a mile beyond the village into a ravine which, according to the
instructions, led to the cattle-field beyond. While crossing the stream
in the bottom of the ravine, the men were startled by the whiz of
bullets and, glancing up, found the steep banks lined with insurrectos
who had opened fire without a moment's warning. Our men entrapped,
surrounded, were ordered to surrender. For answer they put spurs to
their horses and started back under a heavy fire. Unfortunately two of
the fine horses were shot; their riders were obliged to run afoot the
rest of the way up the bank and were picked up by their comrades. One
of the men shouted, "Sergeant, don't you hear they are calling for
us to surrender? Say are you going to?" With an oath, "No, not by
a d---d sight. Run and fight." Which they did and actually got away
from hundreds of natives and arrived in Jaro breathless and weary, the
horses covered with foam. Not a man had been killed or wounded. Two
horses were killed outright, but none were maimed. Soon the troop
was in the saddle and out after those treacherous miscreants. Many
natives were arrested and brought to town and then it was found that
this loyal (?) Presidente, whom the commanding general had had the
utmost confidence in was at the head of a number of Filipino companies
which scoured the country to capture small parties of our soldiers. As
the investigations were pressed it came out that the bodies of their
victims had been torn to pieces and buried in quicklime that there
might be no traces left of their treachery. It was several weeks
before the full facts were obtained and before the mutilated remains
of our soldiers were found and brought back and buried.
The volunteer regiments suffered most from these brutal cowards,
directed and urged on by the "very best men" in civil and "sacred"
office. These are facts from the lips of U. S. officers, men who do
not lie. Very often the troops were called out to capture these bloody
bands, but it was hard to locate them or bring them to a stand. The
natives knew so many circuitous ways of running to cover and they
had so many friends to aid them that it was almost impossible to
follow them. Whenever they were captured they were so surprised,
so humiliated, so innocent, meek and subdued, that it would never
occur to an honest man that they could know how to handle a bolo
or a gun. But experience taught that the most guileless in looks
were the worst desperadoes of all. My first sight of a squad of
these captives is a thing not to be forgotten. They were a scrubby
lot of hardly human things, stunted, gnarled pigmies, with no hats
or shoes, and scarcely a rag of clothing. Their cruel knives, the
deadly bolos, were the only things they could be stripped of. I looked
down upon them from my window in astonishment. "It is not possible,"
I exclaimed, "that these miserable creatures are samples of what is
called the Filipino army." "Yes," an officer replied, "these are the
fellows that never fight; that only stab in the back and mutilate
the dying and dead." My eyes turned to the guard, our own soldiers,
fine, manly fellows, who fairly represented the personnel of our own
splendid army. It made me indignant that one of them should suffer
at the hands of such vermin or rather at the hands of the religious
manipulators who stood in safety behind their ignorant degraded slaves.
SHIPWRECK.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
The climate seemed beyond physical endurance, although the thermometer
ranged no higher than from ninety to one hundred ten, but the heat was
continuous night and day; exhaustion without relief. The only time that
one could get a breath was about five o'clock in the morning; in the
middle of the day the sun's rays are white-hot needles,--this is the
only way that I can express it; and even if one carries an umbrella,
the heat pierces directly through. From the first of November to
the middle of December, there is usually about six or seven hours
a day of comparative comfort; but the season is too short to brace
the enervated body. One day the thermometer fell to seventy-eight;
we Americans shivered and craved a fire, so much did we feel the
change of temperature.
I finally learned from the natives that it is not best after bathing,
to rub the body with a towel; and indeed, following them more closely,
that it is wise to feed with cocoanut oil the famished pores of the
skin which has been weakened by excessive exudation. The rainy season
begins in April, usually, and gives some relief from the excessive
heat; and such rains, never in my life had I known before what it
was to have rain come down by the barrelful! The two-story house in
which we were quartered was quite solidly built, and the boards of
the second story were over-lapped to keep out the rain; and yet,
I have often had to get up on the bed or table while the water
poured in at innumerable unsuspected cracks and swept the floor
like a torrent. It was hard to tell which frightened one the most,
the terrible rain-storms or the awful earthquakes. In the house
there was a magnificent glass chandelier. The first time we had a
severe earthquake that chandelier swayed back and forth in such a
wild way that it seemed as if it must fall and crush every prism,
tiny light, and bell. I felt sure whenever a quake began that I
should not live through it. The flying fragments across the room,
the creaking hard-wood doors, the nauseating feeling that everything
under foot was falling away,--it was a frightful experience then,
it is a sickening memory now. One never gets used to these shocks no
matter how many occur; the more, the worse. They are more frequent
in the night than in the day. It was not quite so bad if the wild
start from uneasy slumber was followed by a cheery voice calling,
"Hello there, are you alive, has anything hurt you, has anything
struck?" Even the rats are terrified, and the natives, almost to a
soul, leave their houses, congregate in the middle of the street,
and begin to pray. Sometimes a fierce wind from the north brings sad
havoc to the hastily built bamboo houses; a whole street of these
slightly constructed dwellings is toppled over or lies aslant, or is
swept away. At first we used to smile at the storm signal displayed at
Iloilo. If the sky was clear and still, we would start out confidently
on some trip, to the next town perhaps; before we had gone more than
a half mile we would be drenched through and through and no cloud,
not even as big as a man's hand was to be seen; at other times dense
clouds, the blackest clouds, would shut down close upon us,--such are
the strange variations. No sort of sailing craft ever leaves the port
when the signals are up for one of these hurricane storms; if caught
out in them they put instantly into the nearest port. Shipwrecks are
frequent, partly on account of these sudden storms, but chiefly on
account of the shifting sands of the course.
From Manila to Iloilo on a boat that had been purchased for the use
of the government, I was, on one occasion, the only passenger on
board. The captain had never been over this course before, but he was
confident of getting through with the help of a Spanish chart. About
two o'clock in the morning I sprang to my feet alarmed by the harsh
grinding of the boat's keel, the scurrying of many feet, the shouting
of quick orders. The shock of the boat blew out all lamps; in the
darkness I opened the door of my cabin and ran to find the captain,
guided by his voice. I learned that we were aground. I asked him if
I could help. "Yes, if you can carry messages to the engineer and
translate them into Spanish." I ran to and fro, stumbling up or down,
forgetting every time I passed that a certain part of the ship had a
raised ledge. The effort was to prop the boat with spars that it might
not tip as it crunched and settled down upon the coral reefs. We could
hardly wait until daylight to measure the predicament. When the light
grew clear so that I saw the illuminated waters, there was a scene of
new and wonderful beauty,--a garden of the sea, a coral grove. Far as
the eye could reach there was every conceivable color, shape, and kind
of coral,--pink, green, yellow, and white. It all looked so safe and
soft, as if one might crush it in the hands; and yet these huge cakes
of coral were like adamant, except the delicate fern-like spikes that
were so viciously piercing the bottom of our boat. I saw all kinds of
sea shells, the lovely nautilus spreading its sails on the surface,
and the huge devil-fish sprawling at the bottom of the shallow pools,
with its many tentacles thrown out on every side.
With innumerable ants, swarms of mosquitoes, lizards everywhere,
rats by the million, mice, myriads of langoustas or grass-hoppers,
long cockroaches, squeaking bugs, monkeys that stole everything they
could lay their hands on, the fear of the deadly bolo, the dread
each night of waking up amid flame and smoke, earthquakes, tornadoes,
dreadful thunders and lightnings, torrents of water, life sometimes
seemed hard; each new day was but a repetition of yesterday, and I
used constantly to rely upon the assured promises--Psalms XCI:
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty.
"I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress: my God:
in him will I trust.
"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from
the noisome pestilence.
"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt
thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow
that flieth by day;
"Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday.
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.
"Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the
wicked.
"Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most
High, thy habitation;
"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling.
"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all
thy ways.
"They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the dragon shalt thou trample
under feet.
"Because he hath set his love upon thee, therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in
trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
"With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."
Looking down from my window every day into the faces of six or more
dead bodies that were brought to the cathedral, I knew that "The
pestilence was walking in the darkness."
FILIPINO DOMESTIC LIFE.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
The houses are made of bamboo; some of them are pretty, quite artistic;
the plain ones cost about seventy-five cents each; no furniture of
any kind is needed. The native food is rice, or, as it is called in
the vernacular, "Sow-sow." It is cooked in an earthen pot set upon
stones with a few lighted twigs thrust under it for fire. When it is
eaten with nature's forks--the fingers--with a relish of raw fish,
it is the chief article of diet.
House-cleaning is one thing that I never saw in practice or evidence. I
took a supply of lye with me and it was a huge joke to see the natives
use it in cleaning the floors.
The windows are made of oyster shells which are thin and flat;
these cut in three-inch squares make a window peculiarly adapted to
withstand the heavy storms and earthquakes; it transmits a pleasant
opalescent light.
Coffee is raised, but not widely used by the natives; they prefer
chocolate.
After many unsuccessful attempts, I gave up trying to have my dishes
washed in my way; I soon discovered that the servants used the tea
towels on their bodies. This convinced me, and I let them wash mine
as they did their own, by pouring water on each dish separately,
rinsing and setting to dry on the porch in the sun, the only place
where the vermin would not crawl over them.
The irons used for pressing clothes are like a smooth, round-bottomed
skillet, the inside is filled with lighted sticks and embers. The
operator, who sits on the floor, passes this smoking mass over the
thing to be pressed. The article, when finished, looks as if it had
been sat upon.
One Palm Sunday I visited five different churches in all of which
were palms in profusion, woven into almost innumerable forms; fishes,
birds in and out of cages, trees, fruits, flowers, crosses, crowns,
sceptres, mitres, and saints' emblems. The cathedral at Arevalo looked
like a huge garden, but, in one second after it had been discovered
that a white woman and an American officer were present, the entire
congregation, rising, turned to look at us; it seemed as if a whirlwind
were sweeping the palms, so nervous were the hands that held them.
After the service, the crowd came out and vanished immediately,
fear of an attack having overcome their curiosity.
Nearly all the little children are naked. One day I saw a little
fellow about three years old who was suffering severely with the
smallpox. He was smoking a huge cigar of the kind the natives make by
rolling the natural tobacco leaf and tying it with a bit of bamboo
fibre. He did look ridiculous. A native teacher told me that they
all begin to smoke when about two years old; poor, little, stunted,
starved things, fed on half cooked rice and raw fish.
Drunkenness is comparatively rare among the natives; the intoxicating
beverage is the "Tuba," which is made about as follows: The flowers
of the cocoanut are cut while still in bud and the sap, or "Beno,"
caught in a tube of bamboo; the liquor is gathered daily as we gather
maple sap and fermented by the addition of a piece of wood, which
also imparts a slight color. The product of this fermentation is an
insidious stimulant. I never tasted it, but one poor soldier told
me his sad experience and that sufficed. After a particularly hard
march, his company came to a halt in a village; he asked for water,
but could get only this innocent looking "Beno;" he took one tiny
glass; it tasted like cologne water; his thirst not being quenched,
he took a second and a third glass, after which he proceeded to make
a howling mob of himself. This, since it happened in the face of the
enemy, with momentary expectation of attack, was a serious offence
enough, but coupled with the fact that he was "on guard" at the time,
entailed punishments, the rigor of which, can be guessed only by
those familiar with army discipline.
Once a party of officers and men were going from one island to another,
carrying money and food for the soldiers. It was found, after starting,
that they were not so heavily guarded as they should be, in view of
the fact that they would be exposed to attack when in the narrow
channels between the islands. At one point where they were hemmed
in, not only by the islands, but by a number of sailing crafts, the
Captain, a Filipino, very seriously asked the Paymaster if he had
plenty of fire arms; his reply was, "Oh, muchee fusile," meaning,
"Oh, very much fire arms." To add to the horror of the situation
they were becalmed. The Captain became very much alarmed and the
soldiers more so. Strange to relate, there came a gale of wind that
not only blew them out into a wider channel beyond the reach of their
insurrecto friends, but put them well on their way. This was told me
as being almost like a miracle. No one can ever realize until they
have been caught in one of these terrific gales what their severity
is. I remember one blast that tore my hair down and swept away every
article of loose clothing, also some things that I had just purchased;
I never saw them again. It would not occur to the natives to return
anything that they found, even if they knew that they never could use
it; they all professed friendship to my face, and were constantly
begging for any little article that I might have, but they never
returned anything they saw me drop or that had been blown away.
We had, at one time, a peace society formed, there was an attendance
of all the women of Jaro, some from Iloilo, and the President was
chosen from Molo. I took pleasure in joining this society for the
maintenance of peace and fraternal feeling with the Filipinos.
One day I thought it my duty to call upon the President of the
new peace commission. She lived in the town of Molo. I invited a
native woman to accompany me, and secured a guard of soldiers and an
interpreter. Such a commotion as the visit created. The interpreter
explained that I had called to pay my respects, as I was the only
American woman who had joined the peace society. The President
was pale with fright at my coming, though I had with me a woman
whom she knew very well. After she had recovered from the shock,
we had a very agreeable time. She called in some of her family; one
daughter played well on the piano, a large grand, and another played
upon the violin. In the meantime refreshments were served in lavish
profusion. They offered me very handsome cloths and embroideries,
which I declined with thanks. It is a common custom to make presents.
I had agreed with this Filipino friend to exchange views on points of
etiquette and social manners. She told me that I had committed quite
a breach of propriety in allowing the interpreter, who was a soldier,
to ride on the front seat of the carriage; that it would become known
everywhere that she and I actually had a man ride with us. It is not
customary for even husbands and wives to drive together. My criticism
was, "We do not like the manner of your ladies expectorating. In
America we consider it a very filthy and offensive habit." She was
quite surprised that we were so very particular and asked me if we
chewed the spittle.
A large cathedral was situated just across the street, a circumstance
that enabled me to witness many ceremonies of the Roman church, of
whose existence I had no previous knowledge; daily services were held,
and all the Saints' days were observed. On festivals of especial
importance there were very gorgeous processions. The principal
features were the bands of music, the choir, acolytes, priests, and
rich people,--the poor have no place--all arrayed in purple and fine
linen; gold, silver, pearls, and rare jewels sparkled in the sun by
day, or, at night, in the light of the candles and torches carried
by thousands of men, women and children.
It was a trying experience to be awakened from sound sleep by the
firing of guns. It was necessary to be always armed and ready to
receive the "peaceful people." (We read daily in the American papers
that all danger was over.)
A characteristic feature of each town is a plaza at its center, and
here the people have shrines or places of worship at the corners,
the wealthier people, only, having them in their homes.
Smallpox is a disease of such common occurrence that the natives
have no dread of it; the mortality from this one cause alone is
appalling. This brings to mind the funeral ceremony, which, since the
natives are all Catholics, is always performed by the padre or priest.
In red, pink, or otherwise gayly decorated coffin, the corpse,
which is often exposed to view and sometimes covered with cheap
paper flowers, bits of lace and jewelry, is taken to the church,
where there are already as many as five or six bodies at a time
awaiting the arrival of the priest to say prayers and sprinkle holy
water upon them. If the family of the deceased is too poor to buy or
rent a coffin, the body is wrapped in a coarse mat, slung on a pole,
and carried to the outer door of the church, to have a little water
sprinkled thereon or service said over it. If the families are unable
to rent a spot of earth in the cemetery, their dead are dumped into a
pile and left to decay and bleach upon the surface. In contrast with
this brutal neglect of the poor, is the lavish expenditure of the
rich. The daughter of one of the wealthy residents having died, the
body was placed in a casket elaborately trimmed with blue satin, the
catafalque also was covered with blue satin and trimmed with ruffles
of satin and lace. In the funeral procession, the coffin was carried
on the shoulders of several young men, while at the sides walked young
ladies, each dressed in a blue satin gown with a long train and white
veil, and each lavishly decorated with precious jewels. They held long,
blue satin ribbons fastened to the casket. At the door of the church
the casket was taken in charge by three priests, attended by thirty
or forty choir boys, acolytes, and others, and placed upon a black
pedestal about thirty feet high and completely surrounded by hundreds
of candles, many of which were held in gilded figures of cherubim;
the whole was surmounted by a flambeau made by immersing cotton in
alcohol. The general effect was of a huge burning pile. Incense was
burned every where in and about the edifice, which was elaborately
decorated with satin festoons, palms, artificial flowers, emblems
wrought in beads, all in profusion and arranged with native taste. All
this, with the intonation of the priests, the chanting of the choir,
and the blaring of three bands, made a weird and impressive scene
never to be forgotten. After the ceremony, which lasted about an
hour, the body was taken to the cemetery, and, as it was by this
time quite dark, each person in the procession carried a torch or
candle. I noticed quite a number of Chinese among the following,
evidently friends, and these were arrayed in as gorgeous apparel as
the natives. The remains having been disposed of, there was a grand
reception given in the evening in honor of the deceased.
It is customary to have a dance every Sunday evening, and each woman
has a chair in which she sits while not dancing. The priests not only
attend, but participate most heartily.
I was told that among the papers captured in Manila was a document
which proved to be the last bull issued by the Pope to the King of
Spain (1895 or 96). This was an agreement between the Pope and the
King, whereby the former conveys to the latter the right to authorize
the sale of indulgences. The King, in turn, sold this right to the
padres and friars in the islands. Absolution from a lie cost the
sinner six pesos, or three dollars in gold; other sins in proportion to
their enormity and the financial ability of the offender. The annual
income of the King of Spain from this system has been estimated at
the modest figure of ten millions.
The discovery of this and other documents is due to a party of
interpreters who became greatly fascinated by the unearthing
process. In the same church in which these were found, the men
investigated the gambling tables and found them controlled and
manipulated from the room below by means of traps, tubes, and other
appliances. An interesting fact in this connection is that one of
the interpreters was himself a Romanist, and loath to believe his
eyes, but the evidence was convincing, and he was forced to admit
it. Gambling is a national custom, deeply rooted.
I shall never forget the joy I experienced when we got two milch
cows. What visions of milk, cream, and butter,--fresh butter, not
canned; then, too, to see the natives milk was truly a diversion;
they went at it from the wrong side, stood at as great a distance
as the length of arms permitted, and in a few seconds were through,
having obtained for their trouble about a pint of milk--an excellent
milk-man's fluid--a blue and chalky mixture.
One day I heard what seemed to be a cry of distress, half human in
entreaty, and I rushed to see what could be the matter. There, on its
back, was a goat being milked; there were four boys, each holding a
leg, while the fifth one milked upward into a cocoanut shell. It was
a ludicrous sight.
One of their dainties is cooked grasshoppers, which are sold by the
bushel in the markets. I cannot recommend this dish, for I never
was able to summon sufficient courage to test it, but I should think
it would be as delectable as the myriad little dried fish which are
eaten with garlic as a garnish and flavor.
The poor little horses are half starved and otherwise maltreated by
the natives, who haven't the least idea of how to manage them. They
beat them to make them go, then pull up sharply on the reins which
whirls them round and round or plunges them right and left, often
into the ditches beside the road. It was no uncommon sight to see
officers or men getting out of their quielas to push and pull to get
the animal started, only to have the driver whip and jerk as before.
Some of the natives bought the American horses and it was painful to
see them try to make our noble steeds submit to methods a la Filipino.