and delay of burial is discouraged. Some of the Igorrotes dry their
dead over a fire in a similar way to the Tinguianes. The dead are
buried in a sitting posture, after the manner of the Peruvian Indians,
but enclosed in coffins, which are placed in any small cave or cleft
in the rocks, enlarged by hand if necessary. The Igorrotes believe
in a Supreme Being, the creator and preserver; he is called Apo in
Benguet, and Lu-ma-oig in Lepanto. The wife of Apo is called Bangan,
the daughter Bugan and the son Ubban. There are two inferior gods,
Cabigat and Suyan, these deities hold intercourse with mankind
through the Anitos or ancestral spirits, some good, some evil,
who reward or chastise mankind in this life. They represent these
spirits by roughly-carved idols of wood. Some of these idols are
male and others female. Occasionally the carving is of an obscene
nature, and similar to some clay images I have seen taken from tombs
in Peru. They practise family prayer, and the object of it is to
solicit the favour of the Anitos. Sometimes the will of the Anitos
is declared through an old priestess called an Asitera, who receives
a fee for her pains. The ancestral spirits are more worshipped than
the gods. Poultry, swine, and dogs, may not be slaughtered except in
a sacrificial manner. There is a priest in every village called the
Manbunung who first consecrates the animal to the Anitos, and then
kills it and returns it to the owner, reserving, however, the best
piece for himself. In company with his first-born son he takes the
lead at prayer-meetings, or on special occasions, such as illness,
marriage, the commencing some important work, or averting some evil
omen. This man makes some pretence at healing the sick, but rather
with charms and incantations than by administering medicine. There
is a sacred tree near each village, which is regarded as the seat of
the Anitos. In the shade of this is a sacrificial stone. Sometimes
near a house may been seen a small bench for the Anitos to repose on,
and a dish of rice or other food for their refreshment. The Igorrotes
believe that there are two places where the souls of the dead travel
to. One is an agreeable residence provided with everything necessary
to happiness, and is for the spirits of those who have died a natural
death. But if they have been evil-doers, such as robbers or murderers,
and have escaped due punishment on earth, they are punished here by
the other souls before being allowed to enjoy the advantages of the
place. But the souls of brave warriors killed in battle, and of women
who have died in child-birth, arrive at a much more desirable place,
a real heaven, and reside amongst the gods.
The Igorrotes of Cabugalan in Lepanto regard eels as the embodiment
of their ancestors; they will not catch them or do them any harm,
but feed them when opportunity offers. The Asiteras assist at feasts
and make invocations and propose toasts which are drunk by the men
present. The private or family feasts are called Bumaguil, being
held in the giver's house or courtyard, but public entertainments or
feasts of the whole village are called Regnas, and are held in or in
front of the Balta-oa or Town Hall. They are preceded and followed
by songs and dances. The songs are inharmonious and monotonous. The
dances vary with the localities. In one dance bowing to the beer-mugs
is a feature. As amongst other Malay races, ordeals are in fashion
to decide disputes. One consists in a priest or chief scratching the
scalps of the disputants with a small iron fork. Whoever loses most
blood during this operation has lost his case. The Igorrotes work
hard at their agriculture, and their rice-farming is excellent. They
plough the valleys with the aid of buffaloes and terrace the hillsides,
which they cultivate by hand. They burn down the pine-forests to clear
the hills. They irrigate where possible, carrying the canals over any
ravine by means of rude aqueducts. They grow considerable quantities
of tobacco, [28] which is, however, of inferior quality. This they
sell to the civilised natives, and it is exported. I suppose it goes
to Hamburg to make German Havana cigars, just as conger eels go to
Paris to make fillets of soles. They cultivate sweet potatoes, also
the ordinary potatoes, which grow well, and although small, are much
prized in Manila, and meet with a ready sale. The Igorrotes of Lepanto
eagerly seek new seeds to plant. It is strange that an agricultural
people like this should have little or no idea of breeding cattle, but
instead of doing so, they purchase from the Ilocanos and others cattle,
horses, and pigs for consumption, paying good prices for them. They
even buy dogs to eat. I have been assured by Mr. Ernest Heald, formerly
British Vice-Consul at Sual, that he has often seen Igorrotes returning
to the hills from Dagupan, leading strings of dogs, which they had
purchased for food at prices varying from twenty-five to fifty cents,
and that the dogs seemed to have an instinctive idea what they were
being taken away for. The cooking of the Igorrotes is abominable,
especially their way of cooking meat. It would not obtain the approval
of Brillat Savarin. They seem to have no objection to eating it putrid,
and their robust constitutions apparently prevent their suffering
from ptomaine poisoning. The most remarkable characteristic of the
Igorrotes is their skill as smiths, miners, and metallurgists. Their
forges are not usually in their villages, but are hidden away in the
forest; they use piston-blowers instead of bellows, and charcoal as
fuel. Their lance-heads, swords, and other weapons are well shaped
and of excellent quality. They worked the copper ores of Mancayen in
Lepanto very successfully. From official documents it appears that
from 1840 to 1855 they sold on an average each year about nineteen
tons of copper, either in ingots or manufactured. Then a Spanish
Company took up the work and ignominiously failed. Gold mining and
washing was formerly a monopoly of the nobles, and the washing is
so still to some extent. For centuries, and long before the Spanish
conquest, the Igorrotes have brought down gold to trade with the coast
natives. Such particulars as are known to me about Igorrote mining,
smelting, and gold-washing, will be found under the headings Gold,
Copper, Iron, in Chapter XVI.
I have added to this account of them a list of such of their
manufactures as I have seen or could learn of, and in most instances
I have given the Igorrote name. The Igorrotes have several dialects,
so that the names of the various articles may vary according to the
locality. Herewith a list of the dialects and the places where each
is spoken, taken from Spanish official sources.
Dialect. Locality.
Benguetano. The greater part of Benguet.
Igorrote. Lepanto.
Igorrote del Abra. Five villages of Bontoc.
Igorrote de la Gran Cordillera. By the reduced Igorrotes and
the independent tribes of the
Caraballo.
Igorrote Suflin. In fifteen villages of that
Cordillera.
Many of the Principales or head-men and others under Spanish influence
speak and write Ilocano, which they find necessary for their trade
with that people. More than twenty years ago there were seven schools
in Lepanto regularly attended by five hundred and sixty-two children,
of whom one hundred and ten could then read and write Spanish. No
doubt by this time these schools have considerably increased.
I am much impressed by the great industry of these people and with the
great skill they show in everything they undertake. It is therefore
disappointing to read in Foreman's book 'The Philippine Islands,'
p. 213: "Like all the races of the Philippines, they are indolent to
the greatest degree." Foreman goes on to say, Polygamy seems to be
permitted, murders are common, their huts are built bee-hive fashion,
they keep a Dr. and Cr. account of heads with the Negritos. All this
is probably in consequence of accepting idle stories as facts, and
is nothing less than a libel on the Igorrotes. A people who believe
in a Supreme Being, Creator of heaven and earth, in the immortality
of the soul, in an upper and lower heaven, in punishment after
death, if it has been evaded in life, who are strict monogamists,
and who have a high belief in the sacredness of the marriage tie;
a people who guard the chastity of their daughters as carefully as
the British or the Americans; a people physically strong, brave,
skilful, and industrious, have nothing in common with the wretches
Foreman described under their name. These people live in the fairest
and healthiest parts of Luzon, no fevers lurk amongst those pine-clad
mountains, no sultry heats sap the vital powers. What an opportunity
for a grand missionary enterprise! What a noble material to work on,
every condition seems favourable. The very fact of their rejection of
the form of Christianity presented to them, and their distrust of the
Spaniards, may influence them in favour of some simpler doctrine. I
shall feel well repaid for my labour in describing these people,
if the truthful picture I have attempted to present of them should
interest those who have the means and the will to inaugurate a new era,
to help them along the Path. A perusal of what the old chroniclers say
about them convinces me that they have done much themselves to improve
their moral condition, and that many detestable customs, at all events
attributed to them, have long since been relegated to oblivion.
I now give a list of the Missions in the Igorrote and Tinguian
territory that existed in 1892.
Missions in Tinguian and Igorrote Territory.
1892.
Province. Town. Population. Missionaries.
Rev. Father--
Abra Pidigan. 2,418 P. Ornia.
Bucay. 3,688 J. Lopez.
La Paz y San Gregorio. 2,802 P. Fernandez.
Villavieja. 1,912 M. Fonturbel.
Bangued. 8,702 A. Perez.
Tayum. 3,064 L. Vega.
Dolores. 2,522 F. Franco.
Lepanto Cervantes y Cayan. 2,200 A. Oyanguren.
Benguet La Trinidad y Galiano. 849 J. Garcia.
R. Rivera.
--------
28,157
All the inhabitants of these towns and villages are Christians, and
either they or their ancestors were baptised by missionaries of the
Augustinian order.
Some Manufactures of the Igorrotes.
Weapons.
Native Name.
Say-ang Lance, for war or for killing deer.
Talibon Short double-edged sword.
Ligua, or Aligua Axe used for decapitating the fallen enemy.
Calasag or Calata Long narrow wooden shields.
Bunneng Wood knife.
Sayac or Dayac Sharp bamboo spikes to be set in the paths.
Bows and arrows (the Igorrotes possess
these, but are not skilful archers).
Clubs.
Gay-ang Javelins (favourite weapons of Igorrotes).
Accoutrements.
Alpilan or Sacupit Knapsacks.
Lagpi. Haversacks.
Saddles.
Bridles.
Rangan Saddle-bags.
Baot Whips.
Upit Pouch for medicine and antidote for
snake bite.
Sac-dey Uniform or war jackets.
Bariques Chief's sword belt.
Balques Ancient sword belts used by their ancestors
are preserved as heirlooms in the family.
Clothing.
Tacoco Hat made of rattan for head-men.
,, for married men.
Suebong ,, ,, bachelors, woven from cane.
,, ,, women.
Sachong ,, ,, chiefs.
Calogon or catlocon ,, made of rattan and cane used by
Christian Igorrotes.
Sarquet or Barguet Headcloth used by head-men.
Loc-bo Caps.
Olei or Ulas Cloaks or plaids.
Cobal Loin-cloth of bark or cotton.
Baag or Bahaque Aprons.
Palingay ,, for women.
Atten Skirts used by head-men's wives or
daughters.
Tachun Waterproof hoods to cover the head and the
load carried on the back, e.g., to keep
tobacco dry in transit.
An-nanga Waterproof capes of Anajas leaves.
Sandals.
Clogs.
Ampaya, Samit Tapis, cloth worn by women round the hips.
Barique or canes Sashes.
Baquet Woman's belt to hold up the tapis.
Bado Woman's shirt.
Shirts made of the bark of the pacag.
Ornaments.
Chacang A gold plate used by head-men or chiefs
to cover their teeth at feasts or when
they present themselves to Europeans of
distinction.
Balangat A coronet of rattan.
Aponque Collar or necklace.
Apongont A coronet of scented wood (candaroma).
Ono Necklace of reeds and coloured seeds.
Bariques ,, vertebrae of snakes.
Siquel Necklace made of seed of climbing plant
called Bugayon.
,, ,, white stones.
,, ,, crocodiles' teeth.
,, ,, boars' tusks.
,, ,, mother-of-pearl.
Al-taque Coronet of polished mother-of-pearl.
Garin Bangles or bracelets of copper.
Bali Arm-rings, often of copper and gilt.
Baney Leg rings of nito and fibre, or of copper,
used by men.
Arisud Ear-rings.
Tabin ,, of copper, used by men.
Bit-jal or Bit-hal Bracelets of boars' tusks.
Galaong or Galang Bracelets of mother-of-pearl.
Onon-ipit Necklace or collar of metal, having three
pendants, the centre one being tweezers
for pulling out hairs, the other two
instruments for cleaning out the ears.
Household Goods.
Gui-pan Small knife for peeling roots and
splitting cane.
Lodo Ladle of cocoa-nut shell for water.
Idas Wooden spoons.
Latoc Large wooden dish, with receptacles for
sauce and salt.
Dalela Rice dish of copper.
Sagatan Strainer of cane and rattan.
Sarangos-an Funnel made of a cocoa-nut shell.
Labba Basket used for carrying provisions.
Pidasen Baskets for domestic use.
Tinac-dag
Alat or Minuiniata Small basket for collecting eggs.
Babaco Provision basket.
Bigao Basket for cleaning rice.
Opit-daguil Provision basket.
Opigan or Acuba-quigan Basket for keeping clothes in.
Cal-culven Cane basket blackened by smoke.
Tapil Small basket of cane.
Hugones Great baskets to hold rice.
Agabin Creels for carrying fish.
Apisang or Sacupif Large basket used for carrying tobacco on
the back.
Sulpac Large bamboos for carrying water.
Tang-tang Calabashes for measuring or holding basi.
Ting-galon Goblet of plaited cane used at feasts for
drinking basi.
Pambian Spinning wheels.
Paga-blang Looms.
La-labayan Apparatus for holding skeins of cotton.
Qui-tan-gang Wooden drainer for the spoons or paddles
used for stirring up the basi when
brewing it.
Balai-ti-ado Rack to hold spoons.
Quil-lit Earthen cooking-pot.
Ongot Drinking-cup for water.
Soled Dish of plaited rattan for boiled camote
(sweet potatoes).
Dapilag Dish of plaited rattan for boiled rice.
Personal Effects.
Palting Pouches for tobacco and gold.
Upit Tobacco pouch plaited of rattan.
Suput Purse made of cotton ornamented with
copper wire.
Cuaco Pipes of wood, stone, clay, or metal.
Nupit Tobacco boxes.
Sacopit Carved walking sticks.
Tad Umbrellas.
Pamiguin Pneumatic tinder-box, or fire squirt.
Apit Pocket book of cane and rattan.
Dubong Deer-skin pouch used when travelling.
Quidatang Case with fittings for striking a light.
Sagay say Combs.
Tooth-brushes.
Miscellaneous.
Tali Ropes of Alinao bark.
Sinal-lapid Ropes of Labtang bark.
Raten Nets for taking deer and pigs.
Chi-ay Traps for taking jungle-fowl.
Anitos Images of the household gods.
Sipas Foot-balls of rattan.
Disig Humming tops.
Casabang Branch of a tree used to frighten away
snakes.
Hammocks for sleeping or travelling.
Tugas Throne for a chief and his favourite.
Harrows.
Ploughs.
Cradles.
Coffins.
Musical Instruments.
Sulibao or Culibao Large drum, played with one stick.
Quinibal Small drum held between the knees and
played with two sticks.
Calalen or Bab-balasan Flutes played by single women.
Cong-gala or Flutes (nose flutes) played by men.
Tong-gala
Ganza Large flat gong held in right hand, and
played with left, vibrations stopped with
right elbow. If a human jaw-bone, taken
from a dead enemy, is fitted as a handle,
the value is enhanced.
Pinsac A small gong.
Bating-ting or Triangles made of iron.
Palas-bating-ting
Cingo-cingco Violin played by single men.
Guitar, the body made from cocoa-nut shell.
Palgong-bocancang Cane instrument played by the women going
to and coming from their work. Holding it
in the right hand, they cover the orifice
with the index-finger, and strike the other
end on the left hand.
Mining Tools, etc.
Native names unknown Crow-bars.
Hammers.
Wedges.
Outfit for gold washing.
Blowers for smiths' forges.
Furnaces for smelting copper.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Isinays (11).
A small tribe living in the northern part of Pangasinan, towards
Mount Caraballo del Sur. They are now merged in the Pangasinanes,
and have lost all distinctive customs.
Abacas (12).
A small tribe living about Caranglan in the South Caraballo. They were
formerly fierce and warlike, but have been pacified and converted
to Christianity. They had a separate language which has died out,
and their customs are now those of the Christian natives.
Italones (13).
These people live in the south-west corner of Nueva Vizcaya, about
the head-waters of the River Magat. They are numerous, and occupy
many towns and villages, amongst them Bayombong, Dupax, Bambang,
and Aritas. They were formerly warlike head-hunters, and are said to
have devoured the hearts and brains of their slain enemies in order
to inherit their courage and wisdom. This is a Chinese idea, and is
even now practised in Canton, where pieces of the heart and liver of
a particularly hardened and desperate criminal are retailed by the
executioner at a high price for the above purpose. They wear their
hair long like the Ilongotes. Their weapons were the lance, shield,
or wood-knife, and in their customs and religion they resembled the
Igorrotes. They were said to ornament the hilts of their swords with
the teeth of their slain enemies. All these detestable customs have
now disappeared; they have been converted to Christianity, and now are
peaceful agriculturists and hunters. Game and fish abound; a telegraph
line runs through their territory with a station at Bayombong. This
is part of the line from Manila to Aparri.
Ibilaos (14).
These savages inhabit the hilly country about the sources of the River
Casepuan, which, according to D'Almonte's map, is a tributary of the
River Casiguran, which runs into the Bay of Baler; but, according
to Olleros, is a tributary of the Rio Grande de Cagayan. However
this may be, their habitat is on the borders of Nueva Ecija and
Nueva Vizcaya. Some of these people have been subjugated, but the
others live a nomadic life in the mountain forests, and resemble the
Negritos. Their pleasure is to lie in wait and shoot the passers-by
with their arrows. Like the Italones they are said to ornament
their weapons with the teeth of the slain, and, like them, wear
their hair long. The independent Ibilaos live by the chase, and on
jungle produce, and do no cultivation. They are small of stature and
weak. It is possible that they are a hybrid Negrito Malay race. Their
bloodthirsty propensities make them a curse to their neighbours.
Ilongotes (15).
The Ilongotes inhabit the rocky fastnesses of the range of mountains
on the east coast, called the Caraballo de Baler, the whole length
of the Distrito del Principe, the north-east corner of Nueva Vizcaya
and a strip of the southern part of Isabela.
Their neighbours on the east are the Negritos, who live along the
sea-shore. These people are also their neighbours on the north,
where they inhabit the mountains.
On the west they have the Ifugaos in the northerly part of their
boundary, and civilised Indians of mixed races in the southern
part. Their nearest neighbours to the south are some scattered Tagals.
Blumentritt describes them from a photograph lent him by
Dr. A. B. Meyer, as having eyes long and deeply sunk, upper lip and
chin hairy, the hair long plaited in a tail, and often reaching the
hips. A Spanish authority describes them as similar to the other
hillmen, but wearing long hair, and dirty and disagreeable in their
aspect
Their dress is as primitive as that of the other savage races,
the adult men wearing a band of beaten bark round the waist, the
women wearing a tapis, and the children going quite naked. They wear
rings or spirals of brass wire on their arms, necklaces, and other
ornaments. But when the men have occasion to go into the Christian
villages, they wear shirts and trousers. I have myself seen instances
of this custom amongst the Tagbanuas in Palawan.
They are clever smiths and know how to temper their weapons. Their
lances have different shaped heads, and the shafts are made of Palma
Brava. Their swords are well-made and ornamented, and are carried in
a wooden scabbard from a belt of webbing. This appears to be their
favourite weapon. They never go unarmed, even for a few paces, and
they sleep with their weapons beside them. Their shields are of light
wood, carved, and painted red.
Their domestic life is not unlike that of the Christian natives,
for they are not polygamists; they, however, are more careless and
dirty. They purchase their wife from her parents. They subsist by
hunting and fishing, and by cultivating rice, maize, sweet potatoes,
and other vegetables. They grow tobacco, which they exchange for
other goods with the Christian natives. They catch the wild carabaos
in traps. They are ineradicably addicted to head-hunting, and wage
a continual war with all their neighbours, but if an interval of
peace occurs, they fight one family or clan against another, for they
must have heads. The marriage ceremony cannot be completed till the
bridegroom has presented the bride with some of these grisly trophies;
heads of Christians for choice.
They signify war by placing arrows in the path and sprinkling blood
upon it. Treaties of peace, or rather truces, are sometimes ratified by
human sacrifices, and the ceremony of blood-brothership is practised.
They have few religious practices, although they believe in a Supreme
Being, and in the ancestor-worship common to the country. The relatives
assemble to celebrate a birth by a feast. On the fifth day a name
is given to the infant. They take care of the sick and endeavour to
cure them with herbs, to which they ascribe medicinal virtues. If the
patient dies, the relatives devour everything in the house in order to
mitigate their grief, and they bury the corpse within twenty-four hours
of death, placing some provisions upon the grave. From a statement
in a Spanish official publication, the Ilongote dialect is spoken
in two towns and twenty-two rancherias of Nueva Vizcaya, and in four
rancherias in the district of Principe. This shows that at least on
their western border they are now somewhat held in check. But the
poor Negritos still have to suffer their incursions.
Mayoyaos and Silipanes (16).
These people are very numerous, and inhabit the north-west corner
of Nueva Vizcaya, and the south-west corner of Isabela, between the
Cordillera Central and the River Magat. For neighbours, they have on
the east the Ifugaos, those deadly lasso-throwers; on the west, the
Igorrotes are separated from them by the Cordillera; to the north
they have the Gaddanes, and the Itetapanes, and to the south the
Italones. In appearance, dress, arms and ornaments, they resemble the
Igorrotes of Lepanto. The Ifugao language is spoken at the missions
of Quiangan and Silipan, and in a large number of hamlets of these
people. They were pacified and converted to Christianity about half
a century ago, and are gradually improving in civilisation.
Ifugaos (17).
The Ifugaos, who bear a strong resemblance to the Japanese, inhabit
a territory in central Nueva Vizcaya, and in the south of Isabela,
mostly between the River Magat and the Rio Grande, but they have
a great many hamlets on the left bank of the Magat. They cultivate
rice, camote, and other crops, but prefer to live by robbery whenever
possible. They are persistent head-hunters, frequently at war with
the neighbouring tribes, or amongst themselves.
One notable peculiarity must be mentioned. Besides the lance, knife,
and bow and arrows, they use the lasso, which they throw with great
dexterity. Lurking near a trail, they cast the fatal coil over some
unwary traveller, and promptly decapitate him, to add his skull to
their collection, and decorate their hut.
It is their custom to wear as many rings in their ears as they have
taken heads.
Major Galvez, after a skirmish with these people, found the corpse
of one of their warriors who wore thirty-two death-rings in his ears.
Their religion is said to be after the style of the Igorrotes, and
some other hill-tribes of Luzon. Their chief god Cabunian had two
sons, Sumabit and Cabigat, and two daughters, Buingan and Daunguen,
who married amongst themselves, and from them the human race is
descended. Ancestor-worship is also practised. The Spaniards built
and garrisoned a chain of forts in the Ifugao territory to keep them
in order, and of late years their murderous incursions have been
kept in check. It would require an enquiry on the spot to say whether
there is any prospect of this tribe becoming civilised, and converted
to Christianity.
Gaddanes (18).
The Gaddanes occupy the north-east quarter of Saltan and Bondoc,
and their territory stretches over into Isabela in a south-easterly
direction to the River Magat, thus bordering on the five-mile strip
of Ibanag territory on the left bank of the Rio Grande. The upper
part of the Rio Chico runs through their Saltan territory, and the
River Libug through their Isabela territory.
In appearance they are darker than any other of the hillmen of
Luzon. They are not as well built as the Igorrotes. They have round
eyes, and large, flat noses. They are very dirty. Their houses are
built on lofty piles, and the ladder is drawn up at night, or in war
time. They are partly converted to Christianity, and are of a milder
disposition than their neighbours.
Itetapanes (19).
These people live in Bontoc, almost the centre of Northern Luzon. On
the west they have the Busaos Igorrotes, on the east the Gaddanes,
to the north-west they have the Guinanes, and to the south the
Mayoyaos. They are more like the Gaddanes than any other neighbours,
especially in the eyes and hair, yet in other respects they are
something like the Negritos in appearance, and much more so in their
dispositions and customs, for it has not been possible to civilise
them. Their arms are the same as the Busaos, and, like them, they wear
a cylindrical shako, which they dye a brilliant red. They appear to
be a hopeless race.
Guinanes (20).
These terrible neighbours of the peaceful Tinguianes inhabit both
slopes of the Cordillera Central in Abra and Bontoc. They do not pass
to the west of the River Abra, or its affluent, the Pusulguan.
On the south the Guinanes have the warlike Busaos, who are well able to
defend themselves, and to retaliate on their aggressors. Consequently,
the Tinguianes are the principal victims; in fact, some years back,
they had no peace, and are not now free from danger.
The fame and respect enjoyed by a successful head-hunter is the great
incentive to them to persevere in their sanguinary forays, which they
conduct with the greatest cunning.
The return of the head-hunters to their village with their ghastly
trophies is celebrated by prolonged and frantic orgies--feasting
and drinking, singing war-songs, music and dancing. In fact, their
rejoicings only differ in degree and intensity from those customary
in Christian nations to celebrate the slaughter of their enemies.
So fond are the Guinanes of getting heads, that when not at war with
other tribes they fight amongst themselves.
They are much like the Igorrotes, and, like them, are settled in towns
and villages. They practise agriculture, and are excellent smiths,
and forge specially good knives, which are much esteemed by the Busaos,
and find a ready sale amongst them.
Little is known of their manners and customs, or of their numbers,
since few travellers care to run the risk of having their skulls
added to the collection of some connoisseur.
I cannot suggest any use this tribe could be to the United States,
for I do not think the most enthusiastic or devoted missionary would
hanker after being appointed to convert them, and even if such an
one could be found, the probability of his success would be very small.
CHAPTER XXIX
Calauas, or Itaves (21).
A small tribe, living in a strip of country stretching across the
great loop formed by the Rio Chico de Cagayan just before it enters
the Rio Grande. They are peaceful and industrious cultivators,
and grow rice and excellent tobacco. In former days, when the State
monopoly was in force, they used to smuggle this, and were attacked,
and their plantations laid waste in consequence. But now they are
able to trade freely, and must have become prosperous. Very little
is known about them. The word Calauas is also spelt Calaguas.
Camuangas and Bayabonanes (22).
These people live in the southern part of the province of Cagayan,
say about 17 deg. 30' north latitude. On the north they have the Calauas,
or Calaguas, and on the south the Dadayags. D'Almonte's map shows no
hamlets in their territory, and the nearest visita is Gamuasan. Nothing
is known about them, and Blumentritt considers it not improbable that
they are a branch of the Dadayags.
Dadayags (23).
A small tribe living in the north-west comer of Isabela, not far from
the left bank of the Rio Grande.
Nabayuganes (24).
These people, who have a language of their own, live in two
long valleys extending from the Cordillera Central towards the
east. According to D'Almonte's map, these parallel valleys lead down
to the town of Malaneg, and in each of them there is a river. That
in the northern valley is called the River Nabbuangan, and that in
the southern valley the River Nabbuanguan. They join before reaching
Malaneg, forming the River Nagalat, a tributary of the Rio Chico
de Cagayan. Nothing is known of their religion or nature. On the
north-east of the Nabayuganes live the Aripas.
Aripas (25).
This tribe inhabits the hills to the west of the junction of the Rio
Grande and Rio Chico of Cagayan. They have the Apayaos on the west,
the Ibanags on the east, the Calingas on the north, and the Ilanes
on the south. They are peaceful, and partly converted to Christianity.
Calingas (26).
These people inhabit the mountains to the north of the Aripas. On
their north and east they have the Ibanags, and on the west the
Apayaos. They are supposed to have a good deal of Chinese blood in
their veins. They are now peaceful, like the Aripas.
Tinguianes (27).
The Tinguianes inhabit the western half of the province of Abra, and
their villages are thickly scattered about on the eastern slopes of
the Ilocos mountains, and on the banks of the River Abra. They have
also pushed their way to the extreme north-east corner of Abra, and
they extend southwards and westwards along the coast as far as Punta
Darigayos. Santiago is a Christian Tinguian town, and was founded
in 1736.
The Tinguianes are of a peaceful disposition, and are gradually
becoming civilised and converted to Christianity. In fact, of late
years, the advance of the Spaniards has been considerable. It is only
in the more remote parts of their territory that some of them retain
their independence, and their ancient laws, beliefs and customs. The
constant intercourse they have with the Ilocanos has resulted in
spreading that dialect amongst them, whilst their own language is
dying out.
In appearance the Tinguianes differ considerably from the other
mountain tribes of Luzon, being taller, and of a much lighter
colour. Their noses are not flattened like those of the Malays, but
are aquiline, and remind one of the features of the Cholos of the
Peruvian coast. They are a cleanly people; the men wear turbans,
jacket and trousers; the women belonging to their nobility have
their garments beautifully embroidered. They wear arm-sheaths, and
sometimes leg-sheaths, made of plaited fibre, and ornamented with
beads, or with coloured stones, brought from the Batanes islands,
which they purchase in Ilocos. They also wear necklaces of these
stones, copper or silver ear-rings, and other trinkets.
Spanish writers consider these people to have a strong admixture of
Chinese blood, and suppose it may be from a remnant of the pirates
under Li-ma-hon, who were defeated by Juan Salcedo in 1574. The learned
Blumentritt, however, dissents from this opinion, which he considers to
be a modern invention, and gives Salcedo credit for doing his work very
thoroughly, and not letting many of the pirates escape. He says that,
although in dress and appearance the Tinguianes are very similar to
the fishermen of the province of Fo-Kien, there are no Chinese words
to be found in their dialect, and that consequently the intermixture
of Chinese can only have been small. However this may be, the coast of
Fo-Kien, which is opposite Formosa, is only about 500 miles from the
Port of Vigan, the currents are favourable for the southerly voyage,
and sailing craft can cross in either monsoon. Consequently, either
as traders, fugitives, or castaways, Fo-Kien sailors or fishermen
could easily have arrived on the coast.
The Tinguianes assiduously cultivate their land, and irrigate their
rice-fields with some skill. They breed horses and cattle, which
they sell in the markets of Ilocos, as well as jungle produce, wax,
skins and gold-dust. They raft timber down the Abra River and make
for sale various articles of wood, such as bateas, ladles and spoons,
also they make mats and baskets.
Their marriages are conducted in a similar manner to those of other
tribes, the ceremony, whether Christian or heathen, being followed by
the usual feasts and dancing, and music in the intervals of eating and
drinking. Their instruments are drums, flutes and guitars. As usual,
roast pig is the principal dish, the animal being roasted whole on
a spit of cane. When the feast is over the newly-married couple are
conducted to their house by the principal chief or elder. A large mat
being spread on the ground they lie down on it keeping at a distance
of several feet from each other. A boy of six or eight years of age
then lies down between them, and the elders retire leaving the trio
together. The bride and bridegroom are forbidden to indulge in any
caresses, nor even to speak to each other till the following day. The
healthy life led by the women enables them to recover very rapidly
after child-birth. In fact, they return to their usual avocations
directly after the ceremony of purification, which consists of washing
the newly-born infant in running water. Divorce among the heathen is
merely a matter of paying a fine of some thirty dollars, in money or
in kind, to the village chief or elder, or to the Goberna-doreillo,
if the village is under Spanish rule. Divorce is not allowed amongst
those who are converted, and this must be a great hindrance to their
acceptance of Christianity.
They take little care of the sick, and when hope is given up the
patient is left alone to die. The Peruvian Indians have a similar
custom. Amongst the Serranos, when a sick person does not soon show
signs of recovery, a family meeting is called, and a fixed sum is
voted for his cure, say twelve or twenty reals. When this amount has
been spent, the patient is removed from his couch and laid upon a
hide on the ground outside the house. A child is posted to fan him
and keep off the flies, and only water is given him till he dies.
The Tinguianes formerly buried their dead in pits dug under their
houses, after subjecting the corpses to a baking or drying process,
and on certain days in the year food was placed near the tombs for the
souls of the dead to partake of. Those who are converted have of course
to bury their dead in the cemetery, and to pay a fee to the priest.
They share the idea that seems to prevail amongst all Malays, that the
soul is absent from the body during sleep, and that consequently it
is dangerous and wicked to awake anybody suddenly. The most dreadful
thing that can happen to anybody, therefore, is to die whilst sleeping,
leaving his soul wandering about. Their most desperate curse is to
wish that this may happen to an adversary. This seems to reach a higher
level of cursing than the oaths of the Tagals which I have previously
mentioned. The usual respect for ancestors is shown, and any weapons
or ornaments which have belonged to them are carefully preserved as
valued heirlooms. The names of an ancestor must, however, on no account
be pronounced by his descendants, so that if any necessity arises to
answer a question which involves mentioning the name of one, a friend
not related to the person enquired about must be called in to answer.
Monsieur de la Gironiere visited these people, and describes them
as men of good stature, slightly bronzed, with straight hair,
regular profiles, and aquiline noses. The women truly beautiful and
graceful. They appeared to him to resemble the people of the South
of France, except for their costume and language. The men wore a
belt and a sort of turban made from the bark of the fig-tree. Their
arms consisted of a long lance, a small axe, called aligua, and a
shield. The women wore a belt and a narrow apron which came down to
their knees, their heads being ornamented with pearls, and grains of
coral and gold were fixed amongst their hair. The upper parts of their
hands were painted blue, and they wore plaited sheaths ornamented
with beads on their fore-arms; these sheaths strongly compressed the
fore-arm, being put on when the women were young, and they prevented
the development of the fore-arm, whilst causing the wrists and hands
to swell. This is a beauty amongst the Tinguianes as the little foot
is amongst the Chinese.
They occupied seventeen villages, and each family had two habitations,
one on the ground for use in the day, and one fixed on piles or on
the summits of lofty trees, as much as sixty or eighty feet from the
ground, where they sleep, to protect themselves from the nocturnal
attacks of the Guinanes, their mortal and sanguinary enemies. From
these lofty dwellings they threw down stones upon assailants. In
the middle of each village there is a large shed which serves for
meetings and public ceremonies. He further states that after an attack
of the Guinanes had been repulsed from Laganguilan-y-Madalay by the
Tinguianes he went to an assembly at that village and witnessed a
ceremony in honour of the victory. The heads of the slain enemies were
exhibited to the crowd, and various speeches were made. The skulls
were then split open and the brains removed and given to some young
girls, who worked them up with their hands in a quantity of basi or
native beer. The compound was then served in cups to the chiefs, who
partook of it with every appearance of enjoyment, and was afterwards
handed round to all the warriors in due order. M. de la Gironiere and
his Tagal servant also partook of this refreshment out of politeness
to their hosts. The ceremony was followed by a dance and a smoking
concert, during which copious libations of basi were consumed.
M. de la Gironiere has omitted to mention how his hosts, after this
drunken orgy, managed to regain their elevated sleeping quarters,
sixty or eighty feet from the ground. One would think that the Tinguian
coroner would have been busy the next morning. He, however, does tell
us that, being unable to sleep, he got up in the night and looked
about him, finding a well or pit, which he descended. At different
levels in this shaft were short galleries or niches, and in each of
these was a dried or mummified corpse. This shaft was sunk inside
the house where he slept.
He learnt from the Tinguianes that they believed in the existence
of the soul, that it leaves the body after death, but remains in
the family. Also that they venerated any strange object, such as a
rock or tree which resembled some animal. They would make a hut over
or near it, and celebrate a feast, at which they sacrificed pigs;
they afterwards danced and drunk basi, then burnt down the hut and
retired. They had, he says, only one wife, but might have several
concubines, who, however, did not inhabit the conjugal domicile, but
each had a hut of her own. The riches of a Tinguian was demonstrated
by the number of porcelain vases he possessed. According to M. de la
Gironiere, the Tinguianes mummified their dead by subjecting them to a
long drying process. The body, propped up on a stool, was surrounded
by braziers with charcoal or wood embers, and the moisture which
exuded from it was wiped off by the women with cotton. When the body
was well dried up it was kept above ground for fifteen days and then
committed to the tomb. The neighbours and friends kept up the wake
and pronounced eulogies on the defunct until they had consumed all
the eatables and liquor in the house, when they took their departure.
These people must have very greatly increased in numbers, as the
Spanish authority has extended its protection to them, checking the
incursions of the Guinanes and other savages. It has been stated that
in former years the Tinguianes were much sought after as recruits for
the garrison of Manila. They do not appear to be a warlike race, yet so
fine a body of men ought to be able to supply a battalion of infantry
for the native army which the United States will have to raise, for
nobody can suppose that 25,000 young Americans can be permanently kept
in garrison in the Archipelago. But this I discuss in another chapter.
Adangs (28).
According to D'Almonte's map in the latitude of Pasuquin, Province
of Ilocos Notre, the Cordillera del Norte bends to the eastward and
throws out a spur to the north-west, forming a Y, and enclosing a
considerable valley, through which runs a river called the Bate,
Bucarog, or Arimit, which falls into the Bay of Bangui. This is the
habitat of the Adangs, a small tribe, yet a nation, for their language
has no resemblance to that of any of their neighbours. Their customs
are nearer those of the Apayaos than any other. They are civilised and
have been Christians for generations. Their chief town is Adan or Adam.
Apayaos (29).
This race was formerly very warlike, but is now more civilized, and
many even converted to Christianity. They inhabit the mountainous
region round about the River Apayao, on the east of the Cordillera
del Norte and extend down towards the plains of the Rio Chico.
They pay some attention to agriculture, and besides growing vegetables
and maize for their own use, they raise tobacco and cacao which
they trade away to the Ilocanos in exchange for such articles as
they require.
Their houses compare favourably with those of the other
hill-tribes. They are raised to a considerable height, being square
in form with heavy hardwood posts at the corners. The floor is made of
cedar planks, the roof is thatched with cogon or reeds, and the walls
and partitions are of plaited palm leaves. A fire-place is arranged in
one corner. They ornament the walls with remarkable taste, hanging up
the ornaments and arms of their ancestors, which they greatly prize
and will not part with for any price.
They also highly value Chinese and Japanese pottery or porcelain.
Needless to say that the worship of ancestors is with them piously
performed.
They used to be head-hunters and made the death of any of their
chief men an excuse to lie in ambush and massacre any inoffensive
passers-by for the purpose of taking the heads to place round the
corpse and afterwards bury them with it.
However, the steady pressure of the Spanish authority, during long
terms of years, has nearly eradicated this detestable custom, and
if practised at all, it is only in the remoter fastnesses of the
mountains, where they cannot yet be controlled.
The Apayaos living in the plains are mostly reduced to obedience,
and many pay the poll-tax.
It would seem that there is a prospect of these people being civilised
and becoming useful cultivators.
Catalanganes and Irayas (30-31).
The Irayas live in scattered hamlets on the summits of the Sierra
Madre, and on its western slopes right down to the Rio Grande. Their
territory extends for about twenty geographical miles on each side of
the 17th parallel. Amongst them live many Negritos who have renounced
their nomadic life, and have adopted the manners and customs of their
hosts. The tattooing of the Irayas and Negritos is similar. The Irayas
are a Malay tribe amongst whom are found individuals of a Mongolian
type, others are hybrid Negrito Malays.
They do a little slovenly agriculture, using buffaloes for
ploughing. They catch an abundance of fish from the four considerable
streams running through their territory. They consume a large quantity
of fish with their rice, and salt and sell the surplus to their
neighbours. They are characteristically light-hearted and hospitable,
and readily receive remontados and other strangers. Their religion is
the usual Anito worship. They build wretched houses, and are very dirty
in their habits, throwing their refuse down in front of the house.
The Catalanganes take their name from the River Catalangan which runs
into the Rio Grande near Ilagan. They are a branch of the Irayas,
but show a more strongly marked Mongolian type.
They are cleaner than the Irayas, and more industrious, and provident,
storing up provisions against a bad harvest.
Their fields are much better kept than those of the Irayas, and they
employ their spare time in felling trees and hewing them into canoes,
which find a ready sale at Ilagan.
They dress much like the Christian Malays, but are tattooed in patterns
of Chinese or Japanese origin.
Their laws prescribe severe penalties for theft and other
crimes. Their weapons are bows and arrows, and they are said to be
very cowardly. Their choice of weapons confirms this statement.
They differ much from the Irayas in character, for they are
inhospitable, avaricious and greedy, and of a gloomy disposition. On
the other hand, they keep their houses cleaner.
They have temples for worship, and some roughly-made
monuments. According to Semper, they have two pairs of gods which they
specially worship in June: Tschichenan, with his wife Bebenaugan,
and Sialo with his wife Binalinga. The usual ancestor-worship also
prevails, and they show great respect for the Anitos according to
seniority, providing special shelters and little benches near their
houses for their convenience.
Both Irayas and Catalanganes have Gobernadorcillos appointed by the
Spanish Military Governor of Isabela. They pay the poll-tax, called
by the Spaniards "Acknowledgment of Vassalage," but are otherwise
independent and administer their own laws and customs. They are quite
peaceful, and will doubtless in time advance in civilisation.
CHAPTER XXX
Catubanganes (32).
A tribe of savages inhabiting the mountains of Guinayangan in
Tayabas, from whence they raid the Christian villages and drive off
cattle. Nothing is known about their origin or habits; they have some
wandering Negritos as neighbours.
Vicols (33).
The Vicols inhabit the southern half of the province of Camarines
Norte, the whole of Camarines Sur and Albay, the islands of
Catanduanes, Burias, and Ticao, and the northern shores of
Masbate. They are civilised, and have been Christians for centuries.
They speak a dialect of their own, which, according to Jagor,
is midway between Tagal and Visay, which dialect is spoken in its
greatest purity by the inhabitants of the Isarog volcano and its
immediate neighbourhood, and that thence towards the west the dialect
becomes more and more like the Tagal, and towards the east like the
Visay until by degrees, before reaching the ethnographical boundary,
it merges into those kindred languages.
In manners and customs they appear to be half-bred between these two
races, yet, according to F. Blumentritt, they preceded the Tagals,
and were in fact the first Malays to arrive in Luzon. They show signs
of intermixture with Polynesian or Papuan stock.
They are physically inferior to the Tagals, nor do they possess the
proud warlike spirit of the dwellers in north Luzon. They are less
cleanly, and live in poorer houses.
The men dress like the Tagals, but the women wear the patadion instead
of a saya, and a shirt of guinara.
Blumentritt says the men carry the Malay kris instead of the bolo, but
I did not see a kris carried by any one when I visited the province.
In fact, the regulations enforced at that time by the Guardia Civil
were against carrying such a weapon. The bolo, on the other hand,
is a necessary tool.
I visited the province of Camarines Sur, going from Manila to Pasacao
by sea, and from there travelled by road to an affluent of the River
Vicol, and then by canoe on a moonlit night to Nueva Caceres, the
capital of the province.
Here I met a remarkable man, the late Bishop Gainza, and was much
impressed by his keen intellect and great knowledge of the country.
He was said to be a man of great ambition, and I can quite believe
it. Originally a Dominican monk, it was intended that he should have
been made Archbishop of Manila, but, somehow, Father Pedro Paya, at
that time Procurator of the Order in Madrid, got himself nominated
instead, and Gainza had to content himself with the bishopric of
Nueva Caceres.
He was a model of self-denial, living most frugally on a small part of
his revenue, contributing a thousand dollars a year to the funds of
the Holy Father, and spending the remainder in building or repairing
churches and schools in his diocese, or in assisting undertakings he
thought likely to benefit the province.
Amongst other works, I remember that he had tried to cut a canal from
the River Vicol to the Bay of Ragay. He had excavated a portion of
it, but either on his death, or from the difficulties raised by the
Public Works Department, the work was abandoned.
The Franciscan friars, who held the benefices in that province,
opposed him, and annoyed him in every possible way.
The present bishop, Father Arsenio Ocampo, formerly an Augustinian
monk, is a clever and enlightened man, with whom I had dealings when
he was Procurator-General of his Order.
I have made this digression from my subject, because so much has
been said against the clergy of the Philippines, that I feel impelled
to bring before my readers this instance of a bishop who constantly
endeavoured to promote the interests of his province.
Nueva Caceres possessed several schools, a hospital, a lepers'
hospital, and a training-college for school-mistresses had just been
established by Bishop Gainza's initiative.
The shops were mostly in the hands of Chinese, who did a flourishing
trade in Manchester goods, patadoins, and coloured handkerchiefs.
There were several Spanish and Mestizo merchants who dealt in hemp
and rice.
From Nueva Caceres I travelled by a good road to Iriga, a town near
the volcano of that name, passing close to the Isarog on my way. From
Iriga I visited the country round about, and Lake Bula.
Some years after I went from Manila by sea to Tabaco, on the Pacific
coast of Albay, getting a fine night view of the Mayon volcano (8272
feet) in violent eruption.
From Tabaco I drove to Tivi and visited the celebrated boiling-well
and hot-springs at that place, much frequented by the natives, and
sometimes by Europeans, for the cure of rheumatism and other diseases.
Now that the Stars and Stripes float over the Philippines it is to
be hoped that a regular sanatorium will be erected at this beautiful
and health-restoring spot, the advantages of which might attract
sufferers from all the Far East.
On these journeys I had a good opportunity of studying the people. The
chief exports are Abaca (Manila hemp), and rice. In Camarines Sur
the principal crop is rice, whilst in Albay the hemp predominates,
and they import rice.
The cultivation of rice, which I have briefly described when writing
of the Tagals, is not an occupation calculated to improve the minds
or bodies of those engaged in it, and I have noticed that wherever
this is the staple crop the peasantry are in a distinctly lower
condition than where cane is planted and sugar manufactured. Their
lives are passed in alternate periods of exhausting labour and of utter
idleness, there is nothing to strive for, nothing to learn, nothing
to improve. The same customs go on from generation to generation,
the same rude implements are used, and the husbandman paid for his
labour in kind lives destitute of comfort in the present, and without
hope for the future.
Nor can the cultivation and preparation of hemp be considered as a
much more improving occupation.
Little care, indeed, is required by the Musa textilis after the
first planting, and the cleaning of the fibre is a simple matter,
but very laborious.
Several Spaniards are settled in these provinces, also a few agents
of British houses in Manila, and some Chinese and Mestizos. They
usually complain bitterly of the difficulty they experience in getting
hemp delivered to them owing to the laziness and unpunctuality of
the natives.
Yet, notwithstanding this, most of them live in affluence and some
have amassed fortunes by Vicol labour. There is, in fact, a good deal
of money in Albay, Daraga, and other towns in the hemp districts, and
they are the happy hunting-ground of the Jew pedlar who there finds
a good market for yellow diamonds and off-colour gems unsaleable in
London or Paris. Houndsditch and Broadway will do well to note.
The peasantry, however, either from improvidence or aversion to steady
labour, seem to be rather worse off than the Tagals and Pampangos,
more especially those amongst them who cultivate paddy.
The whole of the large amount of hemp exported from Manila and Cebu
is cleaned by hand.
Several attempts have been made to employ machinery, but the inherent
conditions of the industry are unfavourable to success in this line.
The plants are grown principally on the eastern slopes of the volcanic
mountains of Southern Luzon, and the adjacent islands where the soil
is soft and friable and roads are unknown.
The heavy stems of the plants cannot profitably be conveyed to fixed
works for treatment, and no machine has yet been devised light enough
to be carried up to the lates or plantations and able to compete with
hand labour. In a recent report to the British North Borneo Company,
Mr. W. C. Cowie mentions his hopes that Thompson's Fibre Company
are about to send out a trial decorticator, with engine and boiler
to drive it, to the River Padas, in that company's territories, for
cleaning the fibre of the numerous plants of the Musa textilis growing
in that region. It will be interesting to learn the result. Possibly
the conditions of transport by rail or river are more favourable than
in the Philippines, and in that case a measure of success is quite
possible. But few errors are more expensive than to unwarrantably
assume that machinery must necessarily be cheaper than hand labour.
Anyhow, as regards the Philippines here is a nice little problem. If
the mechanics of Massachusetts and Connecticut cannot solve it,
I do not know who can.
The Vicol labourers proceed to the lates in couples, carrying their
simple and efficient apparatus, all of which, except the knife,
they make themselves.
One man cuts down the plant, removes the outer covering, and separates
the layers forming the stem, dividing them into strips about one and
a half inches wide, and spreading them out to air.
The other man standing at his bench, takes a strip and places the
middle of it across the convex block and under the knife, which is
held up by the spring of a sapling overhead. Then, placing one foot
on a treadle hanging from the handle of the knife, he firmly presses
the latter down on the block. It should be explained that the knife
is not sharp enough to cut the fibres. Firmly grasping the strip
in both hands, and throwing his body backwards, he steadily draws
the strip towards him till all the fibre has passed the knife; then,
removing his foot from the treadle, the knife is lifted from the block
by the spring, leaving the pulp and waste behind it. Sweeping this
off, he reverses the half-cleaned strip, and twisting the cleaned
fibre round one hand and wrist, and grasping it also with the other,
he draws the part he formerly held, under the knife, pressing the
treadle with the foot as before, and thus completes the cleaning of
one strip. The fibre is often six feet long, and only requires drying
in the sun to be marketable.
A man is able to clean about twenty-five pounds of hemp per day,
and receives one half of it for his labour.
He usually sells his share to his employer for a trifle under the
market price.
CHAPTER XXXI
The Chinese in Luzon.
Mestizos or half-breeds.
When Legaspi founded the city of Manila, in 1571, he found that Chinese
junks frequented the port, and carried on a trade with Tondo and the
other native towns.
Three years later, the Chinese pirate, Li-ma-hon, made an attack on
the new city with a force of 2000 men in ninety-five small vessels,
but was repulsed.
In 1603, the Chinese in Manila, under Eng-cang, rose against the
Spaniards, and entrenched themselves in the suburbs. The Spaniards
failed in the first assault with heavy loss, but ultimately the Chinese
were defeated, and 23,000 were massacred, the few remaining being made
galley-slaves. In 1639, another insurrection of the Chinese occurred
and again some 23,000 were massacred.
In 1662, in consequence of the Chinese pirate Cong-seng demanding
tribute from the governor of the Philippines, a decree was made that
all Chinese must leave. The Chinese, however, refused, and entrenched
themselves in the Parian, or market-place, outside the walls. They were
attacked, and many thousands were killed. A body of 2000 endeavoured
to march north, but were massacred by the Pampangos.
In 1762, when Manila was taken by the forces of the Honourable East
India Company, the Chinese eagerly joined in the plundering. It having
been rumoured that the Chinese intended to join the British forces,
Don Simon de Anda condemned them all to death, and most of them were
hung, their property passing to their executioners.
In 1820, there occurred the fifth and last massacre of the
Chinese. The mob of Manila took advantage of the abject cowardice of
the acting-governor, General Folgueras, and of other authorities,
and for hours vented their spite on the unhappy Chinamen, showing
them no mercy, and carrying off their goods.
Since that time no general massacre has taken place, but such is the
dislike of the natives to the Chinese, that these latter would have
been quickly exterminated if the Spanish Government had failed at
any time to protect them.
The Chinese are mostly herded together in Manila, and in some of
the larger towns. Some few venture to keep stores in the villages,
and others travel about at the risk of their lives in the sugar,
hemp and tobacco districts, as purchasers and collectors of produce.
I consider that they should not be allowed to do this, for the
invariable result of their interference is to reduce the quality of
everything they handle. Their trade is based upon false weights and
measures, and upon adulteration, or insufficient preparation of the
produce. They are very patient with the natives, and this gives them
a very great advantage over a European, even if the latter is used
to Eastern ways. An American would probably have less patience than
any European in negotiating a purchase of produce from an up-country
native; the waste of time would exasperate him. I feel sure that most
of those who know the Philippines will agree with me as to the evil
results of the operations of the Chinese produce-brokers. Adulterated
sugar, half-rotten hemp, half-cured tobacco, badly-prepared
indigo--that is what the Chinaman brings in. He spoils every article
he trades in, and discredits it in the world's markets.
The Chinese nowhere cultivate the soil, except the gardens and
market-gardens around Manila, and a few of the large towns.
This is, perhaps, not due to their unwillingness to do so, but because
they dare not; the natives are too jealous of them, and their lives
would not be safe away from the towns.
Their genius is commercial, and they are at home in shop, bazaar, or
office. I think that the Chinese agriculturist does not leave his home
for the Philippines. Most of those in the islands come from Amoy, and
the district round that port. Some few are from Macao; they seem to be
all townsmen, not countrymen. Each shopkeeper has several assistants,
ranging in age from boys of ten or twelve upwards. On arrival, they are
placed in a sort of school--a very practical one--to learn Spanish;
for instance, numbers and coins, with such terms as Muy barato--very
cheap. As a Chinaman cannot pronounce the letter R, but substitutes L,
this becomes Muy balato. Thus, also, the Roo-Kiu Islands become the
Loo-Chew Islands, in Chinese.
The Chinaman is an excellent shop-keeper or pedlar, and some years
ago, the British importers of Manchester goods made it a practice
to give credit for goods supplied to the Chinese; the banks also
extended some facilities to them. In consequence, however, of heavy
losses to several British firms, this custom has been abandoned,
or considerably restricted.
The Chinese are good barbers, cooks and gardeners. As breeders of
fish they are unrivalled. Besides this they compete successfully
with the Tagal in the following trades: blacksmiths, boiler-makers,
stokers, engine-drivers, ship and house carpenters, boat-builders,
cabinet-makers and varnishers, iron and brass-founders, shoe-makers,
tin-smiths. These artisans are very industrious, and labour constantly
at their trades. Their great feast is at the Chinese New Year, which
occurs in February, when they take about a week's holiday, and regale
themselves on roast pig, and other delicacies, making also presents
of sweets, fruits, and Jocchiu hams, to their patrons and customers.
There are Chinese apothecaries in Manila, but they are mostly resorted
to by their own countrymen, and their awful concoctions are nasty
beyond belief. They deal largely in aphrodisiacs.
Some Chinese doctors practise in Manila, and are said to make wonderful
cures, even on patients given up by the orthodox medicos. They feel
the pulse at the temporal artery, or else above the bridge of the nose.
They used to suffer a good deal from the jealousy of the Spanish
practitioners, and were persecuted for practising without a
qualification.
Large numbers of Chinese coolies are employed in Manila handling coal,
loading and unloading ships and lighters, pressing hemp, drying sugar,
and in other work too hard and too constant for the natives.
The number of Chinese in Luzon has been variously estimated at from
30,000 to 60,000 men, and two or three hundred women. The anonymous
author of 'Filipinas--Problema Fundamental' (Madrid, 1891), gives
the number of Chinese in the whole Archipelago as 125,000, and he
evidently had access to good information. The fact is nobody knows,
and in all probability the Spanish authorities had an interest in
understating the number.
The Chinese were organised quite separately from the natives. Wherever
their numbers were considerable, they had their own tribunal, with
a Gobernadorcillo and Principales, the former called the Capitan-China.
In Manila, this Capitan was a man of importance, or else the nominee of
such a person. Certain governors-general received, nay, even extorted,
large sums from the Capitan-China. Weyler is said to have been one of
these offenders, but Jovellar caused the Capitan-China to be turned out
of Malacanan for offering him a present. No one who knew them would
ever believe that Moriones or Despujols would condescend to accept
presents from the Chinamen. One favourite trick of the more corrupt
governors-general was to have some very obnoxious law made in Spain;
for instance, obliging the Chinese to become cabezas-de-barangay, or
responsible tax-collectors of their own countrymen, and then extort
a ransom for not putting the law in force. Weyler was said to have
received $80,000 from the Chinese on this account, but some of this
would have to go to Madrid.
At another time it was proposed that the Chinese should be obliged to
keep their accounts in Spanish on books having every leaf stamped, and
that every firm should employ a trained accountant who had passed an
examination in book-keeping, and obtained a diploma as a commercial
expert. What it cost the Celestials to avoid this infliction I do
not know.
Amidst all this extortion from the Spaniard, and notwithstanding the
ever-present hatred of the native, the Manila Chinaman is a sleek
and prosperous-looking person, and seems cheerful and contented. If
he becomes wealthy he may very likely become a Christian, less,
perhaps, from any conviction or faith, but from motives of interest,
and to facilitate his marriage to a native woman, or half-caste. He
invariably selects an influential god-father, and dutifully takes him
complimentary presents on his feast-day, wife's feast-day, etc. Baptism
used to cost him a substantial fee, but it brought him business, for
the priests were good customers to him. Now, however, with freedom
of religion, with civil marriage and the withdrawal of the friars,
he may be able to marry without the trouble of changing his religion.
Whether Christian or heathen, he usually keeps a few sticks of incense
burning before an image at the back of his shop, and contributes to
any subscription the priest may be raising.
I look upon the Chinaman as a necessity in the Philippines, but
consider that he must be governed by exceptional legislation, and not
be allowed to enter indiscriminately, nor to engage, as a matter of
course, in every calling.
If attempts are to be made to settle them on the land, great care must
be shown in selecting the localities, and great precautions taken
to prevent fighting between the Chinese and the natives. However,
there should be plenty of room for tens of thousands of agricultural
labourers in Palawan and Mindanao; but I consider women to be
essential to the success of such colonies. The family is the base of
any permanent settlement, and it ought to be made a condition that
a considerable number of women should come over with the men.
Mestizos, or Half-Breeds.
From the intercourse of Spanish and other Europeans with
the native women, there has sprung a race called Mestizo, or
Mestizo-Espanol. Similarly, the Chinese, by their alliance with native
women, have produced the Mestizo-Chino, or Sangley.
It is very difficult to say how many there are of these people, for
opinions differ widely. The anonymous author of a pamphlet called
'Filipinas' (Madrid, 1891), gives the number of Spanish Mestizos in
the Archipelago, in 1890, as 75,000, whilst he estimates the number
of Chinese Mestizos at no less than half a million. The Spanish
Mestizos vary much in appearance, character and education, according
to whether they have come under the influence of their father or
their mother. Many of them are people of considerable property, and
have been educated in Spain, Germany or England, or at the university
in Manila. Others have relapsed into the ordinary native life. As a
class they are possessed of much influence. Both in Manila and in the
country towns they own large houses, and much landed property. Their
superior intelligence and education enables them to prosper in business
or in professions. Some of them are doctors of medicine, or lawyers. A
very few have studied engineering. Again, a fair number are priests,
and of these, some are men of great learning.
The Mestizos are the capitalists, which is to say the usurers of the
country. They have not personally participated much in the revolts
against the Spaniards, nor yet in the fighting against the Americans,
though they may have given small sums to assist the movement. They will
be there, though, when offices are to be distributed, and will make
hard masters, more oppressive, in fact, than any European or American.
This is what M. Andre, Belgian Consul-General, says of them: "This
class is composed entirely of usurers and pawnees. All the pawn-shops
and gambling-houses belong to the principal Mestizo families. There
is not one family free from that stigma. In the plantations belonging
to the rich families of Mestizos or Indians, the workmen are treated
very inhumanly."
There can be no doubt that the Spanish Mestizos are very unpopular
amongst the natives, and that an uncomfortable time would await them
should the islands become independent. They are perfectly aware of
this, and in their hearts long for the protection of one of the Great
Powers. At the same time, they are anxious to get the lion's share
of the loaves and fishes.
The Chinese Mestizos differ both in appearance and character from
the Spanish Mestizos, owning less land, and being more addicted
to commercial pursuits, for which both sexes show a remarkable
aptitude. It is customary for the daughters, even of wealthy
families, to trade on their own account from an early age. A case
was mentioned to me where five dollars was given to a young girl to
begin trading. With this she purchased a pilon of sugar, and sending
out some of her father's servants to the woods, collected a large
quantity of guavas. She then caused the cook to make the material
into guava jelly, which she packed in tins or jars collected for the
purpose. Then another servant took the jelly out for sale, and disposed
of it all. The capital was soon doubled, and invested in sayas and
handkerchiefs bought at wholesale prices, which were then hawked round
by a servant. Some years afterwards, I made the acquaintance of this
young lady, and found that she was then dealing in diamond and pearl
jewellery, and had a large iron safe in which she kept her stock,
which was then worth several thousand dollars, all made by her trading.
Chinese Mestizos are owners of cascos and lorchas for loading or
unloading vessels, also of farderias, or establishments for mixing
and drying sugar.
In Manila, the Sangleyes, as they are called by the Spaniards
and natives, have a gobernadorcillo and tribunal of their own. In
Santa Cruz they are very numerous, and amongst them are to be found
jewellers, silversmiths, watch-makers, or rather repairers, sculptors,
gilders and painters, besides one or two dentists of good renown.
PART II
THE VISAYAS AND PALAWAN
CHAPTER XXXII
THE VISAYAS ISLANDS.
Area and population--Panay--Negros--Cebu--Bohol--Leyte--Samar.
This name is given to the group of six considerable islands
lying between Luzon and Mindanao, and also to the race inhabiting
them. Beginning at the west, these islands are Panay, Negros, Cebu,
Bohol, Leyte, and Samar. There are also a number of smaller islands.
Many of the larger as well as the smaller islands are thickly
populated, and an extensive emigration takes place to the great and
fertile island of Mindanao, where any amount of rich land waits the
coming of the husbandmen. I can find no later records of population
than the census of 1877. This may seem strange to an American,
but to those who know the ignorance and ineptitude of the Spanish
administration, it will seem a matter of course. Such data of the
population as the Government Offices possess, are mostly due to the
priests and the archbishop.
Since 1877 there has undoubtedly been a great increase of population
amongst the Visayas, and in 1887 the population of Panay was considered
to be more than a million.
The Visayas Islands contain fewer heathen than any other part of the
Philippines. In Panay there are a few Negritos and Mundos; in Negros
some Negritos and Carolanos. The illustration opposite p. 207 is a
full-length photograph of Tek Taita, a Negrito from this island. In
Cebu a few Mundos live around the peak of Danao. In Bohol, Leyte,
and Samar there are no heathen savages.
It may be said that the heathen in these islands would have died out
before now but that they are reinforced continually by remontados,
or fugitives from justice, also by people whose inclination for a
savage life, or whose love of rapine renders the humdrum life of
their village insupportable to them.
The following Table gives the area of each of the six larger islands,
and the population in 1877.
Area in square miles.
Population according to Census of 1877.
Capitals.
Panay
(divided into 4,898 777,777 [29] Capiz.
three provinces-- Antique.
Capiz, Antique, Ilo-ilo.
Ilo-ilo)
Negros 3,592 204,669 Bacolod.
Cebu 2,285 403,296 Cebu.
Bohol 1,226 226,546 Tagbilaran.
Leyte 3,706 220,515 Tacloban.
Samar 5,182 178,890 Catbalogan.
---------
2,011,693
Panay.--This island is approximately an equilateral triangle, with
the western edge nearly north and south, having one apex pointing
south. A chain of mountains extends in a curved line from the northern
to the southern point, enclosing an irregular strip of land which
forms the province of Antique. The rivers in this part of the island
are naturally short and unimportant. The northern part of the island
is the province of Capiz, the principal river is the Panay, which,
rising in the centre of the island, runs in a northerly direction for
over thirty miles, entering the sea at the Bay of Sapian. The eastern
and southern part of the island is the province of Ilo-ilo. The
principal river is the Talana, which, rising quite near the source
of the River Panay, runs in a southerly and south-easterly direction
into the channel between Negros and Panay to the north of the island of
Guimaras. There are many spurs to the principal range of mountains, but
between them is a considerable extent of land under cultivation. The
province of Ilo-ilo is one of the richest and most densely-populated in
the Philippines. It now contains at least half a million inhabitants.
Ilo-ilo is open to foreign commerce, and vice-consuls of many nations
reside there. Yet the port has neither wharves, cranes, moorings or
lights. The coasting steamers drawing up to 13 feet enter a muddy
creek and discharge their cargo on the banks as best they can, whilst
the ocean-going ships lie out in the bay and receive their cargoes
of sugar and other produce from lighters, upon each of which pilotage
used to be charged for the benefit of an unnecessary number of pilots,
and of the captain of the port, who received a share of the pilotage
and strenuously resisted a reform of this abuse.
Under American protection, Ilo-ilo may be expected to become a
flourishing port, provided with every convenience for discharging,
loading, and repairing ships, as becomes the importance of its
trade. The town of Ilo-ilo contained many large buildings, some
of them owned by British subjects. During the fighting last year,
however, several buildings were burnt.
During the Spanish rule the streets were entirely uncared for, being
a series of mud-holes in the rainy season, and thick with dust and
garbage in the dry season.
The town and port together are notorious examples of all the worst
characteristics of Spanish rule.
The principal towns of this wealthy province are Pototan, Santa
Barbara, Janiuay, and Cabatuan, each of which has more than 20,000
inhabitants.
The industries and productions of this and the other islands are
treated of under Visayas when describing the inhabitants.
Negros.--A long island of irregular shape, lying between Panay and
Cebu. Its axis is nearly north and south, and a chain of mountains
runs up it, but nearer to the east than to the west coast.
A little to the north of the centre of this chain, the celebrated
volcano Canlaon raises its peak over 8300 feet. It is frequently in
active eruption, and can be perceived at an immense distance when the
atmosphere is clear. I have seen it and its long plume of vapour from
a steamer when passing the north of the island.
In the Sierra de Dumaguete, a range occupying the centre of the
southern promontory of the island, and about the centre of the range,
there is the volcano of Bacon, about which little is known.
Cebu is a long and narrow island something in the shape of an
alligator, looked at from above, with the snout pointing to the
southward and westward. It is opposite to Negros, and separated
from that island by the Strait of Tanon. It is, in fact, a range of
mountains rising out of the sea, and is very narrow, being nowhere
more than 22 miles wide. There being a large population of Visayas,
and the mountains not being very high, the wandering heathen have to
a great extent been weeded out, and only a remnant of wretched Mundos
remain about the crests of the cordillera.
The capital city, Cebu, was the first in the Archipelago to possess
a municipality, and was, in fact, until 1571, the capital of the
Philippines.
It possesses some fine buildings; is the seat of a bishop, and formerly
of the Governor-General of Visayas. It is open to foreign commerce,
and vice-consuls of the principal nations reside there.
There can be no rivers in an island of this configuration, for the
water runs away as from the roof of a house. The crops and industries
have been spoken of under the head of Visayas.
There are considerable beds of lignite near Compostela, and various
efforts have been made to work them, so far, I fear, without much
success. Remarkable shells, and some pearls are obtained round about
Cebu and the adjacent islands.
Bohol lies off the southern half of the eastern coast of Cebu, and
is only half the size of that island, but it has more than half the
population. It is hilly, and the towns and villages are situated
on the coast. Only the southern and eastern coast is visited by
coasting vessels, the navigation to the north and west being impeded
by a labyrinth of coral reefs. The soil of this island is not rich,
and the more enterprising of the natives emigrate to Mindanao.
Leyte is an island of very irregular shape--something like a hide
pegged out on the ground--and lies between the northern half of Cebu
and the southern part of Samar, from which it is only separated by a
very narrow passage called the Janabatas Channel, and the Strait of
San Juanico. The southern extremity of Leyte approaches the northern
promontory of Mindanao, and forms the Straits of Surigao, the second
entrance from the Pacific to the seas of the Archipelago. The island is
mountainous, and has two lakes, one called Bito is at the narrowest
part, and one called Jaro, near the town of that name. There are
several good ports. The exports, which go to Manila, are hemp and
sulphur of great purity.
Samar.--This is the largest of the Visayas, and yet has fewest
inhabitants. It lies to the eastward of all the other islands,
and consequently its east coast, like that of Luzon and Mindanao,
is exposed to the full fury of the north-east monsoon, and to the
ravages of the heavy rollers of the Pacific that burst without warning
on its rocky coast.
Its chief port, Catbalogan, is situated on the western coast, and
is well-sheltered. From the coast many lofty peaks are visible,
but the interior of this island is little known. The exports are
hemp and cocoa-nut oil. The northern point of Samar approaches
the southern extremity of Luzon, and forms the historic Strait of
San Bernardino, one of the entrances to the Philippine Archipelago
from the Pacific. It was by this Strait that the annual galleon from
Acapulco entered, and here also the British privateers lay in wait
for their silver-laden prey.
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Visayas Race.
Appearance--Dress--Look upon Tagals as foreigners--Favourable
opinion of Tomas de Comyn--Old Christians--Constant wars with the
Moro pirates and Sea Dayaks--Secret heathen rites--Accusation of
indolence unfounded--Exports of hemp and sugar--Ilo-ilo sugar--Cebu
sugar--Textiles--A promising race.
The most numerous and, after the Tagals, the most important race in
the Philippines is the Visaya, formerly called Pintados, or painted
men, from the blue painting or tattooing which was prevalent at the
time of the conquest. They form the mass of the inhabitants of the
islands called Visayas and of some others.
They occupy the south coast of Masbate, the islands of Romblon,
Bohol, Sibuyan, Samar, and Leyte, Tablas, Panay, Negros, and Cebu,
all the lesser islands of the Visayas group and the greater part of
the coast of the great island of Mindanao. In that island the Caragas,
a very warlike branch of the Visayas, occupy the coast of the old
kingdom of Caraga on the east from Punta Cauit to Punta San Agustin.
Another branch of the Visayas distinguished by a darker colour and
by a curliness of the hair, suggesting some Negrito mixture, occupies
the Calamiancs and Cuyos Islands, and the northern coasts of Paragua
or Palawan as far as Bahia Honda.
In appearance the Visayas differ somewhat from the Tagals, having
a greater resemblance to the Malays of Borneo and Malacca. The men
wear their hair longer than the Tagals, and the women wear a patadion
instead of a saya and tapis.
The patadion is a piece of cloth a yard wide and over two yards long,
the ends of which are sewn together. The wearer steps into it and wraps
it round the figure from the waist downward, doubling it over in front
into a wide fold, and tucking it in securely at the waist. The saya is
a made skirt tied at the waist with a tape, and the tapis is a breadth
of dark cloth, silk or satin, doubled round the waist over the saya.
In disposition they are less sociable and hospitable than the Tagals,
and less clean in their persons and clothing. They have a language of
their own, and there are several dialects of it. The basis of their
food is rice, with which they often mix maize. They flavour their
food with red pepper to a greater extent than the Tagals. They are
expert fishermen, and consume large quantities of fish. In smoking
and chewing betel they resemble the other races of the islands. They
are great gamblers, and take delight in cock-fighting. They are fond
of hunting, and kill numbers of wild pig and deer. They cut the flesh
of the latter into thin strips and dry it in the sun, after which it
will keep a long time. It is useful to take as provision on a journey,
but it requires good teeth to get through it.
The Visayas build a number of canoes, paraos, barotos, and vintas, and
are very confident on the water, putting to sea in their ill-found and
badly-equipped craft with great assurance, and do not come to grief
as often as might be expected. Their houses are similarly constructed
to those of the other inhabitants of the littoral.
Ancient writers accused the Visaya women of great sensuality and
unbounded immorality, and gave details of some very curious customs,
which are unsuitable for general publication. However, the customs I
refer to have been long obsolete among the Visayas, although still
existing amongst some of the wilder tribes in Borneo. The Visaya
women are very prolific, many having borne a dozen children, but
infant mortality is high, and they rear but few of them. The men
are less sober than the Tagals--they manufacture and consume large
quantities of strong drink. They are not fond of the Tagals, and a
Visaya regiment would not hesitate to fire upon them if ordered. In
fact the two tribes look upon each other as foreigners. When discovered
by the Spaniards, they were to a great extent civilised and organised
in a feudal system. Tomas de Comyn formed a very favourable opinion of
them--he writes, both men and women are well-mannered and of a good
disposition, of better condition and nobler behaviour than those of
the Island of Luzon and others adjacent.
They had learnt much from Arab and Bornean adventurers, especially
from the former, whose superior physique, learning, and sanctity, as
coming from the country of the Prophet, made them acceptable suitors
for the hands of the daughters of the Rajas or petty kings. They had
brought with them the doctrines of Islam, which had begun to make
some converts before the Spanish discovery. The old Visaya religion
was not unlike that of the Tagals, they called their idols Dinatas
instead of Anitos--their marriage customs were not very different
from those of the Tagals.
The ancestors of the Visayas were converted to Christianity at, or
soon after, the Spanish conquest. They have thus been Christians for
over three centuries, and in constant war with the Mahometan pirates
of Mindanao and Sulu, and with the Sea Dayaks of Borneo. However, in
some localities they still show a strong hankering after witchcraft,
and practise secret heathen rites, notwithstanding the vigilance of
the parish priests.
A friar of the order of Recollets who had held a benefice in Bohol,
assured me that they have a secret heathen organisation, although
every member is a professing Christian, taking the Sacrament on the
great feasts of the Church. They hold a secret triennial meeting of
their adherents, who come over from other islands to be present. The
meeting is held in some lonely valley, or on some desert island,
where their vessels can lie concealed, always far from any church or
priest. All the Recollet could tell me about the ceremonies was that
the sacrifice of pigs formed an important part of it
The Visayas are no less credulous than the Tagals, for in Samar,
during my recollection, there have been several disturbances caused by
fanatics who went about in rags, and by prayers, incoherent speeches,
and self-mortification acquired a great reputation for sanctity. The
poor ignorant people, deluded by these impostors, who gave themselves
out to be gods, and as such, impervious to bullets, and immortal,
abandoned their homes and followed these false gods wherever they went,
listening to their wild promises, and expecting great miracles. They
soon came into collision with the Guardia Civil; and on one occasion,
armed only with clubs and knives, they made a determined charge on a
small party of this corps under the command of a native officer. The
Guardia Civil formed across the road and poured several steady volleys
into the advancing crowd, breaking them up and dispersing them with
heavy loss and killing the false god. The native officer received
the laurel-wreathed cross of San Fernando as a reward for his services.
The Visayas are taxed with great indolence, yet they are almost the
only working people in districts which export a great quantity of
produce. Leyte and Samar produce a good many bales of excellent
hemp, and it should be remembered that every bale represents at
least twelve days' hard work of one man in cleaning the fibre only,
without counting the cultivation, conveyance to the port, pressing,
baling, and shipping.
In Negros and Panay the sugar estates are much larger than in Luzon,
and mostly belong to Spaniards or mestizos. They are not worked by
aparceria as in Luzon, but the labourers are paid by the day. Great
troubles often occur as bands of labourers present themselves
on the plantations and offer to work, but demand an advance of
pay. Sometimes, after receiving it, they work a few days and then
depart without notice, leaving the planter in great difficulty and
without redress. Strict laws against vagrants are urgently required
in Visayas. On the other hand the planter is more free to introduce
improvements and alterations than when working by aparceria when he has
to consult the inquilino or cultivator about any change. The cane-mills
are much larger than in Luzon, and are mostly worked by steam engines.
The sugar is handled differently from the custom of Pampanga. Pilones
are not used, and no manipulation in farderias is required to
prepare it for export. The cane-juice is carefully clarified and
skimmed, then boiled in open pans to a much higher point than when
making pilon-sugar, and to get it to this point without burning or
over-heating much care and experience is required.
From the teache it is ladled into large wooden trays, always in
thin layers, and is there beaten up with heavy spatulas until it
becomes, on cooling, a pale yellow amorphous mass. It is packed in
mat-bags, and is then ready for shipment. It travels well and loses
but little during a Voyage to San Francisco or New York. None of it
goes to England, which is now entirely supplied by the vile beet sugar
"made in Germany," except for a few hundred tons of Demerara crystals
imported for use by connoisseurs to sweeten their coffee.
Ilo-ilo sugar is shipped under three marks, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. An
assortment or cargo of this sugar should consist of 1-8th No. 1,
2-8ths No. 2, 5-8ths No. 3.
A representative analysis of Ilo-ilo sugar is as follows:
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3.
Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.
Crystallizable sugar 86.60 84.50 81.20
Glucose 5.40 5.50 6.56
Mineral matter (ash) 1.50 2.56 3.72
Sand trace .24 1.28
In Cebu the properties are small and are mostly in the hands of
Visayas. There are, perhaps, five or six steam-mills, but most of the
cane is ground in cattle-mills. They follow the practice of negroes
in making sugars direct for export, but the produce is of a lower
quality. An analysis of the Cebu sugar is as follows:
Cebu Superior. Cebu Current.
Per Cent. Per Cent.
Crystallizable sugar 81.10 71.00
Glucose 7.90 12.50
Mineral matter (ash) 2.16 2.23
The sugar produced in the other Visayas islands is quite insignificant.
Ilo-ilo and Cebu are the principal ports in the Visayas
territory. Besides what they shipped to Manila in 1897, they exported
directly to the United States, Great Britain, or other countries,
the following: Ilo-ilo, 127,744 tons of sugar; 51,300 piculs of Sapan
wood; Cebu, 15,444 tons of sugar; 80,271 bales of hemp; 46,414 piculs
of Copra. And it must be remembered that the Visayas cultivate most
of the rice, maize, and other food-stuffs which they consume, and
also make their own instruments of agriculture. Besides this, Ilo-ilo
exported to other parts of the Philippines a million dollars' worth of
textiles of cotton, silk, and other fibres, made by the Visayas women
in hand-looms. The women in Antique make the finest pina, a beautiful
transparent texture of the utmost delicacy, woven from the fibres of
the leaves of a non-fruiting pine (ananas). When doing the finest work
they have to keep their doors and windows closed, for the least draught
would break or disarrange the delicate filaments. The export from other
ports in Visayas of textiles of cotton and silk is considerable, and,
in addition to what they sell, the Visayas women weave most of the
material for their own clothing and for that of the men.
The Visayas also export mat-bags for sugar, which are called bayones;
mats for sleeping on, called petates or esteras; pillows stuffed
with cotton, hides, mother-of-pearl shell, Balate (Beche de Mer),
edible bird's-nests, gutta-percha, gum-dammar, wax, rattans, coffee
(of indifferent quality), and leaf tobacco. Both the island of Panay
and the coasts of Negros are dotted over with cane plantations.
The Visayas extract oil from cocoa-nuts and forge excellent weapons
from scrap iron. The bands from bales of Manchester goods are much
esteemed for this purpose.
If we take all these points into consideration, the Visayas may not
appear so deplorably indolent as they have been said to be. When
writing of the other races, I have pointed out that the indolence
imputed to them rather goes beyond what is warranted by the facts.
It will be understood that there are degrees in the civilisation of
the Visayas, and as amongst the Tagals and other races, considerable
differences will be found to exist between the dwellers in the towns
and those in the outlying hamlets, whilst the Remontados may be
considered to have relapsed into savagery.
The Visayas do a certain amount of trade with the heathen hill-men
of their islands, and as will be pointed out when describing these
tribes, it is hard to say whether the Christian Visayas or the
Mahometan Malays rob these poor savages more shamefully.
The Visayas are a promising race, and I feel sure that when they have
a good government that will not extort too heavy taxes from them,
nor allow the native and half-caste usurers to eat them up, their
agriculture and industries will surprisingly increase.
It is to the Visayas that the American Government must look to provide
a militia that will now hold in check, and ultimately subjugate,
the piratical Moros of Mindanao and Paragua. The fighting qualities
of this race, developed by centuries of combat with their Mahometan
aggressors in defence of hearths and homes, will be found quite
sufficient if they are well armed and led to make an end of the Moro
power within a very few years.
That this aspiration is one well worthy of the countrymen of Decatur,
will, I think, be admitted by all who have read my description of
the Moros under the heading of Mindanao.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Island of Palawan, or Paragua.
The Tagbanuas--Tandulanos--Manguianes--Negritos--Moros of southern
Palawan--Tagbanua alphabet.
The island of Palawan, or, as it is called by the Spaniards,
La Paragua, is situated between the parallels 8 deg. 25' and 11 deg. 30'
N. lat. The capital, Puerto Princesa, was founded in 1872, and is
situated on the east coast in lat. 9 deg. 45', being 354 miles from Manila,
210 miles from North Borneo, and 510 miles from Singapore. Palawan is
about 250 miles long, and from 10 to 25 wide, with an area of about
5833 square miles, the third in size of the Philippine Islands. There
are several good ports in the northern part, which is much broken up,
and its coasts studded with numerous islets, forming secure anchorages.
Off the western coast is a large submarine bank, with many coral
reefs and islets. The navigation on this coast is very dangerous,
and can only be done in daylight.
The harbour of Puerto Princesa is an excellent one, and sufficiently
large for all requirements.
Limestone and other sedimentary formations predominate. No volcanic
rocks are known to exist. It is conjectured that the island has been
formed by an upheaval, and it bears little resemblance geologically
to any of the other Philippines. Plastic clays suitable for making
bricks, tiles, and pottery, abound.
Nothing is known about the mineralogy, except that rock-crystal is
found, a magnificent specimen of great purity and value was sent from
the island to the Madrid Exhibition of 1887.
A chain of mountains, with peaks of varying elevation up to 6500 feet,
runs lengthways of the island, much nearer to the western coast than
to the eastern. The descent from the summits to the eastern coast
is, therefore, gradual, and on the western coast it is abrupt. Mount
Staveley, Mount Beaufort (3740 feet), Pico Pulgar (4330 feet), and
the Peaks of Anepalian, are in the central part of the island.
The following record is taken from the observations made by Captain
Canga-Arguelles, a former governor, during his residence of three
years in Puerto Princesa.
Month. Mean Temp. Barometer.
Fahrenheit. Inches. Rainy Days.
January 85 30.34 4
February 81 30 3
March 85 30.07 4
April 87 29.92 5
May 84 29.80 4
June 82 29.90 12
July 80 .. 17
August 82 29.84 4
September 79 29.88 20
October 85 29.90 20
November 82 29.95 8
December 82 30 4
-----
Mean 82.83 105
It will be seen that the temperature is not excessive, and that
the distribution of the rainfall is favourable to agriculture and
planting. The force of the monsoon is much spent when it arrives
on the coast of Paragua, and the typhoons only touch the northern
extremity of the island.
Volcanic phenomena are unknown, and there is no record of earthquakes.
From the lay of the island there is always one coast with calm water,
whichever way the monsoon is blowing.
The troops and civil population of Puerto Princesa suffer to some
extent from intermittent fevers; but the reports of the military,
naval, and civil infirmaries, state that the disease is not very
severe, and that it yields to treatment, and this assertion is
confirmed by the reports of the French travellers, Drs. Montano and
Rey and M. Alfred Marche.
The northern part of the island has been colonised from the other
Philippines, and the Christian inhabitants number about 10,000
distributed amongst several small villages. The southern coasts are
occupied by Mahometan Malays, who number about 6000, and the rest
of this large island, except Puerta Princesa, is only populated by
savages, the principal tribes being the--
Tagbuanas, estimated to number 6,000
Tandulanos, estimated to number 1,500
Negritos, estimated to number 500
Manguianes, estimated to number 4,000
--------
12,000
This gives a grand total of 28,000 inhabitants, or 5.6 to the
square mile. In the island of Luzon, in which extensive districts
are uncultivated and unexplored, the mean density of the population
in 1875, was 76.5 per square mile, and in the provinces of Batangan
and Pasgasinan, which are, perhaps, the best cultivated, the density
was 272 inhabitants to the square mile.
The fauna has been studied to some extent, a French collector having
resided for a considerable period on the island. It comprises monkeys,
pigs, civets, porcupines, flying squirrels, pheasants, and a small
leopard, this latter not found in any other of the Philippines,
and showing a connection with Borneo.
The island is covered with dense forests, which have been little
explored.
The Inspeccion de Montes (Department of Woods and Forests) gives a
list of 104 different kinds of forest-trees known to be growing there,
and states that ebony abounds there more than in any other province
of the Philippines. According to Wallace, the camphor-tree is found
in the island.
Amongst the timbers mentioned in the Woods and Forests lists are
ebony, camagon, teak, cedar, dungon, banaba, guijo, molave, and
many others of value. The forest or jungle-produce will comprise:
charcoal, firewood, bamboos, rattans, nipa (attap), orchids, wax,
gums, resins, and camphor. Edible birds'-nests are found in various
localities. Fish is abundant in the waters, and balate (Beche de mer)
is collected on the shores and reefs.
Puerto Princesa is visited by a mail steamer from Manila once in
twenty-eight days. A garrison of two companies of infantry was kept
there, and several small gun-boats were stationed there, which went
periodically round the island. Piracy was completely suppressed,
and the Mahometan Malays were kept in good order by the Spanish forces.
The dense primeval forests which have existed for ages, untouched
by the hand of man, undevastated by typhoons, volcanic eruptions, or
earthquakes, must necessarily have produced an enormous quantity of
decayed vegetable matter, rich in humus, and such a soil on a limestone
subsoil, mixed with the detritus washed down from the mountains, may
reasonably be expected to be of the highest fertility, and, perhaps,
to be equal to the richest lands of the earth, most specially for
the cultivation of tobacco.
The varied climates to be found from the sea-level to the tops of the
mountains should allow the cultivation of maize, rice, sugar-cane,
cotton, cacao, coffee, and hemp, each in the zone most favourable
to its growth and fruitfulness. The exemption from typhoons enjoyed
by this region is most important as regards the cultivation of
the aborescent species, and the cocoa-nut palm would prove highly
remunerative on land not suited for other crops.
Tagbanuas.
The Tagbanuas are said to be the most numerous of the inhabitants of
Palawan. I understand that this word comes from Taga, an inhabitant,
and banua, country, and therefore means an original inhabitant of
the country, as opposed to later arrivals.
They inhabit the district between Inagahuan, on the east coast,
and Ulugan and Apurahuan, on the west coast. Their numbers in 1888
were estimated at 6000. In 1890 I spent ten days amongst these
people, and employed a number of them as porters to carry my tent,
provisions, and equipment, when travelling on foot through the
forests to report on the value of a concession in the neighbourhood
of Yuahit and Inagahuan. I therefore describe them from personal
knowledge. They are of a yellowish colour, and generally similar to
the Mahometan Malays of Mindanao. Those who have settled down and
cultivated land have a robust and healthy appearance; but those who
are nomadic, mostly suffered from skin diseases, and some were quite
emaciated. Their Maestro de Campo, the recognised head of their tribe,
lived near Inagahuan, and I visited him at his house, and found him
quite communicative through an interpreter.
Maestro de Campo is an obsolete military rank in Spain, and a
commission granting this title and an official staff, is sometimes
conferred by the Governor-General of the Philippines, or even by
the King of Spain, upon the chiefs of heathen tribes, who have
supported the Spanish forces against the pirates of Sulu, Mindanao,
or Palawan. Sometimes a small pension accompanies the title.
I also learnt much about the Tagbanuas from a solitary missionary,
a member of the Order of Recollets, Fray Lorenzo Zapater, who had
resided more than two years amongst them, and had built a primitive
sort of church at Inagahuan.
They are sociable and pacific; their only weapons are the cerbatana,
or blow-pipe, with poisoned darts, and bows and arrows, for the knives
they carry are tools and not weapons. They do not make war amongst
themselves, but formerly fought sometimes to defend their possessions
against the piratical Mahometans, who inhabit the southern part of the
island. These heartless robbers, for centuries made annual raids upon
them, carrying off the paddy they had stored for their subsistence,
and everything portable worth taking. They seized the boys for slaves,
to cultivate their lands, and the girls for concubines, killing the
adults who dared to resist them. However, since the establishment of
a naval station and the penal colony at Puerto Princesa in 1872, the
coast has been patrolled by the Spanish gun-boats and the piratical
incursions have come to an end. The nomadic Tagbanuas, both men and
women, were quite naked, except for a cloth (tapa-rabo) which the men
wore, whilst the women wore a girdle, from which hung strips of bark or
skin reaching nearly to the knees. Round their necks they wore strings
of coloured beads, a turquoise blue seemed to be the favourite kind,
and on their arms and ankles, bangles made of brass wire. Coming out
of the forest into a clearing where there were two small huts built in
the usual manner, and another constructed in the fork of a large tree,
I found a group of these people threshing paddy. Amongst them were two
young women with figures of striking symmetry, who, on being called by
the interpreter, approached my party without the slightest timidity or
embarrassment, although wearing only the fringed girdle. I learnt that
they had both been baptized but on asking the taller girl her name,
instead of answering me, she turned to her companion and said to her,
"What is my name?" to which the other answered, "Ursula." I then asked
the shorter girl her name, and she also, instead of answering me, asked
the other girl, "What is my name?" to which the taller one answered,
"Margarita." These names had recently been given them instead of their
heathen names, and I could not be sure whether they had forgotten
their new names or whether, as is the case in several tribes, they must
never pronounce their own names nor the names of their ancestors. They
thankfully accepted a cigarette each, which they immediately lighted.
On the following Sunday, these girls came to Mass at the Inagahuan
Church, completely dressed like Tagal women, and although they passed
in front of me, I did not recognize them until I was told, for they
looked much shorter.
When the missionary accompanied me to visit any of these people,
I observed that as we approached a house the people were hurriedly
putting on their clothes to receive us, but they were evidently more
at ease in the garb of Adam before the fall.
The Tagbanuas have no strong religious convictions, and can be easily
persuaded to allow their children to be baptised. The population of
Inagahuan and Abortan at the time of my visit was, according to the
missionary, 1080, of whom 616 were baptised. But from this number
many had been taken away by their half-caste or Chinese creditors
to Lanugan, a visita of Trinitian, to collect wax and almaciga--the
forests near Inagahuan and Yuahit being entirely exhausted. The
heathen Tagbanuas believe in future rewards and punishment, and call
the infernal regions basaud. They believe in a Great Spirit, the
creator and preserver, who presides over all the important acts of
life. They call him Maguindose, and make offerings to him of rice and
fish. Polygamy is allowed amongst them, but from what I saw is not
much practised. When a Tagbanua proposes marriage to the object of
his affections, he leaves at the door of her hut the fresh trunk of
a banana plant. If she delays answering till the trunk has withered,
he understands this as a negative, and the damsel is spared the pain
of verbally refusing; but if she approves of his suit, she sends him
her answer in good time.
The lover then conveys to the house of the bride's parents, where
all her relations are assembled, large baskets of boiled rice. He
takes a morsel of this and places it in the mouth of the girl, she
then does the same to him, and by this symbolic act they assume the
responsibilities of matrimony. This particular ceremony is common to
many Philippine tribes. The remainder of the cooked rice furnishes
the basis of the marriage feast.
They are said to cruelly punish adultery; on the other hand, divorce
is easily obtained.
When one of their number is very ill, they get up a concert (?) of
gongs and drums with the hope of curing him, and during the performance
nobody must approach the patient's couch. I could not learn whether
the music was intended to cheer up the sick person, or to frighten
away the evil spirit, which they look upon as the cause of his malady;
but I incline to the latter belief, because the so-called music is
calculated to frighten away any living thing.
If, however, the patient does not improve, he is then consulted as
to where he would like to be buried, and about other details of the
ceremony and funeral feast. This reminds me that I have read of a
Scotchwoman consulting her dying husband as to whether the scones
to be made for his funeral should be square or round. Such, however,
is the custom of the Tagbanuas.
Immediately after death the relatives place by the corpse the weapons
and effects belonging to the deceased and sprinkle ashes on the floor
all around--then they retire and leave the dead alone for a time. Later
on, they return and carefully examine the ashes to see whether the
soul of the defunct, when abandoning the body, left any foot-marks.
Then, forming a circle round the dead, they chant a dirge in honour
of the departed, after which they commit his body to the earth in the
midst of his cleared land, unless he has selected some other spot,
burying with him his arms and utensils, not forgetting the wood-knife
and a liberal ration of cooked rice and condiments for his journey
to the other world. They then abandon both hut and land and never
return to it. They bury small children in jars called basinganis.
I was much interested in these people, and felt a great pity for
them. All energy and determination seemed to have been crushed out
of them by centuries of oppression from their predatory neighbours,
and when at last the Spanish gun-boats delivered them from these
periodical attacks, they were held in what was practically slavery by
their half-caste or Chinese creditors. The respectability of a Tagbanua
is measured by the weight of gongs he possesses, just as the importance
of a Malay pirate-chief depends on the weight of brass-guns he owns.
The half-castes, or Chinese, will supply them with a brass-gong worth,
say $5, for which they charge them thirty dollars to account. This must
be paid in almaciga (gum-dammar) at $5 per picul. Consequently the poor
savage has to supply six piculs of almaciga. Now this gum was worth $12
per picul in Singapore, and the freight was trifling. Consequently the
savage pays the greedy half-caste, or avaricious Chinaman, $72 worth
of gum (less expenses) for a $5 gong, and these rascally usurers take
care that the savage never gets out of their debt as long as he lives,
and makes his sons take over his debt when he dies. These terms are
considered very moderate indeed; when I come to speak of Mindanao
I shall quote some much more striking trade figures. Many of the
traders there would think it very bad business to get only $72 for
goods costing $5.
Instead, therefore, of being allowed to till their land, these people
are hurried off to the most distant and least accessible forests to
dig for almaciga. This gum is found in crevices in the earth amongst
the roots of secular trees. I was assured that deposits had been found
of 25 piculs in one place--more than a ton and a half, but such finds
are rare, as the gum is now scarce. The savage has to hide or guard his
treasure when found, and he or his family must transport it on their
backs for twenty, thirty, or forty miles, as the case may be, making
repeated journeys to deliver it to their creditor. I think this hard
work, and want of good food, explains the emaciation I noticed amongst
these people. Some few of them were not in debt. Near Inagahuan, I
found a man named Amasa who had a small cane-field, and was at work
squeezing the cane with a great lever-press, which reminded me of
the wine-presses in Teneriffe. The lever was made of the trunk of a
tree; the fulcrum was a growing tree, whilst the pressing block was a
tree-stump hollowed at the top. The juice was boiled to a thick syrup,
and found a ready sale in the neighbourhood. Amasa was the biggest
and strongest man I saw amongst the Tagbanuas, and stood five feet
nine inches high. He possessed a comfortable house and clothes,
yet he accompanied me on one of my journeys as a porter, but the
exposure at night was too much for him, and he had an attack of fever
when he returned. Near Amasa lived a Christian woman named Ignacia,
a widow. She had lived ten years in one place, and had an abundant
supply of paddy stored in huge baskets in her house. She also had a
plantation of cacao trees, many of them in full bearing. They were
rather neglected, but had grown remarkably. I bought some of her
produce for my own use.
I was surprised to find that the Tagbanuas could read and write;
one day I observed a messenger hand to one of them a strip of bark
with some figures scratched on it, which the latter proceeded to
read, and on inquiring from the missionary, I learnt that they had
an alphabet of sixteen or seventeen letters. I obtained a copy of
this from the Padre Zapater, and it will be found on page 319. They
do not use a pen, but scratch the letters with the point of a knife,
or with a nail, or thorn.
The Tagbanuas are very fond of music and dancing. On the evening of
my arrival at Yuahit, a collection of about a dozen huts with forty
inhabitants, they gave an open-air performance in my honour. My party
consisted of a boat's-crew of eight Tagal sailors of the Navy, two
servants, an interpreter, and two companions. The orchestra consisted
of four brass gongs of varying sizes, and a tom-tom. Torches were stuck
in the ground to illuminate the scene, and the whole of the inhabitants
of the hamlet turned out and watched the proceedings with greatest
interest. The dances were performed by men, women, and children,
one at a time, and were perfectly modest and graceful. The women were
dressed in shirts and bright-coloured patadions, and were adorned with
silver rings, brass bangles, and armlets, some had strings of beads
round their necks. The best dance was performed by a young woman,
holding in each hand a piece of a branch of the bread-fruit tree,
which they call Rima, with two of the large handsome leaves. These
she waved about very gracefully in harmony with her movements. The
spectators behaved very well, and were careful not to crowd round me. I
rewarded the dancers with beads and handkerchiefs, and the musicians
with cigars. This dancing seemed to me a very innocent amusement,
but I was sorry to find that the missionary took a different view. He
associated the dances with heathen rites and forbade them, confiscating
the dearly-bought gongs of his converts, as he said they were used
to call up evil spirits. However, I observed that he had hung up the
largest gong to serve as a church-bell, after having sprinkled it with
holy water. I remembered having read how the Moravian missionaries
in Greenland put a stop to the dancing which formerly enlivened the
long dark winter of that desolate region, and I asked myself why the
Christian missionary, whether teaching in the icy gloom of the Arctic
circle, or in brilliant sunshine on a palm-fringed strand, must forbid
his converts to indulge in such a healthful and harmless recreation,
in both cases almost the sole possible amusement. I could see no reason
why the heathen should have all the fun. The labours of the missionary
were, however, very much to the benefit of the Tagbanuas, as inducing
them to settle down, build houses, and raise crops for their support.
The Spanish gun-boats had stopped the inroads of Moros by sea, and
detachments of native troops along the coast stopped the raiding by
land. For twenty years the Tagbanuas had suffered little, and for
several years absolutely nothing from the Moros, yet they apparently
could not realise their security, and were afraid to accumulate
anything lest it should be taken from them. To the ravages of the
pirate, there has succeeded the extortion of the usurer, and John
Chinaman waxes fat whilst the wretched Tagbanua starves.
Whilst travelling through the jungle I found some natives cutting
canes, and my interpreter pointed out to me an emaciated couple, and
assured me that during the famine of the previous season, these poor
wretches had killed and eaten their own child to save their lives. What
a state of things in a country where maize will grow up and give edible
grain in forty-two days from the date of planting it! I trust that the
change of government may result in some benefit to these poor people,
and that a Governor or Protector of Aborigines may be appointed with
absolute power who will check the abuses of the half-caste and Chinese
usurers, and give the poor down-trodden Tagbanuas, at one time I firmly
believe a comparatively civilised people, a chance to live and thrive.
Tandulanos.
The Tandulanos are physically similar to the Negritos, but less
robust. They inhabit the shores of Palawan, being scattered along
the western coast between the Bay of Malampaya and Caruray. They
are more savage than the other races of the island, but they fulfil
their engagements with rigorous exactness. They make rough canoes,
and subsist principally on fish and shell-fish, and they do no
cultivation. They are very skilful in the use of the harpoon which
they employ for fishing. If they can obtain iron, they use it for
their harpoon-points, otherwise they point them with the spike from
the tail of a skate.
They use a most active poison on their harpoons and darts, so much so,
that it is said to produce almost instantaneous death.
This poison is unknown to the other tribes. They refuse to sell their
cerbatanas, or blow-pipes, from which they shoot their darts.
They are said to intermarry indiscriminately, without regard to
kinship. Their number was computed at 1500 in the year 1888, and they
are probably not much more numerous now.
These people are, like the Negritos, whom they resemble, a hopeless
race, not capable of advancing in civilisation.
Manguianes and Negritos of Palawan.
These people have been described under the heading Aetas or Negritos,
in Part I. The first-named inhabit the interior of that part of the
island occupied by the Moros who jealously prevent them from holding
any intercourse with strangers.
Moros of Southern Palawan.--These people do not differ in any essential
particular from the Moros of Mindanao. They look back with regret on
the good old days before the advent of the steam gun-boats, and the
establishment of the fortified posts along their shores when they
could make their annual raids and massacre, plunder, and enslave,
the wretched Tagbanuas without interference. They will doubtless take
full advantage of any negligence of the United States authorities to
keep up the gun-boat flotilla, and to maintain the military posts.
They now live by agriculture, all the labour being performed by
slaves, and by trading with the savages of the mountains, vying with
the Christians in usurious rapacity.
John Chinaman in Palawan is just the same as his brother in Mindanao--a
remorseless usurer, and a skilful manipulator of false weights and
measures, but no worse in the treatment of the unhappy aboriginal
than the Christian native or half-caste.
Puerto Princesa, the capital, had a population at the time of my
visit in 1890 of about 1500, of which number 1200 were males and 300
females. About half the males were soldiers and sailors, one-fourth
convicts, and the remainder civilians. Most of the women had been
deported from Manila as undesirable characters in that decorous
city. Notwithstanding their unsavoury antecedents, they found new
husbands or protectors in Puerto Princesa the moment they landed. Such
was the competition for these very soiled doves, that most of them
had made their new arrangements before leaving the jetty alongside
which the steamer they arrived in lay.
There was some little cultivation round about the capital, but as
usual trading with the aborigines for gum, rattans, balate, green
snail-shells, and other jungle produce was the most entrancing pursuit.