_Which treats of slavery in the Filipinas Islands_
_Laws of slavery_. No Indian in this country is made a slave or is
put to death for any crime which he commits, even if it be theft,
adultery, or murder--except that for each crime there is an established
fine, which they have to pay in jewels or gold, and if the culprit is
unable to pay the fine he will borrow the money, and pledge himself
to the man from whom he borrows. As a result he becomes a slave,
until he shall repay what was lent to him; after that, he is free
again. Therefore, according to the crime committed, they are slaves;
and there are three classes of slaves in these islands. The first,
and the most thoroughly enslaved, is the bondman of him who is served
in his own dwelling; such a slave they call _ayuey_. These slaves
work three days for the master, and one for themselves.
_Kinds of slavery_. Another class of slaves are those called
_tumaranpoc_. They live in their own houses, and are obliged to go
to work for their master one day out of four, having the three days
for themselves. If they fail to work for their master, in order
to cultivate their own fields, they give the master each year ten
_çhicubites_ of rice, each çhicubite being equal to one fanéga.
There are other slaves, whom these people hold in most respect, who
are called _tomatabans_; these work in the house of the master only
when there is some banquet or revel. On such occasions they bring
small gifts, and share in the drinking. But when one of these slaves
dies, the property left by the slave is shared with his children by
the master. During their lifetime, these slaves are bound to work
for their master five days in a month; or, if they do not work,
they annually give the master five çhicubites of rice.
_Value of the slaves_. The ayueys are worth among these people two gold
taes of Labin sian, the equivalent of twelve pesos. The tumaranpoques
are worth the same sum. The tumatabans are worth one tae, or six pesos.
The ayuey women, like their husbands, work in the houses of chiefs. The
tumaranpoque women, if they have children, serve half of the month in
spinning and weaving cotton, which their masters supply; and during
the other half of the month they work for themselves. The tumataban
women spin only one hank of cotton each month for their masters,
who furnish to them the cotton in the boll. Only the ayueys receive
food and clothing from their masters; to the others the masters
give nothing. When these slaves die the masters take away all their
property, except from the tomatabans, as we have said above. Those
whom these natives have sold as slaves to the Spaniards are mostly
the ayueys.
The rules which they observe for punishing any one so severely as to
enslave him are as follows: for murder, adultery, and theft; and for
insulting any woman of rank, or taking away her robe in public and
leaving her naked, or causing her to flee or defend herself so that
it falls off, which is considered a great offense.
_Thieves_. If a thief commit a great robbery, he and all his relatives
(or at least his nearest kin) are fined. If they are unable to pay the
fine, they are made slaves. This law applies to all classes, and even
to the chiefs themselves; accordingly, if a chief commit any crime,
even against one of his own slaves or timaguas, he is fined in the
same manner. But they are not reduced to slavery for lack of means to
pay the fine; as, if they were not chiefs, they would be slaves. In
case of a small theft, the punishment falls upon the thief alone,
and not on his relatives.
_In time of famine._ When there is a famine the poor, who have not
the means of sustenance, in order not to perish, go to the rich--and
almost always they seek their relatives and surrender themselves to
them as slaves--in order to be fed.
_Another kind of slavery._ There is another kind of lordship [slavery:
_crossed out in MS_.], which was first introduced by a man whom they
call Sidumaguer--which, they say, occurred more than two thousand
years ago. Because some men broke a barangay belonging to him--in
Languiguey, his native village, situated in the island of Bantayan--he
compelled the descendants of those who had broken his barangay to
bequeath to him at their deaths two slaves out of every ten, and
the same portion of all their other property. This kind of slavery
gradually made its way among all the Indians living on the coast,
but not among the Tinguianes.
_Real timaguas._ The freemen of these islands, who are called timaguas,
are neither chiefs nor slaves. This is their mode of life. If a
timagua desires to live in a certain village, he joins himself to
one of the chiefs--for each village usually has many chiefs, each
of whom has his own district, with slaves and timaguas, well known
to him--to whom he offers himself as his timagua, binding himself to
observe the following laws: When feasts are given to other chiefs he
must attend; for it is the custom that the timagua drink first from
the pitarrilla, before any chief does so. He must, with his weapons,
accompany the chief when he goes on a journey. When the latter enters
a boat the timagua must go to ply the oar, and to carry his weapons
for the defense of the vessel; but if the vessel sustain any damages
he receives no punishment for this, but is only reprimanded. For this
service the chief is under obligation to defend the timagua, in his
own person and those of his relatives, against anyone who seeks to
injure him without cause; and thus it happens that, to defend the
timaguas, fathers fight against their sons, and brothers against one
another. If the timagua goes to any other village and there is wronged,
the chief will endeavor, with all his forces, to avenge him to the same
extent. Thus the timaguas live in security, and are free to pass from
the service of one chief to that of another, whenever they so desire,
and without any obstacle being placed in their way.
_Of the manner in which they set out on raids_. These natives
have a method of casting lots with the teeth of a crocodile or of
a wild boar. During the ceremony they invoke their gods and their
ancestors, and inquire of them as to the result of their wars and their
journeys. By knots or loops which they make with cords, they foretell
what will happen to them; and they resort to these practices for
everything which they have to undertake. The Indians along the coast
are accustomed to set out every year on their plundering expeditions
in the season of the bonanças, which come between the brisas and
the vendabals. The Tinguianes set out after they have gathered their
harvests; and since their custom is to be enemies to those who are
such to their friends, they do not lack opportunity for fighting.
While on a plundering expedition, if they could take their enemy
alive they did not kill him. If any one slew a captive after his
surrender, he must pay for him with his own money; and if he were
unable to do so he was held as a slave. The booty that they take,
whatever it may be, belongs to the chiefs, except a small portion
which is given to the timaguas who go with them as oarsmen. But if
many chiefs went on a raid, the one who offered the _magaanito,_
or the sacrifice mentioned above, received half of the booty, and
the other half belonged to the other chiefs.
_Captured chiefs._ If any chief were taken captive, he was well
treated; and if any friend ransomed the captive because he was far
from home, the captive returned to him double the amount that his
friend had paid for him, because of his good offices in withdrawing
the chief from captivity; for the latter would, otherwise, always
remain a prisoner. When a chief was taken captive, or committed
adultery or murder, all his relatives contributed toward his ransom,
each according to the degree of his kinship; and if the relatives
had not means to do this the chief remained a slave.
_Borrowing._ If they lent rice to anyone, one year was allowed for
repaying it, since it is something that is planted. If the loan were
not repaid after the first harvest, double the amount was to be paid at
the second; at the third harvest, fourfold was due on an unpaid loan;
and so on, regularly increasing. This was the only usury among them,
although some have stated otherwise; but those persons were not well
informed. Now, some who are lazy, and unwilling to exert themselves
to pay the tribute, ask a loan for this purpose, and repay a somewhat
larger sum.
_Inheritances._ It is their custom to share inheritances in the
following manner. If a man died and left four children, the property
and the slaves were divided into four equal parts, and each one
of the children took his own share. If the dead man left a bastard
child, the latter would receive only what the brothers were pleased
to give him; for he had no right to one of the shares, nor could he
take more than what his brothers voluntarily gave him, or the legacy
made by his father in his favor. If the father chose to favor any of
his children in his will, he did so. If the dead man left no children,
all his brothers inherited his property, having equal shares therein;
and if he had no brothers, his cousins-german would inherit; if he
had no cousins, all his kinsmen. His property, then, went to the
children, if he had any; if not, his brothers were necessarily the
heirs; if he had no brothers, his first cousins; and in default of
these, all his relatives shared the estate equally.