The moderation of their conduct, and the sobriety of their
living
Among all the Indians it is a general fact that in what relates to
their own persons natural law is more conspicuous, and has a more
firmly established empire, than have the nations. Part of that is
founded on the slothfulness of their natures, and part on the rudeness
of their civilization; the former makes them content with little, and
the latter causes them to ignore the niceties of art. Their food proves
the first well; and the havoc that they cause, the second. The food
is very poor among the wealthy, and requires little labor; for they
neither know condiments nor for that purpose are drugs valued among
them, of the use of all which they are ignorant. Both slave and ruler,
plebeian and prince, eat bread; for, since that consists of a little
boiled rice, one cannot eat it more adorned than the other. Since all
of them are bakers of this bread, he who wishes to clean it better
eats it whiter. He who has no slaves to relieve him from that eats
it as he chooses; and, consequently, there is no one who does not
know how to cook his food. For they are under the daily necessity,
even the richest, of making it; and, as ostentation in ordinary life
is so little, it is unavoidable that service is lacking to them on
their voyages and navigations, so that they are forced to use their
own hands. Those who do not obtain rice--either because the land does
not bear it, or because it is limited in any year--eat of many roots,
which supply the lack fully, and which require no other preparation
than boiling. He who is so well served that he obtains a little
fish, venison, or pork, with water and salt alone makes his stew,
without the knowledge of other kinds of pottages. In order to give
their food a sharp flavor, they are wont to cook it with some herbs
of a sour taste. Consequently, in the seasoning of their food they
consume nothing, so that they save the cost of butter, oil, vinegar,
and all spices. They are accustomed to make their puches [i.e.,
a sort of pap] and poleadas [i.e., a sort of fritter] from cocoanut
milk and the honey made from sugarcane, which are their preserves and
royal cakes. But such is at a great wedding or at a feast, where their
desire for ostentation arouses their endeavors. Such were presented to
me by the king of Joló, Panguian Bachal, while I was visiting at his
court. They consisted of a half-dozen small cakes made of rice flour
and kneaded with cocoanut-milk, and baked until they turned dark,
so that they appeared to be cinnamon to the sight. In fact the color
was due to the toasting and to a preserve, like turpentine, made from
the fruit of the durion with honey made from sugarcane. This is enough
to turn the strongest stomachs--as it were, the chief dainty for the
stomach of a bull--oppressive, as it was all night to the Queen mother;
[61] and we satisfied ourselves with looking at it.
Their clothing is very simple, without stiffening or linings. All
are dressed after the same style, and innovations due to curiosity
are not allowed. As the country is so hot, they dress very loosely,
a fact which makes the cutting out very easy. Each one is the tailor
of his own garments. This is the reason why the Indians are so lacking
in the communal idea, and are so hostile to assembling and uniting
in villages; for since their misery and laziness make them content
with the easiest and most natural, which all obtain, they do not need
one another. For in each house are found all the trades, and no one
makes use of them unless his own necessity compels him. If one goes
to fish, he is content with what will satisfy either his appetite or
his necessity; and the desire of acquiring does not make him break
with his laziness in order to work.
Returning to their clothes, the stuffs worn are generally common to
nobles, and plebeians, kings and slaves, and there is no difference
between them--except it be in something extraordinary, in which the
obligation and ostentation of their chief persons induces them to
depart from their accustomed use. At such times they are wont to wear
silks and very beautiful stuffs, with buttons and gold lace. Their
krises (which are their inseparable weapons) have gilded scabbards
and hilts of massy gold. I have seen some of them which were valued
at nine slaves each, all covered with precious stones and perhaps
encrusted with pearls. But in daily appearance all resemble one
another, both in the garments in which they dress and in the fashions
that they employ. These clothes consist of breeches and short jacket
[ropilla]--or skirt, to be more accurate. That is not worn over
a shirt, for with them the first garment is not the shirt, but the
skirt, for it is all one. Sometimes they wear a jacket with long
skirts cut in the French style; which, although it can be buttoned,
is generally worn open, with the breast exposed. In this particular
this nation is quite different from the others of this region. They use
another style of cut; the skirts and sleeves each ending in a point,
and the ends which ought to close over the bosom are brought together
in double points, fastened either with a button or with a knot, so that
almost all the breast is left open. The breeches are full and white,
resembling those which the Spaniards wear for the sake of cleanliness
under their black ones. They are girt with a bit of native linen,
so long that after having been knotted it hangs from the waist to the
knees; and it serves to make their garb more decent than it would be
because of the meagerness and thinness of the breeches. Or if they
do not have that, then they use two brazas' length of the same cloth
or silk, which at its full width they wind about the body, joined in
front with one end crossed below the other. In that manner they cover
the breeches entirely, and the clothing is much more decent. In this
usage, the gala costumes have special elaboration, and it displays
their ostentation; for they are wont to wear cloth that is valued
at thirty or forty reals of eight. They also wear breeches of the
Malay fashion, which are closed like ours, although they are not so
tight. It is the rule that they must be of silk with a gold fringe
below, or with border and buttons of the same which among these people
is always of filigree or of solid gold. In that they consider only
ostentation, without any risk of waste.
On the head, in the Moorish style, is worn a turban. Its use throughout
the Indias is general, but among these people inviolable. I do not
know whether it is because even their hearts are tinged with their
cursed worship, or because of hatred to our nation and to our customs,
or because of flattery to their natural arrogance--through which they
will never, of themselves, come to depreciate their own things. Even
yet throughout the islands, those who are esteemed as chiefs are
ashamed of appearing without hats.
The clothing of the women is plainer, and such that it becomes
indecent; for from the small mantas or textiles of these regions,
which are all very thin, they make a sack nine palmos long and open at
both ends. They gird this in at the waist as much as may be necessary,
so that it falls to the feet; what is left they allow to fall over the
legs, and it does not even reach to the knees, or necessarily serve
for the decency which modesty requires. They adjust it by drawing
it close to one side of the body, and by making folds on the other
side of all the extra width in proportion to their body. This sack,
which by day is a garment--so shameful to decency, because it so ill
satisfies it--serves at night for mattress, sheets, and curtain. For
on retiring they ungird the sack, and the part which they doubled
about the knees they put up to the head. That is all the opulence
and comfort that their beds can boast of, which are made of a thin
mat. These are their Holland and Rouen linens, which serve for their
opulence and their fastidious cleanliness. That is their whole wealth
of quilts and covers, which protect them from the cold and from the
mosquitoes. All is so exactly adapted to necessity, that there is
no difference between the chief women and the slaves--as I saw in
Joló in the queen herself, and in Samboangan in many other women,
not inferior to her in vanity. However, the women of highest rank,
on retiring let fall a curtain without a covering. And that is all
their ostentation and the necessary obligation of modesty for the
protection from sight of those who are careless concerning their
manner of sleeping, in houses where there is no division of apartments,
and where there can be no rooms for the multitude that inhabit them,
and where the others throw themselves down pellmell on the floor. At
most, the master is protected by that little grandeur. This is in
regard to the bed, for in dress no difference is known.
The gala dress of the women of this nation consists wholly of the
shirt [sayuelo] which is made in the style usual to the Indians. It is
however, drawn close about the breasts, and the sleeves are very long,
at times each sleeve taking three or four varas of cloth. The sleeve is
gathered at the wrist in a very fine and graceful plait, as the goods
that they wear are so delicate. They heighten that gala dress with
the wealth of gold, the use of which among these Indias extends to
the wrists, which they cover with bracelets, either solid or hollow,
and a finger in width. On days of great display they generally wear
three or four pairs. The work is beautiful, and these add much to their
gay and festive appearance; and they show off the arm loaded with such
rich bracelets. For cloaks or mantles they wear textiles of fine silk,
and at times of gold [tissue], which they call patolas [62] which is
a very beautiful and rich kind of goods. Generally, when they leave
the house they all wear very long black cloaks; that partly moderates
the ugliness and utter indecency of their dress--which of itself is,
I know not whether more ugly or more immodest, with its sack above
mentioned, which serves them as shirt and petticoat, without its
having any distinction either for station, rank, or display.
The houses in which they reside have what is sufficient for their
shelter and poor lodging. They have no salons where they can walk,
or higher stories where they can amuse themselves, than that which
separates them from the ground. This is made with logs, upon which as
columns they build their sills, to which they fasten the ends of the
beams with their keys. The roof is thatch, which nature furnished,
a provision very suitable to the needs of the country--which, as it
is so subject to earthquakes, does not allow a greater weight without
danger to the buildings. The floor is of bamboos, split or otherwise
prepared; for, as these are hollow, they can be split with the same
ease, thus avoiding the trouble and niceties of carpentry. Thus the
floor is like a grating, and is a necessary precaution of their natural
laziness and dirtiness; for by this way of making their floors they
avoid having to sweep them, since the houses can so easily be washed
and rid of all dirt. They have no benches or chairs, and thus they
get rid of the encumbrance of much furniture. They consider a seat on
the floor as more secure. They use tables somewhat; these are round
and hollowed out in the middle, in the manner of an ordinary brasier,
and are built wholly for use rather than for display. In that hollow
they put all their dishes, which consist of boiled rice, and fish
of the same stew, without there being any danger of the food being
spilled out. They use no tablecloths or napkins; and, although they use
dishes somewhat, they do not usually feel the lack of these, as the
trees with their wide leaves furnish them a cleaner table-service,
and the bamboos make them very tasteful jugs and bowls which are
formed from their lengths between knots. These also form their jars;
for there is a kind of bamboo from which they make jars containing
three or four azumbres. [63] By cutting four joint-lengths and boring
holes in them, they fill a good jar. The cocoanuts yield them cups,
for here these are very common.