At a short distance from the town was a Government Sugar Plantation,

which I visited. If sugar planting could flourish anywhere, it surely

should have done so here, for the land cost nothing, the convicts

did all the unskilled labour and the machinery was paid for by the

Government. Yet the blighting influence of the official mind succeeded

even here in causing the place to be run at a loss. The sugar badly

prepared was shipped to Manila to be sold at a reduced price, and

sugar for the troops and general use was imported from other parts.

The governor of the island, during the later period of Spanish rule,

has usually been a naval officer, and as the communications are

principally by sea, and any punitive operations have to be performed

by the gun-boat flotilla, this would seem to be a precedent the United

States might follow with advantage.

Tagbanua Alphabet.

Communicated to F. H. Sawyer by Fray Lorenzo Zapater, Missionary at

Inagahuan, Palawan.

[Illustration: Tagbanua Alphabet.]

N.B.--The Roman letters are to be pronounced as in Spanish and the

Tagbanua correspondingly, Ah, bay, say, day, aye or ee, o or oo, pay,

ku, etc.

Notes by the Padre Zapater.

(Translation.)

1. The consonants in the Tagbanua alphabet are eleven and sometimes

twelve, but the vowels are three, since the ia and the oa which

are vowels, are compound letters, although strictly they may be

considered as vowels, but the ia and the ua are written the same,

as has been said.

2. In reading the Tagbanua alphabet, you begin from the bottom upwards.

3. To write the consonants with their vowels, for example, ba, be,

bi, bo, bu, you put a dash at the right or left. If on the right,

it means be, bi, and if on the left of the consonant bo, bu.

N.B.--Father Zapater's note 3 is somewhat obscure, or rather badly

expressed. It perhaps ought to have been said that a dash right and

left means ba.

PART III

MINDANAO, INCLUDING BASILAN.

CHAPTER XXXV.

BRIEF GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION.

Configuration--Mountains--Rivers--Lakes--Division into

districts--Administration--Productions--Basilan.

Mindanao is of a very irregular shape, which it is not easy to

describe. It has some resemblance to a winged skate, with a long tail,

one of the Raiidae, which is common in Manila Bay. The head of the skate

is turned to the east; the peninsula of Surigao forms the northern

wing, and Punta Panguian the tip of the southern wing, out of which,

however, a great piece has been bitten, corresponding to the Gulf of

Davao. The body is represented by the main part of the island, and

the tail commences at the isthmus of Tucuran and stretches westward

for a degree of longitude. This straight part is the old kingdom of

Sibuguey. On the north of it, however, a huge excrescence appears; this

is the peninsula of Dapitan, and on the south, opposite to it, there is

a similar projection, which is cut in two by the Gulf of Dumanquilas.

Mt. Silingan represents the spike or hook usually found on the tails of

these fish, and from here the tail bends southward and westward through

an arc of 60 deg. This part represents the peninsula of Zamboanga, and

the town of that name is situated at the tip of the tail. A continuous

chain of mountains down the centre of the tail represents the vertebrae.

Beginning on the east, we find a long stretch of coast from Surigao to

Cape San Agustin with only one or two anchorages for small vessels. The

rest of the coast is exposed to the full force of the Pacific Ocean,

and from November to April is quite open to the N.E. monsoon. It is

also subject to tidal waves or rollers just as are the coasts of Peru

and Chili. A destructive bore enters the river mouths and inlets,

and heavy seas get up off all the headlands. In the channels between

Surigao and the islands off the northern coasts, rapid currents

are formed and overfalls render navigation dangerous for country

vessels. In fact, during the strength of the N.E. monsoon the east

coast, from Placer to the Bay of Mayo, is hemmed in with surf, and

without a single port. Behind point Taucanan, however, is found Port

Balete and Port Pujada. This latter is the best port in the island,

being well sheltered from the N. and N.E. The country about it is well

watered, and produces timber trees of great size and fine quality. The

waters contain plenty of fish, and turtle, also some mother-of-pearl

shells. The forests give the best kinds of almaciga, and wax.

The hill-men are partly independent but pacific, and the Visaya

population is considerable in the district of Mati.

In general, the east coast is rocky, and very foul in many

places. The land is fertile and well-wooded. Gold is found in the

Cordillera, and on its eastern slopes all the way from Surigao to

Punta Tagobong. One of the northern towns is called Placer on this

account. The inaccessibility of the east coast during the strength

of the N.E. monsoon has retarded the civilisation of Surigao which

was settled in the early years of the conquest. The Caraga-Visaya,

who inhabit a considerable district on this coast, are old Christians

and have always been ready to fight for their faith.

Practically parallel to this coast is a chain of mountains which

begins at Surigao and extends down to Punta San Agustin with hardly

a break. I shall call this the eastern Cordillera. In this chain,

near the northern end, lies Lake Mainit (Hot Lake), having steep sides

with twenty fathoms close to the edge, and two hundred fathoms in the

middle. This cavity has, no doubt, been formed by volcanic action,

like the lake of Taal. On the slopes of the mountains around it are

many thermal springs which run into the lake, and in rainy weather the

summits are always shrouded in vapour by the evaporation of the rain.

The lake is subject to tremendous floods. Dr. Montano, who visited

it in December, 1880, speaks of a rise of twelve fathoms. He also

says that a ground-swell gets up in this sheltered lake; this must

be from some modified volcanic action still going on. As usual in

Philippine crater-lakes, this is a great breeding-place for alligators.

The Eastern Cordillera being so near the coast, there are of course

no navigable rivers running into the Pacific, but the streams become

impassable torrents during the heavy rains which begin in June, and

prevent communication by land for many days or even weeks at a stretch.

Approximately parallel to the Eastern Cordillera, and at about

fifty geographical miles distance, there stands another range which

I shall call the Central Cordillera. A line drawn from Punta Diuata

to the middle of the Gulf of Sarangani, nearly due north and south,

intersects Mt. Sinalagao, Mt. Panamoyan, the active volcano, Mt. Apo

and Mt. Matutuan, which appear to be the loftiest peaks of the range.

From Mt. Panamoyan in about 7 deg. 50' N. Lat. a spur strikes eastwards at

right angles to the range, reaching half-way across the valley. This

spur then turns to the south parallel to the range for some twenty

miles, and from the middle of the east and west part, another spur

turns south for about 20 miles, thus forming a letter E with the

points looking south.

In the wide valley between the Eastern and Central Cordilleras, and

taking the drainage of the whole watershed is the River Agusan. Rising

about the 7th parallel on the slopes of Mt. Tagoppo, this river runs

a very sinuous course in a general northerly direction, but inclining

slightly to the west, receiving innumerable tributaries on either

side. At about 8 deg. 15' N. Lat. the Agusan expands or overflows, forming

a series of shallow lakes, choked up with driftwood and vegetation,

and varying in extent with the rainfall.

Continually gathering volume, it runs into the Bay of Butuan about 9 deg.

N. Lat.

At Moncayo, in 7 deg. 45' N. Lat., the Agusan is one hundred yards wide,

and is navigable for canoes even much higher up.

The spur previously spoken of as striking east and south from

Mt. Panamoyan, forms two small watersheds. The western one gives rise

to the River Libaganon, and the eastern to the River Salug. Both these

rivers run in a southerly direction, and unite to form the River Tagum,

which runs for a short distance S.E. and falls into the head of the

Gulf of Davao.

A little way south of Mt. Panamoyan some mountain streams dash down

the sides of the Cordillera and running through a gap unite to form

the River Davao which flows in a south-easterly direction till it

reaches the plain, when it changes its course and runs east into the

Gulf of Davao. From Point Sipaca, in 9 deg. N. Lat., a range of mountains

stretches in a southerly direction for about sixty miles. Amongst

these are Mt. Sipaca, Mt. Saorag, and Mt. Quimanquil. With the

Central Cordillera this range forms a watershed, and the torrents

on the steep sides of Sinalagao and Quimanquil dash down and take

a southerly direction to form the headwaters of the River Pulangui

and ultimately become the Rio Grande. In 7 deg. 50' N. Lat. two important

affluents join, the River Sauaga and the River Malupati, a few miles

lower the Calibatojan and the Kaya-Kaya bring their tribute, and the

united flood with rapid current casts itself headlong into the deep

Canon of Locosocan and runs in this for over four miles to Salagalpon,

where another cataract occurs. The river continues for miles a rushing

torrent amongst huge boulders, at the bottom of this cleft, so narrow

in places, where the rocks jut out and nearly meet overhead, that it

seems like a tunnel. In 7 deg. 46' N. Lat. there is a small volcano close

to the left bank which, whenever it rains, becomes active and gives

off stifling fumes of sulphur. At Mantanil, in 7 deg. 40' N., the river

can be navigated on bamboo rafts, handled by skilled Manobo pilots,

but not without much risk; for some distance down there are two buchis,

or sinks, where the water runs down into subterraneous passages through

the river-bed, forming dangerous whirlpools. There are also several

rapids which require great dexterity to pass safely. The banks are

still high; but, on approaching the confluence of the Kulaman river,

on the left bank, the gorge is much lower, and on arriving at Ilang

the country opens out.

South of the confluence of the River Molita, vintas can navigate

the river, and a little lower down, at the confluence of the River

Simuni, is the place reached by the gunboat Taal in 1863 on a 6-foot

draught. The river now runs in a southerly and westerly direction,

with dozens of bends till about 6 deg. 45' N. Lat., when, on reaching

Lake Liguasan (really a Pinag) a shallow and weedy expanse of water,

it turns to the west, and then north-west. At Tumbao it bifurcates,

and enters the Bay of Illana by two mouths forming a long narrow

delta of deep and rich alluvial soil.

From Tumbao to Tamontaca is the most beautiful and fertile part of

this river. On both banks grow cocoa-palms, areca-palms, banana and

cacao-trees, coffee-bushes, and hemp plants in abundance, and amongst

them are groups of native houses forming a continuous village,

of which the placid river, here fifty yards wide, forms the main

street. These houses are mostly occupied by friendly Moros.

Nearly parallel to the Sipaca-Soarag-Quimanquil range a second

range stretches irregularly in a north and south line, ending at the

coast near Cagayan. Amongst these mountains is Mt Quitanglag. From

Pt. Sulanan the western extremity of the Bay of Macajalar, a third

range stretches south, then south-east, then south again for some

thirty miles. Between this range and the Bay of Iligan there is

a fourth range of hills. These four ranges form three valleys or

watersheds, each of which has its river, with a general course from

south to north, all three running into the Bay of Macajalar.

The most easterly is the River of Tagoloan which has fourteen

tributaries, the next is the River Cagayan with only three, then the

River Capay with seven tributaries, all on the left bank.

Proceeding westward we come to the great and deep Lake of Lanao,

described under the heading Moros, but which has never been surveyed,

and then to the Gulf of Panguil, which, on the map, looks like a

forearm and clenched fist, which nearly cuts Mindanao in two. The

isthmus is only fourteen miles across in a straight line.

This was formerly a regular pirates' track, over which they hauled

their vessels, but it was till lately guarded by a chain of forts

connected by a military road called the Trocha of Tucuran.

Two rivers running in a general direction from west to east and having

between them a dozen tributaries, run into the Gulf of Panguil. The

most northerly of the two is the Mipangi and the other is the Lintogo.

We now arrive at the peninsula of Sibuguey which I have likened

to the tail of the skate. Around Lake Lanao there is an irregular

loop of hills, and from the western end of this starts a cordillera

which stretches right down the centre of the peninsula of Sibuguey

and Zamboanga. A line drawn from Punta Sicayati (in the Dapitan

excrescence) to the eastern shore of the Gulf of Dumanquilas will

intersect a range of mountains which cross the Cordillera of Sibuguey

nearly at right angles and with equal arms north and south. But the end

of the northern arm bifurcates and throws out two ranges N.E. and N.W.

In the watershed thus formed three rivers take their rise, and have

a general course from south to north but bearing a little to the

westward. The easternmost of these is called the Dapitan, and runs

into the bay of the same name. The next is the Dipolog, which runs

into the sea west of Punta Sicayab; and the last is the Lubungan,

running in about two leagues more to the west.

The other rivers in the peninsula are so unimportant that I do not

enumerate them. Like those on the east coast they become raging

torrents in the rainy season.

On the northern and southern coasts, which are more protected than the

eastern, sheltered anchorages are to be found here and there, but no

such fine natural harbours exist as abound in Southern Luzon. There is,

however, less need for them, as it is very rare that the typhoons,

which are so destructive in Luzon and the Visayas, cause damage in

Mindanao, except at its northern and eastern corner. But for service

on these coasts, vessels of a light draught of water are the most

useful, as they can more easily find sheltered anchorage.

Mindanao is not nearly so unhealthy as is commonly supposed. Zamboanga

and neighbourhood, Davao, Surigao, Talisay, and several other

places, are really quite healthy for Europeans, if they take care

of themselves.

Earthquakes are frequent. They would sometimes be destructive, but

there is so little in the way of buildings to destroy.

Divisions for Administrative Purposes.

Zamboanga is the chief military station and the residence of the

commandant-general of the island.

Mindanao is divided into five districts:--

1st. District chief town Zamboanga (capital of the island).

2nd. District chief town Misamis (includes Lake Lanao).

3rd. District chief town Surigao (includes the whole kingdom

of Caraga, also the valley of the Agusan).

4th. District chief town Davao (shores of the bay and peninsula

of San Agustin).

5th. District chief town Cotta-bato (valley of the Rio Grande

and ancient Sultanate of Buhayen).

The island of Basilan forms a sixth district under the

commandant-general of Mindanao.

Each of these districts was under a politico-military governor and

other officials, as follows:--

1st District, Major, Naval Lieutenant, Captain of Port.

2nd District, Lieut.-Colonel.

3rd District, Lieut.-Colonel.

4th District, Major.

5th District, Lieut.-Colonel.

6th District, Naval Lieutenant, Naval Station.

Besides these politico-military governors there were the following

officers in charge of military districts:--

Mumungan in 2nd district (Fort Weyler and vicinity to look after

the Moros of Lake Lanao) Major.

Dapitan in 2nd district (To look after the Moros of Sindangan

Bay) Major.

Bislig in 3rd district (To look after the Mandayas and Manobos)

Captain.

To attend to the administration of justice there was a third-class

judge in each district. From their decisions there was an appeal to

the Audiencia at Cebu, and from there to the Supreme Court, Madrid.

In Zamboanga where there is (or was) a custom-house, there resided a

Treasury delegate of the second class. In each of the other districts

there is one of the fourth class.

The southern naval division has its headquarters at Isabela de Basilan.

Productions of Mindanao.

The climate and soil of Mindanao are suitable for growing almost

any tropical crop to great advantage: hemp, sugar cane, tobacco,

coffee, cacao, rice, indigo, sesame, maize, sweet potatoes, pepper,

all flourish. But the island is very backward; it is only recently

that the savage races have been settled in the reducciones. The

population is very sparse, and natives are more addicted to washing

the sands for gold or seeking jungle-produce than disposed to apply

themselves to agriculture.

The exports have hitherto been very small. About some of the northern

ports a good beginning has been made in cultivating and preparing hemp,

and several Spaniards have laid out plantations there.

There is a small export of coffee and cacao, and the circumstance

that the greater part of the island is free from typhoons renders it

exceptionally favourable for planting these valuable products, or for

growing unlimited quantities of cocoa-nut for making copra. For the

same reason the timber in Mindanao is larger than in the best districts

of Luzon, and some of the trees are truly magnificent. Mindanao,

with its inhabitants busily engaged in murdering their neighbours

and enslaving their children, can, of course, never prosper; but if

such outrages are repressed, and peace assured, the population will

rapidly increase and agriculture will prosper.

Amongst the forest produce gutta-percha took a leading place,

but this product came through the hands of the Chinese traders,

who, as their custom is, adulterated it to such an extent that its

value became greatly depreciated in European and American markets,

and the trade fell off. Some lignite is found in Mindanao, but I have

no confidence in the value of Philippine coal-fields. They have been

too much broken up by volcanic action. I have very little doubt that

petroleum will be found in Mindanao when it is explored. It has been

reported in Mindoro and Cebu.

The early explorers of the Archipelago state that the natives wore

little clothes, but abundance of gold ornaments. Now they wear more

clothes but little gold. It is surprising how quickly the heathen

become impoverished whenever they have Christian neighbours.

Basilan.

The sixth district of Mindanao is formed of the Basilan group of some

forty islands lying opposite to Zamboanga, having a total area of

170,000 acres. The only important one of the group is Basilan Island,

which has an irregular outline, an oval with two projections opposite

each other, east and west, the latter resembles a turtle's head and

the former a turtle's tail, so that the shape of the island on the

map is that of a turtle with his head to the west. The total length

from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail is about thirty-two

geographical miles, and the width across the body about twenty-one

miles. The port of Isabela is sheltered by the Island of Malamaui,

on which there is a Moro rancheria called Lucbalan, and a Christian

visita, Sta. Barbara. The capital, Isabela, is situated about the

centre of the channel, and to the east of the mouth of the Pasahan

(now called Isabela) River.

To the south of the town, which is situated on a stony slope at a

short distance, the fort is placed at an elevation of about sixty

feet above the sea. It commands both entrances of the channel.

There is a barrack near the fort, a prison, military infirmary, school,

town hall. The naval station consists of store-houses and workshops,

marine-barracks, hospital, and magazine.

There is a church, and missionaries' residence. The island is hilly but

fertile in places. Some twenty to thirty acres are under cultivation

near Isabela, and the Moros who form the principal population make

their slaves work on the lands about their hamlets. There are no

manufactures worth mentioning.

The Christian population is as follows:--

Inhabitants.

Town of Isabela 921

Hamlet of San Pedro de Guihanan 130

Hamlet of Santa Barbara 50

Reduccion of Panigayan 25

Reduccion of Tabuc 12

Scattered Christians 12

Members of the Naval Station 86 variable.

Garrison of the Fort 40 ,,

------

1276

The Moro population is distributed in about fifty villages or

hamlets. They can turn out about 4400 fighting-men, and are considered

valiant and hardy.

The Moros of Basilan, according to Father Foradada, have not the

sanguinary instincts of those of Lake Lanao or of Jolo, and any

outrages they commit are, he thinks, due to the instigations of the

Moros of Jolo, who unfortunately keep up a communication with them

and corrupt them.

Amongst the most influential Dattos of Basilan is Pedro Cuevas,

a Tagal. He was formerly a convict, but escaped, and, by force of

character and desperate courage, he became a leading man amongst

the Moros. Having rendered some services to Spain, he received a

pardon, and now has extensive plantations, a sugar-mill, and herds

of cattle. He is, in fact, about the richest and most influential

man in the island, and has become reconciled to the Church, and was

much trusted both by the military and naval authorities and by the

missionaries.

The map of the island is from a report of Father Cavalleria who went

by sea right round it in 1893.

CHAPTER XXXVI

THE TRIBES OF MINDANAO.

Visayas (1) [Old Christians].

In another part of the book I have given a description of the Visayas

in their own islands, and have spoken of their enterprise and industry

as manifested in the extent of their exports of sugar and hemp,

and in their manufacture of textiles of the most varied kind.

The Visayas of Mindanao have been modified by their environment both

for good and evil. Thus they are bolder and more warlike than their

brethren at home, having had for centuries to defend themselves

against bloodthirsty Moros. The Visayas of Caraga are especially

valiant and self-reliant, and they needed to be so, for the Spaniards,

whenever hard pressed by English, Dutch or Portuguese, had a way of

recalling their garrisons, and leaving their dependents to shift for

themselves. The Visaya of Mindanao, therefore, though not a soldier,

is a fighting-man, and their towns possess a rudimentary defensive

organisation called the somaten. This, I believe is a Catalan word,

and indicates a body of armed townsmen called together by the church

bell to defend the place against attack. This service is compulsory

and unpaid.

The arms have been supplied by the Spanish Government, and have

generally been of obsolete pattern. I have seen in Culion flint-lock

muskets in the hands of the guards. Latterly, however, Remington

rifles have been supplied, and they are very serviceable and quite

suitable for these levies.

The Visayas have been the assistants of the missionaries, and from

them come most of the school-masters and mistresses who instruct the

children of the recently-converted natives.

Their language is fast extending, and their numbers are increasing,

both naturally, and by a considerable voluntary immigration from the

southern Visayas Islands.

To the inhabitants of these small islands, fertile Mindanao, with its

broad lands, free to all, is what the United States were a generation

ago to the cotters of Cork or Kerry--a land of promise.

There is, however, a demoralising tendency at work amongst the

Visayas. The profits of bartering with the hill-men are so great, that

they are tempted away from their agriculture, and from their looms,

to take up this lucrative trade, in competition with the Chinese.

The Visaya has one great advantage over the Chinaman; he has the

courage to go up into the hills, and find his customers in their

haunts. This the Celestial could not do, but has to remain at his

store on the coast and await the hill-men.

Both traders cheat the hill-tribes most abominably.

Dr. Montano mentions a case which happened in Butuan in December, 1879.

A Visaya went into the interior taking with him some threads of

different colours which he had purchased for seventy-five cents, and

returned with jungle produce worth ten dollars. This he invested in

beads, brass-wire, and other articles of trade, and returned to the

woods. In a month he came back, bringing produce to the value of 100

dollars, and 400 dollars to his credit with the natives.

The tribes of Mindanao pay their debts with scrupulous exactness. If

they die before paying, their sons assume the debt, and unless they

are killed or taken as slaves by other races, the money is sure to

be paid. Consequently, this rapacious usurer had sold them goods

costing 10 dollars, 75 cents, for 510 dollars, of which 110 dollars

in cash, and 400 dollars credit. It is satisfactory to learn that

the commandant at Butuan made him disgorge, and freed the hill-men

from their heavy debt.

To sum up, the Visaya is a necessary man in Mindanao, and the

immigration should be encouraged. All the Visaya towns bordering on

the Moros should have their somatenes armed, exercised, and supplied

with ammunition. Amongst Visayas are to be found plenty of men well

suited to command these bands. As they are fighting the Moros for

life and property, they may be trusted to stand up to them manfully.

The illustration shows a party of Visayas militia belonging to the

town of Baganga, in Caraga, under a native officer of gigantic stature,

Lieutenant Don Prudencio Garcia.

Mamanuas (2).

A hybrid race between Negritos and Malays.

They are not numerous, and live in the northern promontory of

Surigao, from near the River Agusan to the east coast, south of Lake

Mainit. They are, indeed, miserable wretches, wandering in the hills

and forest without any fixed habitation, their only property a lance,

a bolo, and some starveling curs.

Sometimes they plant a few sweet potatoes, and at certain times

in the year they get wild honey; at other times they hunt the

wild pig. They lay up no provisions, and wander about naked and

hungry. They are difficult to convert, having no good qualities to

work upon. They promise anything, but never perform, being able to

give as a reason--some evil omen, for instance--that, on coming out

in the morning, they have heard the cry of the turtle-dove (limbucun)

on the left hand.

Notwithstanding all these difficulties, the zeal of the missionaries

has not been wasted, and several reducciones of Mamanuas have been

founded, and are progressing to some extent.

Manobos (3).

The Manobos are a warlike heathen race, widely extended in

Mindanao. The great River Agusan, taking its rise in the district

of Davao, in 7 deg. N. latitude, falls into the Bay of Butuan about

9 deg. N. latitude. Its general course is parallel to the eastern

Cordillera, from which it receives numerous tributaries. At almost

8 deg. 15' N. latitude it expands, and forms four considerable lakes of

no great depth, and varying in extent according to the season. They

are partly covered by aquatic plants. These lakes are called Linao,

Dagun, Dinagat and Cadocun; they are quite near each other. The Manobos

inhabit this spacious valley from Moncado, in 7 deg. 45', to about 8 deg. 45'

N. latitude on the right bank, where they come in contact with the

Mamanuas and Mandayas; but on the left bank they extend nearly to the

sea, and up to the eastern slopes of the Central Cordillera. They even

extend over the Cordillera to the head waters of the Rio Grande. They

occupy the left bank of the Pulangui, and their southern frontier on

the Rio Grande is at 7 deg. 30' N. latitude, where one of their chiefs,

called the Datto Capitan Manobo, lives. The river is navigable for

vintas up to here, and, in 1863, the gunboat Taal, drawing six feet,

steamed to within five miles of this point, say up to the River

Simuni. They extend up the Pulangui to about 8 deg. 15' N. latitude. In

appearance they have a Mongolian cast of feature. Their faces are

longer than amongst the Mandayas; their noses are not flattened,

but straight, and projecting, and slightly curved at the lower

end. Their general aspect is robust; their stature is about 5 feet 7

inches. Their usual dress consists of short drawers reaching to the

knee, and a sort of singlet, or short shirt.

They live in clans under a bagani, or head-murderer (see Mandayas for

explanation), who is usually accompanied by his brothers-in-law. They

are polygamists; still, the first wife is the head, and all the others

must obey her. Each wife has her own house, just as the late Brigham

Young's harem had at Salt Lake City. But they are satisfied with fewer

than that prophet, there being none amongst their dattos who have

nineteen wives. They are slaveholders, as the children taken in war

become slaves, and all the work of cultivation is done by the women,

children and slaves.

Their houses are built on piles, as are also their granaries. They

cultivate on a considerable scale, and raise quantities of rice, maize,

sweet potatoes and tobacco, not only to supply their own wants, but

to sell in boat-loads to the Visayas. Their arms are lances, shields,

swords and daggers, and, in some parts, bows and arrows. They are

said to be expert archers where they use the bow. They raise numbers

of horses for riding.

In valour, and in disposition to come to close quarters in fighting,

they resemble the Igorrotes of Luzon. They stand up squarely to the

Moros, which few other races have the pluck to do. Like the Igorrotes,

their religion consists in ancestor-worship, but they call their

idols Dinatas instead of Anitos. They are much impressed by thunder,

which they call the voice of the lightning, and a rainbow fills them

with awe. Like the Tagals, and some races in British India, they

consider the crocodile a sacred animal, and respectfully address it as

grandfather. They also, like the old heathen Tagals, consider rocks,

caves, or balete trees, as residences of spirits. They celebrate a

feast in honour of the Dinatas after the harvest, and make sacrifices

of swine.

Tag-Busan is their god of war, and it is usual amongst them to go on

the war-path after the harvest is secured; the bagani, as high priest

of this god, carries his talisman hung round his neck.

They make ambuscades, and attack neighbours or enemies in the

most treacherous manner, either by setting fire to their houses and

murdering them as they attempt to escape from the flames, or they cut

through the piles supporting the houses, covering themselves with their

shields interlocked whilst doing so, and spearing the occupants when

the house falls. When an enemy has been felled, the bagani, taking

a consecrated sword, never used in fighting, cuts open the chest,

and immerses the talisman of the god in the blood; then, tearing

out the heart or liver, he eats a piece. The Sacopes are not allowed

this privilege, which belongs only to the chief, as the high priest

of the god of war. The children of the slain are taken as slaves,

and the young women for concubines. One of the prisoners is kept to

be sacrificed in some cruel manner to Tag-Busan on the return of the

expedition as a thank-offering.

The death of a relative requires to be atoned for by the murder of

any innocent person passing by, the avenger concealing himself near

a path, and killing the first stranger who comes.

The Manobos are very smart in handling canoes or rafts on their

rivers, which are very dangerous to navigate, and have many rapids and

whirlpools; the Pulangui even precipitates itself into a chasm, and

runs underground for a league and a half. However, the terrible picture

I have drawn of their habits is becoming year by year a thing of the

past to thousands of Manobos, although still kept up in places. The

intrepidity of the Jesuit missionaries is proof against every danger

and every privation, has carried them up the River Agusan, on which,

at short distances apart, they have established towns or villages, and

have brought many thousands of Manobos within the Christian communion.

Father Urios, one of these missionaries, baptized 5200 heathen in one

year, and now no less than twenty Christian towns or villages stand

on the banks of the River Agusan and its tributaries, populated by

perhaps fifteen thousand Manobos, formerly heathens, who have given

up their detestable practices and their murderous slave-raids to

occupy themselves in cultivating the soil, whilst their children of

both sexes are receiving instruction from Visaya school-masters and

mistresses. There is always a tendency to remontar amongst them, and

sometimes nearly all the inhabitants of a village take to the woods

and hills. Yet, secure from attack, the number of converts steadily

increases. The Baganis have become gobernadorcillos, and their chief

vassals tenientes, jueces de paz, and cuadrilleros. Some of the old

Baganis who were well off were so anxious not to be behind the Visayas,

that they sent to Manila for hats, black cloth coats and trousers,

and patent leather shoes, to wear on the great feasts of the Church,

and on the occasion of the annual village festival.

This is a long way from human sacrifices to the Tag-Busan, and

ceremonial cannibal rites, which these men formerly practised. I look

on this warlike and vigorous race as capable of becoming valuable

citizens, but they will require careful handling for some years to

come. They must not be rushed, for, if alarmed by innovations, they

may take to the woods en masse, and the labour of years will have

been wasted.

I look to this tribe, when trained to use fire-arms, and stiffened

with a few Americans, to destroy the power of the pirate races--the

murderous, slave-hunting Moros, with whom it is useless to make

treaties, who cannot be converted till the power of their dattos is

broken, and who must be sternly put down by force unless the nascent

civilisation of Mindanao is to be thrown back for a century.

In the beginning of June, 1892, a Bagani of the Manobos performed

the paghuaga, or human sacrifice, on a hill opposite Veruela, on the

River Agusan. The victim was a Christian girl whom he had bought for

the purpose from some slave-raiders.

Mandayas (4).

The Mandayas live on the Eastern Cordillera of Mindanao which

runs parallel to the coast, and their territory extends from the

7th to the 9th parallel. They occupy the country down to the River

Salug. They are remarkable for their light colour, some having quite

fair complexions. Their faces are wide, the cheek-bones being very

prominent; yet their appearance is not unpleasing, for they have

large dark eyes shaded by long eye-lashes.

They are much respected by other tribes as an ancient and aristocratic

race, and the war-like Manobos eagerly seek, by fair means or foul,

to obtain Mandaya women for wives.

They usually shave off their beards, and also their eyebrows, wearing

their hair long, tied in a knot at the back.

They are powerfully built, and of good stature. The men wear short

drawers, and on grand occasions don an embroidered jacket. Both men

and women wear large ear-ornaments. The women are clad in a bodice

and patadion with ornaments of shells, beads, or small bells. The

men are of a bold and warlike disposition, ready to fight against

other villages of their tribe when not at war with the Manobos, the

Guiangas, or the Manguangas, their neighbours. They have a language

of their own which has a great affinity to the Visaya.

Their houses, four or five forming a village, are built on lofty piles

thirty or forty, or even fifty feet above the ground. The floor is

of thick planks and has a parapet all round pierced with loop-holes

for defence. Above this parapet the house is open all round up to

the eaves, but this space can be closed in by hanging shutters in bad

weather. The construction of dwellings at such a height must involve

an enormous amount of labour. Each group of houses forming a village

is usually surrounded by a strong palisade of sharp-pointed posts,

and further defended by pits lined with sharp stakes, which are

lightly covered over with twigs and leaves.

Several families live in one house, after the custom of the Dayaks of

Borneo, to provide a garrison for defence. An ample supply of arms is

kept in the house, bows and arrows, spears, swords and knives. They

are liable to be attacked in the night, either by the Manobos,

the Moros, or by the sacopes of some neighbouring datto, who shoot

flaming arrows covered with resin into the roof to set it on fire,

or covering themselves with their shields from the arrows of the

defenders, make a determined attempt to cut down the piles so that the

house will fall. The attacking party is most often victorious, and the

defenders, driven out by fire, or bruised and entangled amongst the

fallen timbers, are easily killed, the women and children, with the

other booty, being carried off by the assailants. Under this reign

of terror the population is diminishing. These people not only kill

for booty, but also for the honour and glory of it. Each warrior is

anxious to become a bagani, and to be allowed to wear the honourable

insignia of that rank. The dress of a bagani indicates approximately

the number of murders he has committed. A scarlet head-cloth shows

that he has killed from five to ten men; a red shirt, in addition,

from ten to twenty, whilst a complete suit of red shows that he has

murdered more than twenty persons, and is a much-desired and very

honourable distinction, a sort of D.S.O. or K.C.B. amongst them.

All the dattos are baganis; they could hardly possess enough prestige

to govern their sacopes without this title.

The Mandayas are superstitious, and much attached to their own

beliefs, and on this account it is difficult to convert them to

Christianity. The devotion of the Jesuits, however, has not been in

vain, and several pueblos on the east coast round about Bislig, Caraga,

and Cateel-Baganga are now inhabited by Christian Mandayas, some of

whom have intermarried with the Visayas, or "old Christians." These

Mandayas are now safe from attack. They give their attention to

cultivation, and are increasing in numbers and rising in the scale

of civilisation.

Ancestral-worship is their religion, and their Dinatas, or wooden

idols, are stained red with the sap of the narra tree. They have

priestesses whom they call Bailanes, and they are said to occasionally

make human sacrifices.

As amongst other tribes in Mindanao, the Limbucun, or turtle-dove,

is a sacred bird, and rice and fruit is placed for its use on a small

raised platform, and it is never molested.

They are organised in a strict feudal system, the headman or datto of

each village is in fact the only free man of his clan. The others are

Sacopes--that is, followers or vassals who, as well as the datto,

possess slaves. A Mandaya datto can seldom raise more than fifty

spears; sometimes two or three federate, but expeditions on a large

scale cannot be undertaken, for it would be impossible to feed several

hundred men in their country, such is the poverty of the inhabitants.

Sometimes a small group of Mandaya dattos recognises as suzerain

some neighbouring datto of the piratical Moros, who always tries to

keep them isolated and to prevent any intercourse or trade with the

Christians, unless through themselves.

The Mandayas have canoes and bamboo rafts on the streams and rivers

running through their territory. They catch a good many fish.

Their agriculture is on a very reduced scale, and is limited to small

plantations of rice and sweet potatoes near their villages; they

keep poultry. They do not dare to travel far from their houses for

fear they might be seized for slaves, or even sold to be sacrificed

on the death of a datto. Sometimes when a man has been condemned to

death for some crime his datto sells him to some person requiring a

victim for the death-vengeance, if he is assured that it is intended

to kill him. The datto thus combines the execution of justice with

a due regard to his own profit.

Manguangas (5).

According to Blumentritt, this tribe lives in the Cordillera Sagat,

and extends as far as the Great Lake Boayan or Magindanao, and an

old estimate gives their number as 80,000. On his map he shows, the

Lake and River Boayan in dotted lines, the latter is made to fall

into the Rio Grande.

On two modern maps of Mindanao which I have, one by Jesuits and the

other from Don Jose Nieto Aguilar's book on this Island, neither

the river nor the lake appear; but, in their stead, a lofty range

of mountains is shown. In each of these maps the Manguanga territory

occupies an entirely different location.

As the Jesuits have three reducciones or villages amongst this

tribe, I accept their map as constructed according to the latest

information. They show in their earlier maps the Manguanga territory

at the head of the Bay of Davao, its southern frontier being some

twelve miles from the sea, and about the head-waters of the River

Salug and the River Agusan.

The reducciones are called Gandia, Pilar, and Compostela. In the

general Report of the Jesuit Missions of 1896, the mission station of

Jativa is stated to consist of six reducciones of Manobos, Mandayas

and Manguangas, with a total population of 1389.

In the general report of the following year the Manguangas and other

tribes are not specifically mentioned, and the total population of

the mission station of Jativa is given as 1458.

In a later ethnographical map of Mindanao the Manguanga territory

appears still more circumscribed, being limited to a strip of land

between the Rivers Julep and Nabo, affluents of the River Agusan;

Nieto's map, however, shows them extending over the Eastern Cordillera

towards Linguit, which is situated on the coast in about 7 deg. 50'

N. latitude.

Dr. Montano, who went up the Rio Salug in 1880, passing through the

Manguanga territory, says he found the banks deserted.

There can be no doubt that this once numerous tribe has been reduced

to a mere remnant, part settled in the before-mentioned reducciones,

and part still wandering in mountains.

Monteses or Buquidnones (6).

The Spanish word Montes, means hill-man. Buquid, in Tagal, means

arable land; and Taga-buquid, a countryman. The Tagal equivalent of

hill-man is Taga-bundoc, which corresponds to the jungle-wallah of

British India. The word Buquidnones may mean cultivators, and their

extensive plantations fully justify this designation. It is therefore

rather a vague expression, but still designates a particular tribe

in Mindanao, whose numbers were estimated to amount to 13,000 ten

years ago, and who have probably largely increased since then.

They occupy the valleys through which the Rivers of Cagayan and

Tagoloan run, and the hills between them and on both sides.

They hold the country of the head-waters of the Pulangui, and the right

bank, as far south as the Manobos extend on the left bank, say to 7 deg.

30' N. latitude. In the north they extend right up into the peninsula

between the Bay of Macajalar and the Bay of Lunao, occupying the lofty

mountains of Sabrac, Sinalagao, Quimanquil, and the sacred Balatucan,

whence the souls of the dead jump from earth to heaven.

Father Clotet, from whose letters to his superiors I have taken these

particulars, considers them to be divided into three large groups.

The first consists of those living in the hills and valleys of the

rivers Tagoloan, Cagayan, and Iponam; the second, of those bordering

on the Manobos of the Agusan between Gingoog and Nasipit, and the

third of those who live on the right bank of the Pulangui and on some

of its affluents.

They bear some resemblance to their neighbours the Manobos, being of

good stature, well-built, even handsome, and are of an affable and

friendly disposition; some of them are so smart and well-bred as to

be not in the least inferior to the most civilised of the Visayas,

and to judge by their free and open address, and the absence of all

affectation when settling their business with the old Christians,

nobody would take them for heathens.

Father Urios said that, from the extent of their intelligence, they

were fit to be kings of the Manobos, so much superior were they

to these.

In their dress they show a far greater idea of decorum and modesty

than any other race in Mindanao, both men and women. The latter wear a

white shirt, which is held in at the waist by a long skirt, reaching

to the ankles. Over this they wear a very short and tight jacket,

to the edges of which they sew strips of cloth of many colours in a

pleasing tracery, the short wide sleeves being trimmed in the same way.

They show great taste in choosing the colours and designs with which

they ornament their dresses. On the left side at the waist they hang

some bead ornaments, small bells, and bunches of scented herbs. On

their legs they wear many loose rings of brass, copper, or silver,

which rattle when they walk. Their manner of dressing their hair

is singular, and characteristic. They take the bulk of the hair,

and without plaiting it they twist and knot it in a high and large

coil. All round the head fall curls cut to one length, but on the

forehead there is a fringe coming down almost to the eye-brows. They

secure the coil with a handsome and showy comb, well made of metal,

or precious metals, according to the means of the wearer. Many of them

are loaded with bracelets from the wrists to near the elbows, either of

metal, of tortoise-shell, or mother-of-pearl. In their ears they wear

large ornaments called balaring, made of a plug of soft wood, having

on each end a circular plate of brass, copper, silver, or of engraved

gold, one larger than the other. The hole of the ear is greatly

stretched to allow the smaller plate to pass through; the plug then

remains in the hole, and is covered at each end by the plates. They

wear also necklaces, sometimes of great value. These manufactures

seem to be very similar to those of the Igorrotes, which have been

detailed at length in the description of that interesting people.

Father Clotet mentioned a curious necklace worn by one of these women,

formed of ancient silver coins, diminishing in size from the centre to

the extremities. In the middle was a silver dollar of Charles III. He

considered this to be worth thirty dollars, which was quite a capital

to a Montes in a small hamlet.

Even when pressed by necessity they will not sell these ornaments, and

they consequently pass from father to son for many generations. They

wear rings of brass, silver or gold, not only on their fingers,

but also on their toes.

The dress of the men on ordinary occasions is quite simple, but on

grand occasions they wear long trousers of European cloth, jackets of

the same stuff, and fine beaver hats. Their shirts of fine linen are

not worn outside the trousers as amongst the Tagals, only the front

being shown, which is often beautifully embroidered. Those amongst

them who, although heathens, have a frequent intercourse with the

Christians, have their hair cut short and take great care of it; but

those living amongst the hills let it grow long, and, rolling it into a

knot, tie it up in a kerchief like the charros of Aragon. Some of them

paint their teeth black, and file them into points. The wealthy men and

women cover their teeth with thin gold plates, like the chiefs amongst

the Igorrotes, but unlike them they take them off to eat. It would

seem to be indecent to show one's teeth to any person of superior rank.

They believe in a future life, and are polytheists. They worship

the gods of the cardinal points: the god of the north is called

Domalongdong; he of the south, Ongli; of the east, Tagolambong;

of the west, Magbabaya.

This last god, Magbabaya, which means Almighty, has, however, two other

gods of equal rank: Ibabasag and Ipamahandi. The first is invoked for

the safe delivery of pregnant women; the second takes care of the

horses and cattle, and as there is hardly a Buquidnon who does not

possess some of these animals to assist him in his labour, Ipamahandi

is constantly called upon to help them when any accident happens.

Tagum-Banua, the god of the fields, is prayed to for a good harvest,

and a feast called the Caliga, corresponding to our harvest festival,

is held in his honour. The Tao-sa-sulup, or men of the woods,

correspond to the Tic-Balan of the old heathen Tagals, and inhabit

the trunks of secular trees, especially the Balete, or rocky crags

or caves, intervening in the affairs of mortals to favour them or

upset them. Consequently they make sacrifices to these spirits to

propitiate them and gain their favour.

Tigbas is a much respected god, looked upon with special reverence

as having come down from heaven. He is represented by stone idols

on stone pedestals, only possessed by the principal dattos, who keep

them amongst the heir-looms of their ancestors, and only allow their

near relations or intimate friends to see them.

Talian is a small idol in the figure of a monkey squatting, usually

made from the root of the willow. This they carry about with them,

hanging from a cord round its neck. When on a journey, if they fear

an ambush, they hold out the cord with the little idol on it like a

plumb-line, and let it spin. When it comes to rest, its face is turned

in the direction where the enemy is concealed. They then carefully

avoid that direction, if they have been following it, by turning off

and taking another path. If one of them is ill, they submerge the idol

in a cup of water which he immediately drinks. Otherwise, by simply

touching the suffering part, they find relief, and even a radical cure.

The Busao, an evil spirit, must be kept in good humour, and to this

end they offer to it meat and drink, and sing and dance in its honour,

praying to it to deliver them from any calamity they fear.

The elders are charged with the duty of offering fruits and of

sacrificing the pigs and fowls to the deities. It will be seen what a

strong religious bias prevails amongst these people, who are convinced

that all the affairs of life are in the hands of Divine Providence,

and of the necessity of prayer and sacrifice.

Marriages amongst them are arranged by the parents or by the head

chief of their tribe, the Masalicampo (Maestro de Campo). A house

is prepared for the young couple, and an abundant feast is made

ready, including an ample supply of a fermented drink called pangasi,

which is preserved in large jars. When the guests have assembled, and

everything is ready, the bride and bridegroom exchange a few words, and

each receives from their respective fathers a small morsel of cooked

rice. This they hold out for a short time on the palms of their hands,

and then each places the morsel in the mouth of the other, and this

action solemnises the marriage. The Tagbanuas have the same custom.

Immediately an animated conversation bursts out amongst the guests,

and a profuse and carefully-cooked feast is served.

To the feast succeeds a prolonged drinking bout, the guests sucking

up the liquor through straws or canes from the jars which contain

it. Amongst the Monteses it is not considered good form to return

home from a wedding ostentatiously sober.

Polygamy is allowed, but little practised, only the dattos having

two or perhaps three wives.

Father Barrado, who was a missionary amongst them, remarked on the

repugnance these people have to pass through the territory of some

other datto, and Dr. Montano, who crossed Mindanao from Davao to

Butuan, confirms this very fully as regards Mandayas and Manobos. In

order that they may do this in safety, the principal dattos have a

large and highly-ornamented lance called a quiap. In return for a

small fee they lend this to any of their Sacopes who desire to pass

through another datto's territory as a passport, or safe conduct. When

carrying this lance, far from being molested, travellers are treated

with consideration and deference, even in time of war.

The principal dattos show their grandeur by having enormous jars,

in which they preserve their heir-looms or rare and curious objects,

or use for holding provisions. Gongs also are much esteemed amongst

them. But their most precious possessions are certain wooden-boxes

or trunks with copper coins nailed all over them in patterns, in

which they keep their clothes and arms. In this they resemble the

rajahs and sultans of the Malays. They use swords and lances, bolos,

and sometimes the Malay kris with inscriptions and marks in Arabic,

these last are got from the Moros. Some of their arms are beautifully

made with carved handles of hard wood, and inlaid with silver,

having sheaths of polished wood. Some of them have coats of mail,

made of brass plates and wires, ornamented with silver. These appear

to be of great antiquity, and it is not known where they came from

originally. Others have quilted jackets such as Cortes found amongst

the Mexicans. Notwithstanding their amiable characteristics, they make

forays like the Manobos, and attack other tribes, killing the adults,

and carrying off the children as slaves and the girls as concubines.

They use the pneumatic tinder-box like the Igorrotes. They are fond

of smoking, and raise large crops of excellent tobacco, selling their

surplus in Cagayan de Misamis. They prefer to smoke their tobacco

in pipes, which they make themselves. They also chew buyo. On their

voyages they carry pouches to contain their belongings, and a curious

crescent-shaped box made of brass plate, which they tie on in front.

Although able to make long journeys on foot, they usually ride, and

are excellent horsemen, riding up and down the steepest paths. Their

horses are adorned with one or two necklaces of sleigh-bells, so that

they can be heard approaching from a distance.

They have no calendar, but know from the appearance of certain

constellations in the heavens, to which they give names of their own,

that the rainy season is approaching, and they then set to work busily

to prepare their land for sowing or planting.

They use the plough, and make extensive plantations of maize,

which is their principal article of food, and also of rice, they

sell the surplus to the inhabitants of the coast towns, for articles

they require, especially salt. They make small stone hand-mills for

grinding maize, and what is much more curious, they have invented

and manufactured cotton gins, having two wooden rollers geared

together, worked by a crank on the upper one. These gins work with

great regularity.

In 1889 they were much interested in planting and preparing Abaca,

and Gingoog, one of their outlets, exported no less than 11,000 piculs,

or the equivalent of 5500 bales in twelve months. They also take down

to the coast-towns quantities of wax and resin. Their labour ought

to make them wealthy, but here again we find the rascally Chinaman,

who, intoxicating them with some vile spirits, deceives them in the

price, cheats them in the weight, and sends them back sick and ill

from their unaccustomed libations, with some wretched rubbish in

exchange for their valuable produce. By this means their industry is

checked, and those who take down goods return in worse plight than

they went. Any decent Government would prohibit the demoralisation

of this interesting people, but the Chinaman well understands how to

deal with the local Spanish authorities, and even subscribes largely

to the church, for he likes to have two strings to his bow.

The musical instruments of the Monteses are clarinets, flutes,

guitars of three strings, and a small drum.

At the time of the harvest, from the first peep of day to sunrise,

before beginning to work, they sing or chant certain songs, the men

and women taking alternate verses.

They have courts of justice to punish robbery and other offences. Their

laws are traditional, passing from father to son, and occasionally

altered at the discretion of the principal datto, to whom they appeal

if they have been gravely offended. The principal datto having taken

his seat, his head is bound round with the pinditon, or head-cloth,

with three points, and he takes the quiap (already mentioned) in his

hand. He then invites two inferior dattos, who take seats one on each

side of him. The prisoner is then led forward by a guard, who sticks

their lances in the earth near the seats of the tribunal. The case

is argued on both sides, the court deliberates and gives judgment and

sentence, which is executed upon the spot, fine, corporal-punishment,

or death. This is quite an ideal criminal court, and worthy of all

respect.

Amongst them it is considered as a want of education and good manners

to mention their own names, and if a stranger asks, "What is your

name?" the person interrogated does not answer, but some one else

replies, "His name is so-and-so." This actually happened to me amongst

the Tagbanuas of Paragua, when I visited them. (See Tagbanuas.)

They believe in omens, and have many curious customs, too long to

relate, but I shall mention one.

If a stranger enters a house to visit those who inhabit it, and during

the conversation a fowl should fly and pass before him, the people of

the house instantly kill it, and cooking it as quickly as possible,

they eat it in company with the visitor to allay his fright, and cause

his soul to return to his body, for it might have left him when he

was startled.

The houses in their villages are large and well-built, sometimes the

walls are of thick planks of hard wood tied together with rattan,

for they use no nails. The houses in the country are smaller, and

low in the roof, but always so high from the ground that the longest

lance will not reach the floor.

Great respect is shown to the dead. They are usually buried in their

fields with lance, sword, and bolo laid beside them. They make a

mound of earth over the grave, fixing several stakes like St Andrew's

crosses, and protecting the whole with the bark of a tree fastened over

the stakes. From a high post hangs a bag of rice, that the soul of the

defunct may sustain itself on the long journey to Mount Bolotucan,

the highest peak of the whole region. The soul having arrived on

this peak, gives one great jump, and reaches heaven, at a higher or

lower level, according to the greater or lesser probity of its life

on earth. Wherever it lands, there it remains to all eternity. The

relations make great lamentations at the death, and loose their hair

which they do not roll up for a greater or lesser period, according

to the love they bore the dead.

It is pleasing to be able again to state that the bravery, the wisdom,

and the faith and charity of the Jesuits exercised amongst this race

has had a rich reward. During the four years which concluded in 1889,

no less than 6600 heathen Monteses renounced their superstitions, their

polygamy, and their slave-hunting murdering raids, and, accepting

the doctrines of our Saviour, were baptized into the Christian

faith. Besides the older coast towns, mostly occupied by Visayas,

twenty-four Christian villages extend from the Bay of Macajalar far

into the Montese country, now giving the hand to the military garrisons

on the Rio Grande amongst those irreclaimable pirates the Moros.

The Cross was triumphing over the Crescent in Mindanao quite as much,

nay, much more, by the voices of the missionaries as by the Spanish

bayonets. It will be an outrage on Christianity, a blot on their

renown, if through ignorance or folly, the United States should so act

as to put a stop to this holy and civilising work, and so give occasion

for some future author to write another "Century of Dishonour."

Atas or Ata-as (7).

These people occupy a considerable territory from the River Libaganon,

which falls into the Gulf of Davao round the northern slopes of Mount

Apo, about the head-waters of the rivers running into Lakes Liguan

and Buluan. To the north they have the Tagavauas and the Manobos;

to the south the Vilanes, and on the east the Guiangas, Bagobos and

Calaganes. The swampy country on the west separates them from the

Moros of Lake Liguan. From the extent of their territory the Atas

are probably very numerous.

They appear to be a hybrid Malayo-Negrito race, but have advanced

considerably in social organisation. They go decently dressed, the men

wearing short drawers and a shirt of Chinese pattern, and the women a

patadion and an embroidered bodice--with strings of beads round the

neck for ornament. They weave stuffs similar to those made by the

neighbouring tribes. They are said to be of a determined character,

and to stand up to the Moros in defence of their families and property.

They also attack other tribes and commit atrocious murders, not

sparing women and children.

A missionary passing near their territory on the River Libaganon in

November 1892, found several households in great grief on account of

unprovoked murders committed by the Atas.

As the Atas live remote from the sea-coast and have no navigable rivers

running through their territory, the missionaries have not yet been

able to make much impression on them, but they are working their way

up the Davao River, and the reduction of Belen established in 1891

is quite on the borders of the Atas territory. Murders, slave-raids,

and human sacrifices, are still the ordinary events of Atas life.

The illustration shows two determined-looking Atas warriors with spear

and shield, two women and two young girls, all carefully dressed and

wearing their ornaments.

Guiangas (8).

The Guiangas live on the slopes of Mount Apo, to the North of the

Bagobos, whom they much resemble in manners and customs. In view of

the small territory they occupy, they cannot be numerous.

They have a rather effeminate air, the men wearing their hair long;

but notwithstanding this, they are quite robust, of remarkable agility,

and very adroit in the use of arms.

Montano gives the average height of the man as 5 feet 41/2 inches,

and measured some up to 5 feet 71/2 inches. The men wear short drawers

and huge ear ornaments. Their weapons are the bow and spear. They

are organised on the same feudal system as the other tribes being

governed by their dattos. Their houses, as usual, are built on high

piles. They are tolerably industrious, and occasionally work for the

Visayas on their plantations. They possess horses, cattle, and poultry,

and make the usual plantations of rice, camote, and maize.

As regards their religion, Tighiama is the Creator, and Manama the

governor of the world. Todlay, the god of love, is husband of the

Virgin Todlibun, and the women celebrate certain rites in his honour.

Dewata is the protector of the house, and he is said to love blood. It

is therefore incumbent on the head of every household to avenge any

insult in the blood of the offender.

As amongst other tribes, the death of a datto, or of one of his

wives, requires a human sacrifice in number proportionate to the

rank of the defunct. The victims are usually taken from amongst the

slaves of the datto, but in some cases they are purchased by public

subscription. Being securely fastened to trees so that they cannot

move, the largest subscriber inflicts a stab--politely avoiding

giving a mortal wound, then the others follow in accordance with

the importance of their subscription. The cries of the victim, thus

gradually done to death, are drowned by the vociferations of his

executioners. These sacrifices are still carried on in the remoter

districts, but the missionaries are beginning to convert the Guiangas

nearest the coast, and have established several reducciones in Guianga

territory, such as Garellano, Oran, Guernica, Oyanguren. In the parish

of Davao and its missions, there were at the end of 1896 nearly

12,000 Christians, and the missionaries were actively at work and

were meeting with success. If they are re-established, and supported,

in a few years' time human sacrifices will only be a dread tradition

of the past.

The illustration shows a group of Guiangas, both men and women,

the latter wearing many ornaments.

Bagobos (9).

This small tribe occupies the southern and eastern slopes of the

Apo volcano, reaching down to the coast of the Bay of Davao, between

the River Taumo on the north, and the River Digos on the south. They

also have an outlying settlement at Piapi--now called Vera--on the

Ensenada de Casilaran. The lower part of their territory is swampy,

and the inhabitants of this district suffer from fever and ague, and

present a sickly appearance. They resemble the Manobos in disposition

and in customs, and their weapons are the same. Their dress consists of

short drawers and a jacket. The women wear a shirt and patadion. They

are moderate in eating, and cleanly in their persons. Dr. Montano

greatly praises the beauty of their country, especially about the

banks of the Rio Matina.

The peculiarity of the Bagobos is that they are horse-Indians,

everybody--men, women and children--rides in their country.

They breed these horses, which are small, but endowed with remarkable

endurance, and their saddles, although rude, are scientifically

constructed, like miniature McClellans. They ride with very short

stirrups, and the men are always seen spear in hand when mounted. They

carefully preserve by tradition the genealogy of their horses, and

give their favourite animals a ration of 41/2 lbs. of paddy per day,

as well as grass.

The basis of their food is rice and sweet potatoes, which they

cultivate, using the buffalo and plough, and getting the manual labour

done by their slaves.

They plant coffee, cacao, and bananas, but having assured their

subsistence, they love to wander off into the woods to seek for

jungle-produce, such as wax, honey, almaciga, and the coarse cinnamon

of the country, all of which finds a ready sale on the coast.

They are said to strictly perform all their engagements.

They cultivate abaca, and from the filament of this plant their women

weave the tissues called dagmays, which they polish by rubbing them

with shells till they take a lustre like silk. They dye these stuffs

in a primitive manner, but with satisfactory results.

The men are tolerable smiths, and forge their weapons from old

iron, which they obtain in barter. They make bits (for horses),

and bracelets, and collars of brass. Amongst them gold is said to be

dearer than in Paris, although the sands about Malalag, just south

of their territory, yield gold.

The Jesuits have made many converts amongst them, and they were, till

the Spanish-American war, under the spiritual care of the veteran

missionary, Father Urios, and his assistants. In October, 1894, 400

Bagobos were baptized. I am unable to give the numbers of the Bagobos,

even approximately, but, from the small territory they occupy, they

cannot be numerous.

The illustration shows the celebrated Datto Manib, one of the principal

baganis (head-murderers) of the Bagobos, of the Apo, accompanied by

his lance-bearers, one of whom holds the quiap. Behind him are some

of his wives and children, and other followers. But not even the hard

heart of this blood-stained wretch could withstand the persuasion of

the Jesuits, and in 1894 he was baptized, and commenced to build the

town of Santillana for himself and followers.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE TRIBES OF MINDANAO--CONTINUED.

Calaganes (10).

A small tribe living on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Apo, about

the head-waters of the River Digos, which runs into the Gulf of Davao,

a little north of the Ensenada de Casilaran.

They are reported to be of good stature, and of a dark colour, to

understand the language of the Vilanes, but to speak their own tongue,

which is similar to the Manobo. They are industrious cultivators of

the soil, and store provisions for their use, never suffering from

famine, but rather assisting others less careful. Their country is

very broken, consisting of deep valleys, divided from each other by

lofty crests. These valleys are full of people, so that the tribe

must be numerous.

Father Urios visited them in January of 1894, and was well treated. The

reducciones of Aviles and Melitta have been recently formed amongst

them, and their conversion was proceeding till the war began. Their

territory forms part of the parish and missions of Davao.

Tagacaolos (11).

The Tagacaolos live in the district of Davao, on the west coast of the

gulf from Malalao as far south as Lais. There are also some living on

the peninsula of San Agustin, between Cuabo and Macambol. Physically,

they are inferior to the neighbouring tribes, not so much in stature

as in muscular development. They are timid, and those who are

still heathen select places for their hamlets that cannot easily

be surprised, such as rocks, or crags without forest round them,

although this obliges them to carry water from a great distance.

A considerable number of them have been converted, and settled in

hamlets near the coast, but the mass of them are still heathen.

Their faces are long, the nose thin, and the extremity of it slightly

curved.

They are the victims of the Bagobos and Guiangas, who attack them for

the purpose of carrying them off into slavery. They themselves prey

on the Vilanes, who are less capable of defence, and make slaves of

them. They also fight amongst themselves. They make human sacrifices

to their god Mandarangan, who lives in the crater of the Apo volcano,

to avert his wrath, and when any noise is heard from the volcano,

they consider that he is demanding a victim.

In 1896, more than 300 Tagacaolos had been baptized, and were

living in a civilised manner in the town of Malalag, now called Las

Mercedes. The conversion of this tribe was being actively carried on

by the assistants of the veteran missionary, Father Urios, who resided

in Davao until the Spanish-American war. Las Mercedes was improving,

and promised to become a town of some importance.

A detachment of infantry was stationed there.

The influence of the missionaries extended beyond the reducciones, and

had some effect amongst the heathen in discouraging human sacrifices

and tribal wars. It may be expected that, before long, these dreadful

rites will be put an end to, if the missionaries are enabled to return.

Dulanganes (12).

The Dulanganes hold a territory about twenty miles square to the south

of the Tirurayes, which extends from the crests of the mountains to

the coast. On the east they have the Vilanes. I have not been able

to learn anything whatever about this people, nor, so far as I know,

are there any reducciones in their territory.

Tirurayes (13).

The Tirurayes occupy the hills to the south of the delta of the Rio

Grande, the coast being occupied by Moros.

They are reported to be of low type, physically, and to hold the

chastity of their wives and daughters as of no account.

The proximity of the Moros probably accounts for this looseness of

morals. The missionaries have been working amongst them for years,

and in 1891 they had baptized 109. However, the converts were not

settled in towns, but wandered about the hills as they liked. Since

then, more of them have been baptized, and were settled in Tamontaca,

and several reducciones have been founded in their territory. In

Tamontaca, during 1896, between heathen and Moros, there were 152

conversions and baptisms during the year, besides 197 baptisms of

infants born of Christian parents. The Tagacaolos used to apply

to the missionaries for everything they required--medicine for the

sick, Spanish red wine for women after child-birth, or boards to make

coffins. So the missionaries not only had to bury them for nothing,

but had to find them the coffin into the bargain.

On the other hand, the Tirurayes declined to cut timber for the

chapels at their reducciones, or to haul it to place, or to do any

kind of work unless paid for it. Their zeal does not lead them to do

anything for the Church as a free offering. They find it very hard to

break themselves of their nomadic customs, and are particularly apt to

remontar. However, they treated the missionaries with great respect,

and these could go anywhere amongst them without danger.

Since the war, the missionaries have abandoned Tamontaca, and the

whole neighbourhood is in disorder.

Tagabelies (14).

The Tagabelies inhabit the hilly country between Lake Buluan and

the Gulf of Sarangani, to the west of the volcanoes Magolo and

Maluturin. They are reported to be very ferocious, and have not been

visited by the missionaries.

Samales (15).

These people inhabit the islands of Samal and Talicud, in the Gulf

of Davao, and are not to be confounded with the Moros Samales of

Tawi-tawi and Jolo.

The Samales surpass both the Moros and Nisayas in muscular development

and stature.

Their feet and hands are large; they have high and projecting

cheek-bones, and a stiff beard standing out round the face gives it,

according to Montano, something of a cat-like appearance. Both sexes

dress like the Moros.

They are less ferocious than their neighbours, and do not, like them,

go about armed.

They do not commit any aggressions, and are industrious. In character,

they are superior to the Moros, and are not like them--cunning and

deceitful.

They have been on good terms with the Spaniards for a long time,

but until quite lately they were very obstinate, and could not be

persuaded to be baptized.

They cultivate the usual crops, fish, and make salt. The women weave

dagmays.

They used to have slaves, whom they purchased from the Moros or

Manobos, and treated them well.

Formerly, they enclosed their dead in wooden coffins, made in two

parts, the shallower part serving as a lid. Each piece was hollowed

out of a solid log. They placed the coffins on a rude platform in a

cave or niche in the rocks, or else built a thatched roof over it to

keep off the rain.

They placed near the coffin buyo and bonga for chewing, and vases

containing rice and maize. Each year after the harvest they went to

visit the dead, and renewed the offerings.

Little is known of their former religion, but they worshipped the

serpent, and believed in the immortality of the soul, and in a place

of punishment by fire, which they called Quilut.

The patience and zeal of the missionaries has, however, been richly

rewarded, and in June, 1894, a number of Samales were baptized,

including most of their dattos. By the autumn of that year there was

not a heathen left in the islands, and the Samales are now settled in

seven villages--San Jose, San Ramon, Alcira, Tarifa, Carmona, Cervera,

and Pena Plata. This last was the residence of the missionary, who

was accompanied by a lay brother. The population at the beginning of

1897 was 1625.

Vilanes (16).

These people, the prey of every warlike tribe, and even of the

Tagacaolos, live on the summit of the mountains of Buhian, to the

east and west of the lake of that name.

Some of them extend as far south as the eastern shore of the Gulf of

Sarangani, and they people the two islands of Sarangani and Balut.

They are short and thickset, with little agility.

Montano describes them as having flat, broad noses, underhung jaws,

and receding foreheads, giving them an appearance of stupidity.

Father Urios, however, writing about the Vilanes of Sarangani and

Balut, gives a more favourable description of them. He says they

are docile and industrious, and more active and intelligent than the

Moros Sanguiles, who live on these same islands.

He thought them easy to convert, for they have no religious system of

their own; but they believe in God, and in the immortality of the soul.

Although living so near the Moros, they have not adopted any of their

religious ideas.

The Sarangani Vilanes dress like the Bagobos, and handle the lance

and the bow, and are good shots in hunting game.

Subanos (17).

The word Subanos means dwellers by the rivers, from suba--a river.

This numerous tribe inhabits the western peninsula of Mindanao from

Misamis to Zamboanga, except the coasts which are mostly occupied by

Visayas or Moros.

They are of a darker colour and inferior in physique to the Mandayas

and Monteses.

Like other races in Mindanao the Subanos are organised under dattos

or baganis in a feudal system. It is said that he who has killed one

enemy may wear a red head-cloth, whilst other tribes only concede

this distinction to a warrior who has killed five.

In religion, they are polytheists, and worship the following deities

amongst others:

Tagma-sa-dugat, or Lord of the Sea.

Tagma-sa-yuta, or Lord of the Earth.

Tagma-sa-manga bugund, or Lord of the Woods.

Tagma-sa-manga Suba, or Lord of the Rivers.

Tagma-sa-Saquit, or Lord Protector of the sick.

But they are said not to possess wooden idols like the Manobos,

Mandayas and Monteses. They raise rough altars of sticks, on which

they lay out offerings to their deities. They call these altars

Paga-paga. The offerings consist of rice, chickens, eggs, buyo and

tobacco, also a large jar of pangasi, a beer brewed from rice. When

making their offerings, they sing, dance, and pray round the altar

to the sound of the sucaran, a rough kind of cymbal or gong. Amongst

the Subanos only the dattos or rich men have more than one wife. The

marriage ceremonies are very elaborate, and conclude with two great

feasts or drinking bouts, one in the house of the bride's father,

the other in the house of the bridegroom. Divorce can be obtained if

the couple cannot agree, or if either quarrels with the father- or

mother-in-law. It is not readily conceded, and the case is sometimes

argued for days before the council of elders of the village. Children

are only given names when four or five years old. The Subanos have

no money in circulation, and any trading is effected by barter.

They bury their dead the day after their decease, wrapping the body

in a mat. The grave is dug about a yard deep, and near the house. The

Balian or priest accompanies the bearers, and sprinkles water on

the house and ground as he goes. Women do not accompany the funeral

party. The body is laid on a bed of leaves, resting on a framework of

sticks or canes at the bottom of the grave. The sides are protected

in the same way, and over it another framework is constructed,

carrying an earthen jar containing food and clothing. The weapons

of the defunct are laid over him, and the grave is filled in with

earth, great care being taken not to let a particle of it touch the

body. Sacrifices are made to the god Diuata; these constitute the

funeral feast, which is consumed in silence. When it is concluded,

the dishes and pots which contained it are turned upside down.

On the eighth day another feast is held, when they talk and dance,

intoxicating themselves with copious libations of pangasi. The priest

then goes through a ceremony the purport of which is to hand over the

soul of the defunct to Diuata-sa-langit, the god of heaven. He begs

the soul to go away with the god, and to trouble them no more. They

then renew the dancing and drinking, and thus conclude the period

of mourning.

The houses of the Subanos are similarly constructed to those of the

Manobos, Monteses, and other tribes, but are not always raised so

high from the ground, and are more roughly built. Their food is

similar to that of the other heathen tribes. The men wear their

hair long, but coiled up on the head, and covered with a kerchief

worn like a turban. They dress in a tight jacket and trousers,

either white, blue, or red. Sometimes they wear a sash. The men do

not wear ear-ornaments of any kind. The women wear large combs made

by themselves from bamboos, but no head-covering. Their ornaments

are ear-rings, strings of beads round the neck, and many bangles

or bracelets of brass or silver. They are clothed in a short shirt,

either of homespun or Manchester cotton, and a skirt worn tight round

the body, and reaching below the knees.

The weapons of the Subanos are the lance, which they call talanan,

a round shield they call taming, a scimitar they call campilan,

the Malay kris they call caliz, the machete or pes.

Their agriculture and industries are very primitive, and on a small

scale.

They have scarcely any other musical instrument than brass gongs

called Agum, which are played as dance music to their two dances,

the Saldiringan and the Sinigay. In the first of these dances the men

stand up in a row, opposite a row of women. All hold a palm-branch

in each hand with which to beat time. They jump up and down with eyes

fixed on the ground.

For the Sinigay, however, the partners touch each other's hands,

but only with the points of the fingers. The Subano, equivalent to

our Mrs. Grundy, would feel shocked to see gentlemen dancing with

their arms round their partners' waists.

The principal feast is called Birclog, and it lasts eight days. A large

shed is built, the priests offer prayers to the before-mentioned gods,

and sacrifice swine and poultry. The pigs are strangled by a rope

held or jerked by all the priests, and are placed on the altar one

at a time. Above the carcass is placed a live cock, which they kill

by wounding it through the mouth and letting it bleed to death. They

also offer tobacco, rice, and pangasi.

The offerings are taken away to be cut up and cooked. They are then

served, and the pangasi goes round, the priests being always served

first and getting the best of everything, as seems to be the case

all the world over.

When the first lot of people have been fed, they vacate the shed,

which is instantly filled by a fresh lot. Sometimes in one of these

feasts they consume twenty pigs and forty ten-gallon jars of the

strong rice-beer. When intoxicated, their conduct, according to Father

Sanchez, S.J., is apt to overstep the bounds of propriety, but in this

they are very much like more civilised people in the same condition.

The only vessels possessed by the Subanos are some canoes, or dug-outs,

on the rivers. These are sometimes of great length, and are called

by them Sacayan. They propel them with great skill, using a long

double-ended paddle which they use standing up, and alternately on

either side. Like many other races of the Far East, they consider

a lunar eclipse as the precursor of great calamities, and make

a deafening noise to frighten away the serpent or dragon which is

swallowing the moon. They consider the turtle-dove, or limocon, as an

omen-bird, and will halt or perhaps return if they hear its cry when

starting on a journey. Also if they hear any one sneeze whilst going

down the ladder of the house, they return, and remain within doors.

Some of the Subanos bear Moro titles, such as Timuay, which is

equivalent to third class judge. Father Vilaclara, S.J., a bold and

enterprising missionary, visited, in 1890, the house of a Subano

named Audos, who had recently succeeded his father as Timuay of the

Sindangan River.

He counted twenty-nine persons, great and small, in the house,

but this did not include the whole family, as several were absent

at their occupations. The house was built on piles, according to the

universal custom, and the floor could not be reached from the ground

by the longest lance. It measured eighteen yards long by ten yards

wide, and formed one vast apartment, there being no partitions of

any kind. The floor was made of strips of bamboo, and on this account

it must be out of reach, for as the inhabitants sleep on grass mats

laid on the floor, they could easily be speared in the night through

the interstices of the canes.

Five married couples and their children occupied this apartment,

each having its own part of the floor, its own store of rice, its own

pigs and poultry. Each family cooked and ate independently, but all

showed the greatest respect to the aged grandparents, and consulted

them about their affairs. Father Vilaclara appears to have ultimately

converted the whole family, beginning with the boys, whom he took under

his charge, dressed and fed them, and taught them to speak Visaya.

Gold-washing and gold-mining is practised by the Subanos between

Dapitan and Misamis, where there is a vast extension of gold-bearing

sand and earth. Near Pigtao auriferous iron pyrites occurs. The native

name for this ore is Inga.

Horses are very abundant in the district of Misamis, and in common

use for riding and as pack carriers.

The Subanos have the reputation of being war-like, yet until

lately they were entirely dominated by the Moros wherever they came

in contact. Since 1893 the Spaniards have isolated them from the

Ilanao Moros by establishing a chain of forts, and making a Trocha,

or military road, across the narrow neck of land from Tucuran on the

Bahia Illana to Balatacan on Bahia Panquil. The width of the isthmus

here is about sixteen miles, and the forts are called Alfonso XIII,

Infanta Isabel, Sta. Paz, and Sta. Eulalia, and Maria Cristina.

The Subanos appear to be much more refractory to civilisation and

Christianity than the Monteses, the Manobos or the Mandayas. This no

doubt comes from the strong influence that vile nests of pirates and

slave-traders around Lake Lanao has for centuries exercised over them,

but in time the Trocha, if kept as it should be, in the interests of

civilisation, will destroy that.

The Jesuit missionaries were actively at work round about the Bay of

Dapitan in the extreme north of the Subano territory, and to some

extent round about Zamboanga in the extreme south, until the war

between Spain and America broke out.

In the Dapitan district there were at the end of 1896 nearly 15,000

Christians residing in the towns and villages under the spiritual,

and temporal guidance of the Jesuits. During that year 208 heathen

were baptized in the Dapitan district, but only 21 in the Zamboanga

district.

It is safe to assume that in the Dapitan district alone there are

10,000 Christian Subanos.

The number of heathen Subanos, amongst whom there are a few

semi-Mahometans, may be about 90,000. From these figures it is quite

evident that the missionary enterprise should be extended, but in

order to do this the insolence of the Moros must be chastised.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

The Moros, or Mahometan Malays (18 to 23).

These terrible pirates who have for centuries laid waste the coasts

of the Philippines and the adjacent islands, with fire and sword,

carrying off tens of thousands of Christians or heathen into slavery,

have only within the last few years had their power definitely broken

by the naval and military forces of Spain and by the labours of the

Jesuit missionaries, amongst the heathen tribes of the island.

It is scarcely half a century since they annually attacked the

Visayas Islands and even Southern Luzon, and they have been, up to

quite lately, the great obstacle to the civilisation of the Southern

Philippines. In Culion, Cuyos and other islands the churches are built

within a stone fort, in which the population took refuge when the

Moros appeared. The old Spanish sailing men-of-war could not cope with

these sea rovers, who in their light prahus, salisipanes, or vintas,

kept in shallow water or amongst reefs where these vessels could not

reach them. Of course, if the pirates were surprised when crossing

open water, they ran great risks, since their artillery was always very

deficient, but they sailed in great numbers, and if it fell calm they

would cluster round a solitary man-of-war and take her by boarding.

In consequence, a special force was raised in the Philippines to

protect the coasts against these pests. It was called "La Marina

Sutil," or the Light Navy. This force consisted of large flat-bottomed

launches propelled by oars and sails. They were half-decked forward,

and carried a long brass gun, on a slide, and some swivels on the

quarters. These boats were coppered and fitted with a cabin at the

after part. They carried forty or fifty men, all natives, and squadrons

of them were stationed at the principal southern ports from whence they

patrolled the coasts. Most of the officers were natives or mestizos;

some of them survive to this day. These vessels rendered good service,

and to some extent checked the incursions of the pirates, but they

had not the speed to follow up the fast-rowing vintas of the Moros,

which could always escape from them unless caught in narrow waters. In

1824, D. Alonso Morgado was appointed Captain of the Marina Sutil,

and severely chastised the Moros.

Some of these rowing gun-boats are still to be seen rotting on the

beach at the southern naval stations. But the introduction of steam

gun-boats in 1860 gradually did away with the Marina Sutil, and sounded

the knell of piracy in the Philippines. The Moros received terrible

chastisement at the hands of these steam gun-boats, one of which,

with a crew of only forty men, has been known to destroy a whole

fleet of pirates, and now their power on the sea has become only a

dread tradition of the past.

Even with all the advantages of steam propulsion, their suppression

has been a matter of the utmost difficulty, for the Moros are not only

possessed of the greatest personal valour, but are extremely skilful in

taking advantage of every circumstance that can favour their defence.

Their towns are mostly built in the water, like the City of Brunei,

the houses having bamboo bridges to connect them with the shore,

which can be removed when desirable. They select a site well protected

by reefs or islands, or only to be approached by long and tortuous

channels through mangrove swamps enfiladed by guns cunningly concealed

from view; a very death-trap to an attack by boats.

On rising ground and flanking their settlements they built their

Cottas or forts. The walls of these strongholds are a double stockade

of great trunks of trees, the space between them being filled with

rock, stones, or earth rammed in. Some of these walls are 24 feet

thick and as much as 30 feet high, defended by brass and iron guns,

and by numerous lantacas. Such places can stand a deal of battering,

and are not easily taken by assault, for the Moros mount the ramparts

and make a brave defence, firing grape from their guns and lantacas,

and as the assailants approach, hurling their spears on them to a

surprising distance, with accurate aim, and manfully standing up to

them in the breaches.

Should the assault slacken they never fail to rush out, helmet on

head, clad in coats of mail, and with sword and buckler engage the

foe in a desperate hand-to-hand struggle where quarter is neither

asked nor given.

The annals of Moro-Spanish war include many well-contested combats,

where, to use the language of Froissart, "many heavy blows were

given and received," where the most desperate exertions of Spain's

bravest officers, backed up by their war-like and hardy troops, not

seldom failed to carry the forts held by the indomitable and fanatic

Moros. Such Homeric combats were those between that dreaded Sultan

of Mindanao, Cachit Corralat and Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera,

and Captain Atienzas' bold attack on the hosts of the confederated

Moros of Lake Lanao. Nor were the Spanish missionaries less active

than the soldiers on the field of battle, or in the most desperate

assaults. Crucifix in hand, Father San Agustin and Father Ducos

calmly walked through many a hail of bullets and many a flight of

spears leading and encouraging their half-savage converts in their

resistance to these cruel oppressors.

Not to be out-done by either soldier or priest, Captain Malcampo, of

the Spanish Navy, drove his vessel, the Constancia, right up to the

Cotta of Pangalungan till her bowsprit touched the ramparts, then,

sword in hand, leading a company of boarders, and using the bowsprit

as a bridge, he carried the fort by assault, and put the garrison to

the sword.

The thirsty soil of Mindanao has drunk freely of Spanish blood,

and Pampango, Tagal, and Visaya have all worthily borne their part

in this long drawn-out crusade of the Cross against the Crescent.

But not alone the Moro sword and spear has delayed for so long the

conquest of Mindanao. Deadly fevers lurk in the lowlands, the swamps

and the creeks of that rich and fertile island.

The Moros appear impervious to the malaria. At all events they live

and thrive in, or in close proximity to, mangrove swamp and flooded

jungle. The Tagal or the Visaya is not immune, and some even resist

an attack of the terrible perniciosa less than a white man. I shall

never in my life forget the awful sights I witnessed in 1887 and

1892 when some native regiments returned to Manila from the war in

Mindanao. Any one who saw Shafter's army disembark on their return

from Cuba will understand me. Those who could march were mere walking

corpses, but the shrunken forms, the livid tint and the glassy eyes

of those who could not stand (and there were hundreds of them),

brought the horrors of mismanaged war to the onlooker like one of

Vereschagin's realistic masterpieces.

But as the slaughter of the Dervishes at Omdurman teaches, not even the

most dauntless bravery can prevail against modern weapons in the hands

of tolerably disciplined troops. The quick-firing gun, the howitzer

with shrapnell shell, the machine-gun and the magazine-rifle must

inevitably bring about the subjugation of every lowland population not

supplied with these dread engines of civilisation, and only the hardy

dwellers in Nature's loftiest fastnesses, the Himalayas or the Andes,

may hope to retain their independence in the future.

It is a striking instance of the irony of fate that, just as modern

weapons have turned the scale in favour of the Spaniards in this

long struggle, and brought the Moros within measurable distance of

subjection, when only one more blow required to be struck, Spain's

Oriental Empire should suddenly vanish in the smoke of Dewey's guns,

and her flag disappear for ever from battlements where (except for

the short interval of British occupation, 1762-3) it has proudly waved

through storm and sunshine for three hundred and twenty-eight years.

Such, however, is the case, and it now falls to the United States to

complete the task of centuries, to stretch out a protecting hand over

the Christian natives of Mindanao, and to suppress the last remains of

a slave-raiding system, as ruthless, as sanguinary and as devastating

as the annals of the world can show.

The Moros of Mindanao are divided into five groups or tribes; Illanos,

Sanguiles, Lutangas, Calibuganes, and Yacanes.

(18) The Moros Illanos, who are the most important and the most

dangerous community, are described fully later on. They inhabit the

country between the Bay of Iligan and Illana Bay, also round Lake

Lanao, the Rio Grande and Lake Liguan.

(19) The Moros Sanguiles live on the south coast from the Bay of

Sarangani to the River Kulut.

(20) The Moros Lutangas occupy the Island of Olutanga and parts of

the adjacent coasts, all round the Bay of Dumanguilas and Maligay,

and the eastern coast of the Bay of Sibuguay.

(21) The Moros Calibuganes occupy the western coast of the Bay of

Sibuguay, they are also dotted along the outer coast of the Peninsula

as far as the Bay of Sindangan. They communicate by land across

the mountains.

(22) The Moros Yacanes occupy the western part of the Island of

Basilan, and the islands of the Tapul group.

(23) The Moros Samales are not inhabitants of Mindanao, but occupy

and dominate the Islands of Jolo, Tawi-tawi and most of the smaller

islands of those groups.

Physically, the Moro is a man built for the fatigues of war, whether

by sea or land.

His sinewy frame combines strength and agility, and the immense

development of the thorax gives him marvellous powers of endurance

at the oar or on the march.

Trained to arms from his earliest youth, he excels in the management of

the lance, the buckler and the sword. These weapons are his inseparable

companions: the typical Moro is never unarmed. He fights equally

well on foot, on horseback, in his fleet war canoe, or in the water,

for he swims like a fish and dives like a penguin.

Absolutely indifferent to bloodshed or suffering, he will take the life

of a slave or a stranger merely to try the keenness of a new weapon. He

will set one of his sons, a mere boy, to kill some defenceless man,

merely to get his hand in at slaughter. [30] If for any reason he

becomes disgusted with his luck, or tired of life, he will shave

off his eyebrows, dress himself entirely in red, and taking the oath

before his Pandit, run amok in some Christian settlement, killing man,

woman and child, till he is shot down by the enraged townsmen.

Wanton destruction is his delight. After plundering and burning some

sea-coast town in Visayas or Luzon, they would take the trouble to

cut down the fruit trees, destroy the crops and everything else that

they could not carry away.

Yet, as they made annual raids, it would have appeared to be good

policy to leave the dwellings, the fruit trees, and the crops,

in order to tempt the natives to re-occupy the town and accumulate

material for subsequent plundering.

Commonly, very ignorant of his own religion, he is none the less

a fanatic in its defence, and nourishes a traditional and fervent

hatred against the Christian, whether European or native.

Looking upon work as a disgrace, his scheme of life is simple; it

consists in making slaves of less war-like men, to work for him,

and taking their best looking girls for his concubines. His victims

for centuries, when not engaged on a piratical cruise, have been the

hill-tribes of the island, the Subanos, the Tagacaolos, the Vilanes,

the Manguangas and others.

Originally immigrants from Borneo, from Celehes or Ternate, with some

Arab admixture, the Moros have for centuries filled their harems

with the women of the hill-tribes, and with Tagal and Visayas and

even Spanish women, taken in their piratical excursions. They are

now a very mixed race, but retain all their war-like characteristics.

Cut off from the sea by the Spanish Naval forces, they turned

with greater energy than ever to the plundering and enslaving

of their neighbours, the hill-men. These poor creatures, living

in small groups, could offer but little resistance, and fell an

easy prey. But now the devoted labours of the Jesuit missionaries

began to bear fruit. They converted the hill-men, and gathered them

together in larger communities, better able to protect themselves,

and although the Moros sometimes burnt whole towns and slew all who

resisted, carrying off the women and children into slavery, yet,

on the other hand, it often happened that, getting notice of their

approach, the Jesuits assembled the fighting men of several towns,

and, being provided with a few fire-arms by the Government, they fell

upon the Moros and utterly routed them, driving them back to their

own territory with great loss. Of late years the Moros have found

their slave-raids involve more danger than they care to face, and

even the powerful confederation of Lake Lanao was, till the Spanish

American war, hemmed in by chains of forts and by Christian towns.

But they have by no means entirely renounced their slave-raiding,

and in order to give a specific instance of their behaviour in recent

years, I will mention that on the 31st. of December, 1893, a party

of 370 of them, under the Datto Ali, son to Datto Nua, accompanied

by seven other Dattos, all well armed, and forty of them carrying

muskets or rifles, and plenty of ammunition, made an unprovoked and

treacherous attack on Lepanto, a Christian village in the Montes

country, near the confluence of the Kulaman River with the Pulangui,

between the Locosocan and Salagalpon cataracts. This is the extreme

southern settlement of the Jesuits, and the nearest missionary resided

at Linabo, whilst the nearest garrison was at Bugcaon, some four

leagues distant.

The inhabitants, not being provided with fire-arms, sought safety

in flight, but the Moros captured fourteen of them. They profaned

the church, hacked to pieces the image of Our Saviour, and cut up

a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, smashed the altar, and with

the debris, lighted a bonfire in the middle of the church, which,

strange to say, however, did not take fire.

They stole the cattle and horses, looted the village, and marched

off with their spoil and the fourteen captives.

When, however, they reached the ford on the River Mulita, five of

the Christians refused to proceed into slavery. These were the Datto

Mausalaya, another man named Masumbalan, and three women. They were

all put to death by the Moros and barbarously mutilated. The flesh

was cut from their bones, and it is said that the Moros consumed some

of it, and so terrified the other captives that they marched forward

into life-long slavery.

Had the converts in Lepanto been supplied with a few fire-arms,

this disaster would not have happened.

The Mindanao Moros commonly wear a bright coloured handkerchief as a

head-cloth or turban, a split shirt of Chinese pattern, wide trousers,

and gaudy sashes.

The young men shave their heads, but after marriage they let their

hair grow long.

The dattos, mandarines, and pandits usually cultivate a moustache,

others pluck out all the hair on the face. The poorer women commonly

dress in white and wear a jacket and a skirt coming down well below

the knee. The richer ones wear silks of the brightest colours.

A white turban or head-cloth is a sign of mourning.

The illustration shows a group of Moros of the East coast. They are

unarmed, unlike those of Lake Lanao.

The Moro noble takes great pride in his long descent, and in the

distinction gained in war by his ancestors. During the long hours of

their friendly meetings called Bicharas, they relate to each other

tales of their ancestors' heroism.

Their feudal system has been more or less copied by Subanos, Manobos,

Monteses and other hill-races. The datto or mandarin is the feudal

chief amongst all these, but the Moros have gone a step further,

and have instituted rajahs and sultans, although with only a shadowy

authority; for every important matter must come before the council

of dattos for approval.

They use titles similar to those of the Malays of Borneo and

Johore. Tuang, the head-man of a village; Cuano, a Justice of the

Peace; Lamudia, Nacuda and Timuay, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class judges;

Gangalia, a constable; Baguadato, a principal, or Cabeza; Maradiadina,

eldest son of a principal. A datto is known by the richness of his

apparel and by using gold buttons, and especially by always carrying

a handkerchief in his hand. He is usually followed by a slave carrying

his siri-box.

Like the Malays, they call the heir of a rajah the Rajah-muda; the

nephew of a sultan uses the epithet Paduca; the son of a sultan calls

himself Majarasin, the pure or mighty.

Orang-Kaya, corresponds to a magnate; Cachil, to a prince of the

blood. The war-minister of a sultan is called the Datto Realao.

A principal priest is called a Sarif or sheriff; and an ordinary

priest a Pandita, or learned man.

The learning of these worthies is of the most rudimentary description,

and consists in being able to read the Koran in Arabic, and to recite

certain prayers which they often do not understand.

They have some wretched sheds for places of worship which they call

Langa. During the fast of Sanibayang, which lasts for seven days,

they are supposed to abstain from all nourishment. However, at

midnight, when they think their god may be napping, they indulge in

a hurried meal on the quiet. At the end of their week of abstinence

they undergo a purification by bathing, and indemnify themselves for

their fasts by several sumptuous banquets. They are forbidden to eat

swine's flesh, or drink spirituous liquors, but they are not at all

strict in their religion, and the savoury smell of roast pork has

been known to overcome their scruples.

They are very fond of smoking tobacco, and of chewing buyo; some

indulge in opium smoking.

Their amusements are gambling, cock-fighting, and combats of

buffaloes. Their slave-girls perform various libidinous dances to

the sound of the agun, or brass gong, and the calintangang, a kind

of harmonium of strips of metal struck by a small drum-stick.

The dance called the Paujalay is usually performed at a marriage of

any importance, and the young dancers, clad in diaphanous garments,

strive to present their charms in the most alluring postures, for

the entertainment of the dattos and their guests.

They have also a war-dance called the Moro-moro, which is performed by

their most skilful and agile swordsmen, buckler on arm and campilan

in hand to the sound of martial music. It simulates a combat, and

the dancers spring sideways, backwards or forwards, and cut, thrust,

guard, or feint with surprising dexterity.

The Moros are polygamists in general, although the influence of the

Christian women taken as captives and sometimes married to their

captors, has, in many cases, succeeded in preventing their husbands

from taking a second wife. The cleverness and aptitude for business

of Christian Visayas, and Tagal women captives, has sometimes raised

them to the highest position in rank and wealth amongst the Moros;

and few of them would have returned to their former homes, even if

an occasion had offered. The custom of seizing girls for slaves and

concubines which has prevailed amongst the Moros for centuries, has

of course had the effect of encouraging sensuality, and the morals

of Moro society may be compared to those of a rabbit-warren.

The Moros do not always treat their slaves with cruelty, they rather

strive to attach them to their new home by giving them a female

captive or a slave-girl they have tired of, as a wife, assisting them

to build a house, and making their lot as easy as is compatible with

getting some work out of them.

But perhaps the greatest allurement to one of these slaves is when

his master takes him with him on a slave-raid, and gives him the

opportunity of securing some plunder, and perhaps a slave for himself.

Once let him arrive at this stage, and his master need have no fear

of his absconding.

The Spaniards have for years refused to send back any slaves who

claim their protection, yet it has been remarked by Dr. Montano, and

by missionaries and Spanish military officers, that slaves have been

employed fishing or tilling the ground near the Spanish outposts,

and only rarely would one step within the lines to obtain his liberty.

If caught running away from their masters, the dattos, they are

sometimes put to death, or mutilated in a most cruel manner.

The famous Datto Utto, of the Rio Grande, is said to have stripped

a runaway slave naked and to have tied him to a tree, leaving him to

be stung to death by the mosquitos or devoured piecemeal by ants.

This same Datto Utto, towards the end of 1889, made himself so

objectionable to the Datto Abdul, one of his neighbours, that the

latter determined to place himself and his people under Spanish

protection. His village consisted of eighty houses and was situated

on the banks of Rio Grande.

Datto Abdul gave proofs of engineering skill, for he constructed

eighty rafts of bamboos, and placing a house upon each with all its

belongings, inhabitants and cattle, he floated his whole village

fifteen miles down the river and landed at Tumbao, establishing

himself under the protection of the fort.

The Datto Ayunan, who resides in the same neighbourhood, also came

over to the Spaniards, and learned to understand and speak Spanish very

fairly. He had at least three thousand followers, and in the fighting

on the Rio Grande in 1886-87 he took the field, supported the Spanish

forces against the other dattos, and rendered important services.

Several other dattos and chiefs have submitted to the Spaniards;

for instance, the Sultan of Bolinson, who has settled at Lintago,

near the barracks of Maria Christina. In the district of Davao more

than five thousand Moros are living peacefully under Spanish rule.

The famous Datto Utto, who gave so much trouble, lost followers and

prestige, and now where the Moro King of Tamontaca held his court and

reigned in power and splendour on the Rio Grande, a Jesuit Orphan

Asylum, and Industrial School flourished [till the war caused it

to be abandoned], bringing up hundreds of children of both sexes,

mostly liberated slaves of the Moros, to honest handicrafts or

agricultural labour.

Amongst the Moros, the administration of justice is in the hands

of the dattos or of their nominees. Offences are punished by death,

corporal chastisement, or by fines.

However, the customs of the country admit of an offended person taking

the law into his own hand. Thus he who surprises his wife in the act

of adultery may cut off one of her ears, shave her head, and degrade

her to be the slave of his concubines.

If he catches the co-respondent he may kill him (if he can).

A calumny not justified, is fined 15 dollars; a slight wound costs the

aggressor 5 dollars; a serious wound, 15 dollars, and the weapon that

did the mischief; a murder can be atoned by giving three to six slaves.

Adultery incurs a fine of 60 dollars, and two slaves; or death,

if the fine is not paid.

He who insults a datto is condemned to death, unless he can pay 15

taels of gold, but he becomes a slave for life. The datto acting as

judge takes as his fee one-eighth of the fine he imposes.

A slave is considered to be worth from 15 to 30 dollars according to

his or her capabilities or appearance.

The dattos impose an annual tax on all their subjects whether Moros

or heathen. It is called the Pagdatto, and consists of a piece of

cloth called a Jabol, a bolo, and twenty gantas of paddy (equal to 10

gantas of rice) from each married couple. A ganta equals two-thirds

of a gallon, so that the tax in rice would only be 6.6 gallons,

a little over 3/4 bushel.

Their language is a degraded Arabic with words from Malay, Chinese,

Visaya, Tagal, and some idioms of the hill-tribes.

Very few of them can read or write.

Their year is divided into 13 lunar months, and the days of the week

are as follows:--

Monday. Sapto.

Tuesday. Ahat.

Wednesday. Isnin.

Thursday. Sarasa.

Friday. Araboja.

Saturday. Cammis.

Sunday. Diammat.

Their era is the Hejira, like other Mahometans.

Their marriage customs are peculiar. When one of them takes a fancy

to a damsel, he sends his friend, of the highest rank, to the house of

the girl's father, to solicit her hand. The father consults the girl,

and if she is favourable he makes answer that the young man may come

for her. The would-be bridegroom then proceeds to the mosque and calls

the Imam, who goes through a form of prayers with him, after which they

proceed in company to the maiden's house, followed by a slave bearing

presents, and from the street call out for leave to enter. The father

appears at a window and invites them in, but when about to enter, the

male relations of the damsel simulate an attack on the visitor, which

he beats off, and throws them the presents he has brought with him.

He then enters with the Imam and finds the lady of his desires

reclining upon cushions, and presents his respects to her. The priest

then causes her to rise and, taking hold of her head he twirls her

round twice to the right, then taking the hand of the man he places

it on the forehead of the girl, who immediately covers her face. The

priest then retires, leaving them alone. The bridegroom attempts

to kiss and embrace the bride, who defends herself with tooth and

nail. She shrieks and runs, and the bridegroom chases her round and

round the room.

Presently the father appears, and assures the bridegroom that he

may take for granted the virginity of his daughter. The bridegroom

then leaves the house to make preparations for the wedding-feast,

which begins that night, and finishes on the third night, when the

bride takes off all the garments she has worn as a maid and dresses in

handsome robes provided by the bridegroom. At the end of the feast, the

emissary who first solicited her hand for his friend conducts her to

the house of the bridegroom, accompanied by the guests singing verses

allusive to the occasion, and cracking jokes more or less indecent.

Contrary to the custom in other countries, it is easier to get

divorced than to get married, for this is the privilege of the man,

who can repudiate his wife at any time.

They celebrate the baptism of their children, and the circumcision of

their boys, with feasts and entertainments. They fire off cannon and

lantacas on the death of a datto, and with all sorts of instruments

make a hideous discord in front of the house of death.

Professional wailers are employed, and the pandits go through many

days of long-winded prayer, for which they receive most ample fees.

They have regular cemeteries, and, after the burial, place on the

grave the head of a cock with a hot cinder on the top of it. I am

quite unable to explain what meaning is attached to this custom, but

they are soaked in all sorts of superstitions, and thoroughly believe

in amulets or talismen, as do the Tagals in their Anting-Anting.

Owing to the multitude of slaves they possess, they make considerable

plantations of rice, maize, coffee, and cacao. They sell the surplus

of this produce to Chinamen or Visayas settled in the coast towns, as

also wax, gum, resin, jungle-produce, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl

shell, balate and cinnamon. It is estimated that they sell produce to

the value of a million dollars a year. They also employ their slaves

in washing the sands for gold, and, according to Nieto, in mining

for silver and other metal.

I have not seen this latter statement confirmed by any other author.

Their industries are the forging of swords, cris, and lance-heads,

casting and boring their lantacas.

To bore these long guns they sink them in a pit, ramming in the

earth so as to keep the piece in a truly vertical position. They

then bore by hand, two or four men walking round and turning the bit

with cross-bars. Some of these lantacas are worthy to be considered

perfect works of art, and are highly decorated. I have seen several

double-barrelled. (See Illustration.)

The Moro women employ their slaves in spinning and weaving. They make

excellent stuffs of cotton and of abaca, dyeing them various colours

with extracts of the woods grown in the country.

Their houses are large and spacious, and they live in a patriarchal

manner, master and mistress, concubines, children, and slaves with

their children, all jumbled together. They possess plenty of horses,

cattle, buffaloes, goats and poultry.

They use Spanish or Mexican silver coins, but most of their

transactions are by barter.

To wind up this description of the Moros of Mindanao, it must be

said of them that they are always ready to fight for the liberty of

enslaving other people, and that nothing but force can restrain them

from doing so. That they will not work themselves, and that as long

as their sultans, dattos, and pandits have a hold on them, they will

keep no engagements, respect no treaties, and continue to be in the

future, as they have always been in the past, a terror and a curse

to all their neighbours.

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE CHINESE IN MINDANAO.

Tagabauas (24).

These people live in the very centre of Mindanao on the high peaks of

the cordillera. If a straight line be drawn on the map from Nasipit,

on the Bay of Butuan, to Glan, on the Gulf of Sarangani, it will

intersect their habitat which may extend from about 7 deg. 30' to 8 deg.

N. lat. I can learn nothing about their manners and customs. They

are reputed to be ferocious.

The Chinese in Mindanao.

The Chinese in Mindanao are almost entirely settled in the coast

towns, and are occupied in trade. They do not engage in agriculture,

but keep stores and sell to the civilised natives and to the hill-men.

They understand that they need protection, and are equally ready to

make a present to the judge, to subscribe for a gilded altar for the

church, or to render service to the governor, in order to be on good

terms with the court, the priest, and the military.

Very few Chinese women come over, therefore the men have native

wives or concubines, and are begetting Chinese half-castes on an

extensive scale.

They are not averse to a little slave-dealing, and will casually buy

a boy or girl from slave-hunters, or will order such a slave as they

require from the slave-hunters, who then proceed to execute the order,

which probably involves the sacrifice of several lives.

Thus they will order a smart boy, or a pretty girl, of fifteen or

sixteen, and so forth.

Father Barrado, writing from Cotta-Bato, June 3rd, 1890, relates

that a boy of eight years of age was purchased by a Chinaman for

thirty dollars.

As soon as his master had brought him to the house, he fastened the

door, and being assisted by four other Chinamen, tied the boy's hands

and feet, and gagged him.

The four assistants then laid him out at full length on the ground,

face downwards, and held him firmly, whilst his master took a red-hot

marking-iron from the fire, and branded him on both thighs, just as

if he was marking a horse or a cow.

Luckily, the boy escaped from the house, and found refuge with Father

Barrado, who took charge of him, and administered a severe reprimand

to the brutal Chinaman.

The Chinamen abominably cheat all those who are unable to protect

themselves. Their business is based upon false weights and measures,

and on adulteration. In the end, they spoil every business they enter

upon, just as they have done the tea trade in their own country,

and the tobacco and indigo trade in the Philippines.

They require to be closely looked after, and should be made to pay

special taxes, which they can well afford.

Some of the Chinese become converts, not that their mean and sordid

souls are in any degree susceptible to the influence of the Christian

religion, but in order to obtain material advantages.

They hope to be favoured in business, and to be able to get a Christian

wife, which otherwise might not be easy; for although a Visayas woman

does not disdain a Chinaman, she would not care to marry a heathen.

In any case, the Chinaman most likely remains a heathen at heart,

and if he returns to China he becomes a renegade.

CHAPTER XL

THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF MINDANAO, 1899.

Relapse into savagery--Moros the great danger--Visayas

the mainstay--Confederation of Lake Lanao--Recall of

the Missionaries--Murder and pillage in Davao--Eastern

Mindanao--Western Mindanao--The three courses--Orphanage

of Tamontaca--Fugitive slaves--Polygamy an impediment to

conversion--Labours of the Jesuits--American Roman Catholics

should send them help.

The present condition of the island is most lamentable. Nothing could

be more dreadful; robbery, outrage and murder are rampant. Every evil

passion is let loose, and the labour of years has been lost. Mindanao,

which promised so well, has relapsed into savagery, as the direct

consequence of the Spanish-American war, and the cession of the

Archipelago to the United States.