But since in this letter, the evil prope_The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

men and lads, who act as servants, are set down in detail, let us see

on the other hand, somewhat of the good that the Indians possess. For

one should not write and consider only the evil, and omit as fitting

all the good, in order thereby to make the object more detestable. For,

as says a mystical writer, we must not possess the nature of the

dung-beetle, which goes always to the dungheap, but that of the bee,

which always seeks out the sweet and pleasant. Let us see what Father

Murillo says of the good: "They are most clever in any handiwork, not

in inventing but in imitating what they see. They are most beautiful

writers; and there are many tailors and barbers among them. They are

excellent embroiderers, painters, goldsmiths, and engravers, whose

burin has not the like in all the Indias (and I was even about to

pass farther if shame did not restrain me), as is seen clearly in the

many good engravings that they make daily. They are good sculptors,

gilders, and carpenters. They make the water craft of these islands,

the galleys, pataches, and ships of the Acapulco line. They act as

sailors, artillery-men, and divers; for there is scarce an Indian

who cannot swim excellently. They are the under-pilots of these

seas. They are very expert in making bejuquillos, [335] which are

gold chains of a very delicate and exquisite workmanship. They make

hats, petates or rugs, and mats, from palm-leaves, rattan, and nito,

[336] which are very beautiful, and embroidered with various kinds of

flowers and figures. They are remarkable mechanics and puppet-showmen,

and they make complicated mechanisms which, by means of figures, go

through various motions with propriety and accuracy. There are some

jewelers. They make powder, and cast swivel-guns, cannon, and bells. I

have seen them make guns as fine as those of Europa. There are three

printing houses in Manila, and all have Indian workmen. They have great

ability in music. There is no village however small, that has not its

suitable band of musicians for the services of the Church. They have

excellent voices--sopranos, contraltos, tenors, and basses. Almost

all of them can play the harp, and there are many violinists, rebeck,

oboe, and flute players. The most remarkable thing is, that not only

do those whose trade it is make those instruments; but various Indians

make guitars, flutes, harps, and violins, for pleasure, with their

bolos and machetes. And by the mere seeing those instruments played,

they learn them almost without any teaching; and the same thing occurs

in other things. On this account it is said that the Indians have

their understanding in their eyes, since they imitate whatever they

see, by another like it." This is what Father Murillo says; but he

left the most important things in the inkhorn. I will add them here,

as I have heard them affirmed many times by the Spaniards in Cavite,

namely: Who are the men who convey and conduct the ships and galleons

from Acapulco and other kingdoms? Is it the Spaniards? Ask that of

the pilots, masters, and boatswains, and they will all affirm that

this great and inestimable good is due to the Indian alone. (Here is

indeed where a hyperbole will fit exactly.) Besides this, who are

the people who support us in these lands and those who furnish us

food? Perhaps the Spaniards dig, harvest, and plant throughout the

islands? Of a surety, no; for when they arrive at Manila, they are

all gentlemen. The Indians are the ones who plow the lands, who sow

the rice, who keep it clear [of weeds], who tend it, who harvest it,

who thrash it out with their feet--and not only the rice which is

consumed in Manila, but that throughout the Filipinas--and there is no

one in all the islands who can deny me that. Besides this, who cares

for the cattle-ranches? The Spaniards? Certainly not. The Indians

are the ones who care for, and manage and tend the sheep and cattle

by which the Spaniards are supported. Who rears the swine? Is it not

the same Indians? Who cultivates the fruits--the bananas, cacao, and

all the other fruits of the earth? of which there is always abundance

in the islands, unless unfavorable weather, locusts, or some other

accident cause their loss? Who provide Manila and the Spaniards with

oil? Is it not the poor Visayan Indians, who bring it in their vessels

annually? Who furnishes so great profit to the Spaniards in Manila

with the balate [337] and sigay; and who buys these products very

cheaply from the wretched Indians, and resell them for double the sum

to the pataches of the coast and to the Sangleys? Who guide and convey

us to the villages and missions, and serve us as guides, sailors, and

pilots? Perhaps it is the Spaniards? No, it is the Indians themselves,

with their so exaggerated, magnified, and heightened laziness. Is

this the thanks that we give them, when we are conquering them in

their own lands, and have made ourselves masters in them, and are

served by them almost as by slaves? We ought to give God our Lord many

thanks, because He maintains us only through the affection and by the

useful labors of the Indians in this land; and He would perhaps have

already driven us hence if it were not for this usefulness of theirs,

and for the salvation of the Indians. We also owe many thanks to the

Indians, since God our Lord sustains us in their lands by their means;

and because we would die of starvation if they did not sustain us,

provide us with food, serve us, and conduct us through the islands

with so much love and security that they would all first perish before

the father in whatever perils arise.

These and many other like things were overlooked by Father Murillo, who

was enraptured by their music, engraving, and rugs. By the aforesaid,

one will see with how little truth the statement is printed that the

Indians are the greatest enemies that the father ministers have;

for certainly all the above could not be reconciled with such a

proposition. On the contrary, it must be said that the Indians are

those who defend us from our enemies; for, in the presidios, who are

the soldiers, who sail in the war fleets, who are in the vanguard

in war? Could the Spaniards, perchance, maintain themselves alone

in this country, if the Indians did not aid in everything? Little

experience and less reflection would he have who should propose

such a thing. Therefore, these two things do not harmonize well,

that those who hate us should defend us, and that those who are our

greatest enemies should be the ones to maintain and support us. Nor

is it to be wondered at that there have been insurrections on several

occasions; these, perhaps, have not arisen because the Indians were

ill-disposed to the Spaniards; but, on the contrary, we know that

many of them have been caused by the cruelty, wickedness, and tyranny

of some alcalde-mayor and other Spaniards who, having been elevated

from low beginnings, try to become gods and kings in the provinces,

tyrannizing over the Indians and their possessions. This is often the

cause of the insurrections. Would that I could mention some especial

cases in this matter. However, I do not care to dip my pen in blood,

and write tragedies instead of history. For, although I could say

more, the authority and arrogance that every Spaniard assumes upon

his arrival in this country is incredible.

THE NATIVE PEOPLES AND THEIR CUSTOMS

[San Antonio, [338] in his Cronicas (Manila, 1738-44), i, pp. 129-172,

has the following ethnological matter. We omit the side heads.]

CHAPTER XXXIX

Of the origin of the Indians

[After a brief allusion to the creation of man at the beginning of

the world, the writer continues:]

384. Now, then, I have said as much as there is to say of the origin

of the Indians, if we speak of the first and most remote. For to

endeavor to determine the first settlers of these lands, whence and

how they came, whether they were Carthaginians, Jews, Spaniards,

Phoenicians, Greeks, Chinese, Tartars, etc., is reserved for God,

who knows everything; and this task exceeds all human endeavor. And

if such study obtain anything, it will amount only to a few fallible

conjectures--with danger of the judgment, and without any advance of

the truth or of reputation. And such is the notion (omitting many

other absurdities that have been written), that the Indians were

produced ex putre like unclean animals, or like the wild plants of the

field. Others showing them great favor, assign the sun as their father,

which produced them from some noble material. Others say [that they

were produced] by the ingenious art of chemists or magicians; others

that there were two Adams in the world, one in Asia, and another in

the Western Indias, and that our Indians proceeded from one of them;

others, that there were already people in the world before the creation

of Adam; and that from them came the heathen, and from Adam, the

Hebrews. All of the above, being so erroneous nonsense, and blindness

from the devil, is already refuted, and is well refuted with contempt.

385. The only conjecture that can be made with some more visible

foundation is the origin of our Indians, considering those who were

found in these islands at the time of the conquest by the Spanish

arms. In accordance with this, I shall relate what written records

I have found (which is very little), and what I have carefully

investigated, which will not be much, for the natives are not very

capable of forming adequate accounts of this subject, and what we

Europeans are reducing to treatises.

386. Father Colin (both learned and curious in the investigation of the

matter which we are treating) reduces the people found in this land

by our first conquistadors into three different classes. The first

class consisted of those who ruled and governed as absolute masters;

and these were civilized after their own fashion. The second consisted

of black and barbarous mountaineers who inhabited the tops of the

mountains, like brutes. The third consisted of men neither so barbaric

nor so civilized as the other two classes; for, although they lived

in retirement, they did not hate civilization and human intercourse.

387. This third class still remains in the same ancient condition. They

live, as a rule, on the plateaus of the mountains, and at the

mouths of rivers, and maintain themselves by hunting and fishing,

and some agriculture. Most of them trade, and barter wax with the

villages. These people are called Zimarrònes, Zambals, Ylàgas, Tìngues,

Tagabaloòyes, [339] Manòbos, Mangyànes, and various other names,

according to the difference of the sites where they live. Some or

others of these have become Christians, through the efforts of the

near-by evangelical ministers. The rest are heathen, but they have

no determined rites, and are governed only by the customs of their

ancestors, and those customs are mostly barbaric. Some of these

people are accustomed to pay some sort of recognition or feudal due

to our Catholic monarch, who is thereby bound to defend them from

the invasions of their neighboring enemies. Such is done by the

Tagabaloòyes in the province of Caràga, who pay their annual feudal

due in guinàras and medriñaques (textiles of abacá), [340] in order to

be defended from the Moros their neighbors. Likewise the Mangyànes of

Mindôro (who number about seven thousand), who pay fifty-two arrobas

and a half of wax annually, or 105 tributes; and some of the Manòbos in

the mountains of Caràga (who are heathen and without number, although

some are Christians--a people civilized and well inclined to work,

who have [fixed] habitation and excellent houses)--pay tribute.

388. The origin of all these people (who are scattered throughout these

islands) is inferred to be either the many civilized Indians who have

retreated to the mountains in order not to pay tribute, or in order not

to be chastised for any crime; or the many different nations immediate

to this archipelago. For some bear traces of being Japanese mestizos,

as do the Tagabaloòyes, as I am well informed by religious who have

had intercourse with them. Some are known to proceed from the Chinese;

some from pure Indians, and some from other nations, as is declared

by the circumstances of face, body, color, hair, customs, manner,

and behavior--according to the experience of various religious, who

agree that they are not of the pure race of the Indians, but mestizos

as above stated. And even in five clans of Mangyànes who are said

to exist in the island of Mindòro, there is one which has a little

tail, as do the monkeys; and many religious who have assured me of

it, as witnesses. In Valèr, on the coast opposite us, a woman was

found not long ago who had a long tail, as was told me by the present

missionary; and he was unable to be sure of the origin of that race,

unless it was a race of Jews.

389. I do not know whether those people who are found only in

the environs of Manila, and are called Criollos Morenos [i.e.,

creole blacks], can be put in this mestizo class. The former are

all oldtime Christians, docile, well inclined, and of sufficient

understanding. They serve the king in personal duties, and always

have their regiment of soldiers, with their master-of-camp, captains,

and other leaders; and in this way they are outside the reckoning as

Indians. It is difficult to assign their true origin to them. For

some make them the descendants of those blacks, of whom we shall

speak later, who were the primitive lords of these domains. But I do

not see how this can be so, for they do not resemble those Negrillos

either in their hair or in the members of their bodies, or in the

qualities of their minds, in which these creoles have the complete

advantage. And although it might be said that they have been bettered

in all ways with the lapse of time, and the change of location to

one more civilized and temperate, it is not credible that they would

not retain some of their old vices, as is the case with various other

races here, and as has been experienced in Nueva España. Some people

make them the descendants of those slaves who were formerly held here

by the petty rulers, brought by foreign traders in exchange for the

drugs that formed their commerce and with whose price they made a

good profit. Even yet they bring to our settlements a considerable

number--so many, that it is necessary for one of the auditors to be

judge of the slaves, and his duty costs him his time and patience. The

creoles refuse to confess this origin, and it does not seem to me

that they would be so well received and so well regarded if they

had so vile an origin. Some believe that they descend from the free

Malabars who come to these islands under pretext of trade. I incline

more to this view, paying heed to the physiognomies and intellect of

them all, for they are almost all alike in their clear dark color,

aquiline noses, animated eyes, lank hair, docile disposition, and

good manners, by which we may infer that those that there are now

are Malabar and Indian mestizos.

390. At the present time, all this archipelago, and especially these

islands of the Tagálogs, are full of another race of mestizos, who

were not found at the first discovery, whom we call Sangley mestizos,

[341] who are descended from Indian women and Chinese men. For since

trade with them [i.e., the Sangleys] has been, and is, so frequent,

and so many remain in these islands under pretext of trade, and they

are the ones who supply these islands with clothing, food, and other

products, those who have mixed with the Indian women in marriage are

numerous; and for this purpose they become Christians, and from them

have resulted so many mestizos that one cannot count them. They are all

Christians, and quite commonly well disposed, and very industrious and

civilized. They take pride in imitating the Europeans in everything,

but their imitation is only a copy. They inhabit the same villages

with the Tagálogs, but are not reckoned with them; since for the

reckoning of the king they belong to a different body. The women are

more like the Sangleys or Chinese, but the men not so much; however,

these inherit from them ambition, in their continual industry.

391. There is also another kind of mestizo--the Japanese--who result

from the Japanese who were shipwrecked on these islands in former

years. They are of better conduct than the others, since they have a

better origin. They are more esteemed here and have more privileges,

for they only pay half as much tribute as do the others.

392. It is tradition that the Negrillos, who belong to the second

class of people whom our first conquistadors found, were the first

owners of the islands of this archipelago; and that, the civilized

nations of other kingdoms having conquered them, they fled to the

mountains and settled there, and from there it has never been possible

to exterminate them, because their sites are impenetrable. There

they have lived and brought forth children until the present. In

former times they were so elated with their primitive power that,

although their forces were not able to cope with those of foreigners

in the open, they were very powerful in the thickets, mountains, and

mouths of the rivers; and were accustomed to burst like an avalanche

upon the villages, and compel their inhabitants to pay them tribute,

as if they were the lords of the land, who were inhabiting it. And if

the people refused to give it willingly, they killed right and left,

collecting the tribute in the heads of those who were decapitated; as

was written by one of our oldtime religious in the following words:

"Even in my time, it happens," he says, "that they descended to

the settlements and sought tribute from the Tagálogs, and at times

took some heads for this purpose. Thus did it happen in Sinilòan,

which refused tribute at the approach of the Spaniards. The mountain

Indians, having revolted, attacked the village; and they took three

heads, and badly wounded a Spaniard who was defending them." Thus far

the religious. At other times those people did not allow the Indians

to make use of the wood and game of the mountains, and the fish of

the rivers. For being very skilful in the use of the bow and arrow,

and very swift and experienced in the fastnesses of the mountains and

thickets, they inhumanly shot with arrows as many as approached their

territories, without anyone catching sight or sound of them. For that

reason, the inhabitants of the villages consider it wise to make an

agreement with the Negrillos to pay them a certain tribute, provided

that the latter leave the rivers and fields free. And although this

pact is not so apparent at present, I believe that it is practiced

secretly because of the fear that the Indians have of them, and

because of their dependence on them; since the Negrillos are the

lords of the mountains which contain the most virgin forests, with

woods of the greatest value. It is a fact, too, that those of the

present day are as barbarous as their ancestors.

393. All of these people are black negroes, most of whom have kinky

hair, and very few have lank. They are flat-nosed, and almost all of

them have thick, projecting lips. They go totally naked, and only

have their privies covered with some coverings resembling linen

cloths, which they draw on from the back forward, and which are

called bahaques. They make those bahaques from the bark of trees,

pounded with heavy blows, so that there are some that look like fine

linen. Wrapping a rattan around the waist, they fasten the bahaque

to it by the two ends. As ornaments they wear certain bracelets of

rattan of various colors, curiously wrought; and garlands on their

heads and on the fleshy parts of their arms, composed of various

flowers and branches; and as a means of greater distinction for some

one person, a cock's feather or the feather of some other bird, as

a plume. Their food consists of fruits, and roots of the mountain;

and if they find, perchance, some deer, they eat it in that place

where they kill it. That night they make their abode there, and after

they grow tired of dancing, they sleep there--all helter-skelter,

like brutes. Next day the same thing happens, and they sleep in

another stopping-place. All their customs are the savage and brutish

ones characteristic of barbarians; and they recognize no other laws,

letters, or government than those of the heads of their families,

at the most. They only care about defending their own territories,

upon which they have lively wars, some Negrillos against others,

with great mortality on both sides. At such times no natives dare

enter the mountains, for the Negrillos kill them all, whether friend

or enemy. Their most common arms are shield, bow, and arrow. If by a

miracle any Christian is found among these people, and if perhaps the

religious have reared some of them in Christianity from childhood,

it very rarely occurs that he does not flee to the mountains whence

he originated, when he becomes grown.

394. One of the islands of this archipelago which has a name, is the

one called the island of Negros, because of the abundance of those

people. It is located between the two islands of Zebú and Panày, and

in it is established a Christian and civilized government. But at one

point of this island, which lies toward the west, and is called the

point of Sojotòn, there is a great number of the said blacks, and not

one Christian. In the center of the island is a much greater number;

therefore, it is along the beach where the Jesuit fathers and the

seculars administer, and where the Visayans or Pintados are settled.

395. The origin of these Negrillos is thought to have been interior

India, or citra Gangen, which was called Etyopia; for it was settled

by Ethiopian negroes, whence went out the settlers to African Etyopia,

as Father Colin proves in detail. Consequently, there being on the

mainland of India nations of negroes, and even in Nueva Guinea so many

that their first discoverers gave the island that name because of the

multitude of these people; and since the distance from those places

to these islands and the Philippine archipelago is not great; nor was

the land [of Nueva Guinea] which was five hundred leguas in length,

entirely settled with blacks--whom the ships of Viceroy Don Antonio

de Mendoza found in one of the capes of the strait of Magallanes:

those blacks could very easily pass from one island to another, and

their chief abode with their own name might be the island of Negros,

as we have remarked. Thence they could extend afterward to dominate

and settle the rest of the islands, without any opposition from other

people, until the opposition came through other men more rational

and civilized than they, who dispossessed them.

396. The third kind of people whom our Spaniards found in this

archipelago were the civilized nations, who maintained their government

or seigniory on the river banks, on the seashores, and in the other

sites with the best locations in these regions, and in the locations

most fit for healthful and safe dwelling-places. Among them there was

another remarkable class of people, and their domination, scattered

throughout the many islands of this archipelago, the chief of whom are

the Tagálogs, Pampangos, Visayans, and Mindanaos. Other peoples are

reduced to these, although they have various distinguishing marks. The

Tagálogs, who are the natives of Manila and its archbishopric, with

but little distance between their villages, were Malays, who came

from a district called Malàyo; that is the origin of all the Malays,

who are scattered throughout the most and the better parts of all

these archipelagoes. They are located on the mainland of Malâca,

and as that district is not far distant from the great island of

Bornèy, it is inferred (and this tradition has been handed down from

father to son), that the Malays went to Bornèy, and from Bornèy to

settle Manila and its district; taking the name of Tagàlog--which

is the same as Taga Ylog, which signifies, in their own language,

"those who live on the rivers;" for the Tagálogs have always lived

on the shores of the rivers.

397. That the Tagálogs originated directly from the Malays, is proved

(in the opinion of all) by their language, which differs but little

from that of the real Malays; by their color, and the shape of their

faces and their bodies; by the clothes and vesture in which the Spanish

conquistadors found them; by their customs and ceremonies, all of which

resemble those of the Malays--of whom the Tagálogs themselves said,

and say always, that they are the true descendants. The coming of

the Malays to this archipelago is not incredible, as we have so many

examples of various accidents in these seas which have originated from

the weather, by which we have seen brought to these islands unknown

peoples, who spoke languages which no one could understand. For

instance, a boat driven from its course, landed in the year 1725

on the opposite coast of Valèr and Casigùran, where our religious

were in charge; it contained more than twenty men, whose language or

garb had not been known until that time. But it is much more easily

credible that the Malays came to these islands led by greed for their

commercial profits--as, one reads in the histories of the Portuguese,

happened in the regions of India with the Persians and Arab Moros,

who, having entered under the pretext of trade, afterwards became

masters of everything. The same thing is said here of the entrance

of the Moro Malays.

398. The Pampangos (according to tradition) originated from the

largest island of the Orient, which is that of Sumàtra or Trapobàna

(although some apply the latter name to Zeilàn), which is located below

the line. That island is seven hundred leguas in circumference, and is

near the land of Malâca and Malâyo, and for that reason it is included

in the Aurea Chersonesus. In the midst of that great island of Sumàtra

there is a large lake, on whose surrounding marge many different

peoples have their abodes. According to Father Colin (who himself

examined him), a Pampango who had lost his way reached that place;

and, having discovered that there were men there of his own build,

language, and clothing, approached, and entered into conversation with

them in his own elegant Pampango tongue. They answered him in the

same speech, and one of their old men said: "You are descendants of

the lost people who, in former times, left here to settle other lands,

and have never been heard of since." From this it appears that one may

infer the origin of the Pampangos. But it is not easy to determine

whether they came from Sumàtra direct, or settled first in Bornèy,

because of the nearness of its lands and domains, and thence passed on

to settle the islands of this archipelago; although it appears from

the statements of some who have been in Bornèy for a time that they

even find there sufficient indications that the Pampangos originated,

some from Sumàtra and others from Malâyo. It is certain that if

the island of Bornèy was not a land continuous with that of these

islands in past centuries (and arguments are not lacking for this),

at least many islets are found lying in a row and near one another,

with which Bornèy is closely connected. [342] Such a one is Paragua,

which extends in a northerly direction. Toward the east, Bornèy is

extended by Mindanào. With this continuation and the short distances

between these regions, one can see the little difficulty in changing

their abodes from one to the other; and it is believable that the

Tagálogs, Pampangos, and other civilized races who were found in

this archipelago, and who were almost alike in language, customs,

bodily proportions, and clothing, as now we see them, came immediately

from Bornèy, some from some provinces and some from others. That may

account for the little difference that is found among them.

399. It is argued that the Visayans and Pintados--who are the

ones found in the Camàrines, Lèyte, Samàr, Panày, Zebù, and other

neighboring territories--came from the large island of Macasàr,

which is very powerful and densely populated. It has its emperor,

who is called Sumbanco, and many petty rulers. The basis of this

argument lies, not only in the short distance from that island to

this archipelago, for it is only distant about sixty leguas from the

point of Samboànga; but also because in Macasàr, as is reported, there

are Indians who adorn and tattoo the body as do the Visayans (who are

called Pintados on that account). But it is not known with certainty

where one and the other originated. We only know of a relation written

by the chief pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiròs, of his voyage to the

Salomon Islands and their discovery by Albaro de Mendaña de Neyra in

the year 1595. That relation is addressed to Doctor Antonio de Morga,

lieutenant-general for his Majesty of the Philipinas. The said Quiròs

says in it that, finding themselves in ten long degrees south latitude,

they sighted an island to which General Don Albaro gave the name

of La Magdalena; and that from its port there came to receive them,

he says, "with seventy ships, more than four hundred white Indians,

of a very fine symmetry, tall, lusty, and robust, and so well built

that they far surpassed us. They had fine teeth, eyes, mouth, the most

beautiful hands and feet, and long hair. Many of them were very fair;

and among them were the must handsome youths, all naked, and without

covering over any part; and all their bodies, legs, arms, hands, and

in some the faces, were adorned as among these Visayans." From this

it is evident that they are Pintados Indians; and that they were not

conquered, like those whom we call here Pintados Visayans. They live

in south latitude, in the same parallel as that of the north, from

ten to twelve degrees. But it is not easy to determine what might

be the origin of the others; since, although it is known that this

custom of tattooing and making figures on the body is found in Brasil,

in Florida, among the Scythians of Asia, and the Britons of Europa,

and even among the Moros of Africa, those nations are very remote from

our Pintados; and so remote an origin cannot be conceded to the latter.

400. The large island of Mindanao took its name from a large lake

(which is called Danào in the general language of these islands)

which is found in that island, and into which many rivers flow. The

same thing has happened in that island as I have said of the others,

namely, that its first owners and settlers must have been the

ones who are now found on the uplands and in the fastnesses of the

mountains and the crags. Since they are inclined to the mountains,

they allowed the foreign traders to settle their seacoasts and rivers,

as they were found uninhabited and defenseless; and when the latter

had taken possession of the best of the territories and districts,

the true owners were unable to expel the foreigners, since the latter

were the more powerful and civilized.

401. From this fact comes the variety of tribes that have been found

in that island of Mindanào: such as the Caragas, the Butuans, the

Cagayans, the Dapitans, the Mindanaos, the Malanaos, besides the

Tagabaloòyes, Manòbos, and Lutàos, and a great number of blacks,

like those of whom we have already written. Of all of them, when

we consider their first origin, there is no other inference than

that it was in the neighboring islands of Bornèy, Macasàr, or the

Malùcas, considering not only the Mahometan rites and their manner

of dressing, but also the bonds of sympathy existing among them. For

to this day they maintain their friendship and trade, and unite for

the protection of one another, although they are not all Mahometans,

and most of them are infidels, atheists, and total barbarians.

402. If we consider their more immediate origin, the Caragueños have

the first place. They are so called from Caraga or Caràghas, which was

formerly the name of all that coast which extended north and south

from the point of Surigao to that of San Agustin, and then, turning

toward the west, extended from Surigao and ran through Iligàn and

as far as Dapitan, until in later times a division of districts was

made. The Caragas are the oldest people in that island, and without

the protection of any foreigners have maintained their location and

their valorous courage--which was well known in former times, by

the Visayans and even by all the islands of this archipelago. They

have rendered greater their valor by the character of Christians (a

fact which they owe to the burning zeal of the discalced Augustinian

fathers, their first conquistadors), since their aid has been the

most efficient and most formidable in the invasions of the Moros,

in favor of the Church and its evangelical ministers. These people,

if they are not Butuans, differ but little from them, and now they

are united; by which we believe the origin of both to have been common.

403. The Butuans, worthy of eternal memory and thanks, as they were

the first among whom the Catholic arms found shelter, come down from

the village and river of Butuàn, the coast which looks to the north

from Mindanào. It was the first soil where the famous Magallanes

[343] planted the domination of Jesus Christ and that of our Catholic

king. All these, perchance, have the same origin as the Visayans and

Pintados, because of their great nearness to them. But they are the

origin of the best blood and nobility of the Basilans and Joloans,

for the king of Xolò even confessed that he was a Butuan. But he gives

the lie to that by his barbarous procedure, for he has been the scourge

most disturbing to these islands; while the Butuans have ever remained

faithful, and have been vassals to God and to our Catholic monarch,

following the example of the Caragas throughout.

404. The Cagayans take their name from Cagayàn el Chico [i.e.,

the little], which is [found by] following the coast from Butuan to

the west and southwest. It is a bay with this name, which is not of

ancient usage, but was given from the other Cagayàn, today a province

in the upper part of the island of Luzòn, between Cape Bojeadòr and

that of Engaño. These islanders are reduced and civilized, and differ

but little from the previous ones [i.e., the Caragas] from which it

is argued that they are not very different from them in their origin.

405. The Dapitans were a people who inhabited a closely hemmed-in

strait between the island of Bohòl and that of Pànglao, and possessed

the two shores of that strait. They conquered the Boholàns in a war,

and assumed their name and territory. These new and triumphant

Boholans left that island of Bohòl (the country having already

been abandoned by the old Boholàns), and went to live in Dapitàn,

located on the Mindanào coast, almost opposite Bohòl and Pánglao,

whence they took the name Dapitàn. That name has been extended and

preserved even to the present, because of their fortunate progress,

and the friendly reception that our first conquistadors experienced

from their noble loyalty and honorable valor. No other more remote

origin is known of them, but it is conjectured to be like the others.

406. The Mindanàos and Malanàos are Moros, but they seem formerly

to have been heathen (from which today they are considered as

newcomers), and took their names from the celebrated lakes in their

territories. Father Combès says that the Malanàos resemble the Visayans

in their government, and the same is inferred of the Mindanàos; and,

of both, that one must seek there their true origin. The Mindanàos

have always remained Mahometans, and have not allowed the light of

the gospel to enter. The Malanàos, with the district of Bayùg, were

reduced to the yoke of Christ at another time, and were for some years

constant to their baptisms by the discalced Augustinian fathers; but

later they grew weary of it. At the present time some of those Moros

have come to the governor of Manila with the title of ambassadors, from

Bayùg and Malanào, in order to petition for the discalced Augustinian

fathers as ministers of the gospel. This is not the first time when

they have requested them, as well as the Franciscan religious, as I

have seen in an original document. Since the fathers of the Society

are those to whom those places are adjudged for the preaching of the

holy gospel, and since the disposition of that race is so faithless in

their dealings, some suspicions have been aroused by those embassies,

and we are endeavoring to probe their designs in coming.

407. The Tagabaloòyes take their name from some mountains which they

call Baloòy, which are located in the interior of the jurisdiction

of Caràga. They are not very far remote from and trade with the

villages [of Caraga], and some indeed live in them who have become

Christians. Others are being converted through the zeal and care of

the discalced Augustinian fathers, who regard them as inhabitants of

Baslig, which is their headquarters and priorate. Those people, as has

been stated above, are the descendants of lately-arrived Japanese. This

is the opinion of all the religious who have lived there and had

intercourse with them, and the same is a tradition among themselves,

and they desire to be so considered. And it would seem that one is

convinced of it on seeing them; for they are light-complexioned,

well built, lusty, very reliable in their dealings, respectful, and

very valiant, but not restless. So I am informed by one who has had

much to do with them; and all the above are qualities which we find

in the Japanese.

408. The Lutàya nation, or the Lutaos, do not give much sign of their

first origin, just as they do not evince any particular inclination

for one kingdom or another. For since their natural disposition

is one of self-interest and fickle, and delights in war, they make

alliance now with the Joloans, now with the Basilans, and now with the

Mindanaos--as quickly with one as another, and as quickly against their

allies and with others. They show that they are Moros by the turban,

the marlota, [344] their arms, and their ceremonies; but they cannot

be very ancient, since the Mahometans have not been very long in India

and in these parts. The Lutaos could have come to these islands from

the regions whence it is inferred that the others have come.

409. Of the mountain people without civilization or government,

and with the life and custom of barbarians, it is inferred that they

were some of these primitive possessors, who fled from the civilized

foreigners. These people have various names in various settlements. In

Yligàn and Samboàngan, they are called Subànos; in Caràga, Manòbos;

in Xolò, Guinuànos; in Basilàn, Sameacàs. [345] And although some say

that it is known that they are the descendants of the Malays, because

their language is built on the general roots of the Malay language,

there are religious (living today) who have lived there for many

years, who assure me that they have not heard, in their method of

talking with them, any Malay root. Consequently, since the islands

are so strung out even as far as the islands of Bornèy and Macasàr,

and since the crossing is so easy, it is always inferred that their

origin comes from that direction.

410. In the upper and northern part of the great island of Luzòn are

the two provinces of Cagayàn and Ylòcos. Those people, as is inferred

by Father Colin, are descended from Chinese or Japanese, because the

graves of men of larger stature than the Indians have been found there,

as well as some Chinese and Japanese jewels which have been preserved

among them. If these should be slight indications--for they can proceed

from various other circumstances, on account of the great nearness of

China and Japan--they may aid in the foundation of that inference. But

we cannot get any farther than conjectures, as in everything else,

after so much toil. It serves only as a light, so that others may infer

a truer origin. And the same is true of Pangasinàn, which lies next.

411. On this account, and without all the above serving as an

obstacle, one can also conjecture the origin of other nations who

are scattered through the innumerable islets of these archipelagoes;

for they may proceed from all India extra Gangen and from its most

renowned kingdoms, such as Siàn, Cambòja, China, Cochinchina, Tunquin,

Japon, the Lequios, etc.--especially when not few affirm that the

Chinese dominated all this archipelago, and that they were the first

settlers of the Javas, as is mentioned by Barros. In fine, these are

the conjectures that I have found. Other conjectures may be made from

their customs and ceremonies, in the comparison of which the curious

will find not a few strong arguments, if they read thoughtfully. But,

at the last, God is the only one who knows the truth, to which our

limited judgments cannot penetrate.

CHAPTER XL

Of the characteristics [genio] and genius [ingenio] of the

Filipino Indians

[Paragraphs 412, 413, and a portion of 414 will be found in our

Vol. XXVIII, pp. 220-223. The balance of the chapter follows.]

... They are the greatest enemies that the father ministers have. They

are impious in the known necessities of their parents and relatives,

and very charitable to a guest who comes to them and stays leisurely

in their houses, without knowing him and without sending him

away; and they do not even take warning by the experience of great

inconveniences. Many other contradictions and contrarieties are found

daily in these Indians by those who have communication with them and

know them, so that in them vices are united to their opposed virtues,

as if related. Only in the matter of lying there is no contradiction,

for one cannot tell when they are not lying. Neither does one know

when they are thankful for any benefits received; for one could

write by thousands the cases of their ingratitude which have been

experienced--either not taking any account of the good that is shown

them, regarding it as a justice due them; or paying with treachery

pure and simple their greatest benefactors. All these are truths,

and although (in the opinion of Terence) they gain hate for the

one who states them, it is not right for the Indians who may read

this to hate me; for I know it all by my own experience and that of

other fathers of long standing--which indeed the Indians who know

them recognize. In Nueva España and in Perû the same thing occurs,

to about the same extent.

415. From this result other things, in the same father ministers, that

seem also to be contradictions. For the minister of the Indians who

loves them most would like not to have anything to do with them, but

to be very distant from them; and if he succeeds in getting far away

from them, then his love for them will not suffer it and he does not

rest until he is with his Indians again. It is a providence of God, so

that instruction may never be lacking to these wretched beings. This,

I believe, appears like the discreet love with which Christ loved

Judas, for an example to men; loving persons compassionately, and

distinguishing their evil qualities, as things detestable. If all the

above-mentioned contradictions of the Indians are malicious, or arise

from their lack of understanding, let him who will examine it, for

even in this have I found new contradictions. For some actions which

appear simple are very doubly acts of malice; and quite the contrary

also occurs at other times. In short, whether malicious or simple,

their mental standpoint [genio] is incomprehensible, and consequently

the merit that belongs to the ministers of instruction very great.

416. In regard to the mind [ingenio] and understanding of these

natives, no general rules can be laid down; for there are rude and

clever ones in all parts, although it be even among Spaniards and

servants in courts. But speaking generally, all authors agree, and

experience tells us the same, that the Filipinos are more clever than

the Indians of other parts. They can learn any art at all with ease,

and imitate with exactness any beautiful production that is placed

before them. Consequently, they become so fine writers that the

accounting-rooms are filled with them, as are also the secretariats,

the courts, and the offices of private persons. But very rarely

can one find the copy of an Indian which does not need revision,

for they cannot cease lying even in writing; or else because of the

little care with which they do it. This is very mortifying to those who

dictate and correct. Some of them have been so capable that they have

become officials in the accounting-rooms, and have served ad interim

in the highest offices. Others serve as managers for alcaldes-mayor,

and they have great knowledge of government business; whether with

a right conscience, God knows. There are others who have great

cleverness for the management of a suit between litigants; and are

so keen in entangling the parties that they cannot be disentangled

with their laws, and recourse can be had to God alone. There are

at present some of them who are printers, and they have sufficient

intelligence. In their own political and civil government I have

seen many Indians who are very capable, and who can discourse so

powerfully, with their natural logic, that they convince. But as

it is natural for them to be concerned only about the present time,

they need some one to direct them so that they may not make any error

in what they discuss. In short, their understandings are fastened

with pins and attached always to material things, for they do not

understand things with any depth. I believe that this is the reason

why there is so little fruit produced from the constant repetition

of sermons; for they are perplexed with abundant instruction, or

else do not understand it. And although the sermon be very clear, and

preached in their own native language, not one of them can yet repeat

the substance of what he hears, although he understands it when it is

preached. They are, however, very clever at handiwork, because of their

great indifference in everything. On that account they can play well

on all musical instruments; and their inclination for music is very

great, and they make instruments. There are good singers among them,

and these have positions, with a fitting salary attached, in all the

churches, from the cathedral to the poorest ministry; and thus they

are being trained, from the time when they sing soprano. They are

fond of verses and representations. They are excellent translators,

and can translate a Spanish comedy with elegance into verses of

their own language. And thus, although all, both men and women, are

fond of reading, they are indefatigable when verses are concerned,

and they will act them out as they read them. Accordingly it results

that they are clever for all things, in whatever duty they are set;

and they would be more so if they were less lazy, or if their greed for

temporal possessions were greater. On this account, they have always

been, are, and will be poor, without caring for more than the food of

the present day. I do not know whether this is a special providence

of God for these poor wretches; for when they have a little wealth,

as the vessel is so limited, immediately it swells out and then they

do not know what to do; and, to let it be known that they are rich,

they immediately waste it in expenses that are at best useless, until

they remain as they were before. Thus their inclination [genio] is

opposite to their judgment [ingenio] in this direction; and although

they have sufficient intellect, they yield to their natural disposition

[genio], which dominates them, and in this never allow themselves to

be directed.

CHAPTER XLI

Of the letters, languages, and civilization of the Filipinos

417. Just as in Italia the Tuscan, Lombard, and Sicilian languages

resemble one another, and in España the Castilian, Portuguese,

and Valencian--for they all recognize one origin (namely, the

Roman), although they are, strictly speaking, quite distinct among

themselves--so it happens in the languages of these Philipinas

Islands. The principal cultured languages found here at the conquest

were six, namely, the Tagálog, the Visayan, the Pampanga, the Cagayan,

the Ilocan, and the Pangasinan. It is a fact that all the languages

here resemble one another, and he who knows one of them can easily

talk the others, for the structure of them all differs but little. We

trace them all to one origin, which cannot be other than the Malayan

language, according to the comparison which has been made of words,

and to the formation and construction of them all. Consequently,

although these Indians have regarded their origin as distinct from

that of various other nations, in the manner already mentioned, it

is evident that the more immediate generations must have been Malays,

since their letters and languages alone are found in these islands.

418. The vowels in the characters proper to their language are three

in number, although they have the same value as our five in use;

for the E and the I form one single letter, as do also the O and

the U. The consonants are thirteen in number, but they are never

used alone, for the vowel is always used with them. Thus by the use

of the C and the M alone they write cama [i.e., "bed"]. In order to

pronounce words with other vowels, they make use of certain commas,

placed either below or above. Consequently, as all the pronunciation of

their writing for the most part makes it necessary for them to supply

it at the expense of commas, the difficulty that was experienced

was considerable, even in the natives themselves. On that account

they have applied themselves so easily and willingly to our letters,

in order to write in their own language.

419. Their own method of writing was peculiar, by writing the lines

from top to bottom, beginning at the left hand and proceeding to

the right. This bespeaks a very great antiquity; for the ancient

custom of the Hebrews is to write lines, from the right to the left,

as the Chinese do at the present time. But the latter write them

from top to bottom, as was done in these islands. Diodorus Siculus,

who wrote in the time of the emperor Cæsar Augustus, says that in

an island of the torrid zone the people wrote from top to bottom,

and employed only a few letters.

420. Before the people knew anything of paper in these islands

they wrote on the smooth bark of bamboo, or on leaves of the many

palms which are found in these islands (and even yet this is done, in

districts where there is no paper, or even that the schoolboys may not

waste paper), the point of a knife or an iron, or some other material,

serving as a pen (and now with birds' quills and ink). If it were a

missive letter, they wrote it on palm-leaves, and folded it as we fold

our letters. Some of them are much given to writing on the ground in

a squatting posture, which is the usual way both men and women sit.

421. The cultured languages, as already stated, are six in number--for

one cannot reckon the languages of the Negritos and mountain people

as such, since each settlement has its own distinct language,

which results from the lack of human intercourse. Among the cultured

languages, the chief and mother languages are considered the Tagálog,

the Pampanga, and the Visayan; and even among these the Tagálog is

considered the most polished and powerful. That is not [for instance]

because it lacks the tu [i.e., "thou"]--which is well employed with

their primitive pronoun ycao or ca, even with persons to whom the

greatest respect is due--but on account of the po and Po co, which

explains it, and signifies "Sir" [señor mio]. The first is used for

men, and the second for women. Interwoven with the words, it shows

reverence and courtesy; as, for example, in order to answer "Yes"

to a woman one says Oo, Po co, an expression which without the Po co

would be too familiar. In many other phrases in the Tagálog language

is shown its seriousness and polish; those who write grammars of the

language will be able to set them forth.

422. The natives of these islands employ innumerable other elegancies

and courtesies, now in actions, now in words, now in names and titles,

which they apply to themselves; these are various according to the

difference of the provinces, and are too numerous to mention, for they

are ceremonial, and they value their ceremonies highly. No one will

pass in front of another, without asking permission, and in order to

pass, he doubles the whole body with the most profound bow, at the same

time lifting one foot in the air, and doubling the knee and lifting

both hands to the face. If one has to talk to any person of higher

rank, he shows all reverence and squats down [pone en cuclillas],

with raised face, and waits thus, until he is asked his reason for

coming; for to speak without being questioned would be a point of

bad breeding. They employ many courteous acts and expressions in

saluting one another when they meet; but these do not seem to me to

be so many as in Nueva España, where people do not cease to use them

until they lose sight of one another in the street. The Filipinos

do this here with greater dignity and respect. When they write, they

heighten their style with so many rhetorical phrases, metaphors, and

pictures, that many who think themselves poets would be glad to do

as much; and yet this is only in prose. For, when it comes to poesy,

he who would understand it must be very learned in their language,

even among his own compatriots.

423. The names which they impose now are usually high-sounding. I

know a Pius V, and a Philipe V; and, following this custom, they take

as surnames the most honorable names of España. This is since they

have known Castilians. But, even before, they could rival in this the

kings of España; for just as the latter have been called "the Wise,"

"the Prudent," "the Chaste," etc., for the special virtues which

have made them worthy of this glory, so here in the Philipinas, they

called one "the Strong," another "the Splendid," and another "the

Terrible," according to his deeds, or to those of his ancestors, or

in accordance with various incidents that happened at birth. Now they

are introducing the custom of taking the paternal name added to the

baptismal name. However, when the first-born child comes to any one,

the latter's Christian name is forgotten; for that instant they call

the father by the name of his first-born for the rest of his life. If

the name of the first-born is Rosa, the father is called Ama ni Rosa,

or Pan-Rosa, which means "the father of Rosa." One must not then ask

for such a man in any village by his Christian name (which is the one

entered on the parish register), for there are many so named, so that

he would not be known by that name. An author is not wanting to call

this an instance of courtesy; but many times it serves as a dishonor,

if they know him and call him, for example, "father of Judas." They

employ many other names and endearing expressions in naming their

children, relatives, and families, although I believe that the

affection that they feel for one another has very little reality.

424. The "Don" of the Castilians is being rapidly introduced among the

Indian chiefs, both men and women, of these islands. In olden times

they did not lack a term proper to their own language by which they

expressed it, as Lacan or Gat for the men, and Dayang for the women.

CHAPTER XLII

Of the physical features and clothing of these Indians

425. According to the differences in climate we find certain

differences in the lines of the body and faces of the Indians, as has

been stated above. But this difference amounts to but little. All

of them are sufficiently corpulent, well-built, and well-featured,

except that they are all flat-nosed; for the cartilage of the bridge

of the nose does not come to a point as among Europeans. Consequently,

there are no sharp noses among the full-blooded Indians. Some have

tried to explain the color by saying that it is the color of cooked

quinces, or brown, or an olive color. But it appears much stranger

to me, and I have been unable to find a legitimate color to which

to compare it; for it is a brown color, but flushed with red. [346]

It is generally clearer in the women, and still lighter in all of the

Visayans. The hair is black and lank, as is that of the Scythians,

Getas [i.e., Getæ], and Turks, and is carefully tended with washings,

and very fragrant oils, as was that of the Lycians. They assert that

they do this in order to free it from grease (which is considerable),

but a great part of it consists in vanity. Among the Tagálogs it is

allowed to grow to the shoulders, among the Ilocans somewhat longer,

and among the Visayans slightly longer or shorter, and done up; but the

Cagayans leave it loose and hanging upon the shoulders. This custom

must have appeared well to all of them, since everywhere they envy

the one who has the longest and heaviest hair; and the same thing is

seen among the women. It is indeed considered as an affront to cut

the hair for any crime. The Zambals alone shave the head from the

middle forward; and from the middle back, as far as the occiput, they

wear a large shock of loose hair. Ribbons are never used to tie it,

but with the hair itself men, women, and children make a knot near

the crown of the head or the occiput, as do the Turks.

426. The eyes of all are very beautiful and large, either gray or

black. The face is broad. The teeth are even and fine; formerly they

covered them with ink or a varnish of a black color. Now that is no

longer used except among the Tagabaloòyes of Caragà, of whom I have

written; their beauty, lightness of complexion, and the features of

their faces might deceive one, and they would be taken for Spaniards if

they kept their mouths shut, and one did not see the black teeth. They

also, especially the chief women, adorned the teeth with gold,

with exquisite beauty. I do not know whether they waste the gold so

now. All of the men are beardless in the face, but their bodies are

sufficiently shaggy, as are those of all Asiatics. It is attributed

to the temperature of the torrid zone in which we are. Who cares to

study this more in detail would better read Fray Gregorio Garcia, the

Dominican. [347] In olden times the Indians removed and pulled out,

as if it were a defect, any little hair that appeared on the face,

with pincers of bamboo made for that very purpose. I have not read

that they did this because they considered it a reproach to have a

beard, as did those of Perù--who did the same, as I have read in the

above-cited author.

427. The women (and in many parts the men, especially the

mountaineers), have certain large holes in their ears, in which they

place pendants and earrings of gold. They make the greater display

of it according to the greater size and openness of the holes. Some

women have two holes in each ear, for two kinds of earrings. This is

usual among the Zimarrònes and blacks, for the civilized people have

now adopted the custom of the Castilians in this regard.

428. In olden times the men wore their heads covered or wrapped about

with a narrow strip of cotton or linen. Those who esteemed themselves

as valiant men wore the two ends hanging to the shoulders. This they

called the potong; and some wore this of colored cloth, to declare

their chieftainship. No one could wear a red one unless he had killed

at least one person, and he could not have it striped until he had

killed seven. Now they wear neat white and black hats, which are

woven from various materials which they gather in the field.

429. Of the mountain people it is already known that their own skin

is their clothing, and that they only use the bahag, which is a linen

or cloth which keeps in the privies. But the clothing of the men

who live in villages is a half-shirt of linen, silk, or some other

material--which, at the most, reaches to the navel; it is open to the

air, and has wide sleeves without wristbands, and this is called the

baro--and certain garments that they call saluàles, which correspond

to our small-clothes or under-drawers. These are also loose and

wide, and made of any kind of linen or other material; they do not

open at the front, but at the side, and they are tied there. They

never wear anything on feet or legs. The above is the whole amount

of their clothing, and, at the most, a cord or belt at the waist,

like a girdle, where they hang the knife. The chiefs and others wear,

for church functions and other meetings of theirs, in addition to

the said clothing, a long black garment reaching to the feet, with

sleeves fitted at the wrists. This they call barong-mahaba, which

signifies "long baro." It is an eminently modest and decent garment,

and is worn loose and not girdled. For outside wear, these garments

are of ordinary materials. For gala attire, they are of silk, and

much worked with embroidery, except the long baro, which is always

the same. Today the people of highest rank in the villages dress

in the Spanish fashion, with coats, trousers, stockings, and shoes,

although it is the most usual practice to wear stockings of natural

skin, in the midst of all these adornments. In former times, their

greatest care was exercised in supplying the lack of clothing with

abundance of gold, with which they adorned all the body. That custom

is still preserved, although not in the abundance of which we read

earlier. In what they wore the full complement of their gala attire

was a colored sash drawn up under the arm, which is no longer worn at

the present time. All the clothing of the Filipino Indian is reduced

to the above, and I believe that it is so throughout this archipelago,

without any difference of special note.

430. The dress of the women is the baro already mentioned, but not so

long, and only covering the breasts and hanging loose; and a garment as

wide above as below, in which they envelope the body from the waist

down, fastening one of the ends in the girdle in order to secure

it. This garment is called a tàpis. The mestizo women wear skirts

with plaits and seams, with the opening at one side. The tàpis is the

unchangeable costume of the Indian women of this archipelago, and this,

at the most, is generally of silk, but of a modest hue, and of only

one color. Upon their festival occasions the women--some for gala

attire, or others, because they are more modest--wear white Spanish

petticoats. Some wear an underskirt, especially within doors. But when

they go abroad, the tàpis is [preferred] above all. Some of them wear

garments resembling black mantillas, which they call cobìjas, with

which they cover the whole body from the head down, in the manner of

the mantillas of España. With this and the bits of gold that they

wear on the body--in the ears, at the throat, on the wrists and

fingers (and she who does not possess these ornaments must be very

poor indeed)--they appear as Indian women in their wealth of gold,

and are Indian women in their being and clothing. Now when the Indian

women go abroad, they wear slippers embroidered with silk and gold;

few and far between are those who wear shoes. Formerly, they wore a

ribbon, of wrought gold which covered their foreheads and temples. Now,

at the most, they usually wear a chased silver or gold nail, thrust

through the knot of their hair. Women of a somewhat more advanced age

and respect wear the long baro, which is made in the same manner as

that of the men above described. It is certain that an Indian woman

appears well in this manner, for there is no more modest dress for

women that one can imagine.

431. The chief bodily adornments of the Visayans were the tattooing

and designs which gave them the name of Pintados. They did this in the

same manner as the Moro men and women, and it was the olden custom of

the Huns, Gelones, and Agathyrsos; but the kind of the designs was

according to the deeds and merit of each person. But that barbarous

method of adornment was lost long ago, and has not been seen among them

for many years. Perhaps they have erased those pictures with the water

of holy baptism, since they embraced the true Catholic ceremonies.

CHAPTER XLIII

Of the false religion which these Indians held in their

heathendom; and of their superstitions and omens.

432. The great slothfulness and natural carelessness of these Indians

is recognized by its results; for as yet not the slightest scrap of

writing concerning their religion and ceremonies, or their ancient

political government, has been found. Only by tradition and old songs

which have been preserved from father to son, and from other things

which they have still in use, has it been possible to trace somewhat of

their antiquity by means of some careful ministers. The first who took

his pen for this purpose, at the instance of the superior government,

was our venerable Fray Juan de Plassencia, one of the most zealous

workers in the vineyard of this archipelago, in the year 1589. [348]

So great credence was given to him in this, that his relation of the

customs of the Indians, having been received by the royal Audiencia,

was imparted to the alcaldes-mayor of the provinces for their

government. Later, in the year 1598, with but little difference in

time, Doctor Don Antonio de Morga, auditor and lieutenant-governor of

Philipinas, wrote his description. In it the same matter is treated,

taken from the other. Our Fray Antonio de la Llave, [349] afterward

(in the year 1622) used this in his description. In the year 1660,

Father Colin wrote his description, adding anew the best form. Since

this is a matter in which we cannot exceed the ancients, yet with

them all it will be necessary for me to write something, in order

that I may not leave this treatise of my description faulty.

433. These Indians had various sorts of adorations: now to animals and

birds, as did the Egyptians; now to the sun and the moon, as did the

Assyrians. The Tagálogs adored now Tigmamanoquìn, which was a blue bird

of the size of a turtledove; now the crow, which they called Meylupa,

which signifies "Lord of the soil," as if he were the god Pan, or the

goddess Ceres of the ancients; now the crocodile, which they called

nono, which signifies "grandfather," to which they offered various

sacrifices in order that it might not harm them. Sometimes they adored

any old tree, especially the one they call balete, and even those now

living show respect to it; now they adored and offered gifts to the

stones, crags, reefs, and promontories of seas and rivers. All was the

result of their natural fear, so that all these things should cause

them no harm. Nevertheless, they had a knowledge of one sole God;

and accordingly they adored Him as the principal God, and greater

than all. The Visayans called Him Lauon, which signifies "ancient;"

and the Tagálogs Bathalà Mey capal, signifying "God, the Maker,

or Creator of all things."

434. Besides these they had other idols, which the Visayans called

Diuata, and the Tagálogs, Anito, each of which had its special

object and purpose. For there was one anito for the mountains and

open country; another for the sowed fields; others for the sea and

rivers; another for the house of their dwelling. These anitos they

invoked in their work, according to the functions of each one. Among

these they also made anitos of their ancestors, and to these was due

the first adoration of all. The memory of this anito is not even yet

erased. They kept some small badly-made figures of all these, of gold,

stone, ivory, or wood; and they called them Lic-hà or Laràuan, which

means a "figure" or "image" among them.

435. They also venerated as anitos those who came to disastrous ends,

because either the lightning, or the shark, or the sword, killed them;

for they thought that such immediately went to glory, by way of the

rainbow, which they call balangao. With such barbarous beliefs lived

and died the old people, puffed up and vain, considering themselves as

anitos. As such they caused themselves to be respected and worshiped;

and buried after death in places set apart and of distinction among

them all, as they were reverenced there. There are many cases of

this known, and it required all the valor and zeal of the father

ministers to destroy tombs, fell trees, and burn idols. But it is yet

impossible to tear up the blind error of the pasingtabì sa nonò, which

consists in begging favor from their aged dead whenever they enter

any thicket or mountain or sowed fields, in order to build houses

and for other things. For if they do not do this, they believe that

their nonos will punish them with some evil result. This is found

among an ignorant people without malice, who do not know why they

do this, but only that they do it because they saw that their aged

people do it here. The ministers labored hard to remove this error,

especially in the remote villages; for in those that are now civilized

the people at present laugh at it.

436. For all these adorations and sacrifices it is not evident that

they had any common and public temple. For although these places had

the name of simba or simbahan, which signifies "place of adoration

and sacrifice," and the people attended them and resorted thither,

they were not like our temples common to all, but, as it were,

certain private oratories belonging to the houses of their chiefs,

where those of their families, or their dependents, or those related

by marriage, met to make a feast for any special object. For this

purpose they made a bower in the house itself, which they call sibi,

dividing it into three naves and lengthening the fourth. They adorned

it with leaves and flowers on all sides, and many lighted lamps. In

the middle was placed another large lamp, with many ornaments. Such

was their simbahan or oratory. This feast was called pandot; it was

their most solemn one, and lasted four days. During that time they

played many musical instruments, and performed their adorations,

which is called nag àanito [350] in Tagálog. When the feast was ended

and all the adornment removed, the place had no longer the name of

church or temple, and remained a house like all the others.

437. Their sacrifices always redounded to the advantage of their

bodies; for they were reduced to all eating, drinking, and making

merry. In proportion to the motives, so were the ceremonies of their

sacrifices. If it were only for the entertainment of their chief, they

made a bower in front of his house, which they filled with hangings,

according to their Moorish custom; and there they all ate, drank,

danced, and sang. For this it was the usual practice to fetch a hog,

which the catalôna or priestess ordered the most graceful girl to stab

with the knife, amid certain dances. That done, and the hog having

been cooked according to their custom it was divided among all the

company, as if it were a relic; and they ate it with great reverence

and respect, with the other food of their feast. They drank more

than they ate, as they always do. With this was ended the greatness

of their sacrifice, without God to whom to offer it, or altar therefor.

438. If the sacrifice was for the health of some sick person, the

priest of the sacrifice ordered a new house to be built at the expense

of the sick one. That done (which took but a very short time, as the

materials are close at hand, and many assemble for that purpose),

they removed the sick person to it, and arranged what was to be

sacrificed. That was sometimes a slave, but most generally some

hog or marine animal; its flesh they set before the sick person,

with other food according to their custom. The catalôna performed her

usual dances, wounded the animal, and with its blood anointed the sick

person, as well as some of the others among the bystanders. Then it

was divided and cleaned, in order that it might be eaten. The catalôna

looked at the entrails, and making wry faces and shaking her feet and

hands, acted as if she were out of her senses--foaming at the mouth,

either because she was incarnate as the devil, or because she so

feigned so that credit might be given her. In this way she prophesied

what would happen to the sick man, either adverse or propitious. If it

were propitious, there was great feasting; and if adverse, means were

not lacking to her to evade it--as they were also not lacking in case

that her prophecy was not fulfilled. If the sick man died, she consoled

them all by saying that their gods had elected him as one of their

anitos, because of his prowess and merits; and she began to commend

herself to this saint, and made them all commend themselves to him, and

everything ended in drunkenness and rejoicing. Then the catalôna took

all the gifts, which all had offered her according to their custom,

and returned home, wealthier, but not with more reputation; for those

who exercised that office among the Indians were held in no estimation,

for they were considered lazy persons who lived by the toil of others.

439. When the sick person died, he was followed by the lamentation

of his relatives and friends and even by other and hired mourners,

who had that as their trade. In their lamentation they inserted a

melancholy song, with innumerable extravagant things in praise of the

dead. They bathed, smoked, and shrouded the corpse, and some embalmed

it in the manner of the Hebrews, with certain aromatic liquors;

and thus did they bury it, with all due respect.

440. The grave of the poor was a hole which was dug under the house

itself, and was called sìlong. The rich and influential were kept

unburied for three days, amid the weeping and singing. A box or coffin

was made out of one piece, which was the dug-out trunk of a tree;

and the cover was tightly fitted on, so that no air could enter. There

they buried the deceased, adorned with rich jewels and sheets of gold,

especially upon his mouth. As the coffins were usually of incorruptible

wood, which was used for this purpose, in this way some bodies have

been found uncorrupted after many years.

441. The coffin with the body was placed in one of three places,

according to the direction of the deceased: either in the highest

story of the house itself, in a place like a cock-house, where they

usually keep their treasures and other goods; or under the house,

which is the sìlong, elevated from the ground; or if they place it

in the ground itself, they dig a hole, and enclose it with a small

railing and there they deposit the box with the body without covering

over the hole. They buried others in the fields, and lit fires in the

house, and then set sentinels so that the deceased should not come

to take away the living with him. Others had themselves buried in a

lofty place on the seashore, in order that they might be venerated

and worshiped; and sentinels were posted so that no boats should pass

there for a certain time.

442. Another box, filled with the best clothes of the deceased and

various viands on their dishes, were set near the grave; if the

deceased were a man, various weapons that he used were left there;

if a woman, her loom, or other work-utensils that she had used. If

the deceased had while living been employed in sea-raids, as a

pirate, his coffin was made in the shape of a boat which they call

barangay. As rowers they placed in it two goats, two hogs, two deer,

or more, as they wished, male and female paired, with a slave of the

deceased as pilot in order to take care of them all. Some food was

put in for their sustenance, and when that food was consumed, they

dried up with hunger and thirst, and all perished. If the deceased

had been a warrior, a living slave, bound, was placed under him,

and was left there to die with him. After the burial, although the

lamentation ceased somewhat, the revelry in the house of the deceased

did not cease. On the contrary, it lasted a longer or shorter time,

according to the rank of the deceased.

443. On the third or fourth day of the funeral, all the relatives

assembled at the house of the deceased, for they said that he returned

that day to visit them. At the landing of the stairway of the house,

they set water in a basin or tub, so that the deceased might wash

his feet there, and rid himself of the earth of the grave. They kept

a candle lit all that day. They stretched a petate, or reed mat, on

the floor and sprinkled ashes on it, so that the deceased might leave

the marks of his feet there. At meal time they left the best place at

table vacant for the dead guest. They ate and drank, as at the most

splendid banquet; and then spent the balance of the day in relating

and singing the prowess of the deceased; then each one went home. This

ridiculous ceremony is called tibao. The Indians even yet retain

the oldtime custom of this assembly, but all superstition and error

have been removed from it, and they unite to pray for the deceased;

but it is not without inconveniences that ought to be remedied.

444. The mourning consisted in fasting, and during the days of mourning

they lived only on vegetables. This fasting or abstinence was called

sipà by the Tagálogs. In dress the Visayans wore white, as do the

Chinese in sign of mourning, and this is even yet the custom in some

villages; but black is the most usual color for mourning in the rest

of the islands. With this kind of mourning they cover all the body,

so that the face may not be seen, especially if they are women and if

the mourning is thorough. During the mourning the men may not wear

a hat; but, instead, a black cloth wound about the head. They wear

mourning for any deceased relative, even though he be related only

very distantly; but the mourning is greater or less according to the

degree of relationship, both in manner and in duration of time.

445. From the above is inferred the belief of these Indians in the

transmigration of the souls of the deceased. In this they agree not

only with the Chinese, who believe in this peculiar error, but also

with other Indians whom Torquemada mentions in his second volume. The

similarity that they might relate in rites, both with the Indians of

Nueva España and Perû, and with other nations of greater antiquity,

may be compared by the curious reader, by reading the entire book

of the Origin of the Indians, and by tracing there that of these

Indians. [351]

446. It is an assured fact that the oldtime heathen of these islands

knew that after this life there was another one of rest, or let us

say paradise (for Bathàla Maycapàl alone in their belief lived in the

sky); and that only the just and valiant, those who had moral virtues

and lived without harming anyone, went thither to that place as a

reward. In the same way, as all of them believed in the immortality

of the soul in the other life, they believed in a place of punishment,

pain, and sorrow which they called casanàan, where the wicked went, and

where, they said, the devils dwelt. Consequently, the transmigration of

the souls of their deceased to other living bodies was a sign of rest

to them. Since no one desired his relatives to be numbered among the

condemned in casanàan, the error of the Chinese found in them an easier

entrance, for it was built upon the foundation of their own errors.

447. The superstitions and omens of these Filipinos are so many, and

so different are those which yet prevail in many of them, especially

in the districts more remote from intercourse with the religious,

that it would take a great space to mention them. They merit tears,

although they are all laughable. They are being continually preached

against, but we have not succeeded in extinguishing them; and the

people obey the customs of their barbarous ancestors rather than the

Christian prudence which the ministers teach them. And although I do

not at this time consider it as an explicit error, ut in plurimum,

yet the error implied in the tenacity with which these people follow

the errors of their ancestors is dangerous.

448. Now they ask permission of the nonos for any task, with the

pasingtabi sa nono. Now they have innumerable fears if the owl which

they call covàgo hoots; if they find a snake in a new house, or on

a journey that they have undertaken; if they hear anyone sneeze;

if any rat squeals, or if the lizard sings, or if any dog howls; and

other things like these. There must be no talk of fish in the house of

the hunter, nor of hunting nor dogs in that of the fisherman; while

in neither the one nor the other house must there be any mention of

new implements for work, unless they have already been used. Sailors

must name nothing of the land, nor landsmen anything of the sea:

for all these were omens.

449. Pregnant women could not cut their hair, for they said that the

children that they would bear would have no hair. When a woman is about

to give birth, some men undress until they are stark naked. Then taking

shields and catans, one takes his stand in the silong, and another

on the ridge of the house, and they continually fence with the wind

with their catans as long as the parturition lasts. I have removed

some from this performance by force of punishment. They say that it

is to keep the patiànac and the osuàng away from the woman. These

are witches among them who come to obstruct the success of the

childbirth, and to suck out the souls of children; and the people

act thus in order to prevent them. He who does not wish to have this

observed in public, through fear of punishment, removes his wife to

another house for the parturition, if he thinks that the witch is in

his. The procurer of this witch they say is the bird tictic, [352]

and that this bird, by flying and singing, shows the witch or osuàng

the house where there is a parturition, and even guides him to work

other misfortunes. Consequently, whenever they see or hear the tictic,

they all grow melancholy, in their fear lest some harm come to them.

450. They greatly fear and reverence the tigbàlang or bibit. This is

a ghost, goblin, or devil; and as it knows the cowardice of these

Indians, it has been wont to appear to them in the mountains--now

in the guise of an old man, telling them that he is their nono; now

as a horse; and now as a monster. Consequently, the Indians in their

terror make various pacts with it, and trade their rosaries for various

articles of superstitious value, such as hairs, grass, stones, and

other things, in order to obtain all their intents and free themselves

from all the dangers. Thus do they live in delusion until God wills

that the evangelical ministers undeceive them, which costs no little

[effort], because of the very great fear with which they are filled.

451. In order to discover any theft, they generally burn fresh

rock-alum, and after it has vaporized and then crystallized they say

that the figure which those crystals form is the living picture of

So-and-so, and that he is the author of the theft. Since they believe

such nonsense as easily as it is difficult to make them believe the

divine mysteries, they all agree to that statement, even though the

face should be that of a dog; and they make a charge in court against

So-and-so, and impute the theft to him. Sometimes they take a screen or

sieve (which they call bilào), in which they fasten some scissors in

form of a cross, to which a rosary is hung. Then they proceed to call

the name of each one who is present at this exercise. If the bilào

shakes when the name of Pedro is called, then that poor Pedro is the

robber, and pays for the theft, without having perhaps eaten or drunk

of it. [353] Sometimes they light a candle to the saint of miracles,

my St. Anthony of Padua, misapplying his peculiar protection for

all lost things; they believe that if the flame of the candle should

flare up in the direction of any of those present at this act, he is

thus shown to be the robber. For these and like deceitful artifices,

there are not wanting masters, Indian impostors, both men and women,

who, in order to gain money, deceive the simple-minded in this manner,

without paying any heed to the claims of conscience in these wrongs.

452. The different kinds of these ministers of the devil in the olden

days, so far as I have examined them, are twelve, and they are as

follows, according to their own old names for them: sònat, catalònan,

mangagávay, manyisalàt, mancocòlam, hoclòban, silàgan, magtatangàl,

osuàng, mangagayoma, pangatahòan, and bayòguin.

453. The sònat was equivalent to a bishop among them; and they all

reverenced him as one who pardoned sins, and ordained others as priests

and priestesses. They expected salvation through him, and he could

condemn them all. This office was general throughout these islands,

but it was held only by the chiefest and most honored, as it was of

great esteem among them. It is said that this office came from the

Borneans. Some try to make out that he was the master of a kind of

exercise that is not decent, but I have found nothing certain among

the much that I have examined.

454. The catalònan (as remarked above) was the priest or priestess

of their sacrifices; and although his office was an honorable one,

it was only while the sacrifice was pending, for after that they paid

but scant attention to him.

455. The mangagàvay were the sorcerers who gave and took away health

and life by their sorceries. It was an office general throughout

this archipelago.

456. The manyisalàt was the sorcerer appointed for lovers. The

mancocòlam was the sorcerer or witch who belched forth fire from

himself, which could not be extinguished with any application except

by his rolling himself in the ordure and filth that falls from the

houses into the silong; and the master of the house where he rolled

himself died and there was no remedy. The hoclòban was another kind of

sorcerer more efficacious than the others, since without any medicine

he could kill, overturn houses, and work other destruction. This is

in Catanduanes, but the two preceding ones are general.

457. The silàgan's duty was to draw out the entrails and eat them,

from all persons whom he saw dressed in white. That happened toward

Catanduanes; and it is not fable, since our Fray Juan de Mérida buried

a Spanish clerk in Calilàya to whom this misfortune had happened. The

magtatàngal is said to have been a man who left his body without head

and intestines, and that the head wandered about hither and thither

during the night in different parts of the world, and in the morning

reunited with his body, leaving him alive as before. This story is

current in Catanduànes, but it is regarded as a fable, although the

natives assert that they have seen it.

458. We have already spoken of the osuàng. It is only added that human

flesh is his usual food. They all saw this one flying, but this is

told in the Visayas and not in Tagalos.

459. The mangagayòma was the sorcerer who made use of the natural

remedies in his sorceries; but those remedies were often corrupted by

pacts with the devil. The pangatahòan is the same as the soothsayer,

who prognosticated the future; and this notion was general throughout

this archipelago. The bayòguin was an effeminate man [hombre maricon],

inclined to be a woman and to all the duties of the feminine sex.

460. This is sufficient as an index of innumerable other errors,

superstitions, and omens, in which their ancients were submerged,

and some of their descendants now follow their footsteps. However,

I am of the opinion that it is born rather of their simplicity than of

their malice, ut in plurimum. Yet I would not be so bold as to assert

that there are not some who make their contracts with the devil; and,

with or without contracts, it is certain that many enchantments are

found here, whence follow deaths to some and extraordinary accidents

to others. And although that can be attributed to the multitude of

herbs of which they have good knowledge, they always leave suspicion

of some diabolical art.

461. The oaths which were and are most usual in these Indians are

execratory. Since they lie so much, I do not know why they are

not brought to confusion in the promissory notes that are always

furnished with curses. In the oath of allegiance which the people

of Manila and Tondo took to our Catholic monarchs in the year 1571,

they confirmed that promise of their obedience in this manner:

"May the sun split us through the middle; may we be devoured by

crocodiles; may our women not show us favor or affection"--if they

should fail to keep their oath. Sometimes they took the pasambahan,

which was, to draw the figure of any wild and monstrous animal, and

ask to be torn to pieces by that animal if they broke their contract

or agreement. Sometimes they lit a candle, and declared that, just

as the candle, so might they be melted, if they did not fulfil their

promise. Now this is somewhat better, but not, their perjuries; for

with great ease and frequency one catches them in false oaths in legal

instruments. This is well known, and therefore should be well punished.

CHAPTER XLIV

Of the former government and social customs of these Indians

462. I have already said that our brother and venerable father Fray

Juan de Plassencia wrote in the convent of Nagcarlàn and signed

(October 24, 1589) a relation describing all the old customs of

these Indians, in obedience to a request and charge of the superior

government. That relation appeared to all a very truthful statement,

as, in order to make it, his examination and vigilance were rigorous.

463. Of this relation I have already used what I thought ought to be

set down in their fitting places. Now I shall say in substance what

he tells when speaking of the social customs of the Indians and their

old-time government, with some additions which serve for the better

understanding of the matter.

464. These Indians were not so lacking in prudence in the olden

time that they did not have their economic, military and political

government, those being the branches derived from the stem of

prudence. Even the political government was not so simple among all of

them that they did not have their architectonic rule--not monarchic,

for they did not have an absolute king; nor democratic, for those who

governed a state or village were not many; but an aristocratic one,

for there were many magnates (who are here called either maguinòos

or datos), among whom the entire government was divided.

465. In the olden days, when, as most of them believe, the Malays came

to conquer these islands, they called the boat or ship by the name of

barangay, which is well known and much used in these times. In this

boat came a whole family, consisting of parents, children, relatives,

and slaves, under the government of one who was the leader, captain,

or superior of all. In some districts, this man was called maguinòo,

and in others dato. And in proportion as they continued to people

this archipelago in this manner, it filled up with families and

they appropriated their places of settlement, each of them seeking

its own convenience for its maintenance and living. And there they

lived governed by their own chiefs, not with a hard and fast rule,

but all in friendly relations. By virtue of this friendship they were

obliged to aid their chief, both in his wars and in the cultivation

of his fields; and all to aid one another mutually. But no one was

able to usurp the property which belonged to another, even though he

were of the same barangay.

466. This barangay consisted of about one hundred persons, more or

less, according to the number that they knew were sufficient for

their territory. If perchance those of one barangay did any injury to

another, cruel wars broke out between them, as broke out between the

chiefs of Manila and Tondo when the Spaniards came in to plant with

the faith the Catholic dominion, and with it the true peace, which

now they enjoy with tranquillity. These chiefs or maguinóos, although

some were so by inheritance, commonly did not get these offices by

virtue of their blood, but by their merits; or because some one had

more power, more wealth, more energy, or more moral virtue than any

of the others. This method of government has always seemed so good

to these Indians that it is the form followed in all the villages,

and all the tributes are divided among various heads of barangays,

in accordance with the enumeration of the villages; and those heads

are the ones who look after the collection of the royal income,

and see that the Indians live like Christians. They must also, by

reason of their office, give account to the father minister and the

alcalde-mayor of their province, in case there is any fault to find

with their respective barangays.

467. No Indian could pass voluntarily from one barangay to another

without the payment of a certain sum, which was established among

them, and unless he made a great feast to all the barangay which he

left. It was much more difficult if they were married. If a man of

one barangay married a woman from another, the children had to be

divided between the barangays, as was also done with the slaves.

468. The classes of people mentioned in that early age by our brother

Plassencia (besides that of chief or dato) are three, as follows. One

class is that of the nobles, whom they call mahadlìcas. This

word signifies, according to the best vocabularies of the Tagálog

language, those who are free, and who were never slaves. The second

class are called pechèros; and the third are those who were slaves

legitimately. Although I find in one vocabulary that mahadlìca is

rendered as "freedman," still I find that freedman is rendered by

timava in most trustworthy vocabularies. And although in the common

practice of the Tagálog speech, one now says minahadlìca aco nang

panginoongco, that is, "My master freed me," I do not believe that

it is so; for mahadlìca properly signifies "to give freedom to the

slave," only because absolute liberty is its peculiar signification,

and they make use of this term when it was given to a slave. Thus this

term gives liberty, and the slave remains free from all slavery in the

uttermost of its meaning. It is certain that the term timava is more

correctly used to signify the freedman. Consequently, the Tagálog

speech applies it and uses it, not only to express the liberty of

the slave, but also for him who breaks the cord at the gallows and

is freed from punishment; and for any fierce animal which makes sport

of bonds. They only lengthen somewhat the accent of the last syllable

in the latter sense, and say nagtitimavà.

469. The pechèros were the ones called alìping namamahay. Although

in strictness, in the Tagálog, the term alìpin signifies "slave,"

the pechèro was not properly a slave, for he always remained in the

house and could not be sold. Consequently, this term could only be

applied to express their method of service, namely, an up-stairs

servant, as I understand it. These pechèros were married. They served

their masters, whether datos or not, with the half of their [time

in the] fields, or as was agreed upon at the beginning; and served

them as rowers. But they lived in their own houses with their wives

and children, and were lords of their property, lands, and gold; and

their masters had not the slightest liberty of action or dominion over

those things. And, even though they should fall by inheritance to a

son of their master, if the former went to live in another village

he could not take them from their own native village; but they would

serve him in their own village, according to their ability, as they

served their former master.

470. The slaves who were strictly such were called alìping sa

guiguilir. This term comes in strict Tagálog to mean the servants

below stairs; for the term guilir signifies "the lower part of

the house," or "its lower entrance." These were bought and sold,

or acquired by war, although those who were born in a family were

seldom sold, for affection's sake. Such served their master in all

things; but the latter would give them some portion of his field,

if they were faithful and zealous in their labor. If they gained

anything by their industry, they could keep it. If they were slaves

because of debt, a condition that was very frequent among them, when

the debt was paid they were free; but they were also obliged to pay

for their support and that of their children. At times it was usual

to transfer the debt to another, for the obtaining of some profit;

and the poor wretches remained slaves, even though such was not their

condition. Much of this is found yet, although not with the rigor

of slavery, but by the force of obligation; but these poor pledged

creatures suffer a certain kind of slavery in their continuous and

toilsome service. The authorities ought to employ all their care for

the uprooting of so keenly felt an abuse.

471. If perchance these slaves sa guiguilir acquired any gold through

their industry, they could ransom themselves with it and become

pechèros; and that ransom did not cost so little that it did not amount

to more than five taes of gold, or thereabout. If one gave ten or more,

then he became free from every claim, and became a noble. For this

purpose a certain ceremony took place between the master and the slave,

namely, the division between the twain of all the furniture that the

slave used--and that with so great strictness that, if a jar was left

over, they broke it and divided up the bits; and if it were a manta,

they tore it through the middle, each one keeping half.

472. From the time when our brother Plassencia explained this

difference of slaves, many acts of injustice which the Indians

practiced on one another were remedied; for they made slaves of those

who were never so, because, as the term alìpin is so confused, and

the alcaldes-mayor did not know the secret, they declared one to be

a slave in all rigor, because the Indians proved that he was alìpin,

which signifies "slave," being silent, in their malicious reserve,

as to whether he was namamahay or sa guiguilir. There were many such

acts of trickery.

473. Those born of father and mother who were mahadlìcas were all also

mahadlìcas, and never became slaves except by marriage. Consequently,

if a mahadlìca woman married a slave, the children were divided. The

first, third, and fifth belonged to the father, while the mother had

the second, fourth, and sixth, and they alternated in the same way with

the other children. If the father were free, then those who pertained

to him were free; but slaves, if he were a slave. The same is to be

understood in regard to the mother and her children. If there were

only one son, or if there were an odd number, so that one was left

over in the division, the last was half free and half slave. However,

it has been impossible to determine at what age the division was made,

or at what time. The slavery of these children followed the native

condition of their parents in all things, and the children were divided

as they pertained to them, whether they were male or female, as they

were born. The same thing occurred when one was poor, and did not have

the wherewithal with which to endow or buy his wife for marriage; and

then, in order to marry her, he became her slave. Hence it resulted

that the free children who belonged to the mother were masters and

lords of their own father, and of the children who belonged to the

father, their own brothers and sisters.

474. If the mahadlìcas had children by their slaves, mother and

children were all free. But if the mahadlìca had intercourse with the

slave woman of another, and she became pregnant, the mahadlìca gave the

master of the slave woman one-half tae of gold because of the danger

of the death of her who was pregnant, and because that her legitimate

master was deprived of the services of the pregnant woman, by reason

of him. When the woman gave birth, one-half the child remained free,

and the father was bound to take care of its support; and, if he did

not do that, he meant that he did not recognize the child as his,

and it remained all slave.

475. If any free woman had children by any slave who was not her

husband, all were free. If a free woman married a half-slave,

the children were slaves only to the one-fourth part, and they

considered that in the question of their service. The service was

divided among all those who were considered as masters, by weeks or

months, or as the masters might agree. But they had the right because

of the parts that were free to compel their masters to free them for

a just price, which was appraised in proportion to the character of

their slavery. But if one were wholly slave, he could not compel his

master to free him for any price, even if he became a slave only for

debt provided he did not pay the debt at the expiration of the time.

476. Another form of servitude was found among them, which they called

cabalangay; it included those persons who begged from the chief who

was head of their barangay whatever they needed, with the obligation

of serving him whenever they were summoned to row, work in his fields,

or serve at his banquets--they helping to meet the expense [of these]

with the tuba or quilàng, which was their wine. Thus did their headman

give them what they needed, with this agreement.

477. This tyranny of slaves was so extensive in this archipelago

that when our Spaniards conquered it, there were chiefs with so many

slaves--of their own nation and color, and not foreign--that there were

those who had one, two, and three hundred slaves; and most of these

were not slaves by birth, but for slight reasons, and even without

reasons. For since their best kind of property, after gold, consisted

in slaves, as their own conveniences were increased considerably by

their services, they expended care in nothing to a greater extent than

in increasing the number of their slaves; now by usury and interest,

in which they had no respect for their own parents and brothers and

sisters; now by petty wars and engagements among themselves, in which

the prisoners became slaves; now by the punishment for some slight

crime such as for not having observed the interdict on speaking during

the funeral obsequies, or if anyone passed by the chief's wife while

she was taking a bath, or if, while the chief was passing by the house

of any timava, some dust accidentally fell on him. Or they were made

slaves because of other reasons, as tyrannical, as trivial, such as

are natural for those who have not the light of the holy gospel.

478. After this [report of Father Plassencia] was promulgated,

the above abuse was so thoroughly removed that now there is not the

slightest amount of slavery among the Indians, in accordance with

apostolic briefs, which have been confirmed by various royal decrees

of our Catholic monarchs. Thus we are all soldiers of one and the same

divine Lord; all militia under the holy cross, which is our Catholic

standard; and citizens and sharers of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is

our kingdom. Thus do we live in these islands, Spaniards and Indians,

all vassals of one Catholic monarch in regard to human matters. This

point can be seen in extenso in the Politica Indiana of Solorzano in

book 2, chapter i. [354]

479. The laws or regulations by which these Indians governed themselves

were founded on the traditions and customs of their ancestors, which

were not barbaric in all things as were they. For they were directed

to venerate and obey their parents, and to treat their elders with the

due respect; and individuals to follow the dictate of the community

of the village; and to punish crimes, etc.

480. Their judges for this were the chief or dato aided by some old

men of his own barangay, or of another barangay if necessary. Or

they themselves appointed a judge-arbiter, even if he were of a

distinct barangay or village. If there were a suit with rival parties,

they tried first to come to an agreement. If they would not agree,

an oath was taken from each one, who declared that they would do

as the judges should sentence. Having done that, witnesses were

examined summarily. If the testimony was equal for each side, then

the litigants were reconciled. If the evidence were in favor of one

of them, the suit was sentenced in his favor, and the defeated one was

notified. If he would not admit the sentence willingly, the judge and

all the others proceeded against him, and by way of execution deprived

him of all the gold to which he had been sentenced. The greater part

of it went to the judges of the case, and to pay the witnesses on

the victorious side; while the poor litigant had the least of all,

being content with only the glory of victory.

481. Criminal cases were judged according to the rank of the murderer

and the murdered. For if the murdered man were a chief among them all

his relatives went to the house of his murderer, and the houses of his

relatives, and they had continual wars one with the other until--the

old men stepped in and acted as mediators, with the declaration of the

amount of gold that ought to be given as a payment for that murder. The

judges and the chief old men took one-half that sum, and the other was

divided among the wife, children, and relatives of the deceased. The

penalty of death was never adjudged except when the murderer and

his victim were so poor and so destitute that they had no gold for

satisfaction and expenses. In that case either his own chief or dato

killed the criminal, or the other chiefs speared him after he had been

fastened to a stake, and made him give up the ghost by spear-thrusts.

482. In the matter of thefts in which the thief was not known with

certainty, and those under suspicion were many, they made a sort of

general purgation performed in the following manner. Each one was

obliged to bring in a bundle of cloth, leaves, or anything else in

which the stolen article could be hidden. Then the fastenings were

unwound, and if the stolen goods were found in any of them, the

matter ceased, and no investigation was made as to whom the bundle

belonged, or who had stolen it. But if the stolen goods were not

found, the following means were employed. Each suspect was made to

enter a river with a good bottom, staff in hand, and then all at once

plunged under. The first one who came up, because he could no longer

hold his breath, was regarded as the thief of the stolen goods, for

his remorse of conscience, they said, took away his breath. On that

account, many were drowned for fear of punishment. The other means

was to place a stone in a vessel of boiling water, and to order the

suspects to take it out with the hand, and he who refused to put in

his hand paid for the theft. Another means was to give them each a wax

candle with wicks of equal length, and of the same size and weight,

all lit at the same instant; and he whose candle went out first was

regarded as the culprit. Of all this, and in all the other suits and

civil or criminal causes, the chief took half the gold, and the other

half was divided among joint judges and witnesses; and scarce a bit

was left for the poor creditor, litigant, or owner. This was one of

the greatest sources of gain to the chiefs and datos, and offered the

best opportunity for them to exercise their tyranny with the poor,

even were the latter guiltless.

483. Adultery was not punishable corporally, but the adulterer paid a

certain sum to the aggrieved party; and that was sufficient so that

the honor of the latter was restored and his anger removed. They

paid no attention to concubinage, rape, and incest, unless the crime

were committed by a timava on a woman of rank. On the contrary, the

committal of such sins openly was very common, for all of them were

very much inclined to this excess; but I cannot find that they were

addicted to the sin against nature in the olden time. Verbal insults,

especially to chiefs, women, and old men, were regarded as deserving

the severest kind of punishment, and it was difficult to obtain the

pardon of the aggrieved.

CHAPTER XLV

Of other customs of these peoples, and in regard to their

marriage, dowries, children, and issue

484. It is not known whether these natives divided the time into

hours, days, weeks, months, or years, or made any other division

of time. As this was necessary to them for the reckoning of their

commerce, trade, and contracts (in which they all engaged), they used

for reckoning their times of payment, and for other transactions and

business of their government--for the hours, the state of the sun in

the sky, the crowing of the cock, and the laying time of the hens,

and several other enigmas which are still employed in the Tagálog

speech. To keep account of the changing of seasons, they knew when it

was winter or summer by the trees, and their leaves and fruit. They

knew of the division into months or years by moons. Consequently, in

order to designate the date of payment, they said "in so many moons,

in so many harvests, or in so many fruitings of such and such a

tree." These were the methods employed in their trading and government.

485. The days were reckoned by the name of the sun, namely, arao. Thus

the Tagálogs now reckon ysang árao, "one day;" dalauang árao, "two

[days]," and so on until they have the difference of weeks, which

they call by the name Domingo, saying "so many Domingos." [355] The

night is called gab-ì; and the day arao, from the name of the sun. The

months were named and reckoned by the name of the moon, namely, bovan

in Tagálog. Thus did they divide the seasons after their own manner,

and in their own speech. Only there are no terms to indicate the

hours of the clock [in their speech]; and now the Castilian [names of]

hours are Tagalized, in order to indicate the hours of time. They call

the clock horasan, that is, "a thing in which one sees the hours;"

whether in its place or in the instrument made for it.

486. They expressed "the year" in their old speech by the word taòn. It

is metaphorical, for it really means "the assembling of many," and

that they have joined together months to make one year. They had a

word to signify seasons and climates, namely panahon. But they never

knew the word "time" [tiempo], in its general sense, and there is

no proper Tagálog word for it; but they use the Spanish word only,

corrupted after their manner, for they make it tiyempo.

487. Their business and contracts were for the greater part illegal,

filled with usury, interest, and tricks; for each one thought only

of increasing his own profits, and paid no attention to his nearest

relatives. Consequently, loans with interest were very common and

generally practiced (and even yet this archipelago is not free from

this abuse, nor have the difficulties experienced in the confessional

ceased); and the interest increases to a very high figure, the debt

doubling and increasing for so long a time as the debt is delayed,

until it results that the debtor, his wealth, and his children, are

all slaves. Their general business was the bartering of one product

for another (and it is still much in vogue)--food, mantas, birds,

stock, lands, houses, fields, slaves, fisheries, palms, nipa-groves,

woodlands, and other similar products. Sometimes those products were

sold for a price, which was paid in gold, according to the terms of the

agreement. Thus they traded among themselves with the products of their

own lands, and with foreigners from other nations for products peculiar

to them; and for this they were wont to have their deferred payments,

their days of reckoning, and their bondsmen who were concerned

therein--but with exorbitant profits, because they were all usurers.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century · 第 11 / 13 章

But since in this letter, the evil propensities of the Indians, both