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AN
HISTORICAL VIEW
OF THE
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
EXHIBITING
THEIR DISCOVERY, POPULATION, LANGUAGE,
GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, CUSTOMS,
PRODUCTIONS AND COMMERCE.
FROM THE SPANISH OF
Martinez de Zuniga.
PUBLISHED AT MANILA, 1803.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
WITH
A NEW AND ACCURATE MAP OF THE ISLANDS,
FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
TRANSLATED
BY JOHN MAVER, ESQ.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. ASPERNE, CORNHILL; AND NONAVILLE
AND FELL, NEW BOND-STREET:
By T. Davison, Whitefriars.
1814.
INTRODUCTION.
The original, of which the following translation is offered to the
English reader, is, probably, the only copy which has yet reached this
country. Whether the chance which threw it in the way of the translator
may be deemed fortunate or otherwise must be left to the decision
of the candid public; but it appeared to him that the information
it contains respecting a Spanish colony, the most interesting of any
other to a British subject, supplies that desideratum so much wanted
in our language;--a correct view down to a very late period of the
Spanish establishments in the Philippines.
The position of these islands, and, indeed, that of the eastern
Archipelago generally, whether considered in a political or commercial
point of view, is sufficiently important. They form the entrepot
of Europe, India, China, the immensely extended regions of Spanish
America, the north-western coasts of the new, and north-eastern coasts
of the old world; and in the storms which at present convulse the
political atmosphere of Europe, as well as that of both the Americas,
it is not easy even to conjecture what may be their fate.
The productions of these islands are various, and of a value and
importance unquestionably high. In the hands of an industrious
population, and under a fostering government, there is scarcely any
vegetable substance which, by slender exertion, they may not be made
to yield, whilst the choicest treasures of the mineral kingdom, lodged
beneath their irregular surface, minister largely to the cupidity,
and furnish materials for the more enterprising labours of man.
Gold is in abundance; iron, steel, copper, lead, pitch and tar, hemp,
cotton, indigo, sugar, cocoa, pepper, betel, cowries, tortoiseshell,
mother of pearl and pearls, hides, coyar, tobacco, corn and rice
excellent and abundant, with a variety of other productions, contribute
to the wants of commerce; while in this enumeration will be found all
the articles which, with the aid of the finest building timber in the
world, are requisite for the construction and complete equipment of
ships of every description.
The established intercourse of these islands with Japan and
China offers a ready transit for manufactures; and although it is
understood that the East India Company furnishes an adequate supply
of our woollen staple to the China market, we may yet fairly expect
that British enterprize will not overlook the advantages which the
opening of the India trade holds out in this quarter; nor will the
introduction of British manufactures into these islands, either with
an ultimate view to the above markets, or to those of Spanish America,
in any material degree interfere with the staple trade of the Company:
there is full scope for adventure in this new vineyard, and labourers
will not be wanting.
The political jealousy, and the national and religious prejudices
of the Spaniards, have till lately opposed a bar to an extended
intercourse with the Philippines; but the tide which hitherto
has flowed in that direction seems of late to have commenced its
ebb. The events of the last twenty years have been in their nature
so extraordinary, and in their effects so powerful a solvent of all
the prejudices, fostered by ignorance and superstition, that the dawn
of a new day seems to open upon mankind. Let us hope that while these
clouds vanish before the morning sun, the great bonds of society will
remain unbroken, and that the liberties of Europe, and consequently
those of the world, will be fixed on a permanent foundation.
The well-wisher to the temporal and eternal felicity of the human
race will hail, with becoming exultation, the opportunity which
it is hoped will now be offered of spreading the Christian faith,
and amicably and peaceably lending the reformed religion in aid of
the Catholic missions, to civilize the population of this extensive
portion of the eastern hemisphere.
As a literary production, the original has probably little claim to
merit, the author conveying his matter in a style more monastic than
flowing; at the same time that he seems to be generally under the
influence of that bias, which an early seclusion from life entails
upon the mind, and upon which even his official opportunities of
intercourse with the best society in Manila seem to have had a very
limited effect. The translator has found him too often occupying
his pages with contentions between the respective religious orders,
insignificant in their nature even to a Spaniard, and so much more so
to the English reader, that he has taken the liberty of altogether
omitting them in the translation, except where connected with the
political affairs of the settlement; and although by these means
several of the chapters are reduced to almost nominal importance;
yet considering the division of the subject in this form as adopted
on fair grounds by the author, he hopes he will be deemed justifiable
in retaining it even with the sacrifice of something of appearance.
Having said as much as he hopes can be urged against the original
production, the translator willingly advocates Zuniga's cause
in respect to its intrinsic value, as giving to the public the
only correct view of this interesting settlement, purporting to be
brought down to the peace of 1763; but in fact, as we may reasonably
conclude, extended to the period of publication at Manila in 1803. From
information which may be fully relied on, it appears that Zuniga may,
with more propriety, be deemed the editor than the author, as he was in
Manila, and superintended the publication in 1803; with the credit of
having only arranged for the press the papers of a deceased collector;
a conclusion justified by the circumstance of the work closing with
the peace of 1763, for there could not be any very solid reason for his
declining an account of the forty years intervening between that event
and the period of publication, had he himself been the author. If,
however, we are by these means without a detail of the actual events
which took place, it is probable we may have less cause for regret on
account of the very limited progress which we well know improvement,
or even amelioration, have been suffered to make under the Spanish
monarchy during the period in question. At any rate, we have grounds
for supposing that if any alteration, favourable or unfavourable, has
taken place, Zuniga has contrived to weave it into the work; for it is
asserted by those whose residence renders them competent judges, that
the view he gives of the settlement is correct to the latest period.
The origin and language of these islanders have engaged the attention
of our ablest orientalists. From certain similar characteristics in
the persons of the inhabitants of the interior, or aborigines of the
islands, they have hitherto had an African origin assigned to them;
and nearly from the same source (Madagascar), it has been supposed that
the Malay population has flowed, which has in a great measure inundated
the Archipelago, as well as some parts of the continental coasts.
Similarity, or even approximation of language and manners
unquestionably offer great facilities in enquiries of this nature,
and they have accordingly been resorted to by all our oriental
physiologists in their researches respecting the eastern Archipelago;
and so far as regards the Malays and Malayan language, these researches
have been attended with corresponding success; but in respect to the
aboriginal language, or Tagalic, very slight attempts have been made
to trace it beyond the quarter in which it was found to prevail. Our
author has not failed to enter into the discussion, and from the
premises he lays down, not unreasonably, draws the conclusion that the
Tagalic language and original population of all the islands westward
of the coast of South America derive from that continent.
It is certainly consonant to reason to presume that the aborigines,
or mountaineers of the interior of these islands, in their primitive
state, were more likely to change their residence (if intentionally) by
committing themselves to a favourable breeze blowing pretty constantly
in one direction from the eastward; or if in consequence of misfortune,
by finding their efforts unavailing to encounter an adverse wind, and
again reach their own coasts; than to suppose even with all the aid
the monsoons could afford them in an erratic navigation from Africa
through the Indian ocean to the Archipelago, that they should diffuse
themselves from that point in every direction over the South Sea, in
the face of an almost constant current of wind, blowing occasionally
with extreme violence.
The Malay population most probably had its origin as stated. The
superior acquirements of that nation doubtless might enable them to
encounter those difficulties which have been mentioned, and either
by their extensive conquests, or acknowledged commercial activity,
to induce their language to be received as the general medium of
intercourse. On the subject of this language, and its different
dialects in these islands, some variety of opinion may be fairly
allowed to prevail; and Sir W. Jones, Dr. Wilkins, Mr. Marsden,
Mr. Raffles, and other authorities, may not be decided as to its
source; but it is generally allowed that the language spoken by
the Papuans, Samangs, and Negritos of the Philippines, and adjacent
islands, is totally different from the Malayan; and as Mr. Marsden
expresses himself, "presents a subject of research as curious as it
is obscure."
This latter gentleman, in the ingenious introduction to his valuable
grammar of the Malayan language, says, that the large islands of this
archipelago have their own peculiar language spoken by the inhabitants
of the interior, while the Malayan is generally used in the districts
bordering on the coasts, at the mouths and on the banks of navigable
rivers, and has thence acquired the appellation of the Lingua Franca of
the east. The antiquity of this insular or original language, we are,
he says, without the means of ascertaining; but he well supports its
stability by the strong proof he adduces of Pigafetta's Vocabulary of
the Tidore language, in 1521, differing in no respect from that of the
present day. Mr. Marsden seems to conclude that the Malay population
of this archipelago has its root in Sumatra, the inhabitants of which
island claim immediate descent from some of the companions of Noah,
landed there from the ark; and both Mr. Marsden, and Mr. Raffles,
the present Governor of Java, assert, that the language spoken
in Sumatra differs in no material respect from that spoken in the
Malayan peninsula.
Upon any occasion where additional light could be thrown upon the
subject of these islands, the translator has not scrupled to avail
himself of the best authorities for that purpose. The Voyage de
Sonnerat aux Indes orientales et a la Chine, edited and enlarged by
Sonnini, has been of great service in this respect, as containing
the most authentic information which was possible to be procured
by a foreigner, aided by every facility which the influence of the
court of France over that of Madrid could furnish, and entering upon
the undertaking with the express intention of seconding the views of
France on the colonial establishments of her European neighbours.
The translator hopes that, on the whole, the notes and extracts will
not be found unimportant or useless.
On the subject of the map of the Philippines, accompanying this
work, the translator trusts he will be excused expressing the
gratification he feels in presenting it to the world as the only
correct delineation of these islands in existence. A collection of
the existing authorities he found answered no purpose, as being at
variance not only with each other, but still more with the unpublished
manuscript, and other authentic information he derived from the most
competent private sources. To John Barrow, Esq. second Secretary, and
Captain Hurd, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, he feels greatly indebted
for the communications they favoured him with, and for amenity and
politeness which accompanied them. To the first eastern scholar in
this country, probably in Europe, Dr. Wilkins, Librarian to the East
India Company, he owes more obligations than he can express. He takes
this opportunity of expressing his gratitude for the kind assistance
afforded by Captain Horsburgh, Hydrographer to the East India Company,
who has had full opportunity, for the exercise of his practical and
theoretical acquirements as a navigator in the eastern Archipelago,
and who surveyed the western coasts of these islands, and in particular
the northern extremity of the island of Luzon; to him he owes the
correction of many errors, in respect to latitude and longitude,
which disgrace the existing charts; and to him likewise the map is
indebted, for a more perfect delineation of the coasts, and for the
disappearance of certain dangerous rocks which he has ascertained
to have no existence. From these sources, aided by the suggestions
of commanders in the India service, in regard to the nautical part,
and from John Guise, Esq. of Baker-street, whose residence of nine
years in Manila afforded him ample means of information respecting
the interior of Luzon, the map, it is presumed, may be deemed the
most correct extant. To this latter gentleman he has to acknowledge
further obligations on the score of the general information he has
kindly furnished. To his friend, John Jackson, Esq. whose literary
attainments do him so much honour, the translator is under particular
obligations for the kind assistance afforded him in regard to the
map. To Peter Guichenet, Esq. he feels particularly indebted, as well
as to another friend, for the permission to extract from his excellent
manuscript translation of Sonnerat as much as answered his purpose.
The merit of a translator is very limited. He is answerable for
little beyond the actual transfusion of his author's meaning in
appropriate language: whatever the present translator has attempted
beyond this is contained in the notes, and is added with the hope of
rendering the publication as valuable as possible, and as replete with
information on the religious, moral, political, and commercial state
of these dependencies on the Spanish crown as the existing sources are
capable of furnishing. He lays it before the public with diffidence,
but with the hope that it will add to the stock of general knowledge;
equally useful to the moralist, the politician, and the merchant.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
CHAPTER I.
Their Description--Productions and Commerce.
The Philippine Islands were so named by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos,
in compliment to Philip the Second, when Prince of Asturias. They
originally were called the Western Isles, or the Archipelago of Saint
Lazarus, the name which Magellan gave them when first discovered by
him. These islands are numerous; their appearance on the map is that
of a large blanket full of holes and rents. The principal of them is
Luzon, so called, because at the doorway of each house stands a large
wooden mortar, which, in the language of the country, is called Losong,
and in which the Indians wash their rice. This island resembles the
arm a little bent, and in the part which corresponds to the elbow
is situated the city of Manila, on the shore of a fine bay, thirty
leagues in circumference, and which receives some considerable rivers,
among others the Pasig, which flowing from a large lake, situated
to the east of Manila, at the distance of three leagues, washes its
walls on the north side: its water is very soft and salubrious.
Before the Spaniards arrived this district was occupied by the nation
Tagala, inhabiting many towns and mud villages, governed by petty
chiefs. It is now divided into various provinces, under the government
of their respective Alcaldes Mayores, who collect the royal tribute,
and administer justice among the Indians. At three leagues distance
from Manila, to the south-west, lies the port of Cavite, so called
from the word cauit, a fish-hook, to which the tongue of land on
which it stands bears a strong resemblance. Cavite is defended by an
indifferent fort, the governor of which is nominated by the court
of Madrid. It is likewise provided with a complete arsenal for the
accommodation, as well of the Acapulco ships, and a few small vessels
for the defence of the islands from the Moors, as for general use.
To the north from the nation Tagala, we found the nations Pampanga,
Zambales, Pangasinan, Ylocos, and Cagayan. Each of these nations
formed a distinct community, with a distinct language, or dialect of
the same language, and was distributed in mud villages, having no
king or supreme head to govern them; but in lieu of that, a number
of petty chiefs, or rajahs, whose authority scarcely extended over
fifty or an hundred families respectively: after the conquest, each of
these nations was constituted into a province, governed by a Spanish
Alcalde Mayor. To the east from the nation Tagala are the Camarines,
whose district has been divided into two provinces, that of Camarines,
and that of Albay, each under an Alcalde Mayor. The greater part of
the island is mountainous; it is crossed from the north to the south
by an immense chain, from which diverge those ramifications that
spread through the whole island, in many cases even forming detached
mountains, like insulated cones in the midst of extensive plains. The
whole of this elevated part of the country occupying nearly all
the interior, is either a desert, or inhabited by a set of wretched
people who do not acknowledge the Spanish government. There are in
this island several volcanos, as that of Mayon, which is between the
provinces of Albay and Camarines. It has a sugar-loaf figure, and is
of such altitude that it may be discovered at an immense distance at
sea. The de Taal is of a similar form, and stands in the middle of a
large lake, called de Bombon; it exhibits sufficient proof that the
mountain in whose top the volcano was, while in its active state,
has sunk, remaining, however, still pretty much elevated above the
water. There are other volcanos, and many warm springs, indicating
the fermentation in the bowels of this island, from which, no doubt,
arise those earthquakes to which it is subject, and which, one day,
may produce new eruptions. We know that these volcanos at times throw
out ashes, stones, sand, water, and lava, inundating and destroying
the habitations, and rendering the fields a desert.
To the south of Luzon lie the principal islands of Mindoro, Panay,
Marinduque, Negros, Masbate, Zebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, besides some
very small ones, the whole of which we denominate Bisayas, or Islas de
Pintados, Painted Islands, their inhabitants having been accustomed
to paint their bodies before our arrival in this quarter. All these
islands acknowledge the Spanish government, and pay tribute to the
king, which the corregidores, or Alcaldes Mayores of the provinces
into which they are divided, collect. More to the south from these
islands are Mindanao and Jolo. In Mindanao the provinces of Misamis
and Caraga are subject to the Spaniards: the rest of the island has
not submitted, and is engaged with Jolo and other islands in constant
hostility against them; and although there have been occasional
intervals of peace, they have been of short duration.
For these two centuries past these islanders have been plundering
the coasts of our provinces, have taken an immense number of vessels,
pillaged many villages, burnt many towns, destroyed many inhabitants,
and made slaves of a very great number of the clergy, both Spaniards
and Indians [1].
We have in Mindanao the garrison of Zamboanga, with a Spanish governor,
to check these depredations; but as yet we have found little benefit
from this establishment.
To the east of these islands, at the distance of three hundred leagues,
are found las Marianas, las Carolinas, and the islands de Palaos,
or Pelew. Of these, the Marianas alone are under the dominion of the
Spaniards. Here there is a governor, with a detachment of troops,
to overawe the Indians, and three Franciscan friars to instruct them
in the Christian religion.
These islands have no other communication with the rest of the world
than what is afforded by the Acapulco ship, which, in returning to
Manila, touches there, with the portion of the revenue appropriated
to the support of this presidency. By this opportunity they likewise
receive wine for mass, grain, furniture, clothing, and a few other
necessaries; this obscure corner producing only horned cattle, hogs,
fowls, and a few vegetables, such as the bread-fruit and others,
which serve the inhabitants instead of bread. These supplies are
annually imported by the governor; and as there is no other store in
the island than his, the price he fixes is at his own option. From
this commerce he draws all his income; and under such oppression it is
not to be wondered at that this colony is as poor as the first day it
was discovered [2]. Rice, Indian corn, and wheat would grow abundantly
in these islands, but every attempt to raise them in any quantity,
has been rendered of no avail by the swarms of rats, which pour down
from the mountains, and sweep all before them. From the combination of
these political and natural causes, the situation of the inhabitants
of these islands is so miserable, that some of our historians would
persuade us, they entertain no wish to propagate the species, that
their children may avoid their unhappy lot. On this account, it is
added, the Indians diminish considerably in number; but this seems
to be a mistake, as the diminution of the Indians, if it may be so
called, may be rather attributed to the following cause.
The population of the Marianas, independent of the native Indians,
consists of many from New Spain, some Philippine Indians, and some
Chinese, who come in the suite of the governors. These men being
married to women of the country, the children born of these marriages,
are registered by the friars on a list of casts, distinguished from
the Indian casts, from which it clearly appears that, in proportion
as these mixed casts have increased, the Indian casts must have
diminished, and, in all probability, in a short time this latter
cast will be annihilated, as has already happened in some of the
Spanish settlements. This being the case, we ought not to say the
Indians diminish but change their cast. With all these casts united,
our historians would wish us to believe, that there are, at present,
fewer inhabitants in the Marianas than formerly; but that cannot be
the case, since the Jesuits, in quitting these islands, left a greater
population than they found in the year 1738; and the Franciscans
report that that has increased progressively since. It is certain
the population does increase, as is clearly shewn by the lists of
the casts. Indeed the inhabitants of the Philippines have doubled
every century; and I believe it is the case with all the population of
America, although foreigners charge us, with occasioning the diminution
of the Indian population, by our oppressive and bad management,
quoting our own historians in support of the charge. It ought to be
recollected, however, that by these, the number of inhabitants which
the Spaniards found on their arrival, is considerably exaggerated,
whenever they are desirous of giving additional splendor to the
actions of the heroes they celebrate; and, on the contrary, when it
is their object to detract, they draw a very opposite picture, and,
attempting to diminish their numbers, assert that their diminution
is the consequence of oppression. From the amount of the tributes,
however, referred to by these historians, and levied at different
times, the evident conclusion is, that the Spaniards did not find
the tenth part of the inhabitants, which are now in existence.
The geographical description of the Philippines is, that they are
in the torrid zone, between five and nineteen degrees of northern
latitude; the sun twice passes its zenith, and produces those vapours
which, descending in copious showers, and being again absorbed by the
earth, form fountains, hot springs, and large lakes. This rainy or wet
season lasts while we have the Sun to the north, that is, from about
May till September, and at times till the beginning of December, from
which latter period till May there is continual spring. The regular
winds are the north, the east, and the south-west, and they each
prevail between three and four months at a time, the change of one wind
for another, being attended with violent storms of thunder, lightning,
and, at times, whirlwinds. Indeed these storms are complete hurricanes,
which run all round the compass in less than twenty-four hours, tearing
up trees by the roots, and laying waste the whole country. These are
so frequent, that we may justly complain, considering our proximity
to the line, of the want of sufficient solar influence, to render
the climate of these islands more agreeable. It cannot be said that
we have oppressive heat in the Philippines [3]; there reigns throughout
the greater part of the year, a most beautiful spring, and if the
atmosphere were less moist, it would be the most delicious climate in
the world. To this moist atmosphere, and moderately warm temperature,
is joined of course a great fertility. The trees are always covered
with leaves, and the soil with vegetation. The harvests of rice are
most abundant; the plants shoot up with great beauty immediately,
but the luxuriance of the soil renders it necessary, continually to
clear away the weeds, which harbour many insects of a destructive
kind, and others so dangerous as to diminish greatly the comforts
and enjoyments of a country, which, in point of fertility, returns
one hundred fold of rice, the common food of the Indians.
Rice is the principal production of these islands, and it was
cultivated to much greater extent before the Spaniards arrived here [4].
They have likewise some pulse, as mongos, patani, kidney-beans,
and millet. The inhabitants breed up, under the same roof with
themselves, pigs, fowls, ducks, goats, and even buffaloes. In the
mountains there are many deer, and the woods and fields produce
all sorts of pigeons, small birds, quails, a species of partridge;
woodcocks, &c. Few are disposed to indulge themselves in this latter
kind of sporting; they apply themselves ardently to hunting the deer,
to which they are particularly partial. The sea abounds with very rich
fish, such as the pargo, the eel, the sole, the pampano, the mojarra,
the garropa, the shad, the tunny, the corvina, the tanguingui, and an
infinite number of others, caught either with hooks or common nets,
and likewise with a species of net very much used in these rivers,
and even out at sea, so constructed that the fish may enter, but are
unable to escape [5].
In this occupation the inhabitants of these islands take more
delight than in any thing else, as it is a pursuit which at once
indulges their indolent habits, and gratifies their partiality
to fish in preference to animal food. Throughout the country are
found many other productions, contributing to the support of life,
and which, though not so relishing as those enumerated above, are
probably better suited to their relaxed habits; and the pith of the
palm, shoots of the sugar-cane, green withs, and other succulent
productions, serve for food to those, who have no desire to labour
for their subsistence. They cultivate the bread-fruit, beans, the
cacauate, &c. and they pay particular attention to the palm tree,
from which they procure both a spirit and an oil, together with a
sweet-meat, which they call chancaca. There are few fruit-trees,
and those are bad, with the exception of the plantain, of which
there is a great variety, and all excellent and fine flavoured,
and the orange, of which there are two kinds. The mango, a very rich
fruit, it is imagined, the Spaniards imported from the coast of South
America. We finish our enumeration with the cultivation of a species
of the palm tree, which bears a very hard, little fruit of the form
of a green nut. This being cut, a highly scented kernel, or eye,
is found enclosed, which is called Itmo. This is laid in lime, to
make what they call Buyo, which being chewed, produces a red saliva,
together with a disorder in the mouth, to which they are so habituated,
that they are uneasy when without it. This custom prevails generally,
and even many Spaniards adopt it with great avidity. There are in
this country mines of iron and gold, but of little value, either from
the indolence of the natives, or the insignificance of these objects
to the Spaniards, affording too little profit in their commerce with
Acapulco to deserve attention. Gold is likewise, by washing, separated
from the sand, which the waters bring down from the mountains.
In Paracale they work the mines in the same manner as they do in New
Spain, but the natives are so addicted to sloth, it is not possible to
render them so productive as those of South America. In the mountains
there is excellent timber for building ships or houses, and the canes
are of an immense size, very long, and as thick as a man's thigh; of
these latter the Indians construct their houses, covering them with
the leaf of the palm. They raise cotton for clothing, which they dye
various colours with logwood, indigo, and the achiote, a large tree,
whose seed is used for that purpose. There is great abundance of wax
and wild honey, amber, pearls, mother of pearl, marble, tar, brimstone,
and many other objects of less value in a commercial point of view.
To these productions the Spaniards have added horses and horned
cattle, which have multiplied so much that they are to be found in the
mountains without an owner, and where those that want may supply their
wants at pleasure. They likewise introduced sheep, geese, grapes, figs,
wheat, pepper, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tobacco, and various species of
plants, which thrive so well, and produce so much, that the Indian,
with all his sloth, acknowledges the utility of cultivating them.
There are, in these islands, some natural curiosities deserving
particular notice, such as the paxarillo, a species of small swallow,
which forms its nest chiefly of the froth of the sea [6], and which is
held in such estimation by the Chinese, as a principal dish at their
table, that they purchase it at any price.
The Balate is a species of sea worm, which, likewise, is sold in
China at a high price. The Siguey, is a small shining shell [7], which
forms the current money of the Malays. The Tabon, is a bird, which
lays eggs similar to those of the turkey, burying them very deep in
the sand on the sea shore, and when hatched by the heat of the sun,
it tears away the sand that covers them, and the young come out. The
Caiman, is a species of crocodile; a large and uncouth animal,
the more curious in this respect, that it is produced from an egg,
of the same size as that of the duck. The Chacon, is a lizard, which
takes up its abode in the houses, and repeatedly articulates clearly
the word toco. The Calo, is a bird, which has a kind of hollow shell
in his head, and crows, at certain hours of the day, the same as the
cock. The Taclobo, is a large species of the oyster, the shell of which
will hold a pitcher of water; indeed they are used as vessels for holy
water in the churches. Our historians mention many curiosities even
more rare than these, but I do not enumerate them, as they seem to
have been ill informed on the subject, and I fear with good reason,
having been too much under the influence of the marvellous, they have
given credit to the Indians, who are always desirous of distinguishing
themselves by the relation of something very uncommon.
With all these productions, the Indians formed a species of
commerce, or barter, among each other, still considering gold as
the representative of general value, or medium of exchange; they
were likewise in the habit of trading with the Chinese, and with
the Moors of Borneo, for flag-stones, copper, articles of furniture,
&c. but in very small quantities, their wants being necessarily few,
going almost naked, baking their rice in green canes, and eating it
with the leaf of the plantain.
The Spaniards, soon after they came into possession of these islands,
commenced an extended commerce with India and China, which brought to
New Spain, a proportionable increase of profit; and in a little time,
Manila became so rich a colony, that it created a jealousy among
the merchants of Seville, and, in consequence of their petition,
its commerce was restricted. From this period it began to decline,
and to the great detriment of these islands, which cannot subsist
by the exchange of their own productions alone, these being very
limited in their nature, and incapable of much extension, surrounded
as they are by other nations, more industrious, and who can work at
a cheaper rate [8].
The luxuriant nature of the soil of these islands, has been much and
justly extolled, but, proper allowance has not been made, for the sloth
of the Indians, the hurricanes or tempests, which sweep every thing
before them, the destructive insects, the rats, and many other things,
which diminish greatly the fertility of these beautiful islands [9].