[A scientific priest-poet.] From Naga I visited the parish priest
of Libmanan (Ligmanan), who, possessing poetical talent, and having
the reputation of a natural philosopher, collected and named pretty
beetles and shells, and dedicated the most elegant little sonnets. He
favored me with the following narrative:--
[Prehistoric remains] In 1851, during the construction of a road a
little beyond Libmanan, at a place called Poro, a bed of shells was
dug up under four feet of mould, one hundred feet distant from the
river. It consisted of Cyrenae (C. suborbicularis, Busch.), a species
of bivalve belonging to the family of Cyclades which occurs only in
warm waters, and is extraordinarily abundant in the brackish waters of
the Philippines. On the same occasion, at the depth of from one and
a half to three and a half feet, were found numerous remains of the
early inhabitants--skulls, ribs, bones of men and animals, a child's
thighbone inserted in a spiral of brass wire, several stags' horns,
beautifully-formed dishes and vessels, some of them painted, probably
of Chinese origin; striped bracelets, of a soft, gypseous, copper-red
rock, gleaming as if they were varnished; [122] small copper knives,
but no iron utensils; and several broad flat stones bored through
the middle; [123] besides a wedge of petrified wood, embedded in a
cleft branch of a tree. The place, which to this day may be easily
recognized in a hollow, might, by excavation systematically carried on,
yield many more interesting results. What was not immediately useful
was then and there destroyed, and the remainder dispersed. In spite of
every endeavor, I could obtain, through the kindness of Señor Fociños
in Naga, only one small vessel. Similar remains of more primitive
inhabitants have been found at the mouth of the Bigajo, not far from
Libmánan, in a shell-bed of the same kind; and an urn, with a human
skeleton, was found at the mouth of the Perlos, west of Sitio de Poro,
in 1840. At the time when I wrote down these statements of the priest,
neither of us was familiar with the discoveries made within the last
few years relating to the lake dwellings (pile villages); or these
notes might have been more exact, although probably they would not
have been so easy and natural.
[Ancient Chinese jar.] Mr. W. A. Franks, who had the kindness to
examine the vessel, inclines to the opinion that it is Chinese, and
pronounces it to be of very great antiquity, without however, being
able to determine its age more exactly; and a learned Chinese of the
Burlingame Embassy expressed himself to the same effect. He knew only
of one article, now in the British Museum, which was brought from Japan
by Kaempfer, the color, glazing, and cracks in the glazing, of which
(craqueles) corresponded precisely with mine. According to Kaempfer,
the Japanese found similar vessels in the sea; and they value them
very highly for the purpose of preserving their tea in them.
Morga writes:--
[Used as tea canisters.] "On this island, Luzon, particularly in
the provinces of Manila, Pampánga, Pangasinán, and Ilócos, very
ancient clay vessels of a dark brown color are found by the natives,
of a sorry appearance; some of a middling size, and others smaller;
marked with characters and stamps. They are unable to say either when
or where they obtained them; but they are no longer to be acquired, nor
are they manufactured in the islands. The Japanese prize them highly,
for they have found that the root of a herb which they call Tscha
(tea), and which when drunk hot is considered as a great delicacy
and of medicinal efficacy by the kings and lords in Japan, cannot be
effectively preserved except in these vessels; which are so highly
esteemed all over Japan that they form the most costly articles of
their show-rooms and cabinets. Indeed, so highly do they value them
that they overlay them externally with fine gold embossed with great
skill, and enclose them in cases of brocade; and some of these vessels
are valued at and fetch from two thousand tael to eleven reals. The
natives of these islands purchase them from the Japanese at very high
rates, and take much pains in the search for them on account of their
value, though but few are now found on account of the eagerness with
which they have been sought for."
[Strict search in Japan.] When Carletti, in 1597, went from the
Philippines to Japan, all the passengers on board were examined
carefully, by order of the governor, and threatened with capital
punishment if they endeavored to conceal "certain earthen vessels
which were wont to be brought from the Philippines and other islands
of that sea," as the king wished to buy them all.
[Prized by Japanese.] "These vessels were worth as much as five,
six, and even ten thousand scudi each; but they were not permitted
to demand for them more then one Giulio (about a half Paolo)." In
1615 Carletti met with a Franciscan who was sent as ambassador from
Japan to Rome, who assured him that he had seen one hundred and
thirty thousand scudi paid by the King of Japan for such a vessel;
and his companions confirmed the statement. Carletti also alleges,
as the reason for the high price, "that the leaf cia or tea, the
quality of which improves with age, is preserved better in those
vessels than in all others. The Japanese besides know these vessels by
certain characters and stamps. They are of great age and very rare,
and come only from Cambodia, Siam, Cochin-China, the Philippines,
and other neighboring islands. From their external appearance they
would be estimated at three or four quatrini (two dreier).... It is
perfectly true that the king and the princes of that kingdom possess
a very large number of these vessels, and prize them as their most
valuable treasure and above all other rarities .... and that they boast
of their acquisitions, and from motives of vanity strive to outvie one
another in the multitude of pretty vessels which they possess. [124]
[Found in Borneo.] Many travellers mention vessels found likewise
amongst the Dyaks and the Malays in Borneo, which, from superstitious
motives, were estimated at most exaggerated figures, amounting
sometimes to many thousand dollars.
[$3,500 for a jar] St. John [125] relates that the Datu of Tamparuli
(Borneo) gave rice to the value of almost $3,500 for a jar, and that he
possessed a second jar of almost fabulous value, which was about two
feet high, and of a dark olive green. The Datu fills both jars with
water, which, after adding plants and flowers to it, he dispenses
[A speaking jar.] to all the sick persons in the country. But the
most famous jar in Borneo is that of the Sultan of Brunei, which
not only possesses all the valuable properties of the other jars
but can also speak. St. John did not see it, as it is always kept
in the women's apartment; but the sultan, a credible man, related to
him that the jar howled dolefully the night before the death of his
first wife, and that it emitted similar tones in the event of impending
misfortunes. St. John is inclined to explain the mysterious phenomenon
by a probably peculiar form of the mouth of the vessel, in passing over
which the air-draught is thrown into resonant verberations, like the
Aeolian harp. The vessel is generally enveloped in gold brocade, and
is uncovered only when it is to be consulted; and hence, of course,
it happens that it speaks only on solemn occasions. St. John states
further that the Bisayans used formerly to bring presents to the
sultan; in recognition of which they received some water from the
sacred jar to sprinkle over their fields and thereby ensure plentiful
harvests. When the sultan was asked whether he would sell his jar for
$100,000, he answered that no offer in the world could tempt him to
part with it.
[Morga's description.] Morga's description suits neither the vessel
of Libmánan nor the jar of the British Museum, but rather a vessel
brought from Japan a short time ago to our Ethnographical Museum. This
is of brown clay, small but of graceful shape, and composed of many
pieces cemented together; the joints being gilt and forming a kind of
network on the dark ground. How highly ancient pots of a similar kind,
even of native origin, are esteemed in Japan down to the present day,
is shown by the following certificate translated by the interpreter
of the German Consulate:--
[A consecrated jar.] "This earthen vessel was found in the porcelain
factory of Tschisuka in the province of Odori, in South Idzumi,
and is an object belonging to the thousand graves.... It was made
by Giogiboosat (a celebrated Buddhist priest), and after it had been
consecrated to heaven was buried by him. According to the traditions
of the people, this place held grave mounds with memorial stones. That
is more than a thousand years ago. ....In the pursuit of my studies,
I remained many years in the temple Sookuk, of that village, and
found the vessel. I carried it to the high priest Shakudjo, who
was much delighted therewith and always bore it about with him as
a treasure. When he died it fell to me, although I could not find
it. Recently, when Honkai was chief priest, I saw it again, and
it was as if I had again met the spirit of Shakudjo. Great was my
commotion, and I clapped my hands with astonishment; and, as often
as I look upon the treasure, I think it is a sign that the spirit of
Shakudjo is returned to life. Therefore I have written the history,
and taken care, of this treasure.--Fudji Kuz Dodjin."
Baron Alexander von Siebold communicates the following:--
[Tea societies.] The value which the Japanese attach to vessels of this
kind rests upon the use which is made of them by the mysterious tea
societies called Cha-no-yu. Respecting the origin of these societies,
which still are almost entirely unknown to Europeans, different legends
exist. They flourished, however, principally during the reign of the
emperor Taikosama, who, in the year 1588, furnished the society of
Cha-no-yu at Kitano near Myako with new laws. In consequence of the
religious and civil wars, the whole of the people had deteriorated
and become ungovernable, having lost all taste for art and knowledge,
and holding only rude force in any esteem; brute strength ruling in the
place of the laws. The observant Taikosama perceived that, in order to
tame these rough natures, he must accustom them to the arts of peace,
and thus secure prosperity to the country, and safety for himself and
his successors. With this in view he recalled the Cha-no-yu society
anew into life, and assembled its masters and those acquainted with
its customs around him.
[Their object.] The object of the Cha-no-yu is to draw man away
from the influences of the terrestrial forces which surround him,
to plant within him the feeling of complete repose, and to dispose
him to self-contemplation. All the exercises of the Cha-no-yu are
directed to this object.
[Ceremonies.] Clothed in light white garments, and without weapons,
the members of the Cha-no-yu assemble round the master's house, and,
after resting some time in the ante-room, are conducted into a pavilion
appropriated exclusively to these assemblies. This consists of the
most costly kinds of wood, but is without any ornament which could
possibly be abstracted from it; without color, and without varnish,
dimly lighted by small windows thickly overgrown with plants, and
so low that it is impossible to stand upright. The guests tread the
apartment with solemn measured steps, and, having been received by
him according to the prescribed formulas, arrange themselves in
a half-circle on both sides of him. All distinctions of rank are
abolished. The ancient vessels are now removed with solemn ceremonies
from their wrappings, saluted and admired; and, with the same solemn
and rigidly prescribed formulas, the water is heated on the hearth
appropriated to the purpose, and the tea taken from the vessels and
prepared in cups. The tea consists of the young green leaves of the
tea-shrub rubbed to powder, and is very stimulating in its effect. The
beverage is taken amidst deep silence, while incense is burning on
the elevated pedestal of honor, toko; and, after the thoughts have
thus been collected, conversation begins. It is confined to abstract
subjects; but politics are not always excluded.
[Reward of valor.] The value of the vessels employed in these
assemblages is very considerable; indeed, they do not fall short of the
value of our most costly paintings; and Taikosama often rewarded his
generals with vessels of the kind, instead of land, as was formerly the
practice. After the last revolution some of the more eminent Daimios
(princes) of the Mikado were rewarded with similar Cha-no-yu vessels,
in acknowledgment of the aid rendered to him in regaining the throne
of his ancestors. The best of them which I have seen were far from
beautiful, simply being old, weather-worn, black or dark-brown jars,
with pretty broad necks, for storing the tea in; tall cups of cracked
Craquelé, either porcelain or earthenware, for drinking the infusion;
and deep, broad cisterns; besides rusty old iron kettles with rings,
for heating the water: but they were enwrapped in the most costly
silken stuffs, and preserved in chests lacquered with gold. Similar
old vessels are preserved amongst the treasures of the Mikado and the
Tycoon, as well as in some of the temples, with all the care due to the
most costly jewels, together with documents relating to their history.
[Yamtik and Visita Bicul.] From Libmánan I visited the mountain,
Yamtik (Amtik, Hantu), [126] which consists of lime, and contains
many caverns. Six hours westward by water, and one hour S.S.W. on
foot, brought us to the Visita Bícul, surrounded by a thousand little
limestone hills; from which we ascended by a staircase of sinter in the
bed of a brook, to a small cavern tenanted by multitudes of bats, and
great long-armed spiders of the species Phrynus, known to be poisonous.
[127]
[Ant activities.] A thick branch of a tree lying across the road was
perforated from end to end by a small ant. Many of the natives did
not venture to enter the cave; and those who did enter it were in a
state of great agitation, and were careful first to enjoin upon each
other the respect to be observed by them towards Calapnitan. [128]
[Superstitions.] One of the principal rules was to name no object in
the cave without adding "Lord Calapnitan's." Thus they did not bluntly
refer to either gun or torch, but devoutly said "Lord C.'s gun," or
"Lord C.'s torch." At a thousand paces from this lies another cave,
"San Vicente," which contains the same insects, but another kind
of bat. Both caves are only of small extent; but in Libmánan a very
large stalactite cave was mentioned to me, the description of which,
notwithstanding the fables mixed up with it, could not but have a true
foundation. Our guides feigned ignorance of it; and it was not till
after two days' wandering about, and after many debates, that they came
to the decision, since I adhered to my purpose, to encounter the risk;
when, to my great astonishment, they conducted me back to Calapnitan's
cave; from which a narrow fissure, hidden by a projection of rock,
led into one of the most gorgeous stalactite caves in the world. Its
floor was everywhere firm and easy to the tread, and mostly dry; and
it ran out into several branches, the entire length of which probably
exceeds a mile; and the whole series of royal chambers and cathedrals,
with the columns, pulpits, and altars which it contained, reflected
no discredit upon its description. No bones or other remains were to
be found in it. My intention to return subsequently with laborers,
for the purpose of systematic excavation, was not carried out.
[Unsuccessful climb.] I was not lucky enough to reach the summit of the
mountain, upon which was to be found a lake, "from where else should
the water come?" For two days we labored strenuously at different
points to penetrate the thick forest; but the guide, who had assured
the priest in Libmanan that he knew the road, now expressed himself
to the contrary effect. I therefore made the fellow, who had hitherto
been unburdened, now carry a part of the baggage as a punishment;
but he threw it off at the next turning of the road and escaped,
so that we were compelled to return. Stags and wild boars are very
numerous in these forests; and they formed the principal portion of
our meals, at which, at the commencement of our expedition, we had
as many as thirty individuals; who, in the intervals between them,
affected to search for snails and insects for me, but with success
not proportionate to their zeal.
[A clever pilfering servant.] Upon my departure from Daraga I took
with me a lively little boy, who had a taste for the calling of a
naturalist. In Libmanan he was suddenly lost, and with him, at the
same time, a bundle of keys; and we looked for him in vain. The
fact was, as I afterwards came to learn, that he went straight to
Naga, and, identifying himself by showing the stolen keys, got the
majordomo of my host to deliver to him a white felt hat; with which he
disappeared. I had once seen him, with the hat on his head, standing
before a looking-glass and admiring himself; and he could not resist
the temptation to steal it.
[Trip with Internal Revenue Collector.] In the beginning of March
I had the pleasure of accompanying the Collector (Administrador) of
Camarines and a Spanish head-man, who were travelling across Daet and
Mauban to the chief town. At five p.m. we left Butungan on the Bicol
River, two leagues below Naga, in a falúa of twelve oars, equipped
with one 6-pounder and two 4-pounders, and reinforced by armed men;
and about six we reached Cabusao, at the mouth of the Bicol, whence we
put to sea about nine. The falua belonged to the collector of taxes,
and had, in conjunction with another under the command of the alcalde,
to protect the north coast of the province against smugglers and
pirates, who at this time of the year are accustomed to frequent
the hiding-places of the bay of San Miguel. Two similar gun-boats
performed the duty on the south coast of the province.
[Four volcanos.] Both the banks of the Bicol River are flat, and
expand into broad fields of rice; and to the east are simultaneously
visible the beautiful volcanos of Mayon, Iriga, Malina, and Isarog.
At daybreak we reached the bar of Daet, and, after two hours'
travelling, the similarly named chief city of the province of North
Camarines, where we found an excellent reception at the house of
the alcalde, a polished Navarrese; marred only by the tame monkey,
who should have welcomed the guests of his master, turning his
back towards them with studiously discourteous gestures, and going
towards the door. However, upon the majordomo placing a spirit flask
preserving a small harmless snake on the threshold, the monkey sprang
quickly back and concealed himself, trembling, behind his master. [A
danceless ball.] In the evening there was a ball, but there were no
dancers present. Some Filipinas, who had been invited, sat bashfully
at one end of the apartment and danced with one another when called
upon, without being noticed by the Spaniards, who conversed together
at the other end.
[Spanish prejudice against bathing.] Our departure hence was delayed
by festivities and sudden showers for about two days, after which the
spirited horses of the alcalde carried us within an hour on a level
road north-west, to Talisáy, and in another hour to Indang, where
a bath and breakfast were ready. Up to this time I had never seen
a bath-room in the house of a Spaniard; whereas with the Northern
Europeans it is never wanting. The Spaniards appear to regard
the bath as a species of medicine, to be used only with caution;
many, even to the present day, look upon it as an institution not
quite Christian. At the time of the Inquisition frequent bathing,
it is known, was a characteristic of the Moors, and certainly was not
wholly free from danger. In Manila, only those who live near the Pasig
are the exceptions to the rule; and there the good or bad practice
prevails of whole families bathing, in the company of their friends,
in the open air.
[An unfortified fort.] The road ends at Indáng. In two boats we went
down the river till stopped by a bar, and there at a well-supplied
table prepared for us by the kindness of the alcalde we awaited
the horses which were being brought thither along a bad road by our
servants. In the waste of Barre a tower, surrounded by two or three
fishermen's huts and as many camarines, has been erected against the
Moros, who, untempted by the same, seldom go so far westward, for
it consists only of an open hut covered with palm-leaves--a kind of
parasol--supported on stakes as thick as one's arm and fifteen feet
high; and the two cannons belonging to it ought, for security, to be
buried. We followed the sea-shore, which is composed of silicious sand,
and covered with a carpet of creeping shore plants in full bloom. On
the edge of the wood, to the left, were many flowering shrubs and
pandanus with large scarlet-red flowers. After an hour we crossed the
river Longos in a ferry, and soon came to the spur of a crystalline
chain of mountains, which barred our road and extended itself into
the sea as Point Longos. The horses climbed it with difficulty, and
we found the stream on the other side already risen so high that we
rode knee-deep in the water. After sunset we crossed singly, with
great loss of time, in a miserable ferry-boat, over the broad mouth
of the Pulundaga, where a pleasant road through a forest led us,
in fifteen minutes, over the mountain-spur, Malanguit, which again
projected itself right across our path into the sea, to the mouth
of the Paracale. The long bridge here was so rotten that we were
obliged to lead the horses over at wide intervals apart; and on the
further side lies the place called Paracale, from which my companions
continued their journey across Mauban to Manila.
[Red lead.] Paracale and Mambulao are two localities well known to
all mineralogists, from the red lead ore occurring there. On the
following morning I returned to Longos; which consists of only a few
miserable huts inhabited by gold-washers, who go about almost naked,
probably because they are laboring during the greater part of the
day in the water; but they are also very poor.
[Gold mining.] The soil is composed of rubbish, decomposed fragments of
crystalline rock, rich in broken pieces of quartz. The workmen make
holes in the ground two and one-half feet long, two and one-half
broad, and to thirty feet deep. At three feet below the surface
the rock is generally found to contain gold, the value increasing
down to eighteen feet of depth, and then again diminishing, though
these proportions are very uncertain, and there is much fruitless
search. The rock is carried out of the holes in baskets, on ladders
of bamboo, and the water in small pails; but in the rainy season the
holes cannot possibly be kept free from water, as they are situated
on the slope of the mountain, and are filled quicker than they can
be emptied. The want of apparatus for discharging water also accounts
for the fact that the pits are not dug deeper.
[A primitive rock breaker.] The breaking of the auriferous rock is
effected with two stones; of which one serves as anvil, and the other
as hammer. The former, which is slightly hollowed in the center, is
laid flat upon the ground; and the latter, four by eight by eight
inches in dimensions, and therefore of about twenty-five pounds
weight, is made fast with rattan to the top of a slender young tree,
which lies in a sloping position in a fork, and at its opposite end is
firmly fixed in the ground. The workman with a jerk forces the stone
that serves for hammer down upon the auriferous rock, and allows it
to be again carried upwards by the elasticity of the young tree.
[An arrastre.] The crushing of the broken rock is effected with
an apparatus equally crude. A thick stake rises from the center
of a circular support of rough-hewn stones (which is enclosed in
a circle of exactly similar stones) having an iron pin at its top,
to which a tree, bent horizontally in the middle, and downwards at
the two ends, is fixed. Being set in motion by two carabaos attached
in front, it drags several heavy stones, which are bound firmly to
it with rattans, round the circle, and in this manner crushes the
broken rock, which has been previously mixed with water, to a fine
mud. The same apparatus is employed by the Mexican gold-washers,
under the name of Rastra. [Gold-washing.] The washing-out of the mud
is done by women. They kneel before a small wooden gutter filled with
water up to the brim, and provided with boards, sloping downwards,
in front of the space assigned to each woman; the gutter being cut
out at these places in a corresponding manner, so that a very slender
stream of water flows evenly across its whole breadth downwards over
the board. With her hand the work-woman distributes the auriferous
mud over the board, which, at the lower edge, is provided with a
cross-piece; and, when the light sand is washed away, there remains a
stratum consisting chiefly of iron, flint, and ore, which is taken up
from time to time with a flat piece of board, and laid on one side;
and at the end of the day's work, it is washed out in a flat wooden
dish (batea), and, for the last time, in a coco-shell; when, if they
are lucky, a fine yellow dust shows itself on the edge. [129] During
the last washing the slimy juice of the Gogo is added to the water,
the fine heavy sand remaining suspended therein for a longer time
than in pure water, and thus being more easily separated from the
gold-dust. [130]
[The clean-up.] It is further to be mentioned that the refuse from
the pits is washed at the upper end of the water-gutter, so that
the sand adhering to the stones intended for pounding may deposit
its gold in the gutter or on the washing-board. In order to melt
the gold thus obtained into a lump, in which form it is bought by
the dealers, it is poured into a small heart-shell (cardium), and,
after being covered with a handful of charcoal, placed in a potsherd;
when a woman blows through a narrow bamboo-cane on the kindled coals,
and in one minute the work is completed. [131]
The result of many inquiries shows the profit per head to average
not more than one and one-half reals daily. Further to the south-west
from here, on the mountain Malaguit, are seen the ruins of a Spanish
mining company; a heap of rubbish, a pit fifty feet deep, a large
house fallen to ruin, and a stream-work four feet broad and six feet
high. The mountain consists of gneiss much decomposed, with quartz
veins in the stream-work, with the exception of the bands of quartz,
which are of almost pure clay earth with sand.
[Edible bird's nests.] On the sides hung some edible nests of the
salangane, but not of the same kind as those found in the caverns
on the south coast of Java. These, which are of much less value than
the latter, are only occasionally collected by the Chinese dealers,
who reckon them nominally at five cents each. We also found a few of
the nest-building birds (Collocalia troglodytes, Gray). [132]
[Abandoned workings.] Around lay so large a number of workings,
and there were so many little abandoned pits, wholly or half fallen
to ruin, and more or less grown over, that it was necessary to step
between with great caution. Some of them were still being worked after
the mode followed at Lóngos, but with a few slight improvements. The
pits are twice as large as those excavated there, and the rock is
lifted, up by a pulley to a cylindrical framework of bamboo, which
is worked by the feet of a lad who sits on a bank higher up.
[Lead and mica.] Ten minutes north of the village of Malaguit is
a mountain in which lead-glance and red lead have been obtained;
the rock consisting of micaceous gneiss much decomposed. There is
a stream-work over one hundred feet in length. The rock appears to
have been very poor.
The highly prized red-lead ores have been found on the top of this same
hill, N. 30° W. from the village. The quarry was fallen to ruin and
flooded with rain, so that only a shallow hollow in the ground remained
visible; and after a long search amongst the bushes growing there a few
small fragments were found, on which [Chrome-lead ore.] chrome-lead
ore was still clearly to be recognized. Captain Sabino, the former
governor of Paracale, a well-informed Filipino, who, at the suggestion
of the alcalde, accompanied me, had for some years caused excavations
to be carried on, in order to find specimens for a speculator who had
in view the establishment of a new mining company in Spain; but the
specimens which were found had not been removed, as speculation in
mines in the Philippines had, in the interval, fallen into discredit
on the Exchange of Madrid; and as yet only a little box full of sand,
out of a few small drusy cavities, has been fixed upon and pounded,
to be sold as variegated writing-sand, after being carefully sifted.
[A pretty fan-palm.] A peculiarly beautiful fan-palm grows on this
hill. Its stem is from thirty to forty feet high, cylindrical and
dark-brown, with white rings a quarter of an inch broad at distances of
four inches, and, at similar intervals, crown-shaped bands of thorns
two inches long. Near the crown-leaf the stem passes into the richest
brown of burnt sienna.
[Rooming in a powder-magazine.] Notwithstanding a very bad road, a
pleasant ride carried us from Paracale to the sea-shore, and, through
a beautiful wood, to Mambulao, which lies W. by N. I alighted at the
tribunal, and took up my lodgings in the room where the ammunition was
kept, as being the only one that could be locked. For greater security,
the powder was stored in a corner and covered with carabao-hide;
but such were my arrangements that my servant carried about a burning
tallow light, and his assistant a torch in the hand. When I visited
the Filipino priest, I was received in a friendly manner by a young
girl who, when I offered my hand, thanked me with a bow, saying,
"Tengo las sarnas" ("I have the itch"). The malady, which is very
common in the Philippines, appears to have its focus in this locality.
[Gneiss and crystalline rock.] A quarter of a league N.N.E. we came
upon the ruins of another mining undertaking, the Ancla de Oro. Shaft
and water-cutting had fallen in, and were thickly grown over; and
only a few of the considerable buildings were still standing; and
even those were ready to fall. In a circle some natives were busily
employed, in their manner, collecting grains of gold. The rock is
gneiss, weathered so much that it cannot be recognized; and at a
thousand paces on the other side is a similar one, clearly crystalline.
[Hornblende and hornblende slate.] Half a league N. by E. from Mambulao
is the lead-mountain of Dinianan. Here also all the works were fallen
in, choked with mud and grown over. Only after a long search were
a few fragments found with traces of red-lead ore. This mountain
consists of hornblende rock; in one place, of hornblende slate,
with very beautiful large crystals.
[Copper.] A league and a half S. from Mambulao a shallow hollow in
the ground marks the site of an old copper-mine, which must have
been eighty-four feet deep. Copper ores are found in several places
in Luzon; and specimens of solid copper were obtained by me at the
Bay of Luyang, N. of the Enseñada de Patag, in Caramuan.
[Unsuccessful copper-mining.] Very considerable beds of copper ore
occur in Mancayán, in the district of Lepanto, and in the central
mountain-range of Luzon between Cagayán and Ilocos, which have been
worked by a mining company in Manila since 1850; but the operations
seem to have been most unsuccessful. In 1867 the society expended a
considerable capital in the erection of smelting furnaces and hydraulic
machinery; but until a very recent date, owing to local difficulties,
particularly the want of roads, it has not produced any copper. [133]
[Paying minus dividends.] In 1869 I heard, in London, that the
undertaking had been given up. According to my latest information,
however, it is certainly in progress; but the management have never,
I believe, secured a dividend. The statement of 1872, in fact, shows
a loss, or, as the Spaniards elegantly say, a dividendo pasivo.
[Igorot-mining successful.] What Europeans yet appear unable to
accomplish, the wild Igorots, who inhabit that trackless range of
mountains, have carried on successfully for centuries, and to a
proportionally larger extent; and this is the more remarkable as
the metal in that district occurs only in the form of flints, which
even in Europe can be made profitable only by particular management,
and not without expense.
[Long-established and considerable.] The copper introduced into
commerce by the Igorots from 1840 to 1855, partly in a raw state,
partly manufactured, is estimated at three hundred piculs yearly. The
extent of their excavations, and the large existing masses of slag,
also indicate the activity of their operations for a long period
of time.
[Copper kettles attributed to Negritos.] In the Ethnographical Museum
at Berlin is a copper kettle made by those wild tribes. Meyer,
who brought it, states that it was made by the Negritos in the
interior of the island, and certainly with hammers of porphyry, as
they have no iron; and that he further found, in the collection of
the Captain General of the Philippines, a large shallow kettle of
three and one-half feet in diameter, which had been bought for only
three dollars; whence it may be inferred that, in the interior of
the island, the copper occurs in large masses, and probably solid;
for how could those rude, uncultivated negritos understand the art
of smelting copper?
[Copper-working a pre-Spanish art.] The locality of these rich
quarries was still unknown to the Governor, although the copper
implements brought thence had, according to an official statement
of his in 1833, been in use in Manila over two centuries. It is
now known that the copper-smiths are not Negritos but Igorots; and
there can be no question that they practiced this art, and the still
more difficult one of obtaining copper from flint, for a long period
perhaps previous to the arrival of the Spaniards. They may possibly
have learnt them from the Chinese or Japanese. The chief engineer,
Santos [134], and many others with him, are of opinion that this
race is descended from the Chinese or Japanese, from whom he insists
that it acquired not only its features (several travellers mention
the obliquely placed eyes of the Igorots), its idols, and some of
its customs, but also the art of working in copper. At all events,
the fact that a wild people, living isolated in the mountains,
should have made such progress in the science of smelting, is of
so great interest that a description of their procedure by Santos
(essentially only a repetition of an earlier account by Hernandez,
in the Revista Minera, i. 112) will certainly be acceptable.
[The Igorots' Method.] The present mining district acquired by the
society mentioned, the Sociedad Minero-metalurgica Cantabrofilipina
de Mancayan, was divided amongst the Igorots into larger or smaller
parcels strictly according to the number of the population of the
adjacent villages, whose boundaries were jealously watched; and
the possessions of each separate village were again divided between
certain families; whence it is that those mountain districts exhibit,
at the present day, the appearance of a honeycomb. To obtain the ore,
they made cavities, in which they lighted fires in suitable spots,
for the purpose of breaking the rock into pieces by means of the
elasticity of the heated water contained in the crevices, with the
additional assistance of iron implements. The first breaking-up of
the ore was done in the stream-work itself, and the dead heaps lay
piled up on the ground, so that, in subsequent fires, the flame of
the pieces of wood always reached the summit; and by reason of the
quality of the rock, and the imperfection of the mode of procedure,
very considerable down-falls frequently occurred. The ores were divided
into rich and quartziferous; the former not being again melted, but
the latter being subjected to a powerful and persistent roasting,
during which, after a part of the sulphur, antimony, and arsenic
had been exhaled, a kind of distillation of sulphate of copper and
sulphate of iron took place, which appeared as "stone," or in balls
on the surface of the quartz, and could be easily detached. [135]
[The Smelter.] The furnace or smelting apparatus consisted of a round
hollow in clayey gound, thirty centimeters in diameter and fifteen
deep; with which was connected a conical funnel of fire-proof stone,
inclined at an angle of 30°, carrying up two bamboo-canes, which were
fitted into the lower ends of two notched pine-stems; in these two
slips, covered all over with dry grass or feathers, moved alternately
up and down, and produced the current required for the smelting.
[Smelting.] When the Igorots obtained black copper or native copper by
blasting, they prevented loss (by oxidation) by setting up a crucible
of good fire-proof clay in the form of a still; by which means it was
easier for them to pour the metal into the forms which it would acquire
from the same clay. The furnace being arranged, they supplied it
with from eighteen to twenty kilograms of rich or roasted ore, which,
according to the repeated experiments of Hernandez, contained twenty
per cent of copper; and they proceeded quite scientifically, always
exposing the ore at the mouth of the funnel, and consequently to the
air-drafts, and placing the coals at the sides of the furnace, which
consisted of loose stones piled one over another to the height of fifty
centimeters. The fire having been kindled and the blowing apparatus,
already described, in operation, thick clouds of white, yellow, and
orange-yellow smoke were evolved from the partial volatilization of the
sulphur, arsenic, and antimony, for the space of an hour; but as soon
as only sulphurous acid was formed, and the heat by this procedure
had attained its highest degree, the blowing was discontinued and
the product taken out. This consisted of a dross, or, rather, of the
collected pieces of ore themselves, which, on account of the flinty
contents of the stones composing the funnel, were transformed by the
decomposition of the sulphurous metal into a porous mass, and which
could not be converted into dross nor form combinations with silicious
acid, being deficient in the base as well as in the requisite heat;
and also of a very impure "stone," of from four to five kilograms
weight, and containing from fifty to sixty per cent of copper.
[The copper "stone".] Several of these "stones" were melted down
together for the space of about fifteen hours, in a powerful fire;
and by this means a great portion of the three volatile substances
above named was again evolved; after which they placed them, now heated
red-hot, in an upright position, but so as to be in contact with the
draught; the coals, however, being at the sides of the furnace. After
blowing for an hour or half-an-hour, they thus obtained, as residuum,
a silicate of iron with antimony and traces of arsenic, a "stone"
containing from seventy to seventy-five per cent of copper, which they
took off in very thin strips, at the same time using refrigerating
vessels; and at the bottom of the hollow there remained, according
as the mass was more or less freed from sulphur, a larger or smaller
quantity (always, however, impure) of black copper.
[Purifying the product.] The purified stones obtained by this second
process were again made red-hot by placing them between rows of wood,
in order that they might not melt into one another before the fire
had freed them from impurities.
The black copper obtained from the second operation, and the stones
which were re-melted at the same time, were then subjected to a
third process in the same furnace (narrowed by quarry stones and
provided with a crucible); which produced a residuum of silicious
iron and black copper, which was poured out into clay moulds, and
in this shape came into commerce. This black copper contained from
ninety-two to ninety-four per cent of copper, and was tinged by a
carbonaceous compound of the same metal known by its yellow color,
and the oxide on the surface arising from the slow cooling, which will
occur notwithstanding every precaution; and the surface so exposed
to oxidation they beat with green twigs. When the copper, which had
been thus extracted with so much skill and patience by the Igorots,
was to be employed in the manufacture of kettles, pipes, and other
domestic articles, or for ornament, it was submitted to another
process of purification, which differed from the preceding only in
one particular, that the quantity of coals was diminished and the
air-draught increased according as the process of smelting drew near
to its termination, which involved the removal of the carbonaceous
compound by oxidation. Santos found, by repeated experiment, that even
from ores of the mean standard of twenty per cent, only from eight to
ten per cent of black copper was extracted by the third operation; so
that between eight to twelve per cent still remained in the residuum
or porous quartz of the operation.
[Tagalog women traders.] It was difficult to procure the necessary
means of transport for my baggage on the return journey to Paracale,
the roads being so soaked by the continuous rains that no one would
venture his cattle for the purpose. In Mambulao the influence of
the province on its western border is very perceptible, and Tagalog
is understood almost better than Bicol; the Tagalog element being
introduced amongst the population by women, who with their families
come here, from Lucban and Mauban, in the pursuit of trade. They buy up
gold, and import stuffs and other wares in exchange. The gold acquired
is commonly from fifteen to sixteen carats, and a mark determines
its quality. The dealers pay on the average $11 per ounce; but when,
as is usually the case, it is [Miners uncertain returns.] offered in
smaller quantities than one ounce, only $10. [136] They weigh with
small Roman scales, and have no great reputation for honesty.
North Camarines is thinly inhabited, the population of the mining
districts having removed after the many undertakings which were
artificially called into existence by the mining mania had been
ruined. The goldwashers are mostly dissolute and involved in debt,
and continually expecting rich findings which but very seldom occur,
and which, when they do occur, are forthwith dissipated;--a fact
which will account for champagne and other articles of luxury being
found in the shops of the very poor villagers.
Malaguit and Matango, during the dry season, are said to be connected
by an extremely good road; but, when we passed, the two places were
separated by a quagmire into which the horses sank up to their middle.
[Labo.] In Labo, a little village on the right bank of the river Labo
(which rises in the mountain of the same name), the conditions to
which we have adverted are repeated--vestiges of the works of former
mining companies fast disappearing, and, in the midst, little pits
being worked by the natives. Red lead has not been found here, but
gold has been, and especially "platinum," which some experiments
have proved to be lead-glance. The mountain Labo appears from its
bell-shape and the strata exposed in the river bed to consist of
trachytic hornblende. Half a league W.S.W., after wading through mud
a foot deep, we reached the mountain Dallas where lead-glance and
gold were formerly obtained by a mining company; and to the present
day gold is obtained by a few natives in the usual mode.
[Wild Cat Mining.] Neither in the latter province, nor in Manila, could
I acquire more precise information respecting the histories of the
numerous unfortunate mining enterprises. Thus much, however, appears
certain, that they were originated only by speculators, and never
properly worked with sufficient means. They therefore, of necessity,
collapsed so soon as the speculators ceased from their operations.
[Small output.] North Camarines yields no metal with the exception
of the little gold obtained by the natives in so unprofitable a
manner. The king of Spain at first received a fifth, and then a
tenth, of the produce; but the tax subsequently ceased. In Morga's
time the tenth amounted on an average to $10,000 ("which was kept
quite secret"); the profit, consequently, to above $100,000. Gemelli
Carreri was informed by the governor of Manila that gold to the value
of $200,000 was collected annually without the help of either fire or
quicksilver, and that Paracale, in particular, was rich in gold. No
data exist from which I could estimate the actual rate of produce; and
the answers to several inquiries deserve no mention. The produce is,
at all events, very small, as well on account of the incompleteness
of the mode of procedure as of the irregularity of labor, for the
natives work only when they are compelled by necessity.
[Indang.] I returned down the stream in a boat to Indang, a
comparatively flourishing place, of smaller population but more
considerable trade than Daet; the export consisting principally of
abacá, and the import of rice.
[Storms.] An old mariner, who had navigated this coast for many
years, informed me that the same winds prevail from Daet as far as
Cape Engaño, the north-east point of Luzon. From October to March
the north-east wind prevails, the monsoon here beginning with north
winds, which are of short duration and soon pass into the north-east;
and in January and February the east winds begin and terminate
the monsoon. The heaviest rains fall from October to January, and
in October typhoons sometimes occur. Beginning from the north or
north-east, they pass to the north-west, where they are most violent;
and then to the north and east, sometimes as far as to the south-east,
and even to the south. In March and April, and sometimes in the
beginning of May, shifting winds blow, which bring in the south-west
monsoon; but the dry season, of which April and May are the driest
months, is uninterrupted by rain. Thunder storms occur from June to
November; most frequently in August. During the south-west monsoon
the sea is very calm; but in the middle of the north-east monsoon all
navigation ceases on the east coast. In the outskirts of Baler rice
is sown in October, and reaped in March and April. Mountain rice is
not cultivated.