Very few of the native Indians or Mestizos are possessed of much
wealth, according to British ideas of the term, although there are some
of the latter class who are considered among themselves as very well
off, if their savings amount to from five to twenty thousand dollars;
and when they reach fifty thousand dollars, they are looked upon as
rich capitalists.
In Manilla, there are one or two of these Mestizo traders whose
fortunes amount to more than this; but such occurances are rare,
and are seldom heard of. Many of these amounts have been collected
together by their possessors by their engaging in a sort of usurious
money-lending or banking business with the poverty-struck cultivators
of the soil, by advancing seed to many of them for their paddy fields,
and making the hard condition of exacting in return about one half
of the produce of the ensuing crop. But perhaps these money-lenders
are, to a certain extent, necessary to supply the wants of an
improvident and careless race, these habits being besetting sins of
the Indian character; yet there can be little doubt that the money
acquired by such a usurious repayment of the sums advanced, does
an immense deal of harm, and lessens the natural independence of
the Indians who are so unfortunate as to fall into the clutches of
the money-lender. Should a poor Indian, the possessor of a patch of
paddy-land capable of producing very little more than is required to
feed his family, once run short of seed, he has a very hard battle to
fight with the soil before he is able to get that debt cleared off,
should his neighbours be too poor to assist him, as he must then have
recourse to the usurer. For although, through his greater efforts and
improved cultivation, he may produce much more paddy than his land
had done before, yet he is seldom able to save enough for seed from
the moiety of the produce which his appetite restricted to live upon,
as the other half must go to repay the usurer who advanced him seed,
or money to purchase it.
I have seldom heard of Europeans engaging in this business, for which
their nature and habits are much less suitable than those Mestizo
capitalists who devote themselves to the traffic.
These debts are frequently contracted by the Indians in emulating the
splendour of some richer neighbour on their patron saint's feast-day,
when, in proportion to their means, an immense deal of extravagant
expenditure usually takes place; but, with the exception of the
cockpit, all their other expenses are very slight and thrifty.
Their houses are mostly composed of attap, or nipa grass, on a bamboo
framework fixed on and supported by several strong wooden posts,
generally the trunks of trees, sunk deep enough in the ground to
render them capable of resisting the violent gales of wind common
over all the islands during particular months of the year. In the
villages some of the richer natives have wooden houses--that is to
say, the framework of the part of the house dwelt in is of wood,
being generally supported by a stone wall which composes the bodega,
&c., underneath.
Their furniture is generally made from the bamboo, and from this most
useful plant several of their household utensils are also formed;
all these are of the simplest description, but amply sufficient to
supply their wants.
A crucifix, and the portraits of several saints, are universally
found attached to the walls, and before these they are at all seasons
accustomed devoutly to repeat their morning and evening orisons--all
the family kneeling while the mother recites the prayer.
At nearly all houses in the country a large mortar scooped out of the
trunk of some tree is found, being the instrument employed to free
their paddy from the husk, and convert it into rice. This operation
appears to rank among those household duties which fall to the wife's
share to perform. The pestle is sometimes of considerable weight;
and when it is so, is worked by two women at once.
In their field operations the buffalo is the only animal employed,
and is probably the only one domesticated possessing the requisite
strength to perform the work, as the country oxen and horses are much
too small; and although more active, are too weak to drag the plough
through the flooded paddy fields in which they would get entangled and
sink, sometimes to their middles; but through land in this state the
bulky buffalo delights to wade, and, although slowly, creeps along,
and forces himself through.
In the towns the buffalo is still employed in carts and light work,
for which it is not so well suited as the active-paced horses or oxen
of the country would be, and they no doubt will in time be adopted
for these purposes.
In the country the horses are only used for the saddle, and for
conveying small packages of goods from one country shopkeeper to
another, as the roads they have to traverse are such as to preclude
any use of conveyances upon wheels.