Boats and weapons of these natives
The craft used by the Lutaos for war are, like those of terrible
pirates, built with particular attention to speed--both for pursuit,
and to seek shelter whenever affairs go wrong with them, or when
their undertaking is dangerous to them. For since their wars are
always waged for greed, and reputation never induces them, they try to
advantage themselves quite at their safety; and they readily abandon
any undertaking if they see that it will be costly to them. That care
and attention, which govern their boat-building, cause their ships to
sail like birds, while ours are like lead in this regard. The planking
that they use is very thin, and has no other nails, crotches, or knees
than a little rattan. Rattan is the substance which here takes the
place of hemp, in tying things together, some planks [in the craft]
being tied together with it. For that purpose projecting parts are
left at intervals on the inside [of the planks] in which holes are
made; and through these the ligament passes, without any harm being
done to the plank. Upon so light a foundation they build upper works,
as high as they wish, of bamboo upon the cates. The cates are buoys
which run on both sides from bow to stern, and they act as outriggers
for the ship, which is sustained by these two floats. The ship carries
more outside than in. The outside scaffolds allow room for two rows
of oars, beside that of the hull. Thus small craft of from seven to
twelve brazas (which is the largest size) have a crew of sixty men and
upwards. I have seen one that was manned with three hundred hands;
for, in order to have the rowing more compressed together they use
loose oars, each one handling his own. Those oars are certain round
blades, which an Indian manages easily. Therefore, when it is necessary
they row exactly to the time of their breathing, by inserting more
or less of the oar, according to the force they wish to give. For
the rowing is excellent and the oar is put directly into the water,
because it is trusted solely to the hands, without being fastened
to anything. That is a custom that obliges them to have their craft
very flat, and to elevate the sides but little, and they are content
to leave but one plank out of the water.
These vessels are crescent-shaped. Consequently, there is but a small
keel, or little of it in the water, and that part which they rob from
stern and bow is left out of the water--three or four brazas of keel
or stem, all of which serves for its speed, and there is little to
hold the boat back because of its narrowness. Therefore the helm
is not managed like the Spanish helm, by the sweep from the end;
accordingly, they use two rudders, one at one side and one at the
other, where the flat part of the keel begins. One is usually employed
for managing the boat, and both of them when it is stormy. With the
second they keep the boat from getting unsteady, which would follow
from its lightness, that rudder giving the boat more stiffness and
serving as ballast. That is a precaution rendered necessary by its
very lightness, the vessels that are lightest being those that require
most care by being unsteady. In the middle they have a scaffold, four
or six brazas long, which they call burulan or baileo. This consists
of a floor raised above the rowers, and has its awning, which is
called cayanes. Those awnings are made from the leaves of a small
palm which grows in the water. That is the quarters for the fighters
and the chiefs, for those vessels do not have any stern-cabin; it is,
at the same time, the little castle from which they fight. All that
structure finds its support and staunchness in what they call the
cates, which are the buoys of which we have spoken. They are made of
three or four bamboos as thick as the arm, and even larger, and reach
from stem to stern. They are so adjusted that they drag through the
water about one and one-half brazas away from the vessel. Consequently,
they do not allow it to toss about, however violent the waves, but
are the arms that keep the boat safe. They are used in general by
all the craft of these islands, and by those of Burney and Maluco;
for, since their ships are of no account without this security, they
have no safety in the sea nor do the Indians dare to embark. From
this circumstance Molina, who represented to the Council that buoys
ought to be fastened to the ships so that they could sail or float
with a support made of certain bags blown up and thrown alongside,
derived his argument. He thought that that would assure the fleets,
as they could not then sink, as he had experienced, even if they
filled with water. It might have proved successful indeed, and in
favor of his discourse, if some heavy sea raised by the hurricanes
would not prove sufficient to burst the bags and drag them away from
the sides; for hurricanes have more than sufficient violence to break
up the stern and destroy the ship. That has been well known by actual
experience here; for a few hours of a severe storm are sufficient to
destroy the fastenings; and those ships would be wrecked daily if the
voyages were not so short, and the vessels of so small burden that they
can find shelter in any port. When necessity arises, the men in them
beach the vessels themselves, and do so more easily when they go in
a fleet, as then they unite their forces. The crossings are so short,
because of the multiplicity of islands, that the weather never catches
them in such a way that they can not soon escape by drawing near to
one land or another. For fair weather this appliance is very useful,
so that they take comfort in them freely.
In regard to their weapons, the Lutao nation is the most curious in
these islands; for all glory in having the most precious and the finest
arms possible. All of them from their earliest age wear their weapons,
with so careful a regard to this matter that no one dares to leave
his house without his weapons. The wearing of weapons is so much a
matter of reputation with them, that they consider it an insult to be
obliged to appear without them, regulating their punctiliousness in
this region very much according to the laws of España. It casts much
shame upon the negligence into which our military force has fallen,
by the poor reputation of those here who profess arms, who in the
sight of these nations are not ashamed to be seen without swords or
daggers; and those which they carry well demonstrate the care with
which they serve in their posts, since they necessarily satisfy outward
appearance, although they would be useless on occasion. I speak of
the simple and common soldiers; and, since this care is lacking in
most of them, it ought to be felt more, and with effect, by those who
can remedy it. The weapon worn by the natives of the cities is a wavy
dagger, which they call a kris. Its blade is engraved with channels
and water-lines, which make it very beautiful. The hilt is a small
idol, made of ivory for the common man, and of gold for the chiefs,
studded with gems which are highly esteemed among them. I saw one worn
by the commander Socsocan [75]--who was the lord of Samboangan when
our men conquered it--which was valued at ten slaves. The scabbard
was gilded with the same neatness, and at some time had been covered
with sheets of gold. I saw a scabbard in Joló, which had a pearl as
large as a musket-ball at the end of the chape. The blades are very
fine, and, although so small (being scarcely two palmos in length),
they are valued at twelve, twenty, or thirty reals of eight.
Such are their arms in peace; those of war, for fighting on the land,
are lances and shields. The shield is round among the coast-dwellers
of the south, and in the islands of Basilan and Joló. In the rest of
this island, the general custom of the long and narrow shield which
is used in all the other islands is followed; with these, they shield
and protect all the body. From these weapons the kris is inseparable,
and they use it at close quarters, and after they have used the lance,
which they throw in the usual manner. Their lances show the same care
as their krises, and are very much ornamented and engraved, and have
their covers gilded. The shaft is of the finest ebony, or of some
other beautiful wood; and at intervals they put rings of silver or
tin on it. The head is of brass, which is used here, and so highly
polished that it vies with gold. It is chased so elaborately that
there are lances that are valued at one slave each. At the end they
fasten a large hawk's-bell, which they fix upon the shaft in such a
manner that it surrounds it; and when they shake the lance it sounds
in time with the fierce threats and bravadoes. The valiant use them
and as man-slayers, give warning to those who do not know them and
those of less valor, so that they may avoid them as they would vipers.
The arms used on sea and land--besides those of the plain, in places
where the people fortify themselves with the resolve to defend
themselves--in addition to the one mentioned (which are the most
deadly), are the bagacayes, which are certain small bamboos as thick as
the finger, hardened in the fire and with points sharpened. They throw
these with such skill that they never miss when the object is within
range; and some men throw them five at a time. Although it is so weak
a weapon, it has such violence that it has gone through a boat and
has pierced and killed the rower. Brother Diego de Santiago told me,
as an eyewitness, that he being seated saw that thing (which appears
a prodigy) happen in the same vessel in which he had embarked with a
garrison. To me that seemed so incredible that I wished immediately to
see it myself; and, cutting a bagacay, I had it thrown at a shield. In
Samboanga I saw a bull which was killed immediately by a bagacay
which a lad threw at it, which struck it clear to the heart. It is a
thing that would cause laughter in Europa, and there would be little
esteem for the valor which does not despise such weapons, and they
would jest at so frail violence. But it is certain that, at close
range, there is no crueler weapon; and it is also certain that, the
day on which these Moros have bravery enough to get within range,
on that day any ship must yield. For they send in such a shower of
these bagacayes that scarce a man is unwounded; while many are stuck
like bulls, so that they cannot move for being laden with so many
weapons. Then the rowing ceases, and they discharge the missiles with
both hands and some from each finger, both rowers and fighters. That
throws their opponents into disorder, and they are unable to manage
their weapons. There must be many in España who were in the dangerous
sieges which Governor Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera undertook
against the kings of both Mindanao and Joló--where, in the so great
mortality which the glorious boldness and military honor of our men
incurred, the most of those who fell, to exalt their fame forever,
were slain by arms so weak and apparently contemptible. In the same
way they use stakes hardened in the fire which they hurl with accuracy,
and which inflict even more damage. The lance is used in the same way,
and they hurl it with so extraordinary violence that they pierce a
steel-covered shield and transfix the soldier with it, as has been
seen often. In an engagement that Captain Gaspar de Morales [76]
fought in Joló, his steel-covered shield did not avail him; but the
lance passed through it and his arm, and did not fall short of giving
him a mortal wound in the breast.
The Negrillos of this island use the bow and arrow, as these are
the weapons least difficult to obtain, and more natural [to them], as
requiring less skill. They poison arrows, and the wound is consequently
always dangerous. The wooden points of the arrows are so hard that
those people have no occasion to regret the lack of iron. [77]
The use of the blowpipe [zarbatana], which is one braza long, has
extended from the Borneans to the Joloans, and even to the Lutaos of
this island. By blowing through it they discharge certain small darts
smeared with so deadly a poison that if one single drop of blood is
drawn, death is certain to result, if the antidote is not quickly
applied. When our soldiers have to make an expedition to Burney,
where other weapons are rarely used, they go prepared with the most
efficacious antidotes--namely, human excrement, as has always been
happily experienced. These blowpipes are sometimes used also as lances,
having the iron fastened at one side, so that, if the shot is not
accurate, they use it alternately as a lance. Then when the opportunity
is offered they make use of their darts. They are so good shots that
they can bring down the smallest bird at twenty or thirty paces.
The Joloans who are called Ximbanaos, [78] and are more ferocious
and of greater determination, are armed from top to toe with helmet,
bracelets, coat-of-mail, greaves, with linings of elephant-hide--armor
so proof that nothing can make a dint on it except firearms, for the
best sword or cutlass is turned. That was an experience acquired by
many in the conquest of the Joloans by General Don Pedro de Almonte
Verastigui, [79] who had brought from Ternate braggarts of that nation,
who wielded the campilan or cutlass--a weapon made for cutting off
heads, and for splitting the body from top to toe. But they could
effect nothing, notwithstanding the heavy blows of those cutlasses;
and retired like cowards, giving as an excuse that their weapons
would not cut, and that they were only succeeding in ruining them,
for they were all nicked by the strong resistance. From the shoulders
rise two irons to the height of the helmet and morion by which they
protect the head from being cut off. They knot the flaps of their
skirts on the breast or coat-of-mail, so that they can bend the knee
to the ground, according to their method of fighting, when the case
demands it. They wear a plume of feathers above the forehead, such as
is seen on mules. They leave nothing unarmed, even to the eyes, which
are armed by fierceness--both because of the terrific appearance of
their arms, and by the fierceness which they affect. It is the fitting
dress, among them, for princes and braggarts. When they put it on they
generally take some opium, [80] and, rendered furious and insensible
[to danger] by it, they enter amid the vessels of a squadron madly,
and destroy it with great slaughter. For their arms are lance, kris,
or dagger; and with their bounds and leaps, in which they indulge
according to their barbarous method of fighting, they appear in many
places, always endeavoring to bring down many [of their foes]. Hence,
in order that any ball may strike them, it is necessary that it
cause disaster in the troop--besides the injuries that their fury
has executed in safety, armed so proof against those who dress as
lightly as the heat and roughness of the country compel.
The Mindanaos use a weapon quite distinct from that of the
Ternatans. It is a campilan or cutlass of one edge, and heavier
than the pointless Turkish weapon. It is a very bloody weapon, but,
being so heavy, it is a danger for him who handles it, if he is not
adroit with it. It has only two forms of use, namely, to wield it
by one edge, and to raise it by the other, in order to deal another
stroke, its weight allowing time for the spears of the opponents to
enter. They do not gird it on, as that would be too much trouble,
but carry it on the shoulders, in the fashion of the camarlengos
[81] who carry the rapiers on their shoulders in public ceremonies in
front of their princes. Besides that weapon the Mindanao uses lance,
kris, and shield, as do the other nations. Both these and those have
begun to use firearms too much, having acquired that from intercourse
with our enemies. They manage all sorts of artillery excellently, and
in their fleets all their craft carry their own pieces, with ladle,
culverins, esmerils, and other small weapons. [82]
SAN AGUSTIN'S LETTER ON THE FILIPINOS
[Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A., wrote the following letter regarding
the Filipinos. This letter has been widely discussed pro and con
by various writers, because of the views expressed therein. Many
manuscript copies of it exist in various collections, archives, and
libraries. The present translation is made from an early manuscript
copy, belonging to Mr. E. E. Ayer, of Chicago. In footnotes we give
the variant readings of the MS. conserved in the Museo-Biblioteca de
Ultramar, Madrid (pressmark "6-5a; caja 17; 21-4a"), that MS. being
indicated in our notes by the letter M.; and of the letter as published
in Delgado's [83] Historia (pp. 273-296, where it shows marks of
having been edited by either Delgado or his editor), that publication
being indicated by the letter D. Sinibaldo de Mas presents many of the
essential parts of the letter in his Informe de las Islas Filipinas
en 1842, i, "Poblacion," pp. 63-132. He says: "In order to give an
idea of their physical and moral qualities, I am going to insert some
paragraphs from a letter of Father Gaspar de San Augustin of the year
1725, [84] suppressing many Latin citations from the holy fathers
which weigh that letter down, and adding some observations from my
own harvest, when I think them opportune." We shall use most of these
observations in the annotations herewith presented. Sir John Bowring
gives, on pp. 125-139 of his Visit to the Philippine Isles (London,
1859) some excerpts taken from Mas's Informe, but he has sadly mixed
San Agustin's and Mas's matter, and has ascribed some of the latter's
observations to San Agustin, besides making other errors. [85]]
Letter from fray Gaspar de San Agustin to a friend in España who
asked him as to the nature and characteristics [genio] of the Indian
natives of these Philipinas Islands. [86]
My Dear Sir:
Although your command has so great weight with me, the undertaking of
performing it satisfactorily is so difficult that I doubt my ability
to fulfil what you ask. It would be more easy for me, I believe, to
define the formal object of logic; to give the square of a circle; to
find the mathematical [side [87]] of the double of the cube and sphere,
or to find a fixed rule for the measurement of the degrees of longitude
of the terrestrial sphere; than to define the nature of the Indians,
and their customs and vices. This is a memorandum-book in which I have
employed myself for forty years, and I shall only say: Quadraginta
annis proximus fui generationi huic, et dixi semper hi errant corde;
[88] and I believe that Solomon himself would place this point of
knowledge after the four things impossible to his understanding which
he gives in chapter XXX, verse 18 of Proverbs. Only can they tell the
One who knows them by pointing to the sky and saying, Ipse cognovit
figmentum nostrum. [89] But in order that you may not say to me that I
am thus ridding myself of the burden of the difficulty, [90] without
making any effort or showing any obedience, I shall relate briefly
what I have observed, for it would be impossible to write everything,
if one were to use all the paper that is found in China.
2. The knowledge of men has been considered by the most erudite persons
as a difficult thing. Dificile est, noscere hominem animal varium et
versipelle. [91] Man is a changeable theater of transformations. The
inconstancies of his ages resemble the variation of the year. A
great knowledge of man did that blind man of the eighth chapter of
St. Mark have who said, with miraculous sight, that he saw men as
trees: Video homines velut arbores ambulantes. [92] For the tree in
the four seasons of the year has its changes as has man in his four
ages; and thus said the English poet Oven:
"Ver viridem flavamque æstas, me fervida canam
Autumnus calvam, frigida fecit hyems." [93]
"For this is the inconstancy of man in his [various] ages: green in
his childhood; fiery in the age of his virility; white in old age; and
bald in his decrepitude." But his greatest change is in his customs,
for he is a continual Proteus, and an inconstant Vertumnus. [94]
Thus does Martial paint his friend:
"Dificilis, facilis, jucundus, acerbus est idem;
Nec tecum possum vivere, nec sine te." [95]
From this came the proverb "Quot capita, tot sententiæ." [96] For
in the changeable affection of man are locked up all the meteoric
influences of natural transformations.
3. It is a fact that the difficulty of knowing these Indians is not
in the individuals, but in the race; for, if one be known, then all
are known, without any distinction--so much so that the Greek word
monopantos [97] fits them, and which another critic gave to another
race of people, because they were all homogeneous and uniform among
themselves. At the eighth meeting of the last Lateran Council, held
in the time of Leo X, the opinion of the Monophysite philosophers
[98]--who give but one single soul to all men, each body having a part
of it--was condemned. Doubtless that impious opinion originated from
some nation as alike in customs as these Indians; and it is not the
worst thing to have been able to give this humble judgment, although
it is defective. [99]
4. Although we call both the natives of America and those of these
Philipinas Islands Indians, it cannot be denied that they are very
different; for the inclination of the Asiatics [100] is somewhat more
docile and more capable of progress through teaching. Accordingly,
I shall confine my remarks to the Indians of Philipinas, leaving
the definition of the Americans for those who know them; for they
have enough chroniclers who have undertaken it, although I doubt
that they obtained their desire, such as Father Juan de Torquemada
in his Monarchia Indiana, [101] Fray Antonio de Remesal, [102] and
Father Joseph de Acosta. [103] For what has been written of them by
the bishop of Chiapa, Fray Bernardino de Cassas, [104] and by Don
Juan de Palafox [105] in his treatise on the virtues of the Indians,
was written from very remote experience; and they were carried away
by the holy zeal of their defense as they were deceived [106] by
their remote knowledge of the object--as [in viewing] the hills and
mountains, which anear are green, but afar are blue. Gold conceals
from the sight the degree of its fineness; and one must crush [107]
the rock himself, and frequently, in order to recognize the truth.
5. The Asiatic Indians of Philipinas, then, are almost the same as
those of the other nations of East India, in what regards their genius
[genio], temper, and disposition. Consequently, the Malays, Siamese,
Mogoles, and Canarines [108] are distinguished only by their clothing,
languages and ceremonies. I except the Japanese (who are, as Gracian
[109] learnedly remarked, the Spaniards of Asia) and the Chinese,
who, by their culture and civilization, and love of letters, seem to
be different--although, touched with the stone of experience, they
are the same as the Indians. [110] The influence of the stars which
rule Assia is common, whence Macrobius and Suetonius complain that
the corruption of the good native customs of the Romans proceeded,
especially from Persia, whence came great evil both to the Greeks
and to the Latins.
6. But leaving this immense sea of peoples and customs, let us return
to our natives of these islands, who, besides having been exceedingly
barbarous, living without a ruler, and in a confused monarchy, [111]
have the vices of the islanders; for they are fickle, false, and
mendacious, and [that] by the special influence and dominion which
the moon exercises upon all the islands, isthmuses, and peninsulas
[Chersonesos], of which much will be found in the Theatrum vitæ humanæ
of Laurencio Beyerlinch. [112]
7. The temperament of these Indians, as is proved by their physiognomy,
is cold and humid, because of the great influence of the moon. They
have but little or no difference among themselves in their temperament,
as was remarked by a learned doctor who has had considerable experience
in these islands, namely, Doctor Blas Nuñez de Prado. [He observed]
that there was no difference, but a great similarity, in the humors of
those who had been treated, and a fine natural docility in responding
to the medicine; in whatever remedy it was applied to them. For
they have not the great rebelliousness and changeableness of the
Europeans, because of the infinite combinations made in them by the
four humors. The cause of this is the similarity and lack of variety
in the food that they use and which their ancestors used, which go
to make up a nature different in its root from that of the Europeans,
but yet very similar. [113]
8. This disposition and influence makes them fickle, malicious,
untrustworthy, dull, and lazy; [114] fond of traveling by river,
sea, and lake; fond of fishing, and ichthyophagous [115]--that is,
they sustain themselves best on fish; they have little courage, on
account of their cold nature, and are not disposed to work. [116]
Besides this they have other qualities and vices, of which I do not
know the cause, and I do not believe that I can easily know them. [117]
I shall mention some of them. [118]
9. First, they are remarkable for their ingratitude; and although
ingratitude is an innate vice in all people, through the corruption
of original sin in our vitiated nature, it is not corrected in them
by the understanding, and they lack magnanimity. Therefore, it is all
one to do a good turn to an Indian, and to prepare oneself to receive
the blow of his ingratitude. Consequently, if one lend them money,
they do not pay it; but instead they run away from the father. Hence
there is ground for scruples in regard to lending money to them;
for that is a benefit from which evil must result, as they absent
themselves and do not come to mass. If others ask them why, they
answer that the father [119] is angry at them. In them is verified
the picture given by the Holy Spirit in chapter xxix, verse[s] 4[-9]
of Ecclesiasticus. "Many" (he says) "have thought by artifice to
satisfy the thing due, and have given trouble to those who have aided
them. So long as they receive, they kiss the hands of him who gives,
and humble themselves with promises. But when it comes time to pay,
they will beg for time (for they are beggars and not givers); and
they will utter tedious and complaining words, and the time is spent
in vain. Even though one can pay, he can be got to do so only with
great difficulty. For one solidus [120] scarcely will he give the
half, and that he will think an unjust artifice; and if he cannot
pay he will keep the money, and will esteem the debtor as an enemy
causelessly, and will return him insults and evil words, and for
honor and kindness will return him dishonor." [121] This picture of
ingratitude given by Ecclesiasticus fits many, but it fits the Indians
better than all other nations, except the Vix solidi reddet dimidium,
[122] for they pay nothing. This is one of the evil signs that the
royal prophet finds in the evil and ingrate in Psalm xxxvi, verse 21:
"The sinner shall take the loan, and shall not pay." [123] Consequently
we find our Indians pagans in this, although they are Christians. [124]
10. If they borrow anything that is not money, they will never return
it until it is requested; and, as an excuse for not having returned
it, they say that they have not been asked for it. [125]
11. Their laziness is such that if they open a door they never close
it; and if they take any implement for any use, such as a knife, pair
of scissors, hammer, etc., they never return it whence they took it,
but drop it there at the foot of the work. [126]
12. If they are paid anything in advance, they will leave work and
keep the pay. [127]
13. They are naturally rude, and consequently, it is strange to
see them, when talking with the father or a Spaniard, first scratch
themselves on the temples, [128] and, if it be a woman, on the thigh;
but the more polished scratch themselves on the head. [129]
14. It is a thing of great wonder that in everything they make in
which there is a right and wrong side, they naturally make it wrong
side out. Consequently, they have not thus far been able to give in
to difficulty of folding a cloak with its right side in; [130] nor
[do they understand] it can be that when a shirt or habit is wrong
side out, on putting the head in, it is given a turn and remains
right side out. Consequently, whenever they see this done, they
express more surprise. [131] Hence the remark of a discerning man,
that all they did was wrong except folding a cloak, because in that
operation the wrong side is the face or right side. [132]
15. When the men walk with their wives, they go in advance, and the
wives follow, as that is just the contrary of our custom. This was a
bit of carelessness that cost Orpheus the loss of his wife, who was
stolen by the prince Auresteo, as we are told in mythology. [133]
16. They are curious, rude, and impertinent, and accordingly, when
they meet the father they generally ask him where he is going and
whence he is coming; and innumerable questions, all impertinent and
troublesome. [134]
If any letter is read before them, they will go behind one to see it,
although they do [not] know how to read. And if they hear any talking
in private, they draw nigh to listen to it, even though it be in a
language that they do not understand.
17. They enter, without being summoned, into the convents and the
houses of the Spaniards, even into the most secret apartment, but in
their own houses they practice many civilities. If the door be locked,
they try with might and main to look through the cracks at what is
being done, for they wish to know everything. [135]
They tramp about in the convents and houses of the Spaniards so loudly,
that it causes wonder and annoyance; and especially if the father
is asleep. In their own houses, on the contrary, they walk about so
lightly, that they seem to be walking on eggs. [136]
18. They are very early risers in their own houses, [137] for their
poverty and the noise demand that. But if their masters sleep until
ten, they must do the same too.
19. They must eat and try all that their masters eat, even though it
be something delicious or from Europa; and no Spaniard, and especially
the father minister, will have been able to succeed in making them
eat out of other dishes than those from which their master eats. I
know well that I have been unable to obtain it, notwithstanding my
efforts. Neither will they drink out of another and separate jar. [138]
20. Their manner of sitting is generally on their heels [en cuclillas],
and they do that in all places except in the convents, where they
break the seats with sitting on them and leaning back in them with
out-stretched legs. And they must do this in the balconies, where
they can see the women. [139]
21. They care more for their disheveled hair than they do for their
souls; and only they will not imitate the Spaniards if they have the
custom of shaving, as is now being introduced with the false hair
and perukes. [140]
22. Their usual habitation and happiness in the convents consists in
not leaving the kitchen. There they hold their meetings and feasts, and
there is their glory, as is the open country in Castilla. A religious
whom I knew, called the kitchen Flos sanctorum, [141] because the
life of the father and of all the village was discussed there.
23. When they go out alone at night, they must have a blazing torch,
and go about waving it like a censer; and then they throw it down
wherever they please, and this is usually the cause of great fires.
24. They would rather wear mourning than go about in gala dress,
and are accordingly very observant in wearing it during their
funerals. [142]
25. They do not esteem garments or gala dresses given them by their
Spanish masters; and accordingly leave such in any place, without
perceiving that they are losing them. But any old rag that they wear
from their own houses they esteem and value highly.
26. They do not care for any domestic animal--dog, cat, horse,
or cow. They only care, and too much so, for the fighting cocks;
and every morning, on rising from slumber, the first thing that they
do is to go to the roosting-place of their cock--where, squatting
down on their heels, in its presence, they stay very quietly for at
least a half-hour in contemplation of their cock. This observance is
unfailing in them. [143]
27. They live unwillingly in convents, or in houses where they cannot
be at least on the scent of women.
28. It is not known that the Indian has [ever] broken a dish or a crock
in his own house, and consequently one will find dishes in them that
date from before the arrival of the Spaniards in this country. But
in the convents and houses where they serve, they break so many that
one would believe that they do it on purpose to do their masters an
ill turn. [144]
29. One may not trust a sword, mirror, glass, musket, clock, or any
other rare article to them; or allow them to touch it even with the
hands; for immediately, by physical contact alone, they put it out
of joint, break it, and harm it. They can only handle bamboo, rattan,
nipa, or a bolo, and some few a plow. [145]
30. They are insolent and free in begging for unjust and foolish
things, and this without considering time or season. When I
remember the circumstance which happened to Sancho Pancha when he
was governor of the island of Barataria, one day after eating [146]
with an importunate and intrusive farmer, who said that he was from
Miguel Turra, I am reminded of the Indians when they beg. [147]
And we shall say that if they bring four eggs, they think that with
justice they ought to be given a price of one hundred pesos. That
is so true that when I see an Indian who is bringing something,
which is always a thing of no value, or something that is of no
use to them, such as ates, mangas, or belinbiles [i.e., balimbing],
I repeat those words of Laocoon to the Trojans: Timeo Danaos, [et]
dona ferentes (2nd Æneid). An Indian came to beg from the bishop of
Troya (as was told me by his illustrious Lordship)--Don Fray Gines
Barrientos, [148] a specially circumspect prelate--the loan of fifty
pesos, for which he took him a couple of guavas. An Indian brought
a cock to the Marquis of Villa-sierra, Don Fernando de Valenzuela,
[149] while he was in the fort of Cavite; and, when that gentleman
ordered that he be given more than six times its value, the Indian
told him that what he wanted was to be given eighty cavans of rice,
[150] and that in a time of so great scarcity it was not to be had
for two pesos per cavan. But they have this curious peculiarity, that
they are just as happy if these things are not given to them as if
they had been given. For they have little or no esteem for what the
Spaniards give them, and especially the father. Accordingly, when
they sell anything that is worth, say, six, [151] they ask thirty,
and are satisfied if six be given them. [152]
They would rather have one real from the hand of the Sangley than one
peso from the Spaniard; and the power that the Sangleys have over them
is surprising, for they are generally cheated by those people. [153]
31. They are very fond of play, [154] for they believe that it is
a restful way in which to gain much, and it is very suitable to
their laziness and lack of energy. Therefore, an Indian would rather
lie stretched out in his house than gain the greatest wage. On this
account, when he gets a peso he stays at home without working, until it
is all eaten up or drunk up, for it all amounts to the same thing. This
is the reason why they are so poor, in comparison with the Sangleys
and mestizos, who live in abundance, for they know how to seek and
work. [155] Egestatem operata est manus remissa. (Proverbs X, verse 4.)
32. They have contradictory peculiarities, such as being very cowardly,
while on some occasions they are rash; for they confess that they
would rather suffer a hundred lashes than to have one shout aloud
to them--which, they say, penetrates even to the heart, without the
cause being known.
33. It is laughable to see them waken another who is sleeping like a
stone, when they come up without making any noise and touching him
very lightly with the point of the finger, will call him for two
hours, until the sleeper finishes his sleep and awakens. The same
thing is done when they call anyone downstairs, or when the door is
shut; for they remain calling him in a very low tone for two hours,
until he casually answers and opens to them. [156]
34. In another way, they exhibit other rash actions, by which it
is seen that their rashness is rather the daughter of ignorance and
barbarity than of valor. For it occurs that an Indian, man or woman,
may be walking along the road and hear a horse which is coming behind
him, running or going at a quick pace; but this Indian never turns
his face. If the horse come in front of him, he will not turn out of
the road so that he may not be trampled underfoot, if he who comes
on horseback does not turn out with greater consideration. The same
thing occurs when they see a very large banca coming down upon them
with long sweeps of the oars, while they are in a small banquilla;
when they will allow themselves to be struck by it, with the danger
of being overturned and drowned. It costs much labor to those in the
large banca to avoid that, while the others could do it with great
ease. This has happened to me on innumerable occasions. [157]
35. The same thing happens in the rivers where there are crocodiles,
although they see them swimming about; for they say the same as do the
Moros [i.e., Mahometans], that if it is from on high it must happen,
even though they avoid it. And thus, as says father Fray Gabriel Gomez
(History of Argel, book 2, chapter 19), they say in the lengua franca
"God is great! Be not led by fancy! The world is just so. If it
is written on the forehead that one is to live, then he will live;
but if not, then he will die here." [158] For their Koran says that
each one has his fortune written in the lines of his forehead. These
Indians believe the same thing (and they have never seen the Koran),
and only because it is great nonsense. They receive no warning from
the many misfortunes that happen every day for their sins. [159]
36. While it is a fact that they are extremely credulous among
themselves, they will believe of the Spaniards only what is against
them. Therefore, it is evident that the [Christian] faith is a
supernatural act, in that they believe the divine mysteries taught by
the Spaniards. However, they do not believe some things, or refuse to
believe them because they find the contrary profitable. Consequently,
there is no one who can persuade them that it is a sin to steal
from the religious ministers or the Spaniards. Of this we have such
proofs that we have not the slightest doubt that it is so; but,
only perceiving it is not being able to remedy it. [160]
So great is the ease and tenacity with which they believe the greatest
nonsense, if this is to the discredit of the Spaniards or against
them, that it would be a long undertaking to recount some of it. I
have deemed it advisable to mention only two [instances] of it of
which I heard [161] and of which I was a witness, so that the rest
can be inferred from them.
37. While I was in Bisayas in the year 1672, those islands began to
be depopulated and the Indians began to take to the mountains from
the visitas of Xaro, because a rogue told them a bit of nonsense
like the following. He told them that the king of España had gone
out fishing, and the Turks had come upon him and made him captive;
and that the king had given for his ransom all the Indians of the
province of Oton. They believed this so thoroughly that it was with
great difficulty that the alcalde Don Sebastian de Villarreal and
the father ministers could quiet them, and considerable time passed
before they were sure of the whole matter. [162]
The second: While I was in the village of Lipa, a mine was discovered
in that of Tanavan which was said to be of silver. Governor Don Fausto
Cruzat y Gongorà sent ministers and officials in order to find out
about it and to assay it. These men made their efforts, but the mine
only said, Argentum et aurum non est mihi. [163] But the devil willed
to have some rogue at this time to sow this deceit, namely, that the
ministers [164] said that the mine would yield no silver until all
the old women of Cometan had been caught, and their eyes plucked out
and mixed with other ingredients, in order to anoint the vein of the
mine with that mixture. This was believed, so that all was confusion
and lamentation, and the old women hid in the fields; and it took
a long time to quiet them, and cost the ministers great difficulty,
as the Indians would not believe them because they were Castilians,
until time itself undeceived them. [165]
38. May God deliver us from any one of those Indians whom they consider
as sages, who says any bit of nonsense, even though it be against the
faith, [166] and they only respond, Vica nong maronong, "Thus say
the sages," and it is labor lost to persuade them to the contrary;
for the authority that these scholars have over them is incredible.
39. They are extremely arrogant, and hence the son will not obey his
father, or the headman, or captain of the village. [167] They are
only bound in this by fear, and when they have no fear they will
not obey. They only recognize the Spaniard to be more than they;
[168] and this they say only because of an interior impulse, which
forces them against their will and without their knowing why. This
is the providence of God, so that they can be governed.
40. They are very fond if imitating the Spaniard [169] in all his
bad traits, such as variety of clothes, cursing, gambling, and the
rest that they see the coxcombs [170] do. They shun the imitation of
the good things in the dealings and civilization of the Spaniards,
and in the proper rearing of their children. For in all the rest
that treats of trickery, drunken revelries, and ceremonies in their
marriages, burials, and tyrannies one against another, they observe
exactly what they learned from their ancestors. Thus they unite in
one the vices of the Indians and the Spaniards. [171]
41. Just as the poor are arrogant, so also are the old ones ignorant,
and they are not to be distinguished from the youths. Consequently,
in their weddings, banquets, and revelries one will see old men with
white hair, mixed with the lads; and slouchy old women with their
scapularies, clapping their hands and singing nonsensical things with
the lasses. Scarcely is there an Indian who knows his age, and many
[172] do not know the baptismal names of their wives, after they have
been baptized for fifty years. [173]
42. They are so ignorant that they do not have the slightest knowledge
concerning the origin of the ancestors from whom they descend,
and whence they came to settle these islands. They do not give any
information concerning their paganism, which is not the worst; and
they only preserve in certain parts some ridiculous abuses, which
they observe at births and sicknesses, and the cursed belief that
persuades them that the souls of their ancestors or the grandfathers
of the families are present in the trees and at the bottom of bamboos,
and that they have the power of giving and taking away health and of
giving success or failure to the crops. Therefore, they make their
ancestors offerings of food, according to their custom; and what
has been preached to them and printed in books avails but little,
for the word of any old man regarded as a sage has more weight with
them than the word of the whole world. [174]
43. They act tyrannically one toward another. Consequently, the Indian
who has some power from the Spaniard is insolent [175] and intolerable
among them--so much so that, in the midst of their ingratitude, some
of them recognize it, although very few of them. Yet it is a fact
that, if the Spaniards had not come to these islands, the Indians
would have been destroyed; for, like fish, [176] the greater would
have swallowed the lesser, in accordance with the tyranny which they
exercised in their paganism. [177]
44. They are wanting in understanding and reflection, so that they do
not recognize any means in anything, but go to extremes. Consequently,
if one ask them for warm water, they bring it boiling, and then if they
are reproached and told that one wishes it more temperate, they go and
bring it back as cold as ice. [178] In this vicious circle of extremes,
they will continue ceaselessly without finding a mean. Consider then,
how they will act in prudential matters, where one must seek the mean
and not the extremes, as says the poet: [179]
Es[t] modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines.
Quos ultra, citraque nequit consistere rectum. [180]
This is the cause of great anxiety to us, and with them a cause
of great happiness to see us grow impatient, even though it cost
them some blows, which they take very willingly because they make us
impatient. They celebrate this in a lively manner in the kitchen. There
is nothing that the Indian regrets more than to see the Spaniard or
the father calm, and that he patiently and with forbearance restrains
his hand from them when it is necessary; for but rarely do they do
anything willingly, and hence the most prudent among them are wont
to say that "the rattan grows where the Indian is born." [181] Virga
in dorso ejus, qui indiget corde (Proverbs x, 13).
They resemble in this a mischievous lad who served a good cleric. One
day his master sent him to buy a hen, and he stole and hid a
leg. [182] His master was silent, and overlooked the incident. It
came to pass that the master and the lad walked into a field, where
they came upon some cranes, all of them with one foot lifted high
in the air. Thereupon the lad said to his master, "Sir, the hen was
like these birds which have but one foot." The cleric answered, "No,
my lad, for these birds have two feet; and if you do not believe
it, look." So saying, he threw a stick at the cranes, which flew
away in fright, showing the other foot. At this the lad said, "O,
sir, had you done the same with me, the hen would also have had two
feet." Doubtless, this lad must have been of the same disposition as
these good brothers, who do nothing good without a beating. Tu virga
percuties eum (Proverbs XXIII, 14). [183]
It happened that an Augustinian religious--who still lives and is very
well known for his great learning--arrived in these islands in the
year 1684, and was given, shortly after his arrival, a lad of eight
or nine years for his service. The lad was so clever and lively, that
he was held in esteem, [184] and the said religious was very fond of
him because of his great activity. The lad considered that the father
was very patient with him, and chid his neglect very mildly. One day
he said to the father "Father, you know that you are new. Consider
the Indians like myself. You must not overlook anything. If you
wish to be well served, you must keep a rattan, and when I commit
any fault, you must strike me with it; and then you will see that I
shall move as quickly as a sparrowhawk. For you must know, Father,
that the rattan grows where the Indian is born. So have I heard said
by the old Indians." [185] Trouble enough do the poor wretches have,
for one may say of them: Oderunt peccare mali formidinæ penæ. [186]
45. One can give them nothing, even if it be given, [187] for if he
happen to give one anything in the presence of others, even if it
be a needle, [188] all will demand that in justice the same be given
to them. In this they closely resemble the laborers of the twentieth
chapter of St. Matthew, who construed as an injury the favor that the
householder showed to their companions. This is covetousness and lack
of consideration. So far is this foolishness carried that the Indian
will take fifty lashes willingly, if he knows with certainty that all
the others are to get as much. Surely they cause great trouble with
this wretched habit, and those who might confer some benefit on them
often avoid doing so.
46. They are so distrustful that they think that the ground on which
they walk and the air which they breathe are about to fail. This does
not make them more provident and industrious, but more foolish and
dull. Therefore, if there are many to confess they troop together all
in a body, each one desirous of being first. This causes extraordinary
trouble and impatience to the confessor. But, if there are but few,
they come a legua apart; and one must summon them, and they take an
hour to come. If the father rises in anger, or because it is late,
then they all come together in a crowd, and say "Father, me only." This
is a bit of foolishness in which one can trace the great deficiency
of their understanding. [189]
47. As they are so curious, and fond of knowing whatever does not
concern them, what occurs when many of them confess together is
wondrous to see. For all of them keep a steadfast gaze on the one who
is confessing. One is astonished and amused to see all the women with
their faces turned backward [190] so that they seem to be biformed
Januses, or paid dancers with a mask at the back of the head. In this
manner, they remain until the end of the function. The same is true on
Ash Wednesday or at the adorations of the cross on Holy Friday, when
all of them wish to kiss at one time, or in other similar functions.
48. They are much given to the sin of blasphemy, [191] because of their
natural vileness, their pride, and their presumption. Hence it is quite
usual for them to complain of God, whom they call Paghihinanaquit,
asking why He does not give them this or that, and health or wealth,
as He does to other creatures. They utter words of nonsense that
horrify those who do not know that it proceeds from their great
lack of understanding and consideration, and from their very great
disability for conforming themselves with the divine will. [192] Thus
the royal prophet David, when compelled by his superior enthusiasm to
touch what he considered inferior matter, and [when he] lifted up his
complaints of the divine Providence, was excused by his ignorance,
as will be seen in Psalm LXXII, [23], where he humbles himself,
saying: Ut jumentum factus sum apud te: et ego semper tecum. [193]
49. They are very vain, [194] and they spend their money never more
willingly than in functions of vanity; for they consider themselves
highly, and wish to be esteemed without doing anything worthy of
esteem. The men especially, even though they do not have anything
to eat, must not for that reason fail to have a shirt and a hat,
and to dress in style. They give banquets very frequently, for very
slight causes; and everything resolves itself into eating, drinking,
and great noise. Their vanity is the only thing that causes them to
lessen their laziness, in order to get the wherewithal to keep up
this esteem, and applause from their compatriots. [195]
50. They are revengeful to an excessive degree--so much so that
they are vile and cowardly, and the ministers have great trouble in
reconciling them with their enemies; and although they do it through
fear, it is never with the whole heart, for this passion has great
influence over them. And since they need magnanimity and manliness
to overcome it, and these virtues are foreign to them, [196] hate
generally forces its roots into them so deeply that it is impossible
to eradicate it in a whole lifetime. [197]
This is the reason why they are so inclined to litigation, and to
going before the audiencias and courts with their quarrels, [198] in
which they willingly spend their possessions for the sole purpose of
making others spend theirs and of causing them harm and trouble. For
that they are even wont to pledge their sons and daughters. [199]
51. In order to be contrary in everything to other nations, they have
lust but no love. This is in regard to the illicit love; for in the
supernatural love which grace causes in the sacrament of marriage
(since divine impulse works in this) their evil disposition is
conquered and most of them make very good husbands. But in illicit
intercourse the men have no other purpose than bodily appetite,
and to deprive [of virginity] as many women as they have done, in
order to sport with it. For it is a long established custom among
them that the women shall give to the men, and the latter shall be
the ones served and fêted; while only blows, kicks, and trouble are
given to the women. So true is this that one might say that they have
an inferno both in this and in the other world. Hence the women are
very poorly clad, for the men want everything for themselves. [200]
52. But in the midst of this, which appears inhuman, one may praise
them for having succeeded in treating their wives as they deserve,
in order to keep them submissive and happy; for this submission makes
them better, and humble, and prudent, and conformable to their sentence
of being subject to man. And if the Europeans would learn this useful
and prudent management from them, they would live in greater peace
and with less expense; and marriage would be more mild and quiet, and
well ordered, according to reason, and better directed toward the end
for which it was instituted--as we see is the case with these people,
with a fertility that causes our wonder.
53. They have another remarkable custom, which has been taught them by
the infernal Machiavelian [201] Satan, which is good for their bodies,
but bad for their souls. This is that they observe very strictly the
concealment of one another's faults and wrong-doing. They endeavor
to see that no transgression comes to the ear of the father minister,
or alcalde, or any Spaniard. They observe this with peculiar secrecy,
although they may be at enmity among themselves, and ready to kill
as they say. Consequently, the most serious crime that can happen
among them is to tell the father or alcalde what is passing in
the village. [202] They call that mabibig, because it is the most
abominable fault and the only sin among them. [203]
54. This worst of customs is very prejudicial and troublesome to the
Spaniards and to the father ministers. For it might happen that one
has one servant (or all) who wastes and destroys the property of his
master, and there is [no one] who will tell him what is passing. [204]
But if it happens that the wasteful servant leave, then all the others
tell what he did; and, whatever is lacking afterward, they throw the
blame on that absent servant. If the Spaniard reprove the servant whom
he most esteems and benefits, asking him why he did not tell of the
evil that the other servant was doing, he replies with great dudgeon
that they must not accuse him of being mabibig, or talebearer of what
happens. This is what takes place, even if the servants know that they
are flaying their master. Consequently, the first thing that they do
when any new servant comes is, to threaten him if he turn mabibig,
and afterwards make him do all the work that belongs to them all,
while the old servants are quite free from toil. Hence the fewer
servants a Spaniard has, the better served will he be; for only the
newcomer works and does everything, and the others not only do nothing,
but are all served by him. [205]
55. They have another peculiarity, which always causes me great
wonder. I am trying to discover the cause therefor, but I only find,
so far as I can make out, that it is due to their incapacity and
ingratitude and their horror of the Spaniards. This is, that while the
difference between the poverty, wretchedness, and want of their houses
and the anxiety and poverty in which they live, when compared with the
abundance, good cheer, good clothes, and comfort which they enjoy in
the service of certain Spaniards is almost infinite, if they happen
to be discharged, or to leave for some very slight cause occasioned
by their pride and vanity, they turn from one extreme to the other,
so contented with the present misery that they do not remember or
even consider the past abundance. If they be asked in what condition
they lived better, they answer that everything is one and the same,
and hence we do not get revenge by sending them away in anger [en
embiarlos con Dios]. But what great happiness is theirs! [206]
56. They would rather scorn the goods of the father or of the Spaniards
than enjoy them and profit by them. Hence what they lose is greater
than what they spend.
57. They are greatly lacking in foresight. Hence the servants and
stewards do not advise their master to procure any article until it
is completely gone. Therefore when they say that there is no more
sugar or no more oil, it is when there is not [oil] enough to whet
a knife. [207] Consequently, great deficiencies and annoyances are
suffered because of this custom.
58. If there are visitors or guests to dine with the master, they do
not consider the guests at all, thus causing the poor master of the
house great shame; [208] and it is necessary for him to excuse himself
by the poor instruction that the devil gave them in this matter. No
misfortune can be greater to him than to offend against his civility;
and in a manner that seems good to them, for doubtless they are so
persuaded by the devil. It is also their custom, when there is company,
for all to go to the kitchen and leave the master alone. [209]
59. Their stomachs are like sackbuts, with systole and diastole;
[210] and thus they contract and expand them in a wonderful manner. For
although they observe parsimony in their own houses, it is a matter for
which to praise God to see them gorge themselves and gulp down things
at the expense of the Spaniards, as Quevedo said there of Galalon:
"Galalon, who eats but little at home, overloads his goodly paunch
at another's expense." [211]
60. But say to them, Buen provecho; [212] for usually these losses
are well retrieved when they row. They are horrifying and frightful
in venting their anger, both against one another, and against the
father ministers; and there would be so much to say in this that it
would never be finished. [213] They are able to make their complaints
in such a manner and to such purpose that they persuade those who
know most about their falsity and trickery that they are telling the
truth. I remember that an alcalde of experience [214] was heard to
say, when the Indians came to him with complaints: Audivi auditionem
tuam, et timui. [215] There are usually Indians, both men and women,
in the suburbs of Manila, who hire out as mourners in the manner of
the mourners of the Hebrews, and such as were in style in Castilla
in the time of the Cid. The authors of the quarrel go first into
the house of some lawyer [216] well known for his cleverness, who is
one of those called in law rabulas, [217] who do not know which is
their right hand. These men keep books of formulas and of petitions
directed against all the human race; for example, in this form, "suit
against alcalde;" and then follow all the crimes and excesses that
can be committed by alcaldes. [218] The same thing is true of suits
against ministers and curas, and in them is enclosed all possibility
of irregular conduct. Then the said "smith of calumny," [219] as the
Italian says, takes the names of the plaintiffs and defendants, and
a few facts; and then puts it all in the book from beginning to end
[de pe á pa], without omitting one iota. And this is not to speak
uncertainly; for in the archives of the court will be found the
chart which was discovered in the possession of a certain rabula
named Silva, who, in addition to this had skill in counterfeiting
royal decrees and documents.
61. When the petition has been made, they go with it to the mourners,
and they go to press their suit with a lamentation like that of
Magedo for King Josias, which would soften stones. [220] That has
been investigated by several governors in my time. I remember one
investigation by Don Juan de Vargas, and another by Don Gabriel de
Cruce-laegui; and many who are living remember them. Let them judge,
then, the pity that ought to be expressed for the father ministers,
whose honor is exposed to so great danger.
62. Their cunning and diabolical cleverness in making an accusation
is not the equal [i.e., is more than the equal] of their capacity;
and it is known that they have the special suggestion of the
father of discord, Satan. I remember that they brought to a certain
provincial a complaint against the father minister, saying that he
kept twelve Indians busy in caring for but one horse. The provincial
made an investigation and found that the father had but one Indian,
and that he used the said horse a great deal, in order to attend
to the administration of souls. When the calumniators were chidden
for the falsity of their complaint, they explained it by saying,
"Father, that Indian is, in truth, but one; but he is changed every
month, and at the end of the year there are twelve men." Just see
what subtlety, and what confusion in their arithmetic, in order to
make their accusation--the Indians maliciously speaking of a year
in order to give color to their calumny. [221] So many cases of this
sort can be stated, that they are unending. And with all this, these
natives have such persuasiveness, or powers of enchantment, that they
generally deceive and persuade the most experienced with their lies.
63. Inasmuch as any sort of complaint is received, without subjecting
the accuser to a penalty in case that he cannot prove his allegations
[222]--as ought to be the case, and according to the orders of the
Mexican Council--no one's honor is safe. For, if they prove their
accusations, they are the gainers, while if they do not prove them
they return home as cool as ever, for they always go to gain and
never to lose. [223]
64. They are very fond of ceremonial acts and festivals where there
is some novelty; and fond of long pilgrimages [224] to images of some
new miracle, while they forget about the old. [225]
65. They are especially fond of comedies and farces, and therefore,
there is no feast of consequence, unless there is a comedy. [226]
If possible they will lose no rehearsal, and in all they pay
attention only to the witty fellow who does innumerable foolish and
uncouth things, and at each of his actions they burst into hearty
laughter. He who plays this part acceptably receives his diploma as
an ingenious fellow, and has permission to go and come anywhere, and
even to cajole the women before their husbands; and the latter must
laugh, even though they have no wish to do so. It is very necessary
that these representations be not harmful, for many of them are
printed. Accordingly, they receive considerable benefit from these
functions and external acts, such as the descent from the cross,
and other representations, which are patterned after those called
escuitales [227] in Nueba España--in which is verified the truth of
the sentence in the Ars Poetica of Horace, verses 18[0-181]. [228]
Segnius irritant animos demisa per aures,
Quam quæ sunt oculis conspecta fidelibus.
66. Consequently, those who have experience are wont to declare
that the faith enters into the Indians through the eyes; and hence
it seems worthy of consideration that it was the apostle St. Thomas
whom our Lord [229] had prepared for the teaching of the Indians--he
who desired that the belief in his glorious resurrection might enter
through the eyes: Nisi videro ... non credam (John xx, 25).
67. They are extreme in their observance of their usages and customs,
which they call ogali. To be found wanting in these is a great infamy;
and, consequently, in order not to break them they will trample
everything under foot. The ceremonies and abuses practiced in their
weddings and funerals are numerous and curious, and no success has
been had in suppressing them, notwithstanding all the efforts that
have been made; for all they want from the Spaniards is their clothes,
and all the evil that they see in them. I believe that these customs
will never be suppressed. [230]
68. Another curious peculiarity is that although there are generally
some few who are jealous, if they have any business with the Spaniards,
they will not go themselves, but will send their wives or daughters
without any fear of danger, in order that their business may be well
despatched. [231]
69. They are very material and literal in their conversations, and
one cannot say the slightest word to the women in jest, however slight
it be; for the most discreet thing that they will answer to one will
be, Tampalasanca, which means, "You are a [232] shameless fellow;"
and, if not that, [233] a tempest of words, that will make him repent
having given occasion for them. [234] This alone is their custom with
the Spaniards. [235]
70. It is a thing to be wondered at that even the dogs have another
disposition, and have a particular aversion toward Spaniards. When
they see Spaniards, they choke themselves with barking. And when the
children see a father they cry immediately, [236] and thus from their
cradle they begin to hold every white face in horror. [237]
71. They are so cowardly that they fear any Indian who becomes a bully
among them--so much that, if they only see him with a poor knife,
they fear him so greatly that he can do whatever he wishes. All the
village together will not be bold enough to arrest him, for they
say that he is posong, which is the same as "bold." I have had many
examples of this. [238]
72. The vice of drunkenness is regarded by them as rank in the
fourth degree, [239] and they have made it a point of nobility;
for the chiefest men think that they are the best workmen at this
occupation. [240] It is a fact that those most given to this vice
are the Ilocans, then the Visayans, and then our Tagálogs. [241] The
Pampangos can be exempted from this rule, for they are very temperate
in this wretched habit, as well as in all the other things which we
have mentioned. They are very different: for they are truthful, and
love their honor; are very brave, and inclined to work; and are more
civil, and of better customs. In regard to the vices here mentioned
(for they are, in the last analysis, Indians like the rest), they
keep them more out of sight and covered. In all things the Pampangos
have a nobleness of mind that makes them the Castilians of these
same Indians. Consequently, that people must be distinguished from
the rest in its character, in all that we have said.
73. Returning now to the others, in general, they possess vanity
without honor; for among them it is no reason for less esteem to
be drunkards, robbers, or connivers in evil deeds, or [to practice]
other like virtues. [242] They lose reputation and honor only if they
get the reputation of being sorcerers. Consequently, in the opinion of
a very learned minister, there is no case of a restitution of honor,
unless some accusation of this infamous sin is imputed to them. In
their marriages and among their kindred their disgust is not moved
except by this, for the others are excused by self interest, but this
fault is not. [243]
74. All that I have said of the men is very different in the women,
saltem quoad modum. [244] For they are of better morals, are docile
and affable, and show great love to their husbands and to those who
are not their husbands. They are really very modest in their actions
and conversation, to such a degree that they have a very great horror
of obscene words; and if weak nature craves acts, their natural modesty
abhors words. [245] The notion that I have formed of them is that they
are very honorable, and, most of all, the married women. Although beans
are boiled, it is not by the kettleful, as in other regions. [246]
Scarcely will one find a Tagálog or Pampango Indian woman, who will
put her person to trade; and they are not so abandoned as we see in
the women in other regions. They are very averse toward the Spaniard,
and love the equality [in marriage] of their own nation; and, as a
foreign religious said, are suited "each man to each woman." They
rarely have any love for a Spaniard. They have another peculiarity,
which if the Indian women of America had, that land would not be so
full of mulattoes, who are a ferocious and wicked race. This is their
horror for Cafres and negroes, which is so great that they would sooner
suffer themselves to be killed than to receive them. The Visayan women,
however, are ready for everything, and are not so fastidious. On the
contrary, they are very ready to consent to any temptation. [247]
75. The women are very devout, and in every way of good habits. The
cause for this is that they are kept so subject and so closely
occupied; for they do not lift their hands from their work, since in
many of the villages they support their husbands and sons, while the
latter are busied in nothing else but in walking, [248] in gambling,
and wearing fine clothes, while the greatest vanity of the women is
in the adornment and demeanor of these gentlemen, for they themselves
are very poorly and modestly [249] clad.
76. In all that I have said, to this point, concerning the nature and
morals of these poor people, I have done no more than to approximate
[to the truth], as the mathematicians have done in the squaring of
the circle. For an essential, substantial, and exhaustive definition
[250] is for some other person, to whom divine Providence chooses
to communicate this difficult matter. [251] Very praiseworthy is
Barclayo, for in his Eupormion and his Argenis, [252] he succeeded
in discerning the natures of nations; as did Juan Rodemborgio, [253]
and our Gracian in his Criticon. [254] But had they treated of the
Filipinos, they would not have been so successful.
77. The bishop of La Puebla, Don Juan Palafox, [255] wrote a keen
treatise on the virtues of the Indians of Nueva España, in which
his uncommon intellect and his holy and good intention are displayed
more clearly than is the truth of his argument on the subject; for
in a curious way he endeavors to make virtues of all their vices and
evil inclinations. For in what they merit before God through their
wills, they do not merit if it be the impelling force of their
natural inclination and manner of living, because absuetiis non
fit passio. [256] One cannot, indeed, compare the voluntary poverty
of St. Francis with that of the Indians, which is born of laziness
and full of greed; for theirs is the infamous poverty which Virgil
places in hell: et turpis egestas. [257] And just as the economy of
a poor wretch is not reckoned as fasting, so it will not be proper
to say that if St. Antony [258] went barefoot, the Indians do the
same; and that they live on certain roots, as did the fathers of the
Thebaid. [259] For the fasting and the austerities of St. Arsenius
[260] had a different impelling motive--since he left the pleasures
and esteem of the court of the emperor Theodosius [261]--than that
which they can have, being so born and reared, and never having
seen anything else. Hence, Ovid says of the Getas that they left the
delights and comforts of Roma, and returned to seek the poverty and
misery to which they were accustomed in Pontus:
Roma quid meltus scyt[h]ico [262] quid frigore peius?
Húc tamen ex illa Barbarus urbe fugit. [263]
78. It is not my intention to include the Sangley mestizos here,
as they are a different race. For although they were the children of
Indians at the beginning, they have been approaching more and more
to the Chinese nation with the lapse of successive generations. Et
compositum ex multis atrahit ad se nuturam simplicis dignioris. [264]
Consequently, I leave their description for whomever wishes to
undertake that task; for I fear that I shall succeed but very ill
with the task which I have here undertaken, as it is so difficult.
79. Finally, summing up all the above, the inference will be that
all the actions of these wretched beings are such as are dictated
by nature through the animal, intent solely on its preservation
and convenience, without any corrective being applied by reason,
respect, and esteem for reputation. Consequently, he who first said
of a certain people that if they saw the whole world hanging on one
nail and needed that nail in order to hang up their hat, they would
fling the world down in order to make room for the hat, would have
said it of the Indians had he known them. For they think only of
what is agreeable to them, or of what the appetite dictates to them;
and this they will put in action, if fear, which also dwells in them,
do not dissuade them. [265] Hence they will be seen dressed in the
shirts and clothes of their masters, for the sole reason [266] that
because they no sooner enter any house than they become the owners
of everything in it. And the worst thing is that, although they are
not good and faithful servants, intrant in gaudium domini sui. [267]
80. They also have other qualities worthy of envy, non quoad causam sed
quoad efectum. [268] Such is their contentment with their lot, for they
believe that there is no people in the whole world better than they,
and that if they possess a bamboo hut, a little rice for a few days,
a few small fish, and a couple of leaves of tobacco, they do not envy
the tables of Xerxes or Eliogabalus, [269] and can sing with Lucan:
O tuta potestas Augusti parvique laris.
Prohl munera nondum intellecta Deum quibus hoc
Contingere templis, vel posuit muris nullo
Trepidare tumulto, Cæsarea pulsata manu. [270]
81. They are also worthy of envy for the calmness and conformity
with which they die, with so wonderful peace, as if they were
making a journey from one village to another--the Lord working in
these creatures as the Lord that He is, [271] for in that transit
His mercy shines forth more; and thus said David (Psalm, XLVII, 21)
Domini, Domini, exitus mortis; [272] whence that reduplication which
the Hebrew grammar calls ohatsere, [273] signifies the superlative
in name and action. The same is the declaration of divine wisdom
(Proverbs, XX): In viis justitiæ ambulo, in medio semitarum judicii,
ut ditem diligentes me. [274] The Father celestial summons them for
the relief of their burdens, and of the troubles which they have had
during life: Venite qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego reficiam
vos (Matthew xi, 28). [275]
For it is a fact that if one consider the life and lot of most of them,
they resemble that merchant in the gospel of Matthew (chapter 13),
who gave all that he had for the precious pearl; for it costs them
more than is apparent to become Christians, with so much cutting of
timber, and many personal services; and thus God gives them the true
rest of death, as to poor and needy ones. Parcet pauperi, et inopi,
et animas pauperum salvas faciet (Psalm, xii, 13). [276] Exiguo enim
conceditur missericordia (Wisdom, vi, 7). [277]
82. In all the aforesaid, I find no more than the claw by which this
lion can be recognized, because of the difficulty of the matter;
therefore I refer the matter to another who has greater talent and
experience, who can tell more, since I cannot do everything. [278]
I remember once to have heard from an inexperienced preacher this
ingenious bit of nonsense, that in praising St. John the Baptist he
cited that passage of St. Matthew (chapter xi, [7]), coepit Jesus
dicere [ad turbas] de Joanne;
83. And he said that John was so great a saint, that even in the mouth
of Christ our Lord it was [only] possible to begin speaking of him,
but that no end could be reached. The same I shall say of this matter,
in all candor.
84. There is no little to learn and study in the matter, concerning the
manner in which one must behave with them--especially we ministers,
who come from remote lands in order to assist and teach them;
for because of not understanding this aright many have become
disconsolate, and have conceived a horror of the Indians, and
have returned to España, or they have lived amid great hardship,
in a continual combat of impatience and anxiety, thus frustrating
the good vocation which brought them to these islands, a vocation so
acceptable to God our Lord. For, as says the angelic doctor St. Thomas,
22, book 188, article 4: Deo nullum sacrificium est magis acceptum,
quam celus animarum. [279] To those who take this charge upon them,
the words of the Lord in His revelations to St. Brigida are of great
consolation. Among many others, he says (book 2, chapter 6): Vos ergo
amici mei qui estis in mundo procedite securi, clamate, et anuntiate
voluntatem meam. Ego ero in corde et in ore vestro. Ego ero dux vester
in via et consolator in morte. Non relinquam vos, procedite alacriter
quia ex labore cresit gloria. [280] For it is a fact that all this
exhortation is necessary, in order to combat the friction that is
caused to the European disposition by dealing with people of customs
so different, and which has caused so many to lose their reason.
85. Therefore the compass to which the navigator must always be
attentive, in the gulf of the customs of this exasperating race,
is patience. For this is the only remedy which Christ our Lord left
to His disciples for the attainment of this ministry: (Luke xxi,
[19]) In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras; and St. Paul,
in Hebrews x, 36: patientia est vobis necessaria, ut reportetis,
repromissionis. [281]
86. With this knowledge and without losing [282] this strong protection
one must continually consider that all these vices and evil traits
are dictated and impelled by their nature, at times aided by the
suggestion of the common enemy when he hopes to succeed in causing us
impatience. Very worth considering in this are the words of St. Paul
(2 Cor., xi, 19, 20): Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis
ipsi sapientes. Sustinetis enim si quis vos in servitutem redigit,
si quis devorat, si quis accipit, si quis extollitur, si quis infaciem
vos cædit. [283] For all these hardships, and greater, must be suffered
here among these brothers. [284]
87. I confess for my part that, at the beginning, I was afflicted
and was greatly tormented, until with the lapse of time I came to
realize that such was their disposition and nature, and that these
trees could give no better fruit. In time it became to me a motive for
praising God to see the variety of conditions and [285] customs which
He has placed in human nature, which is so beautified with variety;
and I took particular pleasure in seeing youths and boys doing all
things backward--without any malice, and without having prompters,
like actors; but moved only by that hidden peculiarity that makes them
so different from all other nations, and so uniform among themselves,
[a likeness] which is so great that any one who has seen one of
these monopantos has seen them all. With these considerations I lived
consoled, and succeeded in making of them wax and wick, as the saying
is. [286]
88. First, one must not shout out at them, for that is a matter that
frightens and terrifies them greatly, as can be seen if one cries out
at them when they are unaware--when the whole body trembles; and they
say that a single cry of the Spaniard penetrates quite to their souls.
89. One must not strike them with the hands, for if we are of flesh,
they are of iron, and the hand will suffer greatly, for God does not
choose that they be corrected so indecently. [287]
90. All of their faults must not be overlooked, for they will become
insolent and worse daily. Consequently, it is necessary for the father
ministers to give them some lashes as a father, with great moderation,
for it is enough to give lashes for vanity and haughtiness. This must
be observed especially in the lads, as is the order of the Holy Spirit
(Proverbs, xxiii, 13, 14): Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim
percussieris eum virga, non morietur. Tu virga percuties eum: et animam
ejus de inferno liberabis. [288] The command of St. Gregory shall be
observed carefully (2 p. pastoral, chapter 6): Curandum quippe est ut
rectorem subditis, et matrem, et patrem se exhibeat disciplina. [289]
91. Nothing must be taken away from them, or received from them,
without paying for it; for they are very poor, and the least thing
produces a great want with them. It must be considered that their
greatest misery arises from their laziness and rude condition, and that
that habit keeps them in its grasp, and they suffer great poverty;
for Egestatem operata est manus remissa (Proverbs, x, 4). We must
consider also that they support us and that they pay as they are
able for our labors. If anything be given to them, let it be purely
[290] for God's sake and as an alms, for if it be lent it will be
entirely lost, both the merit and the patience [291]--considering
their necessity and not their ingratitude, as a thing ordained by
God. Propter miseriam asume pauperem, et propter inopiam eius ne
dimitas eum vacuum; et cætera (Ecclesiasticus, xxix, 12). [292]
92. It is better, in selecting servants among the Indians for the
inside of the house, to see that they be the sons of caciques or
chiefs. They must be shown neither love nor familiarity. They must
indeed always be treated well, but with uprightness and seriousness
of face. It must be considered that in proportion as they are
better caressed and clothed, the worse and more insolent they will
become. This is the teaching of the Holy Spirit in Proverbs xxiv,
21: Qui delicate a pueritia nutrit servum suum, postea sentiet eum
contumacem. They must be taught their duties, and must always be
ordered to perform them with prudence and circumspection, for otherwise
they will come gradually to lose respect for their master, and for
the character which God presents to them in the Spaniard in order to
dominate them; and then will result the same thing that happened to
the log which, Æsop says, was placed in the lake by Jupiter to be king
of the frogs. But the frogs, seeing after a time that it did not move,
made sport of it, and jumped on top of it, etc. Not many things should
be ordered of them at one time; for their memories are very poor, and
they will only keep the last one in mind. The keys of the pantry or
to the money must not be entrusted to them, for that would be placing
opportunity and temptation in their hands, and they never resist
it. Good instruction and subjection in the house, and, above all, the
good example of life which they see in their masters, instil much into
them; and under such conditions they generally become good servants,
especially those of the Pampango nation. On the other hand, also,
one must not expect a good servant in the house of a bad master. [293]
93. One must not exhaust them or squeeze them much beyond what they
can give of themselves, as we do with the lemon, for all that will be
pressed out will be bitter, as says the proverb of the commentary;
qui nimis emungit, solet extorquere cruorem. [294] Neither is it
well or proper to go about visiting the caciques or going up into
their houses, except when necessity requires it; for immediately
the whole village will be filled with envy and complaint, and the
esteem of the father ministers will suffer considerably. Besides,
their stench and vice do not render this diversion desirable. [295]
94. When [296] they are sent with a message to any place, one must
very patiently await some notable failure caused ordinarily by their
natural sloth and laziness. [297] Sicut acetum dentibus, et fumus
oculis, sic piger his qui miserunt illum (Proverbs, x, 26). [298]
95. I do not believe that I should omit mention, saltem per transenam,
[299] of a matter very worthy of consideration--namely, that if God
chooses to chastise the flourishing Christianity of these islands for
our and their sins, by placing it in the hands of Indians ordained as
priests (as appears about to threaten us very soon), if God do not
apply a remedy, what abominations will not follow! For to declare
that they will change their customs [300] and the aforesaid vices
is impossible. On the contrary, their arrogance will grow worse
with exaltation to so sublime an estate; their cupidity with power
will be better fed; their laziness, with the lack of necessity;
and their vanity, with the applause that they would wish to have,
for they would desire to be served by those whom they would in
another estate respect and obey; and the villages would suffer
from the curse mentioned in Isaiah xxiv, 2, sicut populus, sic
sacerdos. For the Indian who is ordained does not become a priest
because it is the calling that conduces to the most perfect estate,
[301] but because of the great and almost infinite advantage that
comes to him with the new estate that he chooses. How much it differs
from being a father cura, to be a baguntao or sexton! From paying
tribute, to being paid a stipend! From going to the [compulsory]
cutting of timber, to being served in it! From rowing in a banca,
to be rowed in it! That does not count with a Spaniard, who, if he
become a cleric, often gives up an office as alcalde-mayor, captain,
or general, with many other comforts in his native place, while his
house is exalted above all the nation of the Indians. Let one contrast
this with the vanity with which one who has been freed from the oar,
[302] or from an ax in the cutting of timber, will give his hand to be
kissed! What a burden for the village will be the father, and mother,
sister and nieces ranked as ladies, when many other better women are
pounding rice! For if the Indian is insolent and intolerable with
but little power, what will he be with so much superiority! And if
the wedge from the same log [303] is so powerful, what will it be if
driven by so great authority! What plague of locusts can be compared
to the destruction that they would cause in the villages? [304] What
respect will the Indians have for him, seeing that he is of their
color and nation--and especially those who consider themselves as
good, and even better perhaps, than he who became a cura, while they
do not become anything better than bilango or servant? How severely
the good cura will chastise them, and for trifling offenses! [305]
as we see the Indians do when they act as gobernadorcillos of their
villages for even a single year--when the first thing that they do,
and in which they most delight, is immediately to place the picota
[306] in front of their houses, in order to apply lashes with the
hangman's strap [penca]. What tyranny will the cura practice on
them, such as they are wont to practice if they have any power and
authority! How well the wedge of the same wood will force its way,
without there being any one to say to him, curita facis? [i.e.,
"Dost thou play the cura?"] [307]
96. Therefore, if any insurrection or mutiny should arise, how well
could it be arranged and prepared, [308] if the cura entered also
into the dance, as he is also an Indian and interested? For, in all
the insurrections that have occurred in these islands, respect for
the father ministers has been of great importance; but the very
opposite would have happened if these were Indians. Then in the
frequent carousals and feasts of which they are so fond, and on which
their vanity and their chieftainship are founded, without any doubt
there would be great indecency; for the cura would be very tender
of conscience who would not pledge them in their cups. In that and
other temptations would happen what Lucian relates in the second of
his dialogues.
97. A noble youth had a very beautiful and gentle female kitten,
which he esteemed so highly that he begged the goddess Venus to change
it into a beautiful maiden, in order that he might marry her. The
goddess did so. Thereupon, the youth [309] immediately arranged the
wedding, to which he invited the best people of the city. While, then,
the bride was richly adorned with jewels and surrounded by many other
women, [310] and the guests, a mouse happened to appear, and began to
approach them in order to eat some crumbs of bread which were scattered
about. The bride saw it, and, without power to control herself, ran
after the mouse throughout the length of the hall, and the guests
were unable to restrain her. The groom was ashamed, and said, [311]
"Gentlemen, your pardon; for this girl was formerly a cat, and will
always have the habits and bad traits of that animal."
98. I believe that the same thing would happen with the Indians,
[312] even when they belong to the caciques or nobility; for it
is incredible that they can strip themselves of the peculiarities
of their nature. I at least do not believe it at present, although
God our Lord can very easily do it, for He is the One who raises up
sons of Abraham from the stones. But we must not ask for miracles
needlessly, but allow the Indian to remain an Indian, and go to his
labor as before. If it is desired to prepare them for the high ministry
of the priesthood, it is advisable to test them in the offices of
alcaldes-mayor, captains, regidors, and councilors; for it appears
to me that there is no one who can say that these said offices are
greater and of higher rank and dignity than the priesthood, at least
where the Inquisition exists. Then, if they conduct themselves well
in the said employments, they can be given the management of the body
and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord; and then one can say with reason:
Quia in pauca fuisti fidelis supra multa te constituam. [313] For,
as the Church teaches us through the mouths of the holy fathers,
the dignity of the priesthood is so great that that of the kings or
emperors of the world cannot compare with it. Thus says St. Ignatius
the Martyr in his epistle to Smyrna, chapter x, Sacerdotium est
apex bonorum omnium, quæ sunt in hominibus. [314] St. Ambrose, in
chapter 2 of his book De dignitate sacerdotum [315] says so still
more clearly. [316] Father Molina [317] has considerable to say on
this in the first treatise of his Libro de sacerdotes [i.e., "Book
of priests"] as has Father Señeri [318] in his Cura instruido [i.e.,
"the cura instructed"].
99. Then is it possible that, even though they are Catholics and
faithful sons of the Church, we must exalt to so lofty an estate
men against whom there would be so many complaints if they became
alférezes of a company in the regiment of Manila? Can the sacred habit
of St. Peter, which we religious venerate as that of the greatest
dignity, and to which we yield the most honorable place--which, as
said the patriarch of Antiochia [319] to the emperor of China, is
the first rank and order of the Church--be obliged not to experience
disgust at such low creatures? I do not know in what it [i.e., the
proposal to ordain Indians] can consist, unless it be that in it
is realized the vision that the said St. Peter had in Cesarea when
the sheet was let down from heaven filled with toads and serpents,
and a voice commanded him to eat without disgust--as is read in
chapter x of the Acts of the Apostles. For although it signified
the calling of heathendom, it must not be understood in moral things
of the barbarous and mean nature of some peoples that compose that
heathendom, in order to constitute the ecclesiastic hierarchy. [320]
When I come to discuss this matter, I find no end, and I find that
we can only say: Domine adauge [nobis] fidem (Luke [x]vii, [5]). [321]
100. It is also a fact that the sacred canons do not demand from
those who are ordained more than an honorable life and example,
and a sufficient knowledge. Then, in order to dispense the spurious
and legitimate [322] and the mestizos, there is a brief of Gregory
XIII which begins "Nuper ad nos relatum est," [323] issued at Roma,
January 25, one thousand five hundred and seventy-five. For all
that, I regard them [i.e., Indians as priests] as irregular, not
only for the reasons given and stated above, but also because they
lack the ecclesiastical and priestly mental ability, and the prudence
necessary; and without these all the rest serves as almost nothing,
as Pedro Urceolo sang with graceful elegance in his "Epigrams:"
Sis licet ingenuus clarisque parentibus ortus;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Adde docus patriæ et claros tibi sume propinquos;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Sint tibi divitæ [324] sit larga et munda supellex;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Denique, quidquid eris, nisi sit prudentia tecum;
Magna quidem dico, bestia semper eris. [325]
101. May God our Lord preserve your Grace for the many years of my
desire. Manila, June 8, one thousand seven hundred and twenty. [326]
Your humble servant, who kisses your hand,
Fray Gaspar de San Agustin
[On a loose paper inserted in the copy of this letter owned by the
Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar (which as stated above, is unsigned),
which was formerly owned by the well known Spanish scholar Pascual
de Gayangos, is the following: "According to paragraphs [of this
letter] which Paterno inserted in his work La antigua civilizacion de
Filipinos (Madrid, 1887), p. 241, this letter must have been written
by father Fray Gaspar de San Agustín; and according to Sinibaldo Mas,
who inserts entire passages from this MS. in his Informe sobre el
estado de Filipinas en 1842, i, pp. 63-132, and attributes it to
Father Gaspar." Paterno has not had access to the document itself,
but has used Mas.]
[Subjoined to the letter is the following, the origin of which we
cannot account for, but which indicates the wide circulation that
the letter must have had.]
Questions of Father Pedro Murillo [Velarde] [327] of the Society
of Jesus
102. What is the Indian? Reply--The lowest degree of
rational animal. Question--How many and what are his
peculiarities? Reply--Twenty-one, as follows:
Pride Without honor.
Friend Without loyalty.
A drunkard Without satiety.
Compassionate Without mercy.
Reserved Without secrecy.
Long-suffering Without patience.
Cowardly Without fear.
Bold Without resolution.
Obedient Without submissiveness.
One who practices
austerities Without suffering.
Bashful Without sense of honor.
Virtuous Without mortification.
Clever Without capacity.
Civilized Without politeness.
Astute Without sagacity.
Merciful Without pity.
Modest Without shame.
Revengeful Without valor.
Poor Without corresponding
[mode of life].
Rich Without economy.
Lazy Without negligence.
Laus Deo.
Résumé of the entire letter by the said Father Murillo
103. The Filipino Indian is the embryo of nature and the offspring
of grossness. He does not feel an insult or show gratitude for a
kindness. His continual habitation is the kitchen; and the smoke that
harms all of us serves him as the most refreshing breeze. If the Indian
has morisqueta and salt, he gives himself no concern, though it rain
thunder and lightning, and the sky fall. He is much given to lying,
theft, and laziness. In the confessional he is a maze [embolismo]
of contradictions, now denying proofs and now affirming impossible
things. Now he plays the part of a devout pilgrim over rough roads
and through the deepest rivers, in order to hear mass on a workday
at a shrine ten or twelve leguas away; while it is necessary to use
violence to get him to hear mass on Sunday in his parish church. They
are impious in their necessities with the father, but liberal and
charitable to their guests, even when they do not know them; and
through that they are greatly disappointed. At the same time they are
humble and proud; bold and atrocious, but cowardly and pusillanimous;
compassionate and cruel; slothful and lazy, and diligent; careful and
negligent in their own affairs; very dull and foolish for good things,
but very clever and intelligent in rogueries. He who has most to do
with them knows them least. Their greatest diversion is cock-fighting,
and they love their cocks more than their wives and children. They are
more ready to believe any of their old people than even an apostolic
preacher. They resemble mellizas, [328] in their vices and opposite
virtues. In lying alone, is no contradiction found in them; for one
does not know when they are not lying, whether they are telling the
truth by mistake. One Indian does not resemble another Indian, or
even himself. If they are given one thing, they immediately ask for
another. [329] They never fail to deceive, unless it crosses their
own interest. In their suits, they are like flies on the food, who
never quit it, however much they be brushed away. Finally, there is
no fixed rule by which to construe them; a new syntax is necessary
for each one; and, as they are all anomalous, the most intelligent
man would be distracted [330] if he tried to define them. Farewell.
[Delgado has the following interesting chapter (pp. 297-302 of his
Historia) on this letter, which it is judged advisable to present at
this place.]
CHAPTER VII
Some considerations concerning the matter in Father Gaspar
de San Agustín's letter
I confess that I read this letter, in which the reverend author
criticises the customs and dispositions of the natives of Filipinas,
some years ago. But I read it as I am wont to read other letters, for
diversion and amusement, without thinking much about its artfulness,
and I was delighted with its erudition. However, when I afterward
considered its contents with some degree of thought, I saw that it
brought forward, in its whole length, no solid proof of what it
tries to make one believe; and it appeared to me a hyperbolical
criticism from the very beginning. On that account I resolved to
make a few brief commentaries on the matter in the letter, both for
the consolation of those whom our Lord may call to these missions,
and so that it may be understood that at times sadness and melancholy
are accustomed to heighten things, making giants out of pygmies--all
the more, if a relish for revery and grumbling be joined with a
tendency to exaggeration and with figures of speech corresponding
thereto. Consequently, I am surprised that the reverend annalist or
chronicler [i.e., San Antonio] of the seraphic province of San Gregorio
praises this letter, saying that it is worth printing, since its author
has penetrated as far as one may penetrate into the characters of the
natives of these islands. And yet the author confesses that it is as
difficult to define their nature as are the eight impossible things
which are recounted there. That seems to me a fine hyperbole.
From the above one can see that, as he commenced this letter by
affirming a hyperbole with eight hyperboles, it is not surprising that
I called it hyperbolical; and especially if all the hyperboles that it
contains from its beginning to its end be enumerated. But ere I begin
to express my opinion I would like to sum up two contradictory and
opposite expressions that I find in these authors. The reverend father
Fray Gaspar says of the Indians, in his letter, that the difficulty
of knowing the Indians lies not in the individual but in the race,
for, if one be known, all are known.
Father Pedro Murillo says, in his approbation of the Cronicas, [331]
that "there is no fixed rule by which to construe the Indians; for
each one needs a new syntax, all being anomalous. With the Indians
the argument does not conclude by induction, since no one is like to
himself; for, in the short circuit of a day, he changes into more
colors than a chameleon, takes more shapes than a Proteus, and has
more movements than a Euripus. [332] He who has most to do with them,
knows them least. In short, they are an aggregate of contrarieties,
and the best logician cannot reconcile them. They are an obscure and
confused chaos, in which no species can be perceived and no points
of exactness distinguished." All these terms considered one by one,
compose a very exaggerated hyperbole, in which this author showed his
great erudition and little experience, for he only ministered in a few
missions, and for a short time. For during most of the time while he
lived in these islands he did not leave the professor's chair, except
for a short time; and all that he tells of his journey to and travels
among the Visayas was learned in passing and hastily, in company
with the provincial who visited those missions. There he obtained
very little light on the character and temperament of the Indians,
as he had no dealings with them as one settled among them. And, just
as in this expression he opposes himself without much reason to the
reverend father Fray Gaspar, who after forty years of ministry, affirms
that the Indians are well designated by the Greek word monopantas--a
term which was given to a certain people by a critic, as they were all
similar and homogeneous--so also when he affirms that all are anomalous
and heterogeneous because they cannot all be constructed in one and
the same syntax, does he go beyond the credence that can be given to
his ingenious hyperboles. The experience that the said Father Murillo
could have is of the Indians who go about in Manila and its environs,
who are interpreters, servants in accounting-rooms and secretarial
offices, who are accustomed to deal with Spaniards of all kinds, with
creoles, mestizos, Sangleys, and other kinds of people who assemble
there for trade. They have learned fraud and deceit, as well as the
bad morals and propensities of all and every one of them. As is seen,
one cannot judge of a whole nation--and much less of all the nations
of the islands, who are diverse and distinct in genius and customs
by the cases of these Indians who speak Spanish. And taking into
account so great diversity, I affirm that it is impossible to find
a definition that admits and includes all of them. For these persons
whom I have mentioned, reared among so many classes, and among people
so heterogeneous, and who are imbued with customs so diverse, cannot
form rules by which to explain their own nation, much less by which
to define the other nations.
Now if the statements of authors in regard to physical or moral matters
are so at variance that we can say that each author has a different
opinion--as says the proverb, Quot capita, tot sententiæ--and if
thus far no ground and certain point has been found at which the
understanding may stop, how is it strange that they do not find,
in order to describe Indians with customs so unusual and artificial
as have those of Manila, a compound idea made up of all that they
have learned from the Spaniard, both good and evil; all that they
have learned from the Guachinango; [333] and what they have learned
from the mestizo, the Sangley, the Moro, the Malabar, the Cafre, and
all the other people with whom they have intercourse and with whom
they trade? Granting this to be true, it appears that the definition
of Father Murillo fits these Spanish-speaking Indians, but not the
others, who have not had any intercourse with diverse classes of
people. On this account it seems to me that father Fray Gaspar hit
the definition exactly, when he said in his letter that the Asiatic
Indians of Filipinas are almost the same as all the people of the
nations of Eastern India, in what concerns their genius, disposition,
and inclination; and are not distinguished one from another except in
their rites, clothing, and languages. I add, in what regards their
abilities and capacities--which are so good, and in general so well
inclined--that I believe that if children, either boys or girls,
were taken from Filipinas to Viscaya or to Castilla, the natives
[of those countries] would not distinguish them from the Vizcainos,
Castilians, or mountaineers. For their vices are not due so much
to their nature, as to their bad rearing and education; and they are
easily instructed both in the evil and in the good. And notwithstanding
what father Fray Gaspar, Father Murillo, and Fray Juan [Francisco]
de San Antonio have said, they would have been more successful had
they not said, with exaggeration, that it would be impossible to
write everything that they have observed of the Indians, on all the
paper that is found in China. That is a hyperbole that transcends all
faith. Thus does he continue in all that he says; and he affirms,
further, that it surpasses all that we can touch with the hands or
see with the eyes. Hence from the beginning we can state those two
rules of law: semel malus, semper præsumitur malus; and the other,
malum ex quocumque defectu. [334]...
What mystery is there in the customs and genius of the Indians
that should make them so deep and inscrutable that we cannot reach
them, sound them, and explain them? since they are Indians like all
the rest of the people of Asia, without there being more or less
in them. Therefore, "these profundities, this intricate, confused
chaos, this aggregate of contrarieties, this maze of contradictions,
are a collection of rhetorical locutions or tropes invented in
order to exaggerate and to use hyperboles in what of itself has
no mystery--these definitions remaining purely in the manner of
speech, or of the conception, of their authors; or perhaps in a mere
misapprehension formed by a critical, melancholy, or affected genius.