i>., i. 144), which prohibits usurious contracts +with servants or assistants, and threatens with heavy penalties all +those whom, under the pretext of having advanced money, or of having +paid debts or the poll-tax or exemption from service, keep either +individual natives or whole families in a continual state of dependence +upon them, and always secure the increase of their obligations to them +by not allowing them wages sufficient to enable them to satisfy the +claims against them.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6104" href="#xd20e6104src" name="xd20e6104">6</a></span> Formerly +it appears to have been different with them. “These Bisayans are +a people little disposed to agriculture, but practised in navigation, +and eager for war and expeditions by sea, on account of the pillage and +prizes, which they call ‘mangubas,’ which is the same as +taking to the field in order to steal.”—<i>Morga</i>, f. +138.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6126" href="#xd20e6126src" name="xd20e6126">7</a></span> +Ill-usage prevails to a great extent, although prohibited by a +stringent law; the non-enforcement of which by the alcaldes is charged +with a penalty of 100 dollars for every single case of neglect. In many +provinces the bridegroom pays to the bride’s mother, besides the +dower, an indemnity for the rearing (“mother’s milk”) +which the bride has enjoyed (<i>bigay susu</i>). According to Colin +(“Labor Evangelico,” p. 129) the <i>penhimuyal</i>, the +present which the mother received for night-watching and care during +the bringing up of the bride, amounted to one-fifth of the dowry.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6156" href="#xd20e6156src" name="xd20e6156">8</a></span> The +<i>Asuang</i> is the ghoul of the Arabian Nights’ +tales.—<i>C</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6167" href="#xd20e6167src" name="xd20e6167">9</a></span> +Veritable cannibals are not mentioned by the older authors on the +Philippines. Pigafetta (p. 127) heard that a people lived on a river at +Cape Benuian (north of Mindanao) who ate only the hearts of their +captured enemies, along with lemon-juice; and Dr. Semper +(“Philippines,”) in ’62 found the same custom, with +the exception of the lemon-juice, on the east coast of Mindanao.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6205" href="#xd20e6205src" name="xd20e6205">10</a></span> The +Anito occurs amongst the tribes of the Malayan Archipelago as Antu, but +the Anito of the Philippines is essentially a protecting spirit, while +the Malayan Antu is rather of a demoniacal kind.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6223" href="#xd20e6223src" name="xd20e6223">11</a></span> These +idol images have never come under my observation. Those figured in +Bastian and Hartmann’s <i>Journal of Ethnology</i> (b. i. pl. +viii. <i>Idols from the Philippines</i>,) whose originals are in the +Ethnographical Museum of Berlin, were certainly acquired in the +Philippines, but, according to A. W. Franks, undoubtedly belong to the +Solomon Islands. Sections ii. to viii., p. 46, in the catalogue of the +Museum at Prague are entitled:—“Four heads of idols, made +of wood, from the Philippines, contributed by the Bohemian naturalist +Thaddaeus Haenke, who was commissioned by the King of Spain, in the +year 1817, to travel in the islands of the South Sea.” The +photographs, which were obligingly sent here at my request by the +direction of the museum, do not entirely correspond to the above +description, pointing rather to the west coast of America, the +principal field of Haenke’s researches. The <i>Reliquiae +Botanicae</i>, from his posthumous papers, likewise afford no +information respecting the origin of these idols.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6250" href="#xd20e6250src" name="xd20e6250">12</a></span> On the +Island of Panay.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXIII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Ports of entry.</span>In 1830 +seven new ports were opened as an experiment, but, owing to great +frauds in the charges, were soon afterwards closed again. In 1831 a +custom-house was established at Zamboanga, on the south-west point of +Mindanao; and in 1855 Sual, in the Gulf of Lingayen, one of the safest +harbors on the west coast of Luzon, and Iloilo in Panay, were thrown +open; and in 1863 Cebu, on the island of the same name, for the direct +communication with foreign countries.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Old Zamboanga fort.</span>Before 1635 the +Spaniards had established a fort at Zamboanga, which, although it +certainly could not wholly prevent the piratical excursions against the +colonies, yet considerably diminished them.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6274src" href="#xd20e6274" name="xd20e6274src">1</a> Until 1848 +from eight hundred to fifteen hundred individuals are stated to have +been carried off yearly by the Moros.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6277src" href="#xd20e6277" name="xd20e6277src">2</a> The +establishment of this custom-house has, therefore, been based upon +political rather than commercial motives, it being found desirable to +open an easily accessible place to the piratical states of the Sulu Sea +for the disposal of their products. <span class= +"marginnote">Exports.</span>Trade, up to the present date, is but of +very inconsiderable amount, the exports consisting chiefly of a little +coffee (in 1871 nearly six thousand piculs), which, from bad +management, is worth thirty per cent. less than Manila coffee, and of +the collected products of the forest and of the water, such as wax, +birds’-nests, tortoise-shell, pearls, mother-of-pearl, and edible +holothuria. This trade, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb287" href= +"#pb287" name="pb287">287</a>]</span>as well as that with Sulu, is +entirely in the hands of the Chinese, who alone possess the patience, +adaptiveness, and adroitness which are required for the purpose.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sual’s foreign trade.</span>Sual is +specially important for its exports of rice; and its foreign trade is +therefore affected by the results of the harvests in Saigon, Burma, and +China. In 1868, when the harvests in those countries turned out good, +Sual carried on only a coasting trade.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cebu.</span>Cebu (with a population of +34,000) is the chief town of the island of the same name, the seat of +Government and of the bishop of the Bisayas, and within forty-eight +hours from Manila by steamer. It is as favorably situated with regard +to the <span class="corr" id="xd20e6293" title= +"Source: eatern">eastern</span> portion of the Bisayan group as Iloilo +is for the western, and is acquiring increased importance as the +emporium for its products. Sugar and tobacco are obtained from Bohol; +rice from Panay; abacá from Leyte and Mindanao; and coffee, wax, +Spanish cane, and mother-of-pearl from Misamis (Mindanao). Its distance +from Samar is twenty-six, from Leyte two and a half, from Bohol four, +and from Negros eighteen miles.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cebu island.</span>The island of Cebu +extends over seventy-five square miles. A lofty mountain range +traverses it from north to south, dividing the east from the west side, +and its population is estimated at 340,000,—4,533 to the square +mile. The inhabitants are peaceable and docile; thefts occur very +seldom, and robberies never. Their occupations are agriculture, +fishing, and weaving for home consumption. Cebu produces sugar, +tobacco, maize, rice, etc., and in the mountains potatoes; but the rice +produced does not suffice for their requirements, there being only a +little level land, and the deficiency is imported from Panay.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Land tenure.</span>The island possesses +considerable beds of coal, the full yield of which may now be looked +for, as the duty <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb288" href="#pb288" +name="pb288">288</a>]</span>on export was abandoned by a decree of the +5th of May, 1869.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6306src" href="#xd20e6306" +name="xd20e6306src">3</a> While in Luzon and Panay the land is for the +most part the property of the peasantry, in Cebu it mostly belongs to +the mestizos, and is let out by them, in very small allotments, upon +lease. The owners of the soil know how to keep the peasants in a state +of dependence by usurious loans; and one of the results of this abuse +is that agriculture in this island stands lower than in almost any +other part of the archipelago.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6318src" +href="#xd20e6318" name="xd20e6318src">4</a> <span class= +"marginnote">Customhouse data.</span>The entire value of the exports in +1868 amounted to $1,181,050; of which sugar to the value of $481,127, +and abacá to the value of $378,256; went to England, +abacá amounting to $112,000 to America, and tobacco to $118,260 +to Spain. The imports of foreign goods, mostly by the Chinese, come +through Manila, where they purchase from the foreign import houses. The +value of these imports amounted in 1868 to $182,522; of which $150,000 +were for English cotton stuffs. The entire imports of the island were +estimated at $1,243,582, and the exports at $226,898. Among the +importations were twenty chests of images, a sign of the deeply-rooted +worship of the Virgin. Formerly the products for exportation were +bought up by the foreign merchants, mostly Chinese mestizos; but now +they are bought <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb289" href="#pb289" +name="pb289">289</a>]</span>direct from the producers, who thus obtain +better prices in consequence of the abolition of the high brokerages. +To this and to the energy of the foreign merchants, under favorable +circumstances, is the gradual improvement of agriculture principally to +be ascribed.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Iloilo.</span>Iloilo is the most important +of the newly opened ports, being the central point of the Bisayan +group, and situated in one of the most thickly populated and +industrious provinces. Nicholas Loney<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6330src" href="#xd20e6330" name="xd20e6330src">5</a> estimates +the export of goods woven from the fiber of the piña, from +Iloilo, and the neighboring provinces, at about one million dollars +annually. The harbor is excellent, being completely protected by an +island which lies immediately before it; and at high tide there is +about twelve feet of water close in shore for vessels to lie in. On +account of the bar, however, ships of a deeper draught than this are +obliged to complete their loading outside. Previous to the opening of +the new harbors, all the provinces were compelled as well to bring +their products intended for exportation to Manila, as to receive from +the same place their foreign imports; the cost of which therefore was +greatly increased through the extra expenses incurred by the double +voyage, reloading, brokerage, and wharfage charges. According to a +written account by N. Loney, it is shown how profitable, even after a +few years, the opening of Iloilo has been to the provinces immediately +adjoining—the islands of Panay and Negros.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sugar.</span>The higher prices which can be +obtained for directly exported sugar, combined with the facility and +security of the trade as contrasted with the late monopoly enjoyed by +Manila, have occasioned a great extension of the cultivation of that +article. Not only in Iloilo, but also in Antique and Negros, many new +plantations have <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb290" href="#pb290" +name="pb290">290</a>]</span>arisen, and the old ones have been enlarged +as much as possible; and not less important has been the progress in +the manufacture. In 1857 there was not one iron mill to be found on the +island; so that, in working with the wooden mill, about thirty per +cent. of the sap remained in the cane, even after it had thrice passed +through. The old wooden presses, which were worked by steam or +carabaos, have now been supplanted by new ones; and these the native +planters have no difficulty in obtaining, as they can get them on +credit from the warehouses of the English importers. Instead of the old +Chinese cast-iron pans which were in use, far superior articles have +been imported from Europe; and many large factories worked by +steam-power and with all modern improvements have been established. In +agriculture, likewise, creditable progress is noticeable. Improved +ploughs, carts, and farming implements generally, are to be had in +plenty. These changes naturally show how important it was to establish +at different points, extending over two hundred miles of the +Archipelago, commercial centers, where it was desirable that foreigners +should settle. Without these latter, and the facilities afforded to +credit which thereby ensued, the sudden rise and prosperity of Iloilo +would not have been possible, inasmuch as the mercantile houses in that +capital would have been debarred from trading with unknown planters in +distant provinces, otherwise than for ready money. A large number of +half-castes, too, who before traded in manufactured goods purchased in +Manila, were enabled after this to send their goods direct to the +provinces, to the foreign firms settled there; and as, ultimately, +neither these latter nor the Chinese retail dealers could successfully +compete with them, the result has been that, as much to their own +profit as to that of the country, they have betaken themselves to +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb291" href="#pb291" name= +"pb291">291</a>]</span>the cultivation of sugar. In this manner +important plantations have been established in Negros, which are +managed by natives of Iloilo: but there is a scarcity of laborers on +the island.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Land disputes.</span>Foreigners now can +legally acquire property, and possess a marketable title; in which +respect the law, until a very recent period, was of an extremely +uncertain nature. Land is to be obtained by purchase, or, when not +already taken up, by “denuncia” (<i>i.e.</i> priority of +claim). In such case, the would-be possessor of the land must enter +into an undertaking in the nearest of the native Courts to cultivate +and keep the said land in a fit and serviceable condition. Should no +other claim be put in, notice is thereupon given of the grant, and the +magistrate or alcalde concludes the compact without other cost than the +usual stamp duty.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lack of capital for large +plantations.</span>Many mestizos and natives, not having the necessary +capital to carry on a large plantation successfully, sell the fields +which they have already partially cultivated to European capitalists, +who are thus relieved of all the preliminary tedious work. Evidently +the Colonial Government is now sincerely disposed to favor the laying +out of large plantations.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lack of roads.</span>The want of good roads +is particularly felt: but, with the increase of agriculture, this +defect will naturally be remedied; and, moreover, most of the sugar +factories are situated on rivers which are unnavigable even by flat +freight boats. The value of land in many parts of the country has +doubled within the last ten years.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6357src" +href="#xd20e6357" name="xd20e6357src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sugar prices.</span>Up to 1854 the picul of +sugar was worth in Iloilo from $1.05 to $1.25 and seldom over $2.00 in +Manila; <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb292" href="#pb292" name= +"pb292">292</a>]</span>in 1866, $3.25; and in 1868, $4.75 to $5.00 in +Iloilo. The business in Iloilo therefore shows an increase of $1.75 per +picul.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6369src" href="#xd20e6369" name= +"xd20e6369src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Negros.</span>At the end of 1856 there were +as many as twenty Europeans established on the island of Negros as +sugar planters, besides a number of mestizos. Some of them were working +with steam machinery and vacuum pans. The general rate of pay is from +$2.05 to $3.00 per month. On some plantations the principle of +<i>acsa</i>, <i>i.e.</i> part share, is in operation. The owner lets +out a piece of ground, providing draught cattle and all necessary +ploughing implements, to a native, who works it, and supplies the mill +with the cut cane, receiving as payment a share, generally a third, of +the product. In Negros the violet cane is cultivated, and in Manila the +white (Otaheiti). The land does not require manuring. On new ground, or +what we may term virgin soil, the cane often grows to a height of +thirteen feet. A vast improvement is to be observed in the mode of +dress of the people. Piña and silk stuffs are beoming quite +common. Advance in luxury is always a favorable sign; according to the +increase of requirements, industry flourishes in proportion.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The future sugar market.</span>As I have +already mentioned, California, Japan, China, and Australia appear +designed by nature to be the principal consumers of the products of the +Philippine Islands. Certainly at present England is the best customer; +but nearly half the account is for sugar, in consequence of their own +custom duties. Sometimes it happens that not more than one-fourth of +the sugar crop is sufficiently refined to compete in the Australian and +Californian markets with the sorts from Bengal, Java, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb293" href="#pb293" name="pb293">293</a>]</span>and +the Mauritius; the remaining three-fourths, if particularly white, must +perforce undertake the long voyage to England, despite the high freight +and certain loss on the voyage of from ten to twelve per cent. through +the leakage of the molasses. The inferior quality of the Philippine +sugar is at once perceived by the English refiners, and is only taxed +at 8<i>s</i>. per cwt., while purer sorts pay 10<i>s</i>. to +12<i>s</i>.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6397src" href="#xd20e6397" name= +"xd20e6397src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A valuable by-product.</span>In this manner +the English customs favor the inferior qualities of manufactured sugar. +The colonial Government did not allow those engaged in the manufacture +of sugar to distil rum from the molasses until the year 1862. They had, +therefore, little inducement to extract, at a certain expense, a +substance the value on which they were not permitted to realize; but +under ordinary circumstances the distillation of the rum not only +covered the cost of refining, but gave, in addition, a fair margin of +profit.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6274" href="#xd20e6274src" name="xd20e6274">1</a></span> As an +example, in anticipation of an attack on Cogseng, all the available +forces, including those of Zamboanga, were collected round Manila, and +the Moros attacked the island with sixty ships, whereas formerly their +armaments used not to exceed six or eight ships. Torrubia, p. 363.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6277" href="#xd20e6277src" name="xd20e6277">2</a></span> Hakluyt +Morga, Append. 360.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6306" href="#xd20e6306src" name="xd20e6306">3</a></span> +According to the <i>Mineral Review</i>, Madrid, 1866, xvii. 244, the +coal from the mountain of Alpacó, in the district of Naga, in +Cebu, is dry, pure, almost free of sulphur pyrites, burns easily, and +with a strong flame. In the experiments made at the laboratory of the +School of Mines in Madrid it yielded four per cent. of ashes, and a +heating power of 4,825 caloria; <i>i.e.</i>, by the burning of one part +by weight 4,825 parts by weight of water were heated to 1° C. Good +pit-coal gives 6,000 cal. The first coal pits in Cebu were excavated in +the Massanga valley; but the works were discontinued in 1859, after +considerable outlay had been made on them. Four strata of considerable +thickness were subsequently discovered in the valley of Alpacó +and in the mountain of Oling, in Naga. * * “The coal of Cebu is +acknowledged to be better than that of Australia and Labuan, but has +not sufficient heating power to be used, unmixed with other coal, on +long sea voyages.”</p> +<p class="footnote">According to the Catalogue of the Products of the +Philippines (Manila, 1866), the coal strata of Cebu have, at many +places in the mountain range which runs from north to south across the +whole of the island, an average thickness of two miles. The coal is of +middling quality, and is burnt in the Government steam works after +being mixed with Cardiff coal. The price in Cebu is on the average six +dollars per ton.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6318" href="#xd20e6318src" name="xd20e6318">4</a></span> English +Consular Report, 217.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6330" href="#xd20e6330src" name="xd20e6330">5</a></span> The man +credited with the development of the sugar industry through machinery. +A monument has been erected to his memory.—T.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6357" href="#xd20e6357src" name="xd20e6357">6</a></span> In Jaro +the leases have increased threefold in six years: and cattle which were +worth $10 in 1860, fetched $25 in 1866. Plots of land on the +“Ria,” in Iloilo, have risen from $100 to $500, and even as +high as $800. (<i>Diario</i>, February 1867). These results are to be +ascribed to the sugar trade, which, through free exportation, has +become extremely lucrative.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6369" href="#xd20e6369src" name="xd20e6369">7</a></span> In 1855 +Iloilo took altogether from Negros 3,000 piculs out of 11,700; in 1860 +as much as 90,000 piculs; in 1863, 176,000 piculs (in twenty-seven +foreign ships); in 1866, 250,000 piculs; in 1871, 312,379 picula from +both islands.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6397" href="#xd20e6397src" name="xd20e6397">8</a></span> The +sugar intended for the English market cost in Manila, in the years 1868 +and 1869, from £15 to £16 per ton, and fetched in London +about £20 per ton. The best refined sugar prepared in Manila for +Australia was, on account of the higher duty, worth only £3 per +ton more in London; but, being £5 dearer than the inferior +quality, it commanded a premium of £2. Manila exports the sugar +chiefly from Pangasinan, Pampanga, and Laguna.—(From private +information.)</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXIV</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Manila hemp.</span>One of the +most interesting productions of the island is Manila hemp. The French, +who, however, hardly use it, call it “Silk-Plant,” because +of its silky appearance.</p> +<p>The natives call the fiber <i>bandala</i>, and in commerce +(generally speaking) <i>abacá</i>, just as the plant from which +it is obtained.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abacá.</span>The latter is a wild +species of banana growing in the Philippine Islands, known also as +Arbol de Cañamo (hemp-tree), <i>Musa textilis</i>, Lin. It does +not differ in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb294" href="#pb294" name= +"pb294">294</a>]</span>appearance to any great extent from the edible +banana (<i>Musa paradisiaca</i>), one of the most important plants of +the torrid zone, and familiar to us as being one of our most beautiful +hot-house favorites.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Undetermined plant relations.</span>Whether +this and the “musae” (<i>M. troglodytarum</i>, <i>M. +sylvestris</i>, and others), frequently known, too, as <i>M. +textilis</i>, are of the same species, has not yet been determined. The +species Musaceae are herbaceous plants only. The outer stem consists of +crescent-shaped petioles crossing one another alternately, and +encircling the thin main stem. These petioles contain a quantity of +bast fiber, which is used as string, but otherwise is of no commercial +value. The serviceable hemp fiber has, up to the present time, been +exclusively obtained from the southern portion of the Philippines.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abacá districts.</span>The southern +Camarines and Albay are favorably adapted for the cultivation of this +plant, as are also the islands of Samar and Leyte, and the adjacent +islands; and Cebu likewise, although a portion of the so-called +“Cebu hemp” comes from Mindanao. In Negros the bast-banana +thrives only in the south, not in the north; and Iloilo, which produces +most of the hemp cloth (<i>guinara</i>), is obliged to import the raw +material from the eastern district, as it does not flourish in the +island of Panay. In Capiz, it is true, some abacá may be noticed +growing, but it is of trifling value. Hitherto all attempts, strenuous +though the efforts were, to acclimatize the growth of hemp in the +western and northern provinces have failed. The plants rarely grow as +high as two feet, and the trouble and expense are simply +unremunerative. This failure may be accounted for by the extreme +dryness prevailing during many months of the year, whereas in the +eastern provinces plentiful showers fall the whole year round.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb295" href="#pb295" name= +"pb295">295</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Peculiar to the +Philippines.</span>The great profit which the Manila hemp has yielded +in the few years since its production, however, has given encouragement +to still further experiments; so that, indeed, it will shortly be shown +whether the cultivation of abacá is to be confined to its +present limited area, while the edible species of banana has spread +itself over the whole surface of the earth within the tropics. On the +volcanic mountains of Western Java a species of the Musaceae grows in +great luxuriance. The Government has not, however, made any real effort +to cultivate it, and what has been done in that respect has been +effected, up to the present date, by private enterprise. Various +writers have stated that abacá is to be obtained in the north of +the Celebes. Bickmore, however, says positively that the inhabitants +having made great efforts in attempting its successful cultivation, +have abandoned it again in favor of the cultivation of coffee, which is +found to be far more profitable.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6456src" +href="#xd20e6456" name="xd20e6456src">1</a> According to previous +statements, Guadaloupe appears to be able to produce abacá +(fiber of the <i>M. textilis?</i>);<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6464src" +href="#xd20e6464" name="xd20e6464src">2</a> and Pondicherry and +Guadaloupe have produced fabrics woven from abacá, and French +Guiana stuffs from the fiber of the edible banana;<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e6467src" href="#xd20e6467" name="xd20e6467src">3</a> all +these, however, are only experiments.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superiority of fiber.</span>Royle affirms +that the Manila hemp (abacá fiber) excels the Russian in +firmness, lightness, and strength in tension, as well as in cheapness, +and has only the one disadvantage that ropes made from it become stiff +in wet weather. The reason, however, is found in the manner in which it +is spun, and may be avoided by <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb296" +href="#pb296" name="pb296">296</a>]</span>proper preparation.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6482src" href="#xd20e6482" name="xd20e6482src">4</a> +Through the better preparation of the raw material in Manila by means +of adequate machinery, these difficulties have been overcome; but +abacá no longer has the advantage of superior cheapness, as the +demand has increased much faster than the supply. During the year 1859 +it was worth from £22 to £25 per ton; in 1868, £45 +per ton; while Russian hemp fetched £31 per ton. Thus in nine +years it rose to double its value.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Banana varieties.</span>In Albay there are +about twelve varieties of the best banana cultivated, which are +particularly favored by the qualities of the soil. The cultivation is +extremely simple, and entirely independent of the seasons. The plants +thrive best on the slopes of the volcanic mountains (in which Albay and +Camarines abound), in open spaces of the woods protected by the trees, +which cast their shadows to an extent of about sixty feet. In exposed +level ground they do not thrive so well, and in marshy land not at +all.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cultivation.</span>In the laying out of a +new plantation the young shoots are generally made use of, which sprout +so abundantly from the roots that each individual one soon becomes a +perfect plant. In favorable ground the custom is to allow a distance of +about ten feet between each plant; in poor ground six feet. The only +care necessary is the extermination of the weeds, and clearing away the +undergrowth during the first season; later on, the plants grow so +luxuriantly and strongly that they entirely prevent the growth of +anything else in their vicinity. The protection afforded by the shade +of the trees at this period is no longer required, the young buds +finding sufficient protection against the sun’s rays under cover +of the fan-like leaves. Only in exceptional <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb297" href="#pb297" name= +"pb297">297</a>]</span>cases, contrary to the usual practice, are the +plants raised from seed. The fruit, when ready, is cut off and dried, +though care must be taken that it is not over ripe; otherwise the +kernels will not germinate. These latter are about the size of +peppercorns; and the extraction of them in the edible species almost +always brings about decay. Two days before sowing, the kernels are +taken out of the fruit, and steeped overnight in water; on the +following day they are dried in a shady place; and on the third day +they are sown in holes an inch deep in fresh, unbroken, and well-shaded +forest ground, allowing six inches distance between each plant and row. +After a year the seedlings, which are then about two feet high, are +planted out, and tended in the same way as the suckers. <span class= +"marginnote">Differences with abacá.</span>While many of the +edible bananas bear fruit after one year, and a few varieties even +after six months, the abacá plant requires on an average three +years to produce its fiber in a proper condition; when raised from +suckers four years; and raised from year-old seedlings, even under the +most favorable conditions, two years.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cutting.</span>On the first crop, only one +stalk is cut from each bush; but later on the new branches grow so +quickly that they can be cut every two months.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6502src" href="#xd20e6502" name="xd20e6502src">5</a> After a few +years the plants become so strong and dense that it is scarcely +possible to push through them. Bast is in its best condition at the +time of blossoming; but, when the price of the fiber happens to stand +high in the market, this particular time is not always waited for.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Prejudice against cutting after +blossoming.</span>Plants which have blossomed cease to be profitable in +any way, by reason of the fiber becoming too weak—a matter of too +great nicety for the unpractical <span class="corr" id="xd20e6510" +title="Source: consummers">consumers</span> on the other side of the +Atlantic to decide <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb298" href="#pb298" +name="pb298">298</a>]</span>upon, and one in which, despite inquiries +and careful inspections, they might be deceived. There really is no +perceptible reason why the fiber should become weaker through +fructification, which simply consists in the fact of the contents of +the vascular cells changing into soluble matter, and gradually oozing +away, the consequence of which is that the cells of the fiber are not +replenished. These, on the contrary, acquire additional strength with +the age of the plant, because the emptied cells cling so firmly +together, by means of a certain resinous deposit, that it is impossible +to obtain them unbroken without a great deal of trouble. The idea may +have erroneously arisen from the circumstance that, previously to +drying, as with hemp, the old plants were picked out, and allowed to be +thrown away, though not without considerably increasing the rate of +pay, which already consumed the greater part of the general +expenses.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6515src" href="#xd20e6515" name= +"xd20e6515src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Extracting the fiber.</span>In order to +obtain the bast, the stalk above ground is closely pruned and freed +from leaves and other encumbrances; each leaf is then singly divided +into strips—a cross incision being made through the membrane on +the inner or concave side, and connected by means of the pulpy parts +(the parenchym) clinging together. In this manner as much as possible +of the clear outer skin only remains behind. Another method is to strip +the bast from the undivided stem. To effect this the operator makes an +oblique incision in the skin of the under part of the stalk, drawing +the knife gradually to the tip, and stripping off the whole length as +broad a piece as possible; and the operation is repeated as many times +as practicable. This method of handling <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb299" href="#pb299" name="pb299">299</a>]</span>is more productive +than the one previously described; but, on the other hand, it takes +considerably more time, and for that reason is not often practised. The +strips of bast are then drawn under a knife, the blade of which is +three inches broad by six long, fastened at one end to the extremity of +a flexible stick so that it is suspended perpendicularly over a +well-smoothed block, and at the other end to a handle connected by +means of a cord to a treadle, which can be pressed firmly down, as +occasion requires. The workman draws the bast, without any regard to +quality, between the knife and block, commencing in the middle, and +then from side to side. The knife must be free from notches, or all +indentations, according to the direction of Father Blanco.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6527src" href="#xd20e6527" name= +"xd20e6527src">7</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Laborers’ work and wages.</span>Three +hired-men usually get twenty-five pounds per day. One worker cuts up +the stalks, strips off the leaves, and attends to the supply; the +second, frequently a boy, spreads out the strips; and the third draws +them under the knife. A single plant has been known to yield as much as +two pounds of fiber; but the most favorable average rarely affords more +than one pound, and plants grown in indifferent soil scarcely a sixth +of that quantity. The plantations are worked either by the owner or by +day-laborers, who, when the market prices are very low, take half share +of the crop harvested by them. In these cases an industrious workman +may obtain as much as one picul in a week. During my stay exceptionally +low prices ruled—sixteen and one-half reals per picul +undelivered. The workman could, therefore, in six days earn half the +amount, viz., eight and a quarter reals at a rate of one and +three-eighths <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb300" href="#pb300" name= +"pb300">300</a>]</span>reals per day. The day’s pay at that time +was half a real, and board a quarter of a real, making together +three-quarters of a real.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Profit.</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td></td> +<td>By daily pay.</td> +<td>Half share.</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>The workman therefore earned daily</td> +<td>0.75 r. or</td> +<td>1.375 r.</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Wages amounted to per picul</td> +<td>12. 6 r. or</td> +<td>8. 25 r.</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Profit of the planters after deduction of the wages</td> +<td>3. 9 r. or</td> +<td>8. 25 r.</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lupis and bandala.</span>The edges of the +petioles, which contain much finer fiber than the middle parts, are +separately divided into strips an inch wide, and with strong pressure +are drawn several times under the knife. This substance, which is +called <i>lupis</i>, is in high request, being employed in the native +weaving; while is chiefly used for ships’ rigging.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6576src" href="#xd20e6576" name= +"xd20e6576src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Grades of Lupis.</span><i>Lupis</i>, +according to the fineness of the fiber, is sorted into four +classes—first, <i>Binani</i>; second, <i>Totogna</i>; third, +<i>Sogotan</i>; and fourth, <i>Cadaclan</i>. A bundle of these is then +taken up in the left hand, and, while with the right the first three +sorts are inserted between the fingers, the fourth is held between the +thumb and forefinger. This last description is no longer used in fine +weaving, and is therefore sold with <i>bandala</i>. After the fine +sorts have been pounded in a rice-mortar, in order to render the fiber +soft and pliable, they are severally knotted into one another, and +converted into web.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Lupis fabrics.</span>Generally the first +sort is worked as woof with the second as warp, and the third as warp +with the second as woof. The fabrics so woven are nearly as fine as +<i>piña</i> fabrics (<i>Nipis de Piña</i>), and almost +equal the best quality of cambric; and, notwithstanding the many little +nodules occasioned by the tangling of the fiber, which may be discerned +on close inspection, are clearer and <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb301" href="#pb301" name="pb301">301</a>]</span>stouter, and possess +a warmer yellowish tint.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6613src" href= +"#xd20e6613" name="xd20e6613src">9</a> As to these last three +qualities—purity, flexibility, and color—they stand in +relation to cambric somewhat as cardboard to tissue-paper.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Weaving.</span>Weaving such fabrics on very +simple looms is exceedingly troublesome as the fibers, which are not +spun but twisted, very frequently break. The finest stuffs require so +great an amount of dexterity, patience, and time in their preparation, +and for that reason are so expensive, that they would find no +purchasers in Europe where there is the competition of cheap, +machine-made goods. Their fine, warm yellowish color also is objected +to by the European women, who are accustomed to linen and calicoes +strongly blued in the washing. In the country, however, high prices are +paid for them by the rich mestizos, who understand the real goodness of +their qualities.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Bandala fabrics.</span>The fibers of the +inner petioles, which are softer but not so strong as the outer, are +called <i>tupus</i>, and sold with <i>bandala</i>, or mixed with +<i>tapis</i> and used in the native weaving. <i>Bandala</i> also serves +for weaving purposes; and, in that portion of the Archipelago where the +native abacá plantations are, the entire dress of both sexes is +made of coarse <i>guinara</i>. Still coarser and stronger fabrics are +prepared for the European market, such as crinoline and stiff muslin +used by dressmakers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A Pre-Spanish product.</span>Before the +arrival of the Spaniards the natives wore stuffs from abacá; +which became an important article of export only some few decades +since. This is in great measure due to the enterprising spirit of two +American firms, and would not have been attained without great +perseverance and liberal pecuniary assistance.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb302" href="#pb302" name= +"pb302">302</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Unbusinesslike early +methods.</span>The plants flourish without any care or attention, the +only trouble being to collect the fiber; and, the bounteousness of +Nature having provided them against want, the natives shirk even this +trouble when the market price is not very enticing. In general low +prices are scarcely to be reckoned on, because of the utter +indifference of the laborers, over whom the traders do not possess +enough influence to keep them at work. Advances to them are made both +in goods and money, which the creditor must repay either by produce +from his own plantation or by giving an equivalent in labor.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6648src" href="#xd20e6648" name= +"xd20e6648src">10</a> As long as the produce stands high in price, +everything goes on pretty smoothly, although even then, through the +dishonesty of the workers and the laziness, extravagance, and +mercantile incapacity of the middlemen, considerable loss frequently +ensues. If, however, prices experience any considerable fall, then the +laborers seek in any and every way to get out of their uncomfortable +position, whilst the percentage of profit secured to the middleman is +barely sufficient to cover the interest on his outlay. Nevertheless, +they must still continue the supplies, inasmuch as they possess no +other means of securing payment of their debt in the future. The +laborers, in their turn, bring bitter complaints against the agents, to +the effect that they are forced to severe labor, unprofitable to +themselves, through their acceptance of advances made to them at most +exorbitant rates; and the agents (generally mestizos or creoles) blame +the crafty, greedy, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb303" href="#pb303" +name="pb303">303</a>]</span>extortionate foreigners, who shamelessly +tempt the lords of the soil with false promises, and bring about their +utter ruin. <span class="marginnote">Change to a safer basis.</span>As +a general rule, the “crafty foreigner” experiences a +considerable diminution of his capital. It was just so that one of the +most important firms suffered the loss of a very large sum. At length, +however, the Americans, who had capital invested in this trade, +succeeded in putting an end to the custom of advances, which hitherto +had prevailed, erected stores and presses on their own account, and +bought through their agents direct from the growers. All earlier +efforts tending in this direction had been effectually thwarted by the +Spaniards and creoles, who considered the profits derived from the +country, and especially the inland retail trade, to be their own by +prescriptive right. They are particularly jealous of the foreign +intruders, who enrich themselves at their expense; consequently they +place every obstacle in their way. If it depended upon the will of +these people, all foreigners would be ejected from the +country—the Chinese alone, as workmen (coolies), being allowed to +remain.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6656src" href="#xd20e6656" name= +"xd20e6656src">11</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Anti-Chinese feeling.</span>The same +feeling was exhibited by the natives towards the Chinese, whom they +hated for being industrious and trustworthy workers. All attempts to +carry out great undertakings by means of Chinese labor were frustrated +by the native workmen intimidating them, and driving them away either +by open violence or by secret persecution; and the Colonial authorities +were reproached for not affording suitable protection against these and +similar outrages. That, as a rule, great undertakings did not succeed +in the Philippines, or at least did not yield a profit commensurate +with the outlay and trouble, is a fact beyond dispute, and is solely to +be ascribed to many of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb304" href= +"#pb304" name="pb304">304</a>]</span>circumstances related above. +<span class="marginnote">Good work for good pay.</span>There are those, +however, who explain these mishaps in other ways, and insist upon the +fact that the natives work well enough when they are punctually and +sufficiently paid. The Government, at any rate, appears gradually to +have come to the conclusion that the resources of the country cannot be +properly opened up without the assistance of the capital and enterprise +of the <span class="marginnote">Tardy justice to +foreigners.</span>foreigners; and, therefore, of late years it has not +in any way interfered with their establishment. In 1869 their right of +establishment was tardily conceded to them by law.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abacá production and +prospects.</span>At this period the prospects of the abacá +cultivation seemed very promising; and since the close of the American +war, which had the effect of causing a considerable fall in the value +of this article in America, the prices have been steadily increasing. +It is stated (on authority) that, in 1840, 136,034 piculs of +abacá, to the value of $397,995 were exported, the value per +picul being reckoned at about $2.09. The rate gradually rose and stood +between four and five dollars—and, during the civil war, reached +the enormous sum of nine dollars per picul—the export of Russian +hemp preventing, however, a further rise. This state of affairs +occasioned the laying out of many new plantations, the produce of +which, when it came on the market, after three years, was valued at +$3.50 per picul, in consequence of the prices having returned to their +normal condition; and even then it paid to take up an existing +plantation, but not to lay out a new one. This rate continued until +1860, since which time it has gradually risen (only during the American +civil war was there any stoppage), and it now stands once more as high +as during the civil war; and there is no apparent prospect of a fall so +long as the Philippines have no competitors in the trade. In 1865 the +picul in Manila never cost less than $7 which two years previously +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb305" href="#pb305" name= +"pb305">305</a>]</span>was the maximum value; and it rose gradually, +until $9.50 was asked for ordinary qualities. The production in many +provinces had reached the extreme limit; and a further increase, in the +former at least, is impossible, as the work of cultivation occupies the +whole of the male population—an evidence surely that a suitable +recompense will overcome any natural laziness of the natives.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e6678src" href="#xd20e6678" name= +"xd20e6678src">12</a></p> +<p>An examination of the following table will confirm the accuracy of +these views:—</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Export of “Manila +hemp.”</span></p> +<div class="table"> +<h4 class="tablecaption">Export of Abacá (In Piculs).</h4> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>To</td> +<td>1861</td> +<td>1864</td> +<td>1866</td> +<td>1868</td> +<td>1870</td> +<td>1871</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Great Britain</td> +<td>198,954</td> +<td>226,258</td> +<td>96,000</td> +<td>125,540</td> +<td>131,180</td> +<td>143,498</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>North America, Atlantic Ports</td> +<td>158,610</td> +<td>249,106</td> +<td>280,000</td> +<td>294,728</td> +<td>327,728</td> +<td>285,112</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>California</td> +<td>6,600</td> +<td>9,426</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>14,200</td> +<td>15,900</td> +<td>22,500</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Europe</td> +<td>901</td> +<td>1,134</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>200</td> +<td>244</td> +<td>640</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Australia</td> +<td>16</td> +<td>5,194</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>21,244</td> +<td>11,434</td> +<td>6,716</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Singapore</td> +<td>2,648</td> +<td>1,932</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>3,646</td> +<td>1,202</td> +<td>2,992</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>China</td> +<td>5,531</td> +<td>302</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>—</td> +<td>882</td> +<td>2,294</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Total</td> +<td>273,260</td> +<td>493,352</td> +<td>406,682</td> +<td>460,588</td> +<td>488,570</td> +<td>463,752</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Commercial Report</td> +<td>Prussian Consular Report</td> +<td>Belgian Consular Report</td> +<td>English Consular Report</td> +<td rowspan="2">Market Report, T.H. & Co.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Large local consumption.</span>The +consumption in the country is not contained in the above schedule, and +is difficult to ascertain; but it must certainly be very considerable, +as the natives throughout entire provinces are clothed in +<i>guinara</i>, the weaving of which for the family requirements +generally is done at home.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sisal-hemp.</span>Sisal, also sisal-hemp, +or, as it is sometimes known, Mexican grass, has for some years past +been used in the trade in increasing quantities as a substitute for +abacá, which it somewhat resembles in appearance, though wanting +that fine gloss which the latter possesses. It is somewhat weaker, and +costs from £5 to £10 less per ton; it is only used for +ships’ rigging. The refuse from it has been found an extremely +useful adjunct to the materials <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb306" +href="#pb306" name="pb306">306</a>]</span>ordinarily used in the +manufacture of paper. The <i>Technologist</i> for July, 1865, calls +attention to the origin of this substitute, in a detailed essay +differing essentially from the representations contained in the +“U. S. Agricultural Report” published at Washington in +1870; and the growing importance of the article, and the ignorance +prevailing abroad as to its extraction, may render a short account of +it acceptable. The description shows the superior fineness of the +abacá fiber, but not its greater strength.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6855src" href="#xd20e6855" name="xd20e6855src">13</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Varieties of sisal.</span>Sisal-hemp, which +is named after the export harbor of Sisal (in the north-western part of +the peninsula), is by far the most important product of Yucatan; and +this rocky, sun-burnt country seems peculiarly adapted to the growth of +the fiber. In Yucatan the fiber is known as <i>jenequem</i>, as indeed +the plant is obtained from it. Of the latter there are seven sorts or +varieties for purposes of cultivation; only two, the first and seventh, +are also to be found in a wild state. First, <i>Chelem</i>, apparently +identical with <i>Agave angustifolia</i>; this ranks first. Second, +<i>Yaxci</i> (pronounced Yachki; from <i>yax</i>, green, and +<i>tri</i>, agave), the second in order; this is used only for fine +weaving. Third, <i>Sacci</i> (pronounced Sakki; <i>sack</i>, white), +the most important and productive, supplying almost exclusively the +fiber for exportation; each plant yields annually twenty-five leaves, +weighing twenty-five pounds, from which is obtained one pound of clear +fiber. Fourth, <i>Chucumci</i>, similar to No. 3, but coarser. Fifth, +<i>Babci</i>; the fiber very fair, but the leaves rather small, +therefore not very productive. Sixth, <i>Citamci</i> (pronounced +Kitamki; <i>kitam</i>, hog); <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb307" href= +"#pb307" name="pb307">307</a>]</span>neither good nor productive. +Seventh, <i>Cajun</i> or <i>Cajum</i>, probably <i>Fourcroya +cubensis</i>; leaves small, from four to five inches long.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Machine-spinning.</span>The cultivation of +sisal has only in recent times been prosecuted vigorously; and the +extraction of the fiber from the leaves, and the subsequent spinning +for ships’ rigging, are already done by steam-machinery. This +occupation is especially practiced by the Maya Indians, a memorial of +the Toltecs, who brought it with them upon their emigration from +Mexico, where it was in vogue long before the arrival of the +Spaniards.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Profit.</span>The sisal cultivation yields +an annual profit of 95 per cent. A <i>mecate</i>, equal to five hundred +seventy-six square yards (<i>varas</i>), contains sixty-four plants, +giving sixty-four pounds of clear fiber, of the value of $3.84; which, +after deducting $1.71, the cost of obtaining it, leaves $2.13 +remaining. The harvesting commences from four to five years after the +first laying out of the plantation, and continues annually for about +fifty or sixty years.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Banana substitute unsatisfactory.</span>In +tropical countries there is scarcely a hut to be seen without banana +trees surrounding it; and the idea presented itself to many to utilize +the fiber of these plants, at that time entirely neglected, which might +be done by the mere labor of obtaining it; besides which, the little +labor required for their proper cultivation is quickly and amply repaid +by their abundant fruitfulness.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6938src" +href="#xd20e6938" name="xd20e6938src">14</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb308" href="#pb308" name= +"pb308">308</a>]</span>This idea, however, under the existing +circumstances, would certainly not be advantageous in the Philippines, +as it does not pay to obtain bast from the genuine abacá plant +as soon as it has borne fruit. The fiber of the edible banana might +very well be used as material for paper-making, though obtaining it +would cost more than the genuine bandala.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fiber-extracting machinery.</span>In the +Report of the Council of the Society of Arts, London, May 11, 1860, +attention was called to a machine invented by F. Burke, of Montserrat, +for obtaining fiber from banana and other endogenous plants. While all +the earlier machines worked the fiber parallelwise, this one operated +obliquely on it; the consequence of which was that it was turned out +particularly clear. With this machine, from seven to nine per cent. of +fibrous substance may be obtained from the banana. The Tropical Fiber +Company have sent these machines to Demerara, also to Java and other +places, with the design of spinning the fiber of the edible banana, and +also to utilize some portions of the plant as materials in the +manufacture of paper. Proofs have already been brought forward of fiber +obtained in this manner in Java, the value of which to the spinner has +been reckoned at from £20 to £25. It does not appear, +however, that these promising experiments have led to any important +results; at least, the consular reports which have come to hand contain +no information on the subject. In the obtaining of bandala in the +Philippines this machine has not yet been used; nor has it even been +seen, though the English consul, in his latest report, complains that +all the hitherto ingeniously constructed machines have proved virtually +useless.</p> +<p>The bast of the edible banana continues still to be used in the +Philippines, notwithstanding that the plants, instead of being grown, +as in many parts of America, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb309" href= +"#pb309" name="pb309">309</a>]</span>in large well-tended gardens, are +here scattered around the huts; but the forwarding of the raw material, +the local transport, and the high freightage will always render this +material too expensive for the European market (considering always its +very ordinary quality)—£10 per ton at the very least; while +“Sparto grass” (<i>Lygaeum spartum</i>, Lœffl.), +<span class="marginnote">Paper-making materials.</span>which was +imported some few years since in considerable quantities for the +purpose of paper-making, costs in London only £5 per +ton.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6968src" href="#xd20e6968" name= +"xd20e6968src">15</a> The jute (<i>Corchurus casularis</i>) +coffee-sacks supply another cheap paper material. These serve in the +fabrication of strong brown packing paper, as the fiber will not stand +bleaching. According to P. Symmonds, the United States in recent years +have largely used bamboo. The rind of the <i>Adansonia digitata</i> +also yields an extremely good material; in particular, paper made +entirely from New Zealand flax deserves consideration, being, by virtue +of its superior toughness, eminently suited for “bill +paper.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Preferability of discarded cloth.</span>It +must not be overlooked that, in the manufacture of paper, worn linen +and cotton rags are the very best materials that can be employed, and +make the best paper. Moreover, they are generally to be had for the +trouble of collecting them, after they have once covered the cost of +their production in the form of clothing materials; when, through being +frayed by repeated washings, they undergo a preparation which +particularly adapts them to the purpose of paper-making.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Increasing use of wood and straw.</span>The +more paper-making progresses, the more are ligneous fibers brought +forward, particularly wood and straw, which produce really good pastes; +all the raw <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb310" href="#pb310" name= +"pb310">310</a>]</span>materials being imported from a distance. That +England takes so much sparto is easily explained by the fact that she +has very little straw of her own, for most of the grain consumed by her +is received from abroad in a granulated condition.</p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6456" href="#xd20e6456src" name="xd20e6456">1</a></span> <i>The +Islands of the East Indian Archipelago</i>, 1868, p. 340.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6464" href="#xd20e6464src" name="xd20e6464">2</a></span> +Exhibition Catalogue; section, French Colonies, 1867, p. 80.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6467" href="#xd20e6467src" name="xd20e6467">3</a></span> Report +of the Commissioners, Exhibition 1867, iv. 102. The South American +Indians have for a long time past employed the banana fiber in the +manufacture of clothing material;—(The <i>Technologist</i>, +September, 1865, p. 89, from unauthenticated sources,) and in Loo Choo +the banana fiber is the only kind in use (<i lang="fr">Faits +Commerciaux</i>, No. 1514. p. 36).</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6482" href="#xd20e6482src" name="xd20e6482">4</a></span> +Abacá not readily taking tar is, consequently, only used for +running, and not standing, rigging.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6502" href="#xd20e6502src" name="xd20e6502">5</a></span> A plant +in full growth produces annually 30 cwt. bandala to the acre, whereas +from an acre of flax not more than from 2 to 4 cwt. of pure flax, and +from 2 to 8 cwt. seed can be obtained.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6515" href="#xd20e6515src" name="xd20e6515">6</a></span> As Dr. +Wittmack communicated to me, only fiber or seed can be obtained from +hemp, as when the hemp is ripe, <i>i.e.</i> run to seed, the fiber +becomes then both brittle and coarse. When cultivating flax very often +both seeds and fiber are used, but then they both are of inferior +quality.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6527" href="#xd20e6527src" name="xd20e6527">7</a></span> Flora de +Filipinas.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6576" href="#xd20e6576src" name="xd20e6576">8</a></span> In 1868, +£100 per ton was paid for lupis, although only imported in small +quantities—about five tons per annum—and principally used +at one time in France in the manufacture of a particular kind of +underclothing. The fashion soon, however, died out. Quitol, a less +valuable sort of lupis, could be sold at £75 per ton.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6613" href="#xd20e6613src" name="xd20e6613">9</a></span> +Inflexibility is peculiar to all fibers of the Monocotyledons, because +they consist of coarsely rounded cells. On the other hand, the true +bast fibers—the Dicotyledons (flax, for instance)—are the +reverse.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6648" href="#xd20e6648src" name="xd20e6648">10</a></span> Through +the agricultural system, also, the mestizos and natives secure the work +of their countrymen by making these advances, and renewing them before +the old ones are paid off. These thoughtless people consequently fall +deeper and deeper into debt, and become virtually the peons of their +creditors, it being impossible for them to escape in any way from their +position. The “part-share contract” is much the same in its +operative effects, the landlord having to supply the farmer with +agricultural implements and draught-cattle, and often in addition +supplying the whole family with clothing and provisions; and, on +division of the earnings, the farmer is unable to cover his debt. It is +true the Filipinos are responsible legally to the extent of five +dollars only, a special enactment prohibiting these usurious bargains. +As a matter of fact, however, they are generally practised.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6656" href="#xd20e6656src" name="xd20e6656">11</a></span> This +feeling of jealousy had very nearly the effect of closing the new +harbors immediately after they were opened.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6678" href="#xd20e6678src" name="xd20e6678">12</a></span> +<i>Rapport Consulaire Belge</i>, XIV., 68.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6855" href="#xd20e6855src" name="xd20e6855">13</a></span> In the +Agricultural Report of 1869, p. 232, another fiber was highly +mentioned, belonging to a plant very closely related to sisal +(<i>Bromelia Sylvestris</i>), perhaps even a variety of the same. The +Mexican name, <i>jxtle</i>, is possibly derived from the fact of their +curiously flattened, spike-edged leaves, resembling the dentated knives +formed from volcanic stone (obsidian) possessed by the Aztecs and +termed by them <i>iztli</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6938" href="#xd20e6938src" name="xd20e6938">14</a></span> The +banana trees are well known to be among the most valuable of plants to +mankind. In their unripe state they afford starch-flour; and when +mature, they supply an agreeable and nutritious fruit, which, although +partaken of freely, will produce neither unpleasantness nor any +injurious after-effects. One of the best of the edible species bears +fruit as early as five or six months after being planted, suckers in +the meantime constantly sprouting from the roots, so that continual +fruit-bearing is going on, the labor of the growers merely being +confined to the occasional cutting down of the old plants and to +gathering in the fruit. The broad leaves afford to other young plants +the shade which is so requisite in tropical countries, and are employed +in many useful ways about the house. Many a hut, too, has to thank the +banana trees surrounding it from the conflagration, which, generally +speaking, lays the village in ashes. I should here like to make an +observation upon a mistake which has spread rather widely. In Bishop +Pallegoix’s excellent work, <i lang="fr">Description du Royaume +Thai ou Siam</i>, I*. 144, he says: <i lang="fr">“L’arbre a +vernis qui est une espece de bananier, et que les Siamois appellent +‘rak,’ fournit ce beau vernis qu’on admire dans les +petits meubles qu’on apporte de Chine.”</i> When I was in +Bangkok, I called the attention of the amiable white-haired, and at +that time nearly nonogenarian, bishop to this curious statement. +Shaking his head, he said he could not have written it. I showed him +the very passage. “<i lang="fr">Ma foi, j’ai dit une +betise; j’en ai dit bien d’autres</i>,” whispered he +in my ear, holding up his hand as if afraid somebody might overhear +him.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6968" href="#xd20e6968src" name="xd20e6968">15</a></span> In +1862, English took from Spain 156 tons; 1863, 18,074 tons; 1866, 66,913 +tons; 1868, 95,000 tons; and the import of rags fell from 24,000 tons +in 1866 to 17,000 tons in 1668. In Algiers a large quantity of sparto +(Alfa) grows but the cost of transport is too expensive to admit of +sending it to France.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXV</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Tobacco revenue.</span>Of all +the productions of the country tobacco is the most important, so far +(at least) as concerns the Government, which have the cultivation of +this plant, its manipulation, and sale, the subjects of an extensive +and strictly guarded monopoly, and derives a very considerable portion +of the public revenue therefrom.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e6995src" +href="#xd20e6995" name="xd20e6995src">1</a> As to the objections raised +against this revenue on the score of its being opposed to justice and +morality, many other sources of revenue in the colonial budget might be +condemned (such as the poll-tax, gaming and opium licenses, the brandy +trade, and the sale of indulgences); yet none is so invidious and +pernicious as the tobacco monopoly.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Injustice of the monopoly.</span>Often in +the course of this narrative of my travels I have had occasion to +commend the clemency of the Spanish Government. In glaring contrast +therewith, however, stands the management of the tobacco regulations. +They appropriated the fields of the peasantry without the slightest +indemnification—fields which had been brought under cultivation +for their necessary means of sustenance; forced them, under penalty of +bodily punishment, to raise, on the confiscated property, an article +which required an immense amount of trouble and attention, and which +yielded a very uncertain crop; and they then valued the harvested +leaves arbitrarily <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb311" href="#pb311" +name="pb311">311</a>]</span>and without any appeal, and, in the most +favorable case, paid for them at a nominal price fixed by themselves. +To be paid at all, indeed, appears to have been a favor, for it has not +been done in full now for several years in succession. Spain regularly +remains indebted to the unlucky peasants in the amount of the miserable +pittance allowed, from one year’s end to another. The Government +ordered the officials to exact a higher return from the impoverished +population of the tobacco districts; and even rewarded informers who, +after pointing out fields already owned, but which were considered +suitable to the cultivation of tobacco, were installed into possession +of the proclaimed lands in the place of the original owners.</p> +<p>For proofs of these accusations, one need only peruse a few +paragraphs contained in the following stringent regulations, entitled +“General Instructions,”<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7009src" +href="#xd20e7009" name="xd20e7009src">2</a> and, further, a few +extracts from the official dispatches of Intendant-General Agius to the +Colonial Minister:—<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7013src" href= +"#xd20e7013" name="xd20e7013src">3</a></p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Résumé of +regulations</span>Cap. 25, § 329. The compulsory system of +cultivation in Cagayan, New Vizcaya, Gapan, Igorots, and Abra to remain +in force.</p> +<p>§ 331. The Director-General of the Government is authorized to +extend compulsory labor to the other provinces, or to abolish it where +already introduced. These instructions may be altered wholly or in part +as occasion requires.</p> +<p>§ 332. Prices may be either increased or lowered.</p> +<p>§ 337. Claims or actions concerning the possession of tobacco +lands pending before the usual tribunal shall not prevent such lands +from being used for the purposes of tobacco cultivation, the present +proprietor being under strict obligation to continue the cultivation +either in person or by substitute. (If he omits to do so, the +magistrate or judge takes upon himself to appoint such substitute.)</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb312" href="#pb312" name= +"pb312">312</a>]</span>§ 351. The collectors have received +<i>denuncies</i>, <i>i.e.</i> information, that land adapted to tobacco +growing is lying fallow, and that it is private property. In case such +land is really suitable to the purposes of tobacco cultivation, the +owners thereof are hereby summoned to cultivate the same with tobacco +in preference to anything else. At the expiration of a certain space of +time the land in question is to be handed over to the informer. Be it +known, however, that, notwithstanding these enactments, the possessory +title is not lost to the owner, but he is compelled to relinquish all +rights and usufruct for three years.</p> +<p>Cap. 27, § 357. An important duty of the collector is to insure +the greatest possible extension of the tobacco cultivation upon all +suitable lands, but in particular upon those which are specially +convenient and fertile. Lands which, although suitable for tobacco +growing, were previously planted with rice or corn, shall, as far as +practicable, be replaced by forest clearings, in order, as far as +possible, to prevent famine and to bring the interests of the natives +into harmony with those of the authorities.</p> +<p>§ 351. In order that the work which the tobacco cultivation +requires may not be neglected by the natives, and that they may perform +the field work necessary for their sustenance, it is ordered that every +two persons working together shall, between them cultivate eight +thousand square varas, that is, two and one-half acres of tobacco +land.</p> +<p>§ 362. Should this arrangement fail to be carried out either +through age, sickness, or death, it shall be left to the priest of the +district to determine what quantity of work can be accomplished by the +little children, having regard to their strength and number.</p> +<p>§ 369. Every collector who consigns from his district 1,000 +<i>fardos</i> more than in former years, shall receive for the overplus +a double gratuity, but this only where the proportion of first-class +leaves has not decreased.</p> +<p>§ 370. The same gratuity will be bestowed when there is no +diminution in bulk, and one-third of the leaves is of first-class +quality.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb313" href="#pb313" name= +"pb313">313</a>]</span>The following sections regulate the action of +the local authorities:—</p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first">§ 379. Every governor must present annually a +list, revised by the priest of the district, of all the inhabitants in +his district of both sexes, and of those of their children who are old +enough to help in the fields.</p> +<p>§ 430. The officers shall forward the emigrants on to Cagayan +and Nueva Vizcaya, and will be entrusted with $5 for that purpose, +which must be repaid by each individual, as they cannot be allowed to +remain indebted in their province.</p> +<p>§ 436. Further it is ordered by the <i>Buen Gobierno</i> (good +government) that no Filipino shall be liable for a sum exceeding $5, +incurred either as a loan or a simple debt. Thus the claim of a higher +sum can not impede emigration.</p> +<p>§ 437. The Hacienda (Public Treasury) shall pay the passage +money and the cost of maintenance from Ilocos.</p> +<p>§ 438. They are to be provided with the means of procuring +cattle, tools, etc., until the first harvest (although the Indian is +only liable for $5).</p> +<p>§ 439. Such advances are, it is true, personal and individual; +but, in the case of death or flight of the debtor, the whole village is +to be liable for the amount due.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tobacco from Mexico.</span>Tobacco +(<i>Nicotiana tabacum</i>, L.) was introduced into the Philippines soon +after the arrival of the Spaniards by the missionaries, who brought the +seed with them from Mexico.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7079src" href= +"#xd20e7079" name="xd20e7079src">4</a> The soil and climate being +favorable to its production, and the pleasure derived from it +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb314" href="#pb314" name= +"pb314">314</a>]</span>being speedily discovered by the natives, +naturally assisted in its rapid adoption. Next to the Cuban tobacco and +a few sorts of Turkish<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7098src" href= +"#xd20e7098" name="xd20e7098src">5</a>it is admitted to be the best; +and in the colony it is asserted by competent judges that it would soon +surpass all others, if the existing regulations were abolished and free +trade established. There can be no doubt in the minds of impartial +observers that the quality and quantity of the produce might be +considerably increased by such a change; on the other hand, many of the +prejudiced officials certainly maintain the direct contrary. The real +question is, to what extent these expectations may be realized in the +fulfilment of such a measure; of course, bearing in mind that the +judgment is swayed by a strong desire for the abolition of a system +which interferes at present with their prospects of gain. But the fact +is that, even now, the native grown tobacco, notwithstanding all the +defects inseparable from an illicit trade, is equal to that produced by +the <span class="marginnote">High grade of Philippine +product.</span>Government officials in their own factories, and is +valued at the same rate with many of the Havana brands; and the +Government cigars of the Philippines are preferred to all others +throughout Eastern Asia. Indeed, rich merchants, to whom a difference +of price is no object, as a rule take the Manila cigars before +Havanas.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila tobacco handicapped.</span>According +to Agius (“Memoria,” 1871), in the European market the +Manila tobacco was admitted to be without any rival, with the sole +exception of the <i>Vuelta abajo</i> of Cuba; and most certainly in the +Asiatic and Oceanic ports its superior quality was undisputed, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb315" href="#pb315" name= +"pb315">315</a>]</span>as the Havana tobacco loses its flavor on the +long voyage to these countries; but now, from year to year, it is +surely losing its reputation. If, then, the Manila cigars have not +hitherto succeeded in making themselves acceptable in Europe on account +of their inferiority, the blame is attributable simply to the system of +compulsory labor, and the chronic insolvency of the Insular Treasury, +whilst the produce of other tobacco countries has steadily progressed +in quality in consequence of free competition. The fame of the Manila +cigars may also have suffered in some slight measure from the +wide-spread, though perfectly erroneous, idea that they contained +opium.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hampered by government +restrictions.</span>How greatly the produce might be increased by means +of free trade is shown under other circumstances by the example of +Cuba. At the time when the Government there monopolized the tobacco +trade, the crops were only partly sufficient to cover the home +consumption; whereas, at the present time, Cuba supplies all the +markets of the world.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7120src" href= +"#xd20e7120" name="xd20e7120src">6</a> The decision of Captain-General +De la Gandara upon this question is in the highest degree worthy of +notice. In a MS. Report to the Colonial Minister, March, 1858, +concerning a measure for rendering the regulations of the tobacco +monopoly still more stringent, he says: “If the tobacco +cultivation is placed without restriction into the hands of private +traders, we shall most probably, in a few years, be in a position to +command nearly all the markets in the world.” Most of the islands +produce tobacco. According to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb316" +href="#pb316" name="pb316">316</a>]</span>the quality of the produce, +the tobacco provinces rank in the following order: First, Cagayan and +Isabela; Second, Igorots; Third, Island of Mindanao; Fourth, Bisayas; +Fifth, Nueva Ecija.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Origin of monopoly.</span>From the +Government Order, dated November 20, 1625, it is evident that even at +that early period the sale of betel nut, palm spirit (toddy), tobacco, +etc., was a Government monopoly: but it does not seem to have been very +strictly carried out. The tobacco monopoly, as it stands at present, +the whole trade of which from the sowing of the seedling plants to the +sale of the manufactured article is exclusively in the hands of the +Government, was first introduced by Captain-General José Basco y +Vargas. And a Government Order, under date of January 9, 1780 +(confirmed by Departmental Regulations, December 13, 1781), further +enacted that the tobacco regulations should be extended to the +Philippine Islands, in like manner as in all Spanish possessions in +this and the other hemisphere (<i>de uno y otto mundo</i>).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Governor Basco’s +innovations.</span>Before the administration of this very jealous +Governor, for a period of two hundred years the colony received annual +contributions from New Spain (<i>Situado de Nueva España</i>). +In order to relieve the Spanish Exchequer, from this charge Basco +introduced (at that time national economic ideas prevailed of making +the natural resources of a State supply its immediate wants) a plan +upon which, fifty years later, Java modelled its “Culture +System.” In the Philippines, however, the conditions for this +system were less favorable. In addition to the very slight +submissiveness of the population, there were two great obstacles in the +opposition of the priests and the want of trustworthy officials. Of all +the provincial trades brought into existence by the energy of Basco, +the indigo cultivation is the only one that <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb317" href="#pb317" name= +"pb317">317</a>]</span>remains in the hands of private individuals, the +tobacco trade still being a Government monopoly.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7144src" href="#xd20e7144" name="xd20e7144src">7</a> Basco first +of all confined the monopoly to the provinces immediately contiguous to +the capital, in all of which the cultivation of tobacco was forbidden +under penalty of severe punishment, except by persons duly authorized +and in the service of the Government.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7147src" href="#xd20e7147" name="xd20e7147src">8</a> In the other +provinces the cultivation was to a certain extent permitted; but the +supply remaining after deduction of what was consumed in each province +was to be sold to the Government only.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Speculation with public funds.</span>In the +Bisayas the magistrates purchased the tobacco for the Government and +paid for it at the rate previously fixed by the Government factories at +Manila; and they were allowed to employ the surplus money of the +Government treasury chest for this purpose. A worse system than this +could scarcely be devised. Officials, thinking only of their own +private advantage, suffered no competition in their provinces, employed +their official power to oppress the producer to the utmost extent, and +thereby naturally checked the production; and the Government treasury +chest consequently suffered frequent losses through bankruptcies, +inasmuch as the magistrates, who drew a salary of $600 and paid a +license of from $100 to $300 for the right of trading, in order to make +money quickly, engaged in the most hazardous speculations. In 1814 this +stupid arrangement was first put an end to; and forthwith the tobacco +supplies from the Bisayas increased, through the competition of the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb318" href="#pb318" name= +"pb318">318</a>]</span>private dealers, who then, for the first time, +had the power of purchase; and from 1839 the planters were empowered to +obtain higher prices than those afforded by the greedy monopolizing +magistrates. At present, the following general regulations are in +force, subject, however, to continual variation in details.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Changes bring improvement.</span>By a +Departmental Order, September 5, 1865, the cultivation of tobacco was +permitted in all the provinces, though the produce was allowed to be +sold only to the Government at the price regulated by them. The +wholesale purchases are made in Luzon and the adjacent islands in +<i lang="es">fardos</i>,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7164src" href= +"#xd20e7164" name="xd20e7164src">9</a> by “<span lang= +"es">colleccion</span>,” that is, direct through the finance +officials, who have the management of the plants from the sowing; but +in the Bisayas by <i lang="es">acopio</i>; that is, the Government +officials buy up the tobacco tendered by the growers or speculators by +the cwt.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Different usages in Bisayas and +Mindanao.</span>In the Bisayas and in Mindanao everybody is allowed to +manufacture cigars for his own particular use, though trade therein is +strictly prohibited; and advances to the tobacco growers are also made +there; while in Luzon and the neighboring islands the Government +provides seed and seedling plants. Here, however, no land which is +adapted to the cultivation of tobacco is allowed to be used for any +other purpose of agriculture.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Crude system of grading.</span>As the +Financial Administration is unable to classify the tobacco at its true +value, as might be done were free competition permitted, they have +adopted the expedient of determining the price by the size of the +leaves; the care necessary to be bestowed upon the training of the +plants in order to produce leaves of the required <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb319" href="#pb319" name="pb319">319</a>]</span>size +being at least a guarantee of a certain amount of proper attention and +handling, even if it be productive of no other direct good.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e7198src" href="#xd20e7198" name= +"xd20e7198src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Burden knowingly increased.</span>It is +well known at Madrid how the tobacco monopoly, by oppressing the +wretched population, interferes with the prosperity of the colony; yet, +to the present day, the Government measures have been so arranged as to +exact a still larger gain from this very impolitic source of +revenue.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb320" href="#pb320" name= +"pb320">320</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">“Killing the +goose that lays the golden egg.”</span>A Government Order of +January, 1866, directed the tobacco cultivation in the Philippines to +be extended as much as possible, in order to satisfy the requirements +of the colony, the mother country, and also the export trade; and in +the memorial already quoted, “reforms” are proposed by the +Captain-General, in the spirit of the goose with golden eggs. By +grafting new monopolies upon those already existing, he believes that +the tobacco produce can be increased from 182,102 cwt. (average of the +years 1860 to 1857) to 500,000, and even 800,000 cwt. Meantime, with a +view to obtaining increased prices, the Government resolved to export +the tobacco themselves to the usual markets for sale; and in the year +1868 this resolution was really carried out. It was sent to London, +where it secured so favorable a market that it was at once decreed that +no tobacco in Manila should thenceforth be sold at less than $25 per +cwt.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7451src" href="#xd20e7451" name= +"xd20e7451src">12</a> This decree, however, referred only to the first +three qualities, the quantity of which decreased in a relative measure +with the increased pressure upon the population. Even in the table +annexed to the record of La Gandara this is very clearly shown. Whilst +the total produce for 1867 stood at 176,018 cwt. (not much under the +average of the years 1860 to 1857, viz., 182,102 cwt.), the tobacco of +the first class had decreased in quantity since 1862 from over 13,000 +to less than 5,000 cwt.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Gift to Spain of unusable +tobacco.</span>The fourth, fifth, and sixth classes, the greater part +of which would before have been burnt, but which now form no +inconsiderable portion of the total crop, are in the open markets +positively unsaleable, and can be utilized only in the form of a bonus +to Spain, which <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb321" href="#pb321" +name="pb321">321</a>]</span>annually receives, under the title of +<i lang="es">atenciones á la peninsula</i>, upwards of 100,000 +cwt. If the colony were not compelled to pay half the freight of these +gifts, Spain would certainly ask to be relieved of these “marks +of attention.” Seeing that, according to the decision of the +chief of the Government, the greater portion of this tobacco is of such +inferior quality that it can find no purchaser at any price, it is +impossible that its value should cover either the cost of carriage or +the customs duty. Moreover, this tobacco tribute is a great burden on +the colonial budget; which, in spite of all deficits, is charged with +the expenses attending the collection of the tobacco, its packing, its +cost of local transport, and half the expense of its carriage to +Europe.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">De La Gandara’s proposed +reforms.</span>Dated in March, 1871,—the beginning of a Golden +Age, if De La Gandara’s plans had been carried out and his +expectations realized,—there exists an excellent statement from +the Intendant-General addressed to the Minister of Colonies pointing +out plainly to the chief of the Government the disadvantages arising +from this mode of administration, and urging the immediate repeal of +the monopoly. In the next place proof was adduced, supported by +official vouchers, that the profits derived from the tobacco monopoly +were much smaller than usual. The total average receipts of the tobacco +administration for the five years 1855 to 1869, according to official +accounts, amounted to $5,367,262; for the years 1866 to 1870, only +$5,240,935. The expenses cannot be accurately estimated, inasmuch as +there are no strict accounts obtainable; if, however, the respective +expenses charged in the colonial budget are added together, they amount +to $3,717,322 of which $1,812,250 is for purchase of raw tobacco.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Slight real profit from +monopoly.</span>Besides these expenses pertaining exclusively to the +tobacco administration there are still many other different +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb322" href="#pb322" name= +"pb322">322</a>]</span>items to be taken into account; yet the cost +incurred in this branch of the service would be saved, if not +altogether, at least largely, if the State surrendered the tobacco +monopoly. The total of the disbursements must certainly, at the very +lowest, be estimated at $4,000,000; so, therefore, the State receives +only a net profit of $1,357,000; but even this is not to be reckoned on +in the future, for if the Government does not speedily cease carrying +on this trade, they will be forced into a very considerable and +unavoidable expense. To begin with, they must erect new factories and +warehouses; better machinery must be bought; wages will have to be +considerably increased; and, above all, means must be devised to pay +off the enormous sum of $1,600,000 in which the Government is indebted +to the peasants for the crops of 1869 and 1870, and to assure cash +payments for future harvests. “This is the only possible mode of +preventing the decay of the tobacco cultivation in the different +provinces, as well as relieving the misery of the wretched +inhabitants.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Suffering and law-breaking thru the +monopoly.</span>Later Agius proved how trifling in reality the arrears +were on account of which the Government was abandoning the future of +the colony, and showed the misfortunes, of which I shall mention, these +briefly, only a few, resulting from the monopoly. He represented that +the people of the tobacco district, who were the richest and most +contented of all in the Archipelago, found themselves plunged into the +deepest distress after the increase of the Government dues. They were, +in fact, far more cruelly treated than the slaves in Cuba, who, from +self-interested motives, are well-nourished and taken care of; whereas +in this case, the produce of compulsory labor has to be delivered to +the State at an arbitrarily determined price; and even this price is +paid only when the condition of the treasury, which is invariably in +difficulties, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb323" href="#pb323" name= +"pb323">323</a>]</span>permits. Frequently their very means of +subsistence failed them, in consequence of their being forbidden to +carry on the cultivation; and the unfortunate people, having no other +resources for the relief of their pressing necessities, were compelled +to alienate the debtor’s bond, which purchased the fruits of +their enforced toil but had been left unpaid. Thus, for an +inconsiderable deficit of about $1,330,000, the whole population of one +of the richest provinces is thrown into abject misery; a deep-rooted +hatred naturally arises between the people and their rulers; and +incessant war ensues between the authorities and their subjects. +Besides which, an extremely dangerous class of smugglers have recently +arisen, who even now do not confine themselves to mere smuggling, but +who, on the very first opportunity presented by the prevailing +discontent, will band themselves together in one solid body. The +official administrators, too, are charged with gross bribery and +corruption; which, whether true or not, occasions great scandal, and +engenders increasing disrespect and distrust of the colonial +administration as well as of the Spanish people generally.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e7479src" href="#xd20e7479" name= +"xd20e7479src">13</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Growing opposition to the +monopoly.</span>The preceding memorial has been not only written, but +also printed; and it seems to indicate that gradually in Spain, and +also in wider circles, people are becoming convinced of the +untenableness of the tobacco monopoly; yet, in spite of this powerful +review, it is considered doubtful by competent judges whether it will +be given up so long as there are any apparent or appreciable returns +derived therefrom. These acknowledged evils have long been known to the +Colonial Government; <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb324" href="#pb324" +name="pb324">324</a>]</span>but, from the frequent changes of +ministers, and the increasing want of money, the Government is +compelled, so long as they are in office, to use all possible means of +obtaining profits, and to abstain from carrying out these urgent +reforms lest their own immediate downfall should be involved therein. +Let us, however, cherish the hope that increased demand will cause a +rise in the prices; a few particularly good crops, and other propitious +circumstances, would relieve at once the Insular Treasury from its +difficulties; and then the tobacco monopoly might be cheerfully +surrendered. One circumstance favorable to the economical management of +the State that would be produced by the surrender of the tobacco +monopoly would be the abolition of the numerous army of officials which +its administration requires. This might, however, operate reversely in +Spain. The number of place-hunters created must be very welcome to the +ministers in power, who thus have the opportunity of providing their +creatures with profitable places, or of shipping off inconvenient +persons to the Antipodes from the mother-country, free of cost. The +colony, be it known, has not only to pay the salaries, but also to bear +the cost of their outward and homeward voyages. Any way, the custom is +so liberally patronized that occasionally new places have to be created +in order to make room for the newly-arrived nominees.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e7488src" href="#xd20e7488" name="xd20e7488src">14</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb325" href="#pb325" name= +"pb325">325</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Wholesale rate highter +than retail government.</span>At the time of my visit, the royal +factories could not turn out a supply of cigars commensurate with the +requirements of commerce; and this brought about a peculiar condition +of things; the wholesale dealer, who purchased cigars in very +considerable quantities at the government auctions, paying higher than +the retail rates at which he could buy them singly in the <i lang= +"es">estancia</i>. In order, therefore, to prevent the merchants +drawing their stocks from the <i lang="es">estancias</i>, it was +determined that only a certain quantity should be purchased, which +limit no merchant dared exceed. A very intricate system of control, +assisted by espionage, had to be employed in seeing that no one, +through different agents and different <i lang="es">estancias</i>, +collected more than the <span class="corr" id="xd20e7514" title= +"Source: authorised">authorized</span> supply; and violation of this +rule, when discovered, was punished by confiscation of the +offender’s stock. Everybody was free to purchase cigars in the +<i lang="es">estancia</i>, but nobody was permitted to sell a chest of +cigars to an acquaintance at cost price. Several Spaniards with whom I +have spoken concerning these strange regulations maintained them to be +perfectly just, as otherwise all the cigars would be carried off by +foreigners, and they would not be able themselves in their own colony +to smoke a decent cigar.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Money juggling.</span>There was, as I +afterwards learnt, a still more urgent reason for the existence of +these decrees. The government valued their own gold at sixteen dollars +per ounce, while in commerce it fetched less, and the premium on silver +had, at one time, risen to thirty-three per cent. Moreover, on account +of the insufficient quantity of copper money for minor currency, the +small change frequently gained a premium on the silver dollar, so much +so that by every purchaser not less than half a dollar was realized. In +exchanging the dollar from five to fifteen per cent discount was +charged; <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb326" href="#pb326" name= +"pb326">326</a>]</span>it was profitable, therefore, to purchase cigars +in the <i>estancias</i> with the gold ounce, and then to retail them in +smaller quantities nominally at the rate of the <i>estancias</i>. Both +premiums together might in an extreme case amount to as much as +forty-three per cent.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7534src" href= +"#xd20e7534" name="xd20e7534src">15</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Directions for cultivating +tobacco</span>Not being able to give a description of the cultivation +of tobacco from personal knowledge and experience, I refer the reader +to the following short extract from the <i lang="es">Cartilla +Agricola</i>:—</p> +<div class="q"> +<p class="first"><i>Directions for preparing and laying out the seed +beds.</i>—A suitable piece of land is to be enclosed +quadrilaterally by boundaries, ploughed two or three times, cleared of +all weeds and roots, made somewhat sloping, and surrounded by a shallow +ditch, the bed of which is to be divided by drains about two feet wide. +The soil of the same must be very fine, must be ground almost as fine +as powder, otherwise it will not mix freely and thoroughly with the +extremely fine tobacco seed. The seed is to be washed, and then +suspended in cloths during the day, in order to allow the water to run +off; after which it is to be mixed with a similar quantity of ashes, +and strewn carefully over the bed. The subsequent successful results +depend entirely upon the careful performance of this work. From the +time the seed first begins to sprout, the beds must be kept very clean, +in dry weather sprinkled daily, and protected from birds and animals by +brambles strewn over, and by means of light mats from storms and heavy +rains. After two months the plants will be between five and six inches +high, and generally have from four to six leaves; they must then be +replanted. This occurs, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb327" href= +"#pb327" name="pb327">327</a>]</span>supposing the seed-beds to have +been prepared in September, about the beginning or the middle of +November. A second sowing takes place on the 15th of October, as much +as a precaution against possible failure, as for obtaining plants for +the lowlands.</p> +<p><i>Concerning the land most advantageous to the tobacco and its +cultivation. Replanting of the seedlings.</i>—Land must be chosen +of middling grain; somewhat difficult, calciferous soil is particularly +recommended, when it is richly fertilized with the remains of decayed +plants, and not less than two feet deep; and the deeper the roots are +inserted the higher will the plant grow. Of all the land adapted to the +tobacco cultivation, that in Cagayan is the best, as from the +overflowing of the large streams, which occurs every year, it is laid +under water, and annually receives a new stratum of mud, which renders +the soil particularly productive. Plantations prepared upon such soil +differ very materially from those less favored and situated on a higher +level. In the former the plants shoot up quickly as soon as the roots +strike; in the latter they grow slowly and only reach a middling +height. Again in the fertile soil the plants produce quantities of +large, strong, juicy leaves, giving promise of a splendid harvest. In +the other case the plants remain considerably smaller and grow +sparsely. Sometimes, however, even the lowlands are flooded in January +and February, and also in March, when the tobacco has already been +transplanted, and grown to some little height. In that event everything +is irreparably lost, particularly if the flood should occur at a time +when it is too late to lay out new plantations. High-lying land also +must, therefore, be cultivated, in the hope that by very careful +attention it may yield a similar return. In October these fields must +be ploughed three or four times, and harrowed twice or thrice. On +account of the floods, the lowlands cannot be ploughed until the end of +December, or the middle of January; when the work is light and simple. +The strongest plants in the seed-beds are chosen, and set in the +prepared grounds at a distance of three feet from each other, care +being taken that the earth clinging to the roots is not shaken off.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb328" href="#pb328" name= +"pb328">328</a>]</span><i>Of the care necessary to be bestowed upon the +plants.</i>—In the east a little screen, formed by two clods, is +to be erected, with a view to protecting the plant from the morning +sun, and retaining the dew for a longer time. The weeds to be carefully +exterminated, and the wild shoots removed. A grub which occasionally +appears in great numbers is particularly dangerous. Rain is very +injurious immediately before the ripening, when the plants are no +longer in a condition to secrete the gummy substance so essential to +the tobacco, which, being soluble in water, would be drawn off by the +action of the rain. Tobacco which has been exposed to bad weather is +always deficient in juice and flavor, and is full of white spots, a +certain sign of its bad quality. The injury is all the greater the +nearer the tobacco is to its ripening period; the leaves hanging down +to the ground then decay, and must be removed. If the subsoil is not +deep enough, a carefully tended plant will turn yellow, and nearly +wither away. In wet seasons this does not occur so generally, as the +roots in insufficient depth are enabled to find enough moisture.</p> +<p><i>Cutting and manipulation of the leaves in the drying +shed.</i>—The topmost leaves ripen first; they are then of a dark +yellow color, and inflexible. They must be cut off as they ripen, +collected into bundles, and brought to the shed in covered carts. In +wet or cloudy weather, when the nightly dews have not been thoroughly +evaporated by the sun, they must not be cut. In the shed the leaves are +to hang upon cords or split Spanish cane, with sufficient room between +them for ventilation and drying. The dried leaves are then laid in +piles, which must not be too big, and frequently turned over. Extreme +care must be taken that they do not become overheated and ferment too +strongly. This operation, which is of the utmost importance to the +quality of the tobacco, demands great attention and skill, and must be +continued until nothing but an aromatic smell of tobacco can be noticed +coming from the leaves; but the necessary skill for this manipulation +is only to be acquired by long practice, and not from any written +instructions.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb329" href="#pb329" name= +"pb329">329</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e6995" href="#xd20e6995src" name="xd20e6995">1</a></span> The +British Consul estimates the receipts from this monopoly for the year +1866–7 at $8,418,939, after an expenditure of $4,519,866; thus +leaving a clear profit of $3,899,073. In the colonial budget for 1867 +the profit on tobacco was estimated at $2,627,976, while the total +expenditure of the colony, after deduction of the expenses occasioned +by the tobacco management, was set down at $7,033,576.</p> +<p class="footnote">According to the official tables of the chief of +the Administration in Manila, 1871, the total annual revenue derived +from the tobacco management between the years 1865 and 1869 amounted, +on an average, to $5,367,262. By reason of proper accounts being +wanting an accurate estimate of the expenditure cannot be delivered; +but it would be at least $4,000,000, so that a profit of only +$1,367,262 remains.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7009" href="#xd20e7009src" name="xd20e7009">2</a></span> +<span lang="es">Instruccion general para la Direccion, Administracion, +y Intervencion de las Rentas Estancadas, 1849.</span></p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7013" href="#xd20e7013src" name="xd20e7013">3</a></span> <i lang= +"es">Memoria sobre el Desestanco del Tabaco en las Islas Filipinas</i>. +Don J. S. Agius, Binondo (Manila), 1871.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7079" href="#xd20e7079src" name="xd20e7079">4</a></span> The +tobacco in China appears to have come from the Philippines. “The +memoranda discovered in Wang-tao leave no possible doubt that it was +first introduced into South China from the Philippine Islands in the +sixteenth and seventeenth century, most probably by way of +Japan.”—(<i>Notes and Queries</i>, China and Japan, May +31st, 1857.)</p> +<p class="footnote">From Schlegel, in Batavia, it was brought by the +Portuguese into Japan somewhere between the years 1573 and 1591, and +spread itself so rapidly in China that we find even as early as 1538, +that the sale of it was forbidden under penalty of beheading.</p> +<p class="footnote">According to <i>Notes and Queries</i>, China and +Japan, July 31, 1857, the use of tobacco was quite common in the +“Manchu” army. In a Chinese work, <i>Natural History +Miscellany</i>, it is written: “Yen t’sao (literally smoke +plant) was introduced into Fukien about the end of the Wan-li +Government, between 1573 and 1620, and was known as Tan-pa-ku (from +Tombaku).”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7098" href="#xd20e7098src" name="xd20e7098">5</a></span> West +Cuba produces the best tobacco, the famous Vuelta abajo, 400,000 cwt. +at from $14.28 to $99,96 the cwt.; picked sorts being valued at from +$571.20 to $714.00 per cwt. Cuba produces 640,000 cwt. The cigars +exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1867 were worth from $24.99 to +$405.98 per thousand. The number of cigars annually exported is +estimated at about 5,000,000. (Jury Report, v., 375.) In Jenidje-Karasu +(Salonica) 17,500 cwt. are obtained annually, of which 2,500 cwt. are +of the first quality; the cost is $1.75 the oka (about .75 per lb.). +Picked sorts are worth 15s. per lb., and even more.—Saladin Bey, +<i lang="fr">La Turquie a l’Exposition</i>, p. 91.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7120" href="#xd20e7120src" name="xd20e7120">6</a></span> In Cuba +the tobacco industry is entirely free. The extraordinary increase of +the trade and the improved quality of the tobacco are, in great +measure, to be ascribed to the honest competition existing between the +factories, who receive no other protection from the Government than a +recognition of their operations. —(<i>Jury Report</i>, 1867, v., +375.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7144" href="#xd20e7144src" name="xd20e7144">7</a></span> Basco +also introduced the cultivation of silk, and had 4,500,000 mulberry +trees planted in the Camarines. This industry, immediately upon his +retirement, was allowed to fall into decay.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7147" href="#xd20e7147src" name="xd20e7147">8</a></span> +According to La Pérouse, this measure occasioned a revolt in all +parts of the island, which had to be suppressed by force of arms. In +the same manner the monopoly introduced into America at the same time +brought about a dangerous insurrection, and was the means of reducing +Venezuela to a state of extreme poverty, and, in fact, was the cause of +the subsequent downfall of the colony.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7164" href="#xd20e7164src" name="xd20e7164">9</a></span> A +<i lang="es">fardo</i> (pack) contains 40 <i lang="es">manos</i> +(bundles); 1 <i lang="es">mano</i> = 10 <i lang="es">manojitos</i>, 1 +<i lang="es">manojito</i> = 10 leaves. Regulations, § 7.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7198" href="#xd20e7198src" name="xd20e7198">10</a></span> +Regulations for the tobacco collection agencies in +Luzon.—<i>1st</i>. Four classes of Tobacco will be purchased. +<i>2nd</i>. These classes are thus specified: the first to consist or +leaves at least 18 inches long (0m 418;) the second of leaves between +14 and 18 inches (0m 325); the third of leaves between 10 and 14 inches +(0m 232); and the fourth of leaves at least 7 inches in length (0m +163). Smaller leaves will not be accepted. This last limitation, +however, has recently been abandoned so that the quality of the tobacco +is continually deprecinting in the hands of the Government, who have +added two other classes.</p> +<p class="footnote">A fardo, 1st class, weighs 60 lbs., and in 1867 the +Government rate of pay was as follows:—</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1 Fardo, 1st class, 60 lbs</td> +<td>$9.50</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1 Fardo, 2nd class, 46 lbs</td> +<td>6.00</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1 Fardo, 3rd class, 33 lbs</td> +<td>2.75</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1 Fardo, 4th class, 18 lbs</td> +<td>1.00</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p>—<i>English Consular Report</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote">The following table gives the different brands of +cigars manufactured by the Government, and the prices at which they +could be bought in 1867 in Estanco (<i>i.e.</i> a place privileged for +the sale):—</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td colspan="3">Price</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td>Menas (Classes.)</td> +<td>Corresponding Havana Brands.</td> +<td>Per arroba.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7253src" href="#xd20e7253" +name="xd20e7253src">11</a></td> +<td>Per 1000.</td> +<td>Per cigar.</td> +<td>Number of cigars in an arroba.</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top" class="unit"> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td>Dols.</td> +<td>Dols.</td> +<td>Cents.</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Imperiales.</td> +<td>The same.</td> +<td>37.50</td> +<td>30.00</td> +<td>4</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Prima Veguéro.</td> +<td>Do.</td> +<td>37.50</td> +<td>30.00</td> +<td>4</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Segunda Veguéro.</td> +<td>Regalia.</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>26.00</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Prima superiór Filipino.</td> +<td>Do.</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>26.00</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>2.a Superiór Filipino.</td> +<td>None.</td> +<td>38.00</td> +<td>19.00</td> +<td>3</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>3.a Superiór Filipino.</td> +<td>Londres</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>15.10</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Prima Filipino.</td> +<td>Superior Habano.</td> +<td>21.00</td> +<td>15.00</td> +<td>2</td> +<td>1400</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Segunda Superior.</td> +<td>Segunda superior Habano.</td> +<td>24.00</td> +<td>8.57⅛</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>2800</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Prima Cortado.</td> +<td>The Same.</td> +<td>21.00</td> +<td>15.00</td> +<td>2</td> +<td>1400</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Segunda Cortado.</td> +<td>Do.</td> +<td>24.00</td> +<td>8.57⅛</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>2800</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Mista</td> +<td>Segunda Batído.</td> +<td>20.50</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>..</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Prima Batido, larga.</td> +<td>None.</td> +<td>18.75</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>1</td> +<td>1800</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Segunda Batido, largo.</td> +<td>None.</td> +<td>18.75</td> +<td>..</td> +<td>½</td> +<td>3750</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7253" href="#xd20e7253src" name="xd20e7253">11</a></span> Arroba, +33 lbs.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7451" href="#xd20e7451src" name="xd20e7451">12</a></span> On an +average 407,500,000 cigars and 1,041,000 lbs. raw tobacco are exported +annually, the weight of which together is about 56,000 cwt. after +deducting what is given away in the form of gratuities.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7479" href="#xd20e7479src" name="xd20e7479">13</a></span> The +poor peasant being brought into this situation finds it very hard to +maintain his family. He is compelled to borrow money at an exorbitant +rate of interest, and, consequently, sinks deeper and deeper into debt +and misery. The dread of fines or bodily punishment, rather than the +prospect of high prices, is the chief method by which the supplies can +be kept up.—(Report of the English Consul.)</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7488" href="#xd20e7488src" name="xd20e7488">14</a></span> From +December 1853 to November 1854 the colony possessed four +captains-general (two effective and two provisional). In 1850 a new +nominee, Oidor (member of the Supreme Court of Judicature) who with his +family voyaged to Manila by the Cape, found, upon his arrival, his +successor already in office, the latter having travelled by way of +Suez. Such circumstances need not occasion surprise when it is +remembered how such operations are repeated in Spain itself.</p> +<p class="footnote">According to an essay in the <i lang="fr">Revue +Nationale</i>, April, 1867, Spain has had, from 1834 to 1862, +<i>i.e.</i> since the accession of Isabella, 4 Constitutions, 28 +Parliaments, 47 Chief Ministers, 529 Cabinet Ministers, and 68 +Ministers of the Interior; of which last class of officials each, on an +average, was in power only six months. For ten years past the Minister +of Finance has not remained in office longer than two months; and since +that time, particularly since 1868, the changes have followed one +another with still greater rapidity.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7534" href="#xd20e7534src" name="xd20e7534">15</a></span> The +reason of this premiun on silver was, that the Chinese bought up all +the Spanish and Mexican dollars, in order to send them to China, where +they are worth more than other dollars, being known from the voyage of +the galleon thither in olden times, and being current in the inland +provinces. (The highest price there can be obtained for a +Carlos III.)</p> +<p class="footnote">A mint erected in Manila since that time, which at +least supports itself, if the <span class="corr" id="xd20e7539" title= +"Source: govenment">government</span> has derived no other advantage +from it, has removed this difficulty. The Chinese are accustomed to +bring gold and silver as currency, mixed also with foreign coinage, to +Manila for the purpose of buying the produce of the country; and all +this the native merchants had recoined. At first only silver ounces +were usually obtainable in Manila, gold ounces very rarely. This +occasioned such a steady importation that the conditions were +completely reversed. In the Insular Treasury the gold and silver dollar +are always reckoned at the same value.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXVI</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Importance of +Chinese.</span>An important portion of the population remains to be +discussed, <i>viz.</i> the Chinese, who are destined to play a +remarkable part, inasmuch as the development of the land-cultivation +demanded by the increasing trade and commercial intercourse can be +affected only by Chinese industry and perseverance. Manila has always +been a favorite place for Chinese immigrants; and neither the hostility +of the people, nor oppressing and prohibitory decrees for a long time +by the Government, not even the repeated massacres, have been able to +prevent their coming. The position of the Islands, south-east of two of +the most important of the Chinese provinces, must necessarily have +brought about a trade between the two countries very early, as ships +can make the voyage in either direction with a moderate wind, as well +in the south-west as the north-east monsoon. <span class= +"marginnote">Early Chinese Associations.</span>In a few old writers may +even be found the assertion that the Philippine Islands were at one +time subject to the dominion of China; and Father Gaubil (<i lang= +"fr">Lettres Edifiantes</i>) mentions that Jaung-lo (of the Ming +dynasty) maintained a fleet consisting of 30,000 men, which at +different times proceeded to Manila. The presence of their ships as +early as the arrival of Magellan in the extreme east of the +archipelago, as well as the China plates and earthenware vessels +discovered in the excavations, plainly show that the trade with China +had extended far earlier to the most distant islands of the +archipelago. It formed the chief support of the young Spanish colony, +and, after the rise of the <i>Encomiendas</i>, was nearly the only +source of its prosperity. It was feared that the junks would offer +their cargoes to the Dutch if any obstacle was put in the way of their +coming to Manila. The colony certainly <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb330" href="#pb330" name="pb330">330</a>]</span>could not maintain +its position without the “Sangleys,”<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7594src" href="#xd20e7594" name="xd20e7594src">1</a> who came +annually in great numbers in the junks from China, and spread all over +the country and in the towns as <span class="marginnote">Industrial and +commercial activity.</span>shopkeepers, artisans, gardeners, and +fishermen; besides which, they were the only skillful and industrious +workers, as the Filipinos under the priestly domination had forgotten +altogether many trades in which they had engaged in former times. I +take these facts from Morga.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unsuccessful attempts at +restriction.</span>In spite of all this, the Spaniards have, from the +very commencement, endeavored rigorously to limit the number of the +Chinese; who were then, as they are now, envied and hated by the +natives for their industry, frugality, and cunning, by which means they +soon became rich. They were an abomination, moreover, in the eyes of +the priests as being irreclaimable heathens, whose example prevented +the natives from making progress in the direction of Christianity; and +the government feared them on account of the strong bond of union +existing between them, and as being subjects of so powerful a nation, +whose close proximity threatened the small body of Spaniards with +destruction.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7607src" href="#xd20e7607" +name="xd20e7607src">2</a> Fortunately for the latter, the Ming dynasty, +which at that time was hastening to its downfall, did not think of +conquest; but wickedly disposed powers which sprang into existence upon +their downfall brought the colony into extreme danger.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb331" href="#pb331" name= +"pb331">331</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Limahong and the +Mandarins’ visit.</span>In the attack of the noted pirate, +Limahong, in 1574, they escaped destruction only by a miracle; and soon +new dangers threatened them afresh. In 1603 a few mandarins came to +Manila, under the pretence of ascertaining whether the ground about +Cavite was really of gold. They were supposed to be spies, and it was +concluded, from their peculiar mission, that an attack upon the colony +was intended by the Chinese.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Early massacre of Chinese.</span>The +archbishop and the priests incited the distrust which was felt against +the numerous Chinese who were settled in Manila. Mutual hate and +suspicion arose; both parties feared one another and prepared for +hostilities. The Chinese commenced the attack; but the united forces of +the Spaniards, being supported by the Japanese and the Filipinos, +twenty-three thousand, according to other reports twenty-five thousand, +of the Chinese were either killed or driven into the desert. When the +news of this massacre reached China, a letter from the Royal +Commissioners was sent to the Governor of Manila. That noteworthy +document shows in so striking a manner how hollow the great government +was at that time that I have given a literal translation of it at the +end of this chapter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese laborers limited.</span>After the +extermination of the Chinese, food and all Chinese other necessaries of +life were difficult to obtain on account of the utter unreliability of +the natives for work; but by 1605 the number of Chinese<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e7623src" href="#xd20e7623" name="xd20e7623src">3</a> +had again so increased that a decree was issued limiting them to six +thousand, “these to be employed in the cultivation of the +country;” while at the same time their rapid increase was taken +advantage of by the captain-general for his own interest, as he exacted +eight dollars from each Chinaman for permission to remain. In 1539 the +Chinese population had risen to thirty thousand, according to other +information, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb332" href="#pb332" name= +"pb332">332</a>]</span>to forty thousand, when they revolted and were +reduced to seven thousand. “The natives, who generally were so +listless and indifferent, showed the utmost eagerness in assisting in +the <span class="marginnote">Another massacre.</span>massacre of the +Chinese, but more from hatred of this industrious people than from any +feeling of friendship towards the Spaniards.”<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e7631src" href="#xd20e7631" name="xd20e7631src">4</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The pirate Kog-seng.</span>The void +occasioned by this massacre was soon filled up again by Chinese +immigrants; and in 1662 the colony was once more menaced with a new and +great danger, by the Chinese pirate Kog-seng, who had under his command +between eighty and one hundred thousand men, and who already had +dispossessed the Dutch of the Island of Formosa. He demanded the +absolute submission of the Philippines; his sudden death, however, +saved the colony, and occasioned a fresh outbreak of fury against the +Chinese settlers in Manila, a great number of whom were butchered in +their own “quarter” (ghetto).<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7638src" href="#xd20e7638" name="xd20e7638src">5</a> Some +dispersed and hid themselves; a few in their terror plunged into the +water or hanged themselves; and a great number fled in small boats to +Formosa.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7641src" href="#xd20e7641" name= +"xd20e7641src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Another expulsion.</span>In 1709 the +jealousy against the Chinese once more had reached such a height that +they were accused of rebellion, and particularly of monopolizing the +trades, and, with the exception of the most serviceable of the artisans +and such of them as were employed by the Government, they were once +again expelled. Spanish writers praise the salutariness of these +measures; alleging that “under the pretence of agriculture the +Chinese carry on trade; they are cunning and careful, making money and +sending it to China, so that they defraud the Philippines annually of +an enormous amount.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb333" href= +"#pb333" name="pb333">333</a>]</span>Sonnerat, however, complains that +art, trade, and commerce had not recovered from these severe blows; +though, he adds, fortunately the Chinese, in spite of prohibitory +decrees, are returning through the corrupt connivance of the governor +and officials.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Thrifty traders.</span>To the present day +they are blamed as being monopolists, particularly by the creoles; and +certainly, by means of their steady industry and natural commercial +aptitude, they have appropriated nearly all the retail trade to +themselves. The sale of European imported goods is entirely in their +hands; and the wholesale purchase of the produce of the country for +export is divided between the natives, creoles, and the Chinese, the +latter taking about one-half. Before this time only the natives and +creoles were permitted to own ships for the purpose of forwarding the +produce to Manila.</p> +<p>In 1757 the jealousy of the Spaniards broke out again in the form of +a new order from Madrid, directing the expulsion of the Chinese; and in +1759 the decrees of banishment, which were repeatedly evaded, were +carried into effect: but, as the private interests of the officials did +not happen to coincide with those of the creole traders, the +consequence was that “the Chinese soon streamed back again in +incredible numbers,” and made common cause with the English upon +their invasion in 1762.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7656src" href= +"#xd20e7656" name="xd20e7656src">7</a> <span class= +"marginnote">Anda’s and 1819 massacres.</span>Thereupon, Sr. Anda +commanded “that all the Chinese in the Philippine Islands should +be hanged,” which order was very generally carried out.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e7662src" href="#xd20e7662" name="xd20e7662src">8</a> +The last great Chinese massacre took place in 1819, when the aliens +were suspected of having brought about the cholera by poisoning the +wells. The greater part of the Europeans in Manila also fell victims to +the fury of the populace, but the Spaniards generally were spared. The +prejudice of the Spaniards, especially of the creoles, had <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb334" href="#pb334" name= +"pb334">334</a>]</span>always been directed against the Chinese +tradesmen, who interfered unpleasantly with the fleecing of the +natives; and against this class in particular were the laws of +limitation aimed. They would willingly have let them develop the +country by farming but the hostility of the natives generally prevented +this.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Expulsion of merchants from Manila.</span>A +decree, issued in 1804, commanded all Chinese shopkeepers to leave +Manila within eight days, only those who were married being allowed to +keep shops; and their residence in the provinces was permitted only +upon the condition that they confined themselves entirely to +agriculture. Magistrates who allowed these to travel in their districts +were fined $200; the deputy-governor $25; and the wretched Chinese were +punished with from two to three years’ confinement in irons.</p> +<p>In 1839 the penalties against the Chinese were somewhat mitigated, +but those against the magistrates were still maintained on account of +their venality. In 1843 Chinese ships were placed upon terms of +equality with those of other foreign countries (Leg. Ult., II., 476). +In 1850 Captain-General Urbiztondo endeavored to introduce Chinese +colonial farming, and with this object promised a reduction of the +taxes to all agricultural immigrants. Many Chinese availed themselves +of this opportunity in order to escape the heavy poll-tax; but in +general they soon betook themselves to trading once more.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Oppressive taxation.</span>Of late years +the Chinese have not suffered from the terrible massacres which used +formerly to overtake them; neither have they suffered banishment; the +officials being content to suppress their activity by means of heavy +and oppressive taxes. For instance, at the end of 1867 the Chinese +shopkeepers were annually taxed $50 for permission to send their goods +to the weekly market; this was in addition to a tax of from $12 to $100 +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb335" href="#pb335" name= +"pb335">335</a>]</span>on their occupations; and at the same time they +were commanded thenceforth to keep their books in Spanish (English +Consular Report, 1859).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Excellent element in population.</span>The +Chinese remain true to their customs and mode of living in the +Philippines, as they do everywhere else. When they outwardly embrace +Christianity, it is done merely to facilitate marriage, or from some +motive conducive to their worldly advantage; and occasionally they +renounce it, together with their wives in Manila, when about to return +home to China. Very many of them, however, beget families, are +excellent householders, and their children in time form the most +enterprising, industrious, and wealthy portion of the resident +population.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Formidable competitors.</span>Invigorated +by the severe struggle for existence which they have experienced in +their over-populated country, the Chinese appear to preserve their +capacity for labor perfectly unimpaired by any climate. No nation can +equal them in contentedness, industry, perseverance, cunning, skill, +and adroitness in trades and mercantile matters. When once they gain a +footing, they generally appropriate the best part of the trade to +themselves. In all parts of external India they have dislodged from +every field of employment not only their native but, progressively, +even their European competitors. Not less qualified and successful are +they in the pursuance of agriculture than in trade. The emigration from +the too thickly peopled empire of China has scarcely begun. As yet it +is but a small stream, but it will by-and-by pour over all the tropical +countries of the East in one mighty torrent, completely destroying all +such minor obstacles as jealous interference and impotent precaution +might interpose.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sphere of future influence.</span>Over +every section of remote India, in the South Sea, in the Indian +Archipelago, in the states of South <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb336" href="#pb336" name="pb336">336</a>]</span>America, the Chinese +seem destined, in time, either to supplant every other element, or to +found a mixed race upon which to stamp their individuality. In the +Western States of the Union their number is rapidly on the increase; +and the factories in California are worked entirely by them, achieving +results that cannot be accomplished by European labor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mongolian vs. Caucasion in +America.</span>One of the most interesting of the many questions of +large comprehensiveness which connect themselves with the penetration +of the Mongolian race into America, which up till now it had been the +fashion to regard as the inheritance of the Caucasians, is the relative +capacity of labor possessed by both these two great races, who in the +Western States of America have for the first time measured their mutual +strength in friendly rivalry. Both are there represented in their most +energetic individuality;<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7698src" href= +"#xd20e7698" name="xd20e7698src">9</a> and every nerve will be strained +in carrying on the struggle, inasmuch as no other country pays for +labor at so high a rate.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Efficiency and reliability of Chinese +labor.</span>The conditions, however, are not quite equal, as the law +places certain obstacles in the way of the Chinese. The courts do not +protect them sufficiently from insult, which at times is aggravated +into malicious manslaughter through the ill-usage of the mob, who hate +them bitterly <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb337" href="#pb337" name= +"pb337">337</a>]</span>as being reserved, uncompanionable workers. +Nevertheless, the Chinese immigrants take their stand firmly. The +western division of the Pacific Railway has been chiefly built by the +Chinese, who, according to the testimony of the engineers, surpass +workmen of all other nationalities in diligence, sobriety, and good +conduct. What they lack in physical power they make up for in +perseverance and working intelligently together. The unique and nearly +incredible performance that took place on April 28, 1859, when ten +miles of railway track were laid in eleven working hours along a +division of land which had in no way been prepared beforehand, was +accomplished by Chinese workmen; and indeed only by them could it have +been practicable.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7707src" href="#xd20e7707" +name="xd20e7707src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese cleverness and industry.</span>Of +course, the superiority of the European in respect Chinese of the +highest intellectual faculties is not for a moment to be doubted; but, +in all branches of commercial life in which cleverness and perservering +industry are necessary to success, the Chinese certainly appear +entitled to the award. To us it appears that the influx of Chinese must +certainly sooner or later kindle a struggle between capital and labor, +in order to set a limit upon demands perceptibly growing beyond +moderation.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese problem in America.</span>The +increasing Chinese immigration already intrudes upon the attention of +American statesmen questions of the utmost social and political +importance. What influence will this entirely new and strange element +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb338" href="#pb338" name= +"pb338">338</a>]</span>exercise over the conformation of American +relations? Will the Chinese found a State in the States, or go into the +Union on terms of political equality with the other citizens, and form +a new race by alliance with the Caucasian element? These problems, +which can only be touched upon here in a transitory form, have been +dealt with in a masterly manner by Pumpelly, in his work <i>Across +America and Asia</i>, published in London in 1870.</p> +<div class="q"> +<div class="body"> +<div class="div1"> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Letter of the Commissary-General of Chinchew to Don +Pedro De Acuña, Governor of the Philippines</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><i>To the powerful Captain-General of Luzon:</i></p> +<p>“Having been given to understand that the Chinese who +proceeded to the kingdom of Luzon in order to buy and sell had been +murdered by the Spaniards, I have investigated the motives for these +massacres, and begged the Emperor to exercise justice upon those who +had engaged in these abominable offences, with a view to security in +the future.</p> +<p>“In former years, before my arrival here as royal +commissioner, a Chinese merchant named Tioneg, together with three +mandarins, went with the permission of the Emperor of China from Luzon +to Cavite, for the purpose of prospecting for gold and silver; which +appears to have been an excuse, for he found neither gold nor silver; I +thereupon prayed the Emperor to punish this imposter Tioneg, thereby +making patent the strict justice which is exercised in China.</p> +<p>“It was during the administration of the ex-Viceroy and +Eunuchs that Tioneg and his companion, named Yanglion, uttered the +untruth already stated; and subsequently I begged the Emperor to +transmit all the papers bearing upon the matter, together with the +minutes of Tioneg’s accusation; when I myself examined the +before-mentioned papers, and knew that everything that the accused +Tioneg had said was utterly untrue.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb339" href="#pb339" name= +"pb339">339</a>]</span>“I wrote to the Emperor and stated that, +on account of the untruth which Tioneg had been guilty of, the +Castilians entertained the suspicion that he wished to make war upon +them, and that they, under this idea, had murdered more than thirty +thousand Chinese in Luzon. The Emperor, complying with my request, +punished the accused Yanglion, though he omitted to put him to death; +neither was Tioneg beheaded or confined in a cage. The Chinese people +who had settled in Luzon were in no way to blame. I and others +discussed this with the Emperor in order to ascertain what his pleasure +was in this matter, as well as in another, namely, the arrival of two +English ships on the coast of Chinchew (Fukien or Amoy +district)—a very dangerous circumstance for China; and to obtain +His Imperial Majesty’s decision as to both these most serious +matters.</p> +<p>“We also wrote to the Emperor that he should direct the +punishment of both these Chinese; and, in acknowledging our +communication, he replied to us, in respect to the English ships which +had arrived in China, that in case they had come for the purpose of +plundering, they should be immediately commanded to depart thence for +Luzon; and, with regard to the Luzon difficulty, that the Castilians +should be advised to give no credence to rogues and liars from China; +and both the Chinese who had discovered the harbor to the English +should be executed forthwith; and that in all other matters upon which +we had written to him, our will should be his. Upon receipt of this +message by us—the Viceroy, the Eunuch, and myself—we hereby +send this our message to the Governor of Luzon, that his Excellency may +know the greatness of the Emperor of China and of his Empire, for he is +so powerful that he commands all upon which the sun and moon shine, and +also that the Governor of Luzon may learn with what great wisdom this +mighty empire is governed, and which power no one for many years has +attempted to insult, although the Japanese have sought to disturb the +tranquillity of Korea, which belongs to the Government of China. They +did not succeed, but on the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb340" href= +"#pb340" name="pb340">340</a>]</span>contrary were driven out, and +Korea has remained in perfect security and peace, which those in Luzon +well know by report.</p> +<p>“Years ago, after we learnt that so many Chinese perished in +Luzon on account of Tioneg’s lies, many of us mandarins met +together, and resolved to leave it to the consideration of the Emperor +to take vengeance for so great a massacre; and we said as +follows:—The country of Luzon is a wretched one, and of very +little importance. It was at one time only the abode of devils and +serpents; and only because (within the last few years) so large a +number of Chinese went thither for the purpose of trading with the +Castilians has it improved to such an extent; in which improvement the +accused Sangleyes materially assisted by hard labor, the walls being +raised by them, houses built, and gardens laid out, and other matters +accomplished of the greatest use to the Castilians; and now the +question is, why has no consideration been paid for these services, and +these good offices acknowledged with thanks, without cruelly murdering +so many people? And although we wrote to the King twice or thrice +concerning the circumstances, he answered us that he was indignant +about the before-mentioned occurrences, and said for three reasons it +is not advisable to execute vengeance, nor to war against Luzon. The +first is that for a long time till now the Castilians have been friends +of the Chinese; the second, that no one can predict whether the +Castilians or the Chinese would be victorious; and the third and last +reason is, because those whom the Castilians have killed were wicked +people, ungrateful to China, their native country, their elders, and +their parents, as they have not returned to China now for very many +years. These people, said the Emperor, he valued but little for the +foregoing reasons; and he commanded the Viceroy, the Eunuch, and +myself, to send this letter through those messengers, so that all in +Luzon may know that the Emperor of China has a generous heart, great +forbearance, and much mercy, in not declaring war against Luzon; and +his justice is indeed manifest, as he has already punished the liar +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb341" href="#pb341" name= +"pb341">341</a>]</span>Tioneg. Now, as the Spaniards are wise and +intelligent, how does it happen that they are not sorry for having +massacred so many people, feeling no repentance thereat, and also are +not kinder to those of the Chinese who are still left? Then when the +Castilians show a feeling of good-will, and the Chinese and Sangleyes +who left after the dispute return, and the indebted money is repaid, +and the property which was taken from the Sangleyes restored, then +friendship will again exist between this empire and that, and every +year trading-ships shall come and go; but if not, then the Emperor will +allow no trading, but on the contrary will at once command a thousand +ships of war to be built, manned with soldiers and relations of the +slain, and will, with the assistance of other peoples and kingdoms who +pay tribute to China, wage relentless war, without quarter to any one; +and upon its conclusion will present the kingdom of Luzon to those who +do homage to China.</p> +<p>“This letter is written by the Visitor-General on the 12th of +the second month.”</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<p>A contemporary letter of the Ruler of Japan forms a somewhat notable +contrast:—</p> +<div class="q"> +<div class="body"> +<div class="div1"> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Letter of Daifusama, Ruler of Japan</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><i>“To the Governor Don Pedro de Acuña, +in the year</i> 1605:</p> +<p>“I have received two letters from your Excellency, as also all +the donations and presents described in the inventory. Amongst them was +the wine made from grapes, which I enjoyed very much. In former years +your Excellency requested that six ships might come here, and recently +four, which request I have always complied with.</p> +<p>“But my great displeasure has been excited by the fact that of +the four ships upon whose behalf your Excellency interposed, one from +Antonio made the journey without my permission. This was a circumstance +of great audacity, and a mark of disrespect to me. Does your Excellency +wish to send that ship to Japan without my permission?</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb342" href="#pb342" name= +"pb342">342</a>]</span>“Independently of this, your Excellency +and others have many times discussed with me concerning the antecedents +and interests of Japan, and many other matters, your requests +respecting which I cannot comply with. This territory is called +Xincoco, which means ‘consecrated to Idols,’ which have +been honored with the highest reverence from the days of our ancestor +until now, and whose actions I alone can neither undo nor destroy. +Wherefore, it is in no way fitting that your laws should be promulgated +and spread over Japan; and if, in consequence of these +misunderstandings, your Excellency’s friendship with the empire +of Japan should cease, and with me likewise, it must be so, for I must +do that which I think is right, and nothing which is contrary to my own +pleasure.</p> +<p>“Finally, I have heard it frequently said, as a reproach, that +many Japanese—wicked, corrupt men—go to your kingdom, +remaining there many years, and then return to Japan. This complaint +excites my anger, and therefore I must request your Excellency +henceforth not to allow such persons to return in the ships which trade +here. Concerning the remaining matters, I trust your Excellency will +hereafter employ your judgment and circumspection in such a manner as +to avoid incurring my displeasure for the future.”</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7594" href="#xd20e7594src" name="xd20e7594">1</a></span> The +Chinese were generally known in the Philippines as +“Sangleys”; according to Professor Schott, “sang-lui +(in the south szang-loi, also senng-loi) mercatorum ordo.” +“Sang” is more specially applied to the travelling traders, +in opposition to “ku,” <i>tabernarii</i>.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7607" href="#xd20e7607src" name="xd20e7607">2</a></span> ...... +“They are a wicked and vicious people, and, owing to their +numbers, and to their being such large eaters, they consume the +provisions and render them dear ......It is true the town cannot exist +without the Chinese, as they are the workers in all the trades and +business, and very industrious, and work for small wages; but for that +very reason a lesser number of them would be sufficient.”— +Morga, p. 349.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7623" href="#xd20e7623src" name="xd20e7623">3</a></span> +“Recopilacion,” Lib. iv., Tit. xviii., ley. 1.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7631" href="#xd20e7631src" name="xd20e7631">4</a></span> +“Informe,” I., iii., 73.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7638" href="#xd20e7638src" name="xd20e7638">5</a></span> The +Chinese were not permitted to live in the town, but in a district +specially set apart for them.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7641" href="#xd20e7641src" name="xd20e7641">6</a></span> Velarde, +274.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7656" href="#xd20e7656src" name="xd20e7656">7</a></span> See +following chapter.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7662" href="#xd20e7662src" name="xd20e7662">8</a></span> +Zuñiga, xvi.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7698" href="#xd20e7698src" name="xd20e7698">9</a></span> No +single people in Europe can in any way compare with the inhabitants of +California, which, in the early years of its existence, was composed +only of men in the prime of their strength and activity, without aged +people, without women, and without children. Their activity, in a +country where everything had to be provided (no civilised neighbors +living within some hundred miles or so), and where all provisions were +to be obtained only at a fabulous cost, was stimulated to the highest +pitch. Without here going into the particulars of their history, it +need only be remembered that they founded, in twenty-five years, a +powerful State, the fame of which has spread all over the world, and +around whose borders young territories have sprung into existence and +flourished vigorously; two of them indeed having attained to the +condition of independent States. After the Californian gold-diggers had +changed the configuration of the ground of entire provinces by having, +with Titanic might, deposited masses of earth into the sea until they +expanded into hilly districts, so as to obtain therefrom, with the aid +of ingenious machinery, the smallest particle of gold which was +contained therein, they have astonished the world in their capacity of +agriculturalists, whose produce is sent even to the most distant +markets, and everywhere takes the first rank without dispute. Such +mighty results have been achieved by a people whose total number +scarcely, indeed, exceeds 500,000; and therefore, perhaps, they may not +find it an easy matter to withstand the competition of the Chinese.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7707" href="#xd20e7707src" name="xd20e7707">10</a></span> The +rails, if laid in one continuous line, would measure about 103,000 +feet, the weight of them being 20,000 cwt. Eight Chinamen were engaged +in the work, relieving one another by fours. These men were chosen to +perform this feat on account of their particular activity, out of +10,000.</p> +<p class="footnote">(The translator of the 1875 London edition notes: +“This statement is incorrect, so far as the fact of the feat +being accomplished by Chinese is concerned. Eight Europeans were +engaged in this extraordinary piece of work. During the rejoicings +which took place in Sacramento upon the opening of the line, these men +were paraded in a van, with the account of their splendid achievement +painted in large letters on the outside. Certainly not one of them was +a Chinaman.”—C.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="label">XXVII</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first"><span class="marginnote">Spain’s discovery and +occupation.</span>The Philippines were discovered by Magellan on the +16th of March, 1521—St. Lazarus’ day.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7785src" href="#xd20e7785" name="xd20e7785src">1</a> But it was +not until 1564,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7788src" href="#xd20e7788" +name="xd20e7788src">2</a> after many previous efforts had miscarried, +that Legaspi, who left New Spain with five ships, took possession of +the Archipelago in the name of Philip II. The discoverer had +christened the islands after the sanctified Lazarus. This name, +however, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb343" href="#pb343" name= +"pb343">343</a>]</span>never grew into general use; <span class= +"marginnote">Numerous names.</span>the Spaniards persistently calling +them the Western Islands—<i>Islas del Poniente</i>; and the +Portuguese, <i>Islas del Oriente</i>. Legaspi gave them their present +name<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7803src" href="#xd20e7803" name= +"xd20e7803src">3</a> in honor of Philip II, who, in his turn, +conferred upon them the again extinct name of New Castile.<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e7806src" href="#xd20e7806" name="xd20e7806src">4</a> +Legaspi first of all annexed Cebu, and then Panay; and six years later, +in 1571, he first sub dued Manila, which was at that time a village +surrounded by palisades, and commenced forthwith the construction of a +fortified town. The subjection of the remaining territory was effected +so quickly that, upon the death of Legaspi (in August, 1572), all the +western parts were in possession of the Spaniards. <span class= +"marginnote">Mindanao and Sulu independent.</span>Numerous wild tribes +in the interior, however, the Mahomedan states of Mindanao and the Sulu +group, for example, have to this day preserved their independence. The +character of the people, as well as their political disposition, +favored the occupancy. There was no mighty power, no old dynasty, no +influential priestly domination to overcome, no traditions of national +pride to suppress. The natives were either heathens, or recently +proselytized superficially to Islamism, and lived under numerous petty +chiefs, who ruled them despotically, made war upon one another, and +were easily subdued. Such a community was called <i>Barangay</i>; and +it forms to this day, though in a considerably modified form, the +foundation of the constitutional laws. <span class="marginnote">Spanish +improvemnts.</span>The Spaniards limited the power of the petty chiefs, +upheld slavery, and abolished hereditary nobility and dignity, +substituting in its place an aristocracy created by themselves for +services rendered to the State; but they carried out all these changes +very gradually <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb344" href="#pb344" name= +"pb344">344</a>]</span>and cautiously.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7821src" href="#xd20e7821" name="xd20e7821src">5</a> The old +usages and laws, so long as they did not interfere with the natural +course of government, remained untouched and were operative by legal +sanction; and even in criminal matters their validity was equal to +those emanating from the Spanish courts. To this day the chiefs of +Barangay, with the exception of those bearing the title of +“Don,” have no privileges save exemption from the poll-tax +and socage service. <span class="marginnote">Unthinking policy of +greed.</span>They are virtually tax-collectors, excepting that they are +not paid for such service, and their private means are made responsible +for any deficit. The prudence of such a measure might well be doubted, +without regard to the fact that it tempts the chiefs to embezzlement +and extortion; and it must alienate a class of natives who would +otherwise be a support to the Government.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">High character of early +administrators.</span>Since the measures adopted in alleviation of the +conquest and occupancy succeeded in so remarkable a manner, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb345" href="#pb345" name= +"pb345">345</a>]</span>the governors and their subordinates of those +days, at a time when Spain was powerful and chivalrous, naturally +appear to have been distinguished for wisdom and high spirit. Legaspi +possessed both qualities in a marked degree. Hardy adventurers were +tempted there, as in America, by privileges and inducements which power +afforded them; as well as by the hope, which, fortunately for the +country, was never realized, of its being rich in auriferous deposits. +In Luzon, for instance, Hernando Riquel stated that there were many +goldmines in several places which were seen by the Spaniards; +“the ore is so rich that I will not write any more about it, as I +might possibly come under a suspicion of exaggerating; but I swear by +Christ that there is more gold on this island than there is iron in all +Biscay.” <span class="marginnote">Conquerors on +commission.</span>They received no pay from the kingdom; but a formal +right was given them to profit by any territory which was brought into +subjection by them. Some of these expeditions in search of conquest +were enterprises undertaken for private gain, others for the benefit of +the governor; and such service was rewarded by him with grants of +lands, carrying an annuity, offices, and other benefits (<i lang= +"es">encomiendas, oficios y aprovechamientos</i>). The grants were at +first made for three generations (in New Spain for four), but were very +soon limited to two; when De los Rios pointed this out as being a +measure very prejudicial to the Crown, “since they were little +prepared to serve his Majesty, as their grand-children had fallen into +the most extreme poverty.” After the death of the feoffee the +grant reverted to the State; and the governor thereupon disposed of it +anew.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The feudal +“encomiendas.”</span>The whole country at the outset was +completely divided into these livings, the defraying of which formed by +far the largest portion of the expenses of the kingdom. Investitures of +a similar nature existed, more or less, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb346" href="#pb346" name="pb346">346</a>]</span>in a territory of +considerable extent, the inhabitants of which had to pay tribute to the +feoffee; and this tribute had to be raised out of agricultural produce, +the value of which was fixed by the feudal lord at a very low rate, but +sold by him to the Chinese at a considerable profit. The feudal lords, +moreover, were not satisfied with these receipts, but held the natives +in a state of slavery, until forbidden by a Bull of Pope +Gregory XIV, dated April 18, 1591. Kafir and negro slaves, whom +the Portuguese imported by way of India, were, however, still +permitted.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Extortions of encomenderos.</span>The +original holders of feudal tenures amassed considerable booty +therefrom. Zuñiga relates that as early as the time of +Lavezares, who was provisional governor between 1572 and 1575, he +visited the Bisayas and checked the covetousness of the encomenderos, +so that at least during his rule they relaxed their system of +extortion. Towards the end of Sande’s government (1575–80) +a furious quarrel broke out between the priests and the encomenderos; +the first preached against the oppression of the latter, and +memorialized Philip II thereon. The king commanded that the +natives should be protected, as the extortionate greed of the feudal +chiefs had exceeded all bounds; and the natives were then at liberty to +pay their tribute either in money or in kind. The result of this +well-intentioned regulation appears to have produced a greater +assiduity both in agriculture and trade, “as the natives +preferred to work without coercion, not on account of extreme +want.” <span class="marginnote">Salcedo “most illustrious +of the conquerors.”</span>And here I may briefly refer to the +achievements of Juan de Salcedo, the most illustrious of all the +conquerors. Supported by his grandfather, Legaspi, with forty-five +Spanish soldiers, he fitted out an expedition at his own expense, +embarked at Manila, in May, 1572, examined all parts of the west coast +of the island, landed <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb347" href= +"#pb347" name="pb347">347</a>]</span>in all the bays which were +accessible to his light-draught ships, and was well received by the +natives at most of the places. He generally found great opposition in +penetrating into the interior; yet he succeeded in subduing many of the +inland tribes; and when he reached Cape Bojeador, the north-west point +of Luzon, the extensive territory which at present forms the provinces +of Zambales, Pangasinan, and Ilocos Notre and Sur, acknowledged the +Spanish rule. The exhaustion of his soldiers obliged Salcedo to return. +In Vigan, the present capital of Ilocos Sur, he constructed a fort, and +left therein for its protection his lieutenant and twenty-five men, +while he himself returned, accompanied only by seventeen soldiers, in +three small vessels. In this manner he reached the Cagayan River, and +proceeded up it until forced by the great number of hostile natives to +retreat to the sea. Pursuing the voyage to the east coast, he came down +in course of time to Paracale, where he embarked in a boat for Manila, +was capsized, and rescued from drowning by some passing natives.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">“The Cortes of the +Philippines.”</span>In the meantime Legaspi had died, and +Lavezares was provisionally carrying on the government. Salcedo heard +of this with vexation at being passed over; but, when he recovered from +his jealousy, he was entrusted with the subjugation of Camarines, which +he accomplished in a short time. In 1574 he returned to Ilocos, in +order to distribute annuities among his soldiers, and to receive his +own share. While still employed upon the building of Vigan, he +discovered the fleet of the notorious Chinese pirate, Limahong, who, +bent upon taking possession of the colony, was then passing that part +of the coast with sixty-two ships and a large number of soldiers. He +hastened at once, with all the help which he could summon together in +the neighborhood, to Manila, where he was nominated to the command of +the troops, in the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb348" href="#pb348" +name="pb348">348</a>]</span>place of the already deposed master of the +forces; and he drove the Chinese from the town, which they had +destroyed. They then withdrew to Pangasinan, and Salcedo burnt their +fleet; which exploit was achieved with very great difficulty. In 1576 +this Cortes of the Philippines died.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7899src" href="#xd20e7899" name="xd20e7899src">6</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Commercial importance of early +Manila.</span>Apart from the priests, the first-comers consisted only +of officials, soldiers, and sailors; and to them, naturally, fell all +the high profits of the China trade. Manila was their chief market, and +it also attracted a great portion of the external Indian trade, which +the Portuguese had frightened away from Malacca by their excessive +cruelty. The Portuguese, it is true, still remained in Macao and the +Moluccas: but they wanted those remittances which were almost +exclusively sought after by the Chinese, viz., the silver which Manila +received from New Spain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spain and Portugal united.</span>In 1580 +Portugal, together with all its colonies, was handed over to the +Spanish Crown; and the period extending from this event to the decay of +Portugal (1580–1640) witnessed the Philippines at the height of +their power and prosperity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila as capital of a vast +empire.</span>The Governor of Manila ruled over a part of Mindanao, +Sulu, the Moluccas, Formosa, and the original Portuguese possessions in +Malacca and India. “All that lies between Cape Singapore and +Japan is subject to Luzon; their ships cross the ocean to China and New +Spain, and drive so magnificent a trade that, if it were only free, it +would be the most extraordinary that the world could show. It is +incredible what glory these islands confer upon Spain. The Governor of +the Philippines treats with the Kings of Cambodia, Japan, China. The +first is his ally, the last his friend; and the same with Japan. He +declares war or peace, without waiting for the command <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb349" href="#pb349" name="pb349">349</a>]</span>from +distant Spain.”<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7916src" href= +"#xd20e7916" name="xd20e7916src">7</a> <span class="marginnote">Dutch +opposition.</span>But the Dutch had now begun the struggle, which they +managed to carry on against Philip II in every corner of the +world; and even in 1510 De Los Rios complained that he found the +country very much altered through the progress and advance made by the +Dutch; also that the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu, feeling that they were +supported by Holland, were continually in a state of discontent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Decline of colony.</span>The downfall of +Portugal occasioned the loss of her colonies once more. Spanish policy, +the government of the priests, and the jealousy of the Spanish +merchants and traders especially, did everything that remained to be +done to prevent the development of agriculture and +commerce—perhaps, on the whole, fortunately, for the natives.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Philippine history unimportant and +unsatisfactory.</span>The subsequent history of the Philippines is, in +all its particulars, quite as unsatisfactory and uninteresting as that +of all the other Spanish-American possessions. Ineffectual expeditions +against pirates, and continual disputes between the clerical and +secular authorities, form the principal incidents.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e7930src" href="#xd20e7930" name="xd20e7930src">8</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Undesirable emigrants from +Spain.</span>After the first excitement of religious belief and +military renown had subsided, the minds of those who went later to +these outlying possessions, consisting generally as they did of the +very dregs of the nation, were seized with an intense feeling of +selfishness; and frauds and speculations were the natural sequence. The +Spanish writers are full of descriptions of the wretched state of +society then existing, which it is unnecessary to repeat here.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">English occupation.</span>The colony had +scarcely been molested by external enemies, with the exception of +pirates. In the earliest <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb350" href= +"#pb350" name="pb350">350</a>]</span>time the Dutch had engaged +occasionally in attacks on the Bisayas. But in 1762 (during the war of +the Bourbon succession) an English fleet suddenly appeared before +Manila, and took the surprised town without any difficulty. The Chinese +allied themselves with the English. A great insurrection broke out +among the Filipinos, and the colony, under the provisional government +of a feeble archbishop, was for a time in great danger. It was reserved +for other dignitaries of the Church and Anda, an energetic patriot, to +inflame the natives against the foreigners; and the opposition incited +by the zealousness of the priests grew to such an extent that the +English, who were confined in the town, were actually glad to be able +to retreat. In the following year the news arrived from Europe of the +conclusion of peace; but in the interval this insurrection, brought +about by the invasion, had rapidly and considerably extended; and it +was not suppressed until 1765, when the work was accomplished by +creating enmity among the different tribes.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7944src" href="#xd20e7944" name="xd20e7944src">9</a> But this was +not done without a loss to the province of Ilocos of two hundred +sixty-nine thousand two hundred and seventy persons—half of the +population, as represented by Zuñiga.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Many minor uprisings from local +grievances.</span>Severity and want of tact on the part of the +Government and their instruments, as well as bigoted dissensions have +caused many revolts of the natives; yet none, it is true, of any great +danger to the Spanish rule. The discontent has always been confined to +a single district, as the natives do not form a united nation; neither +the bond of a common speech nor a general interest binding the +different tribes together. The state communications and laws among them +scarcely reach beyond the borders of the villages and their +dependencies.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb351" href="#pb351" name= +"pb351">351</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Danger from mestizos +and creoles.</span>A consideration of far more importance to the +distant metropolis than the condition of the constantly excited +natives, who are politically divided among themselves, and really have +no steady object in view, is the attitude of the mestizos and creoles, +whose discontent increases in proportion to their numbers and +prosperity. The military revolt which broke out in 1823, the leaders of +which were two creoles, might easily have terminated fatally for Spain. +The latest of all the risings of the mestizos seems to have been the +most dangerous, not only to the Spanish power, but to all the European +population.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e7956src" href="#xd20e7956" name= +"xd20e7956src">10</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cavite 1872 mutiny.</span>On the 20th of +January, 1872, between eight and nine in the evening, the artillery, +marines, and the garrison of the arsenal revolted in Cavite, the naval +base of the Philippines, and murdered their officers; and a lieutenant +who endeavored to carry the intelligence to Manila fell into the hands +of a crowd of natives. The news therefore did not reach the capital +until the next morning, when all the available troops were at once +dispatched, and, after a heavy preliminary struggle, they succeeded the +following day in storming the citadel. A dreadful slaughter of the +rebels ensued. Not a soul escaped. Among them was not a single +European; but there were many mestizos, of whom several were priests +and lawyers. Though perhaps the first accounts, written under the +influence of terror, may have exaggerated many particulars, yet both +official and private letters agree in describing the conspiracy as +being long contemplated, widely spread, and well planned. The whole +fleet and a large number of troops were absent at the time, engaged in +the expedition against Sulu. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb352" href= +"#pb352" name="pb352">352</a>]</span>A portion of the garrison of +Manila were to rise at the same time as the revolt in Cavite, and +thousands of natives were to precipitate themselves on the <i>caras +blancas</i> (pale faces), and murder them. The failure of the +conspiracy was, it appears, only attributable to a fortunate +accident—to the circumstance, namely, that a body of the rebels +mistook some rocket fired upon the occasion of a Church festival for +the agreed signal, and commenced the attack too soon.<a class="noteref" +id="xd20e7968src" href="#xd20e7968" name="xd20e7968src">11</a></p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Summing up.</span>Let me be permitted, in +conclusion, to bring together a few observations which have been +scattered through the text, touching the relations of the Philippines +with foreign countries, and briefly speculate thereon.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Credit due Spain.</span>Credit is certainly +due to Spain for having bettered the condition of a people who, though +comparatively speaking highly civilized, yet being continually +distracted by petty wars, had sunk into a disordered and uncultivated +state. The inhabitants of these beautiful islands, upon the whole, may +well be considered to have lived as comfortably during the last hundred +years, protected from all external enemies and governed by mild laws, +as those of any other tropical country under native or European +sway,—owing, in some measure, to the frequently discussed +peculiar circumstances which protect the interests of the natives.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Friars an important factor.</span>The +friars, also, have certainly had an essential part in the production of +the results.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Their defects have worked out for +good.</span>Sprung from the lowest orders, inured to hardship and want, +and on terms of the closest intimacy with the natives, they were +peculiarly fitted to introduce them to a practical conformity with the +new religion and code of morality. Later on, also, when they possessed +rich <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb353" href="#pb353" name= +"pb353">353</a>]</span>livings, and their devout and zealous interest +in the welfare of the masses relaxed in proportion as their incomes +increased, they materially assisted in bringing about the circumstances +already described, with their favorable and unfavorable aspects. +Further, possessing neither family nor good education, they were +disposed to associate themselves intimately with the natives and their +requirements; and their arrogant opposition to the temporal power +generally arose through their connection with the natives. With the +altered condition of things, however, all this has disappeared. The +colony can no longer be kept secluded from the world. Every facility +afforded for commercial intercourse is a blow to the old system, and a +great step made in the direction of broad and liberal reforms. The more +foreign capital and foreign ideas and customs are introduced, +increasing the prosperity, enlightenment, and self-respect of the +population, the more impatiently will the existing evils be +endured.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Contrast with English +colonies.</span>England can and does open her possessions unconcernedly +to the world. The British colonies are united to the mother country by +the bond of mutual advantage, <i>viz.</i> the production of raw +material by means of English capital, and the exchange of the same for +English manufactures. The wealth of England is so great, the +organization of her commerce with the world so complete, that nearly +all the foreigners even in the British possessions are for the most +part agents for English business houses, which would scarcely be +affected, at least to any marked extent, by a political dismemberment. +It is entirely different with Spain, which possesses the colony as an +inherited property, and without the power of turning it to any useful +account.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Menaces to Spanish rule.</span>Government +monopolies rigorously maintained, insolent disregard and neglect of the +mestizos and powerful <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb354" href= +"#pb354" name="pb354">354</a>]</span>creoles, and the example of the +United States, were the chief reasons of the downfall of the American +possessions. The same causes threaten ruin to the Philippines: but of +the monopolies I have said enough.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Growing American influence.</span>Mestizos +and creoles, it is true, are not, as they formerly were in America, +excluded from all official appointments; but they feel deeply hurt and +injured through the crowds of place-hunters which the frequent changes +of ministries send to Manila. The influence, also, of the American +element is at least visible on the horizon, and will be more noticeable +when the relations increase between the two countries. At present they +are very slender. The trade in the meantime follows in its old channels +to England and to the Atlantic ports of the United States. +Nevertheless, whoever desires to form an opinion upon the future +history of the Philippines, must not consider simply their relations to +Spain, but must have regard to the prodigious changes which a few +decades produce on either side of our planet.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Powerful neighbors</span>For the first time +in the history of the world the mighty powers on both sides of the +ocean have commenced to enter upon a direct intercourse with one +another—Russia, which alone is larger than any two other parts of +the earth; China, which contains within its own boundaries a third of +the population of the world; and America, with ground under cultivation +nearly sufficient to feed treble the total population of the earth. +Russia’s future role in the Pacific Ocean is not to be estimated +at present.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">China and America.</span>The trade between +the two other great powers will therefore be presumably all the +heavier, as the rectification of the pressing need of human labor on +the one side, and of the corresponding overplus on the other, will fall +to them.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb355" href="#pb355" name= +"pb355">355</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Nearing predominance of +the Pacific.</span>The world of the ancients was confined to the shores +of the Mediterranean; and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans sufficed at +one time for our traffic. When first the shores of the Pacific +re-echoed with the sounds of active commerce, the trade of the world +and the history of the world may be really said to have begun. A start +in that direction has been made; whereas not so very long ago the +immense ocean was one wide waste of waters, traversed from both points +only once a year. From 1603 to 1769 scarcely a ship had ever visited +California, that wonderful country which, twenty-five years ago, with +the exception of a few places on the coast, was an unknown wilderness, +but which is now covered with flourishing and prosperous towns and +cities, served by a sea-to-sea railway, and its capital already ranking +the third of the seaports of the Union; even at this early stage of its +existence a central point of the world’s commerce, and apparently +destined, by the proposed junction of the great oceans, to play a most +important part in the future.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The mission of America.</span>In proportion +as the navigation of the west coast of America extends the influence of +the American element over the South Sea, the captivating, magic power +which the great republic exercises over the Spanish colonies<a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e8024src" href="#xd20e8024" name= +"xd20e8024src">12</a> will not fail to make itself felt also in the +Philippines, The Americans are evidently destined to bring to a full +development the germs originated by the Spaniards. As conquerors of +modern times, representing the age of free citizens in contrast to the +age of knighthood, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb356" href="#pb356" +name="pb356">356</a>]</span>they follow with the plow and the axe of +the pioneer, where the former advanced under the sign of the cross with +their swords.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superiority over Spanish system.</span>A +considerable portion of Spanish-America already belongs to the United +States, and has since attained an importance which could not possibly +have been anticipated either under the Spanish Government or during the +anarchy which followed. With regard to permanence, the Spanish system +cannot for a moment be compared with that of America. While each of the +colonies, in order to favor a privileged class by immediate gains, +exhausted still more the already enfeebled population of the metropolis +by the withdrawal of the best of its ability, America, on the contrary, +has attracted to itself from all countries the most energetic element, +which, once on its soil and, freed from all fetters, restlessly +progressing, has extended its power and influence still further and +further. The Philippines will escape the action of the two great +neighboring powers all the less for the fact that neither they nor +their metropolis find their condition of a stable and well-balanced +nature.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of Philippine awakening.</span>It +seems to be desirable for the Filipinos that the above-mentioned views +should not speedily become accomplished facts, because their education +and training hitherto have not been of a nature to prepare them +successfully to compete with either of the other two energetic, +creative, and progressive nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away +their best days. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb357" href="#pb357" +name="pb357">357</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7785" href="#xd20e7785src" name="xd20e7785">1</a></span> Magellan +fell on April 27, struck by a poisoned arrow, on the small island of +Mactan, lying opposite the harbor of Cebu. His lieutenant, Sebastian de +Elcano, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and on September 6, 1522, +brought back one of the five ships with which Magellan set sail from +St. Lucar in 1519, and eighteen men, with Pigafetta, to the same +harbor, and thus accomplished the first voyage round the world in three +years and fourteen days.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7788" href="#xd20e7788src" name="xd20e7788">2</a></span> 1565 is +the date for what is now the Philippines.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7803" href="#xd20e7803src" name="xd20e7803">3</a></span> +Villalobos gave this name to one of the Southern islands and Legaspi +extended it to the entire archipelago.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7806" href="#xd20e7806src" name="xd20e7806">4</a></span> +“According to recent authors they were also named after +Villalobos in 1543.—Morga, p. 5.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7821" href="#xd20e7821src" name="xd20e7821">5</a></span> +According to Morga (p. 140) there was neither king nor governor, but in +each island and province were numerous persons of rank, whose +dependants and subjects were divided into quarters (<i>barrios</i>) and +families. These petty rulers had to render homage by means of tributes +from the crops (<i>buiz</i>), also by socage or personal service: but +their relations were exempted from such services as were rendered by +the plebeians (<i>timauas</i>). The dignities of the chieftains were +hereditary, their honors descended also to their wives. If a chief +particularly distinguished himself, then the rest followed him; but the +Government retained to themselves the administration of the +<i>Barangays</i> through their own particular officials. Concerning the +system of slavery under the native rule, Morga says (p. 41, +abbreviated),—“The natives of these islands are divided +into three classes—nobles, timauas or plebeians, and the slaves +of the former. There are different sorts of slaves: some in complete +slavery (<i>Saguiguilires</i>), who work in the house, as also their +children. Others live with their families in their own houses and +render service to their lords at sowing and harvest-time, also as +boatmen, or in the construction of houses, etc. They must attend as +often as they are required, and give their services without pay or +recompense of any kind. They are called <i>Namarnahayes</i>; and their +duties and obligations descend to their children and successors. Of +these <i>Saguiguilires</i> and <i>Namamahayes</i> a few are full +slaves, some half slaves, and others quarter slaves.</p> +<p class="footnote">When, for instance, the mother or father was free, +the only son would be half free, half slave. Supposing there were +several sons, the first one inherits the father’s position, the +second that of the mother. When the number is unequal the last one is +half free and half slave; and the descendants born of such half slayes +and those who are free are quarter slaves. The half slaves, whether or +<i>narnamahayes</i>, serve their lords equally every month in turns. +Half and quarter slaves can, by reason of their being partially free, +compel their lord to give them their freedom at a previously determined +and unfluctuating price: but full slaves do not possess this right. A +<i>namamahaye</i> is worth half as much as a <i>saguiguilire</i>. All +slaves are natives.”</p> +<p class="footnote">Again, at p. 143, he writes:—“A slave +who has children by her lord is thereby freed together with her +children. The latter, however, are not considered well born, and cannot +inherit property; nor do the rights of nobility, supposing in such a +case the father to possess any, descend to them.”</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7899" href="#xd20e7899src" name="xd20e7899">6</a></span> He made +the Filipinos of his encomienda of Vigan his heirs, and has ever been +held in grateful memory.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7916" href="#xd20e7916src" name="xd20e7916">7</a></span> Grav. +30.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7930" href="#xd20e7930src" name="xd20e7930">8</a></span> Chamisso +(“Observations and Views,” p. 72), thanks to the translator +of Zuñiga, knew that he was in duty bound to dwell at some +length over this excellent history; though Zuñiga’s +narrative is always, comparatively speaking, short and to the point. +The judiciously abbreviated English translation, however, contains many +miscomprehensions.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7944" href="#xd20e7944src" name="xd20e7944">9</a></span> +Principally by hiring the assassination of the gifted native leader, +Silang.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7956" href="#xd20e7956src" name="xd20e7956">10</a></span> Danger +to Europeans, “Massacre of all white people,” was a +frequent Spanish allegation in political disturbances, but the only +proof ever given (the 9th degree Masonic apron stupidly attributed to +the Katipunan in 1896) was absurd and irrelevant.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e7968" href="#xd20e7968src" name="xd20e7968">11</a></span> +Professor Jagor here follows the report sent out by the authorities. +There seems better ground for believing the affair to have been merely +a military mutiny over restricting rights which was made a pretext for +getting rid of those whose liberal views were objectionable to the +government.—C.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e8024" href="#xd20e8024src" name="xd20e8024">12</a></span> I take +the liberty, here, of citing an instance of this. In 1861, when I found +myself on the West Coast of Mexico, a dozen backwoods families +determined upon settling in Sonora (forming an oasis in the desert); a +plan which was frustrated by the invasion at that time of the European +powers. Many native farmers awaited the arrival of these immigrants in +order to settle under their protection. The value of land in +consequence of the announcement of the project rose very +considerably.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk02"> +<h2 class="main">State of the Philippines in 1810</h2> +<p class="first">By Tomas de Comyn</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Population.</span>The enumeration of the +natives for the assessment of tributes, in the manner ordained by the +standing regulations of the Intendants of New Spain, is not observed in +the Philippine Islands; nor indeed would this be an easy task. The wide +extent of the twenty-seven provinces of which they are composed, +scattered, as they are, through the great space comprehended between +the southern part of Mindanao, and the almost desert islands known by +the name of Batanes and Babuyanes, to the north of that of Luzon, +presents almost insurmountable obstacles, and in some measure affords +an excuse for the omission. Among these obstacles may be mentioned the +necessity of waiting for the favorable monsoon to set in, in order to +perform the several voyages from one island to the other; the +encumbered state of the grounds in many parts, the irregular and +scattered situations of the settlements and dwellings, the variety +among the natives and their dialects, the imperfect knowledge hitherto +obtained of the respective limits and extent of many districts, the +general want of guides and auxiliaries, on whom reliance can be placed, +and, above all, the extreme repugnance the natives evince to the +payment of tributes, a circumstance which induces them to resort to all +kinds of stratagems, in order to elude the vigilance of the collectors, +and conceal their real numbers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Estimates.</span>The quinquennial census, +as regularly enjoined, being thus found impracticable, no other means +are left than to deduce from the annual lists, transmitted by the +district magistrates to the superintendent’s office, and those +formed by the parish curates, a prudent estimate of the total number of +inhabitants subject to our laws and religion; yet these data, although +the only ones, and also the most accurate it is possible to obtain, for +this reason, inspire so little confidence, that it is necessary to use +them with great caution. It is evident that all the district +magistrates and curates do not possess the same degree of care and +minuteness in a research so important, and the omission or connivance +of their respective delegates, more or less general, renders it +probable that the number of tributes, not included in the annual +returns, is very considerable. If to this we add the leged exemptions +from tribute, justly granted to various <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb358" href="#pb358" name="pb358">358</a>]</span>individuals for a +certain number of years, or during the performance of special service, +we shall easily be convinced of the imperfection of results, derived +from such insecure principles. * * * I have carefully formed my +estimates corresponding to the year 1810, and by confronting them with +such data as I possess relating to the population of 1791, I have +deduced the consoling assurance that, under a parity of circumstances, +the population of these Islands, far from having diminished, has, in +the interval, greatly increased.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ratio to tributes.</span>From the +collective returns recently made out by the district magistrates, it +would appear that the total number of tributes amounts to 386,654, +which multiplied by six and one-half produces the sum of 2,515,406, at +which I estimate the total population, including old men, women and +children. I ought here to observe, that I have chosen this medium of +six and one-half between the five persons estimated in Spain and eight +in the Indies, as constituting each family, or entire tribute; for +although the prodigious fecundity of the women in the latter +hemisphere, and the facility of maintaining their numerous offspring, +both the effects of the benignity of the climate and their sober way of +living, sufficiently warrant the conclusion, that a greater number of +persons enter into the composition of each family, I have, in this +case, been induced to pay deference to the observations of religious +persons, intrusted with the care of souls, who have assured me that, +whether it be owing to the great mortality prevailing among children, +or the influence of other local causes, in many districts each family, +or entire tribute, does not exceed four and one-half persons.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Foreigners and wild tribes.</span>To the +above amount it is necessary to add 7,000 Sangleys (Chinese), who have +been enumerated and subjected to tribute, for, although in the returns +preserved in the public offices, they are not rated at more than 4,700, +there are ample reasons for concluding, that many who are wandering +about, or hidden in the provinces, have eluded the general census. The +European Spaniards, and Spanish creoles and mestizos, do not exceed +4,000 persons, of both sexes and all ages, and the distinct castes or +modifications known in America under the name of mulattos, quadroons, +etc., although found in the Philippine Islands, are generally +confounded in the three classes of pure natives, Chinese mestizos, and +Chinese. Besides the above distinctions, various infidel and +independent nations or tribes exist, more or less savage and ferocious, +who have their dwellings in the woods and glens, and are distinguished +by the respective names of Aetas, Ingolots, Negrillos, Igorots, +Tinguianes, etc., nor is there scarcely a province in Luzon, that does +not give shelter to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb359" href="#pb359" +name="pb359">359</a>]</span>some of those isolated tribes, who inhabit +and possess many of the mountainous ranges, which ramificate and divide +the wide and extended plains of that beautiful island.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Origin of race.</span>The original race by +which the Philippines are peopled, is beyond doubt Malayan, and the +same that is observed in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the other islands +of this immense archipelago. The Philippine Islanders, very different +from the Malabars, whose features possess great regularity, sweetness, +and even beauty, only resemble the latter in color, although they excel +them in stature, and the good proportion of their limbs. The local +population of the capital, in consequence of its continual +communication with the Chinese and other Asiatics, with the mariners of +various nations, with the soldiery and Mexican convicts, who are +generally mulattos, and in considerable numbers sent to the Islands +yearly in the way of transportation, has become a mixture of all kinds +of nations and features, or rather a degeneration from the primitive +races.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila’s population.</span>Manila, +the capital of the Philippine Islands, at present contains a population +of from one hundred forty to one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, of +all classes; but it ought, however, to be understood, that in this +computation are included the populous suburbs of Santa Cruz, San +Fernando, Binondo, Tondo, Quiapo, San Sebastian, San Anton, and +Sampaloc; for although each is considered as a distinct town, having a +separate curate, and civil magistrate of its own, the subsequent union +that has taken place rather makes them appear as a prolongation of the +city, divided into so many wards and parishes, in the center of which +their respective churches are built. Among the chief provincial towns, +several are found to contain a population of from twenty to thirty +thousand souls, and many not less than ten to twelve thousand. Finally, +it is a generally received opinion that, besides the Moros and +independent tribes, the total population of the Philippine Islands, +subject to the authority of the king, is equal to three millions.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cotton.</span>Among the varied productions +of the Philippines, for many reasons, none is so deserving of attention +as cotton. Its whiteness and find staple give to it such a superiority +over that of the rest of Asia, and possibly of the world, that the +Chinese anxiously seek it, in order pereferably to employ it in their +most perfect textures, and purchase it thirty per cent dearer than the +best from British India. Notwithstanding this extraordinary allurement, +the vicinity of a good market, and the positive certainty that, however +great the exportation, the growth can never equal the consumption and +immense <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb360" href="#pb360" name= +"pb360">360</a>]</span>demand for this article, it has, nevertheless, +hitherto been found impossible to extend and improve its cultivation, +in such a way as to render it a staple commodity of the country. Owing +to this lamentable neglect, is it, that the annual exportation does not +exceed five thousand “arrobas” (125,000 lbs.) whereas the +British import into China at the annual rate of 100,000 bales, or +1,200,000 “arrobas,” produced in their establishments at +Bombay and Calcutta, and which, sold at the medium price of fifteen +“taels,” for one hundred thirty pounds, yield the net +amount of $4,800,000.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Its advantages.</span>This want of +attention to so important a branch of agriculture is the more to be +regretted, as the Islands abound in situations peculiarly adapted for +the cultivation of cotton, and the accidental failure of the crops in +some provinces, might easily be made up by their success in others. The +culture of this plant is besides extremely easy, as it requires no +other labor than clearing the grounds from brush-wood, and lightly +turning up the earth with a plough, before the seeds are scattered, +which being done, the planter leaves the crop to its own chance, and in +five months gathers abundant fruit, if, at the time the bud opens, it +is not burnt by the north winds, or rotted with unseasonable +showers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Restricted cultivation.</span>The provinces +of Ilocos and Batangas are the only ones in which the cultivation of +cotton is pursued with any degree of zeal and care, and it greatly +tends to enrich the inhabitants. This successful example has not, +however, hitherto excited emulation in those of the other provinces; +and thus the only production of the Philippine Islands, of which the +excellence and superior demand in trade are as well known as its +culture is easy, owing to strange fatality and causes which will be +hereafter noticed, is left almost in a neglected state, or, at most, +confined to the narrow limits of local consumption.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indigo.</span>Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bataan, +La Laguna, Tayabas and Camarines produce indigo of various classes, +and, although its preparation or the extraction of the dye, is in most +of the above provinces still performed in an equally imperfect manner, +several small improvements have recently been made, which have bettered +the quality, more particularly in La Laguna, the only district in which +attempts have been made to imitate the process used in Guatemala, as +well with regard to the construction and number of vats necessary, as +the precipitation of the coloring particles—detached from the +plant by the agitation of the water. In the other places, the whole of +the operations are performed in a single vat, and the indigo obtained +is not unfrequently impregnated with lime and other extraneous +substances.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb361" href="#pb361" name= +"pb361">361</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Increasing +culture.</span>Whatever may have been the causes of this evident +backwardness, from the period of the establishment of the Philippine +Company in these Islands, and in consequence of the exertions of some +of the directors to promote the cultivation of indigo, at that time +very little known, the natives have slowly, though gradually, been +reconciled to it; and discovering it to be one of the most advantageous +branches of industry, although accompanied with some labor and exposed +to the influence of droughts and excessive heats, as well as to the +risks attendant on the extraordinary anticipation of the rainy seasons, +have of late years paid more attention to it. The quintal of indigo of +the first class costs the planter from $35 to $40 at most; and in the +market of Manila it has been sold from $60 to $130, according to the +quality and the greater or lesser demand for the article at the season. +As, however, everything in this colony moves within a small circle, it +is not possible to obtain large quantities for exportation; not only +because of the risk in advancing the Indian sums of money on account of +his crop, but also owing to the annual surplus seldom exceeding from +two to two thousand five hundred distributed in many hands, and +collected by numerous agents, equally interested in making up their +return-cargoes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sugar.</span>The cultivation of the +sugar-cane is more or less extended to all the provinces of these +Islands, owing to its consumption among the natives being both great +and general; but those of La Pampanga and Pangasinan are more +particularly devoted to it. These two provinces alone annually produce +about 550,000 arrobas (13,750,000 lbs.) of which one-third is usually +exported in Chinese and other foreign vessels. In extraordinary +seasons, the amount exported greatly exceeds the quantity above stated, +as, for example, happened in the monsoon of 1796, when the planters +came down to the port of Manila, and by contract exported upwards of +nine millions weight, of the first and second qualities. The price of +this article has experienced many variations of late years; but the +medium may be estimated at $6 for one hundred twenty-five pounds of the +first quality, and $5 for the second.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Method of Manufacture.</span>The superior +quality of the sugar of the Philippines is acknowledged, when compared +to that produced in the Island of Java, China, or Bengal; +notwithstanding in the latter countries it may naturally be concluded +that greater pains and care are bestowed on its manufacture. The +pressure of the cane in the Philippine Islands is performed by means of +two coarse stone cylinders, placed on the ground, and moved in opposite +directions by the slow and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb362" href= +"#pb362" name="pb362">362</a>]</span>unequal pace of a +“carabao,” a species of ox or buffalo, peculiar to this and +other Asiatic countries. The juice is conveyed to an iron caldron, and +in this the other operations of boiling, skimming and cleansing take +place, till the crystallization or adhering of the sugar is completed. +All these distinct parts of the process, in other colonies, are +performed in four separate vessels, confided to different hands, and +consequently experience a much greater degree of care and dexterity. +After being properly clayed, the sugars acquire such a state of +consistency that, when shipped in canvas bags, they become almost +petrified in the course of the voyage, without moistening or purging, +as I understand is the case with those of Bengal.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Silk.</span>Among the useful objects to +which the Patriotic Society of Manila (<i>Amigos del Pais</i>) directed +their attention, from the very moment of their formation, the planting +of mulberry trees seems to have met with peculiar encouragement. The +society rightly judged that the naturalization of so valuable a +commodity as silk in these Islands would materially increase the +resources of the colony, and there was reason to hope that, besides +local consumption, the growth might in time be so much extended as to +supply the wants of New Spain, which are not less than 80,000 lbs., +amounting to from $350,000 to $400,000, conveyed there in the galleon +annually sent to the port of Acapulco, by the Manila merchants, which +article they are now compelled to contract for in China.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mulberry trees.</span>The Society gave the +first impulse to this laudable project, and then the governor of the +Islands, Don José Basco, anxious to realize it, with this view +sent Colonel Charles Conely on a special commission to the province of +Camarines. This zealous officer and district magistrate, in the years +1786–1788 caused 4,485,782 mulberry trees to be planted in the +thirty districts under his jurisdiction; and incalculable are the happy +results which would have attended a plan so extensive, and commenced +with so much vigor, if it could have been continued with the same zeal +by his successor, and not at once destroyed, through a mistaken notion +of humanity, with which, soon after the departure of Governor Basco, +they proceeded to exonerate the Filipinos from all agricultural labor +that was not free and spontaneous, in conformity, as was then alleged, +to the general spirit of our Indian legislation. As it was natural to +expect, the total abandonment of this valuable branch followed a +measure so fatal, and notwithstanding the efforts subsequently made by +the Royal Company, in order to obtain its restoration, as well in +Camarines <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb363" href="#pb363" name= +"pb363">363</a>]</span>as the Province of Tondo, all their exertions +were in vain, though it must be allowed that at the time several +untoward circumstances contributed to thwart their anxious wishes. +Notwithstanding this failure, the project, far from being deemed +impracticable, would beyond all doubt succeed, and, under powerful +patronage, completely answer the well-founded hopes of its original +conceivers and promoters. The natives themselves would soon be +convinced of the advantages to be derived from the possession of an +article, in so many ways applicable to their own fine textures, and +besides the variety of districts in the Islands, proved to be suitable +to the cultivation of this interesting tree, it is a known fact that +many of the old mulberry groves are still in existence.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Beeswax.</span>The Bisayas, Cagayan, and +many other provinces, produce wax in considerable abundance, which the +Indians collect from the natural hives formed in the cavities of the +trees, and it is also brought down by the infidel natives from the +mountains to the neighboring towns. The quality certainly is not the +best, and notwithstanding attempts have been made to cleanse it from +the extraneous particles with which it is mixed, it always leaves a +considerable sediment on the lower part of the cakes, and never +acquires an entire whiteness. Its consumption is great, especially in +the capital, and after supplying the wants of the country, an annual +surplus of from six hundred to eight hundred quintals is appropriated +for exportation.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Neglected market.</span>This certainly +might be converted into an article of extreme importance, especially +for the kingdom of Peru, which in peaceable times receives its supplies +from Spain, and even from the Island of Cuba; but for this purpose it +would be necessary to adopt the plan recommended by the enlightened +zeal of the Patriotic Society and previously encourage the +establishment of artificial hives and the plantation of aromatic and +flowering shrubs, which so easily attract and secure the permanency of +the roving swarms, always ready to undertake fresh labors. This, as +well as many other points, has hitherto been entirely overlooked.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Black pepper.</span>The production is +cultivated in the Provinces of Tayabas, Batangas, and La Laguna, but in +such small quantities, that, notwithstanding the powerful allurements +of all kinds constantly held out by the Royal Company during the long +period of twenty years, their agents have never been able to collect in +more than about 64,000 lbs. annually. After every encouragement, the +most that has been attained with the natives, is confined to their +planting in some districts fifty to one hundred pepper-vines round +their huts, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb364" href="#pb364" name= +"pb364">364</a>]</span>which they cultivate in the same way as they +would plots of flowers, but without any other labor than supporting the +plant with a proportioned stake, clearing the ground from weeds, and +attending to daily irrigation.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A possibility.</span>This article therefore +scarcely deserves a place amongst the flourishing branches of +agriculture, at least till it has been raised from its present +depressed state, and the grounds laid out in regular and productive +pepper-groves. Till this is done, to a corresponding extent, it must +also be excluded from the number of productions furnished by these +Islands to commerce and exportation; more particularly if we consider +that, notwithstanding the great fragrance of the grain, as well as its +general superiority over the rest of Asia, so great a difference exists +in the actual price, that this can never be compensated by its greater +request in the markets of Europe, and much less enable it to compete +with that of the British and Dutch, till its abundance has considerably +lowered its primitive value.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Not popular.</span>Finally, although an +infinity of grounds are to be found adapted to the rapid propagation of +pepper-vines, as may easily be inferred from the analogy and proximity +of the Philippine Islands to the others of this same archipelago, so +well known for their growth of spices, it must be confessed that it is +a species of culture by no means popular among the Philippine natives, +and it would be almost requiring too much from their inconstancy of +character, to wish them to dedicate their lands and time to the raising +of a production which, besides demanding considerable care, is greatly +exposed to injury, and even liable to be destroyed by the severity of +the storms, which frequently mark the seasons. With difficulty would +they be induced to wait five years before they were able to gather the +uncertain fruits of their labor and patience. If, therefore, it should +ever be deemed a measure of policy to encourage the growth of black +pepper, it will be necessary for the government to order the commons +belonging to each town, and adapted to this species of plantation, to +be appropriated to this use, by imposing on the inhabitants the +obligation of taking care of them, and drawing from the respective +coffers of each community the necessary funds for the payment of the +laborers, and the other expenses of cultivation. <i>If this cannot be +done, it will be necessary to wait till the general condition of the +country is improved, when through the spirit of emulation, and the +enterprises of the planters being duly patronized and supported, +present difficulties may be overcome, and the progressive results of +future attempts will be then found to combine the interests of +individuals with the general welfare of the colony.</i></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb365" href="#pb365" name= +"pb365">365</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Coffee.</span>So choice +is the quality of the coffee produced in the Island of Luzon, +especially in the districts of Indang and Silang, in the province of +Cavite, that if it is not equal to that of Mocha, I at least consider +it on parallel with the coffee of Bourbon; but, as the consumption and +cultivation are extremely limited, it cannot with any propriety be yet +numbered among the articles contributing to the export-trade.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cocoa.</span>Cocoa is something more +attended to, in consequence of the use of chocolate being greatly +extended among the natives of easy circumstances. That of the Island of +Cebu, is esteemed superior to the cocoa of Guayaquil, and possibly it +is not excelled by that of Soconusco. As, however, the quantity raised +does not suffice for the local consumption, Guayaquil cocoa meets a +ready sale, and is generally brought in return-cargo by the ships +coming from Acapulco, and those belonging to the Philippine company +dispatched from Callao, the shipping port of Lima.</p> +<p>The cultivation of these two articles in the Philippines is on the +same footing as that of pepper, which, as above stated, is rather an +object of luxury and recreation than one of speculation among the +Filipinos. The observations and rules pointed out in the preceding +article, are, in a general sense, applicable to both these branches of +industry.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cinnamon.</span>Cinnamon groves, or trees +of wild cinnamon, are to be found in every province. In Mindanao, a +Dutchman, some years ago, was employed by orders of the government, in +examining the forests and making experiments, with a view to discover +the same tree of this species that has given so much renown to Ceylon; +but, whether it was owing to a failure in the discovery, or, when the +plant was found, as at the time was said to be the case, the same +results were not produced, from the want of skill in preparing, or +stripping off the bark; certain it is, that the laudable attempt +totally failed, or rather the only advantage gained, has been the +extracting from the bark and more tender parts of the branches of the +tree, an oil or essence of cinnamon, vigorous and aromatic in the +extreme.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Experiment in Laguna.</span>About the same +time, a land-owner of the name Salgado, undertook to form an extensive +plantation of the same species in the province of La Laguna, and +succeeded in seeing upwards of a million cinnamon trees thrive and grow +to a considerable size; but at last, he was reluctantly compelled to +desist from his enterprise, by the same reasons which led to the +failure of Mindanao.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb366" href="#pb366" name= +"pb366">366</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Need of experienced +cultivators.</span>These facts are of sufficient authority for our +placing the cinnamon tree among the indigenous productions of the +Philippine Islands and considering their general excellence above those +of the same nature in the rest of Asia, it may reasonably be concluded +that, without the tree being identically the same, the cinnamon with +which it is clothed will be found finer than that yielded by the native +plant of the Island of Ceylon, and this circumstance, consequently, +holds out a hope that, in the course of time, it may become an article +of traffic, as estimable as it would be new. In order, however, that +this flattering prospect may be realized, it will be requisite for the +government to procure some families, or persons from the above island, +acquainted with the process of stripping off the bark and preparing the +cinnamon, by dexterously offering allurements, corresponding to the +importance of the service, which, although in itself it may probably be +an extremely simple operation, as long as it is unknown, will be an +insuperable obstacle to the propagation of so important an agricultural +pursuit.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nutmeg.</span>Two species of nutmeg are +known here, the one in shape resembling a pigeon’s egg, and the +other of a perfectly spherical form; but both are wild and little +aromatic, and consequently held in no great esteem.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice.</span>Rice is the bread and principal +aliment of these natives, for which reason, although its cultivation is +among the most disagreeable departments of husbandry, they devote +themselves to it with astonishing constancy and alacrity, so as to form +a complete contrast with their characteristic indifference in most +other respects. This must, however, be taken as a certain indication of +the possibility of training them up to useful labor; whenever they can +be led on in a proper manner.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">High yield.</span>The earth corresponds +with surprising fertility to the labors of the Filipino, rewarding him, +in the good seasons, with ninety, and even as high as one hundred per +cent; a fact I have fully ascertained and of which I besides possess +undoubted proofs, obtained from the parish-curates of La Pampanga. As, +however, the provinces are frequently visited with dreadful hurricanes +(called in the country, <i>baguios</i>), desolated by locusts, and +exposed to the effects of the great irregularities of nature, which, in +these climes, often acts in extreme, the crops of this grain are +precarious, or at least, no reliance can be placed on a certain surplus +allowing an annual exportation to China. On this account, rice cannot +be placed in the list of those articles which give support to the +external trade.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb367" href="#pb367" name= +"pb367">367</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Dye and cabinet +woods.</span>The “sibucao,” or logwood, and ebony, in both +which these islands abound, are the only woods in any tolerable +request. The first is sold with advantage in Bengal, and the other +meets a ready sale in the ports of China, in the absence of that +brought from the Island of Bourbon, which is a quality infinitely +superior. Both are however, articles of no great consumption, for, +being bulky and possessing little intrinsic value, they will not bear +the high charges of freight and other expenses, attendant on the +navigation of the Asiatic seas, and can only suit the shipper, as +cargo, who is anxious not to return to the above countries in ballast. +Hence, as an object of export trade, these articles cannot be estimated +at more than $30,000 per annum.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Timber.</span>I deem it superfluous to +dwell on a multitude of other good and even precious woods in timber, +with which the Philippine Islands are gifted, because this is a subject +already sufficiently well understood, and a complete collection of +specimens, as well as some large blocks, were besides transmitted some +years ago to the king’s dockyard. It may, however, be proper to +remark, that the establishment near the capital for shipbuilding and +masts, are much more expensive than is generally supposed, as well on +account of the difficulties experienced in dragging the trees from the +interior of the mountains to the water’s edge, as the want of +regularity and foresight with which these operations have been usually +conducted. Besides these reasons, as it is necessary that the other +materials requisite for the construction and complete armament of +vessels of a certain force, should come from Europe, it is neither +easy, nor indeed, would it be economical, as was erroneously asserted, +to carry into effect the government project of annually building, in +the colony, a ship of the line and a frigate. It ought further to be +observed, that no stock of timber, cut at a proper season and well +cured, has been lain in, and although the wages of the native +carpenters and caulkers are moderate, no comparison whatever can be +made between the daily work they perform, and that which is done in the +same space of time in our dock-yards of Spain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ship building +advantages.</span>Notwithstanding, however, the impediments above +stated, as it is undeniable that abundance of suitable timber is to be +obtained, and as the conveyance of the remainder of the necessary naval +stores to the Philippine Islands is shorter and more economical than to +the coast of California, it possibly might answer, at least, many +mariners are of this opinion, in case it is deemed expedient to +continue building at San Blas the brigs and corvettes necessary +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb368" href="#pb368" name= +"pb368">368</a>]</span>for the protection of the military posts and +missions, situated along the above coasts, to order them preferably to +be built in Cavite giving timely advice, and previously taking care to +make the necessary arrangements.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Gold.</span>Gold abounds in Luzon and in +many of the other islands; but as the mountains which conceal it are in +possession of the pagan tribes, the mines are not worked; indeed it may +be said they are scarcely known. These mountaineers collect it in the +brooks and streamlets, and in the form of dust, offer it to the +Christians who inhabit the neighboring plains, in exchange for coarse +goods and fire-arms; and it has sometimes happened that they have +brought it down in grains of one and two ounces weight. The natives of +the province of Camarines partly devote themselves to the working of +the mines of Mambulao and Paracale, which have the reputation of being +very rich; but, far from availing themselves in the smallest degree of +the advantages of art, they content themselves with extracting the ore +by means of an <span class="corr" id="xd20e8203" title= +"Source: extremley">extremely</span> imperfect fusion, which is done by +placing the mineral in shells and then heating them on embers. A +considerable waste consequently takes place, and although the metal +obtained is good and high colored, it generally, passes into the hands +of the district-magistrate, who collects it at a price infinitely lower +than it is worth in trade. It is a generally received opinion that gold +mines are equally to be met with in the Province of Caraga, situated on +the coasts of the great Island of Mindanao, where, as well as in other +points, this metal is met with equal to twenty-two karats. The +quantity, however, hitherto brought down from the mountains by the +pagan tribes, and that obtained by the tributary Filipinos, has not +been an object of very great importance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Copper.</span>Well-founded reasons exist +for presuming that, in the Province of Ilocos, mines of virgin copper +exist, a singular production of nature, or at least, not very common, +if the generality of combinations under which this metal presents +itself in the rest of the globe, are duly considered. This is partly +inferred from the circumstance of its having been noticed that the +Igorots, who occasionally come down from the mountains to barter with +the Christians, use certain coarse jars or vessels of copper, evidently +made by themselves with the use of a hammer, without any art or +regularity; and as the ignorance of these demi-savages is too great for +them to possess the notions necessary for the separation of the +component parts which enter into the combination of minerals, and much +less for the construction <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb369" href= +"#pb369" name="pb369">369</a>]</span>of furnaces suitable to the +smelting and formation of the moulds, it is concluded they must have +found some vein of copper entirely pure, which, without the necessity +of any other preparation, they have been able to flatten with the +hammer and rendered maleable, so as to convert it into the rough +vessels above spoken of.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cinnabar.</span>The district-magistrate of +Caraga, Don Augustin de Ioldi, received a special commission from the +government to explore and obtain information respecting a mine of +cinnabar, which was said to be situated under his jurisdiction; and I +have been informed of another of the same species in the Island of +Samar, the working of which has ceased for a considerable time, not +because the prospect was unfavorable, but for the want of an +intelligent person to superintend and carry on the operations. The +utility of such a discovery is too obvious not to deserve, on the part +of government, the most serious attention and every encouragement to +render it available; and it is to be hoped that, as the first steps +have already been taken in this important disclosure, the enterprise +will not be abandoned, but, on the contrary, that exertions will be +made to obtain aid and advice from the Miners’ College of Mexico, +as the best means of removing doubt, and acting with judgment in the +affair.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Iron.</span>Iron in mineral form is to be +found at various points on Luzon, and those engaged in working it, +without the necessity of digging; collect the iron-bearing stones that +constitute the upper stratum, these, when placed in fusion, generally +yield about forty per cent clear metal. This is the case in the +mountains of Angat, situated in the Province of Bulacan, and also in +the vicinity of the Baliwag River. In Morong, however, belonging to the +Province of La Laguna, where the cannon-ball factory is established, +the ore yields under twenty-two per cent. Its quality is in general +better than the Biscayan iron, according to formal experiments and a +report, made in 1798 to Governor Don Rafael Maria de Aguilar, by two +Biscayan master-smiths from the squadron of Admiral Alava. Witnesses to +this test were the Count de Aviles and Don Felix de la Rosa, +proprietors of the mines of Morong and Angat, and the factor of the +Philippine Company, Don Juan Francisco Urroroz. Notwithstanding its +advantages, this interesting branch of industry has not yet passed +beyond the most rude principles and imperfect practice, owing to the +want of correct information as to the best process, and scarcity of +funds on the part of the proprietors to carry on their works. Without +the aid of rolling or slitting mills, indeed unprovided with the most +essential instruments, they have hitherto confined themselves +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb370" href="#pb370" name= +"pb370">370</a>]</span>to converting their iron into plow shares, +bolos, hoes, and such other agricultural implements; leaving the +Chinese of Amoy in quiet possession of the advantages of being allowed +to market annual supplies of all kinds of nails, the boilers used on +the sugar plantations, pots and pans, as well as other articles in this +line, which might easily be manufactured in the Islands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sulphur.</span>In the Island of Leyte, +abundance of sulphur is met with, and from thence the gunpowder works +of Manila are supplied at very reasonable prices. Jaspers, cornelians +and agates, are also found in profusion in many of these provinces; +everything, indeed, promises varied mineral wealth worthy of exciting +the curiosity and useful researches of mineralogists, who, +unfortunately, have not hitherto extended their labors to these remote +parts of the globe.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pearls.</span>Pearl fisheries are, from +time to time, undertaken off the coast of the Island of Mindanao, and +also near smaller islands not far from Cebu, but with little success +and less constancy, not because there is a scarcity of fine pearls of a +bright color and considerable size, but on account of the divers’ +want of skill and their just dread of the sharks, which, in great +numbers infest these seas. Amber is frequently gathered in considerable +lumps in the vicinity of Samar and the other Visayan Islands as well as +mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, and red and black coral, of the latter +kind of which, I have seen shafts as thick as my finger and six or +eight feet long.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Estates.</span>The proprietors of estates +in the Philippines are of four classes. The most considerable is that +of the religious orders, Augustinians and Dominicans, who cultivate +their respective lands on joint account, or let them out at a moderate +ground-rent, which the planters pay in kind; but far from living in +opulence, and accumulating the immense revenues some of the religious +communities enjoy in America, they stand in need of all they earn and +possess for their maintenance, and in order to be enabled to discharge +the various duties and obligations annexed to the missions with which +they are entrusted.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish planters.</span>The second class +comprehends the Spanish proprietors, whose number possibly does not +exceed a dozen of persons, and even they labor under such +disadvantages, and have to contend with so many obstacles, under the +existing order of things, that, compelled to divide their lands into +rice plantations, in consequence of this being the species of culture +to which the natives are most inclined, and to devote a considerable +portion of them to the grazing of horned <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb371" href="#pb371" name="pb371">371</a>]</span>cattle, no one of +them is in a situation to give to agriculture the variety and extent +desired, or to attain any progress in a pursuit which in other colonies +rapidly leads to riches.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Filipino farmers.</span>The third consists +of the principal mestizos and natives, and is in fact that which +constitutes the real body of farming proprietors. In the fourth and +last may be included all the other natives, who generally possess a +small strip of land situated round their dwellings, or at the +extremities of the various towns and settlements formed by the +conquerors; besides what they may have obtained from their ancestors in +the way of legal inheritance, which rights have been confirmed to them +by the present sovereign of the colony.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Aids to agriculture.</span>It will beyond +doubt, in some measure dissipate the distrust by which the Filipino is +actuated, when the new and paternal exertions of the superior +government, to ameliorate his present situation, are fully known, and +when that valuable portion of our distant population is assured that +their rights will henceforth be respected, and those exactions and +compulsory levies which formerly so much disheartened them, are totally +abolished. On the other hand, a new stimulus will be given by the +living example and fresh impulse communicated to the provinces by other +families emigrating and settling there, nurtured in the spirit and +principles of those reforms in the ideas and maxims of government by +which the present era is distinguished. A practical participation in +these advantages will, most assuredly, awaken a spirit of enterprise +and emulation that may be extremely beneficial to agriculture, and as +the wants of the natives increase in proportion as they are enabled to +know and compare the comforts arising out of the presence and extension +of conveniences and luxuries in their own towns, they will naturally be +led to possess and adopt them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Plans for progress.</span>So salutary a +change, however, can only be the work of time, and as long as the +government confines itself to a system merely protecting, the effects +must consequently be slow. As it is therefore necessary to put in +action more powerful springs than the ordinary ones, it will be found +expedient partly to relax from some of those general principles which +apply to societies, differently constituted, or rather formed of other +perfectly distinct elements. As relating to the subject under +discussion, I fortunately discover two means, pointed out in the laws +themselves, essentially just, and at the same time capable of producing +in this populous colony, more than in any other, the desired results. +The legislator, founding himself on the common obligation of the +subject to contribute something in return <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb372" href="#pb372" name="pb372">372</a>]</span>for the protection he +receives, and to co-operate in the increase of the power and opulence +of the State, proscribes idleness as a crime, and points out labor as a +duty; and although the regulations touching the natives breathe the +spirit of humanity, and exhibit the wisdom with which they were +originally formed, they nevertheless concur and are directed to this +primary object. In them the distribution of vacant lands, as well as of +the natives at fair daily wages to clear them, is universally allowed, +and these it seems to me, are the means from an equitable and +intelligent application of which the most beneficial consequences may +be expected.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Confiscating unused lands.</span>The first +cannot be attended with any great difficulty, because all the provinces +abound in waste and vacant lands, and scarcely is there a district in +which some are not to be found of private property completely +uncultivated and neglected, and consequently susceptible, as above +stated, of being legally transferred, for this reason alone, to the +possession of an active owner. Let their nature however, be what it +may, in their adjudication, it is of the greatest importance to proceed +with uniformity, by consecrating, in a most irrevocable manner, the +solemnity of all similar grants. Public interest and reason, in the +Philippine Islands, require that in all such cases deference only +should be paid to demands justly interposed, and formally established +within a due and fixed period; but after full and public notice has +been given by the respective judicial authorities, of the titles about +to be granted, the counter claims the natives may seek to put in after +the lapse of the period prefixed, should be peremptorily disregarded. +Although at first sight this appears a direct infringement on the +imprescriptible rights of property, it must be considered that in some +cases individual interests ought to be sacrificed to the general good, +and that the balance used, when treating of the affairs of State, is +never of that rigid kind as if applied to those of minor consideration. +The fact is, that by this means many would be induced to form estates, +who have hitherto been withheld by the dread of involving themselves, +and spending their money in law suits; at the same time the natives, +gradually accustoming themselves to this new order of things, would lay +aside that disposition to strife and contention, which forms so +peculiar a trait in their character, and that antipathy and odium would +also disappear with which they have usually viewed the agricultural +undertakings of Spaniards.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Compulsory labor.</span>Proceeding to the +consideration of the second means of accelerating the improvement of +agriculture, <i>viz</i>., the distribution of the <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb373" href="#pb373" name= +"pb373">373</a>]</span>natives, it will suffice to say that it would be +equally easy to show that it is absolutely necessary rigorously to +carry into effect, in the Philippine Islands, whatever the laws on this +subject prescribed, otherwise we must give up all those substantial +hopes entertained of the felicity of the colony. We are no longer in a +situation to be restricted to the removal of ordinary obstacles, and +the season is gone by in which, as heretofore, it entered into our +policy to employ no other than indirect stimulants—in order to +incline the Filipino to labor. It is evident that admonitions and +offers of reward no longer suffice; nor indeed have the advantageous +terms proposed to them by some planters, with a view to withdraw the +lower orders of the natives, such as the <i>timauas</i> and +<i>caglianes</i> plebeians, from the idle indifference in which they +are sunk, been of any avail. Their wants and wishes being easily +supplied, the whole of their happiness seems to depend on quiet and +repose, and their highest enjoyment on the pleasure of sleep. Energy, +however, and a certain degree of severity must be employed, if +permanent resources are to be called forth, and if the progressive +settlement of European families and the formation of estates +proportioned to the fertility of the soil and capabilities of the +country are to enter into the views of government. In vain would grants +and transfers of vacant and useless lands be made to new and +enterprising proprietors, unless at the same time they can be provided +with laborers, and experience every other possible facility, in order +to clear, enclose, and cultivate them. Hence follows the indispensable +necessity of appealing to the system of distributions, as above pointed +out; for what class of laborers can be obtained in a country where the +whites are so few, unless it be the natives? Should they object to +personal service, should they refuse to labor for an equitable and +daily allowance, by which means they would also cease to be burdens to +the State and to society, are they not to be compelled to contribute by +this means to the prosperity of which they are members; in a word, to +the public good, and thus make some provision for old age? If the +soldier, conveyed away from his native land, submits to dangers, and is +unceasingly exposed to death in defence of the State, why should not +the Filipino moderately use his strength and activity in tilling the +fields which are to sustain him and enrich the commonwealth?</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The undeveloped Philippines.</span>Besides, +things in the Philippine Islands wear a very different aspect to what +they do on the American continent, where, as authorized by the said +laws, a certain number of natives may be impressed for a season, and +sent off inland to a considerable distance from their <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb374" href="#pb374" name= +"pb374">374</a>]</span>dwellings, either for the purpose of +agriculture, or working the mines, provided only they are taken care of +during their journeys, maintained, and the price of their daily labor, +as fixed by the civil authorities, regularly paid to them. The immense +valleys and mountains susceptible of cultivation, especially in the +Island of Luzon, being once settled, and the facilities of obtaining +hands increased, such legal acts of compulsion, far from being any +longer necessary, will have introduced a spirit of industry that will +render the labors of the field supportable and even desirable; and in +this occupation all the tributary natives of the surrounding +settlements can be alternately employed, by the day or week, and thus +do their work almost at the door of their own huts, and as it were in +sight of their wives and children.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">No legal obstacle to forced +labor.</span>If, after what has been above stated, the apparent +opposition obstacle to which at first sight strikes the eye, in Law 40, +Title 12, Book 6, speaking on this subject, and expressly referring to +the Philippine Islands, should be alleged, no more will be necessary +than to study its genuine sense, or read it with attention, in order to +be convinced of its perfect concordance with the essential parts of the +other laws of the Indies, already quoted in explanation and support of +the system of distributing the laborers. The above-mentioned law does +indeed contain a strict recommendation to employ the Chinese and +Japanese, not domiciliated, in preference to the natives, in the +establishments for cutting timber and other royal works, and further +enjoins that use is only to be made in emergencies, and when the +preservation of the state should require it. It has, however, happened +that, since the remote period at which the above was promulgated, not +only all contracts and commerce have ceased, but also every +communication with Japan has been interrupted, and for a number of +years not a single individual of that ferocious race has existed in the +Philippine Islands. With regard to the Chinese, who are supposed to be +numerous in the capital, of late years they have diminished so much, +that according to a census made by orders of the government in the year +1807, no more than four thousand seven hundred are found on the +registers; and, if in consequence of their secreting themselves, or +withdrawing into the interior, a third more might be added to the above +amount, their total numbers would still remain very inconsiderable, and +infinitely inferior to what is required, not only for the tillage of +the estates, but even for the royal works.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Substitute laborers wanting.</span>As, +therefore, the Japanese have totally disappeared, and the number of +Chinese is evidently inadequate to the wants of agriculture, it almost +necessarily follows that the practice of distributing <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb375" href="#pb375" name="pb375">375</a>]</span>the +Filipino laborers, as allowed by the aforesaid laws of the Indies, +under all circumstances, is the only alternate left. Even if, against +the adoption of this measure, it should be attempted to urge the +ambiguous sense of the concluding part of the second clause, it would +be easy to comprehend its true intent and meaning, by referring to Law +1, Title 13, Book 5, which says:</p> +<div class="q">“That, considering the inconveniences which would +arise from doing away with certain distributions of grounds, gardens, +estates, and other plantations, in which the Indians are interested, as +a matter on which the preservation of those distant dominions and +provinces depends, it is ordained that compulsory labor, and such +distributions as are advantageous to the public good, shall +continue.”</div> +<p>After so pointed an explanation, and a manifestation so clear of the +spirit of our legislation in this respect, all further comments would +be useless, and no doubt whatever can be any longer entertained of the +expediency, and even of the justice of putting the plan of +well-regulated distributions in practice, as a powerful means to +promote the agriculture, and secure to Spain the possession of these +valuable dominions of the Indian Seas. ....</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manufactures.</span>.... It would be +impossible to gainsay Don Juan Francisco Urroz, of the Philippine +Company, in his detailed and accurate report to the managing committee +in 1802, when he observes:</p> +<div class="q">“That the Philippine Islands, from time +immemorial, were acquainted with, and still retain, that species of +industry peculiar to the country, adapted to the customs and wants of +the natives, and which constitutes the chief branch of their clothing. +This, although confined to coarse articles, may in its class be called +perfect, as far as it answers the end for which it is intended; and if +an attempt were made to enumerate the quantity of mats, handkerchiefs, +sheeting, and a variety of other cloths manufactured for this purpose +only in the Provinces of Tondo, Laguna, Batangas, Ilocos, Cagayan, +Camarines, Albay, Visaya, etc., immense supplies of each kind would +appear, which give occupation to an incalculable number of looms, +indistinctly worked by Indians, Chinese, and Sangleyan mestizos, indeed +all the classes, in their own humble dwellings, built of canes and +thatched with palm leaves, without any apparatus of regular +manufacture.”</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Native cloth weaving.</span>With equal +truth am I enabled to add, that the natural abilities of these natives +in the manufacture of all kinds of cloths, fine as well as coarse, are +really admirable. They succeed in reducing the harsh filaments of the +palm-tree, known by the name of abaca, to such a degree of fineness, +that they afterwards convert them into textures equal to the best +muslins of Bengal. The beauty and evenness of their embroideries and +open work excite surprise; in short, the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb376" href="#pb376" name="pb376">376</a>]</span>damask table-cloths, +ornamental weaving, textures of cotton and palm-fibres, intermixed with +silk, and manufactured in the above-mentioned provinces, clearly prove +how much the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, in natural +abilities and dexterity, resemble the other people of the Asiatic +regions. It must nevertheless be allowed, that a want is noticed of +that finish and polish which the perfection of art gives to each +commodity; but this circumstance ought not to appear strange, if we +consider that, entirely devoid of all methodical instruction, and +ignorant also of the importance of the subdivision of labor, which +contributes so greatly to simplify, shorten, and improve the respective +excellence of all kinds of works, the same natives gin and clean the +cotton, and then spin and weave it, without any other instruments than +their hands and feet, aided only by the course and unsightly looms they +themselves construct in a corner of their huts, with scarcely anything +else than a few canes and sticks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Aptitude for, but no development of, +manufacturing.</span>From the preceding observations it may easily be +deduced that, although the natives succeed in preparing, with admirable +dexterity, the productions of their soil, and therewith satisfy the +greatest part of their domestic wants, facts which certainly manifest +their talents and aptitude to be employed in works of more taste and +delicacy, manufacturing industry is nevertheless far from being +generalized, nor can it be said to be placed with any degree of +solidity on its true and proper basis. Hence arise those great supplies +of goods annually imported into the country, for the purpose of making +up the deficiencies of the local manufactures.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Improved methods and machinery +needed.</span>The regular distribution or classification of the +assemblage of operations which follow each other in graduation, from +the rough preparation of the first materials, till the same have +arrived at their perfect state of manufacture, instead of being +practiced, is entirely unknown. The want of good machinery to free the +cotton from the multitude of seeds with which it is encumbered, so as +to perform the operation with ease and quickness, is the first and +greatest obstacle that occurs; and its tediousness to the natives is so +repugnant, that many sell their crops to others, without separating the +seeds, or decline growing the article altogether, not to be plagued +with the trouble of cleaning it. As the want of method is also equal to +the superabundance or waste of time employed, the expenses of the goods +manufactured increased in the same proportion, under such evident and +great disadvantages; for which reason, far from being able to compete +with those brought from China and British India, they only acquire +estimation in the interior, when wanted to supply the place of the +latter, or in cases of accidental scarcity.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb377" href="#pb377" name= +"pb377">377</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Scanty +exports.</span>In a word, the only manufactured articles annually +exported from the Philippine Islands are eight to twelve thousand +pieces exports of light sail cloth, two hundred thousand pounds of +abaca cordage assorted, and six hundred carabao hides and deer skins, +which can scarcely be considered in a tanned state/ for, although the +Royal Company, from the time of their establishment, long continued to +export considerable quantities of dimities, calicos, stripes, checks, +and coverlids, as well as other cotton and silk goods, it was more with +a view to stimulate the districts of Ilocos to continue in the habit of +manufacturing, and thus introduce among the inhabitants of that +province a taste for industry, than the expectation of gain by the sale +of this kind of merchandise either in Spain or any of the sections of +America. At length, wearied with the losses experienced by carrying on +this species of mercantile operations, without answering the principal +object in view, they resolved, for the time being, to suspend ventures +attended with such discouraging circumstances.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of +encouragement.</span>Notwithstanding so many impediments, it would not, +however, be prudent in the government entirely to abandon the +enterprise, and lose sight of the advantages the country offers, or +indeed, to neglect turning the habitual facilities of the natives to +some account. Far from there existing any positive grounds for +despairing of the progress of manufacturing industry, it may justly be +presumed that, whenever the sovereign, by adopting a different line of +policy, shall allow the unlimited and indistinct settlement of all +kinds of foreign colonists, and grant them the same facilities and +protection enjoyed by national ones, they will be induced to flock to +the Philippine Islands in considerable numbers, lured by the hope of +accumulating fortunes in a country that presents a thousand attractions +of every kind. Many, no doubt, will preferably devote themselves to +commerce, others to agricultural undertakings and also to the pursuits +of mining, but necessarily some will turn their attention and employ +their funds in the formation of extensive manufactures, aided by +intelligent instructors and suitable machinery. The newly-introduced +information and arts being thus diffused, it is natural to expect they +will be progressively adopted by a people already possessing a taste +and genius for this species of labor, by which means manufacturing +industry will soon be raised from the state of neglect and +unprofitableness in which it is now left.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Internal commerce handicapped.</span>The +circulation of the country productions and effects of all kinds among +the inhabitants of the provinces, which, properly speaking, constitutes +their internal commerce, is tolerably active <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb378" href="#pb378" name="pb378">378</a>]</span>and +considerable. Owing to the great facilities of conveyance afforded by +the number of rivers and lakes, on the margins of which the Filipinos +are fond of fixing their dwellings, this commerce might be infinitely +greater, if it was not obstructed by the monopoly of the magistrates in +their respective districts and the unjust prerogative, exercised by the +city, of imposing rates and arbitrary prices on the very persons who +come to bring the supplies. Nevertheless, as the iniquituous operations +of the district magistrates, however, active they may be, besides being +restricted by their financial ability, regularly consist of +arrangements to buy up only the chief articles, and those which promise +most advantage, with least trouble; as that restless inquietude which +impels man on, under the hope of bettering his condition, acts even +amidst rigor of oppression, a certain degree of stimulus and scope is +still left in favor of internal trade.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Inter-island traffic.</span>Hence it +follows, that there is scarcely an island or province, that does not +carry on some traffic or other, by keeping up relations with its +neighbors, which sometimes extend as far as the capital; where, in +proportion as the produce and raw materials find a ready market, +returns suitable and adequate to the consumption of each place, +respectively, are obtained. If, however, it would be difficult to form +an idea, even in the way of approximation, of the exchanges which take +place between the various provinces, a task that would render it +necessary to enumerate them, one by one, it is equally so to make an +estimate of the total amount of this class of operation carried on in +Manila, their common center. Situated in the bottom of an immense bay, +bathed by a large river, and the country round divided by an infinite +number of streams and lakes descending from the provinces by which the +capital is surrounded, the produce and effects are daily brought in and +go out of suburbs so extended in a diversity of small vessels and +canoes, without its being possible to obtain any exact account of the +multiplicity of transactions carried on at one and the same time, in a +city built on so large a scale.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Local markets.</span>Besides the traffic +founded on ordinary consumption, the necessity of obtaining assortments +of home-manufactured as well as imported goods, in order to supply the +markets, known by the name of <i>tianguis</i>, and which are held +weekly in almost every town, there is another species of speculation, +peculiar to the rich natives and Sangley mestizos, an industrious race, +and also possessed of the largest portion of the specie. This consists +in the anticipated purchase of the crops of indigo, sugar, rice, etc., +with a view to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb379" href="#pb379" name= +"pb379">379</a>]</span>fix their own prices on the produce thus +contracted for, when resold to the second hand. A propensity to barter +and traffic, in all kinds of ways, is indeed universal among the +natives, and as the principal springs which urge on internal +circulation are already in motion, nothing more is wanting than at once +to destroy the obstacles previously pointed out, and encourage the +extension of luxury and comforts, in order that, by the number of the +people’s wants being increased, as well as the means of supplying +them, the force and velocity of action may in the same proportion be +augmented.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">External commerce.</span>Under +“External Commerce” generally are comprised the relations +the Philippine Islands keep up with other nations, with the Spanish +possessions in America, and with the mother country; or, in other +words, the sum total of their imports and exports.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Outside deterrents.</span>Many are the +causes which, within the last ten or twelve years, have influenced the +mercantile relations of these Islands, and prevented their organization +on permanent and known principles. The chief one, no doubt, has been +the frequent and unforeseen changes, from peace to war, which have +marked that unhappy period, and as under similar circumstances +merchants, more than any other class of persons, are in the habit of +acting on extremes, there have been occasions in which, misled by the +exaggerated idea of the galleon of Acapulco, and anxious to avail +themselves of the first prices, generally also the highest, foreign +speculators have inundated Manila with goods, by a competition from all +quarters; and others, owing to the channels being obstructed, when this +market has experienced an absolute scarcity of commodities, as well as +of funds necessary to continue the usual and almost only branch of +commerce left. The frequent failure of the sugar and indigo crops, has +also in many instances restrained the North Americans and other +neutrals from coming to these Islands with cargoes, and induced them to +prefer Java, where they are at all times sure of finding returns. +Besides the influence of these extraordinary causes on the uncertainty +and irregularity of external commerce, no small share must also be +attributed to the strangeness of the peculiar constitution of the +country, or the principles on which its trade is established.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Domestic discouragements.</span>Scarcely +will it be believed, in the greater part of civilized Europe, that a +Spanish colony exists between Asia and America, whose merchants are +forbidden to avail themselves of their advantageous situation, and +that, as a special favor only are they allowed to send their effects to +Mexico, once a year, but under the following restrictions. It is a +necessary condition, that every shipper shall <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb380" href="#pb380" name="pb380">380</a>]</span>be a +member of the Board of Trade (<i>Consulado</i>), and therein entitled +to a vote, which supposes a residence of some years in the country, +besides the possession of property of his own to the amount of $8,000. +He is compelled to join with the other members, in order to be enabled +to ship his goods in bales of a determined form and dimensions, in one +single vessel, arranged, fitted out, and commanded by officers of the +royal navy, under the character of a war ship. He has also to +contribute his proportion of $20,000, which, in the shape of a present, +are given to the commander, at the end of every round voyage. He cannot +in any way interfere in the choice or qualities of the vessel, +notwithstanding his property is to be risked in her; and what completes +the extravagance of the system, is, that before anything is done he +must pay down twenty-five or forty per cent for freight, according to +circumstances, which money is distributed among certain canons of the +church, aldermen, subalterns of the army, and widows of Spaniards, to +whom a given number of tickets or certified permits to ship are +granted, either as a compensation for the smallness of their pay, or in +the way of a privilege; but on express conditions that, although they +themselves are not members of the Board of Trade, they shall not be +allowed to negotiate and transfer them to persons not having that +quality. In the custom house nothing being admitted unless the number +of bales shipped are accompanied by corresponding permits, and as it +besides frequently happens that there is a degree of competition +between the parties seeking to try their fortune in this way, the +original holders of the permits very often hang back, in such a manner +that I have seen $500 offered for the transfer of a right to ship three +bales, which scarcely contained goods to the amount of $1,000. Such, +nevertheless, is the truth, and such the exact description of the +famous Acapulco ship, which has excited so much jealousy among the +merchants of Seville and Cadiz, and given rise to such an infinite +number of disputes and lawsuits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Business irregularities.</span>So complete +a deviation from the rules and maxims usually received in trade, could +not fail to produce in the Philippine Islands, as in fact it has, +effects equally extraordinary with regard to those who follow this +pursuit. The merchant of Manila is, in fact, entirely different from +the one in Cadiz or Amsterdam. Without any correspondents in the +manufacturing countries and consequently possessed of no suitable +advices of the favorable variations in the respective markets, without +brokers and even without regular books he seems to carry on his +profession on no one fixed principle, and to <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb381" href="#pb381" name="pb381">381</a>]</span>have +acquired his routine of business from mere habit and vague custom. His +contracts are made out on stamped paper, and his bills or promissory +notes no other than long and diffuse writings or bonds, of which the +dates and amounts are kept more in the shape of bundles than by any due +entry on his books; and what at once gives the most clear idea of this +irregularity is the singular fact that, for the space of twenty-five +and possibly fifty years, only one bankrupt has presented the state of +his affairs to the Board of Trade, in conformity to the regulations +prescribed by the general Statutes of Bankruptcy, whereas, numbers of +cases have occurred in which these merchants have wasted or secreted +the property of others with impunity. Hence have arisen those +irregularities, subterfuges and disputes, in a word, the absence of all +mercantile business carried on in a scrupulously punctual and correct +manner. Hence, also, have followed that distrust and embarrassment with +which commercial operations are attended, as well as the difficulty of +calculating their fluctuations. On the other hand, as in order to send +off an expedition by the annual ship to Acapulco, the previous consent +of the majority of the incorporated merchants is necessary, before this +point is decided, months are passed in intrigues and disputes, the +peremptory period arrives, and if the articles wanted are in the +market, they are purchased up with precipitation and paid for with the +monies the shippers have been able to obtain at an interest from the +administrators of pious and charitable funds. In this manner, compelled +to act almost always without plan or concert, yet accustomed to gain in +the market of Acapulco, notwithstanding so many impediments and the +exorbitant premiums paid for the money lent, these merchants follow the +strange maxim of risking little or no property of their own; and +unaware, or rather, disregarding the importance of economy in the +expenses and regularity of their general method of living, it is not +possible they can ever accumulate large fortunes, or form solid and +well-accredited houses.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Merchants discouraged.</span>Thus oppressed +by a system, as unjust as it is absurd, and conducting their affairs in +the way above described, it is not strange that these gentlemen, at the +same time yielding to the indolence consequent on the climate, should +neglect or behold with indifference all the other secondary resources +which the supplying the wants of the country and the extensive scope +and variety of its produce offer to the man of active mind. Hence it +follows, as already observed, that the whole of the interior trade is +at present absorbed by the principal natives, the Sangley mestizos of +both sexes, and a few Chinese peddlers.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb382" href="#pb382" name= +"pb382">382</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The outlook +brightening.</span>Notwithstanding, however, the defective manner in +which the generality of the merchants act, some already are beginning +to distinguish themselves by the prudence of their conduct, by +forwarding, in time, their orders to the manufacturers of India and +China, and, in other respects guiding themselves by the principles +which characterize the intelligent merchant. Finally, it is to be +presumed that, as soon as the government shall have thrown down this +singular and preposterous system that has been the cause of so many +disorders, and proclaimed the unlimited freedom of Philippine commerce, +the greater part of these people will rise up from the state of +inaction in which they now live, and the relations of the colony will +then assume the course and extent corresponding to its advantages of +position. At least, if our national merchants should not act up to the +impulse given to all kinds of mercantile enterprises by the beneficial +hand of the sovereign, foreigners will not be wanting, who, relying on +due toleration, will be induced to convey their fortunes and families +to the Philippine Islands, and, vigorously encouraging the exportation +of their valuable productions, amply secure the fruits of their +laudable activity and well-combined speculations.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Capital employed in commerce.</span>Were a +person, judging from the numbers constituting the body of registered +merchants, and supposing all of them to possess the essential +requisites prescribed by our commercial regulations, to form a prudent +estimate of the amount of capital employed by them, his calculations +would turn out extremely erroneous, for besides the case with which +regulations of this kind are eluded, many are merely nominal traders, +and there are others whose mercantile existence is purely artificial +for they are sustained in a temporary manner, by means of a forced +species of circulation peculiar to this country. This consists in +obtaining the acquiescence of the administrators of pious and +charitable funds, let out at interest, to renew the bonds they hold +during other successive risks, waiting, as it were, till some fatal +tempest has swallowed up the vessel in which these merchants suppose +their property to be embarked, and at once cancel all their +obligations. On the other hand, neither excessive expenses nor the +shipment of large quantities of goods to Acapulco can in any way be +taken as a just criterion whereby to judge of the fortunes of +individuals; because, in the first, there is great uniformity, every +one, more or less, enjoying, exteriorly, the same easy circumstances, +notwithstanding the disparity of real property; and in the second, +considerable fiction prevails, many persons shipping under the same +mark, and even when the shipper stands alone, he might have been +provided with the necessary funds from the pious and charitable +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb383" href="#pb383" name= +"pb383">383</a>]</span>establishments, possibly without risking a +dollar of his own in the whole operation. Under circumstances so +dubious, far from presuming to give a decided opinion on the subject, I +am compelled to judge from mere conjectures, and guided only by the +knowledge and experience I have been able to acquire during my long +residence there. In conformity thereto, I am inclined to believe, that +the total amount of capital belonging to and employed in the trade of +the Philippine Islands, does not at present exceed two and a half +million dollars, with evident signs of rapid decline, if the merchants +do not in time abandon the ruinous systems of chiefly carrying on their +speculations with money obtained at interest.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Large sums hoarded.</span>The two and a +half million dollars thus attributed to the merchants, form, however, +the smaller part of the funds distributed among the other classes, and +the total amount of the circulating medium of the colony might be +considered an object sufficiently worthy of being ascertained, owing to +the great light it would throw on the present state of the inhabitants; +but it is in vain to attempt any calculation of the kind, at least +without the aid of data possessing a certain degree of accuracy. The +only thing that can be affirmed is, that during the period of more than +two hundred and fifty years which have elapsed since the conquest, the +ingress of specie into the Philippine Islands has been constant. Their +annual ships have seldom come from New Spain without bringing +considerable sums in return, and if some of them have been lost, many +others, without being confined to the one million of dollars +constituting the ordinary amount of the permit, have not unfrequently +come back with triple that sum; for which reason there are ample +grounds of judging the estimates correct, which fix the total +importation of dollars, during the whole of that long period of years, +to be equal to four hundred millions. It may further be observed that, +as in the Sangley mestizos economy and avarice compete with +intelligence and activity in accumulating wealth and as they are +scattered, among the principal islands, and in possession of the best +lands and the most lucrative business of the interior, there are ample +motives for presuming that these industrious and sagacious people have +gradually, although incessantly, amassed immense sums in specie; but it +would be impossible to point out their amount, distribution, or the +secret places in which they are hoarded.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pious and charitable funds’ +capital.</span>The assemblage of pious legacies, temporalities, and +other funds and property placed under the care of several +administrative committees, for purposes as well religious as +charitable, constitute the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb384" href= +"#pb384" name="pb384">384</a>]</span>chief capital employed in external +trade; and notwithstanding the failures, which from time to time occur, +the subsequent accumulation of the enormous premiums obtained for funds +laid out in maritime speculations, both in time of peace and war, not +only suffices to make up all losses of the above kind, but also to +secure the punctual payment of such charitable pensions and other +charges as are to be deducted from the respective profits of this +species of stock, its total amount, according to an official report +made by order of the head committee of the sinking fund, including +temporalities, and Queen Maria of Austria’s endowment for the +College of Las Marianas, together with other funds of the same kind, +not comprehended in the decree of abolition, at the commencement of the +year 1809, amounted to $2,470,390, and as the sea-risks of that and the +following year were successful, and the outstanding amounts punctually +recovered, the aggregate sum, arising out of the above description of +property, may now be estimated at more than three millions. Of these +funds three distributions are generally made, <i>viz.</i>, one part is +appropriated to the China risks, at from twelve to eighteen per cent. +premium, according to circumstances, and also those to Madras, Calcutta +and Batavia, at from sixteen to twenty-two per cent. The second, which +generally is in the largest proportion, is employed in risks to +Acapulco, at various premiums, from 27 to 45 per cent.; and the third +is left in hand, as a kind of guarantee of the stability of the +original endowments.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coveted by Spanish treasury.</span>In the +great exigencies of the Royal Treasury, experienced during the last +years of the administration of Sr. Soler, the royal decree of <i lang= +"es">Consolidación</i> was extended to the Philippine Islands, +under the pretext of guarding the funds belonging to public charities +and religious endowments ... sea-risks, the income of which, when +secured on good mortgages, does not generally exceed five per cent, +many in Spain not yielding above four; but the remarkable difference +between this plan and the one above described, together with various +and other weighty reasons alleged by the administrators, caused the +dreaded effect of this new regulation to be suspended, and whilst the +head committee of Manila were consulting their doubts and requesting +fresh instructions from the court at home, orders came out not to make +any alteration in measures relating to this description of +property.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Easy capital but lessened +profits.</span>Accustomed, in their limited calculations, to identify +the resources, offered by the funds belonging to this class of +establishments, with the very existence of the colony, the needy +merchants <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb385" href="#pb385" name= +"pb385">385</a>]</span>easily confound their personal with the general +interest; and few stop to consider that the identical means of carrying +on trade, without any capital of their own, although they have +accidentally enriched a small number of persons, eventually have +absorbed the principal profits, and possibly been the chief cause of +the unflourishing state of the colony at large. Without fearing the +charge of rashness, it may, in fact, be asserted, that if these +charities and pious endowments had never existed, public prosperity in +the Philippine Islands would, as in other parts, have been the +immediate effect of the united efforts of the individual members of the +community and of the experience acquired in the constant prosecution of +the same object. As, however, a progress of this kind, although +certain, must necessarily have been at first extremely slow, and as, on +the other hand, the preference given to mercantile operations +undertaken with the funds belonging to public charities, has its origin +in the assemblage of vices so remarkable in the very organization of +the body of Philippine merchants, any new measure on this subject might +be deemed inconsistent, that at once deprived them of the use of +resources on which they had been accustomed to rely, without removing +those other defects which excuse, if not encourage, the continuation of +the present system. Without, therefore, appealing to violent remedies, +it is to be hoped that, in order to render plans of reform effectual, +it will be sufficient, under more propitious circumstances, to see +property brought from other countries to these Islands, as well as +persons coming to settle in them, capable of managing it with that +intelligence and economy required by trade. The competition of those +who speculate at random would then cease, or what is the same, as money +obtained at a premium could not then be laid out with the same +advantages by the merchants as if it was their own, it will be +necessary to renounce the fallacious profits held out by the public +charities, till at least they are placed on a level with existing +circumstances, and brought in to be of real service to the honorable +planter and laborious merchant, in their accidental exigencies, ceasing +to be, as hitherto, the indirect cause of idleness, dissipation, and +the ruin of an infinite number of families.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mercantile shipping.</span>The vessels +which the district magistrates of the provinces employ in carrying on +their trade with the capital and those belonging to some of the richer +merchants, together with such as are owned by the natives and mestizos, +on an approximate calculation, amount to twelve thousand tons, +including ships, brigs, schooners, galleys, barges, etc. For the want +of better data, this estimate is founded only on reasonable conjecture, +aided by the advice of experienced <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb386" +href="#pb386" name="pb386">386</a>]</span>persons, for although the +greatest part of these vessels are built by the natives in the +neighborhood of their own towns, no register is kept of their number +and dimensions, nor do they carry with them the usual certificates. +Those belonging to the merchants, that is, ships and brigs of a certain +size, have already begun to frequent the ports of China, Java, the +coast of Coromandel, Bengal, and the Isle of France, availing +themselves of the lucrative freights which formerly enriched and +encouraged foreign shipping. The other class of vessels, although +perfectly adequate to the coasting trade, cannot in general be applied +to larger enterprises, on account of their not being sufficiently +strong and capacious. The seamen are not apprenticed, or as it is +usually called, matriculated, but their frequent crossing from island +to island, their familiarity with regional tempests, voyages to various +parts of America, and the occupation of fishing followed by the +inhabitants of the coast, serve to train up a large body of dexterous +and able mariners who at all times can be had, without any compulsion, +to complete the crews.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of nautical school.</span>The want of +a public school for the teaching of navigation, is, however, sensibly +felt, as well as great inconvenience from the scarcity of persons +capable of being trusted with the command of vessels, and the ignorance +that prevails of the waters of this dangerous Archipelago. Repeated +royal orders have been sent over for the board of trade to proceed to +the institution of so useful an establishment, and in the meantime, a +medium has been resorted to in order to supply the deficiency, by +allowing the free admission of foreign mates, provided they exhibit +proofs of their acquaintance with navigation, and profess the Catholic +worship. Shipowners nevertheless experience great difficulties, +particularly at times when the Acapulco ship is fitting out, for +although she is considered as a vessel of war, and commanded by +officers of the royal navy, the plan of her equipment is so singular, +that in addition, she requires the extra aid of one chief mate, and +three under ones.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Royal Phillipine company.</span>The various +modifications this corporate body has successively experienced, have, +in great measure, changed the essence of its original constitution, and +the remonstrances of its directors, founded on the experience of a long +series of years, at length induced the government at home to sanction +alterations dictated by existing circumstances. The project of raising +these Islands from the neglected state in which they were, and in some +measure to place them in contact with the mother country, accompanied +by a wish to give a new and great impulse to the various branches of +industry which constitute the importance of a colony, could not have +been more <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb387" href="#pb387" name= +"pb387">387</a>]</span>laudable; but, as was afterwards seen, the +instrument employed was not adequate to the object in view. At the same +time that the company were charged to promote, and, by means of their +funds, to vivify the agriculture and industry of these provinces, the +necessary powers and facilities to enable them to reap the fruits of +their sacrifices were withheld. The protection granted to this +establishment, did not go beyond a general recommendation in favor of +its enterprises, and, in short, far from enjoying the exclusive +preponderance obtained at their commencement by all the other Asiatic +companies, that of the Philippine Islands labored under particular +disadvantages.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Local progress under adverse +conditions.</span>Notwithstanding an organization so imperfect, +scarcely had the agents of the new Company arrived at Manila, when they +distributed through the country their numerous dependents, commissioned +to encourage the natives by advances of money. They established +subaltern factories in the Provinces of Ilocos, Bataan, Cavite, and +Camarines; purchased lands; delivered out agricultural implements; +founded manufacturies of cotton cloths; contracted for the crops of +produce at very high prices; offered rewards and, in short, they put in +motion every partial resources they were able to avail themselves of +and their limited means allowed. It would be extremely easy for me, in +this place, to enter a particular enumeration of the important services +of this kind rendered by the company, and to exhibit, in the most +evident point of view, the advantages thence derived to these Islands, +if, besides being slightly touched upon in the preceding articles, this +task had not been already ably performed by the Factor Don Juan +Francisco Urroz, in his accurate report on this subject, addressed to +the governing committee of the company, in 1803. In justice I will +nevertheless observe, that this establishment, anxiously resolved to +attain the end proposed, in spite of so many obstacles, constantly +followed up its expensive system without being disheartened; nor did +the contrarieties with which the Royal Audiencia, or High Court of +Justice, frequently paralyzed its plans, the indifference of the +governors, or the general opposition and jealousy of the other classes, +in any way tend to relax its efforts, till at length, convinced of the +impossibility of successfully contending, alone and without any other +arms than its own reduced capital; and, on the other hand, well aware +that a political body of this kind in vain seeks to unite within itself +the triple and opposite characters of agriculturalist, manufacturer, +and merchant, a determination was taken to alter the plan, and withdraw +the factories established in the provinces, and by adopting a rigid +economy and confining the operations in future to the purchase of such +produce and manufactured articles <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb388" +href="#pb388" name="pb388">388</a>]</span>as suited their trade, and +were voluntarily brought by the natives to their stores, the expenses +of the Company were curtailed, and a plan of reform introduced into all +their speculations. By this means also they always secured an +advantageous vent for the productions of the country, after having been +the chief spring by which agriculture was promoted and encouraged in a +direct manner.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Handicapped in outside trade</span>The most +beneficial reform, however, introduced by this establishment into its +system, has, in reality, been derived from the variation or rather +correction of its plans and enterprises, purely maritime. The +government being desirous to increase the relations of this colony by +every possible means, and to convert it into a common center of all the +operations of the new company, at first required of the agents that the +purchases and collection of goods from the coast of Coromandel, Bengal, +and China, destined for Spain, should take place at Manila, either by +purchasing the articles in that market, or through the medium of +previous contracts to deliver them there. From this it is easy to +infer, that the company was infallibly exposed to the harsh terms the +respective contractors sought to impose upon them, as well with regard +to prices as qualities, unless, in many cases, they preferred being +left without the necessary assortments. Hence may it, without the +smallest exaggeration, be affirmed, that, summing up all the surcharges +under which the shipments left the port of Manila, and comparing them +with those which might have been sent direct from the above-mentioned +points, and without so extraordinary a <i>détour</i> as the one +prescribed by law, the difference that followed in the prime cost of +the cargos was not less than 80 per cent. The urgent manner, however, +in which the directors of the company did not cease to deplore and +complain of so evident a hardship, at length had the desired effect, +and after existing ten or twelve years, so preposterous a system was +successfully overthrown, and permission obtained from the king for the +establishment of Spanish factories in the neighborhood of the China and +India manufactures, as well as the power of addressing shipments direct +to those foreign dominions. The enlightened policy of their respective +governments did not allow them to hesitate in giving a favorable +reception to our factors and vessels, and the purchases and shipments +of Asiatic goods being thus realized without the old obstructions, the +Company was reasonably led to hope being able soon to increase its +operations, and progressively present more satisfactory results to the +shareholders, when those political convulsions succeeding soon after, +which have unhinged or destroyed all the ordinary relations of trade, +compelled them to abandon their hopes, till the wished-for calm should +be again restored.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb389" href="#pb389" name= +"pb389">389</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Temporary expedient of +1803.</span>In consequence of the new character and route given to the +commercial enterprises of the Company, as authorized by a royal decree +of July 12, 1803, the functions of the Manila factors were reduced to +the annual shipment of a cargo of Asiatic goods to Peru, valued at +$500,000, but only as long as the war lasted, and till the expiration +of the extraordinary permits granted through the goodness of the king, +and also to the transmitting to China and Bengal of the specie brought +from America, and the collecting of certain quantities of indigo, +sugar, or other produce of the Islands, with a view to gain by +reselling it in the same market. Consequently, the moment things return +to their pacific and ordinary course, will be the period when the +necessity of the future existence of this establishment will cease, or +at least, when the propriety will be evident of its reform or +assimilation to the other commission houses, carrying on trade in Vera +Cruz, Mexico, etc., which, not being hired establishments, do not +create expenses when they cease to transact business.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Competition of foreign +merchants.</span>Against a measure of this kind it would be useless to +allege, that, “by the exclusive privilege to introduce spirits +and European effects into the colony, the Company has contracted the +obligation of always keeping it properly supplied; that their very +institution had for the basis the general improvement of the Islands, +and in order duly to comply with these duties, it becomes indispensably +necessary to keep up the present expensive establishment;” for, +in the first place, in order, to render it incumbent on the company to +introduce an indefinite quantity of European articles, it previously +would be necessary to provide a vent for them, and this can never be +the case, unless the exclusion of all competitors in the market is +rigorously carried into effect. As things now are, the North Americans, +English, French, and every other nation that wishes, openly usurped +this privilege, by constantly inundating the Islands with spirits and +all kinds of effects, and it is very evident that this same abuse which +authorizes the infraction of the above privilege, if in that light it +could in any way be considered, totally exonerates the company from all +obligations by them contracted under a different understanding. +Besides, the circumstances which have taken place since the publication +of the royal decree, creating the above establishment into a corporate +body, in the year 1785, have entirely changed the order established in +this respect. In the first place, the port of Manila has been opened to +foreign nations, in consequence of the disinterested representations of +the company itself, and for the direct advantage of general trade; nor +was it necessary <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb390" href="#pb390" +name="pb390">390</a>]</span>to prevent our new guests from abusing the +facilities thus granted to them, and much less to confine them to the +mere introduction of Asiatic goods, the original plea made use of. In +the second, as soon as the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands became +familiar with the more useful and elegant objects of convenience and +luxury, which they were enabled to purchase from foreigners, at +reasonable prices, it was natural for them to pay little regard to the +superfluous aid of the company, more particularly when the latter were +no longer able to sustain the competition, either in the sale or supply +of a multitude of articles, which, thanks to our own national +simplicity, are scarcely known in Spain, whence their outward-bound +cargoes are divided. Hence it follows that, far from the importation +and supplies of the company being missed, it may with great reason be +presumed, that this formal renunciation of this ideal privilege of +theirs, must rather have contributed to secure, in a permanent manner, +adequate supplies for all the wants and whims of the inhabitants of the +colony; and that the publicity of such a determination would act as a +fresh allurement successively to bring to the port of Manila a host of +foreign speculators, anxious to avail themselves of a fresh opening for +commercial pursuits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Company not a philanthropy.</span>The other +objection, founded on the mistaken notion of its being inherent in, and +belonging to, the very essence of the company, to promote the general +improvement of the Philippine Islands, if well considered, will appear +equally unjust. It is, in fact, a ridiculous, although too generally +received, a prejudice to suppose, that the founders of this +establishment proposed to themselves the plan of sinking the money of +the shareholders in clearing the lands, and perfecting the rude +manufactures of these distant Islands. To imagine this to have been one +of the principal objects of the institution, or to suppose that, on +this hard condition, their various privileges and exemptions were +granted to them, is so far from the reality of the fact, that it would +only be necessary to read with attention the 26th article of the quoted +royal decree of creation, in order more correctly to comprehend the +origin and constitutive system of this political body.</p> +<p>“The latter,” says the Duke de Almodovar, “is +reduced to two principal points: the first of which is the carrying of +the trade of Asia with that of America and Europe; and the second, the +encouragement and improvement of the productions and manufacturing +industry of the Islands. The one is the essential attribute of the +company, constituting its real character of a mercantile society; and, +in the other respect, it becomes an auxiliary of the government, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb391" href="#pb391" name= +"pb391">391</a>]</span>to whom the duties alluded to more immediately +belong.” If to the above we add the preamble of the 43rd article +of the new decree of 1803, the recommendation, made to the company, to +contribute to the prosperity of the agriculture and manufacturing +industry of the Islands, will appear as a limited and secondary +consideration; for even if the question were carried to extremes, it +could never extend to any more than the application of four per cent of +the annual profits of the company indistinctly to both branches. If, +however, any doubts still remained, the explanation or solution +recently given to this question would certainly remove them; because, +by the simple fact of its being expressed in the latter part of the +aforesaid 43rd article, <span class="marginnote">Profit percent to go +to Spain.</span>“That the above-mentioned four per cent was to be +laid out, with the king’s approbation, in behalf of the +agriculture and manufacturing industry of <i>Spain</i> and the +Philippine Islands,” it is clear that the king reserves and +appropriates to himself the investment of the amount to be deducted +from the general dividends, in order to apply it where and how may be +deemed most advisable. Consequently, far from considering the company +in that respect under an obligation to contribute to the improvement of +the Philippines exclusively, the only thing that can be required of +them, when their charter is withdrawn, is, the repayment to the royal +treasury of the four per cent on their profits, for a purpose so +vaguely defined. In following up this same train of argument, it would +seem that, in order to render the amount to be deducted from the +eventual profits of the company, in the course of time, a productive +capital in the hands of the sovereign, the funds of the society not +only ought not to be diverted to the continuation of projects which +consume them, but, on the contrary, it is necessary to place at their +disposal the direct means by which these funds can be increased, in +order to make up to the company in some measure the enormous losses +experienced of late years, and at once free their commerce from the +shackles with which it has hitherto been obstructed.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of special privileges</span>Finally, +after twenty-four years of impotent and gratuitous efforts in the +Philippines, and of the most obstinate opposition on the part of their +rivals, it is now time for the company, by giving up the ungrateful +struggle, to reform in every respect their expensive establishment in +Manila, and to direct their principal endeavors to carry into effect +the project so imperfectly traced out in the new decree of 1803. The +opinion of the most vehement enemies of the privileged bodies tacitly +approves this exception in their favor. Adam Smith, avowedly hostile to +all monopolies, feels himself compelled <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb392" href="#pb392" name="pb392">392</a>]</span>to confess that, +“without the incentives which exclusive companies offer to the +individuals of a nation carrying on little trade, possibly their +confined capitals would cease to be destined to the remote and +uncertain enterprises which constitute a commerce with the East +Indies.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spanish commerce in its infancy.</span>Our +commerce, compared with that of other nations, notwithstanding what may +be said on this subject, is most assuredly yet in a state of infancy. +That with Asia, more especially, with the exception of the Royal +Company, is almost unknown to all other classes. If it is, therefore, +wished to exclude our many rivals from so lucrative a branch of trade +as that which constitutes supplies for the consumption of the Peninsula +and its dependencies, the means are obvious. The most material fact is +in fact already done. The navigation to the various ports of Asia is +familiar to the company’s navy; their factors and clerks have +acquired a practical knowledge of that species of trade, essential to +the undertaking, as well as such information as was at first unknown; +but, after the great misfortune this body has experienced, it will be +indispensably necessary to aid and invigorate them with large supplies +of money, following the example of other governments in similar cases; +in order that the successful issue of their future operations may +compensate their past losses, and worthily correspond with the +magnitude of the object.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Philippines a burden to Spain.</span>This +Asiatic colony, although considered as conferring great lustre on the +crown and name of our monarch, by exhibiting the vast extent of the +limits of his dominions, has in reality been, during a long series of +years, a true burden to the government, or at least, a possession whose +chief advantages have redounded in favor of other powers, rivals of our +maritime importance. Notwithstanding all that has been said on the +score of real utility, certain it is, that the Philippine establishment +has cost the treasury large sums of money; although, within the last +twenty-five or thirty years, it must be confessed that the public +revenues has experienced a considerable increase, and, of itself, has +become an object of some consequence to the state.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Profit from tobacco monopoly and foreign +trade.</span>Among the various causes which have contributed to produce +so favorable an alteration, the chief one have been the establishment +of the tobacco monopoly, on behalf of the crown, and the opening of the +port of Manila to the flag of other nations, at peace with Spain. The +first has considerably increased the entries into the public treasury, +and the second has tended to multiply the general mass of mercantile +operations, independent of the other beneficial <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb393" href="#pb393" name= +"pb393">393</a>]</span>effects this last measure must have produced in +a country, whose resources, trade and consumption had, from the time of +the conquest, experienced the fatal shackles imposed by jealousy and +ignorance.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Improvement in public finances.</span>The +improved aspect the colony soon assumed, by the introduction of this +new system, as was natural, awakened the attention of ministers, and +induced them more easily to consent to the measures subsequently +proposed to them, principally intended to place those distant dominions +on a footing of permanent security, so as to enable them to repel any +fresh attempts on the part of an enemy. As, however, the productions of +the country increased, the public expenses also became greater, +although always in a much smaller proportion, with the exception of the +interval between the years 1797 and 1802, when the government, fearful +of a second invasion, was compelled, at its own expense, to provide +against the danger with which these Islands were then threatened. If, +therefore, as appears from the official reports of the +treasurer-general, Larzabal, in my possession, the receipts at the +treasury, in 1780, amounted only to $700,000 including the +<i>situado</i>, or annual allowance for the expenses of government sent +from New Spain, and after the ordinary charges of administration had +been paid, a surplus of $170,000 remained in the hands of the +treasurer; at present we have the satisfaction to find that the revenue +is equal to $2,625,176.50 and the expenses do not exceed $2,179,731.87 +by which means an annual surplus of $445,444.62 is left, applicable to +the payment of the debt contracted during the extraordinary period +above mentioned, now reduced to about $900,000 and afterwards +transferable to the general funds belonging to the crown.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Economy over Spanish-American colonial +administration.</span>With regard to the administrative system, it is +in every respect similar to the one observed in our governments of +America, with this difference only, that, in the Philippine Islands, +greater economy prevails in salaries, as well as in the number of +persons employed. In former times, the establishment of intendencies, +or boards of administration, was deemed expedient in Manila, Ilocos, +Camarines, Iloilo, and Cebu; but they were soon afterwards reformed, or +rather laid aside, on account of their being deemed superfluous. I +would venture to state the grounds on which this opinion was then +formed; but, as the sphere in which the king’s revenue acts in +these Islands increases and extends, which naturally will be the case +if the plans and improvements dictated by the present favorable +circumstances are carried into effect, I do not hesitate to say that it +will be necessary again to appeal to the establishment of a greater +number of boards for the management and collection of the various +branches <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb394" href="#pb394" name= +"pb394">394</a>]</span>of the revenue, whether they are called +intendencies, or by any other name; as it will be extremely difficult +for the administration to do its duty, on the confined and inadequate +plan under which it is at present organized.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fiscal system.</span>Under its existing +form, it is constituted in the following manner: The governor of the +Islands, in his quality of superintendent or administrator general, and +as uniting in himself the powers of intendent of the army, presides at +the board of administration of the king’s revenue, which is +placed in the immediate charge of a treasurer and two clerks. The +principal branches have their respective general directors, on whom the +provincial administrators depend, and the civil magistrates, in the +quality of sub-delegates, collect within their respective districts, +the tributes paid by the natives in money and produce, and manage +everything else relating to the king’s revenue. In ordinary +cases, the general laws of the Indies govern, and especially are the +ordinances or regulations of the Intendents of New Spain (Mexico) +ordered to be observed in the Philippines. It ought further to be +observed, that, in these Islands, the same as in all the vice-royalties +and governments of America, there is a distinct body of royal decrees +in force, which, in themselves, constitute a code of considerable +size.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Opposition to tobacco monopoly.</span>The +process of converting the consumption of tobacco into a monopoly met +with a most obstinate resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and +the greatest circumspection and constancy were necessary for the +governor, Don José Basco, to carry this arduous enterprise into +effect. Accustomed to the cultivation of this plant without any +restriction whatever, and habituated to its use from their infancy, it +appeared to the people the extreme of rashness to seek simultaneously +to extirpate it from the face of the greatest part of the Island of +Luzon, in order to confine its culture within the narrow limits of a +particular district. They were equally revolted at the idea of giving +to a common article a high and arbitrary value, when, besides, it had +become one of the first necessity. Every circumstance, however, being +dispassionately considered, and the principle once admitted that it was +expedient for the colony to maintain itself by means the least +burdensome to the inhabitants, it certainly must be acknowledged that, +although odious on account of its novelty and defective in the mode of +its execution, a resource more productive and at the same time less +injurious, could not have been devised. Hence was it that the partisans +of the opposite system were strangely misled, by founding their +calculation on false <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb395" href="#pb395" +name="pb395">395</a>]</span>data, when they alleged that a substitute, +equivalent to the increased revenue supposed to arise out of the +monopoly of tobacco, might have been resorted to by ordering a +proportionate rise in the branch of tributes. In fact, no one who had +the least experience in matters of this kind, can be ignorant of the +open repugnance the natives have always evinced to the payment of the +ordinary head-tax (cedula), and the broils to which its collection has +given rise. Besides, if well examined, no theory is more defective and +more oppressive on account of the disparity with which it operates, +than this same wrongly-boasted impost; for, however desirous it may be +to simplify the method of collecting the general revenue of a state, if +the best plan is to be adopted, that is, if public burdens are to be +rendered the least obnoxious, it is necessary preferably to embrace the +system of indirect contribution, in which class, to a certain degree, +the monopoly of all those articles may be considered as included which +are not rigorously of the first necessity, and only compel the +individual to contribute when his own will induce him to become a +consumer.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Doubling of insular revenue thru +tobacco.</span>Let this be as it may, certain it is, that to Governor +Basco we are indebted for having doubled the annual amount of the +revenue of these Islands, by merely rendering the consumption of +tobacco subservient to the wants of the crown. It was he who placed +these Islands in the comfortable situation of being able to subsist +without being dependent on external supplies of money to meet the +exigencies of government. It ought, however, to be remarked that, +although they have been in the habit of receiving the annual allowance +of $250,000 for which a standing credit was opened by the government at +home on the general treasury of New Spain, <i>considerable sums have, +nevertheless, on various occasions, been remitted from the Philippines +to Spain, through the channel of the Captain-General.</i> * * * If +these remittances have been suspended for some years past, it has +evidently been owing to the imperious necessity of applying the +ordinary proceeds of the revenue, as well as other extraordinary means, +to unforeseen contingencies arising out of peculiar circumstances.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tobacco belt.</span>The planting and +cultivation of tobacco are now confined to the district of Gapan, in +Pampanga Province, to that of Cagayan, and to the small Island of +Marinduque. The amount of the crops raised in the above three points +and sold to the king, may, on an average, be estimated at fifty +thousand bales, grown in the following proportion: Gapan, forty-seven +thousand bales; Cagayan, two thousand, and Marinduque, one thousand. +This stock, resold at <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb396" href= +"#pb396" name="pb396">396</a>]</span>the monopoly prices, yields a sum +equal to about one million of dollars, and deducting therefrom the +prime cost and all other expenses, legally chargeable on this branch, +the net proceeds in favor of the revenue amount to $550,000 or upwards +of one hundred twenty-two per cent. This profit is so much more secure, +as it rests on the positive fact that, however great the quantity of +the article sold furtively and by evading the vigilance of the guards, +as the demand and consumption are excessive and always exceed the stock +on hand, a ready sale cannot fail to be had for all the stock placed in +the hands of the agents of the monopoly. From this it may also be +inferred how much the net proceeds of this branch would be increased, +if without venturing too far in extending the plantations and +consequent purchases, care was taken to render the supplies more +proportionate to the consumption; for, by a clear profit of one hundred +twenty-two per cent, falling on a larger capital, it follows that a +corresponding result would be obtained. In a word, the sales, far from +declining or being in any way deemed precarious, are susceptible of a +great increase, consequently this branch of revenue merits the serious +attention of government beyond all others.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Defective sales system.</span>It is, +however, to be lamented that, instead of every facility being given to +the sale of tobacco and the consumption thus encouraged, the public +meet with great difficulties and experience such frequent obstacles and +deficiencies in the supplies, that with truth it may also be said, the +sales are affected in spite of the administrators themselves. In the +capital alone it is a generally received opinion that a third part more +would there be consumed, if, instead of compelling the purchaser to +receive the tobacco already manufactured or folded, he was allowed to +take it from the stores in its primitive state; and if the minor +establishments in the provinces were constantly supplied with good +qualities, an infinitely larger quantity might be sold, and by this +means a great deal of smuggling also prevented. Such, however, is the +neglect and irregularity in this department, that it frequently happens +in towns somewhat distant from Manila, no other tobacco is to be met +with than what the smugglers sell, and if, perchance, any is to be +found in the monopoly stores, it is usually of the worst quality that +can be imagined.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Loss from preventable causes.</span>I pass +over, in silence, the other defects gradually introduced, as evils, in +a greater or lesser degree, inseparable from this part of public +administration in every country in which it has been deemed necessary +to establish monopolies; but I cannot refrain from again insisting on +the urgency with which those in power ought to devote themselves, +firmly and diligently, to the destruction of abuses which <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb397" href="#pb397" name="pb397">397</a>]</span>have +hitherto paralyzed the progress of the branch in question, because I am +well persuaded, that, whenever corresponding means are adopted, it will +be possible in a short time to double the proceeds. What these means +are, it is not easy, nor indeed essential, to particularize in a rapid +sketch, like this, of the leading features and present state of the +Philippine Islands. I shall, therefore, merely remark, that it will be +in vain to wish the persons engaged in the management of this +department to exert their real zeal and sincerely co-operate in the +views of government, as long as they are not placed beyond the +necessity of following other pursuits and gaining a livelihood in +another way; in a word, unless they have a salary assigned them, +corresponding to the confidence and value of the important object +entrusted to their charge, no plan of reform can be rendered +efficient.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Abuses by revenue officers.</span>At the +same time steps are taken to augment the revenue arising out of +tobacco, it would be desirable, as much as possible, to improve the +methods used with regard to those who gather in the crops, by +endeavoring to relieve them from the heavy conditions imposed upon +them; conditions which, besides exposing them to the odious effects of +revenue-laws, by their very nature bring upon them many unpleasant +consequences, and often total ruin. In order that a correct opinion may +be formed of these defects, it will suffice to observe that, under +pretext of preventing smuggling, the guards and their agents watch, +visit, and, if I may use the expression, live among the plantations +from the moment the tobacco-seedlings appear above ground, till the +crops are gathered in. After compelling the Filipino planter to cut off +the head of the stem, in order that the plant may not become too +luxurious, the surveyors then proceed to set down, not only the number +of plants cultivated on each estate, but even the very leaves of each, +distinguishing their six qualities, in order to call the farmers to +account, respectively, when they make a defective delivery into the +general stores. In the latter case, they are compelled to prove the +death of the plants and even to account for the leaves missing when +counted over again, under the penalty of being exposed to the rigor of +the revenue laws.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Burdensome and unprofitable +inspection.</span>It cannot indeed be denied that by this means two +important objects are attained, at one and the same time; the one, the +gradual improvement of the tobacco, and the other, the greater +difficulty of secreting the article; but, on the other hand, how great +are the inconveniences incurred? Independent of the singularity and +consequent oppression of a regulation of this kind, as well as its too +great minuteness and complication, it is attended with very +considerable <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb398" href="#pb398" name= +"pb398">398</a>]</span>expenses, and renders it necessary to keep on +foot a whole army of guards and clerks, who tyrannize over and harass +the people without any real motive for such great scrupulosity and +profusion. I make this observation because I cannot help thinking that +the same results might nearly be obtained, by adopting a more simple +and better regulated system. I am not exactly aware of the one followed +in the Island of Cuba, but as far as I understand the matter, it is +simply reduced to this: the growers there merely present their bales to +the inspectors, and if pronounced to be sound and good, the stipulated +amount is paid over to them; but if the quality is bad, the whole is +invariably burnt. Thus all sales detrimental to the public revenue are +prevented, and I do not see why the same steps could not be taken in +the Philippine Islands. It must not, however, be understood, that I +presume to speak in a decisive tone on a subject so extremely delicate, +and that requires great practical information, which, I readily +acknowledge, I do not possess. I merely wish by means of these slight +hints, to contribute to the commencement of a reform in abuses, and to +promote the adoption of a plan that may have for basis the relief of +the growers, and at the same time advance the prosperity of this part +of the royal revenue.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coco and nipa wine monopoly.</span>The +monopoly of coco and nipa, or palm-wine, is a branch of public revenue +of sufficient magnitude to merit the second place among the resources +rendered available to the expenditure of these Islands, converted into +a monopoly some years ago. In like manner as the consumption of +tobacco, it has experienced several changes in its plan of +administration, this being at one time carried on, for account of the +king, at others, by the privilege being let out at auction; till at +length the Board of Control, convinced of the great profit gained by +the contractors, resolved at once to take the direction of this +departure under their own charge, and make arrangement for its better +administration. Having with this view established general deposits and +licensed houses for the sale of native wine, with proper superintending +clerks they soon began to reap the fruits of so judicious a +determination. In 1780, the privilege of selling the <i>coco</i> and +<i>nipa</i> wine was farmed out, to the highest bidder, for no more +than $45,200 and subsequently the increase has been so great, owing to +the improvements adopted, that at present net proceeds equal to +$200,000 on an average may be relied upon. In proof of this, the +proceeds of this branch, in the year 1809, may be quoted, when the +total balances received at the Treasury, after all expenses had been +paid, amounted to $221,426, in the following manner:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Administration of Manila and district</td> +<td>$201,250</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Administration of La Pampanga and district</td> +<td>12,294</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Administration of Pangasinan and district</td> +<td>7,882</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>——</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>$221,426</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb399" href="#pb399" name= +"pb399">399</a>]</span>The prime cost and other expenses that year +amounted to no more than $168,557 by which means, on the whole +operation, a net profit of thirteen and one-half per cent. resulted in +favor of the treasury.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Wine monopoly district.</span>The monopoly +of native wine comprehends the whole of the Island of Luzon, excepting +the Provinces of Cagayan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Camarines and Albay, +and is under the direction of three administrators, who act +independently of each other in their respective districts, and have at +their disposal a competent number of guards. These administrators +receive in the licensed establishments the <i>coco</i> and <i>nipa</i> +wines, at prices stipulated by the growers. That of the <i>coco</i> is +paid for at the rate of two dollars per jar, containing twenty +<i>gantas</i>, equal to twelve <i>arrobas</i>, seven <i>azumbres</i> +and half a <i>cuartillo</i>, Castilian measure, and at fourteen reals +in the places nearest the depots. The <i>nipa</i> wine is laid at six +and one-half reals the jar, indistinctly; prices which, although +extremely low, are still considered advantageous by the Filipinos +themselves, more particularly when it is besides understood, that, from +the circumstance of their being growers of this article, they are +exempted from military service, as well as several other taxes and +public charges.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coco-wine.</span>The <i>coco</i>-wine is a +weak spirit, obtained in the following manner: The tree that produces +this fruit is crowned by an assemblage of large flowers or +<i>corollas</i>, from the center or calix of which issues a fleshy +stem, filled with juice. The Indian cuts the extremity of this stem, +and inclining the remainder in a lateral manner, introduces it into a +large hollow tube which remains suspended, and is found full of sweet +and sticky liquor, which the tree in this manner yields twice in every +twenty-four hours. <span class= +"marginnote">“Tuba”.</span>This liquid, called <i>tuba</i>, +in the language of the country, is allowed to ferment for eight days in +a large vessel, and afterwards distilled by the Indians in their +uncouth stills, which are no other than large boilers, with a head made +of lead or tin, rendered tight by means of clay, and with a pipe +frequently made out of a simple cane, which conveys the spirit to the +receiving vessels, without passing, like the serpentine tube used in +ordinary stills, through the cooling vats, which so greatly tends to +correct the vices of a too quick evaporation. The <i>tuba</i>, obtained +in level and hot situations, is much more spirituous than that produced +in cold and shady places. In the first, six jars of juice are +sufficient to yield one of spirit, and in the latter, as many as eight +are requisite; a much greater number, however, would be wanted to +rectify this spirit so as to render it equal to what is usually known +by Hollands proof. I am not positively certain what degree of strength +the <i>coco</i>-brandy, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb400" href= +"#pb400" name="pb400">400</a>]</span>or as it is usually called +<i>coco</i>-wine, possesses, but it is evidently inferior to the +weakest made in Spain from the juice of the grape. The only +circumstance required for it to be approved of, and received into the +monopoly-stores, is its being easily ignited by the application of a +lighted candle.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Nipa brandy.</span>The <i>nipa</i> is a +small tree of the class of palms, which grows in a very bushy form, and +multiplies and prospers greatly on the margins of rivers and watery +tracts of land. The <i>tuba</i>, or juice, is extracted from the tree +whilst in its flowering state, in the same way as that of the +<i>coco</i>, and afterwards distilled by a similar process; but it is +more spirituous, from six to six and a half jars being sufficient to +yield one of wine. The great difference remarked in the prices of these +two species of liquor, arises out of the great number of uses to which +the fruit of the <i>cocal</i> or <i>coco</i> tree is applicable, and +the increase of expense and labor requisite to obtain the juice, owing +to the great height of the plant, and the frequent dangers to which the +<i>caritones</i>, or gatherers, are exposed in passing from one tree to +another, which they do by sliding along a simple cane (bamboo).</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Little drunkenness.</span>The impost on, or +rather monopoly of, native wine, is in itself little burdensome to the +community, as it only falls on the lower and most dissipated orders in +society, and for this reason it is not susceptible of the same increase +as that of tobacco, of which the use is more general, and now become an +object of the first necessity. The native of the Philippine Islands is, +by nature, so sober, that the spectacle of a drunken man is seldom +noticed in the streets; in the capital, where the most corrupt classes +of them reside, it is admirable to see the general abstinence from a +vice that degrades the human species. The consumption of the +<i>coco</i> and <i>nipa</i> wine is, nevertheless, considerable, for it +is used in all their festivities, cock-fights, games, marriages, etc. +Accordingly if it is desired to augment the annual sale of these +liquors, no way could be more efficient than to increase the number of +their festive meetings, and seek pretexts to encourage public +diversions, so long as these do not go contrary to the well-regulated +order of society, and conflict with the duties of those who are +intrusted with its superintendence.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Extension of monopoly urged.</span>I am +still of opinion, however, that, without resting the prosperity of this +branch of the public revenue on principles possessed of so immoral a +tendency, it might be rendered more productive to the treasury, if the +monopoly could be introduced into the other districts adapted to its +establishment. By this I mean to say that, as hitherto the monopoly has +been partial, and enforced more in the way of a trial than in a general +and permanent manner, much <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb401" href= +"#pb401" name="pb401">401</a>]</span>remains to be done, and +consequently great scope is left for improvement in this department of +the public revenue. This most assuredly may be attained, if all the +local circumstances and impediments, more or less superable, which the +matter itself presents, are only taken into due account, and proper +exertions made to study and discover the various indirect means of +increasing the total mass of contributions, by applying a system more +productive and analogous to the nature of the Philippine Islands. With +regard to the revenue of the two particular articles above treated on, +I merely wish to make it understood that, far from introducing by means +of the monopoly, a new vice into the provinces in which I recommend its +establishment, it would rather act, in a certain degree at least, as a +corrective to pre-existing evils, and the government would derive +advantages from an article of luxury, by subjecting its consumption to +the same shackles under which it stands in the northern provinces, +where its administration is established and carried on for account of +the royal treasury.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Former customs usage.</span>In former +times, when only vessels belonging to the Asiatic nations visited the +port of Manila, with effects from the coast of Coromandel, or the China +junks, and now and then a Spanish vessel coming from or going to the +Island of Java, with spices for account of Philippine merchants, the +receipt of duties was left in charge of a single royal officer, and the +valuations of merchandise made by him, in concert with two merchants +named by the government; but with the knowledge and assistance of the +king’s attorney-general. The modifications and changes which have +subsequently taken place in this department have, however, been +frequent, as is evidently shown by the historical extract from the +proceedings instituted before the Council of the Indies, by the +merchants of Seville and Cadiz, in opposition to those of the +Philippine Islands, printed in Madrid, 1736, in folio, by order of the +said council; but as it does not enter into my views to speak of times +so remote, I shall confine my remarks to this branch considered under +its present form.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Custom house.</span>In conformity to royal +orders of March 15 and May 5, 1786, the Royal Custom House of Manila +was definitively organized on its new plan; and from 1788, was placed +under the immediate charge of an administrator-general, a controller, a +treasurer, aided by a competent number of guards, inspectors, etc., and +in every respect regulated on the plan established in the other custom +houses. The freedom of the port being granted to foreign nations, a +privilege before enjoyed only by those purely Asiatic, and a new line +of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb402" href="#pb402" name= +"pb402">402</a>]</span>trade commenced by the company, the competition +in merchandise soon began to increase, as well as the revenue arising +therefrom, in such manner that, although the exportation of goods was +limited to the cargo of the Acapulco ship, of which the duties are not +payable till her arrival there; notwithstanding also the property +imported by the company from China and India, and destined for their +own shipments, was exempt from duties, and above all, the continual +interruptions experienced by the maritime commerce of the Islands +within the last fifteen or twenty years, the net proceeds of the custom +house, from the period above mentioned of its establishment, till the +close of 1809, have not been less than from $138,000 to $140,000, on an +average, independent of the amount of the king’s fifth on the +gold of the country, which is collected by the same administrator, in +consequence of its being trivial; as well as the two per cent. +belonging to the Board of Trade, and by them collected under that +title, and afterwards separately applied to the average-fund and which +usually may be estimated from $20,000 to $25,000.</p> +<p>The general duties now levied in the custom house, are the +following:</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Port charges and duties.</span>Six per +cent. <i>almojarisfago</i> is on all kinds of merchandise imported in +foreign bottoms, under a valuation made by the surveyors, in conformity +to the respective prices of the market at the time on importation; it +usually is regulated by an increase of 50% on the prime cost of India +goods, and of 33⅓% on those from China. This duty may be +considered as, in fact, equal to nine per cent on the former, and eight +on the latter.</p> +<p>Six per cent, or the same duty, on all foreign goods, although +imported in national bottoms.</p> +<p>Three per cent on Spanish goods, imported under the national flag, +equal, according to the above estimate to 4 and 4½%.</p> +<p>Two per cent Board of Trade duty, indistinctly on all foreign +property, equivalent to 2½ or 3%.</p> +<p>Twenty-five per cent anchorage dues, levied on the total amount of +the <i>almojarisfago</i> duty.</p> +<p>An additional of two and one-half per cent, a new and temporary +duty, called <i>subvencion</i>, appropiated to the payment of the loan +made to the king by the Cadiz Board of Trade, and leviable on all kinds +of imported goods, and, of course, equal, according to the usual mode +of valuation, to about three per cent.</p> +<p>Three per cent on the exportation of coined silver and gold of the +country, in dust and, ingots.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb403" href="#pb403" name= +"pb403">403</a>]</span>An additional or duty of <i>subvencion</i>, or +temporary duty on the above, equal to one-half per cent.</p> +<p>One and a half per cent under the same rate, on all kinds of goods, +and equal to two or two and one half per cent.</p> +<p>One and one-half per cent on the amount of the cargo of the Acapulco +ship, on leaving the port of Manila, equal to ¾% on the real +prime cost.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Slight concession to the Company.</span>The +company are considered in the same light as the rest of the merchants, +in the graduation and payment of duties, on such goods as they sell out +of their own stores for local consumption, to the Company, with the +exemption only of the Board of Trade rate of 2% and 3%, on the +exportation of silver, according to a special privilege, and in +conformity to the 61st Article of the new royal decree of 1803.</p> +<p>Besides the duties above enumerated, there is another trifling one +established for local purposes of <i lang="es">peso merchante</i>, +being a rate for the use of the king’s scales, levied according +to an extremely equitable tariff, on certain articles only of solid +weight, such as iron, copper, etc. The raw materials as well as all +kinds of manufactured articles, belonging to the Islands, are exempt +from duties on their entry in the port and river of Manila; but some of +the first are subject to the most unjust of all exactions, that is, to +an arbitrary tax and to the obligation of being retailed out on board +the vessels in which they have been brought down, and deliverable only +to persons bearing a written order, signed by the sitting members of +the municipal corporation. Among this class of articles may be +mentioned the coco of Cebu and the wax and oil of the Bisayas, which +are rated as objects of the first necessity.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Undervaluation of galleon goods.</span>With +regard to the respective duties on the cargo annually dispatched by the +merchants of Manila to New Spain, the practice of galleon is tolerably +well regulated. An extreme latitude is given to the moderate rates at +which it is ordered to value the goods contained in the manifest, by +which means these are frequently put down at only one-half of their +original prime cost; the commission to frame the scale of valuations +which is to be in force for five years, after which time it is renewed, +being left to three merchants, and made subject to the revision of the +king’s attorney-general (fiscal) and the approbation of the +governor; consequently, such being the nature of the tariff on which +these operations are founded, the 33⅓% to which the royal duties +amount on the $500,000 stipulated in the permit, does not, in fact, +affect the shipper beyond the rate of 15 per cent, in consequence of +the great difference between the prime cost and <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb404" href="#pb404" name= +"pb404">404</a>]</span>valuation of the articles corresponding to the +permit; or, what is the same thing, between the $500,000 nominal value, +and $1,100,000 or $1,200,000, the real amount of the cargo in question. +The most remarkable circumstance, however, is, that the officers of the +revenue in Acapulco collect the above-mentioned 33⅓% in absolute +conformity to the Manila valuation, and not according to the value of +the goods in America, and without any other formality than a comparison +of the cargo with the ship’s papers. In honor of truth, it ought +to be further observed that, although the Manila merchant by this means +seeks to exempt himself from the part of the enormous duties with which +it has been attempted to paralyze the only commercial intercourse he +carries on with New Spain, in every other respect connected with this +operation, he acts in a sufficiently legal manner, and if at their +return those vessels have been in the habit of bringing back near a +million of dollars in a smuggled way, it must be acknowledged that it +is the harshness of the law which compels the merchant to become a +smuggler; for according to the strange regulation by which he is +thwarted in the returns representing the proceeds of his outward +operation, he must either bring the money to the Philippine Islands +without having it declared on the ship’s papers, or be obliged to +leave the greatest part of it in the hands of others, subject to such +contingencies as happen in trade. As long, therefore, as the present +limitations subsist, which only authorize returns equal to double the +value of the outward-bound cargo, this species of contraband will +inevitably continue. The governors also, actuated by the principles of +reason and natural justice, will, as they have hitherto done, wink at +the infraction of the fiscal laws; a forbearance, in fact, indirectly +beneficial to them, inasmuch as it eventually contributes to the +general improvement of the colony. Indeed, without this species of +judicious condescension, trade would soon stand still for the want of +the necessary funds to carry it on.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unbusinesslike custom ways.</span>.... It +will readily be acknowledged that, in like manner as the good +organization of custom houses is favorable to the progress of general +commerce, so nothing is more injurious to its growth and the enterprise +of merchants, than any uncertainty or arbitrary conduct in the levying +of duties to be paid by them. This arises out of the circumstance of +every merchant, entering on a new speculation, being anxious to have, +as the principal ground work of his combinations, a perfect knowledge +of the exact amount of his disbursements, in order to be enabled to +calculate the final result with some degree of certainty. Considered in +this point of view, the system adopted in the Islands is certainly +deplorable, since it must be acknowledged <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb405" href="#pb405" name="pb405">405</a>]</span>that the principles +and common rules of all other commercial countries, are there unknown. +For example; this year a cargo arrives from China or Bengal, and the +captain turns in his manifest. The custom-house surveyors then commence +the valuation of the goods of which his cargo is composed: I say they +commence, because it is a common thing for them not to have finished +the estimate of the scale and amount of corresponding duties, till the +expiration of two, four, and not unfrequently six months. The rule they +affect to follow, in this valuation, is that of the prices current in +the market, and in order to ascertain what these are, they are seen +going round inquiring in the shops of the Sangleys (Chinese), till at +length, finding it useless to go in search of correct and concurrent +data, in a place where there are neither brokers nor public auctions, +they are forced to determine in an arbitrary manner, and as the adage +goes, always take good care to see their employers on the right side of +the hedge. The grand work being ended, with all this form and +prolixity, the sentence of the surveyors is irrevocable. The bondsman +of the captain, who, in the meanwhile, has usually sold his cargo and +departed with a fresh one for another destination, pays in the amount +of the duties, thus regulated by law.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Variations in valuations.</span>The +practical defects and injurious consequences of such a system as this, +it would be unnecessary to particularize. It would, however, be less +intolerable, if, once put in force, it could serve the merchant as a +guide in the valuations of his property for a determined number of +successive years. What, however, renders this assessment more +prejudicial, is its instability and uncertainty, and the repetition of +the same operation I have just described every year, and with every +cargo that arrives; but under distinct valuations, according to the +reports or humor of the day. Besides these great defects and +irregularity, the Philippine custom house observes the singular +practice of not allowing the temporary landing of goods entered +<i lang="la">in transitu</i> and for re-exportation, as is done on the +bonding system in all countries where exertions are made by those in +authority for the extension and improvement of commerce in every +possible way. Of course, much less will they consent to the drawback or +return of any part of the duties on goods entered outwards, even though +they are still on board the very vessels in which they originally came +shipped. Beyond all doubt, the wrongly understood severity of such a +system, has, and will, continue to prevent many vessels from +frequenting the port of Manila, and trying the market, unable to rely +on the same liberal treatment they can meet with in other places.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb406" href="#pb406" name= +"pb406">406</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The +areca-nut.</span>The <i>bonga</i>, or areca-nut, is the fruit of a very +high palm-tree, not unlike the one that bears the date, and the nuts, +similar to the latter, hang in great clusters from below the +protuberance of the leaves or branches. Its figure and size resemble a +common nut, but solid, like the nutmeg. Divided into small pieces, it +is placed in the center of a small ball made of the tender leaves of +the <i>buyo</i> or <i>betel</i> pepper, lightly covered with slacked +lime, and this composition constitutes the celebrated betel of Asia, +or, as it is here called, the <i>buyo</i>, the latter differing from +that used in India, inasmuch only as it contains <i>cardamomom</i>.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Buyo monopoly unsatisfactory.</span>The +government, anxious to derive advantage in aid and support of the +colony, from the great use the inhabitants make of the <i>buyo</i>, +many years ago determined to establish the sale of the <i>bonga</i>, +its principal ingredient, into a monopoly, either by hiring the +privilege out, or placing it under a plan of administration, in the +form in which it now stands. Both schemes have been tried, but neither +way has this branch been made to yield more than $30,000; indeed the +annual proceeds usually have not exceeded $25,000. In 1809, the total +amount of sales was $48,610, and deducting from this sum the prime cost +and expenses of administration, the net profit in favor of the treasury +was equal to no more than $27,078 or upwards of 125½%. In 1780, +the privilege of selling the <i>bonga</i> was let out at public auction +for the sum of $15,765 and this, compared with the present proceeds, +clearly shows that, although the increase has not advanced equally with +the other branches of the revenue, it is far from having declined. It +must nevertheless be confessed, that on the present footing on which it +stands, the smallness of the proceeds is not worth the trouble required +in the collection, and even if the amount were still greater, it could +never serve as an excuse for the oppression and violence to which this +monopoly frequently gives rise.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hardships on areca-nut planters.</span>As +the trees producing the <i>bonga</i> are not confined to any particular +grounds, and indiscriminately grow in all, the plan has been adopted of +compelling the Filipinos to gather and bring in the fruit, raised on +their lands, to the depot nearest the district in which they reside. +There they are paid from two, two and one-half, three and three and +one-half reals per thousand, according to the distance from which they +come: and, in order to prevent frauds, the surveyors belonging to the +revenue go out, at certain times of the year, to examine the bonga +plantations, and the trees being counted, they estimate the fruit, that +is, oblige the proprietor to undertake to deliver in two hundred nuts +for each bearing tree, whether or not, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb407" href="#pb407" name="pb407">407</a>]</span>hurricanes +deteriorate or destroy the produce, or thieves plunder the plantations, +as very frequently happens. In case deficiencies are proved against +him, he is compelled to pay for them in money, at the rate of +twenty-five reals per thousand, the price at which the king sells them +in the monopoly-stores. Besides, the precise condition of delivering in +two hundred <i>bonga</i> nuts, according to the stipulations imposed +upon him, presupposes the previous exclusion of all the injured or +green ones; and although the ordinary trees usually yield as many as +three hundred nuts each, great numbers are nevertheless spoiled. If, to +the adverse accidents arising out of the storms and robberies, we add +the effects of the whims or ill-humor of the receivers, it is not easy +to imagine to what a length the injuries extend which befall the man +who has the folly or misfortune to become a planter of this +article.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Folly of monopoly plan.</span>On the other +hand, as in the conveyances from the minor to the larger depots, frauds +are frequently committed, and the heaping together of many millions of +nuts inevitably produces the fermentation and rapid putrefaction of a +great number of them, it consequently follows that the waste must be +immense; or if it is determined to sell all the stock laid in, without +any distinction in quality and price, the public must be very badly +served and displeased, as in fact too often happens. Since, therefore, +the habit of using the <i>buyo</i> is still more prevailing than that +of tobacco, when suitable supplies cannot be had in the monopoly +stores, the consumer naturally resorts to the contraband channels, +although he encounters some risk, and expends more money. It is also +very natural that the desire of gain should thus lead on and daily +expose a number of needy persons, anxious by this means to support and +relieve the wants of their families. Returning, however, to what more +immediately concerns the grower, I do not know that the oppressive +genius of fiscal laws has, in any country of the globe, invented one +more refinedly tyrannic, than to condemn a man, to a certain degree at +least, as has hitherto been the case, to the punishment of Tantalus; +for the law forbids the Filipino to touch the fruit of the tree planted +with his own hands, and which hangs in tempting and luxuriant abundance +round his humble dwelling.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Its modification desirable.</span>It would +be easy for me to enumerate many other inconveniences attending this +branch of public revenue, on the footing on which it now stands, if +what has already been said did not suffice to point out the necessity +of changing the system, as those in authority are anxious that the +treasury should gain more, and the king’s subjects suffer less. +The strong prejudice entertained against this source <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb408" href="#pb408" name="pb408">408</a>]</span>of +revenue, the inconsiderable sum it produces, and the complicated form +of its organization, have in reality been sufficient motives to induce +many to become strenous advocates for the total abolition of the +monopoly. I do not, however, on this account see any reasons for +altogether depriving the government of a productive resource, as this +might soon be rendered, if it was placed under regulations less odious +and more simple in themselves. I nevertheless agree, that the perfect +monopoly of the areca fruit, or <i>bonga</i>, is impracticable, till +the trees, indiscriminately planted, are cut down, and, in the same way +as the tobacco plantations, fresh and definite grounds are laid out for +its cultivation, on account of the revenue. I am further aware that +this measure is less practicable than the first; for, independent of +all the other obstacles, it would be necessary to wait till the new +plantation yielded fruit, and also that the public should consent to +refrain from masticating <i>buyo</i> in the meanwhile, a pretension as +mad as it would be to require that the eating of salt should be +dispensed with for a given number of years. But what difficulty would +there be, for example, in the proprietors paying so much a year for +each <i>bonga</i> tree to the district magistrate, the governor of the +nearest town, or the <i>cabeza de Barangay</i>, or chiefs of the clans +into which the natives are divided, in the same manner as the Filipino +pays his tribute? <span class="marginnote">Tree-tax +preferable.</span>The only one I anticipate is that of fixing the +amount in such way that, at the same time this resource is made to +produce an increased income of some moment, it may act as a moderate +tax on an indefinite property, the amount of which, augmented in the +same price, may be reimbursed to the proprietor by the great body of +consumers. It is not in fact easy to foresee or estimate, by any means +of approximation, the alteration in the current price of the +<i>bonga</i>, that would result from the indefinite freedom of its +cultivation and sale, especially during the first years. Although, for +this reason, it would be impossible to ascertain what proportion the +impost on the tree would then bear with regard to the value of the +fruit, the error that might accrue would be of little moment, as long +as precautions were taken to adopt a very low rate of comparison, and a +proportionably equitable one as the basis of taxation. Supposing then +that the price of the <i>bonga</i> should decline from twenty-five +reals, at which it is now sold in the monopoly stores, to fifteen reals +per thousand, in the general market, and a tax of one-fourth real +should be laid on each tree valued at two hundred <i>bonga</i> nuts, it +is clear that this would be equal to no more than 8½%; or, what +is the same, the tax would be in the proportion one to twelve with the +proceeds of each tree, and the more the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb409" href="#pb409" name="pb409">409</a>]</span>value of the fruit +was raised, the more would the rate of contribution diminish. It ought +at the same time to be observed that, under the above estimate, that +is, supposing the price of the article to remain at fifteen reals, the +8½% at which rate the tax is regulated, would not perhaps exceed +five or six per cent on a more minute calculation; in the first place, +because at the time of making out the returns of the trees, +<span class="marginnote">Exception of immature and aged +trees.</span>those only ought to be set down which are in their full +vigor, excluding such as through the want or excess of age only yield a +small proportion of fruit; and in the second, because in the numbers +registered, the trees would only be rated at two hundred although it is +well known they usually yield three hundred, in order by this means the +better to avoid all motives of complaint. In this point of view, and by +adopting similar rules of probability, it seems to me that the +government would not risk much by an attempt to change the present +system into a tax levied on the tree itself, on a plane similar to the +one above proposed; more particularly by doing it in a temporary +manner, and rendering it completely subservient to the corrections +subsequent experience might suggest in this particular.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Difficulty of estimating probable +revenue.</span>The difficulty being, in this manner, overcome, with +regard to the prudent determination of the rate at which the proprietor +of the <i>bonga</i> plantations ought to contribute, let us now proceed +to estimate, by approximation, the annual sum that would thus be +obtained. As, however, this operation is unfortunately complicated, and +in great measure depends on the previous knowledge of the total number +of trees liable to the tax proposed, details with which we are at not +present prepared, it is impossible to come at any very accurate +results. All that can be done is to endeavor to demonstrate, in general +terms, the great increase the revenue would experience by the adoption +of the new plan, and the real advantage resulting from it to the +contributors themselves, all which may be easily deduced from the +following calculation.</p> +<p>Let us, in the first instance, suppose that the consumers of +<i>buyo</i>, in the whole of the Islands, do not exceed one million of +persons, and that each one makes use of three <i>bongas</i> per day, +this consumption, at the end of the year, would then amount to +1,095,000,000 nuts. We will next divide this sum by two hundred, at +which the product of each tree, one with another, is rated, and the +result will be 5,475,000 trees. <span class="marginnote">Greater, +however, than at present.</span>This number being taxed at the rate of +one-fourth real, would leave the sum of $171,093.75 and deducting +therefrom the $25,000 yielded by this branch under its present +establishment, together with $5,132 equal to three per cent paid +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb410" href="#pb410" name= +"pb410">410</a>]</span>to the district magistrates for the charges of +collection, we should still have an annual increase in favor of the, +treasury equal to $140,961.75.</p> +<p>It might perhaps be objected that, in this case, the proprietor, +instead of receiving, as before two and one-half reals for every +thousand <i>bongas</i>, would have to disburse one and one-fourth reals +in the mere act of paying one-fourth real for each tree; a circumstance +which, at first sight, seems to produce a difference not of one and +one-fourth, but of three and one-fourth reals per thousand against him; +though in reality far from this being the case, if we take into +consideration the deficiencies the sworn receiver usually lays to his +charge, the fruit he rejects, owing to its being green or rotten, and +the many and expensive grievances he is exposed to in his capacity of +grower; it will be seen that his disbursements under these heads +frequently exceed the amount he in fact has to receive. <span class= +"marginnote">Tax only a surcharge ultimately paid by +consumer.</span>If, in addition to this, we bear in mind that, on +condition of seeing himself free from guards and a variety of +insupportable restrictions, constituting the very essence of a +monopoly, he would in all probability gladly pay much more than the tax +in question, all the doubts arising on this point will entirely +disappear. Finally, considered in its true light, we shall not find in +the measure above described anything more than a very trifling discount +required of the proprietor from the price at which he sells his +<i>bonga</i>, and which, as already noticed, ultimately falls on the +consumer alone.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Estimate conservative.</span>The moderate +estimate I have just formed ought to inspire the more confidence from +its being well known that the use of the <i>buyo</i> is general among +the inhabitants of these Islands. The calculation, as it now stands, +rests only on one million consumers, for each of whom I have only put +down three <i>bongas</i> per day, whereas it is customary to use much +more; nor have I taken into account the infinite number of nuts wasted +after being converted into the <i>buyo</i>, a fact equally well known. +Indeed, as the object proposed was no other than to prove the main part +of my assertions, and I trust this is satisfactorily done, I have not +deemed it necessary to include in the above calculation a greater +number of minute circumstances, nor attempt to deduce more favorable +results, which, with the scope before me, I was most assuredly +warranted in doing.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Advantages.</span>In a word, from the +concurrence of the facts and reasons above adduced, the following +propositions may, without any difficulty, be laid down. First, that the +increase of revenue produced by the reform in question, would in all +probability exceed $150,000 per annum; secondly, that the Filipinos +would soon comprehend, and gladly consent to a change of this kind in +the mode of contributing of which the advantages would be apparent; +thirdly, that the persons employed in the old establishment, might, +with greater public <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb411" href="#pb411" +name="pb411">411</a>]</span>utility, be applied to other purposes; and +lastly, that the civil magistrates would not be harassed with so many +strifes and lawsuits, and so many melancholy victims of the monopoly, +and its officers would cease to drag a wretched existence in the +prisons and places of hard labor in these Islands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cockpit licenses.</span>The cock-pit branch +of the revenue is hired out by the government, and the license is +separately set up at auction for the respective provinces. Its nature +and regulations are so well known that they do not require a particular +description, the general obligations of the contractors being the same +as those in New Spain. Perhaps the only difference observed in this +public exhibition in the Philippine Islands consists in its greater +simplicity, owing to its being frequented only by the natives, the +whites who are present at this kind of diversion being very few, or +indeed none.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Inconsiderable income.</span>The cock-pits +are open two days in the week, and the lessees of them receive half a +real from every person who enters, besides the extra price they charge +those who occupy the best seats, the owners of the fighting cocks, for +the spurs, stalls for the sale of <i>buyo</i>, refreshments, etc. +Notwithstanding all this, and although cock-fighting is so general and +favorite an amusement among these people (the rooster may justly be +considered as the distinctive emblem of the Filipino) the annual +proceeds of this branch are inconsiderable; although it must be +acknowledged that it has greatly increased since the year 1780, when it +appears the license was let at auction for only about $14,000 owing, no +doubt, to the exclusive privilege of the contractors not having been +extended to the provinces, as was afterwards gradually done.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Provincial cockpit revenue.</span>The total +sum paid to the government by the renters of this branch, according to +the auction returns in 1810, amounted to $40,141 in the following order +for the provinces:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Tondo</td> +<td>$18,501</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Cavite</td> +<td>2,225</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>La Laguna</td> +<td>2,005</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Pampanga</td> +<td>3,000</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Bulacan</td> +<td>6,900</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Batangas</td> +<td>2,000</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Pangasinan</td> +<td>1,200</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Bataan</td> +<td>1,050</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Iloilo</td> +<td>1,600</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Ilocos</td> +<td>600</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Tayabas</td> +<td>400</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Cebu</td> +<td>360</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Albay</td> +<td>300</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Total</td> +<td>$40,141</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb412" href="#pb412" name= +"pb412">412</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Possibilities of +increase.</span>The causes, to which the increase that has taken place +within the last twenty-five or thirty years is chiefly to be +attributed, have already been pointed out, and for this reason it would +appear that, by adopting the same plan with regard to the fourteen +remaining provinces, of which this captaincy-general is composed, +hitherto free from the imposition of this tax, an augmentation might be +expected, proportionate to the population, their circumstances, and the +greater or lesser taste for cock-fights prevailing among their +respective inhabitants. At the commencement, no doubt, the rentals +would be low, and, of course, the prices at which the licenses were let +out, would be equally so; but the experience and profits derivable from +this kind of enterprises would not fail soon to excite the competition +of contractors, and in this way add to the revenue of the government. +This is so obvious that I cannot help suspecting attempts have, at some +period or other, been made to introduce the establishment of this +privilege, in some of the provinces alluded to; at the same time I am +persuaded that, owing to the affair not having been viewed in its +proper light, seeking on the contrary to obtain an immediate and +disproportionate result, the authorities have been too soon +disheartened and given up the project without a fair trial. All towns +and districts murmur, and, at first object, to taxes, however light +they may be; but, at length, if they be not excessive, the people +become reconciled to them. The one here proposed is neither of this +character, nor can it be deemed odious on account of its novelty. The +natives are well aware that their brethren in the other provinces are +subject to it, and that in this nothing more is done than rendering the +system uniform. I, therefore, see no reason why the establishment of +this branch of revenue should not be extended to all the points of the +Islands. At the commencement, let it produce what it may, since +constancy and time will bring things to the same general level.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indian tributes.</span>The too great +condescension and mistaken humanity of the government on the one hand, +and the fraud and selfishness of the provincial sub-delegates or +collectors, on the other, have concurred to change a contribution, the +most simple, into one of the most complicated branches of public +administration. The first cause has been owing to a too general +acquiescence to receive the amount of tributes in the produce peculiar +to each province, instead of money; and the second, because as the +above officers are the persons intrusted with the collection, whenever +the sale has held out to them any advantage, they have been in the +habit of appropriating the several <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb413" +href="#pb413" name="pb413">413</a>]</span>articles to themselves, +without allowing any benefit to the treasury. If the prospective sales +of the produce appear unfavorable, it is then forwarded on to the +king’s store in Manila, surcharged with freights, exposed to many +risks, and the value greatly diminished by waste and many other causes. +No order or regularity being thus observed in this respect, and the +sale of the produce transmitted to the king’s stores being +regulated by the greater or lesser abundance in the general market, and +a considerable stock besides left remaining, from one year to another, +and eventually spoiled, it is impossible to form any exact estimate of +this branch. If to these complicated matters we add the radical vices +arising out of the infidelity of the heads of clans (<i>cabezas de +barangay</i>), the difficulty of ascertaining the defects of the +returns made out by them, the variations annually occurring in the +number of those exempted either through age or other legal motives, and +above all, the frequently inevitable tardiness with which the district +magistrates send in their respective accounts, it will be readily +acknowledged, that no department requires more zeal in its +administration, and no one is more susceptible of all kinds of frauds, +or attended with more difficulties.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A conservative estimate.</span>In this +state of uncertainty, with regard to this particular branch, I have +guided myself by the last general return of tributes, made out in the +accountant-general’s office, on the best and most recent data, +and calculating indistinctly the whole value in money, I have deemed it +proper afterwards to make a moderate deduction, on account of the +differences above stated, and arising out of the collection of the +tributes in kind, the expenses of conveyance, shipwrecks, averages, and +other causes already enumerated.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fixed charges.</span>In conformity to this +calculation, the total proceeds of this branch of revenue amount to +$505,215 from which sum are deducted, in the primitive stages of the +accounts, the amount of ecclesiastical stipends, the pay of the troops +under the immediate orders of the chief district magistrates in their +quality of war-captains, together with all other extraordinary expenses +incurred in the provinces by orders of the government, the remainder +being afterwards forwarded to the king’s treasury. It ought, +however, to be observed, that the above aggregated sum is more or less +liable to deficiencies, according to the greater or lesser degree of +punctuality on the part of the sub-collectors in making up accounts, +and the solidity of their respective sureties; the failure of this kind +experienced by the revenue being so frequent, that, according to the +returns of the accountant-general, those which occurred between the +years 1762 and 1809, were no less than $215,765 notwithstanding the +great precautions at all times <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb414" +href="#pb414" name="pb414">414</a>]</span>taken to prevent such +considerable injuries, by every means compatible with the precarious +tenure of property possessed by both principals and sureties in this +country. All the above circumstances being therefore taken into due +consideration, and the ordinary and extraordinary discounts made from +the total amount of tributes, the real sum remaining, or the net annual +proceeds of the above branch, have usually not been rated at more than +$190,000 and $200,000; a sum respectively extremely small, and which +possibly might be doubled, without the necessity of recurring to any +other measure than a standing order for the collecting of the tributes +in money, as by this means the variety of expenses and complications +above enumerated, would be avoided, and the king’s revenue no +longer exposed to any other deficiencies than those arising out of the +insolvency of the sub-collectors and their sureties, or casual risks, +and the trifling charges paid for the conveyance of the money. If in +opposition to this it should be alleged that it would be advisable to +except some of the provinces from this general rule, owing to the +advantages the government might derive from certain tributes being paid +in kind, I do not hesitate to answer that I see no reason whatever why +this should be done, because, if, for example, any quality of rigging +or sail cloth is annually required, it would be easy to obtain it +either by early contracts, or by laying in the articles at the current +market price. Indeed, all supplies which do not rest on this footing, +would be to defraud the natives of the fruits of his industry, and in +the final result this would be the same as requiring of him double or +triple tribute, contrary to the spirit of the law, which unfortunately +is too frequently the case under the existing system.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Preferability of tribute in +money.</span>Considering this affair in another point of view, it would +be easy for me to demonstrate, if it were necessary, the mistaken idea +that the native is benefited by receiving in kind the amount of the +tribute he has to pay, at the low prices marked in the tariff used as a +standard, by showing the extortions and brokerage, if I may so term it, +to which the practice gives rise on the part of the district +collectors. It will, however, suffice to call the attention of my +readers to the smallness of the sum constituting the ordinary tribute, +when reduced to money, in order for them to be convinced that it would +be superfluous, as well as hazardous, to attempt to point out how this +branch might be rendered more productive to the state and at the same +time less burdensome to the contributors, more particularly when the +rate assessed does not exceed ten reals per year, a sum so small, that +generally speaking, no family can be found unable to hoard it up, if +they have any inclination so to do. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb415" href="#pb415" name="pb415">415</a>]</span>The prevailing error, +however, in this respect, I am confident arises out of a principle very +different from the one to which it is usually attributed. The tributary +native is, in fact, disposed to pay the quota assigned to him into the +hands of the chief of his clan, in money, in preference to kind; +because, independent of the small value at which the articles in kind +are rated in the tariff, he is then exposed to no expenses, as he now +is for the conveyance of his produce and effects; nor is he liable to +so many accidents. But as the chief of each clan has to deliver in his +forty or fifty tributes to the head magistrate, who is answerable for +those of the whole province, it is natural for him to endeavor to make +his corresponding payments in some equivalent affording him a profit; +at the same time the provincial magistrate, speculating on a larger +scale, on the produce arising out of his jurisdiction, seeks to obtain +from the government a profitable commutation in kind for that which the +original contributor would have preferred paying in money. In order the +better to attain his purpose, he asserts, as a pretext, the +impossibility of collecting in the tribute under another form, +alleging, moreover, the relief the native derives from this mode, +whereas, if only duly examined, such a pretence is founded on the +avarice, rather than the humanity of the magistrate.</p> +<p>Leaving to one side the defects attributable to the present mode of +collection, and considering the tribute as it is in itself, the +attentive observer must confess, that in no part of our Indies is this +more moderate; and, indeed, it is evident that the laws generally +relating to the natives of these Islands seem to distinguish them with +a decided predilection above those of the various sections of +America.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Items in tribute.</span>The tribute in its +origin was only eight reals per family; but the necessity of providing +for the increased expenses of the government gave rise to this rate +being afterwards raised to ten. The Sangley mestizos pay double +tribute, and the Sangleys contribute at the rate of $6 per head. +Besides this, all pay a yearly sum, applicable to the funds belonging +to the community, and the above two casts pay three reals more, as a +church rate, and under the name of the Sanctuary, the whole being in +the following form:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td>Entire Native Tribute</td> +<td>Tribute of Mestizos</td> +<td>Sangleys</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>8 Reals, original tribute</td> +<td>16 Reals.</td> +<td>$6 each.</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1½ Reals for expenses of troops</td> +<td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>½ Reals to tithes</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>10 Reals, amount of tribute</td> +<td>20 Reals.</td> +<td>$6.75</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>1 Real, community funds</td> +<td>1</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>3 Reals, sanctuary rate</td> +<td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>14 Reals, total annual disbursement.</td> +<td>24 Reals.</td> +<td>$6.75</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb416" href="#pb416" name= +"pb416">416</a>]</span>The males commence paying tribute at twenty +years of age and the females at twenty-five, if before they have not +entered the matrimonial state, and in both the obligation ceases at the +age of sixty. The chiefs of clans, or <i>cabezas de barangay</i> and +their eldest sons, or in default of children, the person adopted in +their stead, that is, an entire tribute and a half, are exempt from +this tax, as a remuneration for the trouble and responsibility they may +have in collecting in the forty or fifty tributes, of which their +respective clans are composed. Besides these there are various other +classes of exempted persons, such as the soldiers who have served a +certain number of years, those who have distinguished themselves in any +particular manner in the improvement of industry or agriculture, and +others who have received special certificates, on just and equitable +grounds. In summing up the total number of exempted persons, on an +average in the whole of the provinces, they will be found in the +proportion of fifty to every thousand entire tributes.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Chinese tax.</span>The head-tax of the +Sangleys has usually been attended with so many difficulties in its +collection, owing to the facilities with which they absent or secrete +themselves, and the many stratagems this cunning and artful race employ +to elude the vigilance of the commissioners, that the government has at +length found itself compelled to let out this branch, as was done in +1809, when it was disposed of in the name of one of them for the +moderate sum of $30,000; notwithstanding it is a generally received +opinion, that the number of this description of Chinese, constantly +residing in the Islands, is above 7,000, which, at the rate of $6 per +head, would raise this proportion of the tax as high as $42,000.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Community funds.</span>The Community funds +belonging to each town, have, in conformity to the regulations under +which they are administered, a special, or I might say, local +application; but collected together into one stock, as is now the case, +and directly administered by the government, they produce a more +general utility. The head town of the province A, for example, requires +to rebuild the public prison or town-hall, and its own private funds +are not sufficient to defray the expenses of the work in question. In +this case, therefore, the government gives orders for the other +dependent towns to make up the deficiency by taking their proportions +from their respective coffers, as all have an equal interest in the +proposed object being carried into effect. The king’s officers, +in consequence thereof, draw the corresponding sums from these funds, +the whole of which is under their immediate superintendence. And in +order that the surplus of this stock may not stand still, but obtain +every possible <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb417" href="#pb417" name= +"pb417">417</a>]</span>increase in a country where the premium for +money is excessive, when let out at a maritime risk, it is ordered that +some part shall be appropriated in this way, and on the same terms as +those observed by the administrators of the charity funds belonging to +the Misericordia (Charity) establishment, and the third order of St. +Francis, which is another of the great advantages of assembling this +class of property.</p> +<p>In consequence of this judicious regulation, and the success with +which this measure has hitherto been attended, the Community fund has +gone on increasing in such a way that, notwithstanding the sums drawn +from it for the purpose of constructing causeways, bridges, and other +municipal objects, at the commencement of 1810, the stock in hand +amounted to no less than $200,000; and it is natural to suppose when +the outstanding premiums due shall have been paid in, a considerable +augmentation will take place. This branch, although not exactly +comprehended in those which constitute the revenue of the government, +has so obvious an analogy with that of tributes, that I have not deemed +it any essential deviation from the order and method I have hitherto +observed in this work, to introduce it in this place, as in itself it +did not deserve to be classed under a distinct head.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tribute burdensome.</span>Notwithstanding +the truth of what has been said with regard to the moderate rate of the +tribute imposed on the native of the Philippine Islands, it would be +extremely desirable if he could be altogether exonerated from a charge +which he bears with great repugnance, by some other substitute being +adopted, indirectly producing an equivalent compensation. In the first +place, because the just motives of complaint would cease, caused not +only by the tribute, but also the manner of its collection; and an end +would then be put to those intrigues and extortions the district +magistrates commit, under the title of zealous collectors of the +king’s revenue, and the power of a multitude of subaltern +tyrants, comprehended under the denomination of chiefs of native clans +(<i>cabezas de barangay</i>) would then also fall to the ground; a +power which, if now employed for the purpose of oppressing and +trampling on the liberties of inferiors, might some day or other be +converted into an instrument dangerous and subversive of our +preponderance in the country. In the second place, if, among all the +civilized nations a head-tax (poll-tax) is in itself odious, it must +incontestably be much more so among those whose unlettered state, far +from allowing them to know that the social order requires a certain +class of sacrifices for its better preservation, makes them attribute +exactions of this kind to an abuse of <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb418" href="#pb418" name="pb418">418</a>]</span>superiority. Hence +are they led to consider these restraints as the symbols of their own +slavery and degradation, as in fact the natives in these Islands have +ample reasons for doing, when the legal exemption of the whites is +considered, without any other apparent reason than the difference in +color. Independent of this, the substitute above alluded to would be +extremely expedient, inasmuch as it would greatly simplify the plan of +administration, the accountant’s department would be freed from +the most painful part of its labors, and the district magistrates and +sub-collectors would not so frequently be entangled in their accounts, +and exposed to expensive and interminable lawsuits, as now so often +happens.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Possible Revenue substitutes.</span>The +difficulty, however, of finding out this compensation or substitute is +a matter of some consideration. On the one hand, if it was attempted to +distribute the proceeds arising out of the tributes on other branches, +such as tobacco, native wine, <i>bonga</i>, and custom house, it would, +at first sight, appear possible, through the medium of an almost +invisible augmentation in the respective sale prices and in the +king’s duties, that this important object might easily be +attained; but, on the other, it might be apprehended that the +additional value put on the articles above-mentioned, would produce in +their consumption a diminution equal to the difference in prices, in +which cases no advantage would be gained. The practicability of the +operation, in my opinion, depends on the proportion in which the means +of obtaining the articles in question respectively stand with the +probability of their being consumed. I will explain myself. If, for +example, the annual stock of tobacco laid in should be insufficient to +meet the wants of the consumers, as constantly occurs, it is clear that +this article, when monopolized, will bear a small augmentation of +price, not only without any inconvenience or risk, but with the moral +certainty of obtaining a positive increase of revenue, the necessary +effect of the total consumption of the tobacco laid in and sold. But as +this does not happen with the branch of native wines, of which the +stock usually exceeds the demand, and as the <i>bonga</i> also is not +susceptible of this improvement, owing to the small place it occupies +among the other resources of the revenue, no other means are left than +to add to the duties of export on silver, and of import on foreign +merchandise, a percentage equivalent to the deficiency not laid on +tobacco, unless it should be deemed more advisable to levy a sumptuary +contribution on coaches, horses and servants, and especially on all +kinds of edifices and houses built of stone and mortar, situated both +within and without the capital.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb419" href="#pb419" name= +"pb419">419</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Objection to +tribute-paying.</span>However this may be, whatever the king loses in +revenue by the abolition of the native tributes, no doubt, could be +made up by an appeal to other ways and means. It is well-known that +many of the Indian tribes refuse to become subjects of the crown and +object to enter into general society on account of the odious idea they +have formed of paying tribute; or, as they understand it, the +obligation of giving something for nothing, notwithstanding those who +voluntarily submit themselves to our laws, are exempt from tribute, and +this charge falls only on their descendants. But of this they must +either be ignorant, or they regret depriving their posterity of that +independence in which they themselves have been brought up, and thus +transmit to them slavery as an inheritance. As soon, therefore, as a +general exemption of this kind, without distinction of casts, should be +made public, the natives would quit their fastnesses and secluded +places, and satisfied with the security offered to them, would be seen +coming down to the plains in search of conveniences of civilized life, +and all gradually would be reduced to Christianity. Hence the increase +of productions and their consumption, as well as the extension of +agriculture, industry and internal commerce. The diminution of +smuggling tobacco would soon follow, progress would be made in the +knowledge of the mines and natural riches of the country, and +financially, greater facilities would present themselves in gradually +carrying into effect its entire conquest and civilization.</p> +<p>Advantages of such great and extraordinary importance deserve to be +seriously weighed, and to this valuable department of public +administration the early attention of those in authority ought to be +called. Let due inquiries be made, and soon shall we discover the +substantial benefits which would be derived to the treasury from the +adoption of this measure, as popular as it is just, and also +conformable to the liberal spirit of the times. In support of the +preceding arguments, it ought further to be observed, that when all the +branches constituting the king’s revenue are well organized, +brought to their most productive state, and the public debt contracted +under unforeseen exigencies paid off, as long as present circumstances +do not vary, an annual surplus of revenue, equal to more than $500,000, +will be left; and as the proceeds of the particular branch of tributes +do not amount to this sum, it is evident their abolition may take +place, not only without any derangement or onerous consequences to the +administration, but even without any deficiency being experienced, or +any necessity to recur to the treasury of New Spain for extraordinary +aid. These reasons acquire still <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb420" +href="#pb420" name="pb420">420</a>]</span>greater force when it is +remembered that, as things now are, all the branches of public revenue +are in a progressively improving condition, and as the whole are still +susceptible of a much more productive organization, the annual surplus +of receipts will rapidly become greater, and consequently also the +necessity will diminish of continuing to burden this portion of His +Majesty’s dominions with contributions in order to meet the +expenses of their defence and preservation.</p> +<p>Finally, well convinced of the advantageous results which, in every +sense, would emanate from the revision and reforms proposed, I abstain +from offering, in support of my arguments, a variety of other +reflections which occur to me, not to be too diffuse on this subject; +trusting that the hints I have already thrown out will be more than +sufficient to excite an interest and promote a thorough and impartial +investigation of concerns, highly important to the future welfare and +security of this colony.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Subaltern branches.</span>Besides the six +preceding branches which constitute the chief mass of the public +revenue in these islands, there are several smaller ones of less +consideration and amount; some having a direct application to the +general expenses of the local government, and the others, intended as +remittances to Spain; a distinction of little import and scarcely +deserving of notice, since the object of the present sketch is to +convey information on a large scale respecting the King’s revenue +in these Islands. As some of them, however, yield proceeds more regular +than the others, I have classed together the receipts of the +Pope’s Bulls, or “<i lang="es">Bulas de Cruzada</i>,” +playing-cards, tithes, stamps and gunpowder, under the head of +Subaltern Branches, with regard to the rest, to the general statement +already quoted.</p> +<p>In conformity to the returns with which I have been favored from the +public offices, these five branches produced, in the year 1809, +$45,090.75 in the following proportions:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td></td> +<td>Sales.</td> +<td>Expenses.</td> +<td>Net Proceeds.</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Pope’s bulls</td> +<td>$15,360.75</td> +<td>$4,422.25</td> +<td>$10,938.50</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Playing cards</td> +<td>11,539.125</td> +<td>932.625</td> +<td>10,606.50</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Tithes</td> +<td>12,493.00</td> +<td>——</td> +<td>12,493.00</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Stamps</td> +<td>4,467.50</td> +<td>321.50</td> +<td>4,146.00</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Gunpowder</td> +<td>7,307.625</td> +<td>401.125</td> +<td>6,905.375</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>——</td> +<td>——</td> +<td>——</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>$51,168.125</td> +<td>$6,077.75</td> +<td>$45,090.375</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb421" href="#pb421" name= +"pb421">421</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Tithes.</span>The +scanty proceeds of the tithes will naturally appear remarkable; but it +ought to be remembered that, besides the ordinary tribute, the natives +pay half a real under this denomination, without any distinction of +person, or any reference whatever to their respective means, the total +amount of which is already added to the tributes, and for this reason +not repeated in this place. In addition also no tithes are levied, +except on lands belonging to Spaniards, churches, regular clergy, +ecclesiastical corporations, etc., and even then the articles of rice, +wheat, pulse indigo and sugar, are alone liable. The above branches are +all in charge of administrators, and from this plan it certainly would +be advisable to separate the tithes and farm them out at public +auction, as was proposed by the king’s officers of the treasury, +in their report on this, as well as other points, concerning the +revenue, and dated October 24, 1792. From the net proceeds of the +gunpowder the expenses of its manufacture, confided to the commandant +of artillery, ought seemingly to be deducted; but, as they cannot be +ascertained with any degree of certainty, and as besides they are +comprehended in the general expenses of that department, a separate +deduction may be dispensed with.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Disbursements and general +expenses.</span>In order to form a correct idea of the annual amount of +the expenditure incurred by the administration and defence of the +Philippine Islands, it is not necessary in this place to distinguish +each item, separately; or to enumerate them with their respective sums +or particular denominations. Some general observations on this subject +ought, nevertheless, to be made, with a view to point out the reforms +of which this important department of the public revenue is +susceptible.</p> +<p>In the part relating to the interior administration or government, +ample room is certainly left for that kind of economy arising out of +the adoption of a general system, little complicated; but it is besides +indispensably necessary that, at the same time the work is simplifed +and useless hands dismissed, the salaries of those who remain should be +proportionally increased, in order to stimulate them in the due +performance of their duties. It might also be found advisable to create +a small number of officers of a superior order, who would be enabled to +co-operate in the collection of the king’s revenue, and the +encouragement of agriculture, commerce and navigation, in their +respective departments. The additional charges in this respect cannot +be of any great consequence; although, in reality, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb422" href="#pb422" name="pb422">422</a>]</span>by +the receipts increasing through the impulse of an administrative order +more perfect, and the expenses being always the same, the main object, +so anxiously sought for in another way, would be thus attained.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Defence expenses.</span>The reverse, +however, happens with regard to the expenses of defence, as I have +called them, the better to distinguish them from those purely relating +to the interior police or administration. Every sacrifice, most +assuredly, ought to appear small, when the object is to preserve a +country from falling into the hands of an enemy, and it ought not to +excite surprise, if, during the course of the last fifteen years, +several millions of dollars have been expended in the Philippines, in +order to shield them from so dreadful a misfortune. But the late +memorable revolution in the Peninsula has given rise to so great a +change in our political relations, and it is extremely improbable that +these Islands will be again exposed to the same danger and alarm, that +the government may now, without any apparent risk, dispense with a +considerable part of the preparations of defence, at one time deemed +indispensably necessary. A colony that has no other strong place to +garrison than its capital, and on the loyalty of whose inhabitants +there are sufficient motives to rely, ought, in my opinion, to be +considered as adequately provided against all ordinary occurrences in +time of peace, with the 4,000 regulars, more or less, of all arms, the +usual military establishment. In case any suspicions should arise of an +early rupture with the only power whose forces can inspire the +governors of these Islands with any kind of apprehensions, means will +not be wanting to an active and provident minister, of giving proper +advice, so as to allow sufficient time for the assembling of the +battalions of provincial militia and all the other necessary +preparations of defence, before the enemy is in an attitude to effect +an invasion of a country so far distant from his own possessions on the +coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. Consequently, by disbanding the corps +of provincial infantry, cavalry and artillery, which continue uselessly +to be kept on foot, an annual saving of from $220,000 to $250,000 would +take place, an amount too great to be expended unless imperiously +called for by the evident dread of a premeditated attack from an +hostile quarter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Shipping reform.</span>The navy is another +of the departments in which reforms may be introduced, of no small +moment to the treasury. Of course by the government merely dispensing +with the policy of keeping in readiness two large ships to convey to +Acapulco the cargos, for which the Manila merchants enjoy an annual +licence, and leaving to the latter the full liberty of following up +their speculations on their own <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb423" +href="#pb423" name="pb423">423</a>]</span>account and risk, in vessels +of their own, individually or with joint stock, a saving would result +in favor of the crown equal to $140,000 to $150,000 per annum, and +without preventing the receipt in Acapulco of the customary duties of +$160,000 or $166,000 corresponding to the said licenses. This will +evidently be the case, because as long as the large disposal of funds +of the charitable institutions are employed in maritime risks, and the +private property of others is besides added to them, the amount of the +operations undertaken by the merchants of the Philippines to New Spain, +when divested of all restraint, will always exceed $500,000 per annum. +Nor is there now any further occasion for the government to continue +granting this species of gratuitous tutelage to a body of men possessed +of ample means to manage their own affairs, and who demand the same +degree of freedom, and only seek a protection similar to that enjoyed +by their fellow-countrymen in other parts of the king’s +dominions.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Galleon graft.</span>In case the above +reform should be adopted, it might be deemed requisite for the +government to undertake the payment of some of the charges under the +existing order of things, defrayed out of the freights to which the +merchandise shipped in the Acapulco traders is liable; because, +calculating the freight at the usual rate of $200 for each three bales, +or the amount of one ticket, out of the one thousand constituting the +entire cargo, and of which one-half, or $100,000 more or less, is +appropriated to the ecclesiastical chapter, municipality, officers of +the regular army (excluding captains and the other higher ranks) and +the widows of Spaniards, who in this case would be losers, independent +of the remaining $100,000 or 500 tickets distributed among the 200 +persons having a right to ship to Acapulco, it would, at first sight, +appear reasonable for the treasury to indemnify the above description +of persons by a compensation equivalent to the privation they +experience through the new arrangement of the government. But as the +practice of abuses constitutes no law, and what is given through favor +is different to that which is required by justice, there are no reasons +whatever why the treasury should be bound to support the widows of +private persons, from the mere circumstance of their deceased husbands +having been Spaniards; more particularly if it is considered that, far +from having acquired any special merit during their lifetime, most of +them voluntarily left their native country for the purpose of +increasing their fortunes, and others were banished from it, owing to +their bad conduct. Neither can it be said that the municipality have a +legal right, in the case before stated, to receive any equivalent for +the value of their respective annual tickets, which, when disposed of, +usually amount <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb424" href="#pb424" name= +"pb424">424</a>]</span>to about $20,000 in the first place, because it +is well-known that the eleven aldermen’s seats, of which that +body is composed, seats which can either be sold or resigned, +originally did not cost as much as $50,000 and clearly the principal +invested is out of all kind of proportion with the enormous premium or +income claimed. In the second place, although the above municipal +situations were originally purchased with a view to obtain some +advantages, these formerly were very different to what they are at +present, when the great increase of shippers to Acapulco, or in more +plain terms, of purchase of tickets competing to obtain them, has given +to these permits a value more than triple to that they possessed thirty +years ago.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indemnifying the aldermen.</span>In order, +therefore, to do away with all motives of doubt and dispute, as well as +for many other reasons of public utility, the best plan, in my opinion, +would be, to return to each alderman his money, and the present +municipal constitution being dissolved, the number of members might be +reduced to four, with their corresponding registrar, and like the two +ordinary “alcaldes,” elected every year without any other +reward than the honor of presiding over and representing their +fellow-citizens. Under this supposition, the only classes entitled to +compensation, strictly speaking, would be the ecclesiastical chapter +and the subaltern officers, whose respective pay and appointment are +not in fact sufficient for the decency and expenses of their rank in +society. Of course it would then be necessary to grant them more +adequate allowances, but, according to reasonable calculations, the sum +total annually required would not exceed $30,000; consequently, the +reform projected with regard to the Acapulco ships would still +eventually produce to the treasury a saving of from $60,000 to $70,000 +in the first year of its adoption, and of $110,000 to $120,000 in every +succeeding one.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The navy.</span>It is, on the other hand, +undeniable that, if the royal navy and cruising vessels, or those +belonging to the Islands and under the immediate orders of the +captain-general, were united into one department, and placed under one +head, considerable economy would ensue, and all motives of discord and +emulation be moreover removed. Such would be the case if the change was +attended with no other <span class="corr" id="xd20e9238" title= +"Source: cirumstances">circumstances</span> than the consequent +diminution of commanders, subaltern officers, and clerks; but it would +be also proper to unite the arsenals, and adopt a more general +uniformity in the operations and dependences of this part of the public +services. It is equally certain that, during peaceful times, the two +schooners and sixty gunboats, constituting the number of the +above-mentioned cruising <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb425" href= +"#pb425" name="pb425">425</a>]</span>vessels, would be in great measure +useless; whilst in case of a rupture, they are not sufficient to +protect the trade of these Islands from the attacks of an enemy, +notwithstanding they now cost the government considerable sums in +repairs, etc., in order to keep them fit for service. The government +ought therefore to guard against this waste of public money, without, +however, neglecting the defence of the Islands, objects which, in my +opinion, might easily be reconciled. Intelligent persons have judged +that by reducing the naval forces to two frigates, two schooners, and +about a dozen gunboats, the essential wants of the colony would be duly +answered, in ordinary times; and some of the vessels might then be +destined to pursue hydrographical labors in the Archipelago, which, +unfortunately, are in a most backward state, whilst others could be +sent on their periodical cruises against the Moros. By this means, at +least, the navy department would be greatly simplified, and cease to be +eternally burdensome to the government. With regard to the superfluous +gunboats, it would be expedient to distribute them gratuitously among +the marine provinces and Bisayan Islands, on the only condition of +their being always kept fit for service; as, in one sense, the great +expenses of maintaining them would be thus saved by the treasury, and, +another, the inhabitants of those portions of the coast would be in +possession of means sufficiently powerful to repel the aggressions of +the Moros, who commit great ravages on their settlements. Finally, if +besides the reforms of which the army and navy are susceptible, it is +considered that the public works, such as prisons, schools, bridges, +and causeways, so expensive in other countries, in the Philippines are +constructed by the natives on the most reasonable terms, out of the +community funds; that there is no necessity to build fortifications, +and maintain numerous garrisons; that the clergy, to whose zeal and +powerful influence the preservation of these Islands is chiefly due, do +not cost the treasury annually above $200,000 and that the geographical +situation of the colony in great measure shields it from the attacks of +external enemies, it will readily be confessed, that a wise and firm +government might undertake, without the dread of having to encounter +any great obstacles, an administrative system, in a general point of +view, infinitely more economical than the one hitherto followed; might +be able to extirpate numerous abuses, and by calling forth the +resources of the country gradually raise it to a flourishing condition, +and cause it hereafter to contribute largely to the other wants of the +crown. Hence was it that the distinguished voyager, La Pérouse +(Chap. 15), contemplating these Islands with a political eye, did not +hesitate to affirm <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb426" href="#pb426" +name="pb426">426</a>]</span>“that a powerful nation, possessed of +no other colonies than the Philippines, that should succeed in +establishing there a form of government best adapted to their +advantageous circumstances, would justly disregard all the other +European establishments in Africa and America.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Objectionable office-holders.</span>In our +colonies, appointments and command far from being sought as a means to +obtain a good reputation, or as affording opportunities of contributing +to public prosperity, are, it is too well known, only solicited with a +view to amass wealth, and then retire for the purpose of enjoying it. +Commercial pursuits being besides attended with so many advantages that +those only decline following them who are divested of money and +friends; whilst the situation in the revenue are so few in number, +compared with the many candidates who solicit them, that they are +consequently well appointed, it follows that the excess left without +occupation, besides being considerable, is generally composed of needy +persons, and not the most suitable to exercise the delicate functions +of collectors and magistrates in the provinces. From this class +nevertheless the host of officers are usually taken who, under the name +of collectors, surveyors and assessors of tributes, intervene in, or +influence the public administration. Owing to the variety and great +number of persons emigrating to America, ample field, no doubt, is +there left for selection, by which means the viceroys may frequently +meet with persons suitable and adequate to the above trusts, if prudent +steps are only taken; but in this respect the case is very different in +the Philippines, where chance alone occasionally brings over a European +Spaniard, unemployed or friendless. In these remote Islands, also, more +than in any other quarter, people seek to live in idleness, and, as +much as possible, without working, or much trouble. As long as hopes +are entertained of doing something in the Acapulco speculations, every +other pursuit is viewed with indifference, and the office of district +or provincial magistrate is only solicited when all other resources +have failed, or as a remedy against want. As the applicants for these +situations are therefore not among the most select classes, it very +frequently happens that they fall into extremely improper and unworthy +hands.</p> +<p>It is in fact common enough to see a hairdresser or a lackey +converted into a governor; a sailor or a deserter transformed into a +district magistrate, collector, or military commander of a populous +province, without any other counsellor than his own crude +understanding, or any other guide than his passion. Such a +metamorphosis would excite laughter in a comedy or farce; but, realized +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb427" href="#pb427" name= +"pb427">427</a>]</span>in the theatre of human life, it must give rise +to sensations of a very different nature. Who is there that does not +feel horror-struck, and tremble for the innocent, when he sees a being +of this kind transferred from the yard-arm to the seat of justice, +deciding, in the first instance, on the honor, lives, and property of a +hundred thousand persons, and haughtily exacting the homage and incense +of the spiritual ministers of the towns under his jurisdiction, as well +as of the parish curates, respectable for their acquirements and +benevolence, and who, in their own native places, would possibly have +rejected as a servant the very man whom in the Philippines they are +compelled to court and obey as a sovereign.</p> +<p>In vain do the laws ordain that such offices shall not be given away +to attendants on governors and members of the high court of justice, +for under pretext of the scarcity of Europeans experienced in the +colony, means are found to elude the statute, by converting this plea +into an exception in favor of this description of persons. By such +important offices being filled in this manner, it is easy to conceive +the various hardships to which many of the provinces and districts are +exposed; nor can any amelioration be expected as long as this plan is +persisted in and the excesses of the parties go without punishment.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Evils from officials in +trade.</span>Independent, however, of the serious injuries and great +errors persons of the class above described cannot fail to commit in +the exercise of their functions, purely judicial, the consequences of +their inordinate avarice are still more lamentable, and the tacit +permission to satisfy it, granted to them by the government under the +specious title of a licence to trade. Hence may it be affirmed, that +the first of the evils, and the one the native immediately feels, is +occasioned by the very person the law has destined for his relief and +protection. In a word, he experiences injuries from the civil +magistrates presiding over the provinces, who, at the same time, are +the natural enemies of the inhabitants, and the real oppressors of +their industry.</p> +<p>It is a known and melancholy fact that, far from promoting the +felicity of the provinces intrusted to their care, the magistrates +attend to nothing else but their own fortunes and personal interests; +nor do they hesitate as to the means by which their object is to be +attained. Scarcely are they seated in the place of authority, when they +become the chief consumers, purchasers, and exporters of every thing +produced and manufactured within the districts under their command, +thus converting their licence to trade into a positive monopoly. In all +lucrative speculations the magistrate seeks to have the largest share; +in all his enterprises he calls in the forced <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb428" href="#pb428" name="pb428">428</a>]</span>aid +of his subjects, and if he deigns to remunerate their labor, at most it +is only on the same terms as if they had been working on account of the +king. These unhappy people bring in their produce and crude +manufactures to the very person who, directly or indirectly, is to fix +upon them an arbitrary value. To offer such and such a price for the +articles is the same as to say, another bidding shall not be made. To +insinuate is to command—the native is not allowed to hesitate, he +must either please the magistrate, or submit to his persecutions. Being +besides free from all competition in the prosecution of his traffic, +since he is frequently the only Spaniard resident in the province, the +magistrate therein acts with unbounded sway, without dread, and almost +without risk of his tyranny ever being denounced to the superior +tribunals.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Speculating in tributes.</span>In order, +however, that a more correct idea may be formed of the iniquitous +conduct of many of these public functionaries, it is necessary to lay +open some part of their irregular dealings in the collection of the +Indian tributes. It is well known that the government, anxious to +conciliate the interests of the tributary classes with those of the +revenue, frequently commutes the pecuniary capitation tax into an +obligation to pay the amount in produce or manufactures. A season comes +when, owing to the failure of the crops, the productions have risen to +an excessive price, and consequently infinitely above the ordinary +rates affixed by law, which are generally the lowest, and the natives, +unable to keep their bargains without considerable injury or +endangering the subsistence of their numerous families, implore the +favor of the magistrate, petitioning him to lay their calamitous +situation before the superior government, in order to have the payment +of their tribute in kind remitted, and offering to pay it in money. +This is the precise moment when, as his own profits depend on the +misery of the province under his command, he endeavors to misuse the +accidental power with which he is invested. Hence it happens that, +instead of acting as a beneficent mediator, and supporting the just +solicitations of the natives, he at first disregards their petition, +and then all at once transforming himself into a zealous collector, +issues his notifications, sends his satellites into the very fields to +seize on the produce, and in a most inexorable manner insists on +collecting till necessity compels him to suspend the measure. The +principal object being attained, that is, having now become master of +the gleanings and scanty crops of his bereft subjects, on a sudden his +disposition changes, he is moved to pity, and in the most pathetic +language describes to the government the ravages done to the +plantations by the hurricanes, and the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb429" href="#pb429" name="pb429">429</a>]</span>utter impossibility +of collecting in the tributes that year in kind. On such a remonstrance +he easily obtains permission to change the standing order, and +proceeding on to collect in some of the remaining tributes in money, +merely to save appearance, with perfect impunity he puts the finishing +stroke to the wicked act he had commenced, by applying to himself all +the produce his collectors had gathered in, and places to the credit of +the treasury the total amount of the tributes, corresponding to his +jurisdiction, in money.</p> +<p>Supposing, for example, that this has happened in the province of +Antique, where the payment of the capitation-tax generally takes place +in the unhusked rice, rated at two reals per <i>cavan</i>, and, through +the effects of a bad season, this article should rise as high as ten or +twelve reals. It is clear that the magistrate, by accounting for the +tributes with the revenue office in money, and collecting them in kind +at the rate fixed by law, would by the sales gain a profit of 400 or +500 per cent; at the same time the native, by the mere circumstance of +then paying in kind, would have paid the tribute corresponding to five +or six years in a single one, without, on that account, having freed +himself from the same charge in the following seasons.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">No check on extortion.</span>When the +extortionate acts as these are practised, to what lengths may it not be +expected the other excesses and abuses of authority are carried? To the +above it ought moreover to be added, that the provincial magistrates +have no lieutenants, and are unprovided with any other auxiliaries in +the administration of justice, except an accompanying witness and a +native director; that the scrutinies of their accounts, to which they +formerly were subject, are now abolished, and, in short, that they have +no check upon them, or indeed any other persons to bear testimony to +their irregularities, except the friendless and miserable victims of +their despotism and avarice.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding, however, what is above stated, it sometimes happens +that a magistrate is to be met with, distinguished from the rest by his +prudence and good conduct; but this is a miracle, for by the very +circumstance of his being allowed to trade, he is placed in a situation +to abuse the wide powers confided to him, and preferably to attend to +his personal interests; in fact, if the principle is in itself +defective, it must naturally be expected the consequences will be +equally baneful. The lamentable abuses here noticed are but too true, +as well as many others passed over in silence; and the worst of all is, +that there is no hope of remedying them thoroughly, unless the present +system of interior administration is altogether changed. In vain would +it be to allege the possibility of removing the evil <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb430" href="#pb430" name="pb430">430</a>]</span>by +the timely and energetic interposition of the protector of the natives; +for although this office is in itself highly respectable, it cannot in +any way reach the multitude of excesses committed, and much less +prevent them; not only because the minister who exercises it resides in +the city, where complaints are seldom brought in, unless they come +through the channel of the parish curates; but also on account of the +difficulty of fully establishing the charges against the magistrates, +in the way the natives are at present depressed by fear and threats, as +well as restrained by the sub-governors and other inferior officers of +justice, who, being dependent upon, and holding their situations from +the magistrates, are interested in their monopolies and extortionate +acts being kept from public view.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Less complaisant laws needed.</span>If, +therefore, it is not possible entirely to eradicate the vices under +which the interior administration of these Islands labors, owing to the +difficulty of finding persons possessed of the necessary virtues and +talents to govern, in an upright and judicious manner, let us at least +prevent the evils out of the too great condescension of our own laws. +In the infancy of colonies, it has been the maxim of all governments to +encourage the emigration and settlement of inhabitants from the +mother-country, without paying much attention to the means by which +this was to be done. It was not to be wondered at that, for reasons of +state, defects were overlooked,—at such periods were even deemed +necessary. Hence the relaxation in the laws in favor of those who, +quitting their native land, carried over with them to strange countries +their property and acquirements. Hence, no doubt, also are derived the +full powers granted to those who took in charge the subjection and +administration of the new provinces, in order that they might govern, +and at the same time carry on their traffic with the natives, +notwithstanding the manifest incompatibility of the two occupations; or +rather, the certainty that ought to have been foreseen that public +duties would generally be postponed, when placed in competition with +private interests and the anxious desire of acquiring wealth.</p> +<p>Subsequently that happened which was, in fact, to be dreaded, viz., +what at first was tolerated as a necessary evil, sanctioned by the +lapse of time has at length become a legitimate right, or rather a +compensation for the supposed trouble attached to the fulfillment of +the duties of civil magistrates; whilst they, as already observed, +think of nothing but themselves, and undergo no other trouble or +inconvenience than usually fall on the lot of any other private +merchant. In the Philippines, at least, many years having elapsed since +the natives peaceably submitted to the dominion of the king, every +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb431" href="#pb431" name= +"pb431">431</a>]</span>motive has ceased that could formerly, and in a +certain degree, justify the indulgence so much abused, at the same time +that no plausible pretext whatever exists for its further +continuation.</p> +<p>Although hitherto the number of whites, compared to that of the +people of color, has not been great, as the whole of the provincial +magistracies, collectorships, and subaltern governments, do not exceed +twenty-seven, the scarcity of Spaniards ought not to be alleged as a +sufficient reason; nor can it be doubted these situations might at any +time be properly filled, if the person on whom the choice should fall +were only certain of living with decency and in a suitable manner, +without being carried away with the flattering hopes of withdrawing +from office, with ten, twenty, and even as high as fifty thousand +dollars of property, as has heretofore been the case, but satisfied +with a due and equivalent salary they might receive as a reward for the +public services they perform.</p> +<p>I do not therefore see why the government should hesitate in +resolving to put a stop to evils which the people of the Philippines +have not ceased to deplore from the time of the conquest, by +proscribing, under the most severe penalties, the power of trading, as +now exercised by the provincial magistrates. The time is come when this +struggle between duty and sordid interest ought to end, and reason, as +well as enlightened policy, demand that in this respect our legislation +should be reformed, in order that the mace of justice, instead of being +prostituted in search of lucre, may henceforwards be wholly employed in +the support of equity and the protection of society.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Urgence of reform.</span>The only objection +which, at first sight, might be started against the suggestions here +thrown out is the increased expense which would fall on the treasury, +owing to the necessity of appropriating competent salaries for the +interior magistrates under the new order of things. Independent, +however, of the fact that the rapid improvements the provinces must +assume, in every point of view, would superabundantly make up this +trifling difference; yet supposing the sacrifice were gratuitous, and +even of some moment, it ought not, on that account, to be omitted, +since there is no public object more important to the sovereign +himself, than to make the necessary provision for the decorum of the +magistracy, the due administration of justice, and the maintenance of +good order among his subjects.</p> +<p>The position being established, that a number of whites more than +sufficient might be obtained, eligible and fit to perform the duties of +civil magistrates, which they would be induced to undertake, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb432" href="#pb432" name= +"pb432">432</a>]</span>if adequate terms were only proposed, it would +seem that no ill consequences might be expected from at once +assimilating the regulations of these provincial judicatures to those +of the <i lang="es">corregimientos</i>, or mayoralties of towns in +Spain, or in making out an express statute, on a triple scale, for +three classes of magistrates, granting to them emoluments equivalent to +the greater or lesser extent of the respective jurisdictions. As far as +regards the pay, it ought to be so arranged as to act as a sufficient +stimulus to induce European colonists to embrace this career, in a +fixed and permanent way, which hitherto they have only resorted to as a +five years’ speculation. Conformably to this suggestion, and +owing to the lesser value attached to money in India, compared with +Europe, on account of the greater abundance of the necessaries of life, +I am of opinion that it would be expedient to affix an annual allowance +of $2,000 to each of the appointments of the six principal and most +populous provinces, $1,500 for the next in importance, and for the +twelve or thirteen remaining, at the rate of $1,000 each; leaving to +the candidates the option of rising according to their length of +services and good conduct, from the lowest to the highest, as is the +case in Spain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Objects to be gained.</span>The first part +of the plan above pointed out embraces two objects. The one is to +prevent the provincial magistrates from carrying on traffic, thus +depriving them of every pretext to defraud the natives of what is their +own; and the other, to form, in the course of a few years a class of +men hitherto unknown in the Philippine Islands, who, taught by +practice, may be enabled to govern the provinces in a more correct and +regular manner, and acquire more extended knowledge, especially in the +judicial proceedings of the first instance, which, owing to this +defect, frequently compel the litigants to incur useless expenses, and +greatly embarrass the ordinary course of justice. Although the second +part at first seems to involve an increased expense of $36,000 or +$37,000 annually, when well considered, this sum will be found not to +exceed $20,000, because it will be necessary to deduct from the above +estimate the amount of three per cent. under the existing regulations +allowed to the magistrates for the collection of the native tributes, +in their character of subdelegates, generally amounting to $16,000 or +$17,000; besides only taking into account such real and effective +disbursements or extraordinary expenses as in fact they may legally +have incurred in the performance of their duties.</p> +<p>Should it, however, be deemed expedient, from causes just in their +nature, hereafter to exonerate the natives from the obligations of +paying tributes, by which means the amount deducted for the three +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb433" href="#pb433" name= +"pb433">433</a>]</span>per cent. commission could not then be brought +into account, let me be allowed to ask what enlightened government +would hesitate submitting to an additional expense of so trifling an +import, in exchange for beholding more than two millions of men forever +freed from the extortionate acts of their old magistrates; and, through +the effects of the new regulations, the latter converted into real +fathers of the people over whom they are placed? How different would +then be the aspect these fine provinces would present to the eyes of +the philosophical observer who would, in that case, be able to +calculate to what an extent the progress of agriculture and industry in +these islands might be carried.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Demoralization of over-seas +service.</span>Nevertheless, I do not wish to insinuate that by the +better organization of the provincial governments, the present +irregularities and abuses of authority would entirely cease; because I +am aware, more especially in the Indies, that the persons who hold +public situations usually have too exaggerated ideas of their own +personal importance, and easily mistake the gratification of their own +whims for firmness of character, in the necessity of causing themselves +to be respected. Still it is an incontestable fact that, by removing +the chief temptation, and rescinding altogether the license to trade, +the just complaints preferred by the native against the Spaniard would +cease; the motives of those continual disputes which arise between the +magistrates and the ministers of the gospel exercising their functions +in the same provinces, and the zealous defenders of the rights of their +parishioners, would be removed, and the inhabitants of Manila, +extending their mercantile operations to the interior, without the +dread of seeing them obstructed through the powerful competition of the +magistrates in authority there, would be induced to settle in or +connect themselves with the provinces, and thus diffuse their +knowledge, activity and money among the inhabitants, the true means of +encouraging the whole.</p> +<p>What has already been said will suffice to convince the lover of +truth and the friend of general prosperity, how urgent it is to +introduce as early as possible, the reform proposed into the interior +administration of this important, although neglected colony; and it is +to be hoped that the government, guided by these same sentiments, will +not be led away by those narrow-minded people, who predict danger from +every thing that is new; but, after due and mature deliberation, +resolve to adopt a measure dictated by reason, and at the same time +conformable to the best interests of the state.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb434" href="#pb434" name= +"pb434">434</a>]</span>Of little avail would have been the valor and +constancy with which Legaspi and his worthy companions overcame the +natives of these islands, if the apostolic zeal of the missionaries had +not seconded their exertions, and aided to consolidate the enterprise. +The latter were the real conquerors; they who, without any other arms +than their virtues, won over the good will of the islanders, caused the +Spanish name to be beloved, and gave to the king, as it were by a +miracle, two millions more of submissive and Christian subjects. These +were the legislators of the barbarous hordes who inhabited the islands +of this immense Archipelago, realizing, by their mild persuasion, the +allegorical prodigies of Amphion and Orpheus.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pioneer Philippine government a +theocracy.</span>As the means the missionaries called in to their aid, +in order to reduce and civilize the Indians, were preaching and other +spiritual labors, and, although scattered about and acting separately, +they were still subject to the authority of their prelates, who, like +so many chiefs, directed the grand work of conversion, the government +primitively established in these colonies must necessarily have +partaken greatly of the theocratical order, and beyond doubt it +continued to be so, till, by the lapse of time, the number of colonists +increased, as well as the effective strength of the royal authority, so +as to render the governing system uniform with that established in the +other ultramarine dominions of Spain.</p> +<p>This is also deduced from the fragments still remaining of the first +constitution, or mode of government introduced in the Batanes Islands +and missions of Cagayan, administered by the Dominican friars in a +spiritual and temporal manner; as well as from what may frequently be +observed in the other provinces, by any one who bestows the smallest +attention. Although the civil magistracies have since been regulated, +and their respective attributes determined with due precision, it has +not hitherto been possible, notwithstanding the pains taken to make the +contrary appear, to do without the personal authority and influence the +parish curates possess over their flocks. The government has, in fact, +constantly been obliged to avail themselves of this aid, as the most +powerful instrument to insure respect and a due subordination, in such +manner that, although the parish curates are not at present equally +authorized to interfere in the civil administration, in point of fact, +they are themselves the real administrators.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Standing of parish priests.</span>It +happens that, as the parish curate is the consoler of the afflicted, +the peacemaker of families, the promoter of useful ideas, the preacher +and example of every thing good; as in him liberality is seen to shine, +and the Indians behold him alone in the midst of <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb435" href="#pb435" name= +"pb435">435</a>]</span>them, without relatives, without traffic, and +always busied in their care and improvement, they become accustomed to +live satisfied and contented under his paternal direction, and deliver +up to him the whole of their confidence. In this way rendered the +master of their wishes, nothing is done without the advice, or rather +consent, of the curate. The subaltern governor, on receiving an order +from the superior magistrate, before he takes any step, goes to the +minister to obtain his sanction, and it is he in fact who tacitly gives +the mandate for execution, or prevents its being carried into effect. +As the father of his flock, he arranges, or directs, the lawsuits of +his parishioners; it is he who draws out their writings; goes to the +capital to plead for the Indians; opposes his prayers, and sometimes +his threats, to the violent acts of the provincial magistrates, and +arranges every thing in the most fit and quiet manner. In a word, it is +not possible for any human institution to be more simple, and at the +same time more firmly established, or from which so many advantages +might be derived in favor of the state, as the one so justly admired in +the spiritual ministry of these islands. It may therefore be considered +a strange fatality, when the secret and true art of governing a colony, +so different from any other as is that of the Philippines, consists in +the wise use of so powerful an instrument as the one just described, +that the superior government, within the last few years, should have +been so much deluded as to seek the destruction of a work which, on the +contrary, it is, above all others, advisable to sustain.</p> +<p>In this, as well as many other cases, we see how difficult, or +rather how absurd it is, to expect to organize a system of government, +indistinctly adapted to the genius and disposition of all nations, +however great the discordance prevailing in their physical and moral +constitutions. Hence it follows that, by wishing to assimilate the +administrative plan of these provinces to the one adopted in the +sections of America, inconveniences are unceasingly met with, evidently +arising out of this erroneous principle. Whatever may be asserted to +the contrary, there is no medium. It is necessary to insure obedience +either through dread and force, or respect must be excited by means of +love and confidence. In order to be convinced that the first is not +practicable, it will only be necessary to weigh well the following +circumstances and reflections.</p> +<p>The number of the whites compared to that of the natives is so +small, that it can scarcely be estimated in the proportion of 15 to +25,000. These provinces, infinitely more populous than those of +America, are entirely delivered up to the charge of provincial +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb436" href="#pb436" name= +"pb436">436</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Friars only check on +officials.</span>magistrates, who carry with them to the seats of their +respective governments, no other troops than the title of military +commandants, and their royal commission on parchment. Besides the +friars, it sometimes happens that no other white person is to be found +in an entire province, but the presiding magistrate. It is the duty of +the latter to collect in the king’s revenue; to pursue robbers; +appease tumults; raise men for the regiments in garrison at Manila and +Cavite; regulate and head his people in case of an external invasion, +and, in short, it is he who is to do everything in the character of +magistrate and in the name of the king. Considering, therefore, the +effective power required for the due performance of so great a variety +of duties, and the want of that species of support experienced by him +who is charged with them, can it be denied that it would be risking the +security of these dominions too much, to attempt forcibly to control +them with means so insufficient? If the inhabitants become tumultuous +and rise up, on whom will the magistrate call for aid to repress and +punish them? In such a predicament, is any other alternative left him +than to fly or die in the struggle? If among civilized nations, it is +deemed indispensable that authority should always appear accompanied +with force, how can it be expected, among Indians, that the laws will +otherwise be respected, when left naked and unsupported?</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Missionaries’ +achievements.</span>Evidently, it is necessary to appeal to aid of +another kind, and to employ means, which, although indirect ones, are, +beyond all dispute, the best adapted to the peculiar circumstances of +the country,—means which, by influencing the mind, excite +veneration, subdue the rude understanding of the inhabitants, and +incline them to bear our dominion without repugnance. It is well +understood what these means are, how much they are at hand, and how +greatly also they have always been envied by other European nations, +who have sought to extend and consolidate their conquests in both the +Indies. Let us listen to La Pérouse, if we wish to know and +admire the army with which our missionaries subdued the natives of both +Californias; let us read, dispassionately, the wonderful deeds of the +Jesuits in other parts of America, and, above all, let us visit the +Philippine Islands and, with astonishment, shall we there behold +extended ranges, studded with temples and spacious convents; the Divine +worship celebrated with pomp and splendor; regularity in the streets, +and even luxury in the houses and dress; schools of the first rudiments +in all the towns, and the inhabitants well versed in the art of +writing. We shall there see causeways raised, bridges of a good +architecture built, and, in short, all the measure of good <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb437" href="#pb437" name= +"pb437">437</a>]</span>government and police, in the greatest part of +the country, carried into effect, yet the whole is due to the +exertions, apostolic labors and pure patriotism of the ministers of +religion. Let us travel over the provinces, and we shall there see +towns of 5000, 10,000, and 20,000 Indians, peacefully governed by one +weak old man, who, with his doors open at all hours, sleeps quiet and +secure in his dwelling, without any other magic, or any other guards, +than the love and respect with which he has known to inspire his flock. +And, when this is contemplated, can it be deemed possible, through +foolish jealousy and vain wish for those persons only pointed out by +the general laws in ordinary cases, to intervene in the government of +the natives, that the fruit of so much time constancy are not to be +lost, but also by hereafter disregarding and rejecting a co-operation, +as efficient as it is economical, that attempts should purposely be +made to destroy the mainspring of the whole of this political +machine?</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Curtailing priestly authority.</span>Such, +nevertheless, are the mistaken ideas which, within the last few years, +have unhappily led to the adoption of measures, diametrically opposed +to the public interest, under the pretext of curtailing the excessive +authority of the parish-curates. The superior government, not satisfied +with having deprived the ministers of the faculty of personally +prescribing certain correctional punishments, which although of little +moment, when applied with discretion, greatly contributed to fortify +their ascendency, and consequently, that of the sovereign; but, in +order to exclude and divest them of all intervention in the civil +administration, a direct attempt has also been made to lower the esteem +in which they are held, by awakening the distrust of the Indian, and, +as much as possible, removing him to a greater distance from them. In +proof of this, and in order that what has been said may not be deemed +an exaggeration, it will suffice to quote the substance of two +regulations, remarkable for their obvious tendency to weaken the +influence and credit of the spiritual administrators.</p> +<p>By one of these, it is enacted that in order to prevent the abuses +and notorious malversation of the funds of the sanctuary, specially +applicable to the expenses of the festivities and worship of each +parish, and arising out of the real and half for this purpose +contributed by each tributary person, and collected and privately +administered by the curate, the same shall hereafter be kept in a chest +with three keys, and lodged in the head-town of each province. The keys +are to be left, one in possession of the chief magistrate, another in +the hands of the governor of the respective town, and the remaining one +with the parish-curate. By the other measure <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb438" href="#pb438" name="pb438">438</a>]</span>it +is declared, as a standing rule, that no Indian, who may lately have +been employed in the domestic service of the curate, shall in his own +town be considered eligible to any office belonging to the judicial +department.</p> +<p>On measures of this kind, comments are unnecessary; their meaning +and effect cannot be mistaken. I shall, therefore, merely observe, that +no untimely means could have been devised more injurious to the state, +to the propagation of religion, and even to the natives themselves. It +is, in fact, a most strange affair, that such endeavors should have +been made to impeach the purity, by at the same time degrading the +respectable character of the parish-curates, more particularly at a +period when, owing to partality and the scarcity of religious men, it +would have seemed more natural to uphold, and by new inducements +encourage the zeal and authority of the remaining few. This step +appears the more singular, I repeat, at a moment when, neither by +suspending the sending out of missionaries to China, and the almost +entire abandonment of the spiritual conquest of the Igorots and other +infidel tribes, inhabiting the interior of these islands, have the +above Spanish laborers been able to carry on the ordinary +administration, nor prevent entire provinces from being transferred, as +is now the case, into the hands of Indians and mestizo clergymen of the +Sangley race, who, through their great ignorance, corrupt morals, and +total want of decorum, universally incur the contempt of the flocks +committed to their care, and, in consequence of their tyrannical +conduct, cause the people to sigh for the mild yoke of their ancient +pastors.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Friars bulwark of Spanish rule.</span>If, +therefore, it is the wish of the government to retain the subjection of +this colony, and raise it to the high degree of prosperity of which it +is susceptible, the first thing, in my opinion, that ought to be +attended to is the good organization of its spiritual administration. +On this subject we must not deceive ourselves. I again repeat, that as +long as the local government, in consequence of the want of military +forces, and owing to the scarcity of Europeans, does not in itself +possess the means of insuring obedience, no other alternative remains. +It is necessary to call in to its aid the powerful influence of +religion, and to obtain from the Peninsula fresh supplies of +missionaries. As in their nature the latter are essentially different +from the other public functionaries, it is well known they neither seek +nor aspire to any remuneration for their labors, their only hope being +to obtain, in the opinion of the community at large, that degree of +respect to which they justly consider themselves entitled. Let, +therefore, their pre-eminences be retained to them: <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb439" href="#pb439" name="pb439">439</a>]</span>let +them be treated with decorum; the care and direction of the Indians +confided to their charge, and they always be found united in support of +justice and the legitimate authority.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Unwise to discredit priests.</span>Nothing +is more unjust, and of nothing have the spiritual directors of the +provinces so much reason to complain, than the little discernment with +which they have sometimes been judged and condemned, by causing the +misconduct of some of their individual members to affect the whole +body. Hence is it that no one can read without shame and indignation, +the insidious suggestions and allusions, derogatory to their character, +contained in the Regulations of Government framed at Manila in the year +1758, and which although modified by orders of the king, are at the +present moment still in force, owing to the want of others, and found +in a printed form in the hands of every one. Granting that in some +particular instances, real causes of complaint might have existed, yet +in the end, what does it matter if here and there a religious character +has abused the confidence reposed in him, as long as the spirit by +which the generality of them are actuated, corresponds to the sanctity +of their state, and is besides conformable to the views of government? +Why should we be eternally running after an ideal of perfection which +can never be met with? Nor, indeed, is this necessary in the present +construction of society.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Testimony in their behalf</span>If, +however, any weight is to be attached to imposture with which, from +personal motives, attempts have been made to obscure the truth, and +prejudice the public mind against the regular clergy; or, if the just +defense on which I have entered, should be attributed to partiality or +visionary impressions, let the Archives of the Colonial Department be +opened, and we shall there find the report drawn up by order of the +king on November 26, 1804, by the governor of the Philippine Islands, +Don Rafael Maria de Aguilar, with a view to convey information +regarding the enquiries at that time instituted respecting the +reduction of the inhabitants of the Island of Mindoro; a report +extremely honorable to the regular clergy, and dictated by the +experience that general had acquired during a period of more than +twelve years he had governed. Therein also will be seen the answer to +the consultation addressed to his successor in the command, Don Mariano +Fernandez de Folgueras, under date of April 25, 1809, in which he most +earnestly beseeches the king to endeavor, by every possible means, to +send out religious missionaries; deploring the decline and want of +order he had observed with his own eyes in the towns administered by +native clergymen, and pointing out the urgent necessity of intrusting +the spiritual <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb440" href="#pb440" name= +"pb440">440</a>]</span>government of these provinces to the dexterous +management of the former. Testimonies of such weight are more than +sufficient at once to refute the calumnies and contrary opinions put +forth on this subject, and at the same time serve as irrefragable +proofs of the scrupulous impartiality with which I have endeavored to +discuss so delicate a matter.</p> +<p>In a general point of view, I have alluded to the erroneous system, +which during the last few years has been pursued by the government with +regard to the parish-curates employed in the interior, and also +sufficiently pointed out the advantages reasonably to be expected if +the government, acting on a different policy, or rather guided by other +motives of state, instead of following the literal text of our Indian +legislation, should come to the firm determination of indirectly +divesting themselves of a small portion of their authority in favor of +the religious laborers who are acting on the spot. Having said thus +much, I shall proceed to such further details as are more immediately +connected with the present chapter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ecclesiastical Organization.</span>The +ecclesiastical jurisdiction is exercised by the metropolitan archbishop +of Manila, aided by the three suffragans of Nueva Segovia, Nueva +Caceres and Cebu.</p> +<p>The archbishopric of Manila comprehends the provinces of Tondo, +Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna de Bay, Zambales, Batangas, +and the Island of Mindoro.</p> +<p>The bishopric of Nueva Segovia comprehends the province of +Pangasinan, the missions of Ituy and Paniqui, the provinces of Ilocos, +Cagayan, and the missions of the Batanes Islands.</p> +<p>That of Nueva Caceres comprehends the provinces of Tayabas, Nueva +Ecija, Camarines and Albay.</p> +<p>That of Cebu comprehends the Islands of Cebu and Bohol, Iloilo, +Capiz and Antique, in the Island of Panay, the Islands of La Paragua, +Negros and Samar, Misamis, Caraga and Zamboanga in that of Mindanao, +and the Mariana Islands.</p> +<p>The archbishop has a salary of $5,000 and the bishops $4,000 each. +The curacies exceed 500, and although all of them originally were in +charge of persons belonging to the religious orders, owing to the +expulsion of the Jesuits and the excessive scarcity of regular clergy, +so many native priests have gradually been introduced among them, that, +at present, nearly half the towns are under their direction. The rest +are administered by the religious orders of St. Augustine, St. Dominic +and St. Francis, in the following manner:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<thead> +<tr valign="top" class="label"> +<td></td> +<td>Towns.</td> +</tr> +</thead> +<tbody> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>The Augustinians</td> +<td>88</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>The barefooted Augustinians (Recoletos)</td> +<td>52</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>The Dominicans</td> +<td>57</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>The Franciscans</td> +<td>96</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Total</td> +<td>293</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb441" href="#pb441" name= +"pb441">441</a>]</span>It ought, however, to be observed, that since +the detailed statement was made out, from which the above extract has +been taken, so many members of the religious orders have died, that it +has been necessary to replace them in many towns with native clergymen, +as a temporary expedient, and till new missionaries shall arrive from +Spain.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Dual supervision over friars.</span>The +monastic curates are immediately subject to their provincial superior, +in the character of friars but depend on the diocesan bishop in their +quality of parish priests; and in like manner obey their own provincial +vicars, as well as those of the bishop. They are alternately eligible +to the dignities of their own order, and generally promoted, or +relieved from their ministry, at the discretion of the provincial +chapter, or according to the final determination of the vice-patron or +bishop, affixed to the triple list presented to him. Besides the +ordinary obligations attached to the care of souls, they are enjoined +to assist at the elections of governors and other officers of justice, +in their respective towns, in order to inform the chief magistrate +respecting the aptitude of the persons proposed for election on the +triple lists, and to point out the legal defects attributable to any of +them. On this account, they are not, however, allowed to interfere in +the smallest degree with any of these proceedings, and much less make a +formal proposal, as most assuredly would be advisable if permitted so +to do, in favor of any particular person or persons in their opinion +fit for the discharge of the above mentioned duties. It is their +obligation to ascertain the correctness of the tribute lists presented +to them for their examination and signature by the chief of the clans, +by carefully comparing them with the registers kept in their own +department; and also to certify the general returns, without which +requisite the statements transmitted by the chief magistrates to the +accountant-general’s office are not admitted. Above all they are +bound to affix their signatures to the effective payments made by the +magistrate to their parishioners on account of daily labor, and to +certify similarly the value of materials employed in public works. +Besides the above, they are continually called upon to draw up +circumstantial reports, or declarations, required by the superior +tribunals; they receive frequent injunctions to co-operate in the +increase of the king’s revenue and the encouragement of +agriculture and industry; in a word, there is scarcely a thing to which +their attention is not called, and to which it is not expected they +should contribute by their influence, directly or indirectly.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Allowances from treasury.</span>The royal +treasury pays them an annual allowance equal to $180, in kind and +money, for each five hundred tributes under their <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb442" href="#pb442" name= +"pb442">442</a>]</span>care, and this, added to the emoluments of the +church, renders the total proceeds of a curacy generally equivalent to +about from six to eight reals for each entire tribute; but from this +allowance are to be deducted the expenses of coadjutors, subsistence, +servants, horses, and all the other charges arising out of the +administration of such wearisome duties; nor are the parishioners under +any other obligation than to provide the churches with assistants, or +sacristans and singers, and the curates with provisions at tariff +prices.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of more European +clergy.</span>Finally, as from what has been above stated it would +appear, that as many as five hundred religious persons are necessary +for the spiritual administration of the interior towns and districts, +besides the number requisite to do the duty and fill the dignities of +the respective orders and convents in the capital, independent of which +there ought to be a proportionate surplus, applicable to the +progressive reduction of the infidel tribes inhabiting the uplands, as +well as the preaching of the Gospel in China and Cochinchina, most +assuredly, it would be expedient to assemble and keep together a body +of no less than seven hundred persons, if it is the wish of the +government, on a tolerable scale, to provide for the wants of these +remote missions. At the present moment the number does not exceed three +hundred, including superannuated, exempt from service, and +lay-brothers, whilst the native clergymen in effective possession of +curacies, and including substitutes, coadjutors and weekly preachers, +exceed one thousand. And as the latter, in general unworthy of the +priesthood, are rather injurious than really serviceable to the state, +it should not be deemed unjust if they were altogether deprived of the +dignity of parish curates, and only allowed to exercise their functions +in necessary cases, or by attaching them to the curacies in the quality +of coadjutors. By this plan, at the same time that the towns would be +provided with suitable and adequate ministers, the native clergymen +would be distributed in a proper manner and placed near the religious +persons charged to officiate, would acquire the necessary knowledge and +decorum, and in the course of time might obtain character and respect +among their countrymen.</p> +<p>To many, a measure of this kind may, in some respects, appear harsh +and arbitrary; but persons, practically acquainted with the subject and +country, will deem it indispensable, and the only means that can be +resorted to, in order to stop the rapid decline remarkable in this +interesting department of public administration. Fortunately, no +grounded objections can be alleged against it; nor is there any danger +of serious consequences resulting from the plan being <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb443" href="#pb443" name= +"pb443">443</a>]</span>carried into effect. In vain would it be to +argue that, if the reform is to take place, a large number of priests +would be reduced to beggary, owing to the want of occupation; because, +as things now stand, many of the religious curates employ three or four +coadjutors, and, no doubt, they would then gladly undertake to make +provision for the remainder of those who may be thrown out of +employment. On the other hand, with equal truth it may be observed that +the inhabitants of the interior, far from regretting, or taking part on +behalf of the native clergy, would celebrate, as a day of gladness and +rejoicing, the removal of the latter, in return for their beloved +Castilian Fathers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Restriction of native ordinations +recommended.</span>In case the ideas above suggested should be adopted +in all their parts, it may be proper to add that an injunction ought to +be laid on the reverend bishops in future to confer holy orders with +more scrupulosity and economy, than, unfortunately, heretofore has been +the case; by representing to them that, if, at certain periods the +Popes have been influenced by powerful reasons not to insist on +ordinations taking place in Europe, as was formerly the case, very +weighty motives now equally urge the government to decline, in the +Philippine Islands, paying so much to religious vocation, and to relax +in the policy of raising the natives to the dignity of the +priesthood.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Moro depredations.</span>Long have the +inhabitants of the Philippines deplored, and in vain remonstrated, +against the ravages committed on their coasts and settlements by the +barbarous natives of the Islands of Mindanao, Basilan and Jolo, as well +as by the Malanos, Ilanos and Tirone Moros and others; and there is +nothing that so much deserves the attention, and interests the honor of +the Captain-General commanding in this quarter, as an early and +efficient attempt to check and punish these cruel enemies. It is indeed +true that, in the years 1636 and 1638, General Don Sebastian Hurtado de +Corcuera, undertook in person and happily carried into effect the +reduction of the Sultan of Mindanao and the conquest of the Island of +Jolo, placing in the latter a governor and establishing three military +posts there; under the protection of the garrisons of which, +Christianity was considerably extended. It is equally true, that on the +subsequent abandonment of this important acquisition, owing to the +government being compelled to attend to other urgent matters, the enemy +acquired a greater degree of audacity, and the captain-general in +command afterwards sent armaments to check his inroads. On one of these +occasions, our troops obliged an army of more than 5,000 Moros, who had +closely beset the fortress of Zamboanga, to raise <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb444" href="#pb444" name="pb444">444</a>]</span>the +siege; and also in the years 1731 and 1734, fresh detachments of our +men were landed on the Islands of Jolo, Capul and Basilan, and their +success was followed by the destruction and ruin of the fortified +posts, vessels, and settlements of those perfidious Mahometans. It is +not, however, less certain that at the periods above mentioned, the war +was carried on rather from motives of punishment and revenge, and +suggested by a sudden and passing zeal, than in conformity to any +progressive and well-combined system. Since then these laudable +military enterprises have been entirely neglected, as well on account +of the indolence of some of the governors, as the too great confidence +placed in the protestations of friendship and treaties of peace with +which, from time to time, the Sultans of Jolo and Mindanao have sought +to lull them to sleep. Their want of sincerity is proved by the +circumstance of the piracies of their respective subjects not ceasing, +the chiefs sometimes feigning they were carried on without their +license or knowledge; and, at others, excusing themselves on the plea +of their inability to restrain the insolence of the Tirones and other +independent tribes. Nevertheless, it is notorious that the +above-mentioned sultans indirectly encouraged the practice of +privateering, by affording every aid in their power to those who fitted +out vessels, and purchasing from the pirates all the Christians they +captured and brought to them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A missionary’s appeal.</span>Father +Juan Angeles, superior of the mission established in Jolo, at the +request of Sultan Alimudin himself (or Ferdinand I as he was afterwards +unworthily called on being made a Christian with no other view than the +better to gain the confidence of the Spaniards) in a report he sent to +the government from the above Island, under date of September 24, 1748, +describing the Sultan’s singular artifices to amuse him and +frustrate the object of his mission, fully confirms all that has just +been said, and, on closing his report, makes use of the following +remarkable words:</p> +<div class="q">“When is it we shall have had enough of treaties +with these Moros, for have we not before us the experience of more than +one hundred years, during which period of time, they have not kept a +single article in any way burdensome to, or binding on, themselves? +They will never observe the conditions of peace, because their property +consists in the possession of slaves, and with them they traffic, the +same as other nations do with money. Sooner will the hawk release his +prey from his talons than they will put an end to their piracies. The +cause of their being still unfaithful to Spain arises out of this +matter having been taken up by fits and starts, and not in the serious +manner it ought to have been done. To make war on them, in an effectual +manner, fleets must not be employed, but <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb445" href="#pb445" name="pb445">445</a>]</span>they must be attacked +on land, and in their posts in the interior; for it is much more +advisable at once to spend ten with advantage and in a strenuous manner +to attain an important object than to lay out twenty by degrees and +without fruit.”</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Governmental lenience.</span>It is an +undeniable fact that the government, lulled and deceived by the +frequent embassies and submissive and crouching letters which those +fawning sultans have been in the habit of transmitting to them, instead +of adopting the energetic measures urged by the above-mentioned +missionary, have constantly endeavored to renew and secure the +friendship of those chiefs, by means of treaties and commercial +relations; granting, with this view, ample licenses to every one who +ventured to ship merchandise to Jolo, and winking at the traffic +carried on by the governors of the fortress of Zamboanga with the +people of Mindanao; whilst the latter, on their part, sporting with our +foolish credulity, have never ceased waging a most destructive war +against us, by attacking our towns situated on the coast, not even +excepting those of the Island of Luzon. They have sometimes carried +their audacity so far as to show themselves in the neighborhood of the +capital itself, and at others taken up their temporary residence in the +district of Mindoro and in places of the jurisdictions of Samar and +Leyte; and in short, even dared to form an establishment or general +deposit for their plunder in the Island of Buras, where they quietly +remained during the years 1797, 1798 and 1799 to the great injury of +our commerce and settlements.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Authority for war not lacking.</span>This +want of exertion to remedy evils of so grievous a nature is the more to +be deplored as the Philippine governors have at all times been fully +authorized to carry on war, and promote the destruction of the Moros, +under every sacrifice, and especially by the royal orders and decrees +of October 26, and November 1, 1758, and July 31, 1766, in all of which +his majesty recommends, in the most earnest manner, “the +importance of punishing the audacity of the barbarous infidels, his +majesty being desirous that, in order to maintain his subjects of the +Philippines free from the piracies and captivity they so frequently +experience, no expenses or pains should be spared; it being further +declared, that as this is an object deeply affecting the conscience of +his majesty, he especially enjoins the aforesaid government to observe +his order; and finally, with a view to provide for the exigencies +arising out of similar enterprises, the viceroy of New Spain is +instructed to attend to the punctual remittance, not only of the usual +“situado,” or annual allowance, but also of the additional +sum of $70,000 in the first and succeeding years, etc.” In a +word, our monarchs, Ferdinand VI and Carlos III, omitted +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb446" href="#pb446" name= +"pb446">446</a>]</span>nothing that could in any way promote so +important an object; whether it is that the governors have disregarded +such repeated orders from the sovereigns, or mistaken the means by +which they were to be carried into effect, certain it is that the +unhappy inhabitants of the Philippines have continued to be witnesses, +and at the same time the victims of the culpable apathy of those who +have successively held the command of these Islands within the last +fifty or sixty years.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Native efforts for +self-defence.</span>Abandoned therefore to their own resources, and +from time to time relieved by the presence of a few gunboats which, +after scouring the coasts, have never been able to come up with the +light and fast sailing vessels of the enemy, the inhabitants of our +towns and settlements have been under the necessity of intrenching and +fortifying themselves in the best way they were able, by opening +ditches and planting a breastwork of stakes and palisades, crowned with +watch towers, or a wooden or stone castle; precautions which sometimes +are not sufficient against the nocturnal irruptions and robberies of +the Moros, more especially when they come with any strength and +fire-arms, in general scarce among the natives.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Moro piratical craft.</span>The +<i>pancos</i>, or prows, used by the Moros, are light and simple +vessels, built with numerous thin planks and ribs, with a small draft +of water; and being manned by dexterous rowers, they appear and +disappear from the horizon with equal celerity, flying or attacking, +whenever they can do it with evident advantage. Some of those vessels +are large, and fitted out with fifty, a hundred, and sometimes two +hundred men. The shots of their scanty and defective artillery are very +uncertain, because they generally carry their guns suspended in slings; +but they are to be dreaded, and are extremely dexterous in the +management of the <i>campilan</i>, or sword, of which they wear the +blades long and well tempered. When they have any attack of importance +in view, they generally assemble to the number of two hundred galleys, +or more, and even in their ordinary cruises, a considerable number +navigate together. As dread and the scarcity of inhabitants in the +Bisayan Islands cause great ranges of the coast to be left unsettled, +it is very easy for the Moros to find numerous lurking-places and +strongholds whenever they are pressed, and their constant practice, in +these cases, is to enter the rivers, ground their vessels, and hide +them among the mangroves and thick foliage, and fly with their arms to +the mountains, thus almost always laughing at the efforts of their +opponents, who seldom venture to follow them into the thickets and +morasses, where the musket is of no use and a single step cannot be +taken with any security.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb447" href="#pb447" name= +"pb447">447</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Outrages +suffered.</span>The fatal consequences and ravages of this system of +cruising and warfare round the Islands are incalculable. Besides +plundering and burning the towns and settlements, these bloody pirates +put the old and helpless to the sword, destroy the cattle and +plantations, and annually carry off to their own homes as many as a +thousand captives of both sexes, who, if they are poor and without +hopes of being redeemed, are destined to drag out a miserable existence +amidst the most fatiguing and painful labor, sometimes accompanied with +torments. Such is the dread and apprehension of these seas that only +those navigate and carry on trade in them who are able to arm and man +their vessels in a way corresponding to the great risks they have to +run, or others whom want compels to disregard the imminent dangers +which await them. Among the latter class, the Bisayans, or +“painted (tattooed) natives,” are distinguished, an +extremely warlike people of whom great use might be made. Reared from +their infancy amidst danger and battle, and greatly resembling the +Moros in their features and darkness of skin, they are equally alike in +the agility with which they manage the long sword and lance, and such +is the courage and implacable odium with which they treat their enemies +that, if not taken by surprise, they sell their lives very dear, +sacrificing themselves in a most heroic manner, rather than to be led +away as captives.</p> +<p>In order, however, that a more correct idea may be formed of the +wicked policy and atrocious disposition of these Moros, and with a view +to do away with the misconceptions of those who are of opinion that +incentives to trade, and other slow and indirect means ought to be +employed for the purpose of overcoming them, it will suffice to quote +the following examples among a number of others, even more recent ones, +which might equally be brought forward.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Instances of treachery.</span>In 1796, the +governor of Zamboanga dispatched, with regular passports and under a +safe conduct obtained from the Sultan of Mindanao, Lieutenant Don +Pantaleon Arcillas, with a sergeant, eight men, and a guide, in order +to bring into the fortress the cattle belonging to the king’s +farm, which had strayed away and got up in the lands of the +above-mentioned Mahometan prince. Five days after their departure, +whilst the lieutenant was taking his meals at the house of a +“Datu,” or chief, named Oroncaya, he was suddenly +surrounded by seventy Moros, who, seizing upon him, bound him to a tree +and then flayed him alive, from the forehead to the ankle. In this +miserable and defenceless situation, the barbarous <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb448" href="#pb448" name= +"pb448">448</a>]</span>“Datu” wreaked his vengeance on his +body by piercing it all over with his “kris,” or dagger, +and then ordered his skin to be hung up on the pole of one of his +ferocious banners.</p> +<p>In the year 1798, whilst the schooner <i>San José</i> lay at +anchor at Tabitabi, near Jolo, the sons-in-law and nephews of the +sultan went out to meet her in two large prows, exhibiting at the same +time every demonstration of peace, and, sending forward a small vessel +with refreshments, they invited the captain to come on board of them. +The latter, deceived by the apparent frankness and high rank of the +Moros, with the greatest good faith accepted the invitation, and +proceeded on board, accompanied by two sailors, with a view to make +arrangements for barter. Scarcely had they got on board of the large +prow, when they were surrounded and seized, and the captain, who was a +Spaniard, compelled to sign an order to his mate to deliver up the +schooner, which he reluctantly did, under the hope of saving his own +and his companions’ lives. The Moros proceeded on board the +Spanish vessel, and, in the meantime, the two sailors were taken back +to the boat, and there killed with daggers in the presence of all. The +schooner’s sails were next hoisted, and she was brought into +Jolo, where the cargo and crew were sold in sight of, and with the +knowledge and consent of the sultan; an atrocity for which he has +always refused to give any satisfaction to a nation, thus openly and +barbarously outraged by his own relatives, and in defiance of the +existing treaties of peace. Such is the cruel character, and such the +execrable policy of the Moros generally inhabiting the Islands situated +in the Philippine seas.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Growth of Moro power.</span>The most +lamentable circumstance is, that these infidel races, at all times to +be dreaded, owing to their numbers and savage ferocity, after the lapse +of a century of almost uninterrupted prosperity, and encouraged also by +our inattention, have at length gradually attained so formidable a +degree of power, that their reduction now must be considered an +extremely arduous and expensive enterprise, although an object urgently +requisite, and worthy of the greatness of a nation like ours. In order, +however, that the difficulties of so important an undertaking may be +justly appreciated, it may be proper to observe that the Island of +Mindanao alone, at the present moment, contains a population equal, if +not larger, than that of Luzon, and the margins of the immense lake, +situated in its center, are covered with well-built towns, filled with +conveniences, the fruits of their annual privateering, and of the +traffic they carry on with the inhabitants of the Island of Jolo. True +it is, and it may be said, equally fortunate, that they are greatly +divided into <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb449" href="#pb449" name= +"pb449">449</a>]</span>parties, subject to a variety of +“datus,” or independent chiefs, in name only inferior to +the one who styles himself the sultan of the whole Island. As, however, +the fortresses and districts of Caraga, Misamis, and Zamboanga occupy +nearly three parts of the circumference of the Island, these Moros +freely possess no more than the southern part, commencing at about +twenty-five leagues from Cape San Augustin, and ending in the vicinity +of Zamboanga; so that the largest number of their naval armaments are +fitted out and issued to sea, either by the great river of Mindanao, or +from some of the many bays and inlets situated on the above extent of +coast.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Jolo.</span>The Island of Jolo, although +small compared with that of Mindanao, is, nevertheless, in itself the +most important, as well as the real hotbed of all the piracies +committed. Its inhabitants, according to the unanimous reports of +captives and various merchants, in skill and valor greatly exceed the +other Mahometans who infest these seas. The sultan is absolute, and his +subjects carry on trade with Borneo, Celebes, and the other Malayan +tribes scattered about this great Archipelago. In the port of Jolo, as +already noticed, sales are made of Christians captured by the other +Moros. The Chinese of Amoy, as well as the Dutch and British, carry +them manufactured goods, opium and arms, receiving, in return, black +pepper, bees’ wax, balato, edible nests, tortoise-shell, +mother-of-pearl, gold dust, pearls, etc., and from Manila also a vessel +usually goes once a year with goods; but all act with the greatest +precaution in this dangerous traffic, guarding, as much as possible, +against the insidious acts of that perfidious government. The great +number of renegades, of all casts, who have successively naturalized +themselves there; the abundance of arms, and the prevailing opulence, +have, in every respect, contributed to render this Island a formidable +and powerful state. The capital is surrounded with forts and thick +walls, and the famous heights, standing near it, in case of emergency, +afford a secure asylum where the women can take refuge and the +treasures of the sultan and public be deposited, whilst in the plains +below the contest may be maintained by more than 50,000 combatants, +already very dexterous in the use of the musket and of a bold and +courageous character. The navy of these Islanders is also very +respectable, for, besides a great number of smaller prows and +war-boats, they have some of a large size, capable of carrying heavy +artillery on their decks, mounted on corresponding carriages, and not +suspended in slings as is the custom of the people of Mindanao. In a +word, Jolo is an Island governed by a system of administration +extremely vigorous and decisive; dread and superstition sustain +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb450" href="#pb450" name= +"pb450">450</a>]</span>the throne of the tyrant, and the fame of his +greatness frequently brings to his feet the <i>ulemas</i>, or +missionaries of the Koran, even as far as from the furthest margin of +the Red Sea. The prince and people, unanimous in the implacable odium +with which they view all Christians, cannot be divided or kept on terms +of peace; and if it is really wished to free these seas from the evils +and great dangers with which they are at all times threatened, it is +necessary at once to strike at the root, by landing and attacking the +Jolonese in their strongholds, and break the charm by which they are +held together.</p> +<p>This, at least, is the constant and unshaken opinion of all +experienced persons and those versed in Philippine affairs; and if, by +the substantial reasons and existing circumstances, I convince myself +sufficiently to openly recommend war to be undertaken against the Moros +and pushed with the utmost vigor, and more particularly commencing the +work by a formal invasion of Jolo; still, as I feel myself incompetent +to trace a precise plan, or to discuss the minute details more +immediately connected with the object, I feel it necessary to confine +myself to the pointing out, in general terms, of the means I judge most +conducive to the happy issue of so arduous but important an enterprise, +leaving the rest to more able and experienced hands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Council of war recommended.</span>As a +previous step, I conceive that a council of war ought to be formed in +Manila, composed of the captain-general, the commanders of the navy, +artillery, and engineer department, as well as of the regular corps, +who, in conformity to all the antecedent information lodged in the +secretary’s office for the captain-generalship, and the previous +report of some one of the ex-governors of Zamboanga and the best +informed missionaries, may be enabled to deliberate and proceed on to a +mature examination of the whole affair, taking into their special +consideration everything regarding Jolo, its early reduction, the +number of vessels and men required for this purpose, the most +advantageous points of attack, and the best season in which this can be +carried into execution. After all these matters have been determined +upon, the operation in question ought to be connected with the other +partial and general arrangements of the government, in order that a +plan the best adapted to localities and existing circumstances may be +chosen, and without its being necessary to wait for the king’s +approbation of the means resolved upon, owing to the distance of the +court and the necessity of acting with celerity. If, however, on +account of the deference in every respect due to the sovereign, it +should be thought proper to reconcile his previous sanction with the +necessity of acting without loss of time, the best <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb451" href="#pb451" name="pb451">451</a>]</span>mode +would be to send from Spain an officer of high rank, fully authorized, +who, as practised on other occasions, might give his sanction, in the +name of the king, to the resolutions adopted by the council of war, and +take under his own immediate charge, if it should be so deemed +expedient, the command of the expedition against Jolo, receiving the +appointment of governor of the Island, as soon as the conquest should +be carried into effect, as a just reward for his zeal and valor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">War popular in Philippines.</span>Supposing +an uniformity of opinions to prevail with regard to the expediency of +attempting the subjugation of Jolo, and supposing also the existence of +the necessary funds to meet the expenses of a corresponding armament, +it may be positively relied upon that the project would be extremely +popular, and meet with the entire concurrence and support of the +Philippine Islands. The military men, aware of the great riches known +to exist in the proposed theatre of operations, would emulously come +forward to offer their services, under a hope of sharing the booty, and +the warlike natives of the Bisayas would be impelled on by their hatred +to the Moros, and their ardent wishes to avenge the blood of their +fathers and children. On the other hand, the abundance of regular and +well disciplined officers and troops, at present in the colony and the +number of gun-boats found in the ports, a want of which, on other +occasions, has always been experienced, will afford ample scope for the +equipment of a force competent to the important enterprise in view. In +fact, if the operation is arranged in a systematic manner, and all the +precautions and rules observed as are usual in cases of attacks +premeditated against European and civilized establishments, there is no +reason to expect any other than a flattering and decisive result, +since, in reality, the whole would be directed against an enemy +contemptible on account of his barbarism and his comparative ignorance +of the art of war.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Native assistance.</span>The preparations +deemed necessary being made in Manila, and the Bisayan auxiliaries +assembled beforehand in Zamboanga, with their arms and respective +chiefs, the whole of the operation in question, it may be safely said, +might be terminated within the period of three or four months. +Supposing even 2,000 regular troops are destined for this expedition, +with a corresponding train of field pieces, and at the moment there +should not be found in the Islands a sufficient number of larger +vessels to embargo or freight for their conveyance, a competent +quantity of coasters, galleys and small craft might be met with at any +time sufficiently capacious and secure to carry the men. This +substitute will be found the less <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb452" +href="#pb452" name="pb452">452</a>]</span>inconvenient, because, as the +navigation is to be performed among the Islands during the prevalence +of the north winds, usually a favorable and steady season of the year, +the voyage will consequently be safe and easy. It will also be possible +to arrive at the point agreed upon, as a general rendezvous, in twenty, +or five-and-twenty days, which place, for many reasons, ought to be the +fortress of Zamboanga, situated in front of Jolo and at moderate +distance from that Island; it being from this port that, in former +times, the Philippine governors usually sent out their armaments, +destined to make war against the Basilanese and Jolonese.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mindanao also needs attention.</span>As +soon as this important and memorable enterprise has been carried into +effect, and the punishment and total subjugation of these faithless +Mahometans completed and the new conquest placed under a military +authority, in the mean time that the lands are distributing and +arrangements making to establish the civil administration, on the same +plan followed in the other provinces of the Philippine government, the +armament ought to return to Zamboanga with all possible speed; but, +after stopping by the way to reduce the small island of Basilan and +leaving a fortress and garrison there. Immediately afterwards, and +before the various tribes of Moros inhabiting the Island of Mindanao +have been able to concert among themselves and prepare for their +defence, it would be advisable to direct partial expeditions towards +both flanks of Zamboanga, for the purpose of burning the settlements of +the natives and driving them from the shores into the interior. Forts +ought then to be raised at the mouths of the inlets and rivers, and a +fourth district government formed in the southern part of the island; +in such manner that, by possession being taken of the coasts, the +government and district of Zamboanga may be placed in contact with the +new one established on the one side, and on the other with the district +of Misamis, also the new district with that of Caraga, the western part +of which territory is already united to that of Misamis. Such, at +least, was the opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Don Mariano Tobias, an +officer deservedly celebrated for his prudence and consummate skill in +these matters, and this he substantially expressed in a council of war, +held on August 28, 1778, for the purpose of deliberating on the most +advisable means to check the Moros, as appears by a long and +intelligent report drawn upon this subject on April 26, 1800, by the +adjutant-general of this colony, Don Rufino Suarez.</p> +<p>In case it should be determined to adopt the means proposed by +Colonel Tobias, for the purpose of holding the Moros of Mindanao in +check, and to which, unfortunately, due regard has not hitherto +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb453" href="#pb453" name= +"pb453">453</a>]</span>been paid, notwithstanding the enterprise +presents very few difficulties, owing to the little opposition to be +expected from the infidel natives, the latter would then be left +completely surrounded and shut up in the heart of the island, and their +active system of privateering, with which they have so many years +infested these seas, entirely destroyed. If, through the want of +garrisons and population, it should not, however, be possible to +deprive them of all their outlets, by which means they would still be +able occasionally to send some of their cruising vessels, nevertheless +there would be facilities with which it would be possible to pursue and +counteract the ravages of the few pirates who might furtively escape +out of some river, while now they are fitted out, and well manned and +armed to the number of one and two hundred war-boats, openly in their +ports.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A plan for future policing.</span>After the +emporiums of slavery have been destroyed by the conquest of Jolo, and +the other general measures adopted, as above pointed out, the +government would then be in a situation to turn its attention, with +much greater ease, to the arrangement of all the other minor schemes of +precaution and protection suited to the difference of circumstances and +locality, without the concurrence of which the work would be left +imperfect, and in some degree the existence of those settled in the new +establishments rendered precarious. As, however, I am unprepared +minutely to point out the nature of these measures, or distinctly to +lay down a ground-work for future civilization and improvement, I shall +merely observe, that what would then remain to be done would neither +require any great capital, or present obstacles which might not easily +be overcome. The Moros being then concentrated in the Island of +Mindanao, and this completely surrounded on all sides by our forts and +settlements, in the manner above described, the only enemies let loose +on these seas would be either the few who might, from time to time, +elude the vigilance of our troops and district-commanders, or those who +might have escaped from Jolo previous to its conquest, and taken up +their abode in one or other of the Bisayas Islands; or, in short, such +as are out cruising at the time our armament returns to Zamboanga and +takes possession of the southern coast of Mindanao; in which case they +would be compelled to resort to a roving life, establishing, like the +Jolo fugitives, temporary dwellings among the mangroves and thickets +bordering on the shore.</p> +<p>The principal objects then remaining for the attention of government +would be to guard and protect the towns and settlements established on +the coasts from the insults and inroads of banditti, impelled by +necessity or despair, and at the same time to promote <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb454" href="#pb454" name="pb454">454</a>]</span>the +gradual overthrow or civilization of the dispersed remnant of Moorish +population left in the Island. The cruising of the pirates being thus +reduced to a space comprehended in an oblong circle formed by an +imaginary line drawn from the southern extreme of the Island of Leyte, +to the south-west point of Samar, which next running along the +north-west coast of Mindoro, on the outside of Tacao and Burias, and +coming down to the west of Panay, Negros and Bohol, closes the oval at +the little island formed by the Strait of Panaon, about forty gunboats +might be advantageously stationed in the narrowest passages from land +to land; as, for example, in the Strait of San Juanico and other passes +of a similar kind, well known to the local pilots. By this means, the +limits would be gradually contracted. Various small naval armaments +ought, at the same time, to keep cruising in the center of this circle, +pursuing the Moros by sea and land, dislodging them from their +strongholds and lurking places, and sending on those who might be +captured to the depot pointed out by government.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Feasibility of plans.</span>The first part +of the plan would be the more easily realized, as it is well-known that +most of the districts corresponding to the Bisayan tribes, including +those of Camarines and Albay, situated at the extremity of the island +of Luzon, have several gunboats of their own, which might be used with +great advantage. By merely advancing and stationing them in such +channels as the Moros must necessarily pass, either in going out or +returning, according to the different monsoons, they would easily be +checked, without removing the gunboats to any great distance from their +own coasts. As besides the great advantages resulting from this plan +and every one doing his duty are apparent, no doubt numbers of natives +would volunteer their services, more particularly if they were +liberally rewarded, and their maintenance provided from the funds of +the respective communities. Moreover, the points which at first should +not be considered as sufficiently guarded might be strengthened by the +king’s gunboats, and, indeed, in all of them it would be +advisable to station some of the latter, commanded by a select officer, +to whose orders the captains of the provincial gunboats ought to be +made subservient.</p> +<p>With regard to the second part, it will suffice to observe that the +captain-generalship of the Philippine Islands already possesses as many +as seventy gunboats, besides a considerable number of gallies and +launches, which altogether constitute a formidable squadron of light +vessels; and, after deducting those deemed necessary for the protection +of Jolo and the new province to be established <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb455" href="#pb455" name="pb455">455</a>]</span>in +Mindanao, a sufficient number would still be left to carry into +execution all the objects proposed. At present, although the Moros +navigate in numerous divions, and with a confidence inspired by their +undisturbed prosperity, a 24-pounder shot from one of our launches is +nevertheless sufficient to put them to flight; what therefore may not +be expected when their forces shall be so greatly diminished and their +apprehensions increased, of being defeated and captured? Nevertheless, +as it is not easy for our gunboats to come up with them, when giving +chase, it would be advisable to add to our cruisers a temporary +establishment of prows and light vessels, manned by Bisayan Indians, +which, by advancing on with the gallies, might attack the enemy and +give time for the gunboats to come up and decide the action. Besides as +the Bisayan Indians are perfectly acquainted with the mode of making +war on the Moros, the meaning of their signals and manoeuvers and the +kind of places on shore in which they take shelter when pursued at sea, +the employment of such auxiliaries would be extremely useful.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Need of undivided leadership.</span>The +whole of these defensive and offensive arrangements would, however, be +ineffectual or incomplete in their results, if the most perfect union +and concert is not established in every part, so that all should +conspire to the same object, although by distinct means. In order +therefore that the necessary harmony may be secured, it would be +expedient to remove the chief authority nearer to the theater of war, +by confiding all the necessary instructions and powers to the person +who might be selected for the direction and command of the enterprise, +after the general plan of operations had been regularly approved. Under +this impression, and with a view to the better execution of all the +details, it would be advisable for the commanding officer, named by the +government, to take up his headquarters in the Island of Panay, which, +owing to its geographical situation, the great number of towns and +inhabitants contained in the three provinces into which it is divided, +as well as other political reasons, is generally esteemed preferable +for the object in question, to the Island of Zebu, where, in former +times, the commanders of the province of the painted natives resided, +as mentioned in the laws of the Indies. The center of action being +placed in Iloilo, a communication with the other points would thus more +easily be kept open, aid and relief might be sent more rapidly to the +quarter where required, and, in a word, all the movements, of +whatsoever kind they might be, would be executed with greater precision +and certainty of success. It would be unnecessary to add that the +provincial magistrates of Camarines and Albay ought to co-operate, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb456" href="#pb456" name= +"pb456">456</a>]</span>with their fourteen gunboats and other smaller +vessels, in the measures adopted by the commander of the Bisayan +establishment, distributing their forces according to the orders given +by him, and by undertaking to guard the straits of San Bernardino.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Paragua.</span>The Island of Paragua, at +the head of which the provincial jurisdiction of Calamianes is placed, +is not included in the great circle, or chain of stations, above traced +out, as well in consequence of its great distance from the other +islands, for which reason it is not so much infested by the Moros, as +because of its being at present nearly depopulated and uncultivated, +and for these reasons the attention of government ought not to be +withdrawn from other more important points. With regard to that of +Mindanao, the necessity of keeping up along the whole of its immense +coast, a line of castles and watch towers, has already been fully +pointed out, more especially in the vicinity of the bay of Panguil, to +the north, and the mouths of the great river towards the south; the two +points in which the enemies’ most formidable armaments are +usually fitted out. Consequently, it would not be possible to expect +the provincial commanders stationed there would be able to disengage +any part of their naval force, in order to place it at the disposal of +the officer commanding the Bisayan vessels. Indeed, it is obvious that +it would be extremely important to afford the people of Mindanao every +possible additional aid, in vessels, troops and money, in order the +better to check the sailing of partial divisions of the enemy, and thus +prevent the immense number of pirates, inhabiting the interior of the +island, from breaking the fortified line, and again covering these +seas, and with redoubled fury carrying death and desolation along all +the coasts.</p> +<p>It would, in fact, be extremely desirable if, through the concerted +measures and constant vigilance of the four chief magistrates intrusted +with the command of the island, the future attempts of the Mindanayans +could be entirely counteracted, and their cruisers altogether kept +within the line for a certain period of years; as by thus depriving +them of the facilities to continue their old habits of life, these +barbarous tribes would be eventually compelled to adopt other pursuits, +either by ascending the mountainous parts of the island, and shutting +themselves up in the thick and impenetrable forests, with a view to +preserve their independence; or, throwing down their arms and devoting +themselves to the peaceful cultivation of their lands. In the latter +case, they would gradually lose their present ferocious character; +their regard for the conveniences and repose of social life would +increase; the contrast would be attended <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb457" href="#pb457" name="pb457">457</a>]</span>with most favorable +consequences, and in the course of time, the whole of the aboriginal +natives of these islands would come into our laws and customs, and +become confounded in the general mass of Philippine subjects, owing +allegiance to the king.</p> +<p>Finally, it must be equally acknowledged that the Islands of Jolo, +Basilan, Capul, and some of the other inferior ones, of which, as above +pointed out, an union ought to be formed in the way of an additional +government, subordinate to the captain-general, would be able to +co-operate in the war on no other plan than the one traced out for the +provinces held in Mindanao; that is, by their gunboats being confided +to the protection of their own coasts; though with this difference, +that if, in one instance, the main object would be to prevent the +evasion of the enemy, in the other every effort must be employed to +guard against and repel their incursions when they do appear. However +complete the success of the armament, destined for the reduction of +Jolo, it may nevertheless be presumed, that the mountains would still +continue to give shelter to hordes of fugitives, who would take refuge +in the fastnesses, and avail themselves of every opportunity to concert +plans, or fly off to join their comrades in Mindanao, in order to +return, and through their aid, satisfy their thirst for vengeance, by +surprising some fortress or settlement, or establishing themselves on +some neglected and not well known point. In consequence of this, the +governor, commanding there, would at first require the active +co-operation of all his forces, for the purpose of consolidating the +new conquest, and causing his authority to be respected throughout the +island.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Importance of peace for Philippine +progress.</span>These, in my opinion, are the true and secure means by +which the enemies of the peace and prosperity of the Philippines may be +humbled, their piracies prevented, and a basis laid for the future +civilization of the remaining islands in this important Archipelago. To +this sketch, a number of other details and essential illustrations, no +doubt, are wanting; and possibly, I may be accused of some +inaccuracies, in discussing a topic, with which I candidly avow I +cannot be considered altogether familiar. The plan and success of the +enterprise must, however, greatly depend on military skill and talent; +but as I have attempted no more than fairly to trace the general +outline of the plan, and insist on the necessity of its adoption, my +remarks, it is to be hoped, will serve to awaken a serious disposition +to review and investigate the whole subject, a task that most assuredly +ought to be confided to a competent and special council. Whatever +defects I may involuntarily have fallen into, will then be corrected; +at the same time it ought not to appear strange that <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb458" href="#pb458" name= +"pb458">458</a>]</span>inexperienced persons should presume to speak on +matters connected with the public good, when we see them so much +neglected by those whose more immediate duty it is to look after and +promote them. At all events, dispassionate zeal has seldom done harm; +and I again repeat, that my wish is not so much to see my own ideas +adopted, as to urge the necessity of their being examined and digested. +I am desirous that other sources of information on this subject should +be explored, that practical men should be called in, and that those in +power should be induced to apply themselves and devote their exertions +to an object so highly deserving of their attention. In short, I am +anxious that the pious injunctions of our monarchs should be fulfilled, +and that the tears and blood of the inhabitants of these neglected +islands should cease to flow.</p> +<p>Should the happy day ever arrive, when the inhabitants of these +provinces shall behold themselves free from the cruel scourge with +which they have been desolated for so many years, they will bless the +nation that has redeemed them from all their cares, they will tighten +their relations with it, and deliver themselves up to its direction +without reserve. The natives will then come down from the strong +fastnesses they at present inhabit; they will clear fresh lands, and +earnestly devote themselves to tillage and industry. Under the shadow +of peace, population and commerce will increase; the Bisayan vessels +will then plough the ocean without the dread of other enemies than the +elements; and the Moros themselves of Mindanao (I say it with +confidence), straightened on all sides, and incessantly harassed by the +Christians, but on the other hand witnessing the advantages and +mildness of our laws, will at length submit to the dominion of the +monarchs of Spain, who will thus secure the quiet possession of one of +the most interesting portions of the habitable globe, and be justly +entitled to the gratitude of all nations connected with China and +India, for having put an end to a series of the most terrific plunder +and captivity that ever disgraced the annals of any age. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb459" href="#pb459" name="pb459">459</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk03"> +<h2 class="main">Manila in 1842</h2> +<p class="first">By Com. Charles Wilkes, U.S.N.</p> +<p>(Narrative of U. S. Exploring Expedition, Vol. V, Chaps. 8 and +9.)</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Port rules.</span>At daylight, on January +13, we were again under way, with a light air, and at nine +o’clock reached the roadstead, where we anchored in six fathoms +water, with good holding-ground. Being anxious to obtain our letters, +which, we were informed at Oahu, had been sent to Manila, I immediately +dispatched two boats to procure them. On their way to the mole, they +were stopped by the captain of the port, Don Juan Salomon, who +requested them, in a polite manner, to return, and informed the +officers that, agreeably to the rules of the port, no boat was +permitted to land until the visit of the health-officer had been made, +etc.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Official courtesies.</span>The captain of +the port, in a large barge, was soon seen pulling off in company with +the boats. He boarded us with much ceremony, and a few moments sufficed +to satisfy him of the good health of the crew, when he readily gave his +assent to our visiting the shore. Every kind of assistance was offered +me, on the part of the government, and he, in the most obliging manner, +gave us permission to go and come when we pleased, with the simple +request that the boats should wear our national flag, that they might +at all times be known, and thus be free from any interruption by the +guards. The boats were again dispatched for the consul and letters, and +after being anxiously watched for, returned; every one on board ship +expecting his wishes to be gratified with news from home; but, as is +usual on such occasions, the number of the happy few bore no comparison +to that of the many who were disappointed.</p> +<p>Our vice-consul, Josiah Moore, Esq., soon paid us a visit, and gave +us a pressing invitation to take up our quarters on shore while we +remained. To this gentleman and Mr. Sturges I am greatly indebted for +much of the information that will be detailed in the following +chapter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">American hemp ships.</span>A number of +vessels were lying in the roads, among which were several Americans +loading with hemp. There was also a large English East Indiaman, manned +by Lascars, whose noise rendered her more like a floating Bedlam than +any thing else to which I can liken it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A Spanish oriental city.</span>The view of +the city and country around Manila partakes both of a Spanish and an +Oriental character. The sombre and heavy-looking churches, with their +awkward towers; the long lines of batteries mounted with heavy cannon; +the massive houses, with ranges of balconies; and the light and airy +cottage, elevated on posts, situated in the luxuriant groves of +tropical trees—all excite a desire to become better acquainted +with the country.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Surroundings.</span>Manila is situated on +an extensive plain, gradually swelling into distant hills, beyond +which, again, mountains rise in the back ground to the height of +several thousand feet. The latter are apparently <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb460" href="#pb460" name= +"pb460">460</a>]</span>clothed with vegetation to their summits. The +city is in strong contrast to this luxuriant scenery, bearing evident +marks of decay, particularly in the churches, whose steeples and tile +roofs have a dilapidated look. The site of the city does not appear to +have been well chosen, it having apparently been selected entirely for +the convenience of commerce, and the communication that the outlet of +the lake affords for the batteaux that transport the produce from the +shores of the Laguna de Bay to the city.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Canals.</span>There are many arms or +branches to this stream, which have been converted into canals; and +almost any part of Manila may now be reached in a banca.</p> +<p>In the afternoon, in company with Captain Hudson, I paid my first +visit to Manila. The anchorage considered safest for large ships is +nearly three miles from the shore, but smaller vessels may lie much +nearer, and even enter the canal; a facility of which a number of these +take advantage, to accomplish any repairs they may have occasion to +make.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Typhoons.</span>The canal, however, is +generally filled with coasting vessels, batteaux from the lake, and +lighters for the discharge of the vessels lying in the roads. The bay +of Manila is safe, excepting during the change of the monsoons, when it +is subject to the typhoons of the China Seas, within whose range it +lies. These blow at times with much force, and cause great damage. +Foreign vessels have, however, kept this anchorage, and rode out these +storms in safety; but native as well as Spanish vessels, seek at these +times the port of Cavite, about three leagues to the southwest, at the +entrance of the bay, which is perfectly secure. Here the government +dockyard is situated, and this harbor is consequently the resort of the +few gunboats and galleys that are stationed here.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Twin piers.</span>The entrance to the canal +or river Pasig is three hundred feet wide, and is enclosed between two +well-constructed piers, which extend for some distance into the bay. On +the end of one of these is the light-house, and on the other a +guard-house. The walls of these piers are about four feet above +ordinary high water, and include the natural channel of the river, +whose current sets out with some force, particularly when the ebb is +making in the bay.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Suburbs.</span>The suburbs, or Binondo +quarter, contain more inhabitants than the city itself, and is the +commercial town. They have all the stir and life incident to a large +population actively engaged in trade, and in this respect the contrast +with the city proper is great.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Walled city.</span>The city of Manila is +built in the form of a large segment of a circle, having the chord of +the segment on the river: the whole is strongly fortified, with walls +and ditches. The houses are substantially built after the fashion of +the mother country. Within the walls are the governor’s palace, +custom-house, treasury, admiralty, several churches, convents, and +charitable institutions, a university, and the barracks for the troops; +it also contains some public squares, on one of which is a bronze +statue of Charles IV.</p> +<p>The city is properly deemed the court residence of these islands; +and all those attached to the government, or who wish to be considered +as of the higher circle, reside here; but foreigners are not permitted +to do so. The houses in the city are generally of stone, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb461" href="#pb461" name= +"pb461">461</a>]</span>plastered, and white or yellow washed on the +outside. They are only two stories high, and in consequence cover a +large space, being built around a patio or courtyard.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Dwellings.</span>The ground-floors are +occupied as storehouses, stables, and for porters’ lodges. The +second story is devoted to the dining-halls and sleeping apartments, +kitchens, bath-rooms, etc. The bed-rooms have the windows down to the +floor, opening on wide balconies, with blinds or shutters. These blinds +are constructed with sliding frames, having small squares of two inches +filled in with a thin semi-transparent shell, a species of Placuna; the +fronts of some of the houses have a large number of these small lights, +where the females of the family may enjoy themselves unperceived.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Business.</span>After entering the canal, +we very soon found ourselves among a motley and strange population. On +landing, the attention is drawn to the vast number of small stalls and +shops with which the streets are lined on each side, and to the crowds +of people passing to and fro, all intent upon their several +occupations. The artisans in Manila are almost wholly Chinese; and all +trades are local, so that in each quarter of the Binondo suburb the +privilege of exclusive occupancy is claimed by some particular kinds of +shops. In passing up the Escolta (which is the longest and main street +in this district), the cabinet-makers, seen busily at work in their +shops, are first met with; next to these come the tinkers and +blacksmiths; then the shoe-makers, clothiers, fishmongers, +haberdashers, etc. These are flanked by outdoor occupations; and in +each quarter are numerous cooks, frying cakes, stewing, etc., in +movable kitchens; while here and there are to be seen betel-nut +sellers, either moving about to obtain customers, or taking a stand in +some great thoroughfare. The moving throng, composed of carriers, +waiters, messengers, etc., pass quietly and without any noise: they are +generally seen with the Chinese umbrella, painted in many colors, +screening themselves from the sun. The whole population wear slippers, +and move along with a slipshod gait.</p> +<p>The Chinese are apparently far more numerous than the Malays, and +the two races differ as much in character as in appearance: one is all +activity, while the other is disposed to avoid all exertion. They +preserve their distinctive character throughout, mixing but very little +with each other, and are removed as far as possible in their +civilities; the former, from their industry and perseverance, have +almost monopolized all the lucrative employments among the lower +orders, excepting the selling of fish and betel-nut, and articles +manufactured in the provinces.</p> +<p>On shore, we were kindly received by Mr. Moore, who at once made us +feel at home. The change of feeling that takes place in a transfer from +shipboard in a hot climate, after a long cruise, to spacious and airy +apartments, surrounded by every luxury that kind attentions can give, +can be scarcely imagined by those who have not experienced it.</p> +<p>As we needed some repairs and supplies, to attend to these was my +first occupation. Among the former, we required a heavy piece +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb462" href="#pb462" name= +"pb462">462</a>]</span>of blacksmith-work, to prepare which, we were +obliged to send our armourers on shore. The only thing they could +procure was a place for a forge; but coal, and every thing else, we had +to supply from the ship. I mention these things to show that those in +want of repairs must not calculate upon their being done at Manila with +dispatch, if they can be accomplished at all.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">City of Manila.</span>The city government +of Manila was established June 24, 1571, and the title under which it +is designated is, “The celebrated and forever loyal city of +Manila.” In 1595, the charter was confirmed by royal authority; +and all the prerogatives possessed by other cities in the kingdom were +conferred upon it in 1638. The members of the city council, by +authority of the king, were constituted a council of advisement with +the governor and captain-general. The city magistrates were also placed +in rank next the judges; and in 1686 the jurisdiction of the city was +extended over a radius of five leagues. In 1818, the members of the +council were increased and ordered to assume the title of +“Excellency.” Manila has been one of the most constantly +loyal cities of the Spanish kingdom, and is, in consequence, considered +to merit these additional royal favors to its inhabitants.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Commerce.</span>In 1834, the Royal Tribunal +of Commerce was instituted, to supersede the old consulate, which had +been established since 1772, The Royal Tribunal of Commerce acts under +the new commercial code, and possesses the same privileges of +arbitration as the old consulate. It consists of a prior, two consuls, +and four deputies, elected by the profession. The three first exercise +consular jurisdiction, the other four superintend the encouragement of +commerce. The “<span lang="es">Junta de Comercio</span>” +(chamber of commerce) was formed in 1835. This junta <span class="corr" +id="xd20e9681" title="Source: consits">consists</span> of the Tribunal +of Commerce, with four merchants, who are selected by the government, +two of whom are removed annually. The prior of the Tribunal presides at +the Junta, whose meetings are required to be held twice a month, or +oftener if necessary, and upon days in which the Tribunal is not in +session. The two courts being under the same influences, and having the +same officers, little benefit is to be derived from their double +action, and great complaints are made of the manner in which business +is conducted in them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Magellan.</span>Of all her foreign +possessions, the Philippines have cost Spain the least blood and labor. +The honor of their discovery belongs to Magellan whose name is +associated with the straits at the southern extremity of the American +continent, but which has no memorial in these islands. Now that the +glory which he gained by being the first to penetrate from the Atlantic +to the Pacific, has been in some measure obliterated by the disuse of +those straits by navigators, it would seem due to his memory that some +spot among these islands should be set apart to commemorate the name +of, him who made them known to Europe. This would be but common justice +to the discoverer of a region which has been a source of so much honor +and profit to the Spanish nation, who opened the vast expanse of the +Pacific to the fleets of Europe, and who died fighting to secure the +benefits of his enterprise to his king and country.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb463" href="#pb463" name= +"pb463">463</a>]</span>Magellan was killed at the island of Mactan, on +April 26, 1521; and Duarte, the second in command, who succeeded him, +imprudently accepting an invitation from the chief of Cebu to a feast, +was, with twenty companions, massacred. Of all the Spaniards present, +only one escaped. After these and various other misfortunes, only one +vessel of the squadron, the <i>Victoria</i>, returned to Spain. Don +Juan Sebastian del Cano, her commander, was complimented by his +sovereign by a grant for his arms of a globe, with the proud +inscription, commemorative of his being the first circumnavigator, +“<span lang="la">Primus Me Circumcedit</span>.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Other expeditions.</span>Two years +afterwards, a second expedition was fitted out, under the command of +Loaisa, who died after they had passed through the Straits of Magellan, +when they had been a year on their voyage. The command then fell upon +Sebastian, who died in four days after his predecessor. Salazar +succeeded to the command, and reached the Ladrone Islands, but shortly +after leaving there he died also. They came in sight of Mindanao, but +contrary winds obliged them to go to the Moluccas. When arrived at the +Portuguese settlements, contentions and jealousies arose, and finally +all the expedition was dispersed, and the fate of all but one of the +vessels has become doubtful. None but the small tender returned, which, +after encountering great difficulties, reached New Spain.</p> +<p>The third expedition was fitted out by Cortes, then viceroy of +Mexico, and the command of it given to Saavedra. This sailed from the +port of Silguattanjo, on the 31st of October, 1528, and stopped at the +Ladrone Islands, of which it took possession for the crown of Spain. It +afterwards went to Mindanao, and then pursued its voyage to Timor, +where part of the expedition of Loaisa was found remaining. From Timor +they made two attempts to return to New Spain, both of which failed. +The climate soon brought on disease, which carried off a great number, +and among them Saavedra. Thus the whole expedition was broken up, and +the survivors found their way to the Portuguese settlements.</p> +<p>The fourth expedition was sent from New Spain, when under the +government of Don Antonio de Mendoza, for the purpose of establishing a +trade with the new islands, and it received orders not to visit the +Moluccas. This expedition sailed in 1542, under the command of +Villalobos. It reached the Philippine Islands without accident, and +Villalobos gave them that name after Philip II, then prince of +Asturias. Notwithstanding his positive instructions to the contrary, he +was obliged to visit the Moluccas, and met the same treatment from the +Portuguese that had been given to all whom they believed had any +intention to interfere in their spice trade. The squadron touched at +Amboina, where Villalobos died, an event which caused the breaking up +of the expedition; and the few Spaniards that remained embarked in the +Portuguese vessels to return home.</p> +<p>The fifth and last expedition was ordered by Philip II to be +sent from Mexico, when under the government of Don Luis de Velasco, for +the final conquest and settlement of the Philippines. With this +expedition was sent Andres Urdaneta, a friar, whose reputation stood +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb464" href="#pb464" name= +"pb464">464</a>]</span>very high as a cosmographer: he had belonged to +the ill-fated expedition of Loaisa. This was the largest that had yet +been fitted out for this purpose, numbering five vessels and about four +hundred men. The command of it was intrusted to <span class= +"marginnote">Legaspi.</span>Legaspi, under whom it sailed from the port +of Natividad, on November 21, 1564, and upon whom was conferred the +title of governor and adelantado of the conquered lands, with the +fullest powers. On the 13th of February, 1565, he arrived at the island +of Tandaya, one of the Philippines: from thence he went to Leyte; there +he obtained the son of a powerful chief as a guide, through whom he +established peace with several of the native rulers, who thereafter +aided the expedition with all the means in their power. At Bohol they +built the first church. There he met and made peace with a chief of +Luzon, with whom he went to that island. (Facts here are +confused.—C.)</p> +<p>He now (April, 1565) took possession of all the island in the name +of the crown of Spain, and became their first governor. In this +conquest, motives different from those which governed them on the +American continent, seemed to have influenced the Spaniards. Instead of +carrying on a cruel war against the natives, they here pursued the +policy of encouraging and fostering their industry. Whether they felt +that this policy was necessary for the success of their undertaking, or +were influenced by the religious fathers who were with them, is +uncertain; but their measures seem to have been dictated by a desire to +promote peace and secure the welfare of the inhabitants. There may be +another cause for this course of action, namely, the absence of the +precious metals, which held out no inducement to those thirsting for +inordinate gain. This may have had its weight in exempting the +expedition in its outset from the presence of those avaricious spirits +which had accompanied other Spanish expeditions, and been the means of +marking their progress with excessive tyranny, bloodshed, and violence. +It is evident to one who visits the Philippines that some other power +besides the sword has been at work in them; the natives are amalgamated +with the Spaniards, and all seem disposed to cultivate the land and +foster civilization. None of the feeling that grows out of conquest is +to be observed in these islands; the two races are identified now in +habits, manners, and religion, and their interests are so closely +allied that they feel their mutual dependence upon each other.</p> +<p>The establishment of the new constitution in Spain in the year 1825 +has had a wonderful effect upon these colonies, whose resources have +within the last ten years been developed, and improvements pushed +forward with a rapid step. Greater knowledge and more liberal views in +the rulers are alone wanting to cause a still more rapid advance in the +career of prosperity.</p> +<p>As our visit was to Luzon, we naturally obtained more personal +information respecting it than the other islands. We learned that the +northern peninsula<a class="noteref" id="xd20e9718src" href= +"#xd20e9718" name="xd20e9718src">1</a> was composed of granite and +recent volcanic rocks, together with secondary and tertiary deposits, +while the southern peninsula is almost wholly volcanic.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb465" href="#pb465" name= +"pb465">465</a>]</span>The northern contains many valuable mines of +gold, lead, copper, and iron, besides coal. A number of specimens of +these, and the rocks which contain them, were presented to the +Expedition by Señores Araria and Roxas of Manila.</p> +<p>So far as our information and observations went, the whole of the +Philippine Islands are of similar geological formation. In some of the +islands the volcanic rock prevails, while in others coal and the +metalliferous deposits predominate. On some of them the coal-beds form +part of the cliffs along the shore; on others, copper is found in a +chlorite and talcose slate. The latter is more particularly the case +with Luzon, and the same formation extends to Mindoro. Much iron occurs +on the mountains. Thus among the (Upland) natives, who are yet +unsubdued by the Spaniards, and who inhabit these mountains, it is +found by them of so pure a quality that it is manufactured into swords +and cleavers. These are, occasionally, obtained by the Spaniards in +their excursions into the interior against these bands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tufa.</span>The country around Manila is +composed of tufa of a light gray color, which being soft and easily +worked, is employed as the common building material in the city. It +contains, sometimes, scoria and pumice, in pieces of various sizes, +besides, occasionally, impressions of plants, with petrified woods. +These are confined to recent species, and include palms, etc.</p> +<p>This tufa forms one of the remarkable features of the volcanoes of +the Philippine Islands, showing a strong contrast between them and +those of the Pacific isles, which have ejected little else than lava +and scoria.</p> +<p>Few portions of the globe seem to be so much the seat of internal +fires, or to exhibit the effects of volcanic action so strongly as the +Philippines. During our visit, it was not known that any of the +volcanoes were in action; but many of them were smoking, particularly +that in the district of Albay, called Isaroc. Its latest eruption was +in the year 1839; but this did little damage compared with that of +1814, which covered several villages, and the country for a great +distance around, with ashes. This mountain is situated to the +south-east of Manila one hundred and fifty miles, and is said to be a +perfect cone, with a crater at its apex.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Resources.</span>It does not appear that +the islands are much affected by earth-quakes, although some have +occasionally occurred that have done damage to the churches at +Manila.</p> +<p>The coal which we have spoken of is deemed of value; it has a strong +resemblance to the bituminous coal of our own country, possesses a +bright lustre, and appears very free from all woody texture when +fractured. It is found associated with sandstone, which contains many +fossils. Lead and copper are reported as being very abundant; gypsum +and limestone occur in some districts. From this, it will be seen that +these islands have everything in the mineral way to constitute them +desirable possessions.</p> +<p>With such mineral resources, and a soil capable of producing the +most varied vegetation of the tropics, a liberal policy is all that the +country lacks. The products of the Philippine Islands consist of sugar, +coffee, hemp, indigo, rice, tortoise-shell, hides, ebony, saffron-wood, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb466" href="#pb466" name= +"pb466">466</a>]</span>sulphur, cotton, cordage, silk, pepper, cocoa, +wax, and many other articles. In their agricultural operations the +people are industrious, although much labor is lost by the use of +defective implements. The plough, of very simple construction, has been +adopted from the Chinese; it has no coulter, the share is flat, and +being turned partly to one side, answers, in a certain degree, the +purpose of a mould-board. This rude implement is sufficient for the +rich soils, where the tillage depends chiefly upon the harrow, in +constructing which a thorny species of bamboo is used. The harrow is +formed of five or six pieces of this material, on which the thorns are +left, firmly fastened together. It answers its purpose well, and is +seldom out of order. A wrought-iron harrow, that was introduced by the +Jesuits, is used for clearing the ground more effectually, and more +particularly for the purpose of extirpating a troublesome grass, that +is known by the name of cogon (a species of Andropogon), of which it is +very difficult to rid the fields. The bolo or long-knife, a basket, and +hoe, complete the list of implements, and answer all the purposes of +our spades, etc.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Draft animals.</span>The buffalo was used +until within a few years exclusively in their agricultural operations, +and they have lately taken to the use of the ox; but horses are never +used. The buffalo, from the slowness of his motions, and his exceeding +restlessness under the heat of the climate, is ill adapted to +agricultural labor; but the natives are very partial to them, +notwithstanding they occasion them much labor and trouble in bathing +them during the great heat. This is absolutely necessary, or the animal +becomes so fretful as to be unfit for use. If it were not for this, the +buffalo would, notwithstanding his slow pace, be most effective in +agricultural operations; he requires little food, and that of the +coarsest kind; his strength surpasses that of the stoutest ox, and he +is admirably adapted for the rice or paddy fields. They are very docile +when used by the natives, and even children can manage them; but it is +said they have a great antipathy to the whites, and all strangers. The +usual mode of guiding them is by a small cord attached to the cartilage +of the nose. The yoke rests on the neck before the shoulders, and is of +simple construction. To this is attached whatever it may be necessary +to draw, either by traces, shafts, or other fastenings. Frequently this +animal may be seen with large bundles of bamboo lashed to them on each +side. Buffaloes are to be met with on the lake with no more than their +noses and eyes out of the water, and are not visible until they are +approached within a few feet, when they cause alarm to the passengers +by raising their large forms close to the boat. It is said that they +resort to the lake to feed on a favorite grass that grows on its bottom +in shallow water, and which they dive for. Their flesh is not eaten, +except that of the young ones, for it is tough and tasteless. The milk +is nutritious, and of a character between that of the goat and cow.</p> +<p>The general appearance of the buffalo is that of a hybrid of the +bull and rhinoceros. Its horns do not rise upwards, are very close at +the root, bent backwards, and of a triangular form, with a flat side +above. One of the peculiarities of the buffalo is its voice, which is +quite low, and in the minor key, resembling that of a young colt. +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb467" href="#pb467" name= +"pb467">467</a>]</span>It is as fond of mire as swine, and shows the +consequence of recent wallowing, in being crusted over with mud. The +skin is visible, being but thinly covered with hair; its color is +usually that of a mouse; in some individuals darker.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Rice.</span>Rice is, perhaps, of their +agricultural products, the article upon which the inhabitants of the +Philippine Islands most depend for food and profit; of this they have +several different varieties; which the natives distinguish by their +size and the shape of the grain: the birnambang, lamuyo, malagequit, +bontot-cabayo, dumali, quinanda, bolohan, and tangi. The three first +are aquatic; the five latter upland varieties. They each have their +peculiar uses. The dumali is the early variety; it ripens in three +months from planting, from which circumstance it derives its name: it +is raised exclusively on the uplands. Although much esteemed, it is not +extensively cultivated, as the birds and insects destroy a large part +of the crop.</p> +<p>The malagequit is very much prized, and used for making sweet and +fancy dishes; it becomes exceedingly glutinous, for which reason it is +used in making whitewash, which it is said to cause to become of a +brilliant white, and to withstand the weather. This variety is not, +however, believed to be wholesome. There is also a variety of this last +species which is used as food for horses, and supposed to be a remedy +and preventive against worms.</p> +<p>The rice grounds or fields are laid out in squares, and surrounded +by embankments, to retain the water of the rains or streams. After the +rains have fallen in sufficient quantities to saturate the ground, a +seed-bed is generally planted in one corner of the field, in which the +rice is sown broadcast, about the month of June. The heavy rains take +place in August, when the fields are ploughed, and are soon filled with +water. The young plants are about this time taken from the seed-bed, +their tops and roots trimmed, and then planted in the field by making +holes in the ground with the fingers and placing four or five sprouts +in each of them; in this tedious labor the poor women are employed, +whilst the males are lounging in their houses or in the shade of the +trees.</p> +<p>The harvest for the aquatic rice begins in December. It is reaped +with small sickles, peculiar to the country, called yatap; to the back +of these a small stick is fastened, by which they are held, and the +stalk is forced upon it and cut. The spikes of rice are cut with this +implement, one by one. In this operation, men, women, and children all +take part.</p> +<p>The upland rice requires much more care and labor in its +cultivation. The land must be ploughed three or four times, and all the +turf and lumps well broken up by the harrow.</p> +<p>During its growth it requires to be weeded two or three times, to +keep the weeds from choking the crop. The seed is sown broadcast in +May. This kind of rice is harvested in November, and to collect the +crop is still more tedious than in the other case, for it is always +gathered earlier, and never reaped, in consequence of the grain not +adhering to the ear. If it were gathered in any other way, the loss by +transportation on the backs of buffaloes and horses, without any +covering to the sheaf, would be so great as to dissipate a great +portion of the crop.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb468" href="#pb468" name= +"pb468">468</a>]</span>It appears almost incredible that any people can +remain in ignorance of a way of preventing so extravagant and wasteful +a mode of harvesting. The government has been requested to prohibit it +on account of the great expense it gives rise to; but whether any steps +have ever been taken in the matter, I did not learn. It is said that +not unfrequently a third part of the crop is lost, in consequence of +the scarcity of laborers; while those who are disengaged will refuse to +work, unless they receive one-third, and even one-half of the crop, to +be delivered free of expense at their houses. This the planters are +often obliged to give, or lose the whole crop. Nay, unless the harvest +is a good one, reapers are very unwilling to engage to take it even on +these terms, and the entire crop is lost. The laborers, during the time +of harvest, are supported by the planter, who is during that time +exposed to great vexation, if not losses. The reapers are for the most +part composed of the idle and vicious part of the population, who go +abroad over the country to engage themselves in this employment, which +affords a livelihood to the poorer classes; for the different periods +at which the varieties of rice are planted and harvested, gives them +work during a large portion of the year.</p> +<p>After the rice is harvested, there are different modes of treating +it. Some of the proprietors take it home, where it is thrown into +heaps, and left until it is desirable to separate it from the straw, +when it is trodden out by men and women with their bare feet. For this +operation, they usually receive another fifth of the rice.</p> +<p>Others stack it in a wet and green state, which subjects it to heat, +from which cause the grain contracts a dark color, and an unpleasant +taste and smell. The natives, however, impute these defects to the +wetness of the season.</p> +<p>The crop of both the low and upland rice, is usually from thirty to +fifty for one: this is on old land; but on that which is newly cleared +or which has never been cultivated, the yield is far beyond this. In +some soils of the latter description, it is said that for a chupa +(seven cubic inches) planted, the yield has been a caban. The former is +the two-hundred-and-eighth part of the latter. This is not the only +advantage gained in planting rich lands, but the saving of labor is +equally great; for all that is required is to make a hole with the +fingers, and place three or four grains in it. The upland rice requires +but little water, and is never irrigated.</p> +<p>The cultivator in the Philippine Islands is always enabled to secure +plenty of manure; for vegetation is so luxuriant that by pulling the +weeds and laying them with earth, a good stock is quickly obtained with +which to cover his fields. Thus, although the growth is so rank as to +cause him labor, yet in this hot climate its decay is equally rapid, +which tends to make his labors more successful.</p> +<p>The rice-stacks form a picturesque object on the field; they are +generally placed around or near a growth of bamboo, whose tall, +graceful, and feathery outline is of itself a beautiful object, but +connected as it is often seen with the returns of the harvest, it +furnishes an additional source of gratification.</p> +<p>The different kinds of rice, and especially the upland, would no +doubt be an acquisition to our country. At the time we were at +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb469" href="#pb469" name= +"pb469">469</a>]</span>Manila, it was not thought feasible to pack it, +for it had just been reaped, and was so green that it would not have +kept.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e9785src" href="#xd20e9785" name= +"xd20e9785src">2</a> Although rice is a very prolific crop, yet it is +subject to many casualties, from the locusts and other insects that +devour it; the drought at other times affects it, particularly the +aquatic varieties. There is a use to which the rice is applied here, +which was new to us, namely, as a substitute for razors; by using two +grains of it between the fingers, they nip the beard, or extract it +from the chin and face.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Manila hemp.</span>Among the important +productions of these islands, I have mentioned hemp, although the +article called Manila hemp must not be understood to be derived from +the plant which produces the common hemp (Cannabis), being obtained +from a species of plantain (Musa textilis), called in the Philippines +“abacá.” This is a native of these islands, and was +formerly believed to be found only on Mindanao; but this is not the +case, for it is cultivated on the south part of Luzon, and all the +islands south of it. It grows on high ground, in rich soil, and is +propagated by seeds. It resembles the other plants of the tribe of +plantains, but its fruit is much smaller, although edible. The fibre is +derived from the stem, and the plant attains the height of fifteen or +twenty feet. The usual mode of preparing the hemp is to cut off the +stem near the ground, before the time or just when the fruit is ripe. +The stem is then eight or ten feet long below the leaves, where it is +again cut. The outer coating of the herbaceous stem is then stripped +off, until the fibers or cellular parts are seen, when it undergoes the +process of rotting, and after being well dried in houses and sheds, is +prepared for market by assorting it, a task which is performed by the +women and children. That which is intended for cloth is soaked for an +hour or two in weak lime-water prepared from sea-shells, again dried, +and put up in bundles. From all the districts in which it grows, it is +sent to Manila, which is the only port whence it can legally be +exported. It arrives in large bundles, and is packed there, by means of +a screw-press, in compact bales, for shipping, secured by rattan, each +weighing two piculs.</p> +<p>The best Manila hemp ought to be white, dry, and of a long and fine +fiber. This is known at Manila by the name of lupis; the second quality +they call bandala.</p> +<p>The exportation has much increased within the last few years, in +consequence of the demand for it in the United States; and the whole +crop is now monopolized by the two American houses of Sturges & +Co., and T. N. Peale & Co., of Manila, who buy all of good quality +that comes to market. This is divided between the two houses, and the +price they pay is from four to five dollars the picul. The entire +quantity raised in 1840 was eighty-three thousand seven hundred and +ninety piculs; in 1841, eighty-seven thousand.</p> +<p>The quantity exported to the United States in 1840, was sixty-eight +thousand two hundred and eighty piculs, and in 1841, only sixty-two +thousand seven hundred piculs; its value in Manila is about three +hundred thousand dollars. Twenty thousand piculs go to Europe. There +are no duties on its exportation.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb470" href="#pb470" name= +"pb470">470</a>]</span>That which is brought to the United States is +principally manufactured in or near Boston, and is the cordage known as +“white rope.” The cordage manufactured at Manila is, +however, very superior to the rope made with us, although the hemp is +of the inferior kind. A large quantity is also manufactured into +mats.</p> +<p>In the opinion of our botanist, it is not probable that the plant +could be introduced with success into our country, for in the +Philippines it is not found north of latitude 14° N.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coffee.</span>The coffee-plant is well +adapted to these islands. A few plants were introduced into the gardens +of Manila, about fifty years ago, since which time it has been spread +all over the island, as is supposed by the civet-cats, which, after +swallowing the seeds, carry them to a distance before they are +voided.</p> +<p>The coffee of commerce is obtained here from the wild plant, and is +of an excellent quality. Upwards of three thousand five hundred piculs +are now exported, of which one-sixth goes to the United States.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sugar.</span>The sugar-cane thrives well +here. It is planted after the French fashion, by sticking the piece +diagonally into the ground. Some, finding the cane has suffered in +times of drought, have adopted other modes. It comes to perfection in a +year, and they seldom have two crops from the same piece of land, +unless the season is very favorable.</p> +<p>There are many kinds of cane cultivated, but that grown in the +valley of Pampanga is thought to be the best. It is a small red +variety, from four to five feet high, and not thicker than the thumb. +The manufacture of the sugar is rudely conducted; and the whole +business, I was told, was in the hands of a few capitalists, who, by +making advances, secure the whole crop from those who are employed to +bring it to market. It is generally brought in moulds, of the usual +conical shape, called pilones, which are delivered to the purchaser +from November to June, and contain each about one hundred and fifty +pounds. On their receipt, they are placed in large storehouses, where +the familiar operation of claying is performed. The estimate for the +quantity of sugar from these pilones after this process is about one +hundred pounds; it depends upon the care taken in the process.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cotton.</span>Of cotton they raise a +considerable quantity, which is of a fine quality, and principally of +the yellow nankeen. In the province of Ilocos it is cultivated most +extensively. The mode of cleaning it of its seed is very rude, by means +of a hand-mill, and the expense of cleaning a picul (one hundred and +forty pounds) is from five to seven dollars. There have, as far as I +have understood, been no endeavors to introduce any cotton-gins from +our country.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Wages.</span>It will be merely necessary to +give the prices at which laborers are paid, to show how low the +compensation is, in comparison with those in our own country. In the +vicinity of Manila, twelve and a half cents per day is the usual wages; +this in the provinces falls to six and nine cents. A man with two +buffaloes is paid about thirty cents. The amount of labor performed by +the latter in a day would be the ploughing of a soane, about two-tenths +of an acre. The most profitable way of employing laborers is by the +task, when, it is said, the natives work well, and are industrious.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb471" href="#pb471" name= +"pb471">471</a>]</span>The manner in which the sugar and other produce +is brought to market at Manila is peculiar, and deserves to be +mentioned. In some of the villages, the chief men unite to build a +vessel, generally a pirogue, in which they embark their produce, under +the conduct of a few persons, who go to navigate it, and dispose of the +cargo. In due time they make their voyage, and when the accounts are +settled, the returns are distributed to each according to his share. +Festivities are then held, the saints thanked for their kindness, and +blessings invoked for another year. After this is over, the vessel is +taken carefully to pieces, and distributed, among the owners, to be +preserved for the next season.</p> +<p>The profits in the crops, according to estimates, vary from sixty to +one hundred per cent.; but it was thought, as a general average, that +this was, notwithstanding the great productiveness of the soil, far +beyond the usual profits accruing from agricultural operations. In some +provinces this estimate would hold good, and probably be exceeded.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Indigo.</span>Indigo would probably be a +lucrative crop, for that raised here is said to be of quality equal to +the best, and the crop is not subject to so many uncertainties as in +India: the capital and attention required in vats, etc., prevent it +from being raised in any quantities. Among the productions, the bamboo +and rattan ought to claim a particular notice from their great utility; +they enter into almost every thing. Of the former their houses are +built, including frames, floors, sides, and roof; fences are made of +the same material, as well as every article of general household use, +including baskets for oil and water. The rattan is a general substitute +for ropes of all descriptions, and the two combined are used in +constructing rafts for crossing ferries.</p> +<p>I have thus given a general outline of the capabilities of this +country for agricultural operations, in some of the most important +articles of commerce; by which it will be seen that the Philippine +Islands are one of the most favored parts of the globe.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Locusts.</span>The crops frequently suffer +from the ravages of the locusts, which sweep all before them. +Fortunately for the poorer classes, their attacks take place after the +rice has been harvested; but the cane is sometimes entirely cut off. +The authorities of Manila, in the vain hope of stopping their +devastations, employ persons to gather them and throw them into the +sea. I understood on one occasion they had spent eighty thousand +dollars in this way, but all to little purpose. It is said that the +crops rarely suffer from droughts, but on the contrary the rains are +thought to fall too often, and to flood the rice fields; these, +however, yield a novel crop, and are very advantageous to the poor, +viz.: a great quantity of fish, which are called dalag, and are a +species of Blunnius; they are so plentiful, that they are caught with +baskets: these fish weigh from a half to two pounds, and some are said +to be eighteen inches long; but this is not all; they are said, after a +deep inundation, to be found even in the vaults of churches.</p> +<p>The Philippines are divided into thirty-one provinces, sixteen of +which are on the island of Luzon, and the remainder comprise the other +islands of the group and the Ladrones.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb472" href="#pb472" name= +"pb472">472</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Population.</span>The +population of the whole group is above three millions, including all +tribes of natives, mestizos, and whites. The latter-named class are but +few in number, not exceeding three thousand. The mestizos were supposed +to be about fifteen or twenty thousand; they are distinguished as +Spanish and Indian mestizos. The Chinese have of late years increased +to a large number, and it is said that there are forty thousand of them +in and around Manila alone. One-half of the whole population belongs to +Luzon. The island next to it in the number of inhabitants is Panay, +which contains about three hundred and thirty thousand. Then come Cebu, +Mindanao, Leyte, Samar, and Negros, varying from the above numbers down +to fifty thousand. The population is increasing, and it is thought that +it doubles itself in seventy years. This rate of increase appears +probable, from a comparison of the present population with the estimate +made at the beginning of the present century, which shows a growth in +the forty years of about one million four hundred thousand.</p> +<p>The native population is composed of a number of distinct tribes, +the principal of which in Luzon are Pangasinan, Ilocos, Cagayan, +Tagalog, and Pampangan.</p> +<p>The Igorots, who dwell in the mountains, are the only natives who +have not been subjected by the Spaniards. The other tribes have become +identified with their rulers in religion, and it is thought that by +this circumstance alone has Spain been able to maintain the ascendency +with so small a number, over such a numerous, intelligent, and +energetic race as they are represented to be. This is, however, more +easily accounted for, from the Spaniards fostering and keeping alive +the jealousy and hatred that existed at the time of the discovery +between the different tribes.</p> +<p>It seems almost incredible that Spain should have so long persisted +in the policy of allowing no more than one galleon to pass annually +between her colonies, and equally so that the nations of Europe should +have been so long deceived in regard to the riches and wealth that +Spain was monopolizing in the Philippines. The capture of Manila, in +1762, by the English, first gave a clear idea of the value of this +remote and little-known appendage of the empire.</p> +<p>The Philippines, considered in their capacity for commerce, are +certainly among the most favored portions of the globe, and there is +but one circumstance that tends in the least degree to lessen their +apparent advantage; this is the prevalence of typhoons in the China +seas, which are occasionally felt with force to the north of latitude +10° N. South of that parallel, they have never been known to +prevail, and seldom so far; but from their unfailing occurrence yearly +in some part of the China seas, they are looked for with more or less +dread, and cause each season a temporary interruption in all the trade +that passes along the coast of these islands.</p> +<p>The army is now composed entirely of native troops, who number about +six thousand men, and the regiments are never suffered to serve in the +provinces in which they are recruited, but those from the north are +sent to the south, and vice versa. There they are employed to keep up a +continual watch on each other; and, speaking different dialects, they +never become identified.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb473" href="#pb473" name= +"pb473">473</a>]</span>They are, indeed, never allowed to remain long +enough in one region, to imbibe any feelings in unison with those of +its inhabitants. The hostility is so great among the regiments, that +mutinies have occurred, and contests arisen which have produced even +bloodshed, which it was entirely out of the power of the officers to +prevent. In cases of this kind, summary punishment is resorted to.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Conditions not peaceful.</span>Although the +Spaniards, as far as is known abroad, live in peace and quiet, this is +far from being the case; for rebellion and revolts among the troops and +tribes are not unfrequent in the provinces. During the time of our +visit one of these took place, but it was impossible to learn anything +concerning it that could be relied upon, for all conversation +respecting such occurrences is interdicted by the government. The +difficulty to which I refer was said to have originated from the +preaching of a fanatic priest, who inflamed them to such a degree that +they overthrew the troops and became temporarily masters of the +country. Prompt measures were immediately taken, and orders issued to +give the rebels no quarter; the regiments most hostile to those engaged +in the revolt were ordered to the spot; they spared no one; the priest +and his companions were taken, put to death, and according to report, +in a manner so cruel as to be a disgrace to the records of the +nineteenth century. Although I should hope the accounts I heard of +these transactions were incorrect, yet the detestation these acts were +held in, would give some color to the statements.</p> +<p>The few gazettes that are published at Manila are entirely under the +control of the government; and a resident of that city must make up his +mind to remain in ignorance of the things that are passing around him, +or believe just what the authorities will allow to be told, whether +truth or falsehood. The government of the Philippines is emphatically +an iron rule: how long it can continue so, is doubtful.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The governor-general.</span>One of my first +duties was to make an official call upon His Excellency Don Marcelino +Oroa, who is the sixty-first governor of the Philippine Islands. +According to the established etiquette, Mr. Moore, the vice-consul, +announced our desire to do so, and requested to be informed of the time +when we would be received. This was accordingly named, and at the +appointed hour we proceeded to the palace in the city proper. On our +arrival, we were announced and led up a flight of steps, ample and +spacious, but by no means of such splendor as would indicate the +residence of vice-royalty. The suite of rooms into which we were +ushered were so dark that it was difficult to see. I made out, however, +that they were panelled, and by no means richly furnished. His +excellency entered from a side-door, and led us through two or three +apartments into his private audience-room, an apartment not quite so +dark as those we had come from: our being conducted to this, I was told +afterwards, was to be considered an especial mark of respect to my +country. His reception of us was friendly. The governor has much more +the appearance of an Irishman than of a Spaniard, being tall, portly, +of a florid complexion. He is apparently more than sixty years of age. +He was dressed in a full suit of black, with a star on his breast.</p> +<p>Mr. Moore acted as interpreter, and the governor readily acceded to +my request to be allowed to send a party into the interior for a few +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb474" href="#pb474" name= +"pb474">474</a>]</span>days; a permission which I almost despaired of +receiving, for I knew that he had refused a like application some few +months before. The refusal, however, I think was in part owing to the +character of the applicants, and the doubtful object they had in view. +I impute the permission we received to the influence of our consul, +together with Mr. Sturges, whose agreeable manners, conciliatory tone, +and high standing with the authorities, will, I am satisfied, insure us +at all times every reasonable advantage or facility.</p> +<p>The term of the governor in office is three years, and the present +incumbent was installed in 1841. This length of time is thought to be +sufficient for any one of them to make a fortune. The office is held by +the appointment of the ministry in Spain, and with it are connected +perquisites that are shared, it is said, by those who confer them.</p> +<p>After having paid our respects to his excellency, we drove to visit +several other officers of the government, who received us without +ceremony. We generally found them in loose morning-gowns, smoking, and +cigars were invariably offered us; for this habit appears in Manila to +extend to all ranks. Even in the public offices of the custom-house it +was the fashion, and cigars, with a machero for striking a light, or a +joss-stick kept burning, were usually seen in every apartment.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Courteous Spanish officials.</span>To the +captain of the port, Don Juan Salomon, I feel under many obligations +for his attentions. I was desirous of obtaining information relative to +the Sulu Seas, and to learn how far the Spanish surveys had been +carried. He gave me little hopes of obtaining any; but referred me to +Captain Halcon, of the Spanish Navy, who had been employed surveying +some part of the coast of the islands to the north. The latter whom I +visited, on my making the inquiry of him, and stating the course I +intended to pursue, frankly told me that all the existing charts were +erroneous. He only knew enough of the ground to be certain that they +were so, and consequently useless. He advised my taking one of the +native pilots, who were generally well acquainted with the seas that +lay more immediately in my route. The captain of the port was +afterwards kind enough to offer to procure me one.</p> +<p>The intercourse I had with these gentlemen was a source of much +gratification, and it gives me great pleasure to make this public +expression of it. To both, my sincere acknowledgments are due for +information in relation to the various reefs and shoals that have been +recently discovered, and which will be found placed in their true +position on our charts.</p> +<p>During our stay at Manila, our time was occupied in seeing sights, +shopping, riding, and amusing ourselves with gazing on the throng +incessantly passing through the Escolta of the Binondo suburb, or more +properly, the commercial town of Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cigar factories.</span>Among the lions of +the place, the great royal cigar manufactories claim especial notice +from their extent and the many persons employed. There are two of these +establishments, one situated in the Binondo quarter, and the other on +the great square or Prado; in the former, which was visited by us, +there are two buildings of two stories high, besides several +storehouses, enclosed by a wall, with two <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb475" href="#pb475" name="pb475">475</a>]</span>large gateways, at +which sentinels are always posted. The principal workshop is in the +second story, which is divided into six apartments, in which eight +thousand females are employed. Throughout the whole extent, tables are +arranged, about sixteen inches high, ten feet long, and three feet +wide, at each of which fifteen women are seated, having small piles of +tobacco before them. The tables are set crosswise from the wall, +leaving a space in the middle of the room free. The labor of a female +produces about two hundred cigars a day; and the working hours are from +6 a.m., till 6 p.m., with a recess of two hours, from eleven till one +o’clock. The whole establishment is kept very neat and clean, and +every thing appears to be carried on in the most systematic and +workmanlike manner. Among such numbers, it has been found necessary to +institute a search on their leaving the establishment to prevent +embezzlement, and this is regularly made twice a day, without +distinction of sex. It is a strange sight to witness the ingress and +egress of these hordes of females; and probably the world cannot +elsewhere exhibit so large a number of ugly women. Their ages vary from +fifteen to forty-five. The sum paid them for wages is very trifling. +The whole number of persons employed in the manufactories is about +fifteen thousand; this includes the officers, clerks, overseers, +etc.</p> +<p>As nearly as I could ascertain, the revenue derived from these +establishments is half a million of dollars.</p> +<p>The natives of the Philippines are industrious. They manufacture an +amount of goods sufficient to supply their own wants, particularly from +Panay and Ilocos. These for the most part consist of cotton and silks, +and a peculiar article called piña. The latter is manufactured +from a species of Bromelia (pineapple), and comes principally from the +island of Panay. The finest kinds of piña are exceedingly +beautiful, and surpass any other material in its evenness and beauty of +texture. Its color is yellowish, and the embroidery is fully equal to +the material. It is much sought after by all strangers, and considered +as one of the curiosities of this group. Various reports have been +stated of the mode of its manufacture, and among others that it was +woven under water, which I found, upon inquiry, to be quite erroneous. +The web of the piña is so fine, that they are obliged to prevent +all currents of air from passing through the rooms where it is +manufactured, for which purpose there are gauze screens in the windows. +After the article is brought to Manila, it is then embroidered by +girls; this last operation adds greatly to its value. We visited one of +the houses where this was in progress, and where the most skilful +workwomen are employed.</p> +<p>On mounting the stairs of bamboos, every step we took produced its +creak; but, although the whole seemed but a crazy affair, yet it did +not want for strength, being well and firmly bound together. There were +two apartments, each about thirteen by twenty-five feet, which could be +divided by screens, if required. At the end of it were seen about forty +females, all busily plying their needles, and so closely seated as +apparently to incommode each other. The mistress of the manufactory, +who was quite young, gave us a friendly reception, and showed us the +whole process of drawing the threads and working the patterns, which, +in many cases, were elegant.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb476" href="#pb476" name= +"pb476">476</a>]</span>A great variety of dresses, scarfs, caps, +collars, cuffs, and pocket-handkerchiefs, were shown us. These were +mostly in the rough state, and did not strike us with that degree of +admiration which was expected. They, however, had been in hand for six +months, and were soiled by much handling; but when others were shown us +in the finished state, washed and put up, they were such as to claim +our admiration.</p> +<p>I was soon attracted by a very different sight at the other end of +the apartment. This was a dancing-master and his scholar, of six years +old, the daughter of the woman of the house. It was exceedingly amusing +to see the airs and graces of this child.</p> +<p>For music they had a guitar; and I never witnessed a ballet that +gave me more amusement, or saw a dancer that evinced more grace, ease, +confidence, and decided talent, than did this little girl. She was +prettily formed, and was exceedingly admired and applauded by us all. +Her mother considered her education as finished, and looked on with all +the admiration and fondness of parental affection.</p> +<p>On inquiry, I found that the idea of teaching her to read and write +had not yet been entertained. Yet every expense is incurred to teach +them to use their feet and arms, and to assume the expression of +countenance that will enable them to play a part in the afterscenes of +life.</p> +<p>This manufactory had work engaged for nine months or a year in +advance. The fabric is extremely expensive, and none but the wealthy +can afford it. It is also much sought after by foreigners. Even orders +for Queen Victoria and many of the English nobility were then in hand; +at least I so heard at Manila. Those who are actually present have, +notwithstanding, the privilege of selecting what they wish to purchase; +for, with the inhabitants here, as elsewhere, ready money has too much +attraction for them to forego the temptation.</p> +<p>Time in Manila seems to hang heavily on the hands of some of its +inhabitants; their amusements are few, and the climate ill adapted to +exertion. The gentlemen of the higher classes pass their morning in the +transaction of a little public business, lounging about, smoking, etc. +In the afternoon, they sleep, and ride on the Prado; and in the +evening, visit their friends, or attend a tertulia. The ladies are to +be pitied; for they pass three-fourths of their time in +déshabillé, with their maids around them, sleeping, +dressing, lolling, and combing their hair. In this way the whole +morning is lounged away; they neither read, write, nor work. In dress +they generally imitate the Europeans, except that they seldom wear +stockings, and go with their arms bare. In the afternoon they ride on +the Prado in state, and in the evening accompany their husbands. +Chocolate is taken early in the morning, breakfast at eleven, and +dinner and supper are included in one meal.</p> +<p>Mothers provide for the marriage of their daughters; and I was told +that such a thing as a gentleman proposing to any one but the mother, +or a young lady engaging herself, is unknown and unheard of. The +negotiation is all carried forward by the mother, and the daughter is +given to any suitor she may deem a desirable match. The young ladies +are said to be equally disinclined to a choice themselves, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb477" href="#pb477" name="pb477">477</a>]</span>and +if proposals were made to them, the suitor would be at once referred to +the mother. Among the lower orders it is no uncommon thing for the +parties to be living without the ceremony of marriage, until they have +a family and no odium whatever is attached to such a connexion. They +are looked upon as man and wife, though they do not live together; and +they rarely fail to solemnize their union when they have accumulated +sufficient property to procure the requisite articles for +housekeeping.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Luneta.</span>Three nights in each week +they have music in the plaza, in front of the governor’s palace, +by the bands of four different regiments, who collect there after the +evening parade. Most of the better class resort here, for the pleasure +of enjoying it. We went thither to see the people as well as to hear +the music. This is the great resort of the <i lang="fr">haut ton</i>, +who usually have their carriages in waiting, and promenade in groups +backwards and forwards during the time the music is playing. This is by +far the best opportunity that one can have for viewing the society of +Manila, which seems as easy and unrestrained as the peculiar gravity +and ceremonious mode of intercourse among the old Spaniards can admit. +Before the present governor took office, it had been the custom to +allow the bands to play on the Prado every fine evening, when all the +inhabitants could enjoy it until a late hour; but he has interdicted +this practice, and of course given much dissatisfaction; he is said to +have done this in a fit of ill temper, and although importuned to +restore this amusement to the common people, he pertinaciously +refuses.</p> +<p>The bands of the regiments are under the direction of Frenchmen and +Spaniards: the musicians are all natives, and play with a correct +ear.</p> +<p>Our afternoons were spent in drives on the Prado, where all the +fashion and rank of Manila are to be met, and where it is exceedingly +agreeable to partake of the fresh and pure air after a heated day in +the city. The extreme end of the Prado lies along the shore of the bay +of Manila, having the roadstead and ships on one side, and the city +proper with its fortifications and moats on the other. This drive +usually lasts for an hour, and all sorts of vehicles are shown off, +from the governor’s coach and six, surrounded by his lancers, to +the sorry chaise and limping nag. The carriage most used is a +four-wheeled biloche, with a gig top, quite low, and drawn by two +horses, on one of which is a postilion; these vehicles are exceedingly +comfortable for two persons. The horses are small, but spirited, and +are said to be able to undergo great fatigue, although their appearance +does not promise it. This drive is enlivened by the music of the +different regiments, who are at this time to be seen manoeuvering on +the Prado. The soldiers have a very neat and clean appearance; great +attention is paid to them, and the whole are well appointed. The force +stationed in Manila is six thousand, and the army in the Philippines +amounts to twenty thousand men. The officers are all Spaniards, +generally the relations and friends of those in the administration of +the government. The pay of the soldiers is four dollars a month, and a +ration, which is equal to six cents a day. As troops I was told, they +acquitted themselves well. The Prado is laid out <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb478" href="#pb478" name="pb478">478</a>]</span>in +many avenues, leading in various directions to the suburbs, and these +are planted with wild almond trees, which afford a pleasant shade. It +is well kept, and creditable to the city.</p> +<p>In passing the crowds of carriages very little display of female +beauty is observed, and although well-dressed above, one cannot but +revert to their wearing no stockings beneath.</p> +<p>On the Prado is a small theatre, but so inferior that the building +scarce deserves the name: the acting was equally bad. This amusement +meets with little encouragement in Manila and, I was told, was +discountenanced by the Governor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A tertulia.</span>I had the pleasure during +our stay of attending a tertulia in the city. The company was not a +large one, comprising some thirty or forty ladies and about sixty +gentlemen. It resembled those of the mother country. Dancing was +introduced at an early hour, and continued till a few minutes before +eleven o’clock, at which time the gates of the city are always +shut. It was amusing to see the sudden breaking up of the party, most +of the guests residing out of the city. The calling for carriages, +shawls, hats, etc., produced for a few minutes great confusion, every +one being desirous of getting off at the earliest moment possible, for +fear of being too late. This regulation, by which the gates are closed +at so early an hour, does not appear necessary, and only serves to +interrupt the communication between the foreign and Spanish society as +the former is obliged, as before observed, to live outside of the city +proper. This want of free intercourse is to be regretted, as it +prevents that kind of friendship by which many of their jealousies and +prejudices might be removed.</p> +<p>The society at this tertulia was easy, and so far as the enjoyment +of dancing went, pleasant; but there was no conversation. The +refreshments consisted of a few dulces, lemonade, and strong drinks in +an anteroom. The house appeared very spacious and well adapted for +entertainments, but only one of the rooms was well lighted. From the +novelty of the scene, and the attentions of the gentleman of the house, +we passed a pleasant evening.</p> +<p>The natives and mestizos attracted much of my attention at Manila. +Their dress is peculiar: over a pair of striped trousers of various +colors, the men usually wear a fine grass-cloth shirt, a large straw +hat, and around the head or neck a many colored silk handkerchief. They +often wear slippers as well as shoes. The Chinese dress, as they have +done for centuries, in loose white shirts and trousers. One peculiarity +of the common men is their passion for cock-fighting; and they carry +these fowls wherever they go, after a peculiar fashion under their +arm.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cock-figghting.</span>Cock-fighting is +licensed by the government, and great care is taken in the breeding of +game fowls, which are very large and heavy birds. They are armed with a +curved double-edged gaff. The exhibitions are usually crowded with +half-breeds or mestizos, who are generally more addicted to gambling +than either the higher or lower classes of Spaniards. It would not be +an unapt designation to call the middling class cock-fighters, for +their whole lives seem to be taken up with the breeding and fighting of +these birds. On the exit from a cockpit, I was much amused with the +mode of giving the return check, which was done by a stamp on the naked +arm, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb479" href="#pb479" name= +"pb479">479</a>]</span>precludes the possibility of its transfer to +another person. The dress of the lower order of females is somewhat +civilized, yet it bore so strong a resemblance to that of the +Polynesians as to recall the latter to our recollection. A long piece +of colored cotton is wound round the body, like the pareu, and tucked +in at the side: this covers the nether limbs; and a jacket fitting +close to the body is worn, without a shirt. In some, this jacket is +ornamented with work around the neck; it has no collar, and in many +cases no sleeves, and over this a richly embroidered cape. The feet are +covered with slippers, with wooden soles, which are kept on by the +little toe, only four toes entering the slipper, and the little one +being on the outside. The effect of both costumes is picturesque.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ducks.</span>The market is a never failing +place of amusement to a foreigner, for there a crowd of the common +people is always to be seen, and their mode of conducting business may +be observed. The canals here afford great facilities for bringing +vegetables and produce to market in a fresh state. The vegetables are +chiefly brought from the shores of the Laguna de Bay, through the river +Pasig. The meat appeared inferior, and as in all Spanish places the art +of butchering is not understood. The poultry, however, surpasses that +of any other place I have seen, particularly in ducks, the breeding of +which is pursued to a great extent. Establishments for breeding these +birds are here carried on in a systematic manner, and are a great +curiosity. They consist of many small enclosures, each about twenty +feet by forty or fifty, made of bamboo, which are placed on the bank of +the river, and partly covered with water. In one corner of the +enclosure is a small house, where the eggs are hatched by artificial +heat, produced by rice-chaff in a state of of fermentation. It is not +uncommon to see six or eight hundred ducklings all of the same age. +There are several hundreds of these enclosures, and the number of ducks +of all ages may be computed at millions. The manner in which they are +schooled to take exercise, and to go in and out of the water, and to +return to their house, almost exceeds belief. The keepers or tenders +are of the Tagalog tribe, who live near the enclosures, and have them +at all times under their eye. The old birds are not suffered to +approach the young, and all of one age are kept together. They are fed +upon rice and a small species of shell-fish that is found in the river +and is peculiar to it. From the extent of these establishments we +inferred that ducks were the favorite article of food at Manila, and +the consumption of them must be immense. The markets are well supplied +with chickens, pigeons, young partridges, which are brought in alive, +and turkeys. Among strange articles that we saw for sale, were cakes of +coagulated blood. The markets are well stocked with a variety of fish, +taken both in the Laguna and bay of Manila, affording a supply of both +the fresh and salt water species, and many smaller kinds that are dried +and smoked. Vegetables are in great plenty, and consist of pumpkins, +lettuce, onions, radishes, very long squashes, etc.; of fruits, they +have melons, chicos, durians, marbolas, and oranges.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Fish.</span>Fish are caught in weirs, by +the hook, or in seines. The former are constructed of bamboo stakes, in +the shallow water of the lake, at the point where it flows through the +Pasig river. In the bay, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb480" href= +"#pb480" name="pb480">480</a>]</span>and at the mouth of the river, the +fish are taken in nets, suspended by the four corners from hoops +attached to a crane, by which they are lowered into the water. The +fishing-boats are little better than rafts, and are called +sarabaos.</p> +<p>The usual passage-boat is termed banca, and is made of a single +trunk. These are very much used by the inhabitants. They have a sort of +awning to protect the passenger from the rays of the sun; and being +light are easily rowed about, although they are exceedingly +uncomfortable to sit in, from the lowness of the seats, and liable to +overset, if the weight is not placed near the bottom. The outrigger was +very often dispensed with, owing to the impediment it offered to the +navigation of their canals; these canals offer great facilities for the +transportation of burdens; the banks of almost all of them are faced +with granite. Where the streets cross them, there are substantial stone +bridges, which are generally of no more than one arch, so as not to +impede the navigation. The barges used for the transportation of +produce resemble our canal-boats, and have sliding roofs to protect +them from the rain.</p> +<p>Water, for the supply of vessels, is brought off in large earthen +jars. It is obtained from the river, and if care is not taken, the +water will be impure; it ought to be filled beyond the city. Our supply +was obtained five or six miles up the river, by a lighter, in which +were placed a number of water-casks. It proved excellent.</p> +<p>The trade of Manila extends to all parts of the world.</p> +<p>There are many facilities for the transaction of business, as far as +the shipment of articles is concerned; but great difficulties attend +the settling of disputed accounts, collecting debts, etc., in the way +of which the laws passed in 1834 have thrown many obstacles. All +commercial business of this kind goes before, first, the <span lang= +"es">Junta de Comercio</span>, and then an appeal to the <span lang= +"es">Tribunal de Comercio</span>. This appeal, however, is merely +nominal; for the same judges preside in each, and they are said to be +susceptible of influences that render an appeal to them by honest men +at all times hazardous. The opinion of those who have had the +misfortune to be obliged to recur to these tribunals is, that it is +better to suffer wrong than encounter both the expense and vexation of +a resort to them for justice. In the first of these courts the decision +is long delayed, fees exacted, and other expenses incurred; and when +judgment is at length given, it excites one party or the other to +appeal: other expenses accrue in consequence, and the advocates and +judges grow rich while both the litigants suffer. I understood that +these tribunals were intended to simplify business, lessen the time of +suits, and promote justice; but these results have not been obtained, +and many believe that they have had the contrary effect, and have +opened the road to further abuses.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Environs.</span>The country around Manila, +though no more than an extended plain for some miles, is one of great +interest and beauty, and affords many agreeable rides on the roads to +Santa Ana and Mariquina. Most of the country-seats are situated on the +Pasig river; they may indeed be called palaces, from their extent and +appearance. They are built upon a grand scale, and after the Italian +style, with terraces, supported by strong abutments, decked with vases +of plants. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb481" href="#pb481" name= +"pb481">481</a>]</span>The grounds are ornamented with the luxuriant, +lofty, and graceful trees of the tropics; these are tolerably well +kept. Here and there fine large stone churches, with their towers and +steeples, are to be seen, the whole giving the impression of a wealthy +nobility, and a happy and flourishing peasantry.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The cemetery.</span>In one of our rides we +made a visit to the Campo Santo or cemetery, about four miles from +Manila. It is small, but has many handsome trees about it; among them +was an Agati, full of large white flowers, showing most conspicuously. +The whole place is as unlike a depository of the dead as it well can +be. Its form is circular, having a small chapel, in the form of a +rotunda, directly opposite the gate, or entrance. The walls are about +twenty feet high, with three tiers of niches, in which the bodies are +enclosed with quicklime. Here they are allowed to remain for three +years, or until such time as the niches may be required for further +use. Niches may be purchased, however, and permanently closed up; but +in the whole cemetery there were but five thus secured. This would seem +to indicate an indifference on the part of the living, for their +departed relatives or friends; at least such was my impression at the +time. The center of the enclosure is laid out as a flower-garden and +shrubbery, and all the buildings are washed a deep buff-color, with +white cornices; these colors, when contrasted with the green foliage, +give an effect that is not unpleasing. In the chapel are two tombs, the +one for the bishop, and the other for the governor. The former, I +believe, is occupied, and will continue to be so, until another shall +follow him; but the latter is empty, for, since the erection of the +cemetery, none of the governors have died. In the rear of the chapel is +another small cemetery, called Los Angeles; and, further behind, the +Osero. The former is similar to the one in front, but smaller, and +appropriated exclusively to children; the latter is an open space, +where the bones of all those who have been removed from the niches, +after three years, are east out, and now lie in a confused heap, with +portions of flesh and hair adhering to them. No person is allowed to be +received here for interment, until the fees are first paid to the +priest, however respectable the parties may be; and all those who pay +the fees, and are of the true faith, can be interred. I was told of a +corpse of a very respectable person being refused admittance, for the +want of the priest’s pass, to show that the claim had been +satisfied, and the coffin stopped in the road until it was obtained. We +ourselves witnessed a similar refusal. A servant entered with a dead +child; borne on a tray, which he presented to the sacristan to have +interred, the latter asked him for the pass, which not being produced, +he was dismissed, nor was he suffered to leave his burden until this +requisite could be procured from the priest, who lived opposite. The +price of interment was three dollars, but whether this included the +purchase of the niche, or its rent for the three years only, I did not +learn.</p> +<p>The churches of Manila can boast of several fine-toned bells, which +are placed in large belfries or towers. There was one of these towers +near the Messrs. Sturges’, where we stayed; and the manner in +which the bell was used, when swung around by the force <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb482" href="#pb482" name="pb482">482</a>]</span>of +two or three men, attracted our attention; for the ringers occasionally +practised feats of agility by passing over with the bell, and landing +on the coping on the opposite side. The tower being open, we could see +the manoeuver from the windows, and, as strangers, went there to look +on. One day, whilst at dinner, they began to ring, and as many of the +officers had not witnessed the fact, they sought the windows. This +excited the vanity of those in the belfry, who redoubled their +exertions, and performed the feat successfully many times, although in +some instances they narrowly escaped accident, by landing just within +the outside coping. This brought us all to the window, and the next +turn, more force having been given to the bell, the individual who +attempted the feat was thrown headlong beyond the tower, and dashed to +pieces on the pavement beneath. Although shocked at the accident, I +felt still more so when, after a few minutes, the bell was again heard +making its usual sound, as if nothing had occurred to interrupt the +course of its hourly peals.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Monasteries.</span>In company with Dr. +Tolben, I visited one of the convents where he attended on some of the +monks who were sick; he seemed well acquainted with them all. I was +much struck with the extent of the building, which was four stories +high, with spacious corridors and galleries, the walls of which were +furnished with pictures representing the martyrdom of the Dominican +friars in Japan. These were about seventy in number, in the Chinese +style of art, and evidently painted by some one of that nation, calling +himself an artist. From appearances, however, I should think they were +composed by the priests, who have not a little taxed their invention to +find out the different modes in which a man can be put to death. Many +evidently, if not all, had been invented for the pictures. So perplexed +had they apparently been, that in one of the last it was observed that +the executioner held his victim at arms’ length by the heels, and +was about to let him drop headforemost into a well. From the galleries +we passed into the library, and thence into many of the rooms, and +finally we mounted to the top of the monastery, which affords a +beautiful view of the bay, city, and suburbs. There I was presented to +three of the friars, who were pleasant and jolly-looking men. Upon the +roof was a kind of observatory, or look-out, simply furnished with +billiard-tables and shuffleboards, while the implements for various +other games lay about on small tables, with telescopes on stands, and +comfortable arm-chairs. It was a place where the friars put aside their +religious and austere character or appearance, and sought amusement. It +was a delightful spot, so far as coolness and the freshness of the sea +air were concerned, and its aspect gave me an insight behind the +curtain of these establishments that very soon disclosed many things I +was ignorant of before. All the friars were of a rotund form, and many +of them bore the marks of good living in their full, red, and bloated +faces. It seems to be generally understood at Manila, that they live +upon the fat of the land. We visited several of the rooms, and were +warmly greeted by the padres, one of whom presented me with a +meteorological table for the previous year.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb483" href="#pb483" name= +"pb483">483</a>]</span>The revenues of all these religious +establishments are considerable; the one I visited belonged to the +Dominicans, and was very rich. Their revenues are principally derived +from lands owned by them, and the tithes from the different districts +which they have under their charge, to which are added many alms and +gifts. On inquiry, I found their general character was by no means +thought well of, and they had of late years lost much of the influence +that they possessed before the revolution in the mother country.</p> +<p>Among the inhabitants we saw here, was a native boy of the Igorots, +or mountain tribe. He is said to be a true Negrito. (Another confusion +of facts.—C.)</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mountaineers.</span>The Spaniards, as has +been stated, have never been able to subdue this tribe, who are said to +be still as wild as on their first landing; they are confined almost +altogether to the plains within or near the mountains, and from time to +time make inroads in great force on the outer settlements, carrying off +as much plunder as possible. The burden of this often causes them to be +overtaken by the troops. When overtaken, they fight desperately, and +were it not for the fire-arms of their adversaries, would give them +much trouble. Few are captured on such occasions, and it is exceedingly +difficult to take them alive, unless when very young. These mountains +furnish them with an iron ore almost pure, in manufacturing which they +show much ingenuity. Some of their weapons were presented to the +Expedition by Josiah Moore, Esq. These are probably imitations of the +early Spanish weapons used against them. From all accounts, the natives +are of Malay origin, and allied to those of the other islands of the +extensive archipelago of the Eastern Seas; but the population of the +towns and cities of the island are so mixed, from the constant +intercourse with Chinese, Europeans, and others, that there is no pure +blood among them. When at Manila, we obtained a grammar of the Tagalog +language, which is said to be now rarely heard, and to have become +nearly obsolete. This grammar is believed to be the only one extant, +and was procured from a padre, who presented it to the Expedition. +(Tagalog is here mistaken for a mountaineer’s +dialect.—C.)</p> +<p>The Pampangans are considered the finest tribe of natives; they are +excessively fond of horse-racing, and bet very considerable sums upon +it; they have the reputation of being an industrious and energetic set +of men.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Revenue.</span>The mode of raising revenue +by a poll-tax causes great discontent among all classes, for although +light, it is, as it always has been elsewhere, unpopular. All the +Chinese pay a capitation tax of four dollars. The revenue from various +sources is said to amount to one million six hundred thousand dollars, +of which the poll-tax amounts to more than one-half, the rest being +derived from the customs, tobacco, etc. There is no tax upon land. It +was thought at Manila that a revenue might be derived by indirect +taxation, far exceeding this sum, without being sensibly felt by the +inhabitants. This mode is employed in the eastern islands under the +English and Dutch rule, and it is surprising that the Spaniards also do +not adopt it, or some other method to increase resources that are so +much needed. Whenever the ministry in Spain had to meet a claim, +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb484" href="#pb484" name= +"pb484">484</a>]</span>they were a few years ago in the habit of +issuing drafts on this colonial government in payment. These came at +last in such numbers, that latterly they have been compelled to suspend +the payment of them.</p> +<p>The revenue of the colonial government is very little more than will +meet the expenses; and it is believed that, notwithstanding these +unaccepted claims, it received orders to remit the surplus, if any, to +Spain, regardless of honor or good faith.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Government.</span>The government of the +Philippines is in the hands of a governor-general, who has the titles +of viceroy, commander-in-chief, sub-delegate, judge of the revenue from +the post-office, commander of the troops, captain-general, and +commander of the naval forces. His duties embrace every thing that +relates to the security and defence of the country. As advisers, he has +a council called the Audiencia.</p> +<p>The islands are divided into provinces, each of which has a military +officer with the title of governor, appointed by the governor-general. +They act as chief magistrates, have jurisdiction over all disputes of +minor importance, have the command of the troops in time of war, and +are collectors of the royal revenues, for the security of which they +give bonds, which must be approved of by the comptroller-general of the +treasury. The province of Cavite is alone exempt from this rule, and +the collection of tribute is there confided to a police magistrate.</p> +<p>Each province is again sub-divided into pueblos, containing a +greater or less number of inhabitants, each of which has again its +ruler, called a gobernadorcillo, who has in like manner other officers +under him to act as police magistrates. The number of the latter are +very great, each of them having his appropriate duties. These consist +in the supervision of the grain fields, coconut groves, betel-nut +plantations, and in the preservation of the general order and peace of +the town. So numerous are these petty officers, that there is scarcely +a family of any consequence, that has not a member who holds some kind +of office under government. This policy, in case of disturbances, at +once unites a large and influential body on the side of the government, +that is maintained at little expense. The gobernadorcillo exercises the +municipal authority, and is especially charged to aid the parish priest +in every thing appertaining to religious observances, etc.</p> +<p>In the towns where the descendants of the Chinese are sufficiently +numerous, they can, by permission of the governor, elect their own +petty governors and officers from among themselves.</p> +<p>In each town there is also a headman (cabeza de barangay), who has +the charge of fifty tributaries, in each of which is included as many +families. This division is called a barangay. This office forms by far +the most important part of the machinery of government in the +Philippine Islands, for these headmen are the attorneys of these small +districts, and become the electors of the gobernadorcillos, and other +civil officers. Only twelve, however, of them or their substitutes, are +allowed to vote in each town.</p> +<p>The office of head-man existed before the conquest of the island, +and the Spaniards showed their wisdom in continuing and adapting +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb485" href="#pb485" name= +"pb485">485</a>]</span>it to their system of police. The office among +the natives was hereditary, but their conquerors made it also elective, +and when a vacancy now occurs through want of heirs, or resignation, it +is filled up by the superintendent of the province, on the +recommendation of the gobernadorcillo and the headman. This is also the +case when any new office is created. The privileges of the headmen are +great; themselves, their wives, and their first-born children, are +exempted from paying tribute to the crown, an exoneration which is +owing to their being collectors of the royal revenues. Their duties +consist in maintaining good order and harmony, in dividing the labor +required for the public benefit equally, adjusting differences, and +receiving the taxes.</p> +<p>The gobernadorcillo takes cognizance of all civil cases not +exceeding two taels of gold, or forty-four dollars in silver; all +criminal cases must be sent to the chief of the province. The headmen +formerly served for no more than three years, and if this was done +faithfully, they became and were designated as principals, in virtue of +which rank they received the title of Don.</p> +<p>The election takes place at the court-house of the town; the +electors are the gobernadorcillo whose office is about to expire, and +twelve of the oldest headmen, cabezas de barangay, collectors of +tribute for the gobernadorcillo they must select, by a plurality of +votes, three individuals, who must be able to speak, read, and write +the Spanish language. The voting is done by ballot, in the presence of +the notary (escribano), and the chief of the province, who presides. +The curate may be present, to look after the interest of the church but +for no other purpose. After the votes are taken, they are sealed and +transmitted to the governor-general, who selects one of the three +candidates, and issues a commission. In the more distant provinces, the +chief of the district has the authority to select the gobernadorcillo, +and fill up the commission, a blank form of which, signed by the +governor-general, is left with him for that purpose.</p> +<p>The headmen may be elected petty governors, and still retain their +office, and collect the tribute or taxes; for it is not considered +just, that the important office of chief of Barangay should deprive the +holder of the honor of being elected gobernadorcillo.</p> +<p>The greater part of the Chinese reside in the province of Tondo, but +the tribute is there collected by the alcalde mayor, with an assistant +taken from among the officers of the royal treasury.</p> +<p>The poll-tax on the Chinese amounts to four dollars a head; it was +formerly one-half more. Tax-lists of the Chinese are kept, in which +they are registered and classified; and opposite the name is the amount +at which the individual is assessed.</p> +<p>The Spanish government seems particularly desirous of giving +consequence even to its lowest offices; and in order to secure it to +them, it is directed that the chiefs of provinces, shall treat the +gobernadorcillos with respect, offering them seats when they enter +their houses or other places, and not allowing them to remain standing; +furthermore, the parish curates are required to treat them with equal +respect. So far as concerns the provinces, the government may be +called, notwithstanding the officers, courts, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb486" href="#pb486" name= +"pb486">486</a>]</span>etc., monastic. The priests rule, and frequently +administer punishment, with their own hands, to either sex, of which an +instance will be cited hereafter.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A country excursion.</span>As soon as we +could procure the necessary passports, which were obligingly furnished +by the governor to “<span lang="es">Don Russel Sturges y quatro +Anglo Americanos</span>,” our party left Manila for a short jaunt +to the mountains. It was considered as a mark of great favor on the +part of his excellency to grant this indulgence, particularly as he had +a few months prior denied it to a party of French officers. I was told +that he preferred to make it a domestic concern, by issuing the +passport in the name of a resident, in order that compliance in this +case might not give umbrage to the French. It was generally believed +that the cause of the refusal in the former instance was the imprudent +manner in which the French officers went about taking plans and +sketches, at the corners of streets, etc., which in the minds of an +unenlightened and ignorant colonial government, of course excited +suspicion. Nothing can be so ridiculous as this system of passports; +for if one was so disposed, a plan, and the most minute information of +every thing that concerns the defences of places, can always be +obtained at little cost now-a-days; for such is the skill of engineers, +that a plan is easily made of places, merely by a sight of them. We +were not, however, disposed to question the propriety of the +governor’s conduct in the former case, and I left abundantly +obliged to him for a permission that would add to our stock of +information.</p> +<p>It was deemed at first impossible for the party to divide, as they +had but one passport, and some difficulties were anticipated from the +number being double that stated in the passport. The party consisted of +Messrs. Sturges, Pickering, Eld, Rich, Dana, and Brackenridge. Mr. +Sturges, however, saw no difficulty in dividing the party after they +had passed beyond the precincts of the city, taking the precaution, at +the same time, not to appear together beyond the number designated on +the paper.</p> +<p>On the 14th, they left Manila, and proceeded in carriages to Santa +Ana, on the Pasig, in order to avoid the delay that would ensue if they +followed the windings of the river in a banca, and against the +current.</p> +<p>At Santa Ana they found their bancas waiting for them, and embarked. +Here the scene was rendered animated by numerous boats of all +descriptions, from the parao to the small canoe of a single log.</p> +<p>There is a large population that live wholly on the water: for the +padrones of the parao have usually their families with them, which, +from the great variety of ages and sexes, give a very different and +much more bustling appearance to the crowd of boats, than would be the +case if they only contained those who are employed to navigate them. At +times the paraos and bancas, of all sizes, together with the saraboas +and pativas (duck establishments), become jumbled together, and create +a confusion and noise such as is seldom met with in any other +country.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Duck farms.</span>The pativas are under the +care of the original inhabitants, to whom exclusively the +superintendence of the ducklings seems to be committed. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb487" href="#pb487" name="pb487">487</a>]</span>The +pens are made of bamboo, and are not over a foot high. The birds were +all in admirable order, and made no attempt to escape over the low +barrier, although so light that it was thought by some of our gentlemen +it would not have sufficed to confine American ducks, although their +wings might have been cut. The mode of giving them exercise was by +causing them to run round in a ring. The good understanding existing +between the keepers and their charge was striking, particularly when +the former were engaged in cleansing the pens, and assisting the +current to carry off the impurities. In the course of their sail, it +was estimated that hundreds of thousands of ducks of all ages were +seen.</p> +<p>The women who were seen were usually engaged in fishing with a hook +and line, and were generally standing in the water, or in canoes. The +saraboas were here also in use. The run of the fish is generally +concentrated by a chevaux-de-frise to guide them towards the nets and +localities where the fishermen place themselves.</p> +<p>At five o’clock they reached the Laguna de Bay, where they +took in a new crew, with mast and sail. This is called twenty-five +miles from Manila by the river; the distance in a bird’s flight +is not over twelve. The whole distance is densely peopled, and well +cultivated. The crops consist of indigo, rice, etc., with groves of the +betel, palm, coconut, and quantities of fruit trees.</p> +<p>The shores of the lake are shelving, and afford good situations for +placing fish-weirs, which are here established on an extensive scale. +These weirs are formed of slips of bamboo, and are to be seen running +in every direction to the distance of two or three miles. They may be +said to invest entirely the shores of the lake for several miles from +its outlet, and without a pilot it would be difficult to find the way +through them. At night, when heron and tern were seen roosting on the +top of each slat, these weirs presented rather a curious spectacle.</p> +<p>The Laguna de Bay is said to be about ten leagues in length by three +in width, and trends in a north-northwest and south-southeast +direction.</p> +<p>After dark, the bancas separated. Mr. Sturges, with Dr. Pickering +and Mr. Eld, proceeded to visit the mountain of Maijaijai, while +Messrs. Rich, Dana, and Brackenridge, went towards the Taal Volcano. +The latter party took the passport, while the former relied upon +certain letters of introduction for protection, in case of +difficulty.</p> +<p>Mr. Sturges, with his party, directed his course to the east side of +the lake, towards a point called Jalajala, which they reached about +three o’clock in the morning, and stopped for the crew to cook +some rice, etc. At 8 o’clock a.m., they reached Santa Cruz, +situated about half a mile up a small streamlet, called Paxanau. At +this place they found Don Escudero to whom they had a letter of +introduction, and who holds a civil appointment. They were kindly +received by this gentleman and his brown lady, with their interesting +family. He at once ordered horses for them to proceed to the mission of +Maijaijai, and entertained them with a sumptuous breakfast.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb488" href="#pb488" name= +"pb488">488</a>]</span>They were not prepared to set out before noon, +until which time they strolled about the town of Santa Cruz, the +inhabitants of which are Tagalogs. There are only two old Spaniards in +the place. The province in which Santa Cruz is situated contains about +five thousand inhabitants, of whom eighteen hundred pay tribute.</p> +<p>The people have the character of being orderly, and govern +themselves without the aid of the military. The principal article of +culture is the coconut tree, which is seen in large groves. The trunks +of these were notched, as was supposed, for the purpose of climbing +them. From the spathe a kind of spirit is manufactured, which is fully +as strong as our whiskey.</p> +<p>About noon they left Don Escudero’s, and took a road leading +to the southward and eastward, through a luxuriant and beautiful +country, well cultivated, and ornamented with lofty coconut trees, +betel palms, and banana groves. Several beautiful valleys were passed, +with streamlets rushing through them.</p> +<p>Maijaijai is situated about one thousand feet above the Laguna de +Bay, but the rise is so gradual that it was almost imperceptible. The +country has everywhere the appearance of being densely peopled; but no +more than one village was passed between Santa Cruz and the mission. +They had letters to F. Antonio Romana y Aranda, padre of the mission, +who received them kindly, and entertained them most hospitably. +<span class="marginnote">Climbing Banajao.</span>When he was told of +their intention to visit the mountain, he said it was impossible with +such weather, pointing to the black clouds that then enveloped its +summit; and he <span class="corr" id="xd20e10089" title= +"Source: endeavoured">endeavored</span> to persuade the gentlemen to +desist from what appeared to him a mad attempt; but finding them +resolved to make the trial, he aided in making all the necessary +preparations, though he had no belief in their success.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 27th, after mass, Mr. Eld and Dr. Pickering +set out, but Mr. Sturges preferred to keep the good padre company until +their return. The padre had provided them with guides, horses, twenty +natives, and provisions for three days. He had been himself on the same +laborious journey, some six months before, and knew its fatigues, +although it turned out afterwards that his expedition was performed in +fine weather, and that he had been borne on a litter by natives the +whole way.</p> +<p>The first part of the road was wet and miry, and discouraging +enough. The soil was exceedingly rich, producing tropical plants in +great profusion, in the midst of which were seen the neat bamboo +cottages, with their industrious and cleanly-looking inhabitants. When +they reached the foot of the mountain, they found it was impossible to +ride farther, and were obliged to take to walking, which was, however, +less of a hardship than riding the little rats of horses, covered with +mud and dirt, which were at first deemed useless; but the manner in +which they ascended and maintained themselves on the slippery banks, +surpassed anything they had before witnessed in horseflesh. The first +part of the ascent of the mountain was gradual, but over a miry path, +which was extremely slippery; and had it not been for the sticks stuck +down by the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb489" href="#pb489" name= +"pb489">489</a>]</span>party of the padre in their former ascent, they +would have found it extremely difficult to overcome; to make it more +disagreeable, it rained all the time.</p> +<p>It took about two hours to reach the steep ascent. The last portion +of their route had been through an uninhabited region, with some +openings in the woods, affording pasture-grounds to a few small herds +of buffalo. In three hours they reached the half-way house, by a very +steep and regular ascent. Here the natives insisted upon stopping to +cook their breakfast, as they had not yet partaken of anything through +the day. The natives now endeavored to persuade them it was +impracticable to go any farther, or at least to reach the top of the +mountain and return before night. Our gentlemen lost their patience at +the delay, and after an hour’s endurance of it, resolved to set +out alone. Six of the natives followed them, and by half-past three +they reached the summit, where they found it cold and uncomfortable. +The ascent had been difficult, and was principally accomplished by +catching hold of shrubs and the roots of trees. The summit is +comparatively bare, and not more than fifty feet in width. The side +opposite to that by which they mounted was perpendicular, but owing to +the thick fog they could not see the depth to which the precipice +descended.</p> +<p>The observations with the barometers were speedily taken, which gave +the height of Banajao as six thousand five hundred feet. The trees on +the summit were twenty or thirty feet high, and a species of fir was +very common. Gaultheria, attached to the trunks of trees, +Rhododendrons, and Polygonums, also abounded. The rocks were so covered +with soil that it was difficult to ascertain their character; Dr. +Pickering is of opinion, however, that they are not volcanic. The house +on the summit afforded them little or no shelter; being a mere shed, +open on all sides, they found it untenantable, and determined to return +as soon as their observations were finished, to the half-way house, +which they reached before dark.</p> +<p>The night was passed uncomfortably, and in the morning they made an +early start down the mountain to reach the native village at its foot, +where they were refreshed with a cup of chocolate, cakes, and some +dulces, according to the custom of the country. At ten o’clock +they reached the mission, where they were received by the padre and Mr. +Sturges. The former was greatly astonished to hear that they had really +been to the summit, and had accomplished in twenty-four hours what he +had deemed a labor of three days. He quickly attended to their wants, +the first among which was dry clothing; and as their baggage had +unfortunately been left at Santa Cruz, the wardrobe of the rotund padre +was placed at their disposal. Although the fit was rather uncouth on +the spare forms of our gentlemen, yet his clothes served the purpose +tolerably well, and were thankfully made use of. During their absence, +Mr. Sturges had been much amused with the discipline he had witnessed +at the hands of the church, which here seem to be the only visible +ruling power. Two young natives had made complaint to the padre that a +certain damsel had entered into vows or engagements to marry both; she +was accordingly brought <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb490" href= +"#pb490" name="pb490">490</a>]</span>up before the padre, Mr. Sturges +being present. The padre first lectured her most seriously upon the +enormity of her crime, then inflicted several blows on the palm of her +outstretched hand, again renewing the lecture, and finally concluding +with another whipping. The girl was pretty, and excited the interest of +our friend, who looked on with much desire to interfere, and save the +damsel from the corporal punishment, rendered more aggravated by the +dispassionate and cool manner in which it and the lecture were +administered. In the conversation which ensued, the padre said he had +more cases of the violation of the marriage vow, and of infidelity, +than any other class of crimes.</p> +<p>After a hearty breakfast, or rather dinner, and expressing their +thanks to the padre, they rode back to Santa Cruz, where they arrived +at an early hour, and at nine o’clock in the evening they +embarked in their bancas for Manila.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Los Baños.</span>In the morning they +found themselves, after a comfortable night, at Los Baños. Here +they took chocolate with the padre, to whom Mr. Sturges had a letter, +who informed them that the other party had left the place the evening +before for Manila.</p> +<p>This party had proceeded to the town of Baia, where they arrived at +daylight on the 15th. Baia is quite a pretty place, and well situated; +the houses are clean and comfortable, and it possessed a venerable +stone church, with towers and bells. On inquiring for the padre, they +found that he was absent, and it was in consequence impossible for them +to procure horses to proceed to the Volcano of Taal. They therefore +concluded to walk to the hot springs at Los Baños, about five +miles distant. Along the road they collected a number of curious +plants. Rice is much cultivated, and fields of it extend to some +distance on each side of the road. Buffaloes were seen feeding and +wallowing in the ditches.</p> +<p>At Los Baños the hot springs are numerous, the water issuing +from the rock over a considerable surface. The quantity of water +discharged by them is large, and the whole is collected and conducted +to the bathing-houses. The temperature of the water at the mouth of the +culvert was 180°.</p> +<p>The old bath-house is a singular-looking place, being built on the +hill-side, in the old Spanish style, with large balconies, that are +enclosed in the manner already described, in speaking of the houses in +Manila. It is beautifully situated, and overlooks the baths and lake. +The baths are of stone, and consist of two large rooms, in each of +which is a niche, through which the hot water passes. This building is +now in ruins, the roof and floors having fallen in.</p> +<p>Los Baños is a small village, but contains a +respectable-looking stone church, and two or three houses of the same +material. Here the party found a difficulty in getting on, for the +alcalde could not speak Spanish, and they were obliged to use an +interpreter, in order to communicate with him. Notwithstanding this, he +is a magistrate, whose duty it is to administer laws written in that +language. Finding they could not succeed even here in procuring guides +or horses, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb491" href="#pb491" name= +"pb491">491</a>]</span>they determined to remain and explore Mount +Maquiling, the height of which is three thousand four hundred and fifty +feet, and in the meantime to send for their bancas.</p> +<p>The next day they set out on their journey to that mountain, and the +first part of their path lay over a gentle ascent, through cultivated +grounds. Next succeeded an almost perpendicular hill, bare of trees, +and overgrown with a tall grass, which it was difficult to pass +through.</p> +<p>Such had been the time taken up, that the party found it impossible +to reach the summit and return before dark. They therefore began to +collect specimens; and after having obtained a full load, they returned +late in the afternoon to Los Baños.</p> +<p>The mountain is composed of trachytic rocks and tufa, which are +occasionally seen to break through the rich and deep soil, showing +themselves here and there, in the deep valleys which former volcanic +action has created, and which have destroyed the regular outline of the +cone-shaped mountain. The tufa is generally found to form the +gently-sloping plains that surround these mountains, and has in all +probability been ejected from them. Small craters, of some two hundred +feet in height, are scattered over the plains. The tufa is likewise +exposed to view on the shores of the lake; but elsewhere, except on a +few bare hills, it is entirely covered with the dense and luxuriant +foliage. The tufa is generally of a soft character, crumbling in the +fingers, and in it are found coarse and fine fragments of scoria, +pumice, etc. The layers are from a few inches to five feet in +thickness.</p> +<p>In the country around Los Baños, there are several volcanic +hills, and on the sides of Mount Maquiling are appearances of parasitic +cones, similar to those observed at the Hawaiian Islands; but time and +the foliage have so disguised them, that it is difficult to determine +exactly their true character.</p> +<p>I regretted exceedingly that the party that set out for the Lake of +Taal was not able to reach it, as, from the accounts I had, it must be +one of the most interesting portions of the country. It lies nearly +south-west from Manila, and occupies an area of about one hundred and +twenty square miles. The Volcano of Taal is situated on an island near +the center of it, and is now in action. The cone which rises from its +center is remarkably regular, and consists for the most part of cinders +and scoria. It has been found to be nine hundred feet in elevation +above the lake. The crater has a diameter of two miles, and its depth +is equal to the elevation; the walls of the crater are nearly +perpendicular, so much so that the descent cannot be made without the +assistance of ropes. At the bottom there are two small cones. Much +steam issues from the many fissures, accompanied by sulphurous acid +gas. The waters of the lake are impregnated with sulphur, and there are +said to be also large beds of sulphur. In the opinion of those who have +visited this spot, the whole lake once formed an immense crater; and +this does not appear very improbable, if we are to credit the accounts +we received of the many craters on this island that are now filled with +water; for instance, in the neighborhood of San Pablo there are said to +be eight or nine.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb492" href="#pb492" name= +"pb492">492</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">The hot +springs.</span>The hot springs of Los Baños are numerous, and in +their vicinity large quantities of steam are seen to issue from the +shore of the lake. There are about a dozen which give out a copious +supply of water. The principal one has been enclosed, and made to flow +through a stone aqueduct, which discharges a considerable stream. The +temperature of the water as it leaves the aqueduct is 178°. The +villagers use it for cooking and washing; the signs of the former +employment are evident enough from the quantities of feathers from the +poultry that have been scalded and plucked preparatory to cooking. The +baths are formed by a small circular building six feet in diameter, +erected over the point of discharge for the purpose of securing a +steam-bath; the temperature of these is 160° and 140°. A change +of temperature is said to have occurred in the latter.</p> +<p>The rocks in the vicinity are all tufa, and some of the springs +break out close to the cold water of the lake. Near the aqueduct, a +stone wall surrounds one of the principal outlets. Two-thirds of the +area thus enclosed is occupied by a pond of warm water, and the other +third is divided into two stone reservoirs, built for baths. These +baths had at one time a high reputation, and were a very fashionable +resort for the society of Manila; but their celebrity gradually +diminished, and the whole premises have gone out of repair, and are +fast falling to ruin.</p> +<p>The water of the springs has no perceptible taste, and only a very +faint smell of sulphur is perceived. No gas escapes from it, but a +white incrustation covers the stones over which the water flows.</p> +<p>Some of these waters were obtained, and since our return were put +into the hands of Dr. C. T. Jackson, of Boston, who gives the following +analysis:</p> +<p>Specific gravity, 1.0043; thermometer 60°; barometer 30.05 +in.</p> +<p>A quantity of the water, equal in bulk to three thousand grains of +distilled water, on evaporation gave—</p> +<p>Dry salts, 5.95 grains.</p> +<p>A quantity of the water, equal in bulk to one thousand grains of +distilled water, was operated on for each of the following +ingredients:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Chlorine</td> +<td>0.66</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Carbonic acid</td> +<td>0.16</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Sulphuric acid</td> +<td>0.03</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Soda and sodium</td> +<td>0.97</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Magnesia</td> +<td>0.09</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Lime</td> +<td>0.07</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Potash</td> +<td>traces</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Organic matter</td> +<td>,,</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Manganese</td> +<td>,,</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>——</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td></td> +<td>1.98</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mount Maquiling.</span>On Mount Maquiling, +wild buffaloes, hogs, a small species of deer, and monkeys are found. +Birds are also very numerous, and among them is the horn-bill; the +noise made by this bird resembles <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb493" +href="#pb493" name="pb493">493</a>]</span>a loud barking; report speaks +of them as an excellent bird for the table. Our gentlemen reached their +lodging-place as the night closed in, and the next day again embarked +for Manila, regretting that time would not permit them to make another +visit to so interesting a field of research. They found the lake so +rough that they were compelled to return, and remain until eight +o’clock. This, however, gave our botanists another opportunity of +making collections, among which were beautiful specimens of Volkameria +splendens, with elegant scarlet flowers, and a Brugmansia, which +expanded its beautiful silvery flowers after sunset. On the shores a +number of birds were feeding, including pelicans, with their huge +bills, the diver, with its long arched neck, herons, gulls, eagles, and +snow-white cranes, with ducks and other small aquatic flocks. Towards +night these were joined by large bats, that were seen winging their way +towards the plantations of fruit. These, with quantities of insects, +gave a vivid idea of the wonderful myriads of animated things that are +constantly brought into being in these tropical and luxuriant +climates.</p> +<p>Sailing all night in a rough sea, they were much incommoded by the +water, which was shipped into the banca and kept them constantly baling +out: they reached the Pasig river at daylight, and again passed the +duck establishments, and the numerous boats and bancas on their way to +the markets of Manila.</p> +<p>Both the parties reached the consul’s the same day, highly +pleased with their respective jaunts. To the kindness of Messrs. +Sturges and Moore, we are mainly indebted for the advantages and +pleasures derived from the excursions.</p> +<p>The instruments were now embarked, and preparations made for going +to sea. Our stay at Manila had added much to our collections; we +obtained many new specimens, and the officers and naturalists had been +constantly and profitably occupied in their various duties.</p> +<p>We went on board on January 20, and were accompanied to the vessel +by Messrs. Sturges and Moore, with several other residents of +Manila.</p> +<p>We had, through the kindness of Captain Salomon, procured a native +pilot for the Sulu Sea, who was to act as interpreter.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 21st, we took leave of our friends, and got +under way. The same day, and before we had cleared the bay, we spoke +the American ship <i>Angier</i>, which had performed the voyage from +the United States in one hundred and twenty-four days, and furnished us +with late and interesting news. We then, with a strong northerly wind, +made all sail to the south for the Straits of Mindoro.</p> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e9718" href="#xd20e9718src" name="xd20e9718">1</a></span> It is +called so in consequence of the island being nearly divided in the +parallel of 14° N., by two bays.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e9785" href="#xd20e9785src" name="xd20e9785">2</a></span> Since my +return home, at the desire of that distinguished agriculturist, Colonel +Austin, of South Carolina, I have sent for some samples of the +different kinds, and under his care it will no doubt be well +treated.</p> +</div> +<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Sulu in 1842</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">On the evening of January 21, the Vincennes, with the +tender in company, left Manila bay. I then sent for Mr. Knox, who +commanded the latter, and gave him directions to keep closely in +company with the Vincennes, and at the same time pointed out +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb494" href="#pb494" name= +"pb494">494</a>]</span>to him places of rendezvous where the vessels +might again meet in case any unavoidable circumstance caused their +separation. I was more particular in giving him instructions to avoid +losing sight of the Vincennes, as I was aware that my proposed surveys +might be impeded or frustrated altogether, were I deprived of the +assistance of the vessel under his command.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mindoro.</span>On the 22nd, we passed the +entrance of the Straits of San Bernardino. It would have been my most +direct route to follow these straits until I had passed Mindoro, and it +is I am satisfied the safest course, unless the winds are fair, for the +direct passage. My object, however, was to examine the ground for the +benefit of others, and the Apo Shoal, which lies about mid-channel +between Palawan and Mindoro, claimed my first attention. The tender was +despatched to survey it, while I proceeded in the Vincennes to examine +the more immediate entrance to the Sulu Sea, off the southwest end of +Mindoro.</p> +<p>Calavite Peak is the north point of Mindoro, and our observations +made it two thousand feet high. This peak is of the shape of a dome, +and appears remarkably regular when seen from its western side. On +approaching Mindoro, we, as is usual, under high islands, lost the +steady breeze, and the wind became light for the rest of the day. +Mindoro is a beautiful island, and is evidently volcanic; it appears as +if thrown up in confused masses; it is not much settled, as the more +southern islands are preferred to it as a residence.</p> +<p>On the 23rd, we ascertained the elevation of the highest peak of the +island by triangulation to be three thousand one hundred and twenty-six +fet. The easternmost island of the Palawan group, Busuanga, was at the +time just in sight from the deck, to the southwest.</p> +<p>It had been my intention to anchor at Ambolou Island; but the wind +died away before we reached it, and I determined to stand off and on +all night.</p> +<p>On the 24th, I began to experience the truth of what Captain Halcon +had asserted, namely, that the existing charts were entirely worthless, +and I also found that my native pilot was of no more value than they +were, he had evidently passed the place before; but whether the size of +the vessel, so much greater than any he had sailed in, confused him, or +whether it was from his inability to understand and to make himself +understood by us, he was of no use whatever, and we had the misfortune +of running into shoal water, barely escaping the bottom. These dangers +were usually quickly passed, and we soon found ourselves again floating +in thirty or forty fathoms water.</p> +<p>We continued beating to windward, in hopes of being joined by the +Flying-fish, and I resolved to finish the survey towards the island of +Semarara. We found every thing in a different position from that +assigned it by any of the charts with which we were furnished. On this +subject, however, I shall not dwell, but refer those who desire +particular information to the charts and Hydrographical Memoir.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb495" href="#pb495" name= +"pb495">495</a>]</span>Towards evening, I again ran down to the +southwest point of the island of Mindoro, and sent a letter on shore to +the pueblo, with directions to have it put on board the tender, when +she should arrive. We then began to beat round Semarara, in order to +pass over towards Panay.</p> +<p>The southern part of Mindoro is much higher than the northern but +appears to be equally rough. It is, however, susceptible of +cultivation, and there are many villages along its shores.</p> +<p>Semarara is moderately high, and about fifteen miles in +circumference; it is inhabited, and like Mindoro much wooded. According +to the native pilot, its shores are free from shoals. It was not until +the next day that we succeeded in reaching Panay. I determined to pass +the night off Point Potol, the north end of Panay, as I believed the +sea in its neighborhood to be free of shoals, and wished to resume our +running survey early in the morning.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Panay.</span>At daylight on the 27th we +continued the survey down the coast of Panay, and succeeded in +correcting many errors in the existing charts (both English and +Spanish). The channel along this side is from twelve to twenty miles +wide, and suitable for beating in; little current is believed to exist; +and the tides, as far as our observations went, seem to be regular and +of little strength.</p> +<p>The island of Panay is high and broken, particularly on the south +end; its shores are thickly settled and well cultivated. Indigo and +sugar-cane claim much of the attention of the inhabitants. The natives +are the principal cultivators. They pay to government a capitation tax +of seven reals. Its population is estimated at three hundred thousand, +which I think is rather short of the actual number.</p> +<p>On all the hills there are telegraphs of rude construction, to give +information of the approach of piratical prahus from Sulu, which +formerly were in the habit of making attacks upon the defenceless +inhabitants and carrying them off into slavery. Of late years they have +ceased these depredations, for the Spaniards have resorted to a new +mode of warfare. Instead of pursuing and punishing the offenders, they +now intercept all their supplies, both of necessaries and luxuries; and +the fear of this has had the effect to deter pirates from their usual +attacks.</p> +<p>We remained off San Pedro for the night, in hopes of falling in with +the Flying-fish in the morning.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 28th, the Flying-fish was discovered plainly +in sight. I immediately stood for her, fired a gun and made signal. At +seven o’clock, another gun was fired, but the vessel still stood +off, and was seen to make sail to the westward without paying any +regard whatever to either, and being favored by a breeze while the +Vincennes was becalmed, she stole off and was soon out of +sight.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e10273src" href="#xd20e10273" name= +"xd20e10273src">1</a></p> +<p>After breakfast we opened the bay of Antique, on which is situated +the town of San José. As this bay apparently offered anchorage +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb496" href="#pb496" name= +"pb496">496</a>]</span>for vessels bound up this coast, I determined to +survey it; and for this purpose the boats were hoisted out and prepared +for surveying. Lieutenant Budd was despatched to visit the pueblo +called San José.</p> +<p>On reaching the bay, the boats were sent to different points of it, +and when they were in station, the ship fired guns to furnish bases by +the sound, and angles were simultaneously measured. The boats made +soundings on their return to the ship, and thus completed this duty, so +that in an hour or two afterwards the bay was correctly represented on +paper. It offers no more than a temporary anchorage for vessels, and +unless the shore is closely approached, the water is almost too deep +for the purpose.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">San José.</span>At San José a +Spanish governor resides, who presides over the two pueblos of San +Pedro and San José, and does the duty also of alcalde. +Lieutenant Budd did not see him, as he was absent, but his lady did the +honors. Lieutenant Budd represented the pueblo as cleanly and orderly. +About fifteen soldiers were seen, who compose the governor’s +guard, and more were said to be stationed at San Pedro. A small fort of +eight guns commands the roadstead. The beach was found to be of fine +volcanic sand, composed chiefly of oxide of iron, and comminuted +shells; there is here also a narrow shore reef of coral. The plain +bordering the sea is covered with a dense growth of coconut trees. In +the fine season the bay is secure, but we were informed that in +westerly and southwesterly gales heavy seas set in, and vessels are not +able to lie at anchor. Several small vessels were lying in a small +river about one and a half miles to the southward of the point on which +the fort is situated. The entrance to this river is very narrow and +tortuous.</p> +<p>Panay is one of the largest islands of the group. We had an +opportunity of measuring the height of some of its western peaks or +highlands, none of which exceed three thousand feet. The interior and +eastern side have many lofty summits, which are said to reach an +altitude of seven thousand five hundred feet; but these, as we passed, +were enveloped in clouds, or shut out from view by the nearer +highlands. The general features of the island are like those of Luzon +and Mindoro. The few specimens we obtained of its rocks consisted of +the different varieties of talcose formation, with quartz and jasper. +The specimens were of no great value, as they were much worn by lying +on the beach.</p> +<p>The higher land was bare of trees, and had it not been for the +numerous fertile valleys lying between the sharp and rugged spurs, it +would have had a sterile appearance.</p> +<p>The bay of Antique is in latitude 10° 40′ N., longitude +121° 59′ 30″ E.</p> +<p>It was my intention to remain for two or three days at a convenient +anchorage to enable us to make short excursions into the interior; but +the vexatious mismanagement of the tender now made it incumbent that I +should make every possible use of the time to complete the operations +connected with the hydrography of this sea; for I perceived that the +duties which I intended should be performed by her, would now devolve +upon the boats, and necessarily expose both officers and men to the +hazard of contracting <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb497" href= +"#pb497" name="pb497">497</a>]</span>disease. I regretted giving up +this design, not only on my own account and that of the Expedition, but +because of the gratification it would have afforded personally to the +naturalists.</p> +<p>The town of San José has about thirty bamboo houses, some of +which are filled in with clay or mortar, and plastered over, both +inside and out. Few of them are more than a single story in height. +That of the governor is of the same material, and overtops the rest; it +is whitewashed, and has a neat and cleanly appearance. In the vicinity +of the town are several beautiful valleys, which run into the mountains +from the plain that borders the bay. The landing is on a bamboo bridge, +which has been erected over an extensive mud-flat, that is exposed at +low water, and prevents any nearer approach of boats. This bridge is +about seven hundred feet in length; and a novel plan has been adopted +to preserve it from being carried away. The stems of bamboo not being +sufficiently large and heavy to maintain the superstructure in the soft +mud, a scaffold is constructed just under the top, which is loaded with +blocks of large stone, and the outer piles are secured to anchors or +rocks, with grass rope. The roadway or top is ten feet wide, covered +with split bamboo, woven together, and has rails on each side, to +assist the passenger. This is absolutely necessary for safety; and even +with this aid, one unaccustomed to it must be possessed of no little +bodily strength to pass over this smooth, slippery, and springy bridge, +without accident.</p> +<p>Two pirogues were at anchor in the bay, and on the shore was the +frame of a vessel which had evidently been a long while on the stocks, +for the weeds and bushes near the keel were six or eight feet high, and +a portion of the timbers were decayed. Carts and sleds drawn by +buffaloes were in use, and everything gave it the appearance of a +thriving village. Although I have mentioned the presence of soldiers, +it was observed on landing that no guard was stationed about or even at +the fort; but shortly afterwards a soldier was seen hurrying towards +the latter, in the act of dressing himself in his regimentals, and +another running by his side, with his cartridge-box and musket. In a +little while one was passing up and down on his post, as though he was +as permanent there as the fort itself.</p> +<p>After completing these duties, the light airs detained us the +remainder of the day under Panay, in sight of the bay. On the 29th, at +noon, we had been wafted by it far enough in the offing to obtain the +easterly breeze, which soon became strong, with an overcast sky, and +carried us rapidly on our course; my time would not permit my +heaving-to. We kept on our course for Mindanao during the whole night, +and were constantly engaged in sounding, with our patent lead, with +from thirty to forty fathoms cast, to prevent our passing over this +part of the sea entirely unexamined.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mindanao.</span>At daylight on the 31st, we +had the island of Mindanao before us, but did not reach its western +cape until 5 p.m. This island is high and broken, like those to the +north of it, but, unlike them, its mountains are covered with forests +to their very tops, and there were no distinct cones of minor +dimensions, as we had observed on the others. If they do exist, they +were hidden by the dense forest.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb498" href="#pb498" name= +"pb498">498</a>]</span>I had determined to anchor at Caldera, a small +port on the south-west side of Mindanao, about ten miles distant from +Zamboanga, where the governor resides. The latter is a considerable +place, but the anchorage in its roadstead is said to be bad, and the +currents that run through the Straits of Basilan are represented to be +strong. Caldera, on the other hand, has a good, though small anchorage, +which is free from the currents of the straits. It is therefore an +excellent stopping-place, in case of the tide proving unfavorable. On +one of its points stands a small fort, which, on our arrival, hoisted +Spanish colors.</p> +<p>At six o’clock we came to anchor at Caldera, in seven fathoms +water. There were few indications of inhabitants, except at and near +the fort. An officer was despatched to the fort, to report the ship. It +was found to be occupied by a few soldiers under the command of a +lieutenant.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Caldera fort.</span>The fort is about +seventy feet square, and is built of large blocks of red coral, which +evidently have not been taken from the vicinity of the place, as was +stated by the officers of the fort; for although our parties wandered +along the alluvial beach for two or three miles in each direction, no +signs of coral were observed. Many fragments of red, gray, and purple +basalt and porphyry were met with along the beach; talcose rock and +slate, syenite, hornblend, quartz, both compact and slaty, with +chalcedony, were found in pieces and large pebbles. Those who were +engaged in dredging reported the bottom as being of coral, in from four +to six or eight fathoms; but this was of a different kind from that of +which the fort was constructed.</p> +<p>The fort was built in the year 1784, principally for protection +against the Sulu pirates, who were in the habit of visiting the +settlements, and carrying off the inhabitants as slaves, to obtain +ransom for them. This, and others of the same description, were +therefore constructed as places of refuge for the inhabitants, as well +as to afford protection to vessels.</p> +<p>Depredations are still committed, which render it necessary to keep +up a small force. One or two huts which were seen in the neighborhood +of the bay, are built on posts twenty feet from the ground, and into +them they ascend by ladders, which are hauled up after the occupants +have entered.</p> +<p>These, it is said, are the sleeping-huts, and are so built for the +purpose of preventing surprise at night. Before our arrival we had +heard that the villages were all so constructed, but a visit to one +soon showed that this was untrue. The natives seen at the village were +thought to be of a decidedly lighter color and a somewhat different +expression from the Malays. They were found to be very civil, and more +polished in manners than our gentlemen expected. On asking for a drink +of water, it was brought in a glass tumbler on a china plate. An old +woman, to whom they had presented some trifles, took the trouble to +meet them in another path on their return, and insisted on their +accepting a basket of potatoes. Some of the houses contained several +families, and many of them had no other means of entrance than a +notched post stuck up to the door.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb499" href="#pb499" name= +"pb499">499</a>]</span>The forests of Mindanao contain a great variety +of trees, some of which are of large size, rising to the height of one +hundred <span class="corr" id="xd20e10326" title= +"Source: and and">and</span> one hundred and fifty feet. Some of their +trunks are shaped like buttresses, similar to those before spoken of at +Manila, from which they obtain broad slabs for the tops of tables. The +trunks were observed to shoot up remarkably straight. Our botanical +gentlemen, though pleased with the excursion, were disappointed at not +being able to procure specimens from the lofty trees; and the day was +less productive in this respect than they had anticipated. Large woody +vines were common, which enveloped the trunks of trees in their folds, +and ascending to their tops, prevented the collection of the most +desirable specimens.</p> +<p>The paths leading to the interior were narrow and much obstructed; +one fine stream was crossed. Many buffaloes were observed wallowing in +the mire, and the woods swarmed with monkeys and numbers of birds, +among them the horn-bills; these kept up a continued chatter, and made +a variety of loud noises. The forests here are entirely different from +any we had seen elsewhere; and the stories of their being the abode of +large boas and poisonous snakes, make the effect still greater on those +who visit them for the first time. Our parties, however, saw nothing of +these reptiles, nor anything to warrant a belief that such exist. Yet +the officer at the fort related to me many snake stories that seemed to +have some foundation; and by inquiries made elsewhere, I learned that +they were at least warranted by some facts, though probably not to the +extent that he represented.</p> +<p>Traces of deer and wild hogs were seen, and many birds were +obtained, as well as land and sea shells. Among the latter was the +Malleus vulgaris, which is used as food by the natives. The soil on +this part of the island is a stiff clay, and the plants it produces are +mostly woody; those of an herbaceous character were scarce, and only a +few orchideous epiphytes and ferns were seen. Around the dwellings in +the villages were a variety of vegetables and fruits, consisting of +sugar-cane, sweet-potato, gourds, pumpkins, peppers, rice, water and +musk melons, all fine and of large size.</p> +<p>The officer at the fort was a lieutenant of infantry; one of that +rank is stationed here for a month, after which he, with the garrison, +consisting of three soldiers, are relieved, from Zamboanga, where the +Spaniards have three companies.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Zamboanga.</span>Zamboanga is a convict +settlement, to which the native rogues, principally thieves, are sent. +The Spanish criminals, as I have before stated in speaking of Manila, +are sent to Spain.</p> +<p>The inhabitants of the island of Mindanao, who are under the +subjection of Spain, are about ten thousand in number, of whom five or +six thousand are at or in the neighborhood of Zamboanga. The original +inhabitants, who dwell in the mountains and on the east coast, are said +to be quite black, and are represented to be a very cruel and bad set; +they have hitherto bid defiance to all attempts to subjugate them. When +the Spaniards make excursions into the interior, which is seldom, they +always go in large parties on account of the wild beasts, serpents, and +hostile natives; nevertheless, the latter frequently attack and drive +them back.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb500" href="#pb500" name= +"pb500">500</a>]</span>The little fort is considered as a sufficient +protection for the fishermen and small vessels against the pirates, who +inhabit the island of Basilan, which is in sight from Mindanao, and +forms the southern side of the straits of the same name. It is said +that about seven hundred inhabit it. The name of Moro is given by the +Spaniards to all those who profess the Mohammedan religion, and by such +all the islands to the west of Mindanao, and known under the name of +the Sulu archipelago, are inhabited.</p> +<p>The day we spent at Caldera was employed in surveying the bay, and +in obtaining observations for its geographical position, and for +magnetism. The flood tide sets to the northward and westward, through +the straits, and the ebb to the eastward. In the bay we found it to run +two miles an hour by the log, but it must be much more rapid in the +straits.</p> +<p>At daylight on February 1st, we got under way to stand over for the +Sangboys, a small island with two sharp hills on it. One and a half +miles from the bay we passed over a bank, the least water on which was +ten fathoms on a sandy bottom, and on which a vessel might anchor. The +wind shortly after failed us, and we drifted with the tide for some +hours, in full view of the island of Mindanao, which is bold and +picturesque. We had thus a good opportunity of measuring some of its +mountain ranges, which we made about three thousand feet high.</p> +<p>In the afternoon, a light breeze came from the southwest, and before +sunset I found that we were again on soundings. As soon as we had a +cast of twenty fathoms, I anchored for the night, judging it much +better than to be drifting about without any knowledge of the locality +and currents to which we were subjected.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 2nd, we got under way to proceed to the +westward. As the bottom was unequal, I determined to pass through the +broadest channel, although it had the appearance of being the shoalest, +and sent two boats ahead to sound. In this way we passed through, +continuing our surveying operations, and at the same time made an +attempt to dredge; but the ground was too uneven for the latter +purpose, and little of value was obtained.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sulu.</span>Shortly after passing the +Sangboys, we had the island of Sulu in sight, for which I now steered +direct. At sunset we found ourselves within five or six miles of Soung +Harbor; but there was not sufficient light to risk the dangers that +might be in our course, nor wind enough to command the ship; and having +no bottom where we were, I determined again to run out to sea, and +anchor on the first bank I should meet. At half-past eight +o’clock, we struck sounding in twenty-six fathoms, and +anchored.</p> +<p>At daylight we determined our position by angles, and found it to +correspond with part of the route we had passed over the day before, +and that we were about fifteen miles from the large island of Sulu. +Weighing anchor, we were shortly wafted by the westerly tide and a +light air towards that beautiful island, which lay in the midst of its +little archipelago; and as we were brought nearer and nearer, we came +to the conclusion that in our many wanderings we had seen nothing to be +compared to this enchanting spot. It appeared to be well cultivated, +with gentle slopes rising here and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb501" +href="#pb501" name="pb501">501</a>]</span>there into eminences from one +to two thousand feet high. One or two of these might be dignified with +the name of mountains, and were sufficiently high to arrest the passing +clouds; on the afternoon of our arrival we had a singular example in +the dissipation of a thunderstorm.</p> +<p>Although much of the island was under cultivation, yet it had all +the freshness of a forest region. The many smokes on the hills, +buildings of large size, cottages, and cultivated spots, together with +the moving crowds on the land, the prahus, canoes, and fishing-boats on +the water gave the whole a civilized appearance. Our own vessel lay, +almost without a ripple at her side, on the glassy surface of the sea, +carried onwards to our destined anchorage by the flowing tide, and +scarce a sound was heard except the splashing of the lead as it sought +the bottom. The effect of this was destroyed in part by the knowledge +that this beautiful archipelago was the abode of a cruel and barbarous +race of pirates. Towards sunset we had nearly reached the bay of Soung, +when we were met by the opposing tide, which frustrated all our +endeavors to reach it, and I was compelled to anchor, lest we should +again be swept to sea.</p> +<p>As soon as the night set in, fishermen’s lights were seen +moving along the beach in all directions, and gliding about in canoes, +while the sea was filled with myriads of phosphorescent animalcula. +After watching this scene for two or three hours in the calm and still +night, a storm that had been gathering reached us; but it lasted only +for a short time, and cleared off after a shower, which gave the air a +freshness that was delightful after the sultry heat we had experienced +during the day.</p> +<p>The canoes of this archipelago were found to be different from any +that we had heretofore seen, not only in shape, but in making use of a +double outrigger, which consequently must give them additional +security. The paddle also is of a different shape, and has a blade at +each end, which are used alternately, thus enabling a single person to +manage them with ease. These canoes are made of a single log, though +some are built upon. They seldom carry more than two persons. The +figure on the opposite page will give a correct idea of one of +them.</p> +<p>We saw the fishermen engaged in trolling and using the line; but the +manner of taking fish which has been heretofore described is chiefly +practised. In fishing, as well as in all their other employments, the +kris and spear were invariably by their side.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Sulu harbor.</span>The next morning at +eight o’clock we got under way, and were towed by our boats into +the bay of Soung, where we anchored off the town in nine fathoms water. +While in the act of doing so, and after our intentions had become too +evident to admit of a doubt, the Sultan graciously sent off a message +giving us permission to enter his port.</p> +<p>Lieutenant Budd was immediately despatched with the interpreter to +call upon the Datu Mulu or governor, and to learn at what hour we could +see the Sultan. When the officer reached the town, all were found +asleep; and after remaining four hours waiting, the only answer he +could get out of the Datu Mulu was, that he supposed that the Sultan +would be awake at three o’clock, when he thought I could see +him.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb502" href="#pb502" name= +"pb502">502</a>]</span>During this time the boats had been prepared for +surveying; and after landing the naturalists, they began the work.</p> +<p>At the appointed time, Captain Hudson and myself went on shore to +wait upon the Sultan. On our approach to the town, we found that a +great proportion of it was built over the water on piles, and only +connected with the shore by narrow bridges of bamboo. The style of +building in Sulu does not differ materially from that of the Malays. +The houses are rather larger, and they surpass the others in filth.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Pirate craft.</span>We passed for some +distance between the bridges to the landing, and on our way saw several +piratical prahus apparently laid up. Twenty of these were counted, of +about thirty tons burden, evidently built for sea-vessels, and capable +of mounting one or two long guns. We landed at a small streamlet, and +walked a short distance to the Datu’s house, which is of large +dimensions and rudely built on piles, which raise it about six feet +above the ground, and into which we were invited. The house of the Datu +contains one room, part of which is screened off to form the apartment +of his wife. Nearly in the center is a raised dais, eight or ten feet +square, under which are stowed all his valuables, packed in chests and +Chinese trunks. Upon this dais are placed mats for sleeping, with +cushions, pillows, etc.; and over it is a sort of canopy, hung around +with fine chintz or muslin.</p> +<p>The dais was occupied by the Datu, who is, next to the Sultan, the +greatest man of this island. He at once came from it to receive us, and +had chairs provided for us near his sanctum. After we were seated, he +again retired to his lounge. The Datu is small in person, and emaciated +in form, but has a quick eye and an intelligent countenance. He lives, +as he told me, with all his goods around him, and they formed a +collection such as I could scarcely imagine it possible to bring +together in such a place. The interior put me in mind of a barn +inhabited by a company of strolling players. On one side were hung up a +collection of various kinds of gay dresses, here drums and gongs, there +swords, lanterns, spears, muskets, and small cannon; on another side +were shields, buckler, masks, saws, and wheels, with belts, bands, and +long robes. The whole was a strange mixture of tragedy and farce; and +the group of natives were not far removed in appearance from the +supernumeraries that a Turkish tragedy might have brought together in +the green-room of a theatre. A set of more cowardly-looking miscreants +I never saw. They appeared ready either to trade with us, pick our +pockets, or cut our throats, as an opportunity might offer.</p> +<p>The wife’s apartment was not remarkable for its comforts, +although the Datu spoke of it with much consideration, and evidently +held his better half in high estimation. He was also proud of his six +children, the youngest of whom he brought out in its nurse’s +arms, and exhibited with much pride and satisfaction. He particularly +drew my attention to its little highly-wrought and splendidly-mounted +kris, which was stuck through its girdle, as an emblem of his rank. He +was in reality a fine-looking child. The kitchen was behind the house, +and occupied but a small space, for they have little in the way of food +that requires much preparation. The house of the Datu might justly be +termed nasty.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb503" href="#pb503" name= +"pb503">503</a>]</span>We now learned the reason why the Sultan could +not be seen; it was Friday, the Mahomedan Sabbath, and he had been at +the mosque from an early hour. Lieutenant Budd had been detained, +because it was not known when he would finish his prayers; and the +ceremonies of the day were more important than usual, on account of its +peculiar sanctity in their calendar.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Visiting the Sultan.</span>Word had been +sent off to the ship that the Sultan was ready to receive me, but the +messenger passed us while on our way to shore. After we had been seated +for a while, the Datu asked if we were ready to accompany him to see +the Sultan; but intimated that no one but Captain Hudson and myself +could be permitted to lay eyes on him. Being informed that we were, he +at once, and in our presence, slipped on his silken trousers, and a new +jacket, covered with bell-buttons; put on his slippers, strapped +himself round with a long silken net sash, into which he stuck his +kris, and, with umbrella in hand, said he was ready. He now led the way +out of his house, leaving the motley group behind, and we took the path +to the interior of the town, towards the Sultan’s. The Datu and I +walked hand in hand, on a roadway about ten feet wide, with a small +stream running on each side. Captain Hudson and the interpreter came +next, and a guard of six trusty slaves brought up the rear.</p> +<p>When we reached the outskirts of the town, about half a mile from +the Datu’s, we came to the Sultan’s residence, where he was +prepared to receive us in state. His house is constructed in the same +manner as that of the Datu, but is of larger dimensions, and the piles +are rather higher. Instead of steps, we found a ladder, rudely +constructed of bamboo, and very crazy. This was so steep that it was +necessary to use the hands in mounting it. I understood that the ladder +was always removed in the night, for the sake of security. We entered +at once into the presence-chamber, where the whole divan, if such it +may be called, sat in arm-chairs, occupying the half of a large round +table, covered with a white cotton cloth. On the opposite side of the +table, seats were placed for us. On our approach, the Sultan and all +his council rose, and motioned us to our seats. When we had taken them, +the part of the room behind us was literally crammed with well-armed +men. A few minutes were passed in silence, during which time we had an +opportunity of looking at each other, and around the hall in which we +were seated. The latter was of very common workmanship, and exhibited +no signs of oriental magnificence. Overhead hung a printed cotton +cloth, forming a kind of tester, which covered about half of the +apartment. In other places the roof and rafters were visible. A part of +the house was roughly partitioned off, to the height of nine or ten +feet, enclosing, as I was afterwards told, the Sultan’s sleeping +apartment, and that appropriated to his wife and her attendants.</p> +<p>The Sultan is of middle height, spare and thin; he was dressed in a +white cotton shirt, loose trousers of the same material, and slippers; +he had no stockings; the bottom of his trousers was worked in scollops +with blue silk, and this was the only ornament I saw about him. On his +head he wore a small colored cotton handkerchief, wound into a turban, +that just covered the top of his head. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb504" href="#pb504" name="pb504">504</a>]</span>His eyes were +bloodshot, and had an uneasy wild look, showing that he was under the +effects of opium, of which they all smoke large quantities. His teeth +were as black as ebony, which, with his bright cherry-colored +lips,<a class="noteref" id="xd20e10402src" href="#xd20e10402" name= +"xd20e10402src">2</a> contrasted with his swarthy skin, gave him +anything but a pleasant look.</p> +<p>On the left hand of the Sultan sat his two sons, while his right was +occupied by his councillors; just behind him, sat the carrier of his +betel-nut casket. The casket was of filigree silver, about the size of +a small tea-caddy, of oblong shape, and rounded at the top. It had +three divisions, one for the leaf, another for the nut, and a third for +the lime. Next to this official was the pipe-bearer, who did not appear +to be held in such estimation as the former.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Treaty with United States.</span>I opened +the conversation by desiring that the Datu would explain the nature of +our visit, and tell the Sultan that I had come to make the treaty which +he had some time before desired to form with the United +States.<a class="noteref" id="xd20e10411src" href="#xd20e10411" name= +"xd20e10411src">3</a></p> +<p>The Sultan replied that such was still his desire; upon which I told +him I would draw one up for him that same day. While I was explaining +to him the terms, a brass candlestick was brought in with a lighted +tallow candle, of a very dark color, and rude shape, that showed but +little art in the manufacture. This was placed in the center of the +table, with a plate of Manila cigars. None of them, however, were +offered to us, nor any kind of refreshment.</p> +<p>Our visit lasted nearly an hour. When we arose to take our leave, +the Sultan and his divan did the same, and we made our exit with low +bows on each side.</p> +<p>I looked upon it as a matter of daily occurrence for all those who +came to the island to visit the Sultan; but the Datu Mulu took great +pains to make me believe that a great favor had been granted in +allowing us a sight of his ruler. On the other hand, I dwelt upon the +condescension it was on my part to visit him, and I refused to admit +that I was under any gratitude or obligation for the sight of His +Majesty the Sultan Mohammed Damaliel Kisand, but said that he might +feel grateful to me if he signed the treaty I would prepare for +him.</p> +<p>On our return from the Sultan’s to the Datu Mulu’s +house, we found even a greater crowd than before. The Datu, however, +contrived to get us seats. The attraction which drew it together was to +look at Mr. Agate, who was taking a sketch of Mohammed Polalu, the +Sultan’s son, and next heir to the throne. I had hoped to procure +one of the Sultan, but this was declared to be impossible.</p> +<p>The son, however, has all the characteristics of the Sulu, and the +likeness was thought an excellent one. Mohammed Polalu is about +twenty-three years of age, of a tall slender figure, with a long face, +heavy and dull eyes, as though he was constantly under the influence of +opium. So much, indeed, was he addicted to the use of this drug, even +according to the Datu Mulu’s accounts, that <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb505" href="#pb505" name="pb505">505</a>]</span>his +strength and constitution were very much impaired. As he is kept +particularly under the guardianship of the Datu, the latter has a +strong interest in preserving this influence over him, and seems on +this account to afford him every opportunity of indulging in this +deplorable habit.</p> +<p>During our visit, the effects of a pipe of this drug were seen upon +him; for but a short time after he had reclined himself on the +Datu’s couch and cushion, and taken a few whiffs, he was entirely +overcome, stupid, and listless. I had never seen any one so young, +bearing such evident marks of the effects of this deleterious drug. +When but partially recovered from its effects he called for his +betelnut, to revive him by its exciting effects. This was carefully +chewed by his attendant to a proper consistency, moulded in a ball +about the size of a walnut, and then slipped into the mouth of the heir +apparent.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Interior travel prohibited.</span>One of +the requests I had made of the Sultan was, that the officers might have +guides to pass over the island. This was at once said to be too +dangerous to be attempted, as the datus of the interior and southern +towns would in all probability attack the parties. I understood what +this meant, and replied that I was quite willing to take the +responsibility, and that the party should be well armed. To this the +Sultan replied that he would not risk his own men. This I saw was a +mere evasion, but it was difficult and would be dangerous for our +gentlemen to proceed alone, and I therefore said no more. On our return +to the Datu’s, I gave them permission to get as far from the +beach as they could, but I was afterwards informed by them that in +endeavoring to penetrate into the woods, they were always stopped by +armed men. This was also the case when they approached particular parts +of the town, but they were not molested as long as their rambles were +confined to the beach. At the Datu’s we were treated to chocolate +and negus in gilt-edged tumblers, with small stale cakes, which had +been brought from Manila.</p> +<p>After we had sat some time I was informed that Mr. Dana missed his +bowie-knife pistol, which he had for a moment laid down on a chest. I +at once came to the conclusion that it had been stolen, and as the +theft had occurred in the Datu’s house, I determined to hold him +responsible for it, and gave him at once to understand that I should do +so, informing him that the pistol must be returned before the next +morning, or he must take the consequences. This threw him into some +consternation, and by my manner he felt that I was serious.</p> +<p>Captain Hudson and myself, previous to our return on board, visited +the principal parts of the town. The Chinese quarter is separated by a +body of water, and has a gateway that leads to a bridge. The bridge is +covered by a roof, and on each side of it are small shops, which are +open in front, and thus expose the goods they contain. In the rear of +the shops were the dwellings of the dealers. This sort of bazaar +contained but a very scanty assortment, and the goods were of inferior +quality.</p> +<p>We visited some blacksmith-shops, where they were manufacturing +krises and spears. These shops were open sheds; the fire was +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb506" href="#pb506" name= +"pb506">506</a>]</span>made upon the ground, and two wooden cylinders, +whose valves were in the bottom, served for bellows; when used, they +had movable pistons, which were worked by a man on an elevated seat, +and answered the purpose better than could have been expected.</p> +<p>The kris is a weapon in which this people take great pride; it is of +various shapes and sizes, and is invariably worn from infancy to old +age; they are generally wavy in their blades, and are worn in wooden +scabbards, which are neatly made and highly polished.</p> +<p>The market was well stocked with fruit and fish. Among the former +the durian seemed to predominate; this was the first time we had seen +it. It has a very disagreeable odour, as if decayed, and appears to +emit a sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which I observed blackened silver. +Some have described this fruit as delicious, but if the smell is not +enough, the taste in my opinion will convince any one of the +contrary.</p> +<p>Mr. Brackenridge made the following list of their fruits: Durian, +Artocarpus integrifolia, Melons, water and musk, Oranges, mandarin and +bitter, Pineapples, Carica papaya, Mangosteen, Bread-fruit, Coco and +Betelnut. The vegetables were capsicums, cucumbers, yams, +sweet-potatoes, garlic, onions, edible fern-roots, and radishes of the +salmon variety, but thicker and more acrid in flavor.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A stolen granite monument.</span>In walking +about the parts of the town we were permitted to enter, large slabs of +cut granite were seen, which were presumed to be from China, where the +walls of canals or streamlets are lined with it. But Dr. Pickering in +his rambles discovered pieces that had been cut as if to form a +monument, and remarked a difference between it and the Chinese kind. On +one or two pieces he saw the mark No. 1, in black paint; the +material resembled the Chelmsford granite, and it occurred to him that +the stone had been cut in Boston. I did not hear of this circumstance +until after we had left Sulu, and have little doubt now that the +interdiction against our gentlemen visiting some parts of the town was +owing to the fear they had of the discovery of this plunder. This may +have been the reason why they so readily complied with my demands, in +order to get rid of us as soon as possible, feeling themselves guilty, +and being unprepared for defence; for, of the numerous guns mounted, +few if any were serviceable.</p> +<p>The theft of the pistol was so barefaced an affair, that I made up +my mind to insist on its restoration. At the setting of the watch in +the evening, it had been our practice on board the Vincennes to fire a +small brass howitzer. This frequently, in the calm evenings, produced a +great reverberation, and rolled along the water to the surrounding +islands with considerable noise. Instead of it, on this evening, I +ordered one of the long guns to be fired, believing that the sound and +reverberation alone would suffice to intimidate such robbers. One was +accordingly fired in the direction of the town, which fairly shook the +island, as they said, and it was not long before we saw that the rogues +were fully aroused, for the clatter of gongs and voices that came over +the water, and the motion of lights, convinced me that the pistol would +be forthcoming in the morning. In this I was not mistaken, for at early +daylight I was awakened by a special messenger from the Datu to tell me +that the pistol was <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb507" href="#pb507" +name="pb507">507</a>]</span>found, and would be brought off without +delay; that he had been searching for it all night, and had at last +succeeded in finding it, as well as the thief, on whom he intended to +inflict the bastinado. Accordingly, in a short time the pistol was +delivered on board, and every expression of friendship and good-will +given, with the strongest assurances that nothing of the kind should +happen again.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Marongas island.</span>As our naturalists +could have no opportunity of rambling over the island of Sooloo, it was +thought that one of the neighbouring islands (although not so good a +field) would afford them many of the same results, and that they could +examine it unmolested. Accordingly, at an early hour, they were +despatched in boats for that purpose, with a sufficient guard to attend +them in case of necessity. The island on which they landed, Marongas, +has two hills of volcanic conglomerate and vesicular lava, containing +angular fragments embedded. The bottom was covered with living coral, +of every variety, and of different colors; but there was nothing like a +regular coral shelf, and the beach was composed of bits of coral +intermixed with dead shells, both entire and comminuted. The center of +the island was covered with mangrove-bushes; the hills were cones, but +had no craters on them. The mangroves had grown in clusters, giving the +appearance of a number of small islets. This, with the neighboring +islands, were thought to be composed in a great part of coral, but it +was impossible for our gentlemen to determine the fact.</p> +<p>The day was exceedingly hot, and the island was suffering to such a +degree from drought that the leaves in many cases were curled and +appeared dry. On the face of the rocky cliff they saw many swallows +(hirundo esculenta) flying in and out of the caverns facing the sea; +but they were not fortunate enough to find any of the edible nests, so +much esteemed by Chinese epicures.</p> +<p>At another part of the island they heard the crowing of a cock, and +discovered a small village, almost hidden by the mangroves, and built +over the water. In the neighborhood were several fish-baskets set out +to dry, as well as a quantity of fencing for weirs, all made of rattan. +Their shape was somewhat peculiar. After a little while the native +fishermen were seen approaching, who evidently had a knowledge of their +visit from the first. They came near with great caution in their +canoes; but after the first had spoken and reconnoitered, several +others landed, exhibiting no signs of embarrassment, and soon motioned +our party off. To indicate that force would be resorted to, in case of +refusal, at the same time they pointed to their arms, and drew their +krises. Our gentlemen took this all in good part, and, after dispensing +a few trifling presents among them, began their retreat with a +convenient speed, without, however, compromising their dignity.</p> +<p>The excursion had been profitable in the way of collections, having +yielded a number of specimens of shrubs and trees, both in flower and +fruit; but owing to the drought, the herbaceous plants were, for the +most part, dried up. Among the latter, however, they saw a large and +fine terrestrial species of Epidendrum, whose stem grew to the height +of several feet, and when surmounted by its flowers <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb508" href="#pb508" name= +"pb508">508</a>]</span>reached twelve or fifteen feet high. Many of the +salt-marsh plants seen in the Fijis, were also observed here. Besides +the plants, some shells and a beautiful cream-colored pigeon were +obtained.</p> +<p>During the day we were busily engaged in the survey of the harbor, +and in making astronomical and magnetical observations on the beach, +while some of the officers were employed purchasing curiosities, on +shore, at the town, and alongside the ship. These consisted of krises, +spears, shields, and shells; and the Sulus were not slow in +comprehending the kind of articles we were in search of.</p> +<p>Few if any of the Sulus can write or read, though many talk Spanish. +Their accounts are all kept by the slaves. Those who can read and write +are, in consequence, highly prized. All the accounts of the Datu of +Soung are kept in Dutch, by a young Malay from Tarnate, who writes a +good hand, and speaks English, and whom we found exceedingly useful to +us. He is the slave of the Datu, who employs him for this purpose only. +He told us he was captured in a brig by the pirates of Basilan, and +sold here as a slave, where he is likely to remain for life, although +he says the Datu has promised to give him his freedom after ten +years.</p> +<p>Horses, cows, and buffaloes are the beasts of burden, and a Sulu may +usually be seen riding either one or the other, armed cap-a-pie, with +kris, spear, and target, or shield.</p> +<p>They use saddles cut out of solid wood, and many ride with their +stirrups so short that they bring the knees very high, and the riders +look more like well-grown monkeys than mounted men. The cows and +buffaloes are guided by a piece of thong, through the cartilage of the +nose. By law, no swine are allowed to be kept on the island, and if +they are bought, they are immediately killed. The Chinese are obliged +to raise and kill their pigs very secretly, when they desire that +species of food; for, notwithstanding the law and the prejudices of the +inhabitants, the former continue to keep swine.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Natives.</span>The inhabitants of Sulu are +a tall, thin, and effeminate-looking race: I do not recollect to have +seen one corpulent person among them. Their faces are peculiar for +length, particularly in the lower jaw and chin, with high cheek-bones, +sunken, lack-lustre eyes, and narrow foreheads. Their heads are thinly +covered with hair, which appears to be kept closely cropped. I was told +that they pluck out their beards, and dye their teeth black with +antimony, and some file them.</p> +<p>Their eyebrows appear to be shaven, forming a very regular and high +arch, which they esteem a great beauty.</p> +<p>The dress of the common people is very like that of the Chinese, +with loose and full sleeves, without buttons. The materials of which it +is made are grass-cloths, silks, satins, or white cotton, from China. I +should judge from the appearance of their persons, that they ought to +be termed, so far as ablutions go, a cleanly people. There is no +outward respect or obeisance shown by the slave to his master, nor is +the presence of the Datu, or even of the Sultan himself, held in any +awe. All appear upon an equality, and there does not seem to be any +controlling power; yet it may be at once perceived that they are +suspicious and jealous of strangers.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb509" href="#pb509" name= +"pb509">509</a>]</span>The Sulus, although they are ready to do any +thing for the sake of plunder, even to the taking of life, yet are not +disposed to hoard their ill-gotten wealth, and, with all their faults, +cannot be termed avaricious.</p> +<p>They have but few qualities to redeem their treachery, cruelty, and +revengeful dispositions; and one of the principal causes of their being +so predominant, or even of their existence, is their inordinate lust +for power. When they possess this, it is accompanied by a haughty, +consequential, and ostentatious bravery. No greater affront can be +offered to a Sulu, than to underrate his dignity and official +consequence. Such an insult is seldom forgiven, and never forgotten. +From one who has made numerous voyages to these islands, I have +obtained many of the above facts, and my own observation assures me +that this view of their character is a correct one. I would, however, +add another trait, which is common among them, and that is cowardice, +which is obvious, in spite of their boasted prowess and daring. This +trait of character is universally ascribed to them among the Spaniards +in the Philippines, who ought to be well acquainted with them.</p> +<p>The dress of the women is not unlike that of the men in appearance. +They wear close jackets of various colors when they go abroad, and the +same loose breeches as the men, but over them they usually have a large +wrapper (sarong), not unlike the pareu of the Polynesian islanders, +which is put round them like a petticoat, or thrown over the shoulders. +Their hair is drawn to the back of the head, and around the forehead it +is shaven in the form of a regular arch, to correspond with the +eyebrows. Those that I saw at the Sultan’s were like the Malays, +and had light complexions, with very black teeth. The Datu thought them +very handsome, and on our return he asked me if I had seen the +Sultan’s beauties. The females of Sulu have the reputation of +ruling their lords, and possess much weight in the government by the +influence they exert over their husbands.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Superiority of women.</span>It may be owing +to this that there is little jealousy of their wives, who are said to +hold their virtues in no very great estimation. In their houses they +are but scantily clothed, though women of rank have always a large +number of rings on their fingers, some of which are of great value, as +well as earrings of fine gold. They wear no stockings, but have on +Chinese slippers, or Spanish shoes. They are as capable of governing as +their husbands, and in many cases more so, as they associate with the +slaves, from whom they obtain some knowledge of Christendom, and of the +habits and customs of other nations, which they study to imitate in +every way.</p> +<p>The mode in which the Sulus employ their time may be exemplified by +giving that of the Datu; for all, whether free or slave, endeavor to +imitate the higher rank as far as is in their power. The datus seldom +rise before eleven o’clock, unless they have some particular +business; and the Datu Mulu complained of being sleepy in consequence +of the early hour at which we had disturbed him.</p> +<p>On rising, they have chocolate served in gilt glassware, with some +light biscuit, and sweetmeats imported from China or Manila, of which +they informed me they laid in large supplies. They then <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb510" href="#pb510" name= +"pb510">510</a>]</span>lounge about their houses, transacting a little +business, and playing at various games, or, in the trading season, go +to the meeting of the Ruma Bechara.</p> +<p>At sunset they take their principal meal, consisting of stews of +fish, poultry, beef, eggs, and rice, prepared somewhat after the +Chinese and Spanish modes, mixed up with that of the Malay. Although +Moslems, they do not forego the use of wine, and some are said to +indulge in it to a great extent. After sunset, when the air has become +somewhat cooled by the refreshing breezes, they sally forth attended by +their retainers to take a walk, or proceed to the bazaars to purchase +goods, or to sell or to barter away their articles of produce. They +then pay visits to their friends, when they are in the habit of having +frequent convivial parties, talking over their bargains, smoking +cigars, drinking wine and liquors, tea, coffee, and chocolate, and +indulging in their favorite pipe of opium. At times they are +entertained with music, both vocal and instrumental, by their +dependants. Of this art they appear to be very fond, and there are many +musical instruments among them. A datu, indeed, would be looked upon as +uneducated if he could not play on some instrument.</p> +<p>It is considered polite that when refreshments are handed they +should be partaken of. Those offered us by the Datu were such as are +usual, but every thing was stale. Of fruit they are said to be very +fond, and can afford to indulge themselves in any kinds. With all these +articles to cloy the appetite, only one set meal a day is taken; though +the poorer classes, fishermen and laborers, partake of two.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Government.</span>The government of the +Sulu Archipelago is a kind of oligarchy, and the supreme authority is +vested in the Sultan and the Ruma Bechara or trading council. This +consists of about twenty chiefs, either datus, or their next in rank, +called orangs, who are governors of towns or detached provinces. The +influence of the individual chiefs depends chiefly upon the number of +their retainers or slaves, and the force they can bring into their +service when they require it. These are purchased from the pirates, who +bring them to Sulu and its dependencies for sale. The slaves are +employed in a variety of ways, as in trading prahus, in the pearl and +bêche de met fisheries, and in the search after the edible +birds’ nests.</p> +<p>A few are engaged in agriculture, and those who are at all educated +are employed as clerks. These slaves are not denied the right of +holding property, which they enjoy during their lives, but at their +death it reverts to the master. Some of them are quite rich, and what +may appear strange, the slaves of Sulu are invariably better off than +the untitled freemen, who are at all times the prey of the hereditary +datus, even of those who hold no official stations. By all accounts +these constitute a large proportion of the population, and it being +treason for any low-born freeman to injure or maltreat a datu, the +latter, who are of a haughty, overbearing, and tyrannical disposition, +seldom keep themselves within bounds in their treatment of their +inferiors. The consequence is, the lower class of freemen are obliged +to put themselves under the protection of some particular datu, which +guards them from the encroachment of others. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb511" href="#pb511" name="pb511">511</a>]</span>The +chief to whom they thus attach themselves, is induced to treat them +well, in order to retain their services, and attach them to his person, +that he may, in case of need, be enabled to defend himself from +depredations, and the violence of his neighbors.</p> +<p>Such is the absence of legal restraint, that all find it necessary +to go abroad armed, and accompanied by a trusty set of followers, who +are also armed. This is the case both by day and night, and, according +to the Datu’s account, frequent affrays take place in the open +streets, which not unfrequently end in bloodshed.</p> +<p>Caution is never laid aside, the only law that exists being that of +force; but the weak contrive to balance the power of the strong by +uniting. They have not only contentions and strife among themselves, +but it was stated at Manila that the mountaineers of Sulu, who are said +to be Christians, occasionally make inroads upon them. At Sulu, +however, it did not appear that they were under much apprehension of +these attacks. The only fear I heard expressed was by the Sultan, in my +interview with him; and the cause of this, as I have already stated, +was probably a desire to find an excuse for not affording us facilities +to go into the interior. Within twenty years, however, the reigning +sultan has been obliged to retire within his forts, in the town of +Sulu, which I have before adverted to.</p> +<p>These people are hostile to the Sulus of the coast and towns, who +take every opportunity to rob them of their cattle and property, for +which the mountaineers seek retaliation when they have an opportunity. +From the manner in which the Datu spoke of them, they are not much +regarded. Through another source I learned that the mountaineers were +Papuans, and the original inhabitants of the islands, who pay tribute +to the Sultan, and have acknowledged his authority, ever since they +were converted to Islamism. Before that time they were considered +extremely ferocious, and whenever it was practicable they were +destroyed. Others speak of an original race of Dyacks in the interior, +but there is one circumstance to satisfy me that there is no confidence +to be placed in this account, namely, that the island is not of +sufficient extent to accommodate so numerous a population as some +ascribe to it.</p> +<p>The forts consist of a double row of piles, filled in with coral +blocks. That situated on the east side of the small stream may be said +to mount a few guns, but these are altogether inefficient; and in +another, on the west side, which is rather a rude embankment than a +fort, there are some twelve or fifteen pieces of large calibre; but I +doubt very much if they had been fired off for years, and many of the +houses built upon the water would require to be pulled down before +these guns could be brought to bear upon any thing on the side of the +bay, supposing them to be in a good condition; a little farther to the +east of the town, I was informed they had a kind of stockade, but none +of us were permitted to see it.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Population.</span>According to our +estimates, and the information we received while at Sulu, the island +itself does not contain more than thirty thousand inhabitants, of which +the town of Soung may have six or seven thousand. The whole group may +number about one hundred and thirty thousand. I am aware, however, that +it is difficult to estimate <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb512" href= +"#pb512" name="pb512">512</a>]</span>the population of a half-civilized +people, who invariably exaggerate their own strength; and visitors are +likewise prone to do the same thing. The Chinese comprise about an +eighth of the population of the town, and are generally of the lower +class. They are constantly busy at their trades, and intent upon making +money.</p> +<p>At Soung, business seems active, and all, slaves as well as masters, +seem to engage in it. The absence of a strong government leaves all at +liberty to act for themselves, and the Ruma Bechara gives unlimited +freedom to trade. These circumstances promote the industry of the +community, and even that of the slave, for he too, as before observed, +has a life interest in what he earns.</p> +<p>Soung being the residence of the Sultan, as well as the grand depot +for all piratical goods, is probably more of a mart than any of the +surrounding towns. In the months of March and April it is visited by +several Chinese junks, who remain trading until the beginning of the +month of August. If delayed after that time, they can scarcely return +in safety, being unable to contend with the boisterous weather and head +winds that then prevail in the Chinese seas. These junks are said to +come chiefly from Amoy, where the cottons, etc., best suited for the +Sulus are made. Their cargoes consist of a variety of articles of +Chinese manufacture and produce, such as silk, satin goods, cottons, +red and checked, grass-cloth clothing, handkerchiefs, cutlery, guns, +ammunition, opium, lumber, china and glass-ware, rice, sugar, oil, +lard, and butter. In return for this merchandise they obtain camphor, +birds’ nests, rattans, bêche de mer, pearls, and +pearl-shells, coco, tortoise-shell, and wax; but there is no great +quantity of these articles to be obtained, perhaps not more than two or +three cargoes during the season. The trade requires great knowledge of +the articles purchased, for the Chinese and Sulus are both such adepts +in fraud, that great caution and circumspection are necessary.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Customs dues.</span>The duties on +importation are not fixed, but are changed and altered from time to +time by the Ruma Bechara. The following was stated to me as the +necessary payments before trade could be carried on:</p> +<div class="table"> +<table> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A large ship, with Chinese on board, pays</td> +<td>$2,000</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>A large ship, without Chinese on board, pays</td> +<td>1,800</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Small ships</td> +<td>1,500</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Large brig</td> +<td>1,000</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Small brig</td> +<td>500</td> +</tr> +<tr valign="top"> +<td>Schooners</td> +<td>from 150 to 400</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +<p>This supposes them all to have full cargoes. That a difference +should be made in a vessel with or without Chinamen, seems singular; +but this, I was told, arose from the circumstance that English vessels +take them on board, in order to detect and prevent the impositions of +the Sulus.</p> +<p>Vessels intending to trade at Soung should arrive before the Chinese +junks, and remain as long as they stay, or even a few days later. In +trading with the natives, all operations ought to be carried on for +cash, or if by barter, no delivery should be made until the articles to +be taken in exchange are received. In short, it is necessary to +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb513" href="#pb513" name= +"pb513">513</a>]</span>deal with them as though they were undoubted +rogues, and this pleases them much more than to appear unsuspicious. +Vessels that trade engage a bazaar, which they hire of the Ruma +Bechara, and it is advisable to secure the good-will of the leading +datus in that council by presents, and paying them more for their goods +than others.</p> +<p>There are various other precautions necessary in dealing with this +people; for they will, if possible, so act as to give rise to disputes, +in which case an appeal is made to their fellows, who are sure to +decide against the strangers. Those who have been engaged in this +trade, advise that the prices of the goods should be fixed upon before +the Sultan, and the scales of the Datu of Soung employed; for although +these are quite faulty, the error is compensated by the articles +received being, weighed in the same. This also secures the Datu’s +good-will, by the fee (some fifty dollars) which he receives for the +use of them. Thus it will be perceived that those who desire to trade +with Sulu, must make up their minds to encounter many impositions, and +to be continually watchful of their own interests.</p> +<p>Every possible precaution ought to be taken; and it will be found, +the treatment will depend upon, or be according to the force or +resolution that is displayed. In justice to this people it must be +stated, there have been times when traders received every kindness and +attention at the island of Sulu, and I heard it even said, that many +vessels had gone there to refit; but during the last thirty or forty +years, the reigning sultans and their subjects have become hostile to +Europeans, of whom they plunder and destroy as many as they can, and +this they have hitherto been allowed to do with impunity.</p> +<p>Although I have described the trade with Sulu as limited, yet it is +capable of greater extension; and had it not been for the piratical +habits of the people, the evil report of which has been so widely +spread, Sulu would now have been one of the principal marts of the +East. The most fertile parts of Borneo are subject to its authority. +There all the richest productions of these Eastern seas grow in immense +quantities, but are now left ungarnered in consequence of there being +no buyers. The cost of their cultivation would be exceedingly low, and +I am disposed to believe that these articles could be produced here at +a lower cost than anywhere else.</p> +<p>Besides the trade with China, there is a very considerable one with +Manila in small articles, and I found one of our countrymen engaged in +this traffic, under the Spanish flag. To him I am indebted for much +information that his opportunities of observation had given him.</p> +<p>The materials for the history of Sulu are meagre, and great doubt +seems to exist in some periods of it. That which I have been able to +gather is as follows:</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">History.</span>The island of Sulu is +generally believed to have been originally inhabited by Papuans, some +of whom, as I have already stated, are still supposed to inhabit the +mountainous part. The first intercourse had with them was by the +Chinese, who went there in search of pearls. The Orang Dampuwans were +the first of the Malays to form settlements on the islands; but after +building towns, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb514" href="#pb514" +name="pb514">514</a>]</span>making other improvements, they abandoned +the islands, in consequence, it is said, of the inhabitants being a +perfidious race, having previously to their departure destroyed as many +of the natives as they could.</p> +<p>The fame of the submarine riches of this archipelago reached Banjar +or Borneo, the people of which were induced to resort there, and +finding it to equal their expectation, they sent a large colony, and +made endeavors to win over the inhabitants, and obtain thereby the +possession of their rich isle. In order to confirm the alliance, a +female of Banjarmassing, of great beauty, was sent, and married to the +principal chief; and from this alliance the sovereigns of Sulu claim +their descent. The treaty of marriage made Sulu tributary to the +Banjarmassing empire.</p> +<p>After the Banjars had thus obtained possession of the archipelago, +the trade in its products attracted settlers from the surrounding +islands, who soon contrived to displace the aborigines, and drive them +to the inaccessible mountains for protection.</p> +<p>When the Chinese took possession of the northern parts of Borneo, +under the Emperor Songtiping, about the year 1375, the daughter of that +prince was married to a celebrated Arabian chief named Sheriff Alli, +who visited the shores of Borneo in quest of commerce. The descendants +of this marriage extended their conquests not only over the Sulu +Archipelago, but over the whole of the Philippines, and rendered the +former tributary to Borneo. In three reigns after this event, the +sultan of Borneo proper married the daughter of a Sulu chief, and from +this union came Mirhome Bongsu, who succeeding to the throne while yet +a minor, his uncle acted as regent. Sulu now wished to throw off the +yoke of Borneo, and through the intrigues of the regent succeeded in +doing so, as well as in retaining possession of the eastern side of +Borneo, from Maludu Bay on the north, to Tulusyan on the south, which +has ever since been a part of the Sulu territory.</p> +<p>This event took place before Islamism became the prevailing +religion; but which form of idolatry, the Sulus pretend, is not now +known. It is, however, believed the people on the coasts were +Buddhists, while those of the interior were Pagans.</p> +<p>The first sultan of Sulu was Kamaludin, and during his reign one +Sayed Alli, a merchant, arrived at Sulu from Mecca. He was a sherif, +and soon converted one-half of the islanders to his own faith. He was +elected sultan on the death of Kamaludin, and reigned seven years, in +the course of which he became celebrated throughout the archipelago. +Dying at Sulu, a tomb was erected to him there, and the island came to +be looked upon by the faithful as the Mecca of the East, and continued +to be resorted to as a pilgrimage until the arrival of the +Spaniards.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tawi Tawi.</span>Sayed Alli left a son +called Batua, who succeeded him. The latter had two sons, named Sabudin +and Nasarudin, who, on the death of their father, made war upon each +other. Nasarudin, the youngest, being defeated, sought refuge on Tawi +Tawi, where he established himself, and built a fort for his +protection. The difficulties were finally compromised, and they agreed +to reign together over Sulu. Nasarudin had two sons, called Amir and +Bantilan, of whom the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb515" href= +"#pb515" name="pb515">515</a>]</span>former was named as successor to +the two brothers, and on their deaths ascended the throne. During his +reign another sherif arrived from Mecca, who succeeded in converting +the remainder of the population to Islamism. Bantilan and his brother +Amir finally quarrelled, and the latter was driven from Sulu to seek +refuge in the island of Basilan, where he became sultan.</p> +<p>On the arrival of the Spaniards in 1566, a kind of desultory war was +waged by them upon the various islands, in the hope of conquering them +and extending their religion. In these wars they succeeded in gaining +temporary possession of a part of Sulu, and destroyed the tomb of Sayed +Alli. The Spaniards always looked upon the conversion of the Moslems to +the true Catholic faith with great interest; but in the year 1646, the +sultan of Magindanao succeeded in making peace, by the terms of which +the Spaniards withdrew from Sulu, and were to receive from the sultan +three cargoes of rice annually as a tribute.</p> +<p>In 1608, the small-pox made fearful ravages, and most of the +inhabitants fled from the scourge. Among these was the heir apparent, +during whose absence the throne became vacant, and another was elected +in his stead. This produced contention for a short time, which ended in +the elected maintaining his place.</p> +<p>This tribute continued to be paid until the flight of Amir to +Basilan, about the year 1752, where he entered into a secret +correspondence with the authorities at Zamboanga, and after two years a +vessel was sent from Manila, which carried him to that capital, where +he was treated as a prisoner of state.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The English treaty.</span>In June, 1759, an +English ship, on board of which was Dalrymple, then in the service of +the East India Company, arrived at Sulu on a trading voyage. Dalrymple +remained at Sulu for three months, engaged in making sales and +purchases. The Sultan Bantilan treated him with great kindness, and +sought the interest of Dalrymple to obtain the liberation of his +brother, who was now held prisoner by the Spaniards at Manila, by +telling him of the distress of his brother’s wife, who had been +left behind when Amir quitted the island, and had been delivered of +twins, after he had been kidnapped by the Spaniards. Dalrymple entered +into a pledge to restore Amir, and at the same time effected a +commercial treaty between the East India Company and the Sulu chiefs. +By this it was stipulated that an annual cargo should be sent to Sulu, +and sold at one hundred per cent. profit, for which a return cargo +should be provided for the China market, which should realize an equal +profit there, after deducting all expenses. The overplus, if any, was +to be carried to the credit of the Sulus. This appears to have been the +first attempt made by the English to secure a regular commercial +intercourse with this archipelago.</p> +<p>In the year 1760, a large fleet of Spanish vessels sailed from +Manila, with about two thousand men, having the Sultan Amir on board, +to carry on a war against Sulu.</p> +<p>On their arrival, they began active operations. They were repelled +on all sides, and after seven days’ ineffectual attempts, they +gave up their design. They returned to Manila, it is said, with a loss +of half their number, and without having done any injury <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb516" href="#pb516" name="pb516">516</a>]</span>to +the Sulus. Not discouraged with this failure, the Spaniards, about two +years after, organized a still larger force, which is estimated by some +accounts as high as ten thousand men. Although this failed in its +attempts on the fort at Soung, the Spaniards obtained possession of +Tanjong Matonda, one of the small ports on the island, where they +erected a church and fort. Here they established a colony, and +appointed a governor. The inhabitants upon this deserted their +habitations in the neighborhood, and fled to the mountains, which, it +is said, excited the mountaineers, a host of whom, with their chief, +whose name was Sri Kala, determined to rush upon the Spaniards, and +annihilate them. Having to contend against disciplined troops, it was +not an easy task to succeed. But Sri Kala had a follower, named Sigalo, +who offered to lead the host to battle against the Spaniards, and to +exterminate them, or die in the attempt. The chief accepted his offer, +and Sigalo, with a chosen few, marched towards the fort, leaving the +rest of the mountaineers in readiness to join them at an appointed +signal, and rush into the fort en masse.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Victory over Spaniards.</span>Sri Kala and +Sigalo, in order to lull the watchfulness of the Spaniards, took with +them a young woman, of exquisite beauty, named Purmassuri. The lustful +Spaniards were thus thrown off their guard, the signal was given, and +the host, rushing forward, entered the fort, every Spaniard within +which was slain. A few only, who were on the outside, escaped to the +vessels, which set sail, and after encountering various mishaps, +returned to Manila.</p> +<p>Some time after this the Sultan Bantilan died, and his son +Alim-ud-deen was proclaimed sultan. Dalrymple did not return until +1762, with a part of the appointed cargo; but the vessel in which the +larger part had been shipped, failed to arrive, from not being able to +find Sulu, and went to China. Thence she proceeded to Manila, and +afterwards to Sulu. The captain of the latter vessel gave a new credit +to the Sulus, before they had paid for their first cargo; and on the +arrival of Dalrymple the next time, he found that the small-pox had +carried off a large number of the inhabitants, from which circumstance +all his hopes of profit were frustrated. He then obtained for the use +of the East India Company, a grant of the island of Balambangan, which +lies off the north end of Borneo, forming one side of the Straits of +Balabac, the western entrance to the Sulu Sea. Here he proposed to +establish a trading post, and after having visited Madras, he took +possession of this island in 1763.</p> +<p>In October, 1762, the English took Manila, where the Sultan Amir was +found by Dalrymple, who engaged to reinstate him on his throne, if he +would cede to the English the north end of Borneo, as well as the south +end of Palawan. This he readily promised, and he was, in consequence, +carried back to Sulu and reinstated; his nephew, Alim-ud-deen, readily +giving place to him, and confirming the grant to the East India +Company, in which the Ruma Bechara joined.</p> +<p>After various arrangements, the East India Company took possession +of Balambangan, in the year 1773, and formed a settlement there with a +view of making it an emporium of trade for Eastern <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb517" href="#pb517" name= +"pb517">517</a>]</span>commodities. Troops and stores were sent from +India, and the population began to increase by settlers, both Chinese +and Malays, who arrived in numbers. In the year 1775, the fort, +notwithstanding all the treaties and engagements between Dalrymple and +the Sultan, was surprised by the Sulus, and many of the garrison put to +death. <span class="marginnote">Victory over English.</span>This +virtually put an end to the plans of the English, although another +attempt was made to re-establish the settlement by Colonel Farquhar, in +1803; but it was thought to be too expensive a post, and was +accordingly abandoned in the next year. This act of the Sulus fairly +established their character for perfidy, and ever since that +transaction they have been looked upon as treacherous in the highest +degree, and, what is singular, have been allowed to carry on their +piracies quite unmolested. The taking of Balambangan has been generally +imputed to the treacherous disposition and innate love of plunder among +the Sulus, as well as to their fear that it would destroy the trade of +Sulu by injuring all that of the archipelago. But there are strong +reasons for believing that this dark deed owed its origin in part to +the influence of the Spaniards and Dutch, who looked with much distrust +upon the growth of the rival establishment. Such was the jealousy of +the Spaniards, that the governor of the Philippines peremptorily +required that Balambangan should be evacuated. The Sulus boast of the +deed, and admit that they received assistance from both Zamboanga and +Ternate, the two nearest Spanish and Dutch ports. These nations had +great reasons to fear the establishment of a power like that of the +East India Company, in a spot so favorably situated to secure the trade +of the surrounding islands, possessing fine harbors, and in every way +adapted to become a great commercial depot. Had it been held by the +East India Company but for a few years, it must have become what +Singapore is now.</p> +<p>The original planner of this settlement is said to have been Lord +Pigot; but the merit of carrying it forward was undoubtedly due to +Dalrymple, whose enterprising mind saw the advantage of the situation, +and whose energy was capable of carrying the project successfully +forward.</p> +<p>Since the capture of Balambangan, there has been no event in the +history of Sulu that has made any of the reigns of the Sultans +memorable, although fifteen have since ascended the throne.</p> +<p>Sulu has from all the accounts very much changed in its character as +well as population since the arrival of the Spaniards, and the +establishment of their authority in the Philippines. Before that event, +some accounts state that the trade with the Chinese was of great +extent, and that from four to five hundred junks arrived annually from +Cambojia, with which Sulu principally traded. At that time the +population is said to have equalled in density that of the +thickly-settled parts of China.</p> +<p>The government has also undergone a change; for the Sultan, who +among other Malay races is usually despotic, is here a mere cipher, and +the government has become an oligarchy. This change has probably been +brought about by the increase of the privileged class of Datus, all of +whom were entitled to a seat in the Ruma Bechara until about the year +1810, when the great inconvenience <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb518" +href="#pb518" name="pb518">518</a>]</span>of so large a council was +felt, and it became impossible to control it without great difficulty +and trouble on the part of the Sultan. The Ruma Bechara was then +reduced until it contained but six of the principal Datus, who assumed +the power of controlling the state. The Ruma Bechara, however, in +consequence of the complaints of many powerful Datus, was enlarged; but +the more powerful, and those who have the largest numerical force of +slaves, still rule over its deliberations. The whole power, within the +last thirty years, has been usurped by one or two Datus, who now have +monopolized the little foreign trade that comes to these islands. The +Sultan has the right to appoint his successor, and generally names him +while living. In default of this, the choice devolves upon the Ruma +Bechara, who elect by a majority.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Piracies</span>From a more frequent +intercourse with Europeans and the discovery of new routes through +these seas, the opportunities of committing depredations have become +less frequent, and the fear of detection greater. By this latter motive +they are more swayed than by any thing else, and if the Sulus have ever +been bold and daring robbers on the high seas, they have very much +changed.</p> +<p>Many statements have been made and published relative to the +piracies committed in these seas, which in some cases exceed, and in +others fall short, of the reality. Most of the piratical establishments +are under the rule, or sail under the auspices of the Sultan and Ruma +Bechara of Sulu, who are more or less intimately connected with them. +The share of the booty that belongs to the Sultan and Ruma Bechara is +twenty-five per cent. on all captures, whilst the Datus receive a high +price for the advance they make of guns and powder, and for the +services of their slaves.</p> +<p>The following are the piratical establishments of Sulu, obtained +from the most authentic sources, published as well as verbal. The first +among these is the port of Soung, at which we anchored, in the island +of Sulu; not so much from the number of men available here for this +pursuit, as the facility of disposing of the goods. By the Spaniards +they are denominated Illanun or Lanuns pirates.<a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10659src" href="#xd20e10659" name="xd20e10659src">4</a> There are +other rendezvous on Pulo Toolyan, at Bohol, Tonho, Pilas, Tawi Tawi, +Sumlout, Pantutaran, Parodasan, Palawan, and Basilan, and Tantoli on +Celebes. These are the most noted, but there are many minor places, +where half a dozen prahus are fitted out. Those of Sulu, and those who +go under the name of the Lanuns, have prahus of larger size, and better +fitted. They are from twenty to thirty tons burden, and are propelled +by both sails and oars. They draw but little water, are fast sailers, +and well adapted for navigating through these dangerous seas. These +pirates are supposed to possess in the whole about two hundred prahus, +which usually are manned with from forty to fifty pirates; the number +therefore engaged in this business, may be estimated at ten thousand. +They are armed with muskets, blunderbusses, krises, hatchets, and +spears, and at times the vessels have one or two large guns mounted. +They infest the Macassar Strait, the Celebes Sea, and the Sulu Sea. +Soung is the only place where they can dispose of their plunder +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb519" href="#pb519" name= +"pb519">519</a>]</span>to advantage, and obtain the necessary outfits. +It may be called the principal resort of these pirates, where +well-directed measures would result in effectually suppressing the +crime.</p> +<p>Besides the pirates of Sulu, the commerce of the eastern islands is +vexed with other piratical establishments. In the neighboring seas, +there are the Malay pirates, who have of late years become exceedingly +troublesome. Their prahus are of much smaller size than those of Sulu, +being from ten to twelve tons burden, but in proportion they are much +better manned, and thus are enabled to ply with more efficiency their +oars or paddles. These prahus frequent the shores of Malacca Straits, +Cape Roumania, the Carimon Isles, and the neighboring straits, and at +times they visit the Rhio Straits. Some of the most noted, I was +informed, were fitted out from Johore, in the very neighborhood of the +English authorities at Singapore; they generally have their haunts on +the small islands on the coast, from which they make short cruises.</p> +<p>They are noted for their arrangements for preventing themselves from +receiving injury, in the desperate defences that are sometimes made +against them. These small prahus have usually swivels mounted, which, +although not of great calibre, are capable of throwing a shot beyond +the range of small-arms. It is said that they seldom attempt an attack +unless the sea is calm, which enables them to approach their victims +with more assurance of success, on account of the facility with which +they are enabled to manage their boats. The frequent calms which occur +in these seas between the land and sea breezes, afford them many +opportunities of putting their villanous plans in operation; and the +many inlets and islets, with which they are well acquainted, afford +places of refuge and ambush, and for concealing their booty. They are +generally found in small flotillas of from six to twenty prahus, and +when they have succeeded in disabling a vessel at long shot, the sound +of the gong is the signal for boarding, which, if successful, results +in a massacre more or less bloody, according to the obstinacy of the +resistance they have met with.</p> +<p>In the winter months, the Malacca Straits are most infested with +them; and during the summer, the neighborhood of Singapore, Point +Rumania, and the channels in the vicinity. In the spring, from February +to May, they are engaged in procuring their supplies, in fishing, and +refitting their prahus for the coming year.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Suppression of pirates.</span>I have +frequently heard plans proposed for the suppression of these pirates, +particularly of those in the neighborhood of the settlements under +British rule. The European authorities are much to blame for the +quiescent manner in which they have so long borne these depredations, +and many complaints are made that Englishmen, on being transplanted to +India, lose that feeling of horror for deeds of blood, such as are +constantly occurring at their very doors, which they would experience +in England. There are, however, many difficulties to overcome before +operations against the pirates can be effective. The greatest of these +is the desire of the English to secure the good-will of the chiefs of +the tribes by whom they are surrounded. They thus wink at their +piracies on the vessels of other nations, or take no steps to alleviate +the evils of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb520" href="#pb520" name= +"pb520">520</a>]</span>slavery. Indeed the language that one hears from +many intelligent men who have long resided in that part of the world +is, that in no country where civilization exists does slavery exhibit +so debasing a form as in her Indian possessions. Another difficulty +consists in the want of minute knowledge of the coasts, inlets, and +hiding-places of the pirates, and this must continue to exist until +proper surveys are made. This done, it would be necessary to employ +vessels that could pursue the pirates everywhere, for which purpose +steamers naturally suggest themselves.</p> +<p>What will appear most extraordinary is, that the very princes who +are enjoying the stipend for the purchase of the site whereon the +English authority is established, are believed to be the most active in +equipping the prahus for these piratical expeditions; yet no notice is +taken of them, although it would be so easy to control them by +withholding payment until they had cleared themselves from suspicion, +or by establishing residents in their chief towns.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Bajows.</span>Another, and a very +different race of natives who frequent the Sulu Archipelago, must not +be passed by without notice. These are the Bajow divers or fishermen, +to whom Sulu is indebted for procuring the submarine treasures with +which her seas are stored. They are also very frequently employed in +the bêche de mer or trepang fisheries among the islands to the +south. The Bajows generally look upon Macassar as their principal place +of resort. They were at one time believed to be derived from Johore, on +the Malayan peninsula; at another, to be Buguese; but they speak the +Sulu dialect, and are certainly derived from some of the neighboring +islands. The name of Bajows, in their tongue, means fishermen. From all +accounts, they are allowed to pursue their avocations in peace, and are +not unfrequently employed by the piratical datus, and made to labor for +them. They resort to their fishing-grounds in fleets of between one and +two hundred sail, having their wives and children with them, and in +consequence of the tyranny of the Sulus, endeavor to place themselves +under the protection of the flag of Holland, by which nation this +useful class of people is encouraged. The Sulu Seas are comparatively +little frequented by them, as they are unable to dispose of the produce +of their fisheries for want of a market, and fear the exactions of the +Datus. Their prahus are about five tons each. The Bajows at some +islands are stationary, but are for the most part constantly changing +their ground. The Spanish authorities in the Philippines encourage +them, it is said, to frequent their islands, as without them they would +derive little benefit from the banks in the neighboring seas, where +quantities of pearl-oysters are known to exist, which produce pearls of +the finest kind. The Bajows are inoffensive and very industrious, and +in faith Mahomedans.</p> +<p>The climate of Sulu during our short stay, though warm, was +agreeable. The time of our visit was in the dry season, which lasts +from October till April, and alternates with the wet one, from May till +September. June and July are the windy months, when strong breezes blow +from the westward. In the latter part of August and September, strong +gales are felt from the south, while in December and January the winds +are found to come from the northward; <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb521" href="#pb521" name="pb521">521</a>]</span>but light winds +usually prevail from the southwest during the wet season, and from the +opposite quarter, the dry, following closely the order of the monsoons +in the China seas. As to the temperature, the climate is very equable, +the thermometer seldom rising above 90° or falling below +70°.</p> +<p>Diseases are few, and those that prevail arise from the manner in +which the natives live. They are from that cause an unhealthy-looking +race. The small-pox has at various times raged with great violence +throughout the group, and they speak of it with great dread. Few of the +natives appeared to be marked with it, which may have been owing, +perhaps, to their escaping this disorder for some years. Vaccination +has not yet been introduced among them, nor have they practiced +inoculation.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding Soung was once the Mecca of the East, its people +have but little zeal for the Mahomedan faith. It was thought at once +time that they had almost forgotten its tenets, in consequence of the +neglect of all their religious abservances. The precepts which they +seem to regard most are that of abstaining from swine’s flesh, +and that of being circumcised. Although polygamy is not interdicted, +few even of the datus have more than one wife.</p> +<p>Soung Road offers good anchorage; and supplies of all kinds may be +had in abundance. Beef is cheap, and vegetables and fruits at all +seasons plenty.</p> +<p>Our observations placed the town in latitude 6° 01′ N., +longitude 120° 55′ 51″ E.</p> +<p>Having concluded the treaty and other business that had taken me to +Sulu, we took our departure for the Straits of Balabac, the western +entrance into this sea, with a fine breeze to the eastward. By noon we +had reached the group of Pangootaaraang, consisting of five small +islands. All of these are low, covered with trees, and without lagoons. +They presented a great contrast to Sulu, which was seen behind us in +the distance. The absence of the swell of the ocean in sailing through +this sea is striking, and gives the idea of navigating an extensive +bay, on whose luxuriant islands no surf breaks. There are, however, +sources of danger that incite the navigator to watchfulness and +constant anxiety; the hidden shoals and reefs, and the sweep of the +tide, which leave him no control over his vessel.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cagayan Sulu.</span>Through the night, +which was exceedingly dark, we sounded every twenty minutes, but found +no bottom; and at daylight on the 7th, we made the islands of Cagayan +Sulu, in latitude 7° 03′ 30″ N., longitude 118° +37′ E. The tide or current was passing the islands to the +west-southwest, three quarters of a mile per hour; we had soundings of +seventy-five fathoms. Cagayan Sulu has a pleasant appearance from the +sea, and may be termed a high island. It is less covered with +undergrowth and mangrove-bushes than the neighboring islands, and the +reefs are comparatively small. It has fallen off in importance; and by +comparing former accounts with those I received, and from its present +aspect, it would seem that it has decreased both in population and +products. Its caves formerly supplied a large quantity of edible +birds’ nests; large numbers of <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb522" href="#pb522" name="pb522">522</a>]</span>cattle were to be +found upon it; and its cultivation was carried on to some extent. These +articles of commerce are not so much attended to at the present time, +and the bêche de mer and tortoise-shell, formerly brought hither, +are now carried to other places. There is a small anchorage on the west +side, but we did not visit it. There are no dangers near these small +islands that may not be guarded against. Our survey extended only to +their size and situation, as I deemed it my duty to devote all the +remainder of the time I had to spare to the Balabac Straits.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Balabac straits.</span>After the night set +in, we continued sounding every ten minutes, and occasionally got +bottom in from thirty to seventy fathoms. At midnight, the water +shoaled to twenty fathoms, when I dropped the anchor until daylight. We +shortly afterwards had a change of wind, and a heavy squall passed over +us.</p> +<p>In the morning we had no shoal ground near us, and the bank on which +we had anchored was found to be of small size; it is probable that we +had dropped the anchor on the shoalest place. Vessels have nothing to +fear in this respect.</p> +<p>At 9:00 a.m. of the 8th, we made the Mangsee Islands ahead of us, +and likewise Balabac to the north, and <span class="corr" id= +"xd20e10714" title="Source: Balambagan">Balambangan</span> to the +south. Several sand-banks and extensive reefs were also seen between +them. On seeing the ground on which we had to operate, of which the +published charts give no idea whatever, I determined to proceed, and +take a central position with the ship under the Mangsee Islands; but in +order not to lose time, I hoisted out and dropped two boats, under +Lieutenant Perry, to survey the first sand-bank we came to, which lies +a few miles to the eastward of these islands, with orders to effect +this duty and join me at the anchorage, or find a shelter under the lee +of the islands.</p> +<p>At half-past two p.m. we anchored near the reef, in thirty-six +fathoms water. I thought myself fortunate in getting bottom, as the +reefs on closing with them seemed to indicate but little appearance of +it.</p> +<p>The rest of the day was spent in preparing the boats for our +operations. I now felt the want of the tender. Although in the absence +of this vessel, great exposure was necessary to effect this survey, I +found both officers and men cheerful and willing. The parties were +organized,—the first to proceed to the north, towards Balabac +Island, to survey the intermediate shoals and reefs, under Lieutenant +Emmons and Mr. Totten; the second to the south, under Lieutenants Perry +and Budd; and Mr. Hammersly for the survey of the shoals of Balambangan +and Banguey, and their reefs. The examination of the Mangsee Islands, +and the reefs adjacent, with the astronomical and magnetic +observations, etc., devolved on myself and those who remained on board +the ship.</p> +<p>The weather was watched with anxiety, and turned out disagreeable, +heavy showers and strong winds prevailing; notwithstanding, the boats +were despatched, after being as well protected against it as possible. +We flattered ourselves that these extensive reefs would produce a fine +harvest of shells; but, although every exertion was made in the search, +we did not add as many to our collections as we anticipated. Some +land-shells, however, were found that <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb523" href="#pb523" name="pb523">523</a>]</span>we little expected to +meet with, for many of the trees were covered with them, and on cutting +them down, large quantities were easily obtained. Mr. Peale shot +several birds, among which was a Nicobar pigeon; some interesting +plants and corals were also added. On the island a large quantity of +drift-wood was found, which with that which is growing affords ample +supplies of fuel for ships. No fresh water is to be had, except by +digging, the island being but a few feet above high-water mark.</p> +<p>Although the time was somewhat unfavorable, Lieutenant Emmons and +party executed their orders within the time designated, and met with no +other obstructions than the inclemency of the weather. This was not, +however, the case with Lieutenant Perry, who, near a small beach on the +island of Balambangan, encountered some Sulus, who were disposed to +attack him. The natives, no doubt, were under the impression that the +boats were from some shipwrecked vessel. They were all well armed, and +apparently prepared to take advantage of the party if possible; but, by +the prudence and forbearance of this officer, collision was avoided, +and his party saved from an attack.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Balambangan.</span>The island of +Balambangan was through the instrumentality of Mr. Dalrymple, as +heretofore stated, obtained from the Sulus for a settlement and place +of deposit, by the East India Company, who took possession of it in +1773. Its situation off the northern end of Borneo, near the fertile +district of that island, its central position, and its two fine ports, +offered great advantages for commerce, and for its becoming a great +entrepot for the riches of this archipelago. Troops, and stores of all +kinds, were sent from India; numbers of Chinese and Malays were induced +to settle; and Mr. Herbert, one of the council of Bencoolen, was +appointed governor. It had been supposed to be a healthy place, as the +island was elevated, and therefore probably free from malaria; but in +1775 the native troops from India became much reduced from sickness, +and the post consequently much weakened. This, with the absence of the +cruisers from the harbor, afforded a favorable opportunity for its +capture; and the wealth that it was supposed to contain created an +inducement that proved too great for the hordes of marauding pirates to +resist. Choosing their time, they rushed upon the sentries, put them to +death, took possession of the guns, and turned them against the +garrison, only a few of whom made their escape on board of a small +vessel. The booty in goods and valuables was said to have been very +large, amounting to nearly four hundred thousand pounds sterling.</p> +<p>Although Borneo offers many inducements to commercial enterprise, +the policy of the Dutch Company has shut themselves out, as well as +others, by interdicting communication. In consequence, except through +indirect channels, there has been no information obtained of the +singular and unknown inhabitants of its interior. This, however, is not +long destined to be the case.</p> +<p>Mr. Brooke, an English gentleman of fortune, has, since our passage +through these seas, from philanthropic motives, made an agreement with +the rajah of Sarawack, on the northern and western side of Borneo, to +cede to him the administration of that portion <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb524" href="#pb524" name="pb524">524</a>]</span>of +the island. This arrangement it is believed the British government will +confirm, in which event Sarawack will at once obtain an importance +among the foreign colonies, in the Eastern seas, second only to that of +Singapore.</p> +<p>The principal inducement that has influenced Mr. Brooke in this +undertaking is the interest he feels in the benighted people of the +interior, who are known under the name of Dyack, and of whom some +extraordinary accounts have been given.</p> +<p>A few of these, which I have procured from reputable sources, I will +now relate, in order that it may be seen among what kind of people this +gentleman has undertaken to introduce the arts of civilization.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The Dyacks.</span>The Dyacks are, by all +accounts, a fine race, and much the most numerous of any inhabiting +Borneo. They are almost exclusively confined to the interior, where +they enjoy a fine climate, and all the spontaneous productions of the +tropics. They are believed to be the aborigines of the island. The name +of Dyack seems to be more particularly applied to those who live in the +southern section of Borneo. To the north they are called Idaan or +Tirun, and those so termed are best known to the Sulus, or the +inhabitants of that part of the coast of Borneo over which the Sulus +rule. In personal appearance, the Dyacks are slender, have higher +foreheads than the Malays, and are a finer and much better-looking +people. Their hair is long, straight, and coarse, though it is +generally cropped short round the head. The females are spoken of as +being fair and handsome, and many of those who have been made slaves +are to be seen among the Malays.</p> +<p>In manners the Dyacks are described as simple and mild, yet they are +characterized by some of the most uncommon and revolting customs of +barbarians. Their government is very simple; the elders in each village +for the most part rule; but they are said to have chiefs that do not +differ from the Malay rajahs. They wear no clothing except the maro, +and many of them are tattooed, with a variety of figures, over their +body. They live in houses built of wood, that are generally of large +size, and frequently contain as many as one hundred persons. These +houses are usually built on piles, divided into compartments, and have +a kind of veranda in front, which serves as a communication between the +several families. The patriarch, or elder, resides in the middle. The +houses are entered by ladders, and have doors, but no windows. The +villages are protected by a sort of breastwork.</p> +<p>Although this people are to be found throughout all Borneo, and even +within a few miles of the coast, yet they do not occupy any part of its +shores, which are held by Malays, or Chinese settlers. There is no +country more likely to interest the world than Borneo. All accounts +speak of vast ruins of temples and palaces, throughout the whole extent +of its interior, which the ancestors of the present inhabitants could +not have constructed. The great resemblance these bear to those of +China and Cambojia has led to the belief that Borneo was formerly +peopled by those nations; but all traditions of the origin of these +edifices have been lost; and so little is now known of the northern +side of Borneo, that it would be <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb525" +href="#pb525" name="pb525">525</a>]</span>presumption to indulge in any +surmises of what may have been its state during these dark ages. Even +the Bugis priests, who are the best-informed persons in the country, +have no writings or traditions that bear upon the subject; and the few +scattered legends of Eastern origin, can afford no proof of the +occurrence of the events they commemorate in any particular +locality.</p> +<p>The accounts of the habits of the Dyacks are discrepant. Some give +them credit for being very industrious, while others again speak of +them as indolent. They are certainly cultivators of the soil, and in +order to obtain the articles they need, will work assiduously. Many of +them are employed in collecting gold-dust, and some in the diamond +mines; and they will at times be found procuring gums, rattans, etc., +from their native forests for barter. They are a people of great energy +of character, and perseverance in the attainment of their object, +particularly when on war-parties, or engaged in hunting.</p> +<p>Their food consists of rice, hogs, rats, snakes, monkeys, and many +kinds of vermin, with which this country abounds.</p> +<p>Their chief weapon is the parang or heavy knife, somewhat like the +kris. It is manufactured of native iron and steel, with which the coast +of the country is said to abound. They have a method of working it +which renders it unnecessary for them to look to a foreign supply; the +only articles of foreign hardware that they are said to desire, are +razors, out of which to make their cockspurs. One thing seems strange: +although asserted upon good authority, that the iron and steel of the +coast are thought to be superior by foreigners, they are not to be +compared with that which is found in the interior, and manufactured by +the Dyacks. All the best krises used by the Malay rajahs and chiefs, +are obtained from the interior. Some of these are exquisitely +manufactured, and so hard that, without turning the edge, they cut +ordinary wrought iron and steel.</p> +<p>Among their other weapons is the sumpit, a hollow tube, through +which they blow poisoned arrows. The latter are of various kinds, and +those used in war are dipped in the sap of what the natives term the +“upo.” The effect of this poison is almost instantaneous, +and destroys life in four or five minutes. Those who have seen a wound +given accidentally, describe the changes that the poison occasions as +plainly perceptible in its progress. Before using the arrow, its +poisoned point is dipped in lime-juice to quicken it. The range of the +sumpit is from fifty to sixty yards. Although the arrows are poisoned, +yet it is said they sometimes eat the games they kill with them, +parboiling it before it is roasted, which is thought to extract the +poison. Firearms, respecting which they have much fear, have not yet +been introduced among them; indeed, it is said that so easily are they +intimidated by such weapons, that on hearing a report of a gun they +invariably run away. Each individual in a host would be impressed with +the belief that he was the one that was to be shot.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The diwatas.</span>They address their +prayers to the maker of the world, whom they call Dewatta, and this is +all the religion they have. There are many animals and birds held by +them in high veneration, and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb526" href= +"#pb526" name="pb526">526</a>]</span>they are close observers of the +flight of birds, from which they draw prognostics. There is in +particular a white-headed eagle or kite, upon whose flight and cries +they put great reliance, and consult them in war or on any particular +expedition. For this purpose they draw numbers of them together, and +feed them by scattering rice about. It is said their priests consult +their entrails also on particular occasions, to endeavor to look into +future events.</p> +<p>In the performance of their engagements and oaths, they are most +scrupulous. They seem to have some idea of a future life, and that on +the road to their elysium they have to pass over a long tree, which +requires the assistance of all those they have slain in this world. The +abode of happy spirits is supposed to be on the top of Kini Balu, one +of their loftiest mountains, and the portals are guarded by a fiery +serpent, who does not suffer any virgin to pass into the celestial +paradise.</p> +<p>Polygamy does not exist among them, but they have as concubines +slaves, who are captured in their wars or rather predatory expeditions. +If a wife proves unfaithful to her husband, he kills several of his +slaves, or inflicts upon her many blows, and a divorce may be effected +by the husband paying her a certain price, and giving up her clothes +and ornaments, after which he is at liberty to marry another. The +women, however, exercise an extraordinary influence over the men.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Headhunting.</span>But of all their +peculiar traits, there is none more strange than the passion they seem +to indulge for collecting human heads. These are necessary +accompaniments in many transactions of their lives, particularly in +their marriages, and no one can marry unless he has a certain number of +heads; indeed, those who cannot obtain these are looked upon with +disdain by the females. A young man wishing to wed, and making +application to marry her for whom he has formed an attachment, repairs +with the girl’s father to the rajah or chief, who immediately +inquires respecting the number of heads he has procured, and generally +decides that he ought to obtain one or two more, according to his age, +and the number the girl’s father may have procured, before he can +be accepted. He at once takes his canoe and some trusty followers, and +departs on his bloody errand, waylaying the unsuspecting or surprising +the defenceless, whose head he immediately cuts off, and then makes a +hurried retreat. With this he repairs to the dwelling of his mistress, +or sends intelligence of his success before him. On his arrival, he is +met by a joyous group of females, who receive him with every +demonstration of joy, and gladly accept his ghastly offering.</p> +<p>Various barbarous ceremonies now take place, among which the heads +undergo inspection to ascertain if they are fresh; and, in order to +prove this, none of the brain must be removed, nor must they have been +submitted to smoke to destroy the smell. After these preliminaries, the +family honor of the bride is supposed to be satisfied, and she is not +allowed to refuse to marry. A feast is now made, and the couple are +seated in the midst naked, holding the bloody heads, when handfuls of +rice are thrown over them, with prayers that they may be happy and +fruitful. After this, the bridegroom repairs in state to the house of +the bride, where he <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb527" href="#pb527" +name="pb527">527</a>]</span>is received at the door by one of her +friends, who sprinkles him with the blood of a cock, and her with that +of a hen. This completes the affair, and they are man and wife.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Cremation.</span>Funerals are likewise +consecrated by similar offerings, the corpse remaining in the house +until a slave can be procured, by purchase or otherwise, whom they +design to behead at the time the body is burnt. This is done in order +that the defunct may be attended by a slave on his way to the other +world or realms of bliss. After being burnt, the ashes of the deceased +are gathered in an urn, and the head of the slave preserved and placed +near it.</p> +<p>In some parts, a rajah or chief is buried with great pomp in his war +habiliments, and food and his arms are placed at his side. A mound is +erected over him, which is encircled with a bamboo fence, upon which a +number of fresh heads are stuck, all the warriors who have been +attached to him bringing them as the most acceptable offering; and +subsequently these horrid offerings are renewed.</p> +<p>The Dyacks are found also in the Celebes island, but there, as in +Borneo, they are confined to the interior. I have already mentioned +that they were supposed to have been the original inhabitants of the +Sulu Archipelago. The Sulus speak of the country of the Dyacks as being +exceedingly fertile and capable of producing every thing. The north end +of Borneo is particularly valuable, as its produce is easily +transported from the interior, where much of the land is cultivated. I +have obtained much more information in relation to this people, in a +variety of ways, from individuals as well as from the published +accounts, which are to be found at times in the Eastern prints; but as +this digression has already extended to a great length, I trust that +enough has been said to enable the reader to contrast it with the +natives who inhabit the islands that dot the vast Pacific Ocean, and to +make him look forward with interest to the developments that the +philanthropic exertions of Mr. Brooke may bring to light.</p> +<p>Having completed our duties here, the boats were hoisted in, after +despatching one to leave orders for Mr. Knox of the Flying-Fish, in a +bottle tied to a flagstaff.</p> +<p>On the afternoon of the 12th, we got under way to proceed direct to +Singapore, and passed through the channel between the reef off the +Mangsee Islands, and those of Balambangan and Banguey. We found this +channel clear, and all the dangers well defined.</p> +<p>As the principal objects of my visit were to ascertain the +disposition and resources of the Sulus for trade, and to examine the +straits leading into the Sulu seas, in order to facilitate the +communication with China, by avoiding on the one hand the eastern +route, and on the other the dangers of the Palawan Passage, it may be +as well to give the result of the latter inquiry, referring those who +may be more particularly interested to the Hydrographical Atlas and +Memoir.</p> +<p>The difficulties in the Palawan Passage arising from heavy seas and +fresh gales do not exist in the Sulu Sea, nor are the shoals so +numerous or so dangerous. In the place of storms and rough water, +smooth seas are found, and for most of the time moderate breezes, which +do not subject a vessel to the wear and tear experienced in beating up +against a monsoon.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb528" href="#pb528" name= +"pb528">528</a>]</span>The Balabac Straits may be easily reached, +either from Singapore, or by beating up along the western shore of +Borneo. When the straits are reached, a vessel by choosing her time may +easily pass through them by daylight, even by beating when the wind is +ahead. Once through, the way is clear, with the exception of a few +coral lumps; the occasional occurrence of the north wind will enable a +vessel to pass directly to the shores of the island of Panay. A fair +wind will ordinarily prevail along the island, and, as I have already +mentioned, it may be approached closely. The passage through to the +eastward of Mindoro Island may be taken in preference to that on the +west side through the Mindoro Strait, and thus all the reefs and shoals +will be avoided. Thence, the western coast of Luzon will be followed to +the north, as in the old route.</p> +<p>I do not think it necessary to point out any particular route +through the Sulu Sea, as vessels must be guided chiefly as the winds +blow, but I would generally avoid approaching the Sulu Islands, as the +currents are more rapid, and set rather to the southward. Wherever +there is anchorage, it would be advisable to anchor at night, as much +time might thus be saved, and a knowledge of the currents or sets of +the tides obtained. Perhaps it would be as well to caution those who +are venturesome, that it is necessary to keep a good look-out, and +those who are timid, that there does not appear to be much danger from +the piratical prahus, unless a vessel gets on shore; in that case it +will not be long before they will be seen collecting in the horizon in +large numbers.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Advantages of Sulu treaty.</span>The treaty +that I made with the Sultan, if strictly enforced on the first +infraction, will soon put an end to all the dangers to be apprehended +from them. To conclude, I am satisfied that under ordinary +circumstances, to pass through the Sulu Sea will shorten by several +days the passage to Manila or Canton, and be a great saving of expense +in the wear and tear of a ship and her canvass.</p> +<p>On the 13th, we passed near the location of the Viper Shoal, but saw +nothing of it. It is, therefore, marked doubtful on the chart. As I had +but little time to spare, the look-outs were doubled, and we pursued +our course throughout the night, sounding as we went every fifteen +minutes; but nothing met our view.</p> +<p>On the 14th, although we had the northeast monsoon blowing fresh, we +experienced a current of twenty-two miles setting to the north. This +was an unexpected result, as the currents are usually supposed to +prevail in the direction of the monsoon. On the 15th. we still +experienced it, though not over fifteen miles. On the 16th, we found it +setting west, and as we approached the Malayan Peninsula it was found +to be running southwest.</p> +<p>On the 18th, we made Pulo Aor and Pulo Pedang, and arriving off the +Singapore Straits, I hove-to, to await daylight. In the morning at +dawn, we found ourselves in close company with a Chinese junk. The +19th, until late in the afternoon, we were in the Singapore Straits, +making but slow progress towards this emporium of the East. The number +of native as well as foreign vessels which we passed, proved that we +were approaching some great mart, and at 5:00 p.m. we dropped our +anchor in Singapore Roads. Here we found the Porpoise, Oregon, and +Flying-Fish, all well: the two <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb529" +href="#pb529" name="pb529">529</a>]</span>former had arrived on January +22nd, nearly a month before, and the latter three days previously. +Before concluding this chapter, I shall revert to their proceedings +since our separation off the Sandwich Islands.</p> +<p>The instructions to the brigs have been heretofore given; but it may +not be amiss to repeat here that the object in detaching them was, that +they might explore the line of reefs and islands known to exist to the +northward and westward of the Hawaiian Group, and thence continue their +course towards the coast of Japan. Had they effected the latter object, +it would have given important results in relation to the force of the +currents, and the temperature of the water. It was desirable, if +possible, to ascertain with certainty the existence on the coast of +Japan of a current similar to the Gulf Stream, to which my attention +had been particularly drawn.</p> +<p>The first land they made was on December 1, 1841, and was Necker +Island. Birds, especially the white tern, had been seen in numbers +prior to its announcement. Necker Island is apparently a mass of +volcanic rocks, about three hundred feet high, and is destitute of any +kind of vegetation, but covered with guano. It is surrounded by a reef, +three miles from which soundings were obtained, in twenty fathoms +water. The furious surf that was beating on all sides of the island, +precluded all possibility of a landing being made. By the connected +observations of the vessels it lies in longitude 164° 37′ W., +and latitude 23° 44′ N.</p> +<p>The French-Frigate Shoal was seen on the 3rd; the weather proved +bad, and they were unable to execute the work of examining this reef. +The sea was breaking furiously upon it.</p> +<p>On the 7th, the Maro Reef was made in latitude 25° 24′ +29″ N., longitude 170° 43′ 24″ W. Bottom was +found at a distance of four miles from the reef, with forty-five +fathoms of line. On the 8th, they passed over the site of Neva Isle, as +laid down by Arrowsmith, but no indications of land were seen.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Arrival at Singapore.</span>On the 11th, +Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold determined, on account of the condition +of the brigs, and the continuance of bad weather, it was impossible to +keep their course to the northward and westward towards the coast of +Japan; he, therefore, hauled to the southward, which was much to be +regretted, and followed so very nearly in the same track as that +pursued by the Vincennes, towards the China seas, that nothing new was +elicited by them.</p> +<p>After a passage of fifty-six days from the Sandwich Islands, they +dropped their anchors in Singapore on January 19, 1842, all well. Here +they found the United States ship Constellation, Commodore Kearney, and +the sloop of war Boston, Captain Long, forming the East India squadron. +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb530" href="#pb530" name= +"pb530">530</a>]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10273" href="#xd20e10273src" name="xd20e10273">1</a></span> On my +arrival at Singapore, this circumstance was investigated by a court of +inquiry. The result showed that Mr. Knox had no knowledge of the +Vincennes having been seen; for the officer of the watch had not +reported to him the fact.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10402" href="#xd20e10402src" name="xd20e10402">2</a></span> +Chewing the betelnut and pepper-leaf also produces this effect, and is +carried to a great extent among these islanders.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10411" href="#xd20e10411src" name="xd20e10411">3</a></span> The +Sultan, on the visit of one of our merchant-vessels, had informed the +supercargo that he wished to encourage our trade, and to see the +vessels of the United States coming to his port.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10659" href="#xd20e10659src" name="xd20e10659">4</a></span> This +name is derived from the large bay that makes in on the south side of +the island of Mindanao, and on which a set of freebooters reside.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk04"> +<h2 class="main">Manila in 1819<a class="noteref" id="xd20e10832src" +href="#xd20e10832" name="xd20e10832src">1</a></h2> +<p class="first">By An American Naval Officer.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Coral.</span>“ * * * The fine bay of +Manila, thirty leagues in circumference, is situated near the middle of +the west side of the island, and has good and clear anchorage in all +parts of it, excepting on a coral ledge, called the Shoal of St. +Nicholas, which is the only visible danger in the bay. The dangerous +part of it is, however, of small extent, and with proper attention +easily avoided; the least of water found on it at present is eleven +feet, but its summit is constantly approaching the surface of the sea, +as has been ascertained by surveys made at different periods by orders +of government, which circumstance seems to indicate the presence of +Zoophytes, that compound of animal and vegetable life, whose incessant +and rapid labors, and, as we are told by naturalists, whose +polypus-like powers of receiving perfect form and vitality into +numberless dismembered portions of their bodies, have long excited much +curiosity and admiration. These small, compound animals, commence their +operations at the bottom of the sea, and proceed upwards, towards the +surface, spreading themselves in various ramifications; the older +members of the mass become concrete, petrify, and form dangerous +shoals; the superior portion of these little colonists always being the +last produced, in its turn generates myriads of others, and so on, ad +infinitum, till they reach the surface of the ocean. These coral reefs +and shoals are found in most parts of the world, within the tropics; +but the waters of the eastern hemisphere seem to be peculiarly +congenial to their production, and, indeed, there appear to be certain +spaces or regions in these seas, which are their favorite haunts. Among +many others may be mentioned the Mozambique channel, and that tract of +ocean, from the eastern coast of Africa, quite across to the coast of +Malabar, including the Mahé, Chagas, Maldive and Laccadive +archipelagos; the southeastern part of the China sea; the Red sea; the +eastern part of Java; the coasts of all the Sunda islands; and various +places in the Pacific ocean. These shoals, when they begin to emerge +from the sea, are frequented by aquatic fowls, whose feathers, and +other deposits, combined with the fortuitous landing of drifts of wood, +weeds, and various other substances from the adjacent lands, in the +course of time form superaqueous banks, of considerable elevation; and +the broken fragments of coral thrown up by the waves, slowly, but +constantly increase their horizontal diameter. Coconuts are frequently +seen floating upon the sea in these regions, some of which are no doubt +thrown upon the shores of the new created lands; from which accidental +circumstance this fruit is there propagated. Vagrant birds +unconsciously deposit the germs of various other productions of the +vegetable kingdom, which in due season spring <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb531" href="#pb531" name="pb531">531</a>]</span>up +and clothe their surfaces with verdure; and the natural accumulation of +dead and putrid vegetation serves to assist in the formation of a rich +and productive soil, and to increase the altitudes of these new +creations. As I have been always much amused and interested by this +subject, and had frequent opportunities, during many years’ +experience, to observe and examine these shoals in their various stages +of subaqueous progress, and subsequent emersion I am convinced that not +only many considerable islands, but extensive insular groups, owe their +existence to the above origin.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">The people.</span><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10848src" href="#xd20e10848" name="xd20e10848src">2</a>“* * +* The natives of these islands are generally well made, and bear strong +marks of activity and muscular vigor; they are in general somewhat +larger than the Javanese, and bear some affinity in the features of +their faces to the Malays; their noses are however more prominent, and +their cheek bones not so high, nor are their skins so dark. Their hair +is of a jet black, made glossy by the constant application of coconut +oil, as is the custom in all India, and drawn together and knotted on +top, in the manner of the Malays. The women display great taste in the +arrangement and decorations of their hair, which they secure with +silver or gold bodkins, the heads of which are frequently composed of +precious stones.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Mixed blood.</span><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10854src" href="#xd20e10854" name="xd20e10854src">3</a>“* * +* A very considerable proportion of the population of Manila is +composed of the mestizos; they are the offspring of the intermarriages +of the Spaniards with the native women, and these again forming +connexions with the whites, or with the native Indians (the latter, +however, less frequent), combine in stamping upon their descendants a +great variety of features and shades of color; a general resemblance +is, however, to be traced, and waiving color and manners, a mestizo +could not easily be mistaken for a native. This class of the +inhabitants is held in nearly the same estimation as the whites. They +are very cleanly in their persons, and neat in their dress, which, +among the males, consists generally of a pair of cotton trousers of +various colors, as fancy dictates, and shoes in the European manner, a +frock, or tunic, of striped grass manufacture, worn outside the +trousers, in the manner of the Asiatic Armenians (but without the sash, +or girdle), the collars of which are tastefully embroidered, and thrown +back on their shoulders; a European hat completes their costume, which +is light, cool and airy, and after a stranger has been a short time +accustomed to see what he at first would call a perversion of dress, +his prejudices subside, and he has no hesitation in pronouncing it very +proper and graceful. They are remarkably fine limbed, and well built, +the females especially, who are really models of the most complete +symmetry; their hair and eyes, which unlike their skins, seldom vary +from the original jet black of their native parents, bestow upon them +the primary characteristics of the brunette. This people, unlike the +generality of mixed colors in the human race, have been improved by +their intermixture, <i>they are more industrious and cleanly than the +Spaniards</i>, possess more intelligence and polish than <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb532" href="#pb532" name="pb532">532</a>]</span>the +Indians and are less malicious and revengeful than either. The men are +employed mostly as writers, brokers, agents and overseers; many of them +hold lucrative offices under government, and they not unfrequently +arrive at wealth and consideration. The women are also industrious, and +capable of great intellectual improvement; they have a natural grace +and ease in their manner, and make excellent wives and mothers. This +character must not, however, be taken in an unlimited sense, for we +cannot expect this rule to be without its exceptions, and it is true +that some of these females do degenerate, and copy after the manners of +the creoles, or white natives; but this is only the case when, by their +intercourse with the whites, their Indian blood is merged and lost in +the European. That part of the population in which is blended the blood +of the Chinese and Tagalogs is named the Chinese mestizos.</p> +<p>The natives are not unapt in acquiring knowledge, neither do they +want industry, when efforts are made, and inducements displayed to call +their powers into action. They are excellent mechanics and artisans, +and, as horticulturists, their superiority over many of the Asiatics is +acknowledged. They are polite and affable to strangers, but irascible, +and when excited are very sanguinary; their natural bias to this +revengeful and cruel character, is strengthened and rendered more +intense by the ... doctrines of the Roman catholic religion as dictated +to them by the designing and interested priests who reside among them. +The culprit always finds a sanctuary in the nearest church, till by the +payment of some pecuniary mulct, he satisfies the demands of the +priests, obtains absolution, appeases the resentment of the relations +of the deceased, and eludes the arm of justice; he grows hardened by +impunity, repeats his offences, and again escapes as before.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A Filipino foundry.</span>“* * * All +the necessary works for a garrisoned city are within its walls; +extensive magazines were erected in 1686, besides which are a hall of +arms, or armory, a repository for powder, with bomb-proof vaults, and +commodious quarters and barracks for the garrison. There is also a +furnace and foundry here, which, although their operations were +suppressed in 1805, is the most ancient in the Spanish monarchy; this +establishment was founded in 1584, in the village of St. Anna, near +Manila; to the latter of which places it was transferred in 1590. The +first founder was a Pampango Indian, named Pandapira. When the +Spaniards first arrived at Manila, in 1571, they found there a large +foundry, which was accidentally burnt, in consequence of the +combustibility of the building and effects, which character applies to +all the houses of that period.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Language.</span><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10871src" href="#xd20e10871" name="xd20e10871src">4</a>“* * +* Their colloquial language, like that of the natives of Java, Borneo, +Sumatra, and many other islands in these seas, is a dialect of the +peninsular Malay from whence it is thought they originated; and so +striking is its similarity among all these islands, that the natives of +each can, in a greater or less degree, understand that of all the +others. The characters of their written language differ widely, and +great varieties of arrangement exist among them. <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb533" href="#pb533" name="pb533">533</a>]</span>The +Tagalogs write from top to bottom on palm leaves and strips of bamboo; +and many of the Moros or Mahomedans use the Arabic +characters.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Difference of days.</span><a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e10879src" href="#xd20e10879" name= +"xd20e10879src">5</a>From the circumstance of the Spaniards arriving in +these seas by Cape Horn, and the general route being by the Cape of +Good Hope, a consequent difference in time of one day is produced in +the different reckoning; the Spaniards losing, and those who steer +eastward gaining, each in the proportion of half a day in completing +the semi-circumference of the globe. Consequently, the time at Manila, +being regulated by their own reckonings, is one day later than that of +those who arrive there by steering eastward from America or Europe; as +for instance, when by the accounts of the latter it is Sunday, by +theirs it is only Saturday.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">English in Manila.</span>In the year 1762, +the city of Manila was taken by the English, where, and at Cavite, +immense quantities of naval and military stores, brass and iron +ordnance, and several fine ships, fell into their hands. It was, +however, soon delivered up to the Spaniards, on a promise of the +payment to the English of four millions of dollars as a ransom, which, +however, never has been paid. This breach of faith and promise has been +loudly complained of by the latter, and as pertinaciously excused by +the Spaniards, who complain that the British plundered the city, and +committed many other excesses, contrary to the express conditions of +their engagements, by which they were virtually rendered nugatory.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Galleon trade.</span>The inhabitants of +Manila have long enjoyed the privilege of sending two annual ships to +Acapulco called <i>Galleons, Navios</i>, or <i>Register-Ships</i>, with +the produce of the Philippines, of China, and other parts of Asia; in +return for which, they receive various articles of the production of +South America; the principal of which are cochineal, merchandise of +different descriptions of European origin, and silver in Spanish +dollars and ingots, which compose the principal part of the value of +their return cargoes, amounting annually to about three million five +hundred thousand Spanish dollars. A large proportion of this property +belongs to the convents in Manila, whose great revenues not only enable +them to engage in extensive mercantile operations, but to lend +considerable sums to the merchants on bottomry. For the indulgence in +this trade, the proprietors pay a large sum of money to the crown.</p> +<p>These ships were of the burden of from twelve to fifteen hundred +tons, and were numerously manned and well appointed for defense; but of +late years, since the revolt of the Spanish colonies, which has +rendered the navigation of the intermediate seas dangerous to these +enterprises, the trade has been greatly interrupted, and instead of +risking it in large bodies, private ships of smaller burden have been +hired for the purpose of dividing the risk; some of these have been put +under foreign colors, though formerly the galleons wore, by +instruction, the royal flag, their officers were commissioned and +uniformed like the officers of the navy, and the ships were under the +same regulations and discipline. The object, however, <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb534" href="#pb534" name="pb534">534</a>]</span>of +the trade in smaller ships has not been obtained; for so great are the +fears of the owners and agents of their being captured, and so many +restrictions laid upon the commanders that they lie in port the +principal part of the time; so that in September, 1819, the ships of +the preceding year had not arrived at Manila; neither had any been +dispatched from the latter place for Acapulco during that time. These +interruptions, and in fact, the virtual suspension of this commerce, +will undoubtedly, if a liberal and enlightened policy is pursued, +result greatly to the advantage of these islands and the mother +country. Already since the establishment of the cortes, permitting +foreigners to settle permanently at Manila, great improvements have +been made in the productions of the island, and important additions to +the revenue. The failure of the annual remittance of dollars from South +America to defray the expenses of the colonial government, of which +their revenues from the islands were not adequate to meet one half, has +been severely felt, and has stimulated them to make some very unusual +exertions. Foreign commerce has been more countenanced in consequence +of this state of things, and greater encouragement has been given to +the growers and manufacturers of their staple exports; and if the +affairs of these islands should in future be properly conducted, the +revenue arising from the impost on the single article of coffee, will +in a few years be amply sufficient to support the government, and leave +a net income of the revenue arising from the imposts on all other +articles, besides what would accrue from the taxes and numerous other +resources. A free commerce with other nations would create a +competition, and a consequent reduction in the price of imports, and +their articles of export would increase, in proportion to the demand +for them. In short, nothing is wanting in these beautiful islands, but +ability to direct, and energy to execute the most extensive plans of +agriculture and commerce, which the bounties of the soil, and its +excellent climate and situation, would most certainly render completely +successful; and, instead of being, as at present it is, a burden to +Spain, it would become a source of great wealth to her.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Spirit of independence.</span><a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e10904src" href="#xd20e10904" name= +"xd20e10904src">6</a>“* * * It is to be hoped that the narrow and +illiberal policy which has heretofore retarded the prosperity of these +fine islands, will necessarily be superseded by more expanded views, +and enable them to maintain the rank and importance to which their +intrinsic worth entitles them. The spirit of independence which has +recently diffused its influence through the Spanish colonies on the +American continent, has also darted its rays across the Pacific, and +beamed with enlivening lustre upon those remote regions and the sacred +flames of liberty which have been kindled have in the bosom of that +country, though for a period concealed from the view of regal parasites +and dependents, burned clear and intense; and the time is perhaps not +very remote, when it shall burst forth, and shed its joyous light upon +the remotest and most inconsiderable islet of this archipelago.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb535" href="#pb535" name= +"pb535">535</a>]</span><span class="marginnote">Opportunity for a +republic.</span>Perhaps no part of the world offers a more eligible +site for an independent republic than these islands; their insular +posture and distance from any rival power, combined with the intrinsic +strength of a free representative government, would guarantee their +safety and glory; their intermediate situation, between Asia and the +American continent, their proximity to China, Japan, Borneo, the +Molucca and Sunda Islands, the Malay peninsula, Cochin China, Tonquin, +Siam, and the European possessions in the East, would insure them an +unbounded commerce, consequently great wealth and power; and their +happiness would be secured by religious toleration and liberal views of +civil liberty in the government. It must be confessed, however, that +the national character of the Spaniards is not suitable to produce and +enjoy in perfection this most desirable state of affairs; it is to be +feared that their bigotry would preclude religious toleration, their +indolence continue the present system of slavery, so degrading in a +particular manner to a republic, their want of energy paralyze the +operations of enterprising foreigners among them. No change, however, +can be for the worse, and if all the advantage, cannot be reaped by +them, which the citizens of our republic would secure, it will be +better for them to seize and enjoy such as their genius and talents +will enable them to.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Health.</span><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10915src" href="#xd20e10915" name="xd20e10915src">7</a>“ * +* * The health of the city and suburbs is proverbial, and the +profession of a physician is, perhaps, of all others the least +lucrative. A worthy and intelligent Scotch doctor, who had come to +Manila, while I was there, to exercise his profession, and who lodged +in the same house with me, was greatly <span class="corr" id= +"xd20e10918" title="Source: annnoyed">annoyed</span> at the want of +practice which he experienced there, although he had his full share of +patronage, and often jocosely declared that the “dom +climate” would starve him; in fact he did not long remain there; +I afterwards met him in the Isle of France, where he was still in +pursuit of practice.”</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">A barbarous execution.</span><a class= +"noteref" id="xd20e10924src" href="#xd20e10924" name= +"xd20e10924src">8</a>“ * * * Impelled by a very common and, +perhaps, excusable curiosity, I rode out with some friends one day to +witness the execution of a mestizo soldier for murder. The parade +ground of Bagumbayan was the theater of this tragic comedy, for such it +may be trully called, and never did I experience such a revulsion of +feeling as upon this occasion. The place was crowded with people of all +descriptions, and a strong guard of soldiers, three deep, surrounded +the gallows, forming a circle, the area of which was about two hundred +feet in diameter. The hangman was habited in a red jacket and trousers, +with a cap of the same color upon his head. This fellow had been +formerly condemned to death for parricide, but was pardoned on +condition of turning executioner, and becoming close prisoner for life, +except when the duties of his profession occasionally called him from +his dungeon for an hour. Whether his long confinement, and the +ignominious estimation in which he was held, combined with despair of +pardon for his heinous offense, and a natural ferocity of character, +had rendered him reckless of “weal or woe,” or other +impulse directed his movements, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb536" +href="#pb536" name="pb536">536</a>]</span>I know not, but never did I +see such a demoniacal visage as was presented by this miscreant; and +when the trembling culprit was delivered over to his hand, he pounced +eagerly upon his victim, while his countenance was suffused with a grim +and ghastly smile, which reminded us of Dante’s devils. He +immediately ascended the ladder, dragging his prey after him till they +had nearly reached the top; he then placed the rope around the neck of +the malefactor with many antic gestures and grimaces highly gratifying +and amusing to the mob. To signify to the poor fellow under his fangs +that he wished to whisper in his ear, to push him off the ladder, and +to jump astride his neck with his heels drumming with violence upon his +stomach, was but the work of an instant. We could then perceive a rope +fast to each leg of the sufferer, which was pulled with violence by +people under the gallows, and an additional rope, to use a sea term, a +preventer, was round his neck, and secured to the gallows, to act in +case of accident to the one by which the body was suspended. I had +witnessed many executions in different parts of the world, but never +had such a diabolical scene as this passed before my eyes.”</p> +<div class="footnotes"> +<hr class="fnsep"> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10832" href="#xd20e10832src" name="xd20e10832">1</a></span> From +the <i>History of a Voyage of the China Sea</i>, by John White.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10848" href="#xd20e10848src" name="xd20e10848">2</a></span> P. +115.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10854" href="#xd20e10854src" name="xd20e10854">3</a></span> Pp. +116–119.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10871" href="#xd20e10871src" name="xd20e10871">4</a></span> P. +121.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10879" href="#xd20e10879src" name="xd20e10879">5</a></span> Pp. +125–128.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10904" href="#xd20e10904src" name="xd20e10904">6</a></span> Pp. +137–138.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10915" href="#xd20e10915src" name="xd20e10915">7</a></span> Pp. +143–144.</p> +<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= +"xd20e10924" href="#xd20e10924src" name="xd20e10924">8</a></span> Pp. +144–146.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk05"> +<h2 class="main">The Peopling of the Philippines</h2> +<p class="first">By Dr. Rudolf Virchow</p> +<p>(<i>Translated by</i> O. T. Mason; in Smithsonian Institution +<i>1899 Report</i>.)</p> +<p>Since the days when the first European navigators entered the South +Sea, the dispute over the source and ethnic affiliations of the +inhabitants of that extended and scattered island world has been +unsettled. The most superficial glance points out a contrariety in +external appearances, which leaves little doubt that here peoples of +entirely different blood live near and among one another.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">“Negritos and +Indios.”</span>And this is so apparent that the pathfinder in +this region, Magellan, gave expression to the contrariety in his names +for tribes and islands. Since dark complexion was observed on +individuals in certain tribes and in defined areas, and light +complexion on others, here abundantly, there quite exceptional, writers +applied Old World names to the new phenomena without further thought. +The Philippines set the decisive example in this. Fernando Magellan +first discovered the islands of this great archipelago in 1521, March +16. After his death the Spaniards completed the circle of his +discoveries. At this time the name of Negros was fixed, which even now +is called Islas de los Pintados. For years the Spaniards called the +entire archipelago Islas de Poniente; gradually, after the expedition +of Don Fray Garcia Jofre de Loaisa (1526), the new title of the +Philippines prevailed, through Salazar.</p> +<p>The people were divided into two groups, the Little Negros or +Negritos and the Indios. It is quite conceivable that involuntarily the +opinion prevailed that the Negritos had close relationship with the +African blacks, and the Indios with the lighter-complexioned +inhabitants of India, or at least of Indonesia.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb537" href="#pb537" name= +"pb537">537</a>]</span>However, it must be said here that the theory of +a truly African origin of the Negritos has been advanced but seldom, +and then in a very hesitating manner. The idea that with the present +configuration of the eastern island world, especially with their great +distances apart, a variety of mankind that had never manifested any +aptitude for maritime enterprises should have spread themselves over +this vast ocean area, in order to settle down on this island and on +that, is so unreasonable that it has found scarcely a defender worth +naming. More and more the blacks are coming to be considered the +original peoples, the “Indios” to be the intruders. For +this there is a quite reasonable ground, in that on many islands the +blacks dwell in the interior, difficult of access, especially in the +dense and unwholesome mountain forests, while the lighter complexioned +tribes have settled the coasts. To this are added linguistic proofs, +which place the lighter races, of homogeneous speech, in linguistic +relations with the higher races, especially the Malays. Dogmatically it +has been said that originally these islands had been occupied entirely +by the primitive black population, but afterwards, through intrusions +from the sea, these blacks were gradually pressed away from the coast +and shoved back into the interior.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Complicated Pacific problem.</span>The +problem, though it appears simple enough, has become complicated more +and more through the progress of discovery, especially since Cook +enlarged our knowledge of the oriental island world. A new and still +more pregnant contrast then thrust itself to the front in the fact that +the blacks and the lighter-colored peoples are each separated into +widely differing groups. While the former hold especially the immense, +almost continental, regions of Australia (New Holland) and New Guinea, +and also the larger archipelagos, such as New Hebrides, Solomon +Islands, Fiji (Viti) Archipelago—that is, the western +areas—the north and east, Micronesia and Polynesia, were occupied +by lighter-colored peoples. So the first division into Melanesia and +Polynesia has in latest times come to be of value, and the dogma once +fixed has remained. For the Polynesians are by many allied to the +Malays, while the blacks are put together as a special ethnological +race.</p> +<p>For practical ethnology this division may suffice. But the +scientific man will seek also for the blacks a genetic explanation. The +answer has been furnished by one of the greatest ethnologists, Theodor +Waitz, who, after he had exposed the insufficiency of the accepted +formulas, came to the conclusion that the differentiation of the blacks +from the lighter peoples might be an error. He denied that there had +been a primitive black race in Micronesia and Polynesia; in his opinion +we have here to do with a single race. The color of the Polynesians may +be out and out from natural causes different, “their entire +physical appearance indicates the greatest variability.” Herein +the whole question of the domain of variation is sprung with imperfect +satisfaction on the part of those travelers who give their attention +more to transitions than to types. Among these are not a few who have +returned from the South Sea with the conviction that all criteria for +the diagnosis of men and of races are valueless.</p> +<p>Analytical anthropology has led to other and often unexpected +results. It has proved that just that portion of South Sea population +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb538" href="#pb538" name= +"pb538">538</a>]</span>which can apparently lay the strongest claim to +be considered a homogeneous race must be separated into a collection of +subvarieties. Nothing appears more likely than that the Negritos of the +Philippines are the nearest relatives to the Melanesians, the +Australians, the Papuans; and yet it has been proved that all these are +separated one from another by well-marked characters. Whether these +characters place the peoples under the head of varieties, or whether, +indeed, the black tribes of the South Sea, spite of all differences, +are to be traced back to one single primitive stock, that is a question +of prehistory for whose answer the material is lacking. Were it +possible to furnish the proof that the black populations of the South +Sea were already settled in their present homes when land bridges +existed between their territory and Africa, or when the much-sought +Lemuria still existed, it would not be worth the trouble to hunt for +the missing material. In our present knowledge we can not fill the +gaps, so we must yet hold the blacks of the Orient to be separate +races.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hair as a race index.</span>The hair +furnished the strongest character for diagnosis, in which, not alone +that of the head is under consideration; the hair, therefore, occupies +the foreground of interest. Its color is of the least importance, since +all peoples of the South Sea have black hair. It is more the structure +and appearance which furnish the observer convenient starting points +for the primary classification. Generally a two-fold division +satisfies. The blacks, it is said, have crisped hair, the Polynesians +and light-colored peoples have smooth hair. But this declaration is +erroneous in its generality. It is in no way easy to declare absolutely +what hair is to be called crisp, and it is still more difficult to +define in what respects the so-called crisp varieties differ one from +another. For a long time the Australian hair was denominated crisp, +until it was evident that it could be classed neither with that of the +Africans nor with that of the Philippine blacks. Semper, one of the +first travelers to furnish a somewhat complete description of the +physical characters of the Negritos, describes it as an +“extremely thick, brown-black, lack-luster, and crisp-woolly +crown of hair.” Among these peculiarities the lack-luster is +unimportant, since it is due to want of care and uncleanliness. On the +contrary, the other data furnish true characters of the hair and among +them the crisp-woolly peculiarity is most valuable.</p> +<p>On the terms “wool” and “woolly” severe +controversies, which have not yet closed, have taken place among +ethnologists during the last ten years. Also the lack of care, +especially the absence of the comb, has here acted as a disturbing +cause in the decision. But there is yet a set of peoples, which were +formerly included, that are now being gradually disassociated, +especially the Australians and the Veddahs, whose hair, by means of +special care, appears quite wavy if not entirely sleek and smooth. +Generally it is frowzy and matted, so that its natural form is +difficult to recognize. To it is wanting the chief peculiarity, which +obtrudes itself in the African blacks so characteristically that the +compact spiral form which it assumes from its root, the so-called +“pepper-corn,” is selected as the preferable mark of the +race. The peculiar nappy head has it origin in the <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb539" href="#pb539" name= +"pb539">539</a>]</span>spiral “<i>rollchen</i>.” As to the +Asiatic blacks this has been for a long time known among the +Andamanese; it has lately been noticed upon the Sakai of Malacca, and +it is to be found also among the Negritos of the Philippines, as I can +show by specimens. Therefore, if we seek ethnic relationships for the +Negritos of the Philippines, or as they are named, the Aetas (Etas, +Itas), such connections obtrude themselves with the stocks named, and +the more strongly since they all have brachycephalic, relatively small +(nannocephalic) heads and through their small size attach themselves to +the peculiar dwarf tribes.</p> +<p>I might here comment on the singular fact that the Andaman Islands +are situated near the Nicobars in the Indian Ocean, but that the +populations on both sides of them are entirely different. In my own +detailed descriptions which treat of the skulls and the hair specially, +it is affirmed that the typical skull shape of the Nicobarese is +dolichocephalic and that “their hair stands between the straight +hair of the Mongoloid and the sleek, though slightly curved or wavy, +hair of the Malayan and Indian peoples;” their skin color is +relatively dark, but only so much so as is peculiar to the tribes of +India. With the little blacks of the Andamans there is not the +slightest agreement. In this we have one of the best evidences against +the theory of Waitz-Gerland that the differences in physical appearance +are to be attributed to variation merely. I will, however, so as not to +be misunderstood, expressly emphasize that I am not willing to declare +that the two peoples have been at all times so constituted; I am now +speaking of actual conditions.</p> +<p>In the same sense I wish also my remarks concerning the Negritos to +be taken. Not one fact is in evidence from which we may conclude that a +single neighboring people known to us has been Negritized. We are +therefore justified when we see in the Negritos a truly primitive +people. As they are now, they were more than three hundred and fifty +years ago when the first European navigators visited these islands. +About older relationships nothing is known. All the graves from which +the bones of Negritos now in possession were taken belong to recent +times, and also the oldest descriptions which have been received, so +far as phylogeny is concerned, must be characterized as modern.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Negritos a primitive people.</span>The +little change in the mode of life made known through these descriptions +in connection with the low grade of culture on which these impoverished +tribes live amply testify that we have before us here a primitive +race.</p> +<hr class="tb"> +<p>(The question whether we have to do with older, independent races in +the Malay Archipelago or with mixtures is everywhere an open +one.—Translator.)</p> +<p>Whoever would picture the present ethnic affiliations of the +light-colored peoples of the Philippines will soon land in confusion on +account of the great number of tribes. One of the ablest observers, +Ferd. Blumentritt, mentions, besides the Negritos, the Chinese and the +whites, not less than 51 such tribes. He classifies them in one group +as Malays, according to the plan now customary. The division rests +primarily on a linguistic foundation. But when it is noted that the +identity of language among all the tribes is not <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb540" href="#pb540" name= +"pb540">540</a>]</span>established and among many not at all proved, it +is sufficiently shown that speech is a character of little constancy, +and that a language may be imposed upon a people to the annihilation of +their own by those who belong to a different linguistic stock. The +Malay Sea is filled with islands on which tarry the remnants of peoples +not Malay.</p> +<p>For a long time, especially since the Dutch occupation, these old +populations have received the special name of Alfuros. But this +ambiguous term has been used in such an arbitrary and promiscuous +fashion that latterly it has been well-nigh banished from ethnological +literature. It is not long ago that the Negritos were so called. But if +the black peoples are eliminated, there remains on many islands at +least an element to be differentiated from the Malay, chiefly through +the darker skin color, greater orthocephaly, and more wavy, quite +crimped hair. I have, for the different islands, furnished proof, and +will here only refer to the assertion that “a broad belt of wavy +and curly hair has pressed itself in between the Papuan and the Malay, +a belt which in the north seems to terminate with the Veddah, in the +south with the Australian.” One can not read the accounts of +travelers without the increasing conviction of the existence of several +different, if not perhaps related, varieties of peoples thrust on the +same island.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Theory of Negrito and three Malay +invasions.</span>From this results the natural and entirely +unprejudiced conclusion, which has repeatedly been stated, that either +a primitive people by later intrusions has been pressed back into the +interior or that in course of time several immigrations have followed +one another. At the same time it is not unreasonable to think that both +processes went on at the same time, and indeed this conception is +strongly brought forward. So Blumentritt assumes that there is there a +primitive black people and that three separate Malay invasions have +taken place. The oldest, whose branches have many traits in accord with +the Dayaks of Borneo, especially the practice of head-hunting; a +second, which also took place before the arrival of the Spaniards, to +which the Tagals, Bisayas, Bicols, Ilocanos, and other tribes belong; +the third, Islamitic, which emigrated from Borneo and might have been +interrupted by the arrival of the Spaniards, and with which a +contemporaneous immigration from the Moluccas went on. It must be said, +however, that Blumentritt admits two periods for the first invasion. In +the earliest he places the immigration of the Igorots, Apayos, +Zambales—in short, all the tribes that dwelt in the interior of +the country later and were pressed away from the coast, therefore, +actually, the mountain tribes. To the second half he assigns the +Tinguianes, Catalanganes, and Irayas, who are not head-hunters, but +Semper says they appear to have a mixture of Chinese and Japanese +blood.</p> +<p>Against this scheme many things may be said in detail, especially +that, according to the apparently well-grounded assertions of +Mueller-Beeck, the going of the Chinese to the Philippines was +developed about the end of the fourteenth century, and chiefly after +the Spaniards had gotten a foothold and were using the Mexican silver +in trade. At any rate, the apprehension of Semper, which rests on +somewhat superficial physiognomic ground, is not confirmed by +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb541" href="#pb541" name= +"pb541">541</a>]</span>searching investigations. So the head-hunting of +the mountain tribes, so far as it hints at relations with Borneo, gives +no sure chronological result, since it might have been contemporaneous +in them and could have come here through invasion from other +islands.</p> +<p>The chief inquiry is this: Whether there took place other and older +invasions. For this we are not only to draw upon the present tribes, +but if possible upon the remains of earlier and perhaps now extinct +tribes. This possibility has been brought nearer for the Philippines +through certain cave deposits. We have to thank, for the first +information, the traveler Jagor, whose exceptional talent as collector +has placed us in the possession of rich material, especially crania. To +his excellent report of his journey I have already dedicated a special +chapter, in which I have presented and partially illustrated not only +the cave crania, but also a series of other skulls. An extended +conference upon them has been held in the Anthropological Society.</p> +<p>The old Spanish chroniclers describe accurately the mortuary customs +which were in vogue in their time. The dead were laid in coffins made +from excavated tree trunks and covered with a well-fitting lid. They +were then deposited on some elevated place, or mountain, or river bank, +or seashore. Caves in the mountains were also utilized for this +purpose. Jagor describes such caves on the island of Samar, west of +Luzon, whose contents have recently been annihilated.</p> +<p>The few crania from there which have been intrusted to me bear the +marks of recent pedigree, as also do the additional objects. +Unfortunately, Dr. Jagor did not himself visit these interesting caves, +but he has brought crania thence which are of the highest interest, and +which I must now mention.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Study of a giant skull.</span>The cave in +question lies near Lanang, on the east coast of Samar, on the bank of a +river, it is said. It is, as the traveler reports, celebrated in the +locality “on account of its depressed gigantic crania, without +sutures.” The singular statement is made clear by means of a +well-preserved example, which I lay before you. The entire cranium, +including the face, is covered with a thick layer of sinter, which +gives it the appearance of belonging to the class of skulls with +Leontiasis ossea. It is, in fact, of good size, but through the +incrustation it is increased to gigantic proportions. It is true, +likewise, that it has a much flattened, broad and compressed form. The +cleaning of another skull has shown that artificial deformation has +taken place, which obviously was completed before the incrustation was +laid on by the mineral water of the cave. I will here add that on the +testimony of travelers no Negritos were on Samar. The island lies in +the neighborhood of the Bisayas. Although no description of the +position of the skull is at hand and of the skeleton to which it +apparently belonged, it must be assumed that the dead man was not laid +away in a coffin, but placed on the ground; that, in fact, he belonged +to an earlier “period.” How long ago that was can not be +known, unfortunately, since no data are at hand; however, the bones are +in a nearly fossilized condition, which allows the conclusion that they +were deposited long ago.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb542" href="#pb542" name= +"pb542">542</a>]</span>The deformation itself furnishes no clue to a +chronological conclusion. In Thévenot is found the statement +that, according to the account of a priest, probably in the 16th +century, the custom prevails in some of the islands to press the heads +of new-born babes between two boards, also to flatten the forehead, +“since they believed that this form was a special mark of +beauty.” A similar deformation, with more pronounced flattening +and backward pressure of the forehead, is shown on the crania which +Jagor produced from a cave at Caramuan in Luzon. There are modes of +flattening which remind one of Peru. When they came into our hands it +was indeed an immense surprise, since no knowledge of such deformation +in the South Sea was at hand. First our information led to more +thorough investigations; so we are aware of several examples of it from +Indonesia and, indeed, from the South Sea (Mallicolo). However, this +deformation furnishes no clue to the antiquity of the graves.</p> +<p>(Chinese and Korean pottery are said to have been found with the +deformed crania. Similar deformations exist in the Celebes, New +Britain, etc. Head-shaping has been universal, cf. A. B. Meyer, Ueber +Kunstliche deformirte Schaedel von Borneo und Mindanao und ueber die +Verbreitung der Sitte der Kunstlichen Schaedeldeformirung, 1881, 36 +pp., 4.°—Translator.)</p> +<p>I have sawed one of these skulls in two along the sagittal suture. +The illustration gives a good idea of the amount of compression and of +the violence which this skull endured when quite young. The cranial +cavity is inclined backward and lengthened, and curves out above, while +the occiput is pressed downward and the region of the front fontanelle +is correspondingly lacking. Likewise, a considerable thickness of the +bone is to be noted, especially of the vertex. The upper jaw is +slightly prognathous and the roof of the mouth unusually arched.</p> +<p>For the purpose of the present study, it is unnecessary to go +further into particulars. It might be mentioned that all Lanang skulls +are characterized by their size and the firmness of bone, so that they +depart widely from the characteristics of the other Philippine examples +known to me. Similar skulls have been received only from caves, which +exist in one of the little rocky islands east from Luzon. They suggest +most Kanaka crania from Hawaii, and Moriori crania from Chatham +islands, and they raise the question whether they do not belong to a +migration period long before the time of the Malays. I have, on various +occasions, mentioned this probable pre-Malayan, or at least +proto-Malayan, population which stands in nearest relation to the +settling of Polynesia. Here I will merely mention that the Polynesian +sagas bring the progenitor from the west, and that the passage between +Halmahera (Gilolo) and the Philippines is pointed out as the course of +invasion.</p> +<p>At any rate, it is quite probable that the skulls from Lanang, +Cragaray, and other Philippine Islands are the remains of a very old, +if not autochthonous, prehistoric layer of population. The present +mountain tribes have furnished no close analogies. As to the Igorots, +which Blumentritt attributes to the first invasion, I refer to my +description given on the ground of chronological investigations; +according to the account given by Hans Meyer the disposal of the +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb543" href="#pb543" name= +"pb543">543</a>]</span>dead in log coffins and in caves still goes on. +Of the skulls themselves, none were brachycephalous; on the contrary, +they exhibit platyrrhine and in part decidedly pithecoid noses. On the +whole, I came to the conclusion, as did earlier Quatrefages and Hamy, +that <span class="marginnote">Indications of pre-Malay +invasion.</span>“they stand next in comparison with the Dayaks of +Borneo,” but I hold yet the impression that they belong to a very +old, probably pre-Malay, immigration.</p> +<p>When, on the 18th of March, 1897, I made a communication on the +population of the Philippines, a bloody uprising had broken out +everywhere against the existing Spanish rule. In this uprising a +certain portion of the population, and indeed that which had the most +valid claim to aboriginality, the so-called Negritos, were not +involved. Their isolation, their lack of every sort of political, often +indeed of village organization, also their meager numbers, render it +conceivable that the greatest changes might go on among their neighbors +without their taking such a practical view of them as to lead to their +engaging in them. Thus it can be understood how they would take no +interest in the further development of the affair.</p> +<p>Since then the result of the war between Spain and the Americans has +been the destruction of Spanish power, and the treaty of Paris brought +the entire Philippine Archipelago into the possession of the United +States of America. Henceforth the principal interest is centered upon +the deportment of the insurgents, who have not only outlived the great +war between the powers, but are now determined to assert, or win, their +independence from the conquerors. These insurgents, who for brevity are +called Filipinos, belong, as I have remarked, to the light-colored race +of so-called Indios, who are sharply differentiated from the Negritos. +Their ethnological position is difficult to fix, since numerous +mixtures have taken place with immigrant whites, especially with +Spaniards, but also with people of yellow and of brown races—that +is, with Mongols and Chinese. Perhaps here and there the importance of +this mixture on the composite type of the Indios has been +overestimated; at least in most places positive proof is not +forthcoming that foreign blood has imposed itself upon the +bright-colored population. Both history and tradition teach, on the +contrary, as also the study of the physical peculiarities of the people +that among the various tribes differences exist which suggest family +traits. To this effect is the testimony of several travelers who have +followed one another during a long period of time, as has been +developed especially by Blumentritt.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">All immigrations from the West.</span>In +this connection it must not be overlooked that all these immigrations, +howsoever many they be supposed to have been, must have come this way +from the west. Indeed, a noteworthy migration from the east is entirely +barred out, if we look no farther back than the Chinese and Japanese. +On the contrary, all signs point to the assumption that from of old, +long before the coming of Portuguese and Spaniards, a strong movement +had gone on from this region to the east, and that the great sea way +which exists between Mindanao and the Sulu islands on the north and +Halmahera and the Moluccas in the south was the entrance road along +which those tribes, or at least those navigators whose arrival peopled +the Polynesian Islands, found their way into the Pacific Ocean. But +also the movement of the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb544" href= +"#pb544" name="pb544">544</a>]</span>Polynesians points to the west, +and if their ancestors may have come from Indonesia there is no doubt +that in their long journeys eastward they must have touched at the +coasts of other islands on their way, especially the Philippines. +Polynesian invasions of the Philippines are not supposed to have closed +when a migration of peoples or of men passing out to the Pacific Ocean +laid the foundation of a large fraction of the population of the +archipelago. It is known that now and then single canoes from the Pelew +or the Ladrone Islands were driven upon the east coast of Luzon, but +their importance ought not to be overestimated. The migration this way +from the west must henceforth remain as the point of departure for all +explanations of this eastern ethnology. (These statements are well +enough for working hypotheses, but actual proofs are not at hand. +Ratzel, Berl. Verhandl., etc., Phil. Hist. Class, 1898, I., p. +33.—<i>Translator</i>.)</p> +<p>Now, how are the local differences of various tribes to be +explained, when on the whole the place of origin was the same? Is there +here a secondary variation of the type, something brought about through +climate, food, circumstances? It is a large theme, which, +unfortunately, is too often dominated by previously-formed theories. +The importance of “environment” and mode of life upon the +corporeal development of man can not be contested, but the measure of +this importance is very much in doubt. Nowhere is this measure, at +least in the present consideration, less known than in the Philippines. +In spite of wide geological and biological differences on these +islands, there exists a close anthropological agreement of the Indios +in the chief characteristics, and the effort to trace back the tribal +differences that have been marked to climatic and alimentary causes has +not succeeded. The influence of inherited peculiarities is also more +mighty here, as in most parts of the earth, than that of +“milieu.”</p> +<p>If we assume, first, that the immigrants brought their peculiarities +with them, which were fixed already when they came, we must also accept +as self-evident that the Negritos of the Philippines do not belong to +the same stock as the more powerful, bright-colored Indios. As long as +these islands have been known, more than three centuries, the skin of +the Negritos has been dark brown, almost black, their hair short and +spirally twisted, and just as long has the skin of the Indios been +brownish, in various shades, relatively clear, and the hair has been +long and arranged in wavy locks. At no time, so far as known, has it +been discovered that among a single family a pronounced variation from +these peculiarities had taken place. On this point there is entire +unanimity. In case of the Negritos there is not the least doubt; of the +Indios a doubt may arise, for, in fact, the shades of skin color appear +greatly varied, since the brown is at times quite blackish, at times +yellowish, almost as varied as is the color of the sunburnt hair. But +even then the practiced eye easily detects the descent, and if the skin +alone is not sufficient the first glance at the hair completes the +diagnosis. The correct explanation of individual or tribal variations +is difficult only with the Indios, while no such necessity exists in +the case of the Negritos. But among the Indios these individual and +tribal variations are so frequent and so outspoken that one is +justified in making the inquiry whether <span class="pagenum">[<a id= +"pb545" href="#pb545" name="pb545">545</a>]</span>there has not +developed here a new type of inherited peculiarities. If this were the +case, it must still be held that already the immigrant tribes had +possessed them.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Assistance from history.</span>Now, history +records that different immigrations have actually taken place. Laying +aside the latest before the arrival of the Spaniards, that of the +Islamites, in the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, there remains +the older one. If ethnologists and travelers in general come to the +conclusion concerning Borneo—and it is to be taken as +certain—that the differences now existing among the wild tribes +of this island are very old, it ought not be thought so wonderful if, +according to the conditions of the tribes which have immigrated thence, +there should exist on the Philippines near one another dissimilar +though related peoples. This difference is not difficult to recognize +in manners and customs—a side of the discussion which is further +on to be treated more fully. We begin with physical +characteristics.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hair differences.</span>Among these the +hair occupies the chief place. To be sure, among all the Indios it is +black, but it shows not the slightest approach to the frizzled +condition which is such a prominent feature in the external appearance +of the Negritos and of all the Papuan tribes of the East. This frizzled +condition may be called woolly, or in somewhat exaggerated refinement +in the name may be attributed to the term “wool,” all sorts +of meanings akin to wool; in every case there is wanting to all the +Indios the crinkling of the hair from its exit out of the follicle, +whereby would result wide or narrow spiral tubes and the coarse +appearance of the so-called “peppercorn.” The hair of all +Indios is smooth and straightened out, and when it forms curves they +are only feeble, and they make the whole outward appearance wavy or, at +most, curled.</p> +<p>But within this wavy or curled condition of the hair there are again +differences. In my former communication I have attended to examinations +which I made upon a large number of islands in the Malay Sea, and in +which it was shown that a certain area exists which begins with the +Moluccas and extends to the Sunda group, in which the hair shows a +strong inclination to form wavy locks, indeed passes gradually into +crinkled, if not into spiral, rolls. Such hair is found specially in +the interior of the islands, where the so-called aboriginal population +is purer and where for a long time the name of Alfuros has been +conferred on them. On most points affinity with Negritos or Papuans is +not to be recognized. Should such at any time have existed, we are a +long way from the period when the direct causes therefor are to be +looked for. In this connection the study of the Philippines is rich +with instruction. In the limits of the almost insular, isolated Negrito +enclave, mixtures between Negritos and Indios very seldom surprise one, +and never the transitions that can have arisen in the post-generative +time of development. (The island of Negros, on the contrary, is peopled +by such crossbreeds.—<i>Translator</i>.)</p> +<p>If there are among the bright-colored islanders of the Indian Ocean +Alfuros and Malays close together there is nothing against coming upon +this contrast in the Philippine population also. Among the more central +peoples the tribal differences are so great that almost <span class= +"pagenum">[<a id="pb546" href="#pb546" name= +"pb546">546</a>]</span>every explorer stumbles on the question of +mixture. There not only the Dayaks and the other Malays obtrude +themselves, but also the Chinese and the Mongolian peoples of Farther +India. Indeed, many facts are known, chiefly in the language, the +religion, the domestic arts, the agriculture, the pastoral life which +remind one of known conditions peculiarly Indian. The results of the +ethnologists are so tangled here that one has to be cautious when one +or another of them draws conclusions concerning immigrations, because +of certain local or territorial specializations. Of course, when a +Brahmanic custom occurs anywhere it is right to conclude that it came +here from India. But before assuming that the tribe in which such a +custom prevails itself comes from Hither or Farther India, the time has +to be ascertained to which the custom is to be traced back. The +chronological evidence leads to the confident belief that the custom +and the tribe immigrated together.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Ancestor worship.</span>Over the whole +Philippine Archipelago religious customs have changed with the progress +of external relations. Christianity has in many places spread its +peculiar customs, observances, and opinions, and changed entirely the +direction of thought. On closer view are to be detected in the midst of +Christian activities older survivals, as ingredients of belief which, +in spite of that religion, have not vanished. Before Christianity, in +many places, Islam flourished, and it is not surprising to witness, as +on Mindanao, Christian and Mohammedan beliefs side by side. But, before +Islam, ancestor worship, as has long been known, was widely prevalent. +In almost every locality, every hut has its Anito with its special +place, its own dwelling; there are Anito pictures and images, certain +trees and, indeed, certain animals in which some Anito resides. The +ancestor worship is as old as history, for the discoverers of the +Philippines found it in full bloom, and rightly has Blumentritt +characterized Anito worship as the ground form of Philippine religion. +He has also furnished numerous examples of Anito cult surviving in +Christian communities.</p> +<p>Chronology has a good groundwork and it will have to observe every +footprint of vanishing creeds. Only, it must not be overlooked that the +beginning of the chronology of religion has not been reached, and that +the origin of the generally diffused ancestor worship, at least on the +Philippines, is not known. If it is borne in mind that belief in Anitos +is widely diffused in Polynesia and in purely Malay areas, the drawing +of certain conclusions therefrom concerning the prehistory of the +Philippines is to be despaired of.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Tattooing.</span>Next to religious customs, +among wild tribes fashions are most enduring. Little of costume is to +be seen, indeed, among them. Therefore, here tattooing asserts its +sway. The more it has been studied in late years the more valuable has +been the information in deciding the kinship relations of tribes. +Unfortunately, in the Philippines the greater part of the early tattoo +designs have been lost and the art itself is also nearly eliminated. +But since the journey of Carl Semper it has been known that not only +Malays but also Negritos tattoo; indeed, this admirable explorer has +decided that the “Negroes of the East Coast” practice a +different method of tattooing from that of the Mariveles in the west, +and on that account they <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb547" href= +"#pb547" name="pb547">547</a>]</span>attain different results. In the +one case a needle is employed to make fine holes in the skin in which +to introduce the color; in the other long gashes are made. In the +latter case prominent scars result; in the former a smooth pattern. But +these combined patterns are on the whole the same, instead of +rectilinear figures. Schadenburg has the operations commence with a +sharpened bamboo on children 10 years of age. Among the wild tribes of +the light-colored population tattooing is not less diffused, but the +patterns are not alike in the different tribes. Isabelo de los Reyes +reports that the Tinguianes, who inhabit the mountain forests of the +northern cordilleras of Luzon, produce figures of stars, snakes, birds, +etc., on children 7 to 9 years old. Hans Meyer describes the pattern of +the Igorots. There appears to exist a great variety of symbols; for +example, on the arms, straight and crooked lines crossing one another; +on the breast, feather-like patterns. Least frequently he saw the +so-called Burik designs, which extended in parallel bands across the +breast, the back, and calves, and give to the body the appearance of a +sailor’s striped jacket. It is very remarkable that the human +form never occurs.</p> +<p>What is true concerning tattooing on so many Polynesian islands +holds also completely here. But reliable descriptions are so few, and +especially there is such a meager number of useful drawings, that it +would not repay the trouble to assemble the scattered data. At least it +will suffice to discover whether among them there are genuine tribal +marks or to investigate concerning the distribution of separate +patterns. Those known show conclusively that in the matter of tattooing +the Filipinos are not differentiated from the islanders of the Pacific; +they form, moreover, an important link in the chain of knowledge which +demonstrates the genetic homogeneity of the inhabitants. The tattooings +of the eastern islanders are comparable only to those of African +aborigines, with which last they furnish many family marks, made out +and recognized. It is desirable that a trustworthy collection of all +patterns be collected before the method becomes more altered or +destroyed.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Teeth alterations.</span>Next to the skin, +among the wild tribes the teeth are modified in the most numerous +artificial alterations. The preferable custom, common in Africa, of +breaking out the front teeth in greater or less number has not, so far +as I remember, been described among the Filipinos; I only mention that +while I was making a revision of our Philippine crania, two of them +turned up in which the middle upper incisors had evidently been broken +out for a long time, for the alveolar border had shrunk into a small +quite smooth ridge, without a trace of an aveolus. It is otherwise with +the pointing of the incisors, especially the upper ones, which, also is +not common. I must leave it undecided whether the sharpening is done by +filing or by breaking off pieces from the sides. The latter should be +in general far more frequent. In every case the otherwise broad and +flat teeth are brought to such sharp points as to project like those of +the carnivorous animals. I have met with this condition several times +on Negrito skulls and furnished illustrations of them. On a Zambal +skull, excavated by Dr. A. B. Meyer and which I lay before you, the +deformation is easy to be seen. I called attention at the time to +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb548" href="#pb548" name= +"pb548">548</a>]</span>the fact that among the Malays an entirely +different method of modifying the teeth is in vogue, in which a +horizontal filing on the front surface is practiced and the sharp lower +edge is straightened and widened. Already the elder Thévenot has +accented this contrast when he says:</p> +<p>“These cause the teeth to be equal, those file them to points, +giving them the shape of a saw.”</p> +<p>This difference appears to have held on till the present; at least +no skull of an Indio is known to me with similar deformation of the +teeth. This custom of the Negritos is so much more remarkable since the +chipping of the corners of the teeth is widely spread among the African +blacks.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Skill flattening.</span>The other part of +the body used most for deformation—the skull—is in strong +contrast to the last-named custom. Deformed crania; especially from +older times, are quite numerous in the Philippines; probably they +belong exclusively to the Indios. If they exist among the Negritos, I +do not know it; the only exception comes from the Tinguianes, of whom +I. de los Reyes reports their skulls are flattened behind (por +detrás oprimido). Such flattening is found, however, not seldom +among tribes who have the practice of binding children on hard cradle +boards—chiefly among those families who keep their infants a long +time on such contrivances. A sure mark by which to discriminate +accidental pressure of this sort from one intentionally produced is not +at hand; it may be that in accidental deformation oblique position of +the deformed spot is more frequent; at any rate, the difference in the +Philippines is a very striking one, since there not so much the occiput +as the front and middle portions suffer from the disfigurements, and +thereby deformations are produced that have had their most perfect +expression among the ancient Peruvians and other American tribes.</p> +<p>I have discussed cranial deformation of the Americans in greater +detail, where I exhibit the accidental and the artificial (intentional) +deformation in their principal forms. The result is that in large +sections of America scarcely any ancient skulls are found having their +natural forms, but that the practice of deformation has not been +general; moreover, a number of deformation centers may be +differentiated which stand in no direct association with one another. +The Peruvian center is far removed from that of the northwest coast, +and this again from that of the Gulf States. From this it must not be +said that each center may have had its own, as it were, autochthonous +origin. But the method has not so spread that its course can be +followed immediately. Rather is the supposition confirmed that the +method is to be traced to some other time, therefore that somewhere +there must have been a place of origin for it. On the Eastern +Hemisphere, and especially in the region here under consideration, the +relations are apparently otherwise. Here exist, so far as known, great +areas entirely free from deformation; small ones, on the other hand, +full of it. There are here, also, deformation centers, but only a few. +Among these, with our present knowledge, the Philippines occupy the +first place.</p> +<p>The knowledge of this, indeed, is not of long duration. Public +attention was first aroused about thirty years ago concerning skulls +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb549" href="#pb549" name= +"pb549">549</a>]</span>from Samar and Luzon, gathered by F. Jagor from +ancient caves, to furnish the proof of their deformation. Up to that +time next to nothing was known of deformed crania in the oriental +island world. First through my publication the attention of J. G. +Riedel, a most observant Dutch resident, was called to the fact that +cranial deformation is still practiced in the Celebes, and he was so +good as to send us a specimen of the compressing apparatus for delicate +infants (1874). Compressed crania were also found. But the number was +small and the compression of the separate specimens was only slight. In +both respects what was observed in the Sunda islands did not differ +from the state of the case in the Philippines. Through Jagor’s +collections different places had become known where deformed crania +were buried. Since then the number of localities has multiplied. I +shall mention only two, on account of their peculiar locality. One is +Cagraray, a small island east of Luzon, in the Pacific Ocean, at the +entrance of the Bay of Albay; the other, the island of Marinduque, in +the west, between Luzon and Mindoro. From the last-named island I saw, +ten years ago, the first picture of one in a photograph album +accidentally placed in my hands. Since then I had opportunity to +examine the Schadenberg collection of crania, lately come into the +possession of the Reichsmuseum, in Leyden, and to my great delight +discovered in it a series of skulls which are compressed in exactly the +same fashion as those of Lanang. It is said that these will soon be +described in a publication.</p> +<p>It is of especial interest that this method has been noted in the +Philippines for more than three hundred years. In my first publication +I cited a passage in Thévenot where he says, on the testimony of +a priest, that the natives on some islands had the custom of +compressing the head of a newborn child between two boards, so that it +would be no longer round, but lengthened out; also they flattened the +forehead, which they looked upon as a special mark of beauty. This is, +therefore, an ancient example. It is confirmed by the circumstance that +these crania are found especially in caves, from the roofs of which +mineral waters have dripped, which have overlaid the bones partly with +a thick layer of calcareous matter. The bones themselves have an +uncommonly thick, almost ivory, fossil-like appearance. Only the outer +surface is in places corroded, and on these places saturated with a +greenish infiltration. It is to be assumed, therefore, that they are +very old. I have the impression that they must have been placed here +before the discovery of the islands and the introduction of +Christianity. Their peculiar appearance, especially their angular form +and the thickness of the bone, reminds one of crania from other parts +of the South Sea, especially those from Chatham and Sandwich Islands. I +shall not here go further into this question, but merely mention that I +came to the conclusion that these people must be looked upon as +proto-Malayan.</p> +<p><span class="marginnote">Hope of Filipino and American +study.</span>The changes which will take place in the political +condition of the Philippines may be of little service to scientific +explorations at first; but the study of the population will be surely +taken up with renewed energy. Already in America scholars have begun to +occupy themselves therewith. A brief article by Dr. Brinton is to be +mentioned <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb550" href="#pb550" name= +"pb550">550</a>]</span>as the first sign of this. But should the ardent +desire of the Filipinos be realized, that their islands should have +political autonomy, it is to be hoped that, out of the patriotic +enthusiasm of the population and the scientific spirit of many of their +best men, new sources of information will be opened for the history and +the development of oriental peoples. To this end it may be here +mentioned, by the way, that the connecting links of ancient Philippine +history and the customs of these islands, as well with the Melanesians +as with the Polynesians of the south, are yet to be discovered.</p> +<p>As representatives of these two groups, I present, in closing, two +especially well-formed crania from the Philippines. One of them, which +shows the marks of antiquity that I have set forth, belongs to an +“Indio.” <span class="marginnote">Comparison of Indio and +Negrito skulls.</span>It has the high cranial capacity of 1,540 cubic +centimeters, a horizontal circumference of 525 millimeters, and a +sagitta-circumference of 386 millimeters; its form is hypsidolicho, +quite on the border of mesocephaly: Index of width, 75.3; index of +height, 76.3. Besides, it has the appearance of a race capable of +development; only, the nose is platyrrhine (index, 52.3), as among so +many Malay tribes, and in the left temple it bears a <i lang= +"la">Processus frontalis squamae temporalis</i> developed partly from +an enlarged fontanelle. The other skull was one taken from a Negrito +grave of Zambales by Dr. A. B. Meyer. It makes, at first glance, just +as favorable an impression, but its capacity is only 1,182 cubic +centimeters; therefore 358 cubic centimeters less than the other. Its +form is orthobrachycephalic; breadth index, 80.2; height index, 70.6. +As in single traits of development, so in the measurements, the +difference and the debased character of this race obtrude themselves. +Only, the nasal index is somewhat smaller; on the whole, the nose has +in its separate parts a decidedly pithecoid form.</p> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk06"> +<h2 class="main">People and Prospects of the Philippines</h2> +<p class="first">Blackwood’s magazine for August, 1818, has an +account of conditions in Manila and the Philippines from data given by +an English merchant who left the Islands in 1798 after twenty +years’ residence in which he accumulated a fortune.</p> +<p>“Your first question, with respect to the Spanish population, +must refer to native Spaniards only; as their numerous descendants, +through all the variety of half-castes, would include one third at +least of the whole population of Luconia (i.e., Luzon—A. C.)</p> +<p>“Of native Spaniards, accordingly, settled in the Philippine +Islands, the total number may be stated at 2,000 not military. The +military, including all descriptions, men and officers, are about +2,500, out of which number the native regiments are officered +<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb551" href="#pb551" name= +"pb551">551</a>]</span>These last, in 1796–7, were almost +entirely composed of South Americans and were reckoned at 5,000 men, +making a military force of about 7,500.</p> +<p>“The castes bearing a mixture of the Spanish blood are in +Luconia alone at least 200,000. The Sangleys, or Chinese descendants, +are upwards of 20,000, and Indians, who call themselves the original +Tagalas, about 340,000, making a total population in that island of +about 600,000 souls. What may be the respective numbers in the other +Philippine Islands I never had any opportunity of learning.”</p> +<p>(This opinion, of a day when it was not desired to disparage the +people, gives an idea of the mixed blood of the Filipinos which, in the +opinion of the ethnologists, like Ratzel, is a source of strength. It +classes them with the English and Americans. One danger of the present +appears in over-emphasizing the Malay blood, just as in Spanish times a +real loss seems to have come from the contempt toward the Chinese which +led to minimizing and concealing a most creditable ancestry.</p> +<p>Prejudice in the past called all trouble makers mestizos, but +today’s study is showing that <i>trouble maker</i> meant <i>man +who would stand up for his rights</i>; one must not forget that +<i>mestizo</i> was used as a reproach, that the leaders of the people +were really typical of the people. By the old injustice those who were +mediocre were called natives and whoever rose above his fellows was +claimed as a Spaniard, but a fairer way would seem to be to consider +Filipinos all born in the Philippines.—C.).</p> +<p>The Cornhill magazine in the late ’70s had a contribution by +the then British Consul, Mr. Palgreave, on “Malay Life in the +Philippines,” that makes more understandable the reputation of +the islands, which before the opening of the Suez were a health resort +for Japan, the China coast and India. It also shows a fairness to the +people uncommon in the Spanish-inspired writings of his day.</p> +<p>“Dull indeed must be his soul, unsympathetic his nature who +can see the forests and mountains of Luzon, Queen of the Eastern Isles, +fade away into dim violet outlines on the fast receding horizon without +some pang of longing regret. Not the Aegean, not the West Indian, not +the Samoan, not any rival in manifold beauties of earth, sea and sky +the Philippine Archipelago. Pity that for the Philippines no word +limner of note exists. The chiefest, the almost exceptional spell of +the Philippines, is situated, not in the lake or volcano, forest or +plain, but in the races that form the bulk of the island +population.</p> +<p>“I said ‘almost exceptional’ because rarely is an +intra-tropical people a satisfactory one to eye or mind. But this +cannot be said of the Philippine Malays who in bodily formation and +mental characteristics alike, may fairly claim a place, not among +middling ones merely, but among almost the higher names inscribed on +the world’s <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb552" href="#pb552" +name="pb552">552</a>]</span>national scale. A concentrated, +never-absent self-respect, an habitual self-restraint in word and deed, +very rarely broken except when extreme provocation induces the +transitory but fatal frenzy known as ‘amok,’ and an inbred +courtesy, equally diffused through all classes, high or low, unfailing +decorum, prudence, caution, quiet cheerfulness, ready hospitality and a +correct, though not inventive taste. His family is a pleasing sight, +much subordination and little constraint, unison in gradation, +liberty—not license. Orderly children, respected parents, women +subject but not oppressed, men ruling but not despotic, reverence with +kindness, obedience in affection, these form lovable pictures, not by +any means rare in the villages of the eastern isles.” (Here again +comes the necessity of combatting the popular impression that the +Philippines is a tropical land peopled by Malays. The modification of +climate from being an ocean archipelago suggests that these islands are +really subtropical, while mixture of blood joined with three centuries +of European civilization makes the term Malay misleading.—C.)</p> +</div> +<div class="div0" id="bk07"> +<h2 class="main">Filipino Merchants of the Early 1890s</h2> +<p class="first">F. Karuth, F. R. G. S., (President of an English +corporation interested in Philippine mining) about 1894, wrote:</p> +<p>“Few outside the comparatively narrow circle who are directly +interested in the commerce and resources of the Philippine Islands know +anything about them. The Philippine merchants are a rather close +community which only in the last decade or so has expanded its diameter +a little. There are a number of very old established firms amongst +them, several of them being British.... Amongst them <i>also are +firms—perhaps as far as wealth and local influence go, the most +important firms—whose chiefs are partly at least of native +blood</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="back"> +<div id="index" class="div1 index"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= +"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> +<div class="divHead"> +<h2 class="main">Index</h2> +</div> +<div class="divBody"> +<p class="first">Abacá (Manila Hemp)—<br> +Abacá, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>;<br> +Manila hemp, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>;<br> +abacá districts, <a href="#pb294" class="pageref">294</a>;<br> +Undetermined plant relations, <a href="#pb294" class= +"pageref">294</a>;<br> +Peculiar to the Philippines, <a href="#pb295" class= +"pageref">295</a>;<br> +Superiority of fiber, <a href="#pb295" class="pageref">295</a>;<br> +Banana varieties, <a href="#pb296" class="pageref">296</a>;<br> +Cultivation, <a href="#pb296" class="pageref">296</a>;<br> +Cutting, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>;<br> +Prejudice against cutting after blossoming, <a href="#pb297" class= +"pageref">297</a>;<br> +Differences with abacá, <a href="#pb297" class= +"pageref">297</a>;<br> +Extracting the fiber, <a href="#pb298" class="pageref">298</a>;<br> +Lupis and bandala, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>;<br> +Grades of lupis, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>;<br> +Lupis fabrics, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>;<br> +Profit, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>;<br> +A Pre-Spanish product, <a href="#pb301" class="pageref">301</a>;<br> +Bandala fabrics, <a href="#pb301" class="pageref">301</a>;<br> +Abacá production and prospects, <a href="#pb304" class= +"pageref">304</a>;<br> +Export of “Manila hemp,” <a href="#pb305" class= +"pageref">305</a>;<br> +Large local consumption, <a href="#pb305" class="pageref">305</a>;<br> +Sisal-hemp, <a href="#pb305" class="pageref">305</a>;<br> +Varieties of sisal, <a href="#pb306" class="pageref">306</a>;<br> +Profit, <a href="#pb307" class="pageref">307</a>;<br> +Banana substitute unsatisfactory, <a href="#pb307" class= +"pageref">307</a>;<br> +Manila hemp, <a href="#pb469" class="pageref">469</a>;<br> +Abacá, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>.</p> +<p>Agriculture—<br> +Fertile fields, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>;<br> +Java-like rice fields, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>;<br> +A famous plantation, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>;<br> +Sweet potatoes, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>;<br> +A French planter, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>;<br> +Isolation of fertile regions, <a href="#pb188" class= +"pageref">188</a>;<br> +A populous fertile district, <a href="#pb194" class= +"pageref">194</a>;<br> +The people and their crops, <a href="#pb199" class= +"pageref">199</a>;<br> +Rotation of crops, <a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>;<br> +Locusts, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>;<br> +Plan for their extermination, <a href="#pb261" class= +"pageref">261</a>;<br> +Lack of capital for large plantations, <a href="#pb291" class= +"pageref">291</a>;<br> +Increasing culture, <a href="#pb361" class="pageref">361</a>;<br> +Estates, <a href="#pb370" class="pageref">370</a>;<br> +Locusts, <a href="#pb471" class="pageref">471</a>.</p> +<p>Americans—<br> +Mongolian vs. Caucasian in America, <a href="#pb336" class= +"pageref">336</a>;<br> +Chinese problem in America, <a href="#pb337" class= +"pageref">337</a>;<br> +China and America, <a href="#pb354" class="pageref">354</a>;<br> +Growing American influence, <a href="#pb354" class= +"pageref">354</a>;<br> +The mission of America, <a href="#pb355" class="pageref">355</a>;<br> +Superiority over Spanish system, <a href="#pb356" class= +"pageref">356</a>;<br> +American hemp ships, <a href="#pb459" class="pageref">459</a>;<br> +Advantages of Sulu (American) treaty, <a href="#pb528" class= +"pageref">528</a>.</p> +<p>Amusements—<br> +Visitors to festival, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>;<br> +A Filipino theater, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>;<br> +An indifferent performance, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>;<br> +Interest in festival, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>;<br> +A danceless ball, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>;<br> +Amusements, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>.</p> +<p>Animals—<br> +The carabao, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>;<br> +Cattle and horses, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>;<br> +Black cattle, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>;<br> +Sheep, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>;<br> +Swine, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>; Cattle, <a href= +"#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>;<br> +The flying monkey, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>;<br> +A promise of rare animals and wild people, <a href="#pb230" class= +"pageref">230</a>;<br> +East Indian monkeys, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>;<br> +Snaring swine, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>;<br> +Scarcity of stock, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>;<br> +Swine, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>;<br> +Sheep and goats, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>;<br> +Draft animals, <a href="#pb466" class="pageref">466</a>.</p> +<p>Bamboo—<br> +Bamboo, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>;<br> +Strength, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>;<br> +Convenience, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>;<br> +Usefulness, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>;<br> +Bamboo raft ferry, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>.</p> +<p>Bisayas—<br> +Bisayas, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>;<br> +Superstitions regarding the “Bisayan” bean, <a href= +"#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>;<br> +Leyte, <a href="#pb259" class="pageref">259</a>;<br> +The Bisayans, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>;<br> +Leyte, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>;<br> +Cebu, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>;<br> +Cebu island, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>;<br> +Iloilo, <a href="#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>;<br> +Panay, <a href="#pb495" class="pageref">495</a>;<br> +(see Samar).</p> +<p>Cacao (Chocolate)—<br> +Cacao, <a href="#pb89" class="pageref">89</a>;<br> +High quality, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>;<br> +Scanty production, <a href="#pb90" class="pageref">90</a>;<br> +Culture, <a href="#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>; Neglect, <a href= +"#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>;<br> +Damage by storms, <a href="#pb91" class="pageref">91</a>;<br> +Diseases and pests, <a href="#pb92" class="pageref">92</a>;<br> +Chocolate, <a href="#pb93" class="pageref">93</a>;<br> +An uncertain venture, <a href="#pb94" class="pageref">94</a>;<br> +Use in Europe, <a href="#pb94" class="pageref">94</a>;<br> +Cocoa, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>.</p> +<p>Chinese—<br> +Spanish coins in circulation on China coast, <a href="#pb22" class= +"pageref">22</a>;<br> +Similarity with Chinese conditions, <a href="#pb118" class= +"pageref">118</a>;<br> +Chinese monopolize trade, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>;<br> +Anti-Chinese feeling, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>;<br> +Importance of Chinese, <a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>;<br> +Early Chinese Associations, <a href="#pb329" class= +"pageref">329</a>;<br> +Industrial and commercial activity, <a href="#pb330" class= +"pageref">330</a>;<br> +Unsuccessful attempts at restriction, <a href="#pb330" class= +"pageref">330</a>;<br> +Early massacre of Chinese, <a href="#pb331" class= +"pageref">331</a>;<br> +Chinese laborers limited, <a href="#pb331" class="pageref">331</a>;<br> +Limahong and the Mandarins’ visit, <a href="#pb331" class= +"pageref">331</a>;<br> +Another massacre, <a href="#pb332" class="pageref">332</a>;<br> +The pirate Kog-seng, <a href="#pb332" class="pageref">332</a>;<br> +Another expulsion, <a href="#pb332" class="pageref">332</a>;<br> +Thrifty traders, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>;<br> +Anda’s and 1819 massacres, <a href="#pb333" class= +"pageref">333</a>;<br> +Oppressive taxation, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>;<br> +Expulsion of merchants from Manila, <a href="#pb334" class= +"pageref">334</a>;<br> +Excellent element in population, <a href="#pb335" class= +"pageref">335</a>;<br> +Formidable competitors, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>;<br> +Sphere of future influence, <a href="#pb335" class= +"pageref">335</a>;<br> +Efficiency and reliability of Chinese labor, <a href="#pb336" class= +"pageref">336</a>;<br> +Chinese cleverness and industry, <a href="#pb337" class= +"pageref">337</a>;<br> +Chinese tax, <a href="#pb416" class="pageref">416</a>.</p> +<p>Climate (See also Earthquakes)—<br> +The monsoons, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>;<br> +Winds, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>;<br> +Storms, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>;<br> +Sunshine and rain, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>;<br> +Storm-bound shipping, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>;<br> +Change of season, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>;<br> +Storm damage, <a href="#pb104" class="pageref">104</a>; Storms, +<a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>;<br> +Winds and planting season, <a href="#pb207" class= +"pageref">207</a>;<br> +A muddy dry season, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>;<br> +Seasons and weather, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>;<br> +Winds and storms, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>;<br> +Typhoons, <a href="#pb460" class="pageref">460</a>.</p> +<p>Cock-Fighting—<br> +Cock-fighting, <a href="#pb26" class="pageref">26</a>;<br> +Probably Malay custom, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>;<br> +The cockpit, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>;<br> +Its bad influence, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>;<br> +Game cocks a Spanish innovation, <a href="#pb200" class= +"pageref">200</a>;<br> +Provincial cockpit revenue, <a href="#pb411" class= +"pageref">411</a>;<br> +Cockpit licenses, <a href="#pb411" class="pageref">411</a>;<br> +Cock-fighting, <a href="#pb478" class="pageref">478</a>.</p> +<p>Coffee—<br> +Coffee, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>;<br> +Highest grades, <a href="#pb96" class="pageref">96</a>;<br> +Exports, <a href="#pb96" class="pageref">96</a>;<br> +French preference, <a href="#pb96" class="pageref">96</a>;<br> +Prices, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>;<br> +Javan and Ceylon crops, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>;<br> +Philippine exports, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>;<br> +Coffee, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>;<br> +Coffee, <a href="#pb470" class="pageref">470</a>.</p> +<p>Commerce—<br> +Future in American and Australian trade, <a href="#pb2" class= +"pageref">2</a>;<br> +Philippine Islands commercially in the New World, <a href="#pb3" class= +"pageref">3</a>;<br> +Slight share in world commerce, <a href="#pb5" class= +"pageref">5</a>;<br> +Little commerce with Spain, <a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>;<br> +Former Spanish ships mainly carried foreign goods, <a href="#pb5" +class="pageref">5</a>;<br> +Customhouse red tape, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>;<br> +Antiquated restrictions on trade, <a href="#pb10" class= +"pageref">10</a>;<br> +Laws drove away trade, <a href="#pb11" class="pageref">11</a>;<br> +Exports taxes, <a href="#pb11" class="pageref">11</a>;<br> +Discouragements for foreign ships, <a href="#pb11" class= +"pageref">11</a>;<br> +Pre-Spanish foreign commerce, <a href="#pb12" class= +"pageref">12</a>;<br> +The 1869 reform, <a href="#pb12" class="pageref">12</a>;<br> +Bettered conditions, <a href="#pb12" class="pageref">12</a>;<br> +Early extension under Spain, <a href="#pb13" class= +"pageref">13</a>;<br> +Jealousy of Seville monopolists, <a href="#pb13" class= +"pageref">13</a>;<br> +Prohibition of China trading, <a href="#pb14" class= +"pageref">14</a>;<br> +Higher limit on suspension of galleon voyages, <a href="#pb14" class= +"pageref">14</a>;<br> +The “Philippine Company” monopoly, <a href="#pb15" class= +"pageref">15</a>;<br> +Subterfuges of European traders, <a href="#pb15" class= +"pageref">15</a>;<br> +Losses by bad management, <a href="#pb16" class="pageref">16</a>;<br> +Daraga market, <a href="#pb102" class="pageref">102</a>;<br> +Tagalog women traders, <a href="#pb177" class="pageref">177</a>;<br> +Trade, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>;<br> +Illogical business, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>;<br> +Disproportionate prices, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>;<br> +Uncertain trading, <a href="#pb259" class="pageref">259</a>;<br> +No markets, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>;<br> +Barter, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>;<br> +Exports, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>;<br> +Ports of entry, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>;<br> +Customhouse data, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>;<br> +Unbusinesslike early methods, <a href="#pb302" class= +"pageref">302</a>;<br> +Change to a safer basis, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>;<br> +Money juggling, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>;<br> +Neglected market, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>;<br> +Ship building advantages, <a href="#pb367" class="pageref">367</a>;<br> +Internal commerce handicapped, <a href="#pb377" class= +"pageref">377</a>;<br> +Scanty exports, <a href="#pb377" class="pageref">377</a>;<br> +Local markets, <a href="#pb378" class="pageref">378</a>;<br> +External commerce, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>;<br> +Business irregularities, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>;<br> +Merchants discouraged, <a href="#pb381" class="pageref">381</a>;<br> +Capital employed in commerce, <a href="#pb382" class= +"pageref">382</a>;<br> +Large sums hoarded, <a href="#pb383" class="pageref">383</a>;<br> +Mercantile shipping, <a href="#pb385" class="pageref">385</a>;<br> +Royal Philippine company, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>;<br> +Need of nautical school, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>;<br> +Local progress under adverse conditions, <a href="#pb387" class= +"pageref">387</a>;<br> +Handicapped in outside trade, <a href="#pb388" class= +"pageref">388</a>;<br> +Profit percent to go to Spain, <a href="#pb390" class= +"pageref">390</a>;<br> +Need of special privileges, <a href="#pb390" class= +"pageref">390</a>;<br> +Spanish commerce in its infancy, <a href="#pb391" class= +"pageref">391</a>;<br> +Extension of monopoly urged, <a href="#pb400" class= +"pageref">400</a>;<br> +Slight concession to the Company, <a href="#pb403" class= +"pageref">403</a>;<br> +Shipping reform, <a href="#pb422" class="pageref">422</a>;<br> +Business, <a href="#pb461" class="pageref">461</a>;<br> +Commerce, <a href="#pb462" class="pageref">462</a>;<br> +Customs dues, <a href="#pb512" class="pageref">512</a>;<br> +Filipino merchants of the early 1890s, <a href="#pb552" class= +"pageref">552</a>.</p> +<p>Dress—<br> +Pretty girls in gay garments, <a href="#pb29" class= +"pageref">29</a>;<br> +Dress of the poorer women, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>;<br> +Men’s clothing, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>;<br> +The “Principales,” <a href="#pb30" class= +"pageref">30</a>;<br> +The servants, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +The dandies, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +Mestiza costume, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +Clothing, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>;<br> +Women’s extras, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>;<br> +Clothing cost, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>.</p> +<p>Dwellings—<br> +Native houses comfortable and unchanged, <a href="#pb25" class= +"pageref">25</a>;<br> +Board houses and their furniture, <a href="#pb58" class= +"pageref">58</a>;<br> +Homes, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>;<br> +Household affairs, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>;<br> +Furniture, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>;<br> +Household furniture, <a href="#pb278" class="pageref">278</a>;<br> +Dwellings, <a href="#pb461" class="pageref">461</a>.</p> +<p>Dutch—<br> +Dutch and English stand well in their colonies, <a href="#pb32" class= +"pageref">32</a>;<br> +Dutch colonials well educated, <a href="#pb33" class= +"pageref">33</a>;<br> +Different English and Dutch policy, <a href="#pb120" class= +"pageref">120</a>;<br> +Death customs, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>;<br> +Dutch opposition, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>.</p> +<p>Earthquakes—<br> +Scanty data available, <a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>;<br> +Former heavy shocks, <a href="#pb7" class="pageref">7</a>;<br> +The 1610 catastrophe, <a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>;<br> +The 1863 earthquake, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>;<br> +Destruction in walled city, Manila, <a href="#pb7" class= +"pageref">7</a>;<br> +Damage ill Cavite, <a href="#pb7" class="pageref">7</a>;<br> +Frequent minor disturbances, <a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>;<br> +Earthquake evidences, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>;<br> +Sorsogon earthquake, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>;<br> +1628 Camarines earthquake, <a href="#pb129" class= +"pageref">129</a>.</p> +<p>English—<br> +Capture of “Santa Anna,” <a href="#pb21" class= +"pageref">21</a>;<br> +Dutch and English stand well in their colonies, <a href="#pb32" class= +"pageref">32</a>;<br> +English occupation, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>;<br> +Contract with English colonies, <a href="#pb353" class= +"pageref">353</a>;<br> +English-Sulu treaty, <a href="#pb515" class="pageref">515</a>;<br> +Sulu victory over English, <a href="#pb517" class= +"pageref">517</a>;<br> +Balambangan Island (English), <a href="#pb523" class= +"pageref">523</a>.</p> +<p>Filipinos—<br> +Dreary and unprogressive life, <a href="#pb26" class= +"pageref">26</a>;<br> +Native distrust of Europeans, <a href="#pb32" class= +"pageref">32</a>;<br> +Social standing of Filipinos enhanced, <a href="#pb34" class= +"pageref">34</a>;<br> +Spanish-Filipino bonds of union, <a href="#pb34" class= +"pageref">34</a>;<br> +Initiative and individuality missing, <a href="#pb35" class= +"pageref">35</a>;<br> +Imitation instilled and self-respect banished, <a href="#pb35" class= +"pageref">35</a>;<br> +Native art-sense spoiled, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>;<br> +Educated Filipino unnatural, <a href="#pb36" class= +"pageref">36</a>;<br> +Indolence from absence of incentive, <a href="#pb36" class= +"pageref">36</a>;<br> +Weakened character and want of dignity, <a href="#pb37" class= +"pageref">37</a>;<br> +Carelessness from lack of responsibility, <a href="#pb37" class= +"pageref">37</a>;<br> +Circumstances have favored the Filipinos, <a href="#pb37" class= +"pageref">37</a>;<br> +Have fared better than the Mexicans, <a href="#pb38" class= +"pageref">38</a>;<br> +Change from Malayan character, <a href="#pb46" class= +"pageref">46</a>;<br> +Filipino hospitality, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>;<br> +A native captain, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>;<br> +Amateur scientists, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>;<br> +The native clergy, <a href="#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>;<br> +Family income, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>;<br> +Woman’s work, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>;<br> +Marriage age, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>;<br> +Infant mortality, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>;<br> +Imitation-mania, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>;<br> +The sickness in Siberia, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>;<br> +The itch, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>;<br> +Running amuck, <a href="#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>;<br> +Sense of smell, <a href="#pb154" class="pageref">154</a>;<br> +Respect for women and aged, <a href="#pb200" class= +"pageref">200</a>;<br> +Sexual crimes, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>;<br> +Native contempt for private Spaniards, <a href="#pb211" class= +"pageref">211</a>;<br> +Caroline Islands’ possible influence on Filipinos, <a href= +"#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>;<br> +A pleasing people, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>;<br> +Debts, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>;<br> +Public charity not accepted, <a href="#pb281" class= +"pageref">281</a>;<br> +Morals, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>; Great infant +mortality, <a href="#pb283" class="pageref">283</a>;<br> +Origin of race, <a href="#pb359" class="pageref">359</a>;<br> +Filipino farmers, <a href="#pb371" class="pageref">371</a>;<br> +Restriction of native ordinations recommended, <a href="#pb443" class= +"pageref">443</a>;<br> +Native efforts for self-defence, <a href="#pb446" class= +"pageref">446</a>;<br> +Native assistance, <a href="#pb451" class="pageref">451</a>;<br> +Natives, <a href="#pb508" class="pageref">508</a>;<br> +Superiority of women, <a href="#pb509" class="pageref">509</a>;<br> +People and prospects of the Philippines, <a href="#pb550" class= +"pageref">550</a>;<br> +Filipino merchants of the early 1890s, <a href="#pb552" class= +"pageref">552</a>.</p> +<p>Filipinos, Ancient—<br> +Burial customs, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>;<br> +Assistance from history, <a href="#pb545" class="pageref">545</a>;<br> +Hair differences, <a href="#pb545" class="pageref">545</a>;<br> +Ancestor worship, <a href="#pb546" class="pageref">546</a>;<br> +Tattooing, <a href="#pb546" class="pageref">546</a>;<br> +Teeth alterations, <a href="#pb547" class="pageref">547</a>;<br> +Skull flattening, <a href="#pb548" class="pageref">548</a>;<br> +Hope of Filipino and American study, <a href="#pb549" class= +"pageref">549</a>;<br> +Comparison of Indio and Negrito skulls, <a href="#pb550" class= +"pageref">550</a>;<br> +(See Philippines, Pre-Spanish).</p> +<p>Fishing—<br> +Picking fish, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>;<br> +Plunder, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>;<br> +Lived by seafishing and rain water, <a href="#pb241" class= +"pageref">241</a>;<br> +Fishing, <a href="#pb251" class="pageref">251</a>;<br> +Fish, <a href="#pb479" class="pageref">479</a>.</p> +<p>Food—<br> +Easy food, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>;<br> +Meals, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>;<br> +Cost of food, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>.</p> +<p>Foreigners—<br> +M. de la Gironnière, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>;<br> +Tardy justice to foreigners, <a href="#pb304" class= +"pageref">304</a>;<br> +Competition of foreign merchants, <a href="#pb389" class= +"pageref">389</a>;<br> +Magellan, <a href="#pb462" class="pageref">462</a>.</p> +<p>Friars—<br> +A convento and the parish priest, <a href="#pb60" class= +"pageref">60</a>;<br> +Unwelcome hospitality, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>;<br> +An early friar attempt (Mr. Mayon), <a href="#pb88" class= +"pageref">88</a>;<br> +Priestly assistance, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>;<br> +The priests’ importance, <a href="#pb112" class= +"pageref">112</a>;<br> +Franciscan friars, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>;<br> +Young men developed by responsibility, <a href="#pb113" class= +"pageref">113</a>;<br> +Poor architects, <a href="#pb114" class="pageref">114</a>;<br> +Superiority over government officials, <a href="#pb115" class= +"pageref">115</a>;<br> +Former legal status, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>;<br> +A scientific priest-poet, <a href="#pb154" class="pageref">154</a>;<br> +Friars an important factor, <a href="#pb352" class= +"pageref">352</a>;<br> +Their defects have worked out for good, <a href="#pb352" class= +"pageref">352</a>;<br> +Pious and charitable funds’ capital, <a href="#pb383" class= +"pageref">383</a>;<br> +Standing of parish priests, <a href="#pb434" class= +"pageref">434</a>;<br> +Friars only check on officials, <a href="#pb436" class= +"pageref">436</a>;<br> +Missionaries’ achievements, <a href="#pb436" class= +"pageref">436</a>;<br> +Curtailing priestly authority, <a href="#pb437" class= +"pageref">437</a>;<br> +Friars bulwark of Spanish rule, <a href="#pb438" class= +"pageref">438</a>;<br> +Unwise to discredit priests, <a href="#pb439" class= +"pageref">439</a>;<br> +Testimony in their behalf, <a href="#pb439" class= +"pageref">439</a>;<br> +Ecclesiatical organization, <a href="#pb440" class= +"pageref">440</a>;<br> +Dual supervision over friars, <a href="#pb441" class= +"pageref">441</a>;<br> +Allowances from treasury, <a href="#pb441" class="pageref">441</a>;<br> +Need of more European clergy, <a href="#pb442" class= +"pageref">442</a>;<br> +Monasteries, <a href="#pb482" class="pageref">482</a>.</p> +<p>Galleon-Trade—<br> +Galleon story sidelight on colonial history, <a href="#pb17" class= +"pageref">17</a>;<br> +Chinese part in galleon trade, <a href="#pb18" class= +"pageref">18</a>;<br> +Division of space and character of cargo, <a href="#pb18" class= +"pageref">18</a>;<br> +Favoritism in allotment of cargo space, <a href="#pb18" class= +"pageref">18</a>;<br> +Profit in trade, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>;<br> +Evasion of regulations, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>;<br> +Route outward, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>;<br> +Length of voyage, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>;<br> +Water-supply crowded out by cargo, <a href="#pb20" class= +"pageref">20</a>;<br> +California landfall, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>;<br> +Galleon’s size and armament, <a href="#pb21" class= +"pageref">21</a>;<br> +Speedy return voyage, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>;<br> +Value of return freight, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>;<br> +Philippine Company and smugglers cause change, <a href="#pb22" class= +"pageref">22</a>;<br> +Gambling rather than commerce, <a href="#pb22" class= +"pageref">22</a>;<br> +Undervaluation of galleon goods, <a href="#pb403" class= +"pageref">403</a>;<br> +Variations in valuations, <a href="#pb405" class="pageref">405</a>;<br> +Galleon graft, <a href="#pb423" class="pageref">423</a>.</p> +<p>Government—<br> +Low taxes, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>;<br> +Unreliability of government reports, <a href="#pb54" class= +"pageref">54</a>;<br> +Wine and liquor monopoly a failure, <a href="#pb71" class= +"pageref">71</a>;<br> +Handicapped officials, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>;<br> +Funds diverted to Spain, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>;<br> +Alcaldes formerly in trade, <a href="#pb116" class= +"pageref">116</a>;<br> +Their borrowed capital, <a href="#pb117" class="pageref">117</a>;<br> +Improvement in present appointees, <a href="#pb117" class= +"pageref">117</a>;<br> +Unidentified with country, <a href="#pb118" class= +"pageref">118</a>;<br> +Similarity with Chinese conditions, <a href="#pb118" class= +"pageref">118</a>;<br> +Dependence on interpreters, <a href="#pb119" class= +"pageref">119</a>;<br> +Fear of officials’ popularity, <a href="#pb120" class= +"pageref">120</a>;<br> +Different English and Dutch policy, <a href="#pb120" class= +"pageref">120</a>;<br> +Papal concessions to Spain, <a href="#pb128" class= +"pageref">128</a>;<br> +Schools, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>;<br> +An unfortified fort, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>;<br> +Policy of non-intercourse with heathens, <a href="#pb192" class= +"pageref">192</a>;<br> +A policy of peace, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>;<br> +No protection from Government, <a href="#pb212" class= +"pageref">212</a>;<br> +Electing officers, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>;<br> +Palapat Revolt, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>;<br> +Ornamental but useless forts, <a href="#pb232" class= +"pageref">232</a>;<br> +Speculation with public funds, <a href="#pb317" class= +"pageref">317</a>;<br> +Wholesale rate higher than retail from government, <a href="#pb325" +class="pageref">325</a>;<br> +Unthinking policy of greed, <a href="#pb344" class= +"pageref">344</a>;<br> +The feudal “encomiendas,” <a href="#pb345" class= +"pageref">345</a>;<br> +Extortions of encomenderos, <a href="#pb346" class= +"pageref">346</a>;<br> +Many minor uprisings from local grievances, <a href="#pb350" class= +"pageref">350</a>;<br> +Cavite 1872 mutiny, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>;<br> +Menaces to Spanish rule, <a href="#pb353" class="pageref">353</a>;<br> +Restricted cultivation, <a href="#pb360" class="pageref">360</a>;<br> +Confiscating unused lands, <a href="#pb372" class= +"pageref">372</a>;<br> +Improvement in public finances <a href="#pb393" class= +"pageref">393</a>;<br> +Economy over Spanish-American colonial administration, <a href="#pb393" +class="pageref">393</a>;<br> +Custom house, <a href="#pb401" class="pageref">401</a>;<br> +Former customs usage, <a href="#pb401" class="pageref">401</a>;<br> +Unbusinesslike customs ways, <a href="#pb404" class= +"pageref">404</a>;<br> +Folly of monopoly plan, <a href="#pb407" class="pageref">407</a>;<br> +Community funds, <a href="#pb416" class="pageref">416</a>;<br> +Disbursements and general expenses, <a href="#pb421" class= +"pageref">421</a>;<br> +Defence expenses, <a href="#pb422" class="pageref">422</a>;<br> +The navy, <a href="#pb424" class="pageref">424</a>;<br> +Objectionable office-holders, <a href="#pb426" class= +"pageref">426</a>;<br> +Evils from officials in trade, <a href="#pb427" class= +"pageref">427</a>;<br> +No check on extortion, <a href="#pb429" class="pageref">429</a>;<br> +Less complaisant laws needed, <a href="#pb430" class= +"pageref">430</a>;<br> +Pioneer Philippine government a theocracy, <a href="#pb434" class= +"pageref">434</a>;<br> +Governmental lenience, <a href="#pb445" class="pageref">445</a>;<br> +The governor-general, <a href="#pb473" class="pageref">473</a>;<br> +Government, <a href="#pb484" class="pageref">484</a>;<br> +Government, <a href="#pb510" class="pageref">510</a>.</p> +<p>Industries (See also Agriculture and Fishing)—<br> +Tapis weaving, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>;<br> +Petaca cigar cases, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>;<br> +Preparation of material, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>;<br> +Costly weaving, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>;<br> +Kupang iron-foundry, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>;<br> +Trade in molave, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>;<br> +Nito cigar cases, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>;<br> +Pineapple fiber preparation, <a href="#pb131" class= +"pageref">131</a>;<br> +Slight industrial progress, <a href="#pb144" class= +"pageref">144</a>;<br> +Gold mining, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>;<br> +Abandoned workings, <a href="#pb169" class="pageref">169</a>;<br> +Manufactures, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>;<br> +Oil factory, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>;<br> +Weaving, <a href="#pb301" class="pageref">301</a>;<br> +Machine-spinning, <a href="#pb307" class="pageref">307</a>;<br> +Fiber-extracting machinery, <a href="#pb308" class= +"pageref">308</a>;<br> +Methods of Manufacture, <a href="#pb361" class="pageref">361</a>;<br> +Manufactures, <a href="#pb375" class="pageref">375</a>;<br> +Native cloth weaving, <a href="#pb375" class="pageref">375</a>;<br> +Aptitude for, but no development of, manufacturing, <a href="#pb376" +class="pageref">376</a>;<br> +Improved methods and machinery needed, <a href="#pb376" class= +"pageref">376</a>;<br> +Piña, <a href="#pb475" class="pageref">475</a>.</p> +<p>Labor—<br> +Servant subterfuges, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>;<br> +Petty robberies, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>;<br> +Wages, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>;<br> +A clever pilfering servant, <a href="#pb163" class= +"pageref">163</a>;<br> +Unreliable excuses, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>;<br> +The Filipino as a laborer, 185;<br> +Forced labor, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>;<br> +Carpentering difficulties, <a href="#pb215" class= +"pageref">215</a>;<br> +Losing a clever assistant, <a href="#pb216" class= +"pageref">216</a>;<br> +Unsatisfactory forced labor, <a href="#pb223" class= +"pageref">223</a>;<br> +Wages, <a href="#pb278" class="pageref">278</a>;<br> +Laborers’ work and wages, <a href="#pb299" class= +"pageref">299</a>;<br> +Good work for good pay, <a href="#pb304" class="pageref">304</a>;<br> +Compulsory labor, <a href="#pb372" class="pageref">372</a>;<br> +No legal obstacle to forced labor, <a href="#pb374" class= +"pageref">374</a>;<br> +Wages, <a href="#pb470" class="pageref">470</a>.</p> +<p>Lakes—<br> +The Lagoon of Bay, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>;<br> +Maycap Lake, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>;<br> +Lake Palakpakan, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>;<br> +Batu—The lake, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>;<br> +Lake Buhi, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>;<br> +Changes in Batu Lake, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>;<br> +Jaruanan Lake, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>;<br> +Bito Lake, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>.</p> +<p>Land—<br> +Sea’s encroachments, <a href="#pb108" class= +"pageref">108</a>;<br> +Land for everybody, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>;<br> +Land leases, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>;<br> +A bare plain and wretched village, <a href="#pb194" class= +"pageref">194</a>;<br> +Land tenure, <a href="#pb273" class="pageref">273</a>;<br> +Land tenure, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>;<br> +Land disputes, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>.</p> +<p>Luzon—<br> +Luzon, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>;<br> +Luzon Provinces and their languages and populations, <a href="#pb53" +class="pageref">53</a>;<br> +Coasting Luzon, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>;<br> +Camarines, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>.</p> +<p>Manila—<br> +Foreign mail facilities, <a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>;<br> +City’s appearance mediaeval European, <a href="#pb6" class= +"pageref">6</a>;<br> +Manila’s fine bay, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>;<br> +Shelter for shipping, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>;<br> +Few foreign vessels, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>;<br> +Silting up of river mouth, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>;<br> +Manila’s favorable location, <a href="#pb12" class= +"pageref">12</a>;<br> +British occupation inspired new wants, <a href="#pb15" class= +"pageref">15</a>;<br> +Manila opposition to trade innovations, <a href="#pb15" class= +"pageref">15</a>;<br> +Port’s importance lessened under Spain, <a href="#pb16" class= +"pageref">16</a>;<br> +Trade free but port charges discriminating, <a href="#pb16" class= +"pageref">16</a>;<br> +Entrance of foreign ships and firms, <a href="#pb16" class= +"pageref">16</a>;<br> +The walled city of Manila, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>;<br> +Population, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>;<br> +Discomforts and high cost of living, <a href="#pb24" class= +"pageref">24</a>;<br> +Bridges, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>;<br> +Neglected river and canals offensive, <a href="#pb25" class= +"pageref">25</a>;<br> +Feminine attractiveness, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>;<br> +The Luneta, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>;<br> +The Angelus, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>;<br> +Botanical garden, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>;<br> +Frequence of fires, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>;<br> +Commercial importance of early Manila, <a href="#pb348" class= +"pageref">348</a>;<br> +Manila as capital of a vast empire, <a href="#pb348" class= +"pageref">348</a>;<br> +Manila’s population, <a href="#pb359" class= +"pageref">359</a>;<br> +Port charges and duties, <a href="#pb402" class="pageref">402</a>;<br> +A Spanish oriental city, <a href="#pb459" class="pageref">459</a>;<br> +Twin piers, <a href="#pb460" class="pageref">460</a>;<br> +City of Manila, <a href="#pb462" class="pageref">462</a>;<br> +The Luneta, <a href="#pb477" class="pageref">477</a>;<br> +The cemetery, <a href="#pb481" class="pageref">481</a>.</p> +<p>Mestizos (Half-castes)—<br> +Friction between classes, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>;<br> +Mestizas, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>;<br> +Clever business women, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +Ill at ease in society, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +Mestizos, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>;<br> +Danger from mestizos and creoles, <a href="#pb354" class= +"pageref">354</a>.</p> +<p>Micronesians—<br> +Pearl divers from the Carolines, <a href="#pb239" class= +"pageref">239</a>;<br> +Hardships and perils of their voyage, <a href="#pb239" class= +"pageref">239</a>;<br> +Castaways from the Pelews, <a href="#pb240" class= +"pageref">240</a>;<br> +Not the first time for one, <a href="#pb241" class= +"pageref">241</a>;<br> +Previous castaways, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>;<br> +Other arrivals of Micronesians, <a href="#pb242" class= +"pageref">242</a>.</p> +<p>Mindanao—<br> +Mindanao, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>;<br> +Old Zamboanga fort, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>;<br> +Mindanao and Sulu independent, <a href="#pb343" class= +"pageref">343</a>;<br> +Council of war recommended, <a href="#pb450" class= +"pageref">450</a>;<br> +Mindanao also needs attention, <a href="#pb452" class= +"pageref">452</a>;<br> +A plan for future policing, <a href="#pb453" class= +"pageref">453</a>;<br> +Mindanao, <a href="#pb497" class="pageref">497</a>;<br> +Zamboanga, <a href="#pb499" class="pageref">499</a>.<br> +(See “Moros.”)</p> +<p>Minerals—<br> +A primitive rock breaker, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>;<br> +An arrastre, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>;<br> +Gold-washing, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>;<br> +The clean-up, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>;<br> +Copper, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>;<br> +Paying minus dividends, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>;<br> +Unsuccessful copper-mining, <a href="#pb172" class= +"pageref">172</a>;<br> +Igorot-mining successful, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>;<br> +Copper kettles attributed to Negritos, <a href="#pb173" class= +"pageref">173</a>;<br> +Copper-working a pre-Spanish art, <a href="#pb173" class= +"pageref">173</a>;<br> +The Igorots’ Method, <a href="#pb174" class= +"pageref">174</a>;<br> +The Smelter, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>;<br> +Smelting, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>;<br> +The copper “stone,” <a href="#pb176" class= +"pageref">176</a>;<br> +Purifying the product, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>;<br> +Miners’ uncertain returns, <a href="#pb178" class= +"pageref">178</a>;<br> +Small output, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>;<br> +Wild Cat Mining, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>;<br> +Jasper and coal, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>;<br> +Gold, <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>;<br> +Copper, <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>;<br> +Cinnabar, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>;<br> +Iron, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>.</p> +<p>Mountaineers—<br> +A negrito family, <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>;<br> +Remontados, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>;<br> +Iriga settlements, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>;<br> +Poison arrows, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>;<br> +Crucifixes, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>;<br> +Mountaineers’ arrow poison, <a href="#pb132" class= +"pageref">132</a>;<br> +Primitive mountaineers, <a href="#pb191" class="pageref">191</a>;<br> +Christian Mountaineers’ villages, <a href="#pb193" class= +"pageref">193</a>;<br> +A heathen Mountaineers’ settlement, <a href="#pb197" class= +"pageref">197</a>;<br> +A giant fern hedge, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>;<br> +Simple stringed instruments, <a href="#pb198" class= +"pageref">198</a>;<br> +Religion, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>;<br> +Medicine, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>;<br> +Marriage, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>;<br> +Farewell to mountaineers, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>;<br> +A forest home, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>;<br> +Mountaineers, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>;<br> +Foreigners and wild tribes, <a href="#pb358" class= +"pageref">358</a>;<br> +Mountaineers, <a href="#pb483" class="pageref">483</a>.</p> +<p>Mountains—<br> +Mt. Arayat, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>;<br> +Mt. Iriga, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>;<br> +Another attempt at mountain climbing, <a href="#pb130" class= +"pageref">130</a>;<br> +Rain prevents another ascent, <a href="#pb132" class= +"pageref">132</a>;<br> +Mr. Isaróg, <a href="#pb190" class="pageref">190</a>;<br> +Comparison with Javan Mountain district, <a href="#pb195" class= +"pageref">195</a>;<br> +At the summit, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>;<br> +The descent, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>;<br> +Mr. Iriga, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>;<br> +The ascent, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>;<br> +Altitude, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>;<br> +Ascent of Mr. Mazaraga, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>;<br> +Altitude, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>;<br> +Climbing Banajao, <a href="#pb488" class="pageref">488</a>;<br> +Mt. Maquiling, <a href="#pb492" class="pageref">492</a>;</p> +<p>Moros—<br> +Moro pirates, <a href="#pb103" class="pageref">103</a>;<br> +Pirate rumors and robberies, <a href="#pb108" class= +"pageref">108</a>;<br> +Real pirates, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>;<br> +Power of Moro pirates, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>;<br> +Government steamer easily eluded, <a href="#pb213" class= +"pageref">213</a>;<br> +Steam gunboats more successful, <a href="#pb213" class= +"pageref">213</a>;<br> +Renegades join pirates and bandits, <a href="#pb214" class= +"pageref">214</a>;<br> +Pirate outrages, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>;<br> +A pirate base, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>;<br> +Moro depredations, <a href="#pb443" class="pageref">443</a>;<br> +Authority for war not lacking, <a href="#pb445" class= +"pageref">445</a>;<br> +Moro piratical craft, <a href="#pb446" class="pageref">446</a>;<br> +Growth of Moro power, <a href="#pb448" class="pageref">448</a>;<br> +Pirate craft, <a href="#pb502" class="pageref">502</a>.</p> +<p>Palms (Coco, nipa, bonga)—<br> +Coco-palms, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>;<br> +Nipa-palms, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>;<br> +Palm brandy, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>;<br> +Bought by government, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>;<br> +Profit in manufacture, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>;<br> +A pretty fan-palm, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>;<br> +Making palm-sugar, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>;<br> +A petition for liquors, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>;<br> +A secret still, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>;<br> +Coco and nipa wine monopoly, <a href="#pb398" class= +"pageref">398</a>;<br> +Buyo monopoly unsatisfactory, <a href="#pb406" class= +"pageref">406</a>.</p> +<p>Pasig River—<br> +River resorts, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>;<br> +Sleeping pilots, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>;<br> +River’s importance, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>;<br> +Riverside gaiety, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>;<br> +The Pasig, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>.</p> +<p>Philippines, Pre-Spanish—<br> +Ancient Filipino civilization, <a href="#pb143" class= +"pageref">143</a>;<br> +Guesses at history from language, <a href="#pb143" class= +"pageref">143</a>;<br> +Regard for the sleeping, <a href="#pb154" class="pageref">154</a>;<br> +Prehistoric remains, <a href="#pb155" class="pageref">155</a>;<br> +Ancient Chinese jar, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>;<br> +Used as tea canisters, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>;<br> +Prized by Japanese, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>;<br> +Strict search in Japan, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>;<br> +$3,500 for a jar, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>;<br> +A speaking jar, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>;<br> +Found in Borneo, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>;<br> +A consecrated jar, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>;<br> +Tea societies, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>;<br> +Ceremonies, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>;<br> +Their object, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>;<br> +Reward of valor, <a href="#pb161" class="pageref">161</a>;<br> +Superstitions, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>;<br> +Burial caves, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>;<br> +Objects destroyed but superstition persists, <a href="#pb245" class= +"pageref">245</a>;<br> +Skulls from a rock near Basey, <a href="#pb245" class= +"pageref">245</a>;<br> +The cavern’s contents, <a href="#pb246" class= +"pageref">246</a>;<br> +Impressive location of burial cave, <a href="#pb246" class= +"pageref">246</a>;<br> +Burial caves, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>;<br> +Chinese dishes from a cave, <a href="#pb247" class= +"pageref">247</a>;<br> +Embalming, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>;<br> +Slaves sacrificed, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>;<br> +Suitor’s service, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>;<br> +Superstitions, <a href="#pb283" class="pageref">283</a>;<br> +Festivals and shrines, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>;<br> +Ancestor worship, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>;<br> +Ancient literature, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>;<br> +Old religion, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>;<br> +Creation myth, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>. (See +Filipinos, Ancient.)</p> +<p>Poultry—<br> +Poultry, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>;<br> +Ducks, <a href="#pb479" class="pageref">479</a>;<br> +Duck farms, <a href="#pb486" class="pageref">486</a>.</p> +<p>Philippines—<br> +A compromise civilization, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>;<br> +Spanish rule not benevolent, but beneficial, <a href="#pb37" class= +"pageref">37</a>;<br> +A land of opportunity, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>;<br> +Fortunate factors, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>;<br> +Labor-saving conditions, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>;<br> +Archipelago’s great extent, <a href="#pb47" class= +"pageref">47</a>;<br> +Favored by position and conditions, <a href="#pb47" class= +"pageref">47</a>;<br> +Soil and sea alike productive, <a href="#pb48" class= +"pageref">48</a>;<br> +Harbors and water highways, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>;<br> +Provinces and districts, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>;<br> +Population, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>;<br> +Language and dialects, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>;<br> +Outlying islands, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>;<br> +Importance of interpreter in Philippines, <a href="#pb119" class= +"pageref">119</a>;<br> +Progress under Spain, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>;<br> +Similarity to Indian Archipelago conditions, <a href="#pb192" class= +"pageref">192</a>;<br> +Yap camotes from Philippines, <a href="#pb241" class= +"pageref">241</a>;<br> +Spain’s discovery and occupation, <a href="#pb342" class= +"pageref">342</a>;<br> +Numerous names, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>;<br> +Spanish improvements, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>;<br> +Spain and Portugal united, <a href="#pb348" class= +"pageref">348</a>;<br> +Phillippine history unimportant and unsatisfactory, <a href="#pb349" +class="pageref">349</a>;<br> +Summing up, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>;<br> +Powerful neighbors, <a href="#pb354" class="pageref">354</a>;<br> +Nearing predominance of the Pacific, <a href="#pb355" class= +"pageref">355</a>;<br> +Need of Philippine awakening, <a href="#pb356" class= +"pageref">356</a>;<br> +Population, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>;<br> +Plans for progress, <a href="#pb371" class="pageref">371</a>;<br> +The undeveloped Philippines, <a href="#pb373" class= +"pageref">373</a>;<br> +Philippines a burden to Spain, <a href="#pb391" class= +"pageref">391</a>;<br> +War popular in Philippines, <a href="#pb451" class= +"pageref">451</a>;<br> +Importance of peace for Philippine progress, <a href="#pb457" class= +"pageref">457</a>;<br> +Resources, <a href="#pb465" class="pageref">465</a>;<br> +Population, <a href="#pb472" class="pageref">472</a>;<br> +Population, <a href="#pb511" class="pageref">511</a>.</p> +<p>Products (See also Food, Coffee, Cacao, Bamboo and Palms)—<br> +Quicksilver, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>;<br> +A neglected product, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>;<br> +Piña, <a href="#pb131" class="pageref">131</a>;<br> +Red lead, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>;<br> +Edible bird’s nests, <a href="#pb169" class= +"pageref">169</a>;<br> +Lead and mica, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>;<br> +Chrome-lead ore, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>;<br> +Batatas, <a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>;<br> +Molave, <a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>;<br> +Ignatius bean, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>;<br> +Strychnine, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>;<br> +Coconuts, <a href="#pb255" class="pageref">255</a>;<br> +Getting coco oil, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>;<br> +Sulphur, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>;<br> +Prices, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>;<br> +A solfatara, <a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>;<br> +Danan solfatara, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>;<br> +Balao oil, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>;<br> +Other products, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>;<br> +Wax, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>;<br> +A valuable by-product, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>;<br> +Paper-making materials, <a href="#pb309" class="pageref">309</a>;<br> +Increasing use of wood and straw, <a href="#pb309" class= +"pageref">309</a>;<br> +Preferability of discarded cloth, <a href="#pb309" class= +"pageref">309</a>;<br> +Cotton, <a href="#pb359" class="pageref">359</a>;<br> +Mulberry trees, <a href="#pb362" class="pageref">362</a>;<br> +Silk, <a href="#pb362" class="pageref">362</a>;<br> +Bees-wax, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>;<br> +Black pepper, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>;<br> +Cinnamon, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>;<br> +Nutmeg, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>;<br> +Timber, <a href="#pb367" class="pageref">367</a>;<br> +Dye and cabinet woods, <a href="#pb367" class="pageref">367</a>;<br> +Pearls, <a href="#pb370" class="pageref">370</a>;<br> +Sulphur, <a href="#pb370" class="pageref">370</a>;<br> +Tobacco belt, <a href="#pb395" class="pageref">395</a>;<br> +“Tuba,” <a href="#pb399" class="pageref">399</a>;<br> +Coco-wine, <a href="#pb399" class="pageref">399</a>;<br> +Nipa brandy, <a href="#pb400" class="pageref">400</a>;<br> +Hardships on areca-nut planters, <a href="#pb406" class= +"pageref">406</a>;<br> +The areca-nut, <a href="#pb406" class="pageref">406</a>;<br> +Cotton, <a href="#pb470" class="pageref">470</a>;<br> +Indigo, <a href="#pb471" class="pageref">471</a>.</p> +<p>Punishments—<br> +Pleasant prison life, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>;<br> +Frequent floggings little regarded, <a href="#pb46" class= +"pageref">46</a>.</p> +<p>Rice—<br> +Rice cultivation, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>;<br> +Rice land production, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>;<br> +The harvest, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>;<br> +Rice and abaca exported, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>;<br> +Rice-farming, <a href="#pb272" class="pageref">272</a>;<br> +Mountain rice, <a href="#pb273" class="pageref">273</a>;<br> +Rice, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>;<br> +High yield, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>;<br> +Rice, <a href="#pb467" class="pageref">467</a>.</p> +<p>Rivers—<br> +Mapon river, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>;<br> +Sapa river, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>;<br> +Quinali river, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>;<br> +River highways, <a href="#pb188" class="pageref">188</a>;<br> +Many mountain water courses, <a href="#pb195" class= +"pageref">195</a>;<br> +A changed river and a new town, <a href="#pb225" class= +"pageref">225</a>;<br> +Up the river, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>;<br> +On the Calbayot River, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>;<br> +Numerous small streams, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>;<br> +Down the river, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>;<br> +Basey and its river, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>;<br> +Up the Mañacagan, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>;<br> +Up Mayo River, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>.<br> +(See Pasig River.)</p> +<p>Roads—<br> +Albay roads and bridges, <a href="#pb105" class="pageref">105</a>;<br> +Neglected roads, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>;<br> +Social and political reasons for bad roads, <a href="#pb189" class= +"pageref">189</a>;<br> +Bad roads raise freights, <a href="#pb189" class="pageref">189</a>;<br> +Lack of roads, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>;<br> +Poor roads, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>;<br> +An unpromising road, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>;<br> +Communication, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>.</p> +<p>Samar—<br> +Off to Samar, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>;<br> +Samar, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>;<br> +Former names, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>;<br> +Only the coast settled, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>;<br> +Catbalogan monopoly of interisland traffic, <a href="#pb224" class= +"pageref">224</a>;<br> +Catbalogan, <a href="#pb228" class="pageref">228</a>;<br> +Beauty of Samar-Leyte strait, <a href="#pb243" class= +"pageref">243</a>;<br> +People of Samar and Leyte, <a href="#pb280" class= +"pageref">280</a>.</p> +<p>San Bernardino Strait—<br> +The straits, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>;<br> +Importance of straits, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>;<br> +San Bernardino current, <a href="#pb82" class="pageref">82</a>.</p> +<p>Snakes—<br> +Snake bite and rabies remedy, <a href="#pb151" class= +"pageref">151</a>;<br> +Serpent-charmers, <a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>;<br> +Big pythons, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>;<br> +A sea snake, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>;<br> +Cholera and snake-bite cure, <a href="#pb254" class= +"pageref">254</a>.</p> +<p>Spaniards—<br> +Spaniards transient, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>;<br> +Few large landowners, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>;<br> +Spanish officials undesirables, <a href="#pb33" class= +"pageref">33</a>;<br> +Spanish lack of prestige deserved, <a href="#pb34" class= +"pageref">34</a>;<br> +Latin races better for colonists in the tropics, <a href="#pb34" class= +"pageref">34</a>;<br> +Spanish-Filipino bonds of union, <a href="#pb34" class= +"pageref">34</a>;<br> +A worthy official, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>;<br> +A suspicious medal, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>;<br> +Spanish prejudice against bathing, <a href="#pb165" class= +"pageref">165</a>;<br> +Spanish economic backwardness, <a href="#pb190" class= +"pageref">190</a>;<br> +Native contempt for private Spaniards, <a href="#pb211" class= +"pageref">211</a>;<br> +Obliging Spanish officials, <a href="#pb260" class= +"pageref">260</a>;<br> +High character of early administrators, <a href="#pb344" class= +"pageref">344</a>;<br> +Conquerors on commission, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>;<br> +Salcedo “most illustrious of the conquerors,” <a href= +"#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>;<br> +“The Cortes of the Philippines,” <a href="#pb347" class= +"pageref">347</a>;<br> +Undesirable emigrants from Spain, <a href="#pb349" class= +"pageref">349</a>;<br> +Credit due Spain, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>;<br> +Spanish planters, <a href="#pb370" class="pageref">370</a>;<br> +Legaspi, <a href="#pb464" class="pageref">464</a>;<br> +Courteous Spanish officials, <a href="#pb474" class= +"pageref">474</a>;<br> +Sulu victory over Spaniards, <a href="#pb516" class= +"pageref">516</a>.</p> +<p>Springs—<br> +Los Baños hot springs, <a href="#pb66" class= +"pageref">66</a>;<br> +Igabo hot spring, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>;<br> +Naglegbeng silicious springs, <a href="#pb134" class= +"pageref">134</a>;<br> +Carbonic acid spring, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>;<br> +A tideland spring, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>;<br> +Hot spring, <a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>;<br> +Los Baños, <a href="#pb490" class="pageref">490</a>;<br> +The hot springs, <a href="#pb492" class="pageref">492</a>.</p> +<p>Sugar—<br> +Sugar venders, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>;<br> +Sugar, <a href="#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>;<br> +Sugar prices, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>;<br> +The future sugar market, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>;<br> +Sugar, <a href="#pb361" class="pageref">361</a>;<br> +Sugar, <a href="#pb470" class="pageref">470</a>.</p> +<p>Sulu—<br> +Sual’s foreign trade, <a href="#pb287" class= +"pageref">287</a>;<br> +Jolo, <a href="#pb449" class="pageref">449</a>;<br> +Sulu, <a href="#pb500" class="pageref">500</a>;<br> +Sulu harbor, <a href="#pb501" class="pageref">501</a>;<br> +Visiting the Sultan, <a href="#pb503" class="pageref">503</a>;<br> +Treaty with United States, <a href="#pb504" class= +"pageref">504</a>;<br> +Interior travel prohibited, <a href="#pb505" class= +"pageref">505</a>;<br> +A stolen granite monument, <a href="#pb506" class= +"pageref">506</a>;<br> +Sulu history, <a href="#pb513" class="pageref">513</a>;<br> +Tawi-Tawi, <a href="#pb514" class="pageref">514</a>;<br> +English-Sulu treaty, <a href="#pb515" class="pageref">515</a>;<br> +Sulu victory over Spaniards, <a href="#pb516" class= +"pageref">516</a>;<br> +Sulu victory over English, <a href="#pb517" class= +"pageref">517</a>;<br> +Sulu piracies, <a href="#pb518" class="pageref">518</a>;<br> +Suppression of Sulu pirates, <a href="#pb519" class= +"pageref">519</a>;<br> +The Bajows, <a href="#pb520" class="pageref">520</a>;<br> +Cagayan Sulu, <a href="#pb521" class="pageref">521</a>;<br> +Balabac straits, <a href="#pb522" class="pageref">522</a>;<br> +Balambangan Island (English), <a href="#pb523" class= +"pageref">523</a>;<br> +Dyaks, <a href="#pb524" class="pageref">524</a>;<br> +Diwatas, <a href="#pb525" class="pageref">525</a>;<br> +Headhunting, <a href="#pb526" class="pageref">526</a>;<br> +Cremation, <a href="#pb527" class="pageref">527</a>;<br> +Advantages of Sulu (American) treaty, <a href="#pb528" class= +"pageref">528</a>.</p> +<p>Time—<br> +Magellan’s mistake in reckoning, <a href="#pb1" class= +"pageref">1</a>;<br> +Difference from European time, <a href="#pb1" class= +"pageref">1</a>;<br> +Change to the Asian day, <a href="#pb2" class="pageref">2</a>.</p> +<p>Title—<br> +The Pope’s world-partition, <a href="#pb3" class= +"pageref">3</a>;<br> +Faulty Spanish and Portuguese geography, <a href="#pb3" class= +"pageref">3</a>;<br> +Spain’s error in calculation, <a href="#pb4" class= +"pageref">4</a>;<br> +Extravagant Spanish claims thru ignorance, <a href="#pb4" class= +"pageref">4</a>;<br> +Moluccan rights sold to Portugal, <a href="#pb4" class= +"pageref">4</a>.</p> +<p>Tobacco—<br> +Buyo and cigars, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>;<br> +Tobacco monopoly wars, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>;<br> +Tobacco prohibition, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>;<br> +Tobacco, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>;<br> +Tobacco revenue, <a href="#pb310" class="pageref">310</a>;<br> +Injustice of the monopoly, <a href="#pb310" class= +"pageref">310</a>;<br> +Résumé of regulations, <a href="#pb311" class= +"pageref">311</a>;<br> +Tobacco from Mexico, <a href="#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>;<br> +High grade of Philippine product, <a href="#pb314" class= +"pageref">314</a>;<br> +Manila tobacco handicapped, <a href="#pb314" class= +"pageref">314</a>;<br> +Hampered by government restrictions, <a href="#pb315" class= +"pageref">315</a>;<br> +Origin of monopoly, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>;<br> +Governor Basco’s innovations, <a href="#pb316" class= +"pageref">316</a>;<br> +Different usages in Bisayas and Mindanao, <a href="#pb318" class= +"pageref">318</a>;<br> +Changes bring improvement, <a href="#pb318" class= +"pageref">318</a>;<br> +Crude system of grading, <a href="#pb318" class="pageref">318</a>;<br> +Burden knowingly increased, <a href="#pb319" class= +"pageref">319</a>;<br> +“Killing the goose that lays the golden egg,” <a href= +"#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>;<br> +Gift to Spain of unusable tobacco, <a href="#pb320" class= +"pageref">320</a>;<br> +De La Gandara’s proposed reforms, <a href="#pb321" class= +"pageref">321</a>;<br> +Slight real profit from monopoly, <a href="#pb321" class= +"pageref">321</a>;<br> +Suffering and law-breaking thru the monopoly, <a href="#pb322" class= +"pageref">322</a>;<br> +Growing opposition to the monopoly, <a href="#pb323" class= +"pageref">323</a>;<br> +Directions for cultivating tobacco, <a href="#pb326" class= +"pageref">326</a>;<br> +Opposition to tobacco monopoly, <a href="#pb394" class= +"pageref">394</a>;<br> +Doubling of insular revenue thru tobacco, <a href="#pb395" class= +"pageref">395</a>;<br> +Cigar factories, <a href="#pb474" class="pageref">474</a>.</p> +<p>Travel—<br> +Pleasures of travel, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>;<br> +Village rest houses, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>;<br> +The familiar field for travellers, <a href="#pb46" class= +"pageref">46</a>;<br> +Carromata, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>;<br> +To Calumpit by carriage, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>;<br> +Calumpit, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>;<br> +To Baliwag, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>;<br> +Town of Bulacan, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>;<br> +Arrangements for travellers, <a href="#pb61" class= +"pageref">61</a>;<br> +Talim island, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>;<br> +Santa Cruz, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>;<br> +Scenery along Lucban-Mauban road, <a href="#pb72" class= +"pageref">72</a>;<br> +Lucban, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>;<br> +Hospitality of tribunal, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>;<br> +Calauan, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>; Majaijai, <a href= +"#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>;<br> +Pila, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; Mariveles, <a href= +"#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>;<br> +To Albay by schooner, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>;<br> +Batangas coast, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>;<br> +Batangas exports, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>;<br> +An intermittent voyage, <a href="#pb83" class="pageref">83</a>;<br> +Legaspi, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>;<br> +Sorsogon, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>;<br> +Daraga, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>;<br> +Bulusan, <a href="#pb104" class="pageref">104</a>;<br> +Casiguran, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>;<br> +Batu, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>;<br> +Nabua, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>;<br> +Prison as hotel, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>;<br> +Nueva Caceres, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>;<br> +Naga, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>;<br> +The Bicols, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>;<br> +Land of the Bicols, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>;<br> +Bicol language, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>;<br> +Yamtik and Visita Bicul, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>;<br> +Trip with Internal Revenue Collector, <a href="#pb164" class= +"pageref">164</a>;<br> +Rooming in a powder-magazine, <a href="#pb171" class= +"pageref">171</a>;<br> +Labo, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>;<br> +Indang, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>;<br> +On foot to San Miguel bay, <a href="#pb180" class= +"pageref">180</a>;<br> +Colasi, <a href="#pb181" class="pageref">181</a>;<br> +Pasacao, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>;<br> +A beautiful coast, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>;<br> +Cabusao and Pasacao harbors, <a href="#pb188" class= +"pageref">188</a>;<br> +Useful friends, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>;<br> +A tedious but eventful voyage, <a href="#pb220" class= +"pageref">220</a>;<br> +Dini portage, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>;<br> +Lauang, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>;<br> +Paranas, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>;<br> +Running the rapids, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>;<br> +Hammock-traveling, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>;<br> +Loquilocun, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>;<br> +Along the coast, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>;<br> +A futile sea voyage in an open boat, <a href="#pb243" class= +"pageref">243</a>;<br> +A portage, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>;<br> +Tacloban to Tanauan, <a href="#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>;<br> +The height of hospitality, <a href="#pb262" class= +"pageref">262</a>;<br> +A country excursion, <a href="#pb486" class="pageref">486</a>;<br> +Recent elevation of coast, <a href="#pb252" class= +"pageref">252</a>;<br> +To Dulag, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>;<br> +Paragua, <a href="#pb456" class="pageref">456</a>;<br> +Mindoro, <a href="#pb494" class="pageref">494</a>;<br> +San José, <a href="#pb496" class="pageref">496</a>;<br> +Caldera fort, <a href="#pb498" class="pageref">498</a>;<br> +Marongas island, <a href="#pb507" class="pageref">507</a>.</p> +<p>Volcanos—<br> +Volcanic stone quarries, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>;<br> +Llanura de Imuc, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>;<br> +Tigui-mere, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>;<br> +Leaf imprints in lava, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>;<br> +Bulusan like Vesuvius, <a href="#pb81" class="pageref">81</a>;<br> +A chain of volcanos, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>;<br> +Ascent of Mayon, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>;<br> +The descent, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>;<br> +Estimates of height, <a href="#pb89" class="pageref">89</a>;<br> +Unreliable authorities, <a href="#pb130" class="pageref">130</a>;<br> +Four volcanos, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="transcribernote"> +<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> +<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> +<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p> +<table width="75%" summary= +"Overview of corrections applied to the text."> +<tr> +<th>Page</th> +<th>Source</th> +<th>Correction</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e590">17</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">colonisation</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">colonization</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e2509">76</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">geographico</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">geografico</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e4396">179</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">abacâ</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">abacá</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e5589">254</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Pflauzenreichs</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Pflanzenreichs</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e5702">260</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Gerstaceker</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Gerstaecker</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e6019">277</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">genrally</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">generally</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e6293">287</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">eatern</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">eastern</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e6510">297</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">consummers</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">consumers</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e7514">325</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">authorised</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">authorized</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e7539">326</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">govenment</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">government</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e8203">368</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">extremley</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">extremely</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e9238">424</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">cirumstances</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">circumstances</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e9681">462</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">consits</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">consists</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e10089">488</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">endeavoured</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">endeavored</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e10326">499</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">and and</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">and</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e10714">522</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Balambagan</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">Balambangan</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="width20" valign="top"><a class="pageref" href= +"#xd20e10918">535</a></td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">annnoyed</td> +<td class="width40" valign="bottom">annoyed</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Former Philippines thru Foreign +Eyes, by Tomás de Comyn and Fedor Jagor and Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow and Charles Wilkes + +*** 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