Aetas or Negritos, Including Balugas, Dumagas, Mamanuas, and
Manguianes.
These people are generally considered to be the aborigines of the
Philippines, and perhaps at one time inhabited the entire group. The
invasion of the Malays dispossessed them of the littoral, and of
the principal river valleys, and the Spanish Conquest drove them
gradually back into the mountains. It seems strange that these
irreclaimable savages should be able from their eyries on Mount
Mariveles to distinguish a great city with its Royal and Pontifical
University and yet remain unconverted, uncivilised, and independent
of all authority, just as they were before Legaspi arrived.
They are a race of negroid dwarfs of a sooty black colour, with
woolly hair, which they wear short, strong jaws, thick lips, and
broad flat noses. The men I have seen in the jungle near Porac and at
Mariveles were about 4 feet 8 inches in height, and the women about
a couple of inches shorter. The men only wore a cord round the waist
with a cloth passed between their legs. The women wore a piece of
cloth around the hips, and as ornaments some strings of beads round
their necks. However, like many other savages in the Philippines and
elsewhere, those of them, both men and women, who are accustomed to
traffic with the Christian natives, are possessed of clothes which
they put on whenever they enter a village. Their appearance was not
prepossessing; the skin of a savage is rarely in good order or free
from some scaly eruption, and the stomach is commonly unduly distended
from devouring large quantities of vegetable food of an innutritious
character. Still they were not so unpleasing as might be supposed,
for although their figures are not good according to our standards,
nor are their muscles well developed, either on arms or legs,
yet there was a litheness about them that gave promise of extreme
agility and great speed in running. As a matter of fact, they do
run fast, and climb trees in a surprising way. The Tagals and other
Malays who go barefooted use their toes to pick up an object on the
ground rather than stoop as a European would do, but the toes of the
Negritos are more like fingers. They come near the Quadrumanes in
this respect. The men carried bows, about five feet six inches long
and a quiver full of iron-pointed arrows--also a wood-knife, or bolo,
very roughly made. The former they make themselves; but the latter
they obtain from the Tagals. I can confirm from my own experience a
statement of various travellers, that they are fond of lying close
to fires or in the warm ashes, for when I arrived at a bivouac
of these people near Porac, their skins were covered with ashes,
and I saw that they had recently arisen from their favourite lair,
the prints of their forms being plainly visible. They had with them
some wretched starveling dogs which assist them in the chase.
It would seem that the Negritos must be descended from a race which
formerly extended over a vast area, for remains of them exist in
Southern India, in the mountains of Ceylon, and in the Andaman Islands.
In the Malay Peninsula they are called Semang. From the description
of them given by Hugh Clifford, in his interesting book, 'In
Court and Kampong,' they appear to be identical with the Philippine
Negritos. Crauford, in his 'History of the Indian Archipelago,' gives
the measurement of a Negrito from the hills of Kedah as four feet
nine inches. Mr. F. V. Christian, in a paper recently read before
the Royal Geographical Society, stated that he had found tombs of
Negritos on Ponape one of the Caroline group.
The Negritos build no houses, and are nomadic, in the sense of
moving about within a certain district. They live in groups of
twenty or thirty under a chief or elder, and take his advice about
camping and breaking up camp, which they do according to the seasons,
the ripening of jungle fruit, movements of game, etc. They seem to
have great reverence for their dead and for their burial-grounds,
and apparently dislike going far away from these places where they
suppose the souls of their ancestors are wandering. They bury their
dead, placing with them food and weapons for their use, and erect a
rough shelter over the graves.
It would be curious to learn the opinion of these poor savages
on the proceedings of some learned Teuton, prowling around their
graveyards in search of skulls and skeletons for the Berlin or Dresden
Ethnographical Museum.
They have no tribal organisation and even make war on other groups,
seeking victims for the death-vengeance. They are therefore unable
to assemble in large numbers; nor is it easy to see how they could
subsist if they did so. They put up rough sloping shelters against
the sun and wind, consisting of a framework of saplings or canes,
covered with coarse plaited mats of leaves which they carry with them
when they move their camp.
In Pampanga and Bataan, they are occasionally guilty of cattle
stealing, and even of murdering Christians, if a favourable opportunity
presents itself. In such a case an expedition of the Cuadrilleros of
the neighbouring towns is sent against them.
If they can be found, their bows and arrows are no match for
the muskets of the Cuadrilleros, and some of them are sure to be
killed. After a time peace is restored.
The trade for jungle produce is too profitable to the Christians for
them to renounce it, whatever the authorities may order.
The Negritos do not cultivate the ground but subsist on jungle fruits
and edible roots, their great luxury is the wild honey which they
greedily devour, and they barter the wax with the Christians for
rice and sweet potatoes. They also hunt the deer and wild pigs, and
as Blumentritt says, they eat everything that crawls, runs, swims,
or flies, if they can get it. They chew buyo like the Tagals and
other Malays, and are inordinately fond of smoking.
They are said to hold the lighted end of their cigars in their mouths,
a thing I have seen done by the negroes on the Isthmus of Panama.
They appear to have no religion, but are very superstitious. They
celebrate dances at the time of full moon, the women forming a ring
and the men another ring outside them, something like a figure in the
Kitchen Lancers. They move round to the sound of some rude musical
instruments in opposite directions.
Whether this performance is intended as a mark of respect to the
moon, or is merely held at the full for the convenience of the light,
I cannot say.
Several travellers have stated that they sacrifice pigs when
it thunders. As thunder-storms are very frequent and often of
extraordinary violence in the Philippines, this custom would imply the
possession of a large number of pigs on the part of the Negritos. Those
of Mariveles and of the Zambales mountains do not appear to possess
any domestic animals, except dogs, and they find it difficult to
kill the wild pigs, active as they are. Consequently, I think this
must apply to those Negrito tribes, such as the Balugas and Dumagas,
of whose condition I shall speak later. They are also said to offer
up prayers to the rainbow. This offering can be made with greater
ease than the sacrifice of a pig, but the frequency of rainbows at
certain seasons will keep them pretty closely to their devotions.
Ratzel, 'History of Mankind,' vol. i., p. 471, says: Among the Negritos
of Luzon, a fabulous beast with a horse's head which lives in trees
is venerated under the name of Balendik. And on p. 478: When killing
an animal, the Negritos fling a piece heavenwards crying out at the
same time, "This is for thee."
They show great respect for old age, and the British War Office might
learn something from them for they are reported to tend with love
and care every old man of warlike repute.
Their language largely consists of curious clicks and grunts, and
those of them who trade with the Christians usually learn enough of
the local dialect to do the necessary bargaining.
There are some varieties of the Negritos who are more or less mixed
up with the Malays, but their origin is not clear.
The Malay women are very unprejudiced, perhaps there are no women
on earth more ready to form temporary or permanent alliances with
foreigners: they do not disdain even the Chinamen. They perhaps do
not like them, but they know that John Chinaman makes a good husband,
provides liberally for his family, and does not expect his wife to
do any hard work.
By some writers the Malay women, notably the Visayas, are accused
of unbounded sensuality (Anto. de Morga. Sucesos de Filipinas),
but anyhow the Tagal women draw the line at Negritos, and will have
nothing to do with them.
Fray Gaspar de San Agustin however thought that the Visaya women
would not be so particular.
This being so, the hybrid races in Luzon must have sprung from the
union of Remontados--that is to say, of Malays who took refuge in
the hills either from a natural love for savage life, or as fugitives
from justice--with the Negrito women.
Amongst these varieties are the Balugas, who live in the eastern
cordillera of Nueva Ecija, in north and south Ilocos, and in the
mountains of Tayabas. Some of these people have advanced a step in
civilisation, they build huts and do a little rude cultivation.
The Dumagas, another hybrid race, occupy the eastern slopes of the
Sierra Madre from the northern frontier of El Principe district to the
Bay of Palanan, where the last Tagal village is situated, the Tagals
thinly peopling the shores. But from Palanan to Punta Escarpada the
whole coast is in the undisputed possession of the Dumagas.
The Dumagas keep up a friendly communication with the few Christian
villages near them, and do a small trade with them. They even work on
their lands and help in fishing for a small remuneration, generally
paid in cotton cloth.
They have no known religion, they marry without ceremony, and are
said to disregard the ties of kinship.
Those who live far from the Christian villages are said to be entirely
brutal and devoid of all virtue, for they will sell their own children
for a little rice. They are almost irreclaimable from their savage
and independent character.
Some of these Dumagas live amongst the Irayas and the Catalanganes,
two heathen and semi-independent tribes showing signs of Mongolian
blood, who occupy a considerable stretch of country in the province of
Cagayan between the Rio Grande and the Sierra Madre, say about twenty
geographical miles north and south of the 17th parallel. These Dumagas
intermarry with the tribes they live amongst, and have adopted their
dress, religion, and customs.
The Mamanuas, also a hybrid race, inhabit the mountains of the
north-east promontory of Mindanao. They are few in number. There were,
in 1887, four Jesuit mission stations amongst them, three of which
are on Lake Mainit, or Sapongan, as it is called on some maps.
The Manguianes, who are probably a hybrid Negrito-Visaya race, occupy
almost the whole interior of Mindoro, up to within two leagues of the
coast. There are a few in the mountains of Romblon and Tablas. There
are three varieties of these people, those residing near the western
coast are much whiter, with lighter hair and full beards.
Those living in the centre of the island are of a darker colour, have
sloping foreheads and less intelligence, while those of the southern
part, by their oblique eyes, aquiline noses and olive colour, show
signs of Chinese blood.
They are docile and do not fly from civilised man. A primitive
agriculture and the collection of jungle produce enables them to
obtain from the Christians, in exchange, rice, knives, bells, gongs,
tobacco, and buyo. They are not much advanced in religion, but are
very superstitious. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors
and relations never leave the places where they lived, but remain to
protect their descendants and families. There is noted amongst these
people a strong sense of morality and honesty, which unfortunately
is not recognised by their Christian neighbours, who are accustomed
to oppress them with the most exaggerated usury.
Since these words were written, Dean C. Worcester has published his
book on the Philippines, and amply confirms these remarks. He saw
a good deal of the Manguianes, and bears testimony to their honesty
and morality, and adds: "On the whole, after making somewhat extensive
observations amongst the Philippine natives, I am inclined to formulate
the law that their morals improve as the square of the distance from
churches and other civilising influences."
He gives some particulars of their laws, and of their ordeals, which
are common to many of the Malays. There are some Manguianes in the
Island of Palawan. They inhabit the mountains in the interior of
the southern part of the island, and little is known about them,
for the pirate races, or Mahometan Malays, who occupy the coasts,
keep a strict watch to prevent their communicating with outsiders.
The few who have been seen by the Spaniards, are said to be
industrious, and physically similar to the Tagbanuas. Their customs
are said to be influenced by their constant intercourse with the
Mahometans. They were thought to number about 4000 in 1887, by Don
Felipe Canga Arguelles, the Governor of the Island. The Moors appear
to oppress the Manguianes of Palawan much as the Christian natives
do the Manguianes of Mindoro.
The illustration represents a Negrito from the Island of Negros, a very
favourable specimen of his race. He wears the head-dress of a chief,
and is armed with a bow and arrow of portentous length. His figure,
though not muscular, gives promise of great agility.
The Negritos of Palawan are few in number, and resemble those of
Mariveles. They use a piece of cloth, made of the inner bark of a
tree as their only garment. They call this the Saligan. They inhabit
the upper parts of the mountains between Babuyan and Barbacan, say
from 10 deg. to 10 deg. 20' N. latitude. They do a little agriculture in a
primitive fashion. The men clear the land, the men and women together
do the planting, and the women alone the reaping.
Their arms are bows and arrows, and the only education of the young
is in archery, which is taught them by their mothers from their
earliest infancy.
They are said to be generous, hospitable, and inoffensive, but
extremely revengeful if they are ill-treated. They have no religion,
but perform certain ceremonies from time to time. Canga-Arguelles
computed them to number about 500 in 1887.
The only use the Negritos can be to the United States will be as
a subject of study for the elucidation of problems in ethnography,
and to furnish skeletons for the museums.
PART I.
Luzon and Adjacent Islands.
Chapter XXIII.
Tagals (1). [19]
The most important race in the Archipelago is the Tagal, or Tagalog,
inhabiting Central Luzon, including the following provinces:--
Batangas, Bulacan, Bataan, Camarines Norte, Cavite, Laguna, Manila,
part of Nueva Ecija and Tayabas, the districts of Infanta, Morong,
and part of Principe, also the Island of Corregidor and the coast
of Mindoro. They probably number about one million five hundred
thousand souls.
Antonio de Morga, in his work 'Sucesos de Philipinas,' says (p. 126):
"The women wear the baro and saya, and chains of gold upon their
necks, also bracelets of the same. All classes are very clean in
their persons and clothing, and of good carriage and graceful (de
buen ayre y gracia").
They are very careful of their hair, washing it with gogo and anointing
it with ajonjoli oil [20] perfumed with musk.
In the 'Relacion de las Islas Philipinas,' 1595 (?), the anonymous
author said of the Tagals: "The people of this province are the best
of all the Islands, more polite, and more truly our friends. They
go more clothed than the others, the men as well as the women. They
are light-coloured people of very good figures and faces, and like
to put on many ornaments of gold, which they have in great abundance."
In other respects, however, they seem, from the same author, to be
less worthy of praise, for he goes on to tell us: When some principal
man died, in vengeance of his death they cut off many heads, with
which they made many feasts and dances.... They had their houses
full of wood and stone idols, which they called Tao-tao and Lichac,
for temples they had none. And they said that when one of their
parents or children died the soul entered into one of these idols,
and for this they reverenced them and begged of them life, health,
and riches. They called these idols anitos, and when they were ill
they drew lots to find which of these had given them the illness,
and then made great sacrifices and feasts to it.
They worshipped idols which were called Al Priapo Lacapati, Meilupa,
but now, by the goodness of God, they are enlightened with the grace
of the Divine Gospel and adore the living God in spirit.
The old writer then remarks on the cleverness and sharpness of the
boys, and the ease with which they learned to read and write, sing,
play, and dance.
This characteristic appears general to the Malay race, for, speaking
of the Javanese, Crauford says: They have ears of remarkable delicacy
for musical sounds, are readily taught to play upon any instrument
the most difficult and complex airs.
According to Morga, at the time of the Conquest, the Tagals wrote
their language in the Arabic character. He says: They write well in
these Islands; most people both men and women, can write. This tends
to show that the equality of the sexes, which I shall refer to later,
has been customary from ancient times.
Tomas de Comyn (1810) says:
The population of the capital, in consequence of its continual
communication with the Chinese and other Asiatics, with the sailors
of different nations, with the soldiers, and with the Mexican convicts
who are generally mulattoes, and who arrive in some number every year,
has come to be a mixture of all the bloods and features, or otherwise
a degeneration of the primitive race.
At Cainta, on a branch of the Pasig, the natives are darker, taller,
and of a different type. This is accounted for by the fact that,
in 1762-63, during the English invasion, a regiment of Madras Sepoys
occupied the town for many months, long enough, in fact, to modify the
native type to such an extent as to be plainly visible 125 years later.
Crauford says that some Christian inhabitants of Ternate followed
their priests (Jesuits) to Luzon when the Spaniards were driven out of
Molucas by the Dutch in 1660. They were located in Marigondon. There
is now a town called Ternate between Marigondon and the sea, near
Punta Restinga. But, with the exception of the capital and these
two places, I think the Tagals have not greatly altered in physical
characteristics since the Conquest--notwithstanding Ratzel's statement
that "Spanish-Tagal half-breeds in the Philippines may be numbered
by the hundred thousand," which I consider erroneous.
The fact is, that wherever a small number of male Europeans live
amongst a native race, the effect on the type is smaller than may
be supposed, and what there is becomes obliterated or disseminated
in course of time. Colour may be a little altered, but all the other
characteristics remain. The mestizas are not so prolific as the native
women, and notwithstanding Jagor's assertion to the contrary, they
often marry natives, and especially if their father has died while
they were young. I knew in the town of Balayan three handsome sisters,
daughters of a Spaniard who had died many years before. Although they
lived in a house which had been at one time the finest in the town,
and still retained some remnants of its former grandeur, they had
reverted entirely to the native customs and dress. They spoke only
Tagal, and all three of them married natives.
The tendency of the Philippine native to revert to old customs is
well marked, and I agree with Jagor when he says: "Every Indian
has an innate inclination to abandon the hamlets and retire into
the solitude of the woods, or live isolated in the midst of his own
fields," in fact to Remontar.
The Tagals are considered by Wallace as the fourth great tribe of the
Malay race. He only mentions the Tagals, but in fact the population
of the Archipelago, except the Negritos and some hybrids, belongs
to the Malay race, although slightly mixed with Chinese and Spanish
blood in a few localities. They are here and there modified by mixture
with other races, and everywhere by their environment, for they have
been Roman Catholics and subject to Spanish influence, if not rule,
for upwards of three centuries.
They differ little in physical appearance from the Malays proper
inhabiting the Peninsula, and although their manners and customs are
somewhat changed, their nature remains the same. They retain all the
inherent characteristics of the Malay.
The Tagal possesses a great deal of self-respect, and his demeanour is
quiet and decorous. He is polite to others, and expects to be treated
politely himself. He is averse to rowdiness or horse-play of any kind,
and avoids giving offence.
Characteristics--Family Life.
For an inhabitant of the tropics he is fairly industrious, sometimes
even very hard working.
Those who have seen him poling cascos against the stream of the Pasig
will admit this.
He is a keen sportsman, and will readily put his money on his favourite
horse or game-cock; he is also addicted to other forms of gambling. The
position taken by women in a community is often considered as a
test of the degree of civilisation it has attained. Measured by this
standard, the Tagals come out well, for amongst them the wife exerts
great influence in the family, and the husband rarely completes any
important business without her concurrence.
Crauford considers the equality of the sexes to be general throughout
the Indian Archipelago, more particularly in the Island of Celebes,
where the inhabitants are the most warlike of all.
The Tagals treat their children with great kindness and forbearance,
those who are well-off show much anxiety to secure a good education
for their sons, and even for their daughters.
Parental authority extends to the latest period in life. I have seen
a man of fifty years come as respectfully as a child to kiss the
hands of his aged parents when the vesper bell sounded, and this
notwithstanding the presence of several European visitors in the house.
Children, in return, show great respect to both parents, and come
morning and evening to kiss their hands. I may remark that their
manner of kissing is different to ours. They place the nose and lips
against the cheek or hand of the person to be saluted, and draw in
the breath strongly.
Appearance--Manners.
The Malays in general are not, perhaps, a handsome race, their flat
noses disfigure them in the eyes of the recently-arrived European or
American, and it takes time to get accustomed to them.
Still, their rich brown skin often covers a symmetrical, lithe and
agile figure, the small hands and feet denoting their Turanian origin.
The youth of both sexes up to the age of puberty are not seldom
of striking beauty, and their appearance is not belied by their
behaviour. They are trained in good manners from their earliest youth,
both by precept and example.
Palgrave says of them: "Nowhere are family bonds closer drawn, family
affections more enduring, than amongst the Malay races.... His family
is a pleasing sight, much subordination and little restraint, unison in
gradation, liberty not license. Orderly children, respected parents,
women subject, but not suppressed, men ruling, but not despotic,
reverence with kindness, obedience in affection, these form a lovable
picture, nor by any means a rare one in the villages of the Eastern
Isles."
It may here be interesting to note the very contradictory opinions
that have been expressed upon this subject.
John Foreman. W. G. Palgrave.
'The Philippine Islands,' 'Malay Life in the Philippines,'
p. 194. p. 146.
"Home discipline and training "Children early trained by
of manners are quite ignored, precept and example to good
even in the well-to-do families. manners, show less disposition
Children are left without to noise and mischief than is
control, and allowed to do just ordinary elsewhere at their
as they please, hence they age."
become ill-behaved and boorish."
As will be seen in my text, my own experience rather confirms
Palgrave's opinion, and I should say that even the children of the
peasantry would compare favourably both in manners and intelligence
with the children at the Board Schools in London, and to say nothing
of Glasgow or Liverpool.
Amongst the Tagals, it is customary when speaking of or to a man to use
the prefix Si--thus Si Jose, Mr. Joseph--whilst a woman is spoken of
or to as Aling Maria, Miss Mary. The word Po is used for Sir. Thus:
Oo-po--Yes, sir; Hindi-po--No, sir; Uala-po--There is none, sir;
Mayroom-po--There is some, sir.
Cleanliness.
The sense of personal dignity and self-respect, the dominant feeling
in the Malay nature, is shown in the Tagals by a general cleanliness
in their persons and clothing. They usually live near water, and
nearly all of them can swim.
The heat of the climate makes bathing a pleasure, and as the
temperature of the sea or river is commonly 83 deg.F., a prolonged
immersion causes no inconvenience.
On the morning of a feast-day the number of bathers is increased,
and at the time of high tide, a very large proportion of the
population seems to be in the water, both sexes and all ages mixing
indiscriminately, the adults decently covered and all behaving
themselves as decorously as the bathers at Brighton, Newport, or
Atlantic City.
They have not yet arrived at that precise stage of civilisation that
develops the Rough, the Larrikin, or the Hooligan. Palgrave says:
A Malay may be a profligate, a gambler, a thief, a robber, or a
murderer, he is never a cad.
Palgrave had not great opportunities of knowing the Tagals, but I
confirm the above opinion, although I do not agree with the views on
the future of the Philippines, and what is best for them, expressed
in his fantastic and hyphen-infested verbiage, all seemingly written
for effect.
Superstitions.
The Tagal is extremely superstitious, and like his kinsman, the
Dayak, he is a believer in omens, although he has not reduced them
so completely to a system, and three centuries of Christianity have
diverted his superstitions into other channels.
In his mind, each cave, each ravine, each mountain, each pool, each
stream, has its guardian spirit, to offend or to startle which may
be dangerous. These are the jinni of Southern Arabia and Socotra.
The Balete tree (Ficus Urostigima--Sp.) corresponds to our Witch Elm,
and certainly at night has a most uncanny appearance. Each of these
great trees has its guardian spirit or Tic-balan.
Daring, indeed, would be the Indian who would pass such a tree,
enter a cave, ascend a mountain, or plunge into a pool without bowing
and uttering the Pasing tabi sa nono [By your leave, my Lord] that
may appease the spirit's wrath, just as the Bedouin of Dhofar cry,
"Aleik Soubera--aleik soubera," to propitiate the jinni.
His mental attitude in this respect reminds me of a story told me
many years ago by a lady residing in Hampshire. A lady neighbour of
hers inquired from her whether she taught her children to bow when
the Devil's name was mentioned. My informant replied in the negative,
whereupon the lady remarked, "I do, I think it is safer." This is the
way with the Tagal, he bows because he thinks it is safer. If that
prudent lady is still alive and may chance to read this, she may be
pleased to learn that her opinion is shared by the whole Malay race.
Child-birth has its anxieties everywhere, and the more artificial
the life the woman has led, the more she suffers at that critical
time. The Tagal woman whose naturally supple frame has never been
subjected to tight-lacing, nor compressed within a tailor-made costume,
has a far easier time of it than her European sister, but superstition
and quackery combine to terrify and ill-use her.
The Patianac, an evil spirit, profits by the occasion, and his
great delight is to obstruct the birth, or to kill and devour the
infant. The patianac might be busy elsewhere, but from the ridge-pole
of the house a bird of ill-omen, the dreadful Tic-tic, raises a warning
cry, for its office and delight is to call the attention of the evil
spirit to the opportunity of doing mischief. Instantly every door
and window is closed and every chink stopped to prevent its entrance,
whilst the anxious father and his kinsmen, naked as they were born,
walk around and underneath the house, slashing the air with sticks
or bolos to frighten away the spirit. Sometimes a man will get up on
the ridge-pole to drive away the Tic-tic.
Meanwhile, in the stifling room, it is too often the case that violent
means are used to expedite the birth, so violent indeed, that they
sometimes result in the permanent injury or in the death of the woman.
Some years ago the Government instituted an examination for midwives,
and only those were allowed the practice who had been properly
instructed, so that these absurdities and cruelties are on the wane,
except amongst the poorest or in outlying districts.
The Asuan is merely a cannibal ghost, but the Tagal ghost throws
stones, a thing I have not heard of a ghost doing in Europe.
All sorts of stories are told about the Asuan, similar to ghost
stories in other lands.
About 1891 a house in Malate was stoned night after night, and
although every effort was made to find out the authors, they were
never discovered, and the natives steadfastly believed it to be the
doing of the Asuan.
There is another superstitious idea firmly rooted in the minds of
the Tagals and other natives, of which the following is an instance:
A villainous-looking native had been captured with some property stolen
from my house, and was sent to the lock-up at the police station, from
whence he promptly escaped, but was recaptured later. My coachman,
a most meritorious servant who had been with me for years, assured
me in an impressive manner, and with an air of conviction, that
the culprit was one of those wizards who are able to pass through
a keyhole by drawing themselves out into the thinness of a piece of
string, and my other servants accepted this view implicitly.
The famous Tulisanes or bandits, thoroughly believe in the power of the
Antin-Antin or amulet to render them invulnerable to bullets. It is,
indeed, remarkable that notwithstanding the numbers of these criminals
who have been shot by the Guardia Civil with their Antin-Antin upon
them, this absurd belief should flourish, but there is no doubt it
does. These charms consist of any sort of necromancers' rubbish, or
are sometimes writings in invocations, usually worn round the neck
under the clothing.
The profession of the Roman Catholic religion has perhaps helped this
superstition to linger on, for the wearing of scapularies is common,
especially amongst the women. These articles are manufactured for
the priests and some are sent out to Antipolo, to be blessed at the
shrine of Nuestra Senora de Buen Viage y de la Paz, and sold to the
pilgrims who crowd in thousands to this shrine in May of each year.
A Tagal woman sometimes wears as many as three of these scapularies
hung from silk threads round her neck and covered by her upper
garment. They usually dispose two in front, where they conceive the
danger is greatest, and one on the back, as a further precaution
against an attack from the rear.
Wearing these holy amulets, and having crossed herself and uttered
a prayer before coming downstairs in the morning, the Tagal wife or
maid feels that she has done all she can, and that if any backsliding
should occur, during the day, it will not be her fault.
She believes greatly in lucky or holy numbers--I heard the following
story related by a native lady to a native priest when going to
Batangas by steamer.
The lady was telling the priest of her husband's illness (it appeared
to have been congestion of the lungs), and she prepared and applied a
poultice of three heads of garlic in honour of the Three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity; this not producing the desired effect, she then made a
poultice of five heads of garlic, in honour of the Five Wounds of our
Blessed Saviour, and successively others of seven heads, in honour of
the Seven Pains of the Blessed Virgin; twelve heads in honour of the
Twelve Apostles, and last of all a poultice of thirty-three heads
of garlic in honour of the Thirty-three years our Blessed Saviour
remained on earth. The priest had nodded approval as she went on,
but as she stopped he said: "And then?" To which the lady replied,
"Then he died."
This poor man came off easily, for in some cases people who suffer
from fits and other diseases are thought to be possessed by devils,
and are severely beaten to drive out the evil spirit. The patient
does not always escape with his life.
The women often dream of lucky numbers in the Manila Lottery and make
every endeavour to purchase the number they have dreamt of.
Amongst the Christian superstitions may be mentioned the feast of San
Pascual Bailon at Obando. Those who attend this function are commonly
the rowdier class of inhabitants of the Capital, and they go mostly
on foot, making music and dancing on the way. They also dance in the
courtyard in front of the church, not forgetting to refresh themselves
with strong drink in the meanwhile.
This is not at all an edifying spectacle, for the dancers are covered
with dust and with the perspiration from their active exertions. I
do not know the legend that gives occasion to this curious form of
devotion. Occasionally, and especially during Holy Week, another form
of penitence is practised by the natives. I remember, about 1892,
seeing one of these penitents, a man having a mask on his face, the
upper part of his body bare, and a long chain fastened to one ankle
and dragging on the ground behind him. In one hand he bore a flagellum
with which he from time to time lashed himself on the shoulders,
which bore evident marks of the discipline they had received. A youth
who followed him occasionally jerked the chain, throwing the penitent
violently at full length upon the dusty road. This form of penitence
is not approved, however, by the priests, for when I called on the
parish priest, the same evening, I mentioned the circumstance to him,
and he directed the penitent to be locked up, to stop what he rightly
termed a scandal.
On many occasions the natives had got up a religious excitement,
and great gatherings have taken place at some spot where a miraculous
appearance of the Blessed Virgin, or some supernatural manifestation
has been alleged to have occurred.
All these affairs have been somewhat sceptically inquired into by the
priests under a general order to this effect issued by the archbishop,
and so far as my experience goes, the excessive religious ardour of
the natives has rather been checked than stimulated.
When writing about the Visayas I shall have more to say about
misdirected religious zeal. The Tagals practise circumcision as
a hygienic measure, and not as a religious rite. The operation is
usually performed at the age of fourteen by a companion or friend of
the patient, and a sharp flint or piece of volcanic glass (obsidian)
is used for this purpose. From what I have heard, this custom is really
maintained by the women, who refuse their favours to the uncircumcised
of their own nation, though with foreigners they are more complaisant.
Cursing.
In cursing, the Tagal displays a directness quite worthy of the
Anglo-Saxon. All his remarks are very much to the point, and would
have earned the approval of the late lamented and reverend author of
the Ingoldsby Legends. Leaving out the world-wide reflections upon
the virtues of an opponent's female ancestry, since these appear to
belong indiscriminately to all nations, the principal Tagal curses
are as follows:--
1. May an evil wind blow upon you.
2. May the earth open and swallow you up.
3. May the lightning strike you.
4. May the alligator eat you.
The superiority of the Tagal style as compared with the French
Mortbleu, Ventre bleu, must be apparent to all unprejudiced
observers. The Tagal has drawn all his curses from the grand and awful
operations of nature in his own country, except the last, where he
invokes the dreaded saurian, the most fearsome inhabitant of the
Philippine swamps, rivers, and coasts--formerly venerated by his
ancestors and respectfully addressed by them as nono, or grandfather.
Under American guidance and example, I think the Tagals quite capable
of developing a startling vocabulary of swear-words, and in course
of time rivalling their instructors in profanity, with a touch of
their old style to give a little local colour.
Courtship.
Courtship is sometimes a long business amongst the Tagals. It is still
customary in the country districts for the impecunious candidate for
matrimony to serve the father of the damsel he desires to wed for a
period which may extend to a couple of years or more. He is called a
Catipado, and is expected to make himself generally useful, and to
take a hand in any labour that may be going on, sowing or reaping,
mending the roof, or patching the canoe.
It is his privilege to assist the girl of his choice in her
labours. The girls of a household are expected to husk the rice
for the next day's use. This is done in the cool of the evening,
out of doors, a wooden mortar and long heavy pestle being used. It
is a well-recognised occasion for the lover to assist and entertain
his sweetheart.
Very pretty do the village maidens look, as, lightly clothed in almost
diaphanous garments, they stand beside the mortars plying the pestle,
alternately rising on tiptoe, stretching the lithe figure to its full
height and reach, then bending swiftly to give force to the blow.
No attitude could display to more advantage the symmetry of form which
is the Tagal maiden's heritage, and few sights are more pleasing than
a group of these tawny damsels husking paddy midst chat and laughter,
while a tropical full moon pours its effulgence on their glistening
tresses and rounded arms.
Marriage.
But let us return to the Catipado. He must be very careful not to
give cause of offence to the elders of the family, more especially
towards the end of his term, as there may be a disposition amongst
them to dismiss him, and take on another to begin a new term. In fact,
many natives have shown themselves so unwilling to consent to their
daughter's marriage, when no sufficient reason could be given for
their refusal, that the Governor-General, representing the Crown,
is entrusted with a special power of granting the paternal consent
in such cases.
No regular marriage can be celebrated whilst the girl is a minor,
without the father's consent.
When this is refused, and the patience of the lovers is exhausted,
the girl leaves her father's house and is deposited in the house of
the fiscal, or churchwarden, under the care of his wife.
A petition on stamped paper is then prepared, reciting the
circumstances; this goes to the parish priest and to the
Gobernadorcillo, who require the father to state the grounds of
his refusal. If they are satisfied that no good reason exists,
the petition, with their approval noted on it, goes to the
Governor-General, and in due time a notification appears in the
official Gazette that the Governor-General has been pleased to overrule
the father's negative, and a license (on stamped paper also) for the
marriage to be celebrated, is delivered to the priest. This procedure
is very necessary, but it has the disadvantage of being slow and
expensive, so that in some cases, instead of adopting this course,
the youthful pair allow themselves some advances of the privileges of
matrimony, and perhaps there arrives a time when the obdurate parent
finds himself obliged to consent to legalise an accomplished fact to
avoid an open scandal.
The erring damsel, however, may think herself lucky if she escapes
a fatherly correction laid on with no grudging hand, before the
reluctant consent is granted.
The priest will of course require the youthful sinners to confess
and do penance for their previousness before he will marry them.
The marriage ceremony is a very simple one, and usually takes place
after early Mass. The priest fixes the fee according to the means
of the party; it is often a substantial one. After the ceremony
comes a Catapusan or assembly, when the relatives and friends are
entertained. There will be music, and unless the priest disapproves
of dancing, that will be indulged in. The Augustinians mostly allow
dancing, but the Dominicans often object to it as an immoral amusement.
The house will be hung with bright-coloured cloths and paper lanterns;
the table loaded with refreshments, both light and heavy.
Wedding Feasts.
Roast pig is a standing dish at these feasts, the animal being roasted
whole, on a spit over a fire made on the ground. A professional roaster
superintends the operation, and the pig is brought to a fine even
colour all over. Sometimes there are roast turkeys or roast mutton and
kid, possibly beef cooked in various ways, surely fish of different
kinds, fresh, salted, or smoked; the indispensable boiled rice or
morisqueta, and an abundance of sweets, fruits in syrup, guava jelly,
and Dutch cheese. There will be chocolate and perhaps coffee. As to
drinks, besides some native brews, there will be Norwegian or German
export beer, or Tennant's beer in stone bottles, square-face gin,
and Spanish red wine (Vino Tinto).
Unlimited Buyo, cigarettes and cigars are provided. All these things
are hospitably pressed upon all comers, especially upon any European
present. If his politeness prevents his refusing this miscellaneous
assortment, unless he is favoured with the digestion of an ostrich, he
will rue it next day, and perhaps for several days. The worthy priest
is naturally in the place of honour, and like the wise man he mostly
is, he perhaps brings, slung under his habit, or sends beforehand,
a capacious leather bottle, with a supply of generous wine direct
from some convent vineyard on the peninsula, a pure natural wine,
undefiled and unfortified by German industrial spirit. A tall and
portly Augustine monk, in his spotless and ample white robes, presents
a very imposing and apostolic appearance, and looks quite in his place
at the head of the table. The host seldom sits down with his guests,
but busies himself attending to their wants.
CHAPTER XXIV.
TAGALS AS SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.
The houses of the well-to-do natives are large and airy, and are kept
scrupulously clean under the vigilant eye of the mistress.
Hospitality is a characteristic of the Tagal. According to his means
he keeps open house on religious feast-days or on family festivals,
and readily invites to his table at any time travellers who may be
passing through the town. Having enjoyed their hospitality on many
occasions, I can testify to their kindness and liberality. They placed
at my disposal their riding-ponies, vehicles or canoes, and did all
in their power to show me anything remarkable in their neighbourhood.
The Tagals make good soldiers, and can march long distances
barefooted. Morga remarks how quickly they learned to use the arquebus
or musket in the wars of the conquest. They gave proofs of their
pluck and endurance when assisting the French in Tonquin. If well
led they will advance regardless of danger; when once engaged they
become frenzied and blood-thirsty, most difficult to restrain. They
are not improved by being made to wear gloves, boots, helmets, and
European uniforms.
In this they are not singular, for the Ceylon Rifle Regiment (a Malay
corps) was utterly ruined, and never did any good after being put
into boots and gloves by some narrow-minded martinet.
As sailors they are unsurpassed in the East. They navigate their
schooners and lorchas with much skill, although the rigging and
outfit is seldom kept in thorough good order unless they have a
Spanish captain.
They serve both as sailors and firemen in the fine flotilla of
coasting-steamers belonging to Manila, and they manned all the smaller
vessels of the Spanish Navy in the Philippines.
Most of the British and foreign steamers in the far East carry four
Manila men as quarter-masters. They are considered to be the most
skilful helmsmen. Their ability as mechanics is remarkable. They
bear out entirely Morga's description of them: "Of good talent for
anything they undertake."
They will, without any European supervision, heave down wooden
sailing-vessels up to about 1000 tons, and repair the keel, or
strip, caulk, and re-copper the bottom. I have often seen this
done. They build from the excellent hard wood of the country,
brigantines, schooners, lorchas, also cascos, and other craft for
inland navigation and shallow waters. These latter vessels are most
ingeniously contrived, and admirably adapted to the conditions under
which they are to be used, and although not decked, carry their cargoes
dry, and in good order, in the wettest weather. They make the most
graceful canoes, and paddle or punt them with remarkable dexterity.
In Manila and Cavite are to be found a fair number of native
engine-fitters, turners, smiths and boiler-makers.
There must be some 400 steam sugar-mills in the islands (besides
6000 cattle-mills). The engine-drivers and firemen are all natives,
and mostly Tagals.
There are also in the capital large numbers of native house-carpenters,
quarrymen, stone-masons, and some brick-layers and brick-makers.
Curiously enough, foundry work is not much done by Tagals, although
when Legaspi arrived in Luzon he not only found cannon mounted at
Manila, but there was a cannon-foundry there, and another at Tondo.
There are foundries at the latter place to this day belonging to
Chinese half-castes, but church bells are more to their way now
than cannon. They, however, cast small brass mortars with handles
like quart pots, which are used for firing salutes at the feasts of
the church. But I think most of the workmen were then, and are now,
Chinese.
They make their own gunpowder, and fireworks of all kinds. They are
inordinately fond of these, and get up very creditable displays. They
are careless in handling them, and I was eye-witness of an explosion
of fireworks during a water fete, on the passing in front of the
governor's palace at Malacanan, when a number of people were killed. I
never learned how many had perished, and the newspapers were forbidden
to enlarge upon it.
Excellent carriages are built in Manila entirely by native labour,
the carromatas, or two-wheeled vehicles used for travelling, being
made in the suburbs, or in Malabon.
Carriage-building is an important trade, for an incredible number of
vehicles of all sorts are used in Manila.
Of an evening, in the Luneta, some hundreds may be seen, and on one
occasion, at the races of the Jockey Club in Santa Mesa, two thousand
vehicles were reported to be present.
Painting and decorating is executed by Manila men in excellent
style. This art was taught them by Alberoni, and other Italians. Their
pupils have covered the walls of many buildings with frescoes in the
Italian style, very fairly done. There is much scope for their art
in decorating altars and shrines.
The Tagals also show some talent for sculpture, as any visitor to
Manila can see for himself by inspecting the Jesuit Church, which
is a marvel of patient artistic labour, having taken eleven years
to construct. Some of the carving there, however, is so delicate and
minutely detailed, that it appears more suitable for a show case in
a museum than for the adornment of a place of worship. Of course,
every detail of design is due to the Jesuits themselves, amongst whom
talented men of every profession can be found.
As a fisherman, the Tagal excels, and the broad expanse of Manila Bay,
some 700 square miles in area, gives ample scope for his ingenuity. He
practises every kind of fishing Corrales de Pesca, or fish-stakes
within the five-fathom line, casting nets and seines in the shallow
water, huge sinking nets attached to bamboo shear-legs mounted on
rafts in the estuaries, drift nets and line-fishing in the deeper
parts of the bay.
From Tondo, from Paranaque, Las Pinas, Bacoor, and Cavite Viejo,
and from dozens of other villages, go hundreds of large canoes,
crowded with men, and heaped up with nets, to fish near the San
Nicolas Bank, or about Corregidor Island, and they often return with
large catches. Some fish by night, with torch and spear; in fact,
they seem to be quite at home at any kind of fishing.
The nets and sails of the canoes, and the clothes of the fishermen,
are all tanned by them with the bark of the camanchile tree.
The salting, drying, or smoking of the fish caught in the bay is quite
an extensive business. The smoked sardines, or tinapa, are very tasty,
as also the pickled mullet roes called Bagon de Lisa. But the small
shrimps fermented in a jar, and brought to a particular stage of
putrefaction, [21] much appreciated by the natives, will not suit
European or American tastes.
The vast Bay of Manila holds fish and mammals of all sorts and sizes,
from small fry to that huge but harmless monster of the deep, Rhinodon
tipicus, with a mouth like the opening of a hansom cab, scooping in
jelly-fish by the bushel.
The peje-rey, like a smelt, the lenguado, or sole, the lisa, or
mullet, the bacoco, corbina, pampano, and others whose names I have
forgotten, are excellent. The oysters are good, but very small. Prawns
are excellent, large and cheap. Crabs are good, but large ones are
not plentiful. Clawless lobsters are caught amongst the rocks of
Corregidor and Mariveles. The largest turtle I have ever seen was
caught off Malabon. It can be seen in the Jesuits' Museum, Manila.
Sharks of all sorts, enormous saw-fish, [22] hideous devil-fish,
[23] and monstrous conger eels, as well as poisonous black and yellow
sea-snakes, abound, so that the fisherman does not have everything his
own way. Amongst these men are to be found some excellent divers. I
have found them quite able to go down to the keel of a large ship and
report whether any damage has been done. Where a sheet of copper has
been torn off, they have nailed on a new sheet, getting in two or three
nails every time they went down. I enquired from one of these men who
had frequently dived for me, when a European diver with diving-gear
could not be obtained, if he was not afraid of sharks? He answered,
"No es hora del tiburon"--it is not the sharks' time--and I found he
considered that he was very fairly safe from the sharks between ten and
four. Before ten and after four was a dangerous time, as the sharks
were on the look-out for a meal. I cannot say that I should like to
trust to this, especially as I have seen sharks about at other times,
and one afternoon, in the bay, had to keep off a hammerheaded-shark
from coming near a British diver who was examining the rudder of a
steamer, by firing at it from the stern. Some sharks are heavy and
slow-moving creatures, but the hammer-headed kind are endowed with
a surprising activity, and twist and turn like an eel.
My native diver informed me that he was much more afraid of the
Manta than of any shark, and that once when he was diving for some
purpose--I do not recollect when--at the bottom a shade fell on him,
and, on looking up, he beheld an enormous manta right above him--in
his words, "as big as a lighter." However, it passed on, and he was
able to regain the surface.
Perhaps the most remarkable talent possessed by the Tagal is his gift
for instrumental music.
Each parish has its brass band supplied with European instruments,
the musicians generally wearing a quasi-military uniform. If the
village is a rich one, there is usually a string band as well. They
play excellently, as do the military bands. Each infantry battalion
had its band, whilst that of the Peninsular Artillery, of ninety
performers, under a band-master holding the rank of lieutenant, was
one of the finest bands I have ever heard. There were few countries
where more music could be heard gratis than in the Philippines,
and for private dances these bands could be hired at moderate rates.
The Tagal is also a good agriculturist. According to his lights, he
cultivates paddy with great care. It is all raised in seed-plots, the
soil of which is carefully prepared, and fenced about. The fields are
ploughed and harrowed whilst covered with water, so that the surface
is reduced to soft mud. When the ground is ready for planting, the
whole population turns out, and, being supplied with the young shoots
in bundles, of which tally is kept, proceed to plant each individual
shoot of paddy by hand.
Ankle-deep in the soft mud of the paddy-fields stand long rows of
bare-legged men, women and children, each in a stooping position,
holding against the body with the left hand a large bundle of
rice-plants, incessantly and rapidly seizing a shoot with the right
hand, and plunging it into the black slime with the forefinger
extended.
Hour after hour the patient toil goes on, and day after day, in all the
glare of the burning sun, reflected and intensified from the surface
of the black water, till the whole vast surface has been planted. The
matandang-sa-naya, or village elder, then announces how many millions
of rice shoots have been put in. The labour is most exhausting,
from the stooping position, which is obligatory, and because the eyes
become inflamed from the reflection of the sun on the black water. As
the paddy is planted during the rainy season, it often happens that
the work is done under a tropical downpour instead of a blazing sun.
When driving along a road through paddy-fields in October, it
seems incredible that every blade of that luxuriant crop has been
transplanted by hand. Yet the people who do this are branded as
lazy. I think that they are quite ready to work for a sufficient
inducement. Whenever I had works to execute I never experienced any
difficulty in obtaining men. I made it a rule to pay every man with
my own hands every Saturday his full wages without deductions. On
Monday morning, if I wanted 300 men, there would be 500 to pick and
choose from. I should like to see some of their depreciators try an
hour's work planting paddy, or poling a casco up stream.
The undulating nature of the ground renders it necessary to divide
paddy land into small plots of irregular outline at varying levels,
divided from each other by ridges of earth called pilapiles, so as
to retain the rain or irrigation water, allowing it to descend slowly
from level to level till it reaches its outlet at the lowest point. The
Tagals fully justify their Turanian origin by the skill and care which
they show in irrigation. About Manila, the sacate, or meadow-grass,
which is the principal food of the thousands of ponies in the city,
is cultivated on lands which are exactly at a level to be flooded by
the spring-tides.
The mango-tree is carefully cultivated, and the fruit is, to some
extent, forced by lighting fires of leaves and twigs under these trees
every evening in the early part of the year to drive off insects,
and give additional warmth.
In Batangas and La Luguna, and, to some extent, in Bulacan, the Tagals
cultivate the sugar-cane successfully.
But where they really shine, where all their care is lavished,
where nothing is too much trouble, is in the cultivation of the buyo
(Piper betel). This is a climbing plant, and is grown on sticks
like hops. There were many plantations of this near Pineda, which I
frequently visited. It is grown in small fields, enclosed by hedges
or by rows of trees to keep off the wind.
The soil is carefully prepared, and all weeds removed. As the tendrils
grow up, the sticks are placed for them. The plants are watered by
hand, and leaf by leaf carefully examined every morning to remove
all caterpillars or other insects. The plants are protected from the
glare of the sun by mat-shades supported on bamboos.
The ripe leaves are gathered fresh every morning, and taken to market,
where they find a ready sale at remunerative prices for chewing with
the areca nut, and a pinch of slaked shell lime.
Whenever I have had Tagal hunters with me deer-shooting, I have
been struck with their knowledge of the natural history of their
locality. They thoroughly understood the habits of the game, and
almost always foretold correctly the direction from which the deer
would approach the guns.
They have names for every animal and bird, and for the different ages
or conditions, or size of antlers, of the deer.
Even insects and reptiles are named by them; they could give details
of their habits, and knew whether they were poisonous or dangerous.
They always showed themselves greatly interested in sport, and much
appreciated a good shot. They spoke of a gun that killed well as a hot
gun (baril mainit). If they were trusted with a gun they were very
reluctant to spend a cartridge unless for a dead certainty. If two
cartridges are given to a hunter, he will bring in two deer or pigs,
otherwise he will apologise for wasting a cartridge, and explain how
it happened.
Their usual way of taking game is to set strong nets of abaca in the
woods in the form of a V, then the beaters and dogs drive the game
towards the hunters, who are concealed near the apex, and who kill
the deer or wild pigs with their lances whilst entangled in the nets.
I have found the Tagals very satisfactory as domestic servants,
although not so hard-working as the Ilocanos. Some of them could clean
glass or plate as well as an English butler, and could lay the table
for a dinner party and ornament tastefully with flowers and ferns,
folding the napkins like a Parisian waiter.
They could also write out the menu (their orthography having been
previously corrected), and serve the dinner and wines in due sequence
without requiring any directions during the meal.
Some of them remained in my service the whole time I was in the
Philippines; one of them, Paulino Morillo, came to England with me
in charge of my two sons, and afterwards made three voyages to Cuba
with me. I gratefully acknowledge his faithful service. His portrait
is appended.
I did not find them sufficiently punctual and regular as cooks, nor
did they make their purchases in the market to as much advantage as the
Chinese cooks, who never bid one against another to raise the price.
As clerks and store-keepers I found the Tagals honest, assiduous,
and well-behaved. As draughtsmen they were fairly skilful in drawing
from hand sketches, and excelled in copying or tracing, but were quite
untrustworthy in taking out quantities and computing. Some of them
could write beautiful headings, or design ornamental title-pages. I
have by me some of their work that could not be done better even in
Germany or France. But the more skilful they were the more irregular
was their attendance, and the more they had learned the worse they
behaved.
When doing business with the Tagals, I found that the elder men could
be trusted. If I gave them credit, which was often the case, for
one or two years, I could depend upon the money being paid when due,
unless some calamity such as a flood or a conflagration had rendered
it absolutely impossible for them to find the cash. In such a case
(which seldom happened) they would advise me beforehand, and perhaps
bring a portion of the money, giving a pagare, bearing interest, for
the remainder, and never by any possibility denying the debt. I never
made a bad debt amongst them, and gladly testify to their punctilious
honesty. This idea of the sacredness of an obligation seems to prevail
amongst many of the Malay races, even among the pagan savages, as
I had occasion to observe when I visited the Tagbanuas in Palawan
(Paragua). They certainly did not learn this from the Spaniards.
The More Instruction the less Honesty.
When dealing with the younger men who had been educated in Manila,
in Hong Kong, or even in Europe, I found that this idea had been
eradicated from them, and that no sufficient sense of honour had been
implanted in its stead.
In fact, I may say that, whilst the unlettered agriculturist, with his
old-fashioned dress, and quiet, dignified manner, inspired me with
the respect due to an honest and worthy man, the feeling evolved
from a discussion with the younger and educated men, dressed in
European clothes, who had been pupils in the Ateneo Municipal, or in
Santo Tomas, was less favourable, and it became evident to me that,
although they might be more instructed than their fathers, they were
morally below them. Either their moral training had been deficient,
or their natures are not improved by education. I usually preferred
to do business with them on a cash basis.
Unsuitable Training.
Dare I, at the tail-end of the nineteenth century, in the days of
Board Schools, County Councils, conscientious objectors, and Hooligans,
venture to recall to mind a saying of that grand old Conservative, the
Peruvian Solomon, Tupac Inca Yupanqui? "Science should only be taught
to those of generous blood, for the meaner sort are only puffed up,
and rendered vain and arrogant by it. Neither should such mingle in
the affairs of state, for by that means high offices are brought into
disrepute." [24]
That great monarch's words exactly express my conclusions about the
young Tagals and other natives.
To take a young native lad away from his parents, to place him in a
corrupted capital like Manila, and to cram him with the intricacies
of Spanish law, while there is probably, not in all those who surround
him, one single honest and upright man he can look up to for guidance
and example, is to deprive him of whatever principles of action he may
once have possessed, whilst giving him no guide for his future conduct.
He acquires the European vices without the virtues; loses his native
modesty and self-respect, and develops too often into a contemptible
pica-pleito, or pettifogger, instead of becoming an honest farmer.
The more educated Tagals are fond of litigation, and with the
assistance of native or half-caste lawyers will carry on the most
frivolous and vexatious lawsuit with every artifice that cunning and
utter unscrupulousness can suggest. The corrupt nature of the Spanish
courts is a mainstay to such people. Although they may be possessed
of ample means litigants often obtain from the court permission to
sue a foreigner in forma pauperis.
They are unscrupulous about evidence, and many will perjure themselves
or bring false witnesses without shame. It is said that blank stamped
paper of any year can be obtained for a sufficient price for the
purpose of forging documents relating to the sale of land; as there
are people who regularly keep it for this purpose.
The feeling of envy is strong within them, and any Spaniard or
foreigner who appears to be succeeding in an industrial enterprise in
the provinces, such as planting or mining, is sure, sooner or later,
to be attacked by the pettifoggers or their men of straw, and he will
be bled heavily when he comes before the courts, and perhaps have to
go to the Court of Appeal or even to the Tribunal Supremo in Madrid
before he can obtain a verdict in his favour.
The credulity of the Tagal is remarkable; he has on occasion given
way to outbursts of ferocity, involving death and destruction to
numbers of innocent people.
In 1820, during an epidemic of cholera, he was led to believe that
this strange sickness had been produced by the foreigners, who had
poisoned the water. An indiscriminate massacre of foreigners was the
consequence of this calumny, and but few escaped. The authorities,
always prompt to repress uprisings against the Government, allowed time
for the foreigners to be massacred before they interfered. It is not
easy to say how many English, French, or Americans met their deaths
at the hands of the populace, for such details are never allowed to
be published.
I may say, however, that one should not be too hard on the Tagals
for this crime, since at a much later date a massacre of priests
occurred in Madrid, on account of a similar belief. It was started
because a lad, the servant of a priest, was seen to throw some white
powder into the Fuente Castellana. I have not at hand the details of
this massacre, but the friars were slaughtered like pigs.
In the dreadful epidemic of cholera in 1882, the natives behaved very
well, and I must give General Primo de Rivera credit for keeping
strict order and promptly organising the construction of temporary
hospitals, the inspection of every parish of the city, the conveyance
of the sick to hospital, and the burial of the dead. It was done
under military direction, and with the assistance of the priests,
the civil authorities, and the principal inhabitants. No disturbances
occurred owing to the strong hand of the Governor-General, although
some of the evil-disposed natives began to murmur about the doctors
carrying about the disease.
The mortality was dreadful; I believe that some 30,000 people lost
their lives in the city and province of Manila in three or four
months. In order to nurse the sick and bury the vast number of dead,
it was necessary to employ the convicts and prisoners. All these people
behaved remarkably well, although many succumbed to the disease. The
survivors were pardoned outright, or had their sentences reduced. If
the Governor-General had shown signs of weakness, the horrors of 1820
might have been repeated.
To give a better idea of the credulity of the Tagals and other
natives, I may say that in 1868 telegrams were received in Manila
(via Hong Kong), which were made public in the islands, announcing
the Spanish revolution of September, and the news, with stupendous
exaggerations, reached the remotest villages and the most miserable
huts. A general and indelible idea took possession of the minds of
the natives that Revolution (they thought it was a new emperor or a
great personage) had decreed that all were equal, that there should
be no difference between Indians and Spaniards, that the latter had
to return to Spain and Indians be substituted in all employments,
and that the tribute would be greatly reduced. That there would be
no conscription nor corvee (personal work), that the Pope would name
several Indian bishops, and that the Spanish priests would return
to the Peninsula. That a new captain-general would arrive who would
marry a native lady, who would be made a princess, that their children
would be kings and sovereigns of the Philippine Empire.
All this was confirmed by prophecies, by dreams, and revelations, and
great miracles by the Virgin of Antipolo and of St. Joseph, and other
patrons of the Indies, not omitting St. Peter, for whom the native
clergy profess a profound veneration, and who is the patron saint of
a brotherhood which has caused much trouble in the Philippines.
General Gandara, informed of all these absurdities by the friars,
did not fail to appreciate the immense importance of the movement
which, like the teachings of the so-called gods of Panay and Samar
who collected thousands of followers, might produce a general
insurrection. He therefore took due precautions, and invited all
the Spaniards in the Philippines, without distinction of party, in
support of the Government constituted in Spain. There was, however,
much agitation and much travelling to and fro amongst the native
clergy and the pettifogging lawyers. It was, however, not till 1872
that the conspirators succeeded in producing the mutiny of Cavite,
which was quickly suppressed, with much slaughter of the mutineers.
The chief amusement of the Tagal is cock-fighting. I shall not
describe this well-known sport, but will remark that it provides no
inconsiderable revenue. The right of building and running the cock-pits
of each province is farmed out to Chinese or Chinese half-breeds,
and no combats may take place except in these places. They are
opened after Mass on Sundays and feast-days, and on some other days
by special leave from the authorities. The love of this sport and the
hope of gain is so general that the majority of the natives of Manila
are breeders of game-cocks, which they tend with assiduous care, and
artisans often carry their favourite birds to their work and tether
them in the shade, where they can keep them in view. Horse-fights
occasionally take place. The ponies of the Philippines, although
not usually vicious to man, will fight savagely with each other, and
inflict severe bites. I remember a case where two ponies harnessed to
a victoria began fighting and a Guardia Civil attempted to separate
them, when one of the ponies seized him by the thigh, lifted him
off his feet, and shook him as a terrier might shake a rat; the
flesh of the man's thigh was torn away and the bone left bare. This
dreadful wound caused his death. The occurrence took place in front
of the church of Binondo in Manila. Bull fights have been an utter
failure in Manila, although many attempts have been made to establish
them. Flying kites is a great amusement with young and old in the
early months of the year, when the N.E. monsoon blows. Fights are
organised: the competing kites have crescent-shaped pieces of steel
attached to the tails, and the competitor who can cut the string of
his opponent's kite by causing his own to swoop suddenly across it,
is the winner. Betting on the result is common. The Tagals are also
fond of the theatre, and some years ago there was a Tagal theatre in
Binondo where comedies in that language were played. I have also met
strolling players in the country towns.
But of all kinds of shows a good circus is the one that fetches his
last dollar out of the Tagal. Guiseppe Chiarini reaped a silver harvest
in Manila on both occasions he pitched his tents there. His advance
agent, Maya, a Chilian, paved the way for success, and the pompous
announcement that Chiarini was born in the sacred city of Rome, greatly
impressed the natives, who flocked in thousands to his circus. Chiarini
considered himself able to tame the most vicious horse, and purchased
a fine Manila pony that no one could manage. The beast, however,
was not subdued by his powers, and, seizing the tamer's cheek, bit
off a large piece.
On feast days in the larger towns, open-air plays are sometimes
given, and what with preparations, rehearsals, and performance,
absorb the attention of a large number of the inhabitants for a
couple of months. I witnessed a very notable performance of this
kind some years ago at Balayan in the province of Batangas, the
characters being played by the sons and daughters of the principal
people there. The subject was taken from the 'Wars of Grenada.' In
the first act we saw a Christian king and his court, also his only
and peerless daughter. After these had had their say, an ambassador
from the Moslem king was announced, and the king summoned his council
to consider the communication. He took his seat upon the throne,
with grey-bearded councillors on each side. The Moslem envoy, and his
suite and escort, entered on horseback and very unnecessarily galloped
about and gave an exhibition of their horsemanship. Then the envoy,
still on horseback, harangued the king, and arrogantly demanded the
hand of the beauteous princess for his master, threatening war to
the knife in case of refusal. He then retired to his camp.
Next came the discussion of the demand which the grey-beards think
it hopeless to resist. The Moslem envoy was sent for, and amid great
grief the princess was about to be confided to his care, when there
rushed in a young Christian warrior and his followers, who swore they
would never allow a Christian princess to wed a Paynim, and dismissed
the envoy with contumelious remarks. He retired vowing vengeance. All
this occupied a long time, and I did not remain for the rest. I think
it took two days to act. But from the volleys of musketry and firing
of rockets and mortars which I heard, a sanguinary war must have been
waged and many of the characters must have perished. The play was
acted in a more spirited way than usual; some of the male performers
declaimed their parts with energy. Some were mounted on fine ponies,
and were well got up and armed.
The girls' dresses were rich, and they wore a great deal of
jewellery. Some of the princesses were very handsome girls. There is a
sort of a superstition that any girl performing in one of these pieces
is sure to be married within a year. This makes them very ready to
undertake a part, as they obtain an excellent opportunity to display
their charms to advantage, and so help to fulfil the prediction. The
play was witnessed by the mass of the population of Balayan and by
numerous visitors from the neighbouring towns. It was considered a
very successful performance, and it carried my memory over the wide
Pacific to Peru, where I have seen similar plays acted by the country
people in the Plaza of Huacho.
Tagal Literature.
Tagal literature does not amount to very much, and the policy of
the Government of late years has been to teach Spanish as well as
the native dialects in the schools. This did not meet the approval
of the old school of priests; but many of the younger ones have
accepted the Government view. In the Exhibition of the Philippines,
Madrid, 1887, Don Vicente Barrantes showed twenty volumes of grammars
and vocabularies of the Philippine dialects, and thirty-one volumes
of popular native poetry, besides two volumes of native plays. The
Reverend Father Raimundo Lozano exhibited twenty-eight volumes of
religious works in the Visayas-Panayano dialect, and the Reverend
Father Francisco Valdez a study of the roots of the Ilocan dialect
in manuscript. Many works in the native dialects have been written by
the Spanish priests, such as one by the Reverend Father Manuel Blanco,
the learned author of the 'Flora Filipina,' of which I give the title
and the first verse:--
Tagaloc verses to assist in "Manga dalit na Tagalog at
dying well. pagtulong sa mamaluatay na
tanang Cristiana."
Manila, 1867, VIII., 62 pag 8o.
"Aba bumabasa baquin baga caya
Tila camuntima i nata cang bohala."
I now give the title of a secular poem in English and Tagal, that
the reader may compare the words and note the subject:--
Story of the life of the "Salita at buhay nang
beauteous shepherdess marilang na pastora na si
Jacobina, a native of Jacobina tubo sa Villa
Moncada, who became the Moncada Naguing asaua
wife of the King, nang Policarpio de
Policarpio de Villar, Villar sa cabarian nang
in the kingdom of Dalmacia nagga roon nang
Dalmatia, and bore a isang supligna anac ang
son named Villardo. pangaia i si Villardo."
The poem begins--
"O maamong Ester mananalong Judit
Mariang linanag nitong sang daigdig."
and concludes--
"Panang nang pupuri ang lahat nang cabig
Sa yanang inaguling ang tinamo i sangit."
I do not think it is necessary to quote any more, as this gives the
reader sufficient idea of the language.
There is much that is good in the Tagal, much to like and
admire. Antonio de Morga, Sinibaldo de Mas, Tomas de Comyn, Paul de la
Gironiere, Jagor, Bowring, Palgrave, Foreman, Stevens, Worcester--all
have some good to say of him, and with reason. But the piratical
blood is strong in him yet. He requires restraint and guidance from
those who have a higher standard for their actions than he has. Left
to himself he would infallibly relapse into savagery. At the same
time he will not be governed by brute force, and under oppression
or contumelious treatment he would abandon the plains, retire to the
mountains, and lead a predatory life. Although not just himself nor
truthful, he can recognise and revere truth and justice in a master
or governor. Courageous himself, only a courageous man can win his
respect. He is grateful, [25] and whoever can secure his reverence
and gratitude will have no trouble in leading him.
I have testified to the Tagal's excellence in many handicrafts and
callings, yet I greatly doubt whether they have the mental and moral
equipment for any of the professions. I should not like to place my
affairs in the hands of a Tagal lawyer, to trust my life in the hands
of a Tagal doctor, nor to purchase an estate on the faith of a Tagal
surveyor's measurement.
I do not say that they are all untrustworthy, nor that they can never
become fit for the higher callings, but they are not fit for them
now, and it will take a long time, and a completely changed system
of education, before they can become fit.
What they want are examples of a high type of honour and morality that
they could look up to and strive to imitate. There are such men in
America. Whether they will be sent to the Philippines is best known
to Mr. McKinley.
CHAPTER XXV.
Pampangos (2).
The Pampangos are close neighbours of the Tagals. They inhabit the
rich and fertile province of Pampanga and a large part of that of
Tarlac. There are also some detached colonies of them in the towns
of Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Zambales. The population of
Pampanga is given in the census of 1876 as 226,000. Allowing one-half
the population of Tarlac to belong to this race, we have to add
41,000, and supposing one-tenth the population of Bataan, Nueva Ecija,
and Zambales, to be Pampangos, say 27,000, we get 294,000 as their
number in 1876. Doubtless they have largely increased since then. The
Pampangos speak a different language from the Tagals, yet they can
understand each other to some extent. Many of the better class speak
both languages. The Pampango does not greatly differ from the Tagal in
appearance or character, but his environment and his occupations are
different. He is not so much a sailor, a fisherman, or a mechanic. He
excels in agriculture, is a good organiser of labour, rides well,
is a good hunter, and makes a bold and determined soldier. Large
numbers of this war-like race have fought under the Spanish flag
against the Mahometan princes of the Moluccas, of Mindanao, and Sulu,
as also against the British and the Dutch.
Pampangos as Cultivators.
The towns of San Fernando, Guagua Bacolor, Mexico, Angeles, Candaba,
and many others have been built up by Pampanga industry. They contain
many fine houses, where the European traveller is sure of a hospitable
reception.
The staple crop of Pampanga is sugar, and I shall explain their
organisation for its cultivation and manufacture.
In Luzon the land is usually cultivated under an arrangement known
as Aparceria.
The conditions of Aparceria vary according to the locality, and to
established custom, since on the land near a town a smaller share is
given to the cultivator than on land near the forests, where if he
were not satisfied he might commence to clear land for himself. Also
the land near the towns is more valuable than that at a distance for
various reasons.
The following is an example of the terms usual in Pampanga. The
land-owner provides:
A. Cleared land ready for the plough.
B. Sugar-cane points for the first planting.
C. Sugar-mill, boiling-pans and the building for same.
D. Money advances to keep the cultivator and his family, and for
taking off the crop.
E. Carts for carrying the cane to the mill.
The cultivator, or inquilino, provides:
1. His labour and that of his family for ploughing, planting and
cultivating the cane and fencing the plantations.
2. The ploughs and implements of husbandry.
3. The cattle (water buffaloes) for the above labours and for
working the mill if it is a cattle mill.
The money advanced to the cultivator by the land-owner is charged 20
per cent. per annum interest.
For a daily task of 9 pilones from cattle-mills or 10 pilones from
steam-mills there are employed:
2 Labourers to cut cane at 25 cents and food .50 cents.
1 Carter at 25 cents and food .25
2 Mill attendants at 25 cents and food .50
Sugar boiler and fireman at 25 cents and food .75
1 Megass carrier at 25 cents and food .25
------
Mexican dollars 2.25
Or 25 cents per pilon.
Sugar Crop.
The land-owner pays the men's wages, and the cultivator gives them
three meals a day and cigars.
The sugar-moulds (pilones) cost about 121/2 cents each, and the cost
is divided between the parties.
In making up the account, 61/2 per cent. per annum is charged on the
value of the land, machinery and building.
The molasses which drains from the sugar belongs to the land-owner.
These pilones are supposed to contain 140 lbs. of sugar when
filled. They are placed upon a small pot to allow the molasses to drain
off. When delivered their weight may be from 112 to 120 lbs. according
to the time they have been draining. This sugar polarises about 80
per cent. according to circumstances and requires to be treated at
the farderias in Manila to bring it up to an even sample before it
is exported. The sugar loaves are cut up, sorted, crushed, mixed
with other sugars, sun-dried, and a certain quantity of sand added
before being put into bags for export as Manila Sugar, usually No. 7
or No. 9 Dutch standard. It will be seen from the above figures how
moderate the expenses are. Of course each land-owner has a number of
cultivators, and often a number of mills.
Notwithstanding the low price of sugar which has prevailed for many
years, the provinces of Pampanga has made money out of it as the
handsome houses of the land-owners in all their towns testify.
The sugar crop in Pampanga has never quite reached a million pilones,
but has exceeded nine hundred thousand, say from fifty to sixty
thousand English tons. The cane is crushed in small steam or cattle
mills having three horizontal rollers.
These mills are mostly made in Glasgow and have now in Pampanga
entirely superseded the Chinese mills with vertical rollers of granite
or the native mills with vertical rollers of hard wood. [26]
In former years I pointed out, in a report written for General
Jovellar, what a great advantage it would be to Pampanga if the
planters would abandon the use of pilones and make sugar suitable
for direct export and so obviate the manipulation in the farderias
at Manila.
They could make a sugar similar to that produced in Negros and known
as Ilo-ilo.
Now that the Philippines have passed into the hands of the United
States, I do not doubt that central sugar factories will be established
and will turn out centrifugal sugars polarizing 96 per cent. similar
to the Cuban sugar.
Pampangos as Fishermen.
There are some Pampanga fishermen on the River Betis, at San Jose,
and amongst the labyrinth of creeks and mangrove swamps forming the
north-western shores of Manila Bay.
Their avocation is not destitute of danger, for these swamps are
the home of the alligator. [27] Although they are not as large as
some I have seen in the River Paraguay or on the River Daule, in
Ecuador, they are quite large enough to seize a horse or a man. I
was once visiting Fr. Enrique Garcia, the parish priest of Macabebe,
when a native woman came in and presented him with a dollar to say
a Mass in thanksgiving for the escape of her husband from death that
morning. She told us that he was pushing a shrimp-net in shallow water
when the buaya seized him by the shoulder. The fisherman, however,
called upon his patron saint, and putting out his utmost strength,
with the aid of Saint Peter, succeeded in extricating himself from
the reptile's jaws and in beating him off. His shoulder, however,
was badly lacerated by the alligator's teeth. It was lucky for him
that he was in shallow water, for the alligator usually holds its
prey under water and drowns it.
The Pampangos also fish on the Rio Grande, the Rio Chico, and in the
Pinag de Candaba. This latter is an extensive swampy plain, partly
under cultivation in the dry season, partly laid out as fish-ponds.
The Nipa palm grows in abundance in the delta of the Betis, and
small colonies of half-savage people are settled on dry spots amongst
these swamps engaged in collecting the juice or the leaves of this
tree. The stems are punctured and the juice runs into small vessels
made of cane. It is collected daily, poured into jars and carried in
small canoes to the distillery where it is fermented and distilled.
The distilleries are constructed in a very primitive manner, and are
worked by Chinese or Chinese half-breeds.
The produce is called Vino de Nipa, and is retailed in the native
stalls and restaurants.
The leaves are doubled and sewn with rattan strips upon a small piece
of bamboo, they are taken to market upon a platform laid across the
gunwales of two canoes. This arrangement is called bangcas mancornadas,
canoes yoked together. The nipa is sold by the thousand, and serves to
thatch the native houses anywhere, except in certain parts of Manila
and other towns where its use is forbidden on account of the great
danger of its taking fire.
From circumstances that have come under my own observation, I believe
it to be a fact that when trade in nipa thatch is dull, the canoe-men
set fire to the native houses in the suburbs of Manila to make a
market. I have noticed more than once that houses have commenced to
burn from the upper part of the thatched roof where they could not
have caught fire accidentally. The Province of Pampanga extends to
the westward, as far as the crests of the Zambales mountains, and the
Cordillera of Mabanga is included within its boundaries. There is but
little cultivated land beyond the town of Porac to the westward. Here
the Pampangos trade with the Negritos, who inhabit the Zambales range,
getting from them jungle produce in exchange for rice, tobacco, sugar,
and other articles. Occasionally the Negritos steal cattle from
the Pampangos or at times murder one of them if a good opportunity
presents itself.
Pampangos as Hunters.
The natives of this part of the province are good wood-men and hunters.
In addition to taking game by nets and ambuscade, some of them hunt
the deer on ponies which are trained to run at full speed after the
game, up or down hill, and to get near enough for the rider to throw
or use his lance.
Being at Porac in 1879 with the late Major Deare, 74th Highlanders
(now 2nd Batt. Highland Light Infantry), an enthusiastic sportsman,
we saw two men who had practised this sport for years, and were told
that their arms, ribs, legs and collar-bones had been broken over and
over again. We saw them gallop down a rocky and precipitous descent
after a deer at full speed.
We could only wonder that they were alive if that was a sample of
their hunting. Their saddles were fitted with strong martingales and
cruppers and with triple girths so that they could not shift. The
saddles themselves were of the usual native pattern, like miniature
Mexicans. The men were light weights.
N.B.--If any reader of this contemplates travelling in the
Philippines, let him take a saddle with him. It should be as small
as he could comfortably use, and light. The ponies are from twelve
to thirteen hands high, but are remarkably strong and clever. I know
from experience that a good one will carry fourteen stone over rough
ground with safety.
Tulisanes.
Pampanga has produced some notable bandits or Tulisanes who have given
the Spaniards much trouble. Of late years there has been a diminution
in the number of crimes of violence, due in a great measure to the
establishment of the Guardia Civil by General Gandara in 1867.
I once built a nipa house on the banks of the Rio Grande, near
Macabebe, and resided there for several months, carrying on some
works. I was new to the country and ignorant of the customs of
the people.
There were no other Europeans in the vicinity, except the priests.
I took care to treat all my native neighbours with strict justice,
neither infringing their rights, nor allowing them to impose on me.
There came to stay with me Mr. A. B. Whyte, then an employe, now a
partner in one of the leading British firms in Manila, who frequently
had ten thousand dollars in gold in his safe, and similar sums were
remitted to him from Manila at different times for the purchase
of sugar.
One day we received a visit from an officer of the Civil Guard who came
to warn us that we were in danger of an attack, that his post was too
far off for him to protect us, and that the locality bore a very bad
name for crimes of violence. We thanked him for his visit and warning,
entertained him to lunch, and informed him that we intended to remain,
after which he returned to his post at Apalit. On making inquiry we
found that some of our immediate neighbours were well-known bandits,
but were thought to have retired from business. However, they never
attacked us, and probably prevented any other Tulisanes from doing so
lest they should get the blame. But had I encroached on their land or
treated them contemptuously, or had I allowed them to impose upon me,
I do not doubt we should have been attacked and to say the least we
might have found ourselves in a tight place.
A nipa house is no place to defend, for it can be burnt in a few
minutes in the dry season, and a spear can be pushed through the sides,
or up through the floor with ease.
In cases like this one cannot entirely depend upon the assistance
of native servants, for they have sometimes joined with criminals to
rob or murder their master.
There is a curious custom amongst bandits to invite an outsider to
join them in a particular enterprise, and it is considered mean and as
denoting a want of courage to refuse, even when a servant is invited
to help rob or kill his master. Moreover, there is much danger in
refusing to join the bandits, for it will give dire offence to them and
perhaps have fatal consequences. This invitation is called a Convite
[see Chap. V.].
The hereditary taint of piracy in the Malay blood, and the low
moral standard prevailing in the Archipelago, as well as fear of the
consequences of a refusal, render it more difficult than a stranger
can realise for a native servant to resist such a temptation.
Pampanga Women.
The women in Pampanga are smart in appearance, clever in business,
and good at a bargain, whether buying or selling. The men are well
aware of this and when selling their produce or buying a sugar-mill,
they like to have the assistance of their wives, who are always the
hardest customers to deal with.
They are excellent sempstresses and good at embroidery. In some
villages they make very durable silk handkerchiefs with coloured
borders of blue, red or purple. Straw hats, mats, salacots, cigar
and cigarette cases are also made by them.
Their houses are kept clean, and the larger ones are well-suited for
entertainments, as the sala and caida are very spacious, and have
polished floors of narra, or some other hard close-grained wood very
pleasant to dance on.
A ball at a big Pampanga house is a sight that will be
remembered. Capitan Joaquin Arnedo Cruz of Sulipan, on the Rio Grande,
a wealthy native sugar-planter, used to assemble in his fine house the
principal people of the neighbourhood to meet royal or distinguished
guests. One of his daughters is married to a distinguished lawyer,
my friend Don Felipe Buencamino, author of the remarkable State
paper addressed to the United States Senate, and published in the
Congressional Record of January 9th, 1900, pp. 752-53-54. Capitan
Joaquin possessed a magnificent porcelain table-service of two hundred
pieces, specially made and marked with his monogram, sent him by a
prince who had enjoyed his hospitality.
He gave a ball for the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, who afterwards
declared that the room presented one of the most brilliant sights he
had ever seen.
This from a son of an Emperor might seem an exaggeration, but brilliant
is the only word that can describe the effect produced on the spectator
by the bright costumes and sparkling jewellery of the women.
Their dress seems to exercise a fascination upon Europeans which the
costume of any other eastern country fails to do.
Monsieur Paul de la Gironiere, in his charming book, 'Vingt Ans aux
Philippines,' says, about the Mestiza dress: "Nothing so charming,
so coquet, so provocative as this costume which excites to the highest
point the admiration of all strangers."
He goes on to say that the women are well aware of this, and that on
no account would they make a change. I will add my opinion that they
are quite right, and may they ever stick to the saya, the baro, and
the tapis under the Stars and Stripes, may they ever be as natural,
as handsome and as prosperous as when the writer dwelt amongst them
on the banks of the Rio Grande under the paternal rule of Alcalde
Mayor Don Jose Feced y Temprado.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Zambales (3).
The Zambales are a small and unimportant tribe of the Malay race, with
some admixture of Negrito blood. They inhabit part of the province of
Zambales from the River Naja down to South Felipe, a coast village
in 15 deg. N. latitude, and in their mountains there roam a good many
Negritos. The Zambales are subjugated and converted to Christianity,
but some still maintain a partial independence amongst the mountains,
paying, however, the "Reconocimentio de Vassallaje." At the time of
the conquest, these people were famous head-hunters, and otherwise
manifested a bloodthirsty disposition. They lived in villages of
thirty to forty families, quite independent of each other, and their
chiefs possessed but little influence. When one of a family died the
surviving male relatives put on a black head-cloth or turban, which
they durst not remove until one of them had killed some one else so
as to satisfy the death vengeance. A murder could be atoned for by a
payment in gold or in goods, or a slave or Negrito might be delivered
up to be sacrificed to the manes of the departed. It was customary
amongst them to take with them to their feasts the heads or skulls
they possessed. The heads were placed on poles and ceremonial dances
were performed around them. They also emulated the Vikings by making
drinking cups out of their enemies' skulls.
Their religion was similar to that of the Tagals. Their principal god
was called Malayari, but he had under him two deputy gods, Acasi and
Manglobag, and a large number of inferior gods. Their chief priest
was called Bayoc, and exercised great influence amongst them. They
celebrated baptism with the blood of a pig. Amongst them, as in
Borneo and with many tribes of Malays who are not Mahometans, the
pig is considered as the most acceptable sacrifice to the gods. For
particulars about this I refer the reader to 'Life in the Forests of
the Far East,' by Spenser St. John.
Now, at last, they have been brought into the Christian fold,
though, perhaps, amongst the pine-clad mountains, heathen customs
maintain their hold upon the wild hillmen. These latter trade with
their Christian and partly-civilised brethren, bringing them jungle
produce, tobacco, and the small bezoar stones, so highly prized
by the Chinese, in return for articles they require. The Zambales
raise some rice and a little sugar. Their trade is inconsiderable,
their exports being limited to Sapan wood, jungle produce, timber,
fire-wood, and charcoal, all of which is shipped to Manila, where it
finds a ready sale. The total population of this province was 94,551
in 1876, but only a portion of these were Zambales.
Pangasinanes (4).
The Pangasinanes inhabit the north-western part of the province of
Pangasinan, and the northern part of the province of Zambales from
the River Naja, which runs into the Bay of Bazol, round Cape Bolinao
to Sual, including the Island of Cabarruyan and Santiago. But the
southern and eastern part of their province is partly inhabited by
Pampangos and Ilocanos.
On the other hand, there are some Pangasinanes scattered about the
northern part of Nueva Ecija amongst Tagals and Ilocanos, and there
are a few as colonists in Benguet.
In former times the Pangasinanes occupied a wider extent of
country. When Juan Salcedo arrived he found them occupying the southern
part of La Union; but they have been and are still being pushed back
by the more hard working and energetic Ilocanos.
As the limits of their province do not correspond to the ethnographical
boundaries, it is not easy to estimate their numbers. I think there
may be about 300,000 of them.
The Pangasinanes were subjugated by the Spaniards in 1572, and in
1576 they were all Christians. Their manners and customs are similar
to those of the Pampangos and Tagals, but they have a rougher and
more uncouth appearance. Their chief occupation is cultivating rice,
and whenever this is the case the people are poor and little advanced
in civilisation. It is the lowest kind of agriculture any people
can follow. The first sign of prosperity in an eastern people is
given when they begin to import rice, as it shows that they have
a more remunerative occupation to follow than cultivating it for
themselves. Thus the Cagayanes who grow tobacco, the Pampangos who
grow sugar, and the Vicols of Albay and neighbouring islands who grow
hemp, all import rice.
Mr. J. W. Jamieson, the Acting British Consul at Sumao, in a report on
the trade of Yunnan, issued the 7th of December, 1898, says: "Apart
from minerals, the province possesses a few other resources and the
inhabitants are lazy and unenterprising to a degree. So long as they
can grow enough rice to feed themselves and procure enough cotton to
make the few articles of clothing necessary in this equable climate,
they are content."
I am glad to find this confirmation of my views in this
matter. Mr. Jamieson's remarks apply to all the rice-growers I
have seen.
The rice is raised in the delta of the Agno and about that
river. Formerly, the Pangasinanes not only sent rice to Manila,
but exported it to China, Siam, and Annan.
For this trade they built their own vessels at Lingayen, and in the
flourishing period, some twenty-five years ago, their shipwrights used
to turn out eight or ten schooners in a year, vessels able to carry
300 to 400 tons dead weight. Since the introduction of steamers into
the coasting trade, the construction of sailing vessels has greatly
diminished. Still, they turn out two or three a year.
In some parts of the province they make sugar, but it will not compare
in quality with that made in Pampanga. It has a smaller grain and a
paler colour, but less sweetening power. The average of thirty samples,
taken as the sugar was ladled out of the tacho, was--
Crystallizable sugar 70.40 per cent.
Uncrystallizable 13.00
Ash 1.97
It is drained in pilones, or earthenware moulds; but, unlike the
Pampanga custom, the moulds are not delivered with the sugar, but
the leaf is wrapped in the dried sheaths of the palm, tied about
with split rattan. Most of the sugar is sent by sea to Manila and
exported to China for direct consumption in one of the provinces
where it finds a ready sale.
Indigo was formerly cultivated here and exported, and at one time
a good deal of Sapan wood was also exported, but the trade in these
articles has almost ceased.
Amongst the industries of Pangasinan may be mentioned the manufacture
of hats, hundreds of thousands of which were made at Calasiao from
grass or nito, and sent to Boston or New York. There are also at
Calasiao, and in some other towns, blacksmiths who forge excellent
bolos or wood-knives from the iron-bands taken off bales of cotton
cloth or sacking.
Carromatas, the two-wheeled vehicles of the country, are constructed
in Lingayen and Dagupan, and are said to be very well made.
I may mention here that the ponies raised in these provinces are
inferior to the Ilocanos or even the Albay breed.
The sands of the River Agno near Rosales, and of the streams coming
down from Mount Lagsig, are washed for gold, principally by women
who obtain but a meagre return.
The civilisation of the Pangasinanes is only skin-deep, and one of
their characteristics is a decided propensity to remontar, that is,
to abandon their towns or villages and take to the mountains, out of
reach of all authority. There are some great land-owners in Pangasinan;
one of them, Don Rafael Sison, owns an estate that stretches from
Calasiao and Santa Barbara to Urdaneta.
Ilocanos (5).
This hard-working and industrious race occupies the northern and
western shores of Luzon, from Point Lacatacay on the 121st meridian,
east from Greenwich, to San Fabian, on the Gulf of Lingayen. This
includes the three provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La
Union. The Ilocanos have also pushed into the north-eastern part of
Pangasinan, where they occupy seven towns, and they inhabit the town
of Alcala in the province of Cagayan, several villages in Benguet,
parts of the towns of Capas and O'Donnell in the provinces of Tarlac,
and some towns in Zambales and Nueva Ecija. They are all civilised
and have been Christians for three centuries. Amongst them dwell many
converted Tinguianes and Igorrotes, who speak the Ilocan dialect.
Blumentritt attributes the energy and activity of the Ilocanos to an
admixture, even though it be small, of these brave and hardy races. In
dress and appearance they are similar to the Tagals, and like them
carry the indispensable bolo. They cultivate tobacco, cotton, rice,
maize, indigo, sugar-cane, and a little cacao and coffee. They also
grow the pita (Agave Americana), which gives the fibre for the nipis
textiles, ajonjoli (Sesamum indicum, L.), from which they extract oil,
which is used in medicine and for the hair, and they even grow some
wheat. They extract a black resin from the Antong (Canarum Pimela),
which is used as incense or for making torches; another resin from
the Bangad, which is used as a varnish, another from the Cajel (Citrus
Aurantium), and many others used either in medicine, for torches, for
varnishing, or for paying the seams of wooden vessels. They get gum
from the Balete (Ficus Urostigma), and from the Lucban, or orange tree
(Citrus decumana, L.), oil from the Palomaria (Calophyllum inophyllum,
L.), and from a large number of other trees, some only known by the
native name, and the use of which is uncertain. They obtain dyes
from many trees growing wild in the forests, amongst others from the
Tabungao (Jatropha Curcas, L.), the Lomboy (Eugenia Lambolana, Lam.),
the sibucao (Coesalpinia Sappan, L.). Their cultivation of indigo is
declining, partly because the demand has diminished in consequence of
the introduction of chemical substitutes, and also because the Chinese,
into whose hands the whole produce of these provinces found its way,
adulterated it so abominably as to discredit it altogether. Yet so
great is the facility of Ilocan territory for growing indigo, that
Gregorio Sy Quia of Vigan exhibited in Madrid in 1887 no less than
seventy-five different kinds of indigo, and seventy-five different
seeds corresponding to the samples. At the same exhibition, no less
than twenty-four different kinds of rice were exhibited from Ilocos,
and this by no means exhausts the list. Every kind has a distinctive
name. The textile industry flourishes amongst these industrious
people. The Local Committee of Namagpacan, in the province of La
Union, sent to Madrid for the above-mentioned exhibition, no less
than 145 different textiles, whilst other towns sent looms and other
implements. Amongst the articles woven are quilts, cotton blankets
(the celebrated Mantos de Ilocos), napkins and towels, and a great
variety of material for coats, trousers, women's dresses and other
uses. Guingon (called by sailors dungaree), a blue stuff for clothing,
costs from $0.50 to $0.31, 2s. 8d. per vara (2 feet 9 inches),
a mixture of cotton and silk, for men's wear, $1.25 per vara, silk
handkerchiefs $0.25 each.
The Ilocans also make nets for fish, and for deer and pigs; baskets
of all sorts, salacots or hats.
They grow two kinds of cotton for textiles, the white and the
Coyote. Another kind, a tree cotton from the Boboy (Eriodendron
anfractuosum, D.C.), is only used for stuffing pillows. They extract
oil from the seeds of all three kinds.
Like the other civilized natives they live principally on rice and
fish, which they capture in large quantities. Blumentritt mentions
two kinds, the "Ipon" and the "Dolon," which they salt or pickle.
They have fine cattle, which they sell to the Igorrotes. It will
be noted that the Tinguianes, on the other hand, sell cattle to
the Ilocanos. The ponies of Ilocos are highly valued in Manila,
where there is a great demand for them. They are smaller than the
ponies of other provinces, but are very hardy and spirited, and
go at a great pace. Tulisanes formerly infested these provinces
and found a ready refuge in the mountains, when pursued by the
cuadrilleros, or village constables, who were only armed with bolos,
lances, and a few old muskets. But the creation of the Civil Guard,
formed of picked officers and men, who were armed with Remingtons and
revolvers, and whose orders were, "Do not hesitate to shoot," made this
business very dangerous, and the three provinces suffer little from
brigandage. When Juan Salcedo conquered the Ilocos, he found a caste
of nobles amongst them who possessed all the riches of the country,
and treated the cailanes, or serfs, with great rigour. Their tyranny
caused several bloody rebellions, and although at present matters in
this respect have improved, there is still room for complaint that
the people who do the work do not get a fair remuneration for it,
the rich man always endeavouring to keep the poor man in permanent
indebtedness. In consequence of this, the Ilocanos are ever ready to
emigrate, and besides the places I have mentioned, there are thousands
of them in Manila and other parts of the islands. They easily obtain
employment either as servants, cultivators, or labourers, for they are
superior in stamina to most of the civilised races, and in industry
superior to them all.
I have no doubt that there is a great future before this hardy,
enterprising, and industrious people.
Ibanags or Cagayanes (6).
The Ibanags inhabit the Babuyanes and Batanes Islands and the northern
coast of Luzon, from Point Lacaytacay to Punta Escarpada, and all
the country comprised between the Rio Grande and the summits of the
Sierra Madre as far south as Balasig.
They also hold the left bank of the river from the sea, right up to the
confluence of the River Magat for an average width of some five miles.
They are said to be the finest race and the most valiant men in the
islands, and to have manfully resisted the Spaniards.
However, they were conquered and converted to Christianity. From the
year 1781 they have been subjected to the worst form of slavery, the
forced cultivation of tobacco. The detestable abuses brought into this
system by the unblushing rascality of the agents of the treasury,
became, finally, so glaring, and the condition of the Ibanags so
dreadful, that, in 1882, the Governor-General, Moriones (see Chapter
"Spanish Government"), forced the hand of Canovas and the royal family,
who desired to sell the monopoly, and this horrible slavery ceased,
having lasted over a century, going from bad to worse.
Since that date the condition of the Ibanags has greatly improved; they
have continued the cultivation of tobacco, and private enterprise has
done much to introduce the finest seed and to improve the cultivation
and preparatory operations. The "Compania Tabacalera de Filipinas,"
a Franco-Catalan enterprise, has established the Haciendas of San
Antonio, San Rafael, and Santa Isabel, in the district of Isabela.
They have built large warehouses in Tumauini and have agents in all
the principal towns.
On the river they have a stern-wheel steamer, the Antonio Lopez,
and a number of steel-lighters for carrying down tobacco.
The tobacco is ready for transport in December and January. It is sent
down the river to Aparri, from whence it is shipped to Manila. In a
normal dry season (February to August), the river is navigable for
steamers of two feet draught up to Alcala, the trade of which town
is not important; but that of Tuguegarao is so, and up to that point
the current is not strong.
Amongst the Ibanags the distinction of noble and plebeian has been
as strongly marked as amongst the Tagals, Pampangos, and Ilocanos,
and the intense cupidity of the nobles, or rather usurers, which name
better describes them, has led to many bloody outbreaks on the part
of the oppressed and enslaved debtors.
The government has steadily encouraged the Ilocanos and others to
settle in Cagayan and plant tobacco, giving them free passages and
advances of money in the days of the monopoly.
On the other hand, the discontent of the Ibanags has led them
to migrate to other provinces when possible, for the authorities
prevented them from doing so by force when they could. They especially
endeavoured to get to Manila, and I remember many years ago the
arrival of a starving and ragged band, who had tramped all the way
from Isabela to Manila to escape from their cruel task-masters.
However, things are better with them now, and I hope means will be
found under the Stars and Stripes to introduce a better system of
finance, and to curb the greed of the usurer, either by legislation
or by competition on a fair and humane basis. The Ibanag language is
spreading greatly amongst the hill-tribes around them as a commercial
language, just as Ilocano is spreading on the West Coast.
Under American influence an immense development of the provinces
of Cagayan and Isabela may be expected in the near future, and the
Ibanags will doubtless benefit by this.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Igorrotes (7).
This is an important, and to me, the most interesting of the
independent or partly subdued races of the Philippines. They are a
fine, hardy, industrious, and warlike race, well worth a great and
patient effort to bring them within the pale of Christianity, and
to advance the civilisation they have already attained. They are of
a dark bronze colour, with straight black and abundant hair, large
dark eyes set rather obliquely as amongst Chinese. Their faces are
broad with high cheek-bones, the nose aquiline and the head large. The
features in general have a Mongolian cast, and a certain nasal twang
in their speech resembles that of the Southern Chinese. The men have
capacious chests, showing good lung-power, their muscles well developed
indicating great strength and ability to resist fatigue. The women
have also well-marked figures and rounded limbs. The fashions vary
with different tribes, but it is common to find both sexes wearing
their hair cut in a fringe over the forehead, but reaching down to
the eyebrows, long enough at the sides to cover the ears, left long
at the back of the head, where it is gathered up into a knot.
The Igorrotes of Lepanto wear beards, some of them are as thick
as a Spaniard's, but the tribes farther South pull out, not only
their beards, but all the hair on their bodies, except that of the
head. Their dress varies from a mere apron (Bahaque) when at work in
the fields, to an ornamental jacket very smartly cut and elaborate
sword-belt when at war or on any full-dress occasion. These jackets are
very handsome and have stripes of blue, crimson and white. They wear
a variety of head-dresses, turban, Salacot or a kind of cocked-hat
and feathers. Both men and women wear cloaks or plaids of bright
colours made of cotton. Although the word Igorrote has come to be
almost a generic name for the heathen Highlanders of North Luzon,
it is here limited to those who dwell on the Western part of the
Cordillera Central, comprising the whole of the districts of Benguet
and Lepanto, part of Bontoc and parts of the Provinces of La Union
and Ilocos Sur. The sub-tribes Buriks and Busaos are included.
Tattooing is very general amongst them. In some districts you can
hardly find a man or woman who has not a figure of the sun tattooed in
blue on the back of the hand, for in Central Benguet they worship the
sun. Some of them tattoo the breast and arms in patterns of straight
and curved lines pricked in with a needle in indigo blue. The Busao
Igorrotes, who live in the North of Lepanto, tattoo flowers on their
arms, and in war-dress wear a cylindrical shako made of wood or plaited
rattan, and large copper pendants in their ears. These people do not
use the Talibon, and prefer the spear. The Burik Igorrotes tattoo
the body in a curious manner, giving them the appearance of wearing
a coat of mail. But this custom is probably now becoming obsolete,
for at least those of the Igorrotes who live near the Christian
natives are gradually adopting their dress and customs.
White is the colour of mourning, as amongst the Moros of Mindanao and
Sulu. Both sexes are fond of personal ornaments, such as ear-rings,
collars, arm-rings, bangles, leg-rings and belts. Collars of
crocodiles' teeth are highly esteemed. In the long list of their
manufactures I shall enumerate their ornaments. Their arms are the
talibon, a short double-edged sword; the gayang, a javelin or assegai;
and the aligua, a light axe, having a spike at the back opposite to
the cutting edge. After throwing their javelins, they rush on with
their drawn swords, holding their shield, called a calata, on the
left arm. This is made of light wood and is long and narrow. With the
exception of the shape of the shield their equipment is much like
that of the Roman Legionaries twenty centuries since. The aligua
appears to be used, not as a fighting weapon, but to decapitate
their fallen enemies and as a means of carrying the head home on a
spike. Great rejoicings, with feasts and dances, were held after a
successful skirmish, and large quantities of liquor consumed. But the
constant pressure of the Spanish authority has in a great measure
stopped these petty wars. They make a kind of beer called Basi by
fermenting cane-juice, and another liquor, something like the chicha
of the Peruvian Coast Indians, from rice. This latter is called
bundang. They are great smokers, and make their own pipes of various
materials. They appear not to have universally adopted the Malay
custom of chewing buyo. There is a settlement of Christian Igorrotes
on the coast of Ilocos Sur, close to the boundary of La Union,
which has been established many years. But in general the Igorrotes
have steadily refused to embrace Christianity, and evidently do not
want to go to the same heaven as the Spaniards. The behaviour of the
troops led against them in 1881 by General Primo de Rivera doubtless
confirmed them in this repugnance. The expedition did not do much in
the way of fighting, Remingtons and mountain-guns failed to subdue
the bold mountaineers armed only with javelin and sword. The Spanish
officers and men, however, are reported to have abominably mishandled
the Igorrote women. For this ravishing foray the late King Alfonso
XII. bestowed the title of Vizconde de la Union upon Primo de Rivera,
and showered promotions and crosses upon his staff.
The Igorrotes live in villages with a population of three or four
hundred souls. There is a chief to each, but the villages are
not organised into states, each being independent. The chief is
supposed to be chosen from the families called Mainguel, who have
distinguished themselves in war. As a matter of fact, the richest
man usually becomes chief. The wealthy families vie with each other
in the grand feasts which they give to all comers. The noble and
the illustrious guests are personally invited to these feasts, but
the common people assemble at beat of drum. The chief presides at the
meeting of the Bacuanes or nobles in whom are vested the village lands,
and who direct its affairs.
The common people are in a kind of bondage to the nobles, and
cultivate their lands for them. In Lepanto they are called cailianes
as in Ilocos. Their houses are square, and similar to those of
the other natives in the outlying districts, being raised on posts
above the ground-level. A framework of bamboos is supported on four
trunks of trees, the roof is thatched with cogon (elephant grass)
and the sides are closed in by canes, bamboos or pine planks. Each
house stands in an enclosure of its own, strongly fenced with rough
stones or posts. They are far inferior to the Christian natives
in the arrangement of their houses. Instead of having a separate
kitchen on a pantalan or raised platform, the fire is made in the
centre of the house, and the smoke finds its way out through a hole
in the roof. The rafters and inside of the thatch is blackened by
the soot. They make no windows to their houses and only a small door,
the ladder to which is drawn up when they retire to rest. They are not
clean in their persons, and neglect to wash their clothes, or clean
the interiors of their houses. They thus compare very unfavourably
with the Tagals as regards cleanliness, although, as we shall see,
in some other respects they are greatly above them. Each village has
its Town Hall, which they call the Balta-oa. This is where the Town
Council assembles to settle the affairs of the community, to hear
requests for divorces, and to administer the law to offenders. Public
festivities also take place here.
They are monogamous, and have the highest respect for the holiness
of the marriage tie. It is not absolutely indissoluble, but can be
dissolved by the village council on serious grounds; but apparently
divorce is systematically discouraged, and the sacredness of marriage
is upheld. In former times adulteresses were punished by beheading,
but more lenient views now prevail, and a good whipping is considered
sufficient to meet the case. Generally death only dissolves the tie,
and even then only partially, as re-marriage is difficult; for it is
not proper for the widow to marry again without the consent of her
late husband's family, which may not easily be obtained, and if she
contracts new ties, the children of her first marriage are removed from
her control. On the other hand, Igorrote respectability requires that
a widower should entirely neglect his toilet and commune silently with
his grief for several years before taking to himself a new wife. Like
most heathen, they show the greatest respect and affection for their
parents, and cherish them to their life's end.
In sharp contrast with the license accorded to young girls by the
Tagals and Visayas, the Igorrotes carefully guard the chastity of their
daughters, and do not allow them to go about without a chaperon. The
father even often accompanies them on their excursions. When they
arrive at the age of puberty, the boys and girls are separated.
In each village there are two special buildings not too near each
other. In one of these the girls sleep under the watchful guard of
a duenna, who looks after their morals, and in the other the youths
under the care of an elder. The youth caught violating the sanctity of
the damsels' dormitory, or the maiden who is detected in an intrigue,
or shows signs of maternity, may expect a severe correction. They do
not seem to raise as many difficulties about the marriage of their
daughters as the Tagals do, and they do not make it a matter of a
mercenary bargain. When a youth takes a fancy to a marriageable maiden
of his own degree, he applies through his parents to the father of the
girl, and if he and his daughter look with favour on the proposal,
the young man is admitted to cohabit with the damsel. But if within
a certain period the girl does not show signs of succession, the
would-be bridegroom is sent about his business. On the other hand,
if pregnancy is announced, the wedding takes place with all possible
ceremony, including an invocation of the Anitos or ancestral gods,
feasts and dances, which last eight or nine days, but the young couple
are excused from attendance. The Igorrotes, in fact, openly recognise
a custom which is practised to a great extent in the agricultural
districts of England and Scotland, with this difference, that the
Christian youth in the latter countries often evades the marriage,
while the heathen Igorrote carries out his engagement. I think,
on the whole, the heathen comes out best.
Although so desirous of offspring, they like to have them come one
at a time, and they consider it to be an evil omen when one of their
women brings forth twins. In such a case the last born is handed over
to whoever desires to adopt it. This is held to avert the omen and
straighten things out again.
Of late years the establishment of forts with the Tagal or Visayas
garrisons in the Igorrote territory, and closer contact with Christians
generally, have tended to demoralise the heathen, and, above all,
to lower somewhat their lofty ideal of chastity.
Amongst the Igorrotes of Lepanto, and those farthest removed from
Spanish influence, when a man of position dies, a notification is
sent to all his blood-relations, even though they reside at a great
distance, and the corpse is not buried until they have all arrived
and have each taken the dead man's hand in theirs, inquiring of him
tenderly why he has abandoned his family. All this time a great feast
is going on outside the house, vast quantities of rice and meat are
provided and consumed, and an unlimited allowance of beer drunk by
the guests. The expense is often out of all proportion to the means
of the family and perhaps involves them in debt for years.