VISIT TO LA LAGUNA AND TAYABAS.
Having arranged for a visit to the Laguna and the surrounding
hills, whose beautiful scenery has given to the island of Luzon
a widely-spread celebrity, we started accompanied by the Alcalde
Mayor, De la Herran, Colonel Trasierra, an aide-de-camp of the
Governor, appointed to be my special guide and guardian, my kind
friend and gentlemanly companion Captain Vansittart, and some other
gentlemen. The inhabitants of the Laguna are called by the Indians of
Manila Tagasilañgan, or Orientals. As we reached the various villages,
the Principalia, or native authorities, came out to meet us, and
musical bands escorted us into and out of all the pueblos. We found
the Indian villages decorated with coloured flags and embroidered
kerchiefs, and the firing of guns announced our arrival. The roads
were prettily decorated with bamboos and flowers, and everything
proclaimed a hearty, however simple welcome. The thick and many-tinted
foliage of the mango--the tall bamboos shaking their feathery heads
aloft--the cocoa-nut loftier still--the areca and the nipa palms--the
plantains, whose huge green leaves give such richness to a tropical
landscape--the bread-fruit, the papaya, and the bright-coloured
wild-flowers, which stray at will over banks and branches--the
river every now and then visible, with its canoes and cottages,
and Indian men, women, and children scattered along its banks. Over
an excellent road, we passed through Santa Ana to Taguig, where a
bamboo bridge had been somewhat precipitately erected to facilitate
our passage over the stream: the first carriage got over in safety;
with the second the bridge broke down, and some delay was experienced
in repairing the disaster, and enabling the other carriages to come
forward. Taguig is a pretty village, with thermal baths, and about
4,000 inhabitants; its fish is said to be particularly fine. Near it
is Pateros, which no doubt takes its name from the enormous quantity
of artificially hatched ducks (patos) which are bred there, and which
are seen in incredible numbers on the banks of the river. They are
fed by small shell-fish found abundantly in the neighbouring lake,
and which are brought in boats to the paterias on the banks of the
Pasig. This duck-raising is called Itig by the Indians. Each pateria
is separated from its neighbour by a bamboo enclosure on the river,
and at sunset the ducks withdraw from the water to adjacent buildings,
where they deposit their eggs during the night, and in the morning
return in long procession to the river. The eggs being collected
are placed in large receptacles containing warm paddy husks, which
are kept at the same temperature; the whole is covered with cloth,
and they are removed by their owners as fast as they are hatched. We
saw hundreds of the ducklings running about in shallow bamboo baskets,
waiting to be transferred to the banks of the river. The friar at Pasig
came out from his convent to receive us. It is a populous pueblo,
containing more than 22,000 souls. There is a school for Indian
women. It has stone quarries worked for consumption in Manila, but
the stone is soft and brittle. The neighbourhood is adorned with
gardens. Our host the friar had prepared for us in the convent a
collation, which was served with much neatness and attention, and
with cordial hospitality. Having reached the limits of his alcadia,
the kind magistrate and his attendants left us, and we entered a
falua (felucca) provided for us by the Intendente de Marina, with
a goodly number of rowers, and furnished with a carpet, cushions,
curtains, and other comfortable appliances. In this we started for
the Laguna, heralded by a band of musicians. The rowers stand erect,
and at every stroke of the oar fling themselves back upon their seats;
they thus give a great impulse to the boat; the exertion appears very
laborious, yet their work was done with admirable good-humour, and
when they were drenched with rain there was not a murmur. In the lake
(which is called Bay) is an island, between which and the main land
is a deep and dangerous channel named Quinabatasan, through which
we passed. The stream rushes by with great rapidity, and vessels are
often lost in the passage. The banks are covered with fine fruit trees,
and the hills rise grandly on all sides. Our destination was Santa
Cruz, and long before we arrived a pilot boat had been despatched in
order to herald our coming. The sun had set, but we perceived, as we
approached, that the streets were illuminated, and we heard the wonted
Indian music in the distance. Reaching the river, we were conducted
to a gaily-lighted and decorated raft, which landed us,--and a suite
of carriages, in one of which was the Alcalde, who had come from his
Cabacera, or head quarters, to take charge of us,--conducted the party
to a handsome house belonging to an opulent Indian, where we found,
in the course of preparation, a very handsome dinner or supper,
and all the notables of the locality, the priest, as a matter of
course, among them, assembled to welcome the strangers. We passed
a theatre, which appeared hastily erected and grotesquely adorned,
where, as we were informed, it was intended to exhibit an Indian
play in the Tagál language, for our edification and amusement. I was
too unwell to attend, but I heard there was much talk on the stage
(unintelligible, of course, to our party), and brandishing of swords,
and frowns and fierce fighting, and genii hunting women into wild
forests, and kings and queens gaily dressed. The stage was open from
the street to the multitude, of whom many thousands were reported to
be present, showing great interest and excitement. I was told that
some of the actors had been imported from Manila. The hospitality
of our host was super-abundant, and his table crowded not only with
native but with many European luxuries. He was dressed as an Indian,
and exhibited his wardrobe with some pride. He himself served us
at his own table, and looked and moved about as if he were greatly
honoured by the service. His name, which I gratefully record, is
Valentin Valenzuela, and his brother has reached the distinction of
being an ordained priest.
Santa Cruz has a population of about 10,000 souls. Many of its
inhabitants are said to be opulent. The church is handsome; the
roads in the neighbourhood broad and in good repair. There is much
game in the adjacent forests, but there is not much devotion to
the chase. Almost every variety of tropical produce grows in the
vicinity. Wild honey is collected by the natives of the interior, and
stuffs of cotton and abacá are woven for domestic use. The house to
which we were invited was well furnished, but with the usual adornings
of saints' images and vessels for holy water. In the evening the Tagála
ladies of the town and neighbourhood were invited to a ball, and the
day was closed with the accustomed light-heartedness and festivity:
the bolero and the jota seemed the favourite attractions. Dance and
music are the Indians' delight, and very many of the evenings we passed
in the Philippines were devoted to these enjoyments. Next morning
the carriages of the Alcalde, drawn by the pretty little ponies of
Luzon, conducted us to the casa real at Pagsanjan, the seat of the
government, or Cabacera, of the province, where we met with the usual
warm reception from our escort Señor Tafalla, the Alcalde. Pagsanjan
has about 5,000 inhabitants, being less populous than Biñan and other
pueblos in the province. Hospitality was here, as everywhere, the order
of the day and of the night, all the more to be valued as there are no
inns out of the capital, and no places of reception for travellers;
but he who is recommended to the authorities and patronized by the
friars will find nothing wanting for his accommodation and comfort,
and will rather be surprised at the superfluities of good living than
struck with the absence of anything necessary. I have been sometimes
amazed when the stores of the convent furnished wines which had been
kept from twenty to twenty-five years; and to say that the cigars and
chocolate provided by the good friars would satisfy the most critical
of critics, is only to do justice to the gifts and the givers.
We made an excursion to the pretty village of Lumbang, having,
as customary, been escorted to the banks of the river, which forms
the limit of the pueblo, by the mounted principalia of Pagsanjan. The
current was strong, but a barge awaited us and conveyed us to the front
of the convent on the other side, where the principal ecclesiastic,
a friar, conducted us to the reception rooms. We walked through the
pueblo, whose inhabitants amount to 5,000 Indians, occupying one
long broad street, where many coloured handkerchiefs and garments
were hung out as flags from the windows, which were crowded with
spectators. We returned to the Cabacera, where we slept. Early in
the morning we took our departure from Pagsanjan.
We next advanced into the more elevated regions, growing more wild
and wonderful in their beauties. As we proceeded the roads became
worse and worse, and our horses had some difficulty in dragging the
carriages through the deep mud. We had often to ask for assistance
from the Indians to extricate us from the ruts, and they came to our
aid with patient and persevering cheerfulness. When the main road was
absolutely impassable, we deviated into the forest, and the Indians,
with large knives--their constant companions--chopped down the impeding
bushes and branches, and made for us a practicable way. After some
hours' journey we arrived at Majayjay, and between files of Indians,
with their flags and music, were escorted to the convent, whence the
good Franciscan friar Maximo Rico came to meet us, and led us up the
wide staircase to the vast apartments above. The pueblo has about
8,500 inhabitants; the climate is humid, and its effects are seen
in the magnificent vegetation which surrounds the place. The church
and convent are by far the most remarkable of its edifices. Here
we are surrounded by mountain scenery, and the forest trees present
beautiful and various pictures. In addition to leaves, flowers and
fruits of novel shapes and colours, the grotesque forms which the
trunks and branches of tropical trees assume, as if encouraged to
indulge in a thousand odd caprices, are among the characteristics
of these regions. The native population availed themselves of the
rude and rugged character of the region to offer a long resistance
to the Spaniards on their first invasion, and its traditional means
of defence were reported to be so great that the treasures of Manila
were ordered to be transported thither on the landing of the English
in 1762. Fortunately, say the Spanish historians, the arrangement
was not carried out, as the English had taken their measures for the
seizure of the spoils, and it was found the locality could not have
been defended against them.
We were now about to ascend the mountains, and were obliged to abandon
our carriages. Palanquins, in which we had to stretch ourselves at
full length, borne each by eight bearers, and relays of an equal
number, were provided for our accommodation. The Alcalde of the
adjacent province of Tayabas had come down to Majayjay to invite us
into his district, where, he said, the people were on the tiptoe of
expectation, had made arrangements for our reception, and would be
sadly disappointed if we failed to visit Lucban. We could not resist
the kind urgency of his representations, and deposited ourselves
in the palanquins, which had been got ready for us, and were indeed
well rewarded. The paths through the mountains are such as have been
made by the torrents, and are frequently almost impassable from
the masses of rock brought down by the rushing waters. Sometimes
we had to turn back from the selected road, and choose another less
impracticable. In some places the mud was so deep that our bearers
were immersed far above their knees, and nothing but long practice
and the assistance of their companions could have enabled them to
extricate themselves or us from so disagreeable a condition. But
cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirits, exclamations of encouragement,
loud laughter, and a general and brotherly co-operation surmounted
every difficulty. Around us all was solitude, all silence, but the
hum of the bees and the shrieks of the birds; deep ravines below,
covered with forest trees, which no axe of the woodman would ever
disturb; heights above still more difficult to explore, crowned with
arboreous glories; brooks and rivulets noisily descending to larger
streams, and then making their quiet way to the ocean receptacle. At
last we reached a plain on the top of a mountain, where two grandly
adorned litters, with a great number of bearers, were waiting, and we
were welcomed by a gathering of graceful young women, all on ponies,
which they managed with admirable agility. They were clad in the gayest
dresses. The Alcalde called them his Amazonas; and a pretty spokeswoman
informed us, in very pure Castilian, that they were come to escort us
to Lucban, which was about a league distant. The welcome was as novel
as it was unexpected. I observed the Tagálas mounted indifferently
on the off or near side of their horses. Excellent equestrians were
they; and they galloped and caracolled to the right and the left, and
flirted with their embellished whips. A band of music headed us; and
the Indian houses which we passed bore the accustomed demonstrations
of welcome. The roads had even a greater number of decorations--arches
of ornamented bamboos on both sides of the way, and firing of guns
announcing our approach. The Amazonas wore bonnets adorned with ribands
and flowers,--all had kerchiefs of embroidered piña on their shoulders,
and variously coloured skirts and gowns of native manufacture added
to the picturesque effect. So they gambolled along--before, behind,
or at our sides where the roads permitted it--and seemed quite at ease
in all their movements. The convent was, as usual, our destination; the
presiding friar--quite a man of the world--cordial, amusing, even witty
in his colloquies. He had most hospitably provided for our advent. All
the principal people were invited to dinner. Many a joke went round,
to which the friar contributed more than his share. Talking of the
fair (if Indian girls can be so called), Captain Vansittart said he
had thirty unmarried officers on board the Magicienne.
"A bargain," exclaimed the friar; "send them hither,--I will find
pretty wives for all of them."
"But you must convert them first."
"Ay! that is my part of the bargain."
"And you will get the marriage fees."
"Do you think I forgot that?"
After dinner, or supper, as it was called, the Amazonas who had
escorted us in the morning, accompanied by many more, were introduced;
the tables were cleared away; and when I left the hall for my bedroom,
the dancing was going on in full energy.
Newspapers and books were lying about the rooms of the convent. The
friar had more curiosity than most of his order: conversation with
him was not without interest and instruction.
We returned by a different road to Majayjay, for the purpose of
visiting a splendid waterfall, where the descent of the river is
reported to be 300 feet. We approached on a ledge of rock as near as
we could to the cataract, the roar of which was awful; but the quantity
of mist and steam, which soon soaked our garments, obscured the vision
and made it impossible for us to form any estimate of the depth of
the fall. It is surrounded by characteristic scenery--mountains and
woods--which we had no time to explore, and of which the natives
could give us only an imperfect account: they knew there were deer,
wild boars, buffaloes, and other game, but none had penetrated the
wilder regions. A traveller now and then had scrambled over the rocks
from the foot to the top of the waterfall
We returned to Majayjay again to be welcomed and entertained by our
hosts at the convent with the wonted hospitality; and taking leave
of our Alcalde, we proceeded to Santa Cruz, where, embarking in our
felucca, we coasted along the lake and landed at Calamba, a pueblo of
about 4,000 inhabitants; carriages were waiting to convey us to Biñan,
stopping a short time at Santa Rosa, where the Dominican friars, who
are the proprietors of large estates in the neighbourhood, invited us
as usual to their convent. We tarried there but a short time. The roads
are generally good on the borders of the Laguna, and we reached Biñan
before sunset, the Indians having in the main street formed themselves
in procession as we passed along. Flags, branches of flowering forest
trees, and other devices, were displayed. First we passed between files
of youths, then of maidens; and through a triumphal arch we reached
the handsome dwelling of a rich mestizo, whom we found decorated with
a Spanish order, which had been granted to his father before him. He
spoke English, having been educated at Calcutta, and his house--a very
large one--gave abundant evidence that he had not studied in vain the
arts of domestic civilization. The furniture, the beds, the tables,
the cookery, were all in good taste, and the obvious sincerity of
the kind reception added to its agreeableness. Great crowds were
gathered together in the square which fronts the house of Don José
Alberto. Indians brought their game-cocks to be admired, but we did
not encourage the display of their warlike virtues. There was much
firing of guns, and a pyrotechnic display when the sun had gone down,
and a large fire balloon, bearing the inscription, "The people of
Biñan to their illustrious visitors," was successfully inflated, and
soaring aloft, was lost sight of in the distance, but was expected to
tell the tale of our arrival to the Magicienne in Manila Bay. Biñan
is a place of some importance. In it many rich mestizos and Indians
dwell. It has more than 10,000 inhabitants. Large estates there are
possessed by the Dominican friars, and the principal of them was
among our earliest visitors. There, as elsewhere, the principalia,
having conducted us to our head-quarters, came in a body to present
their respects, the gobernadorcillo, who usually speaks Spanish, being
the organ of the rest. Inquiries about the locality, thanks for the
honours done us, were the commonplaces of our intercourse, but the
natives were always pleased when "the strangers from afar" seemed to
take an interest in their concerns. Nowhere did we see any marks of
poverty; nowhere was there any crowding, or rudeness, or annoyance, in
any shape. Actors and spectators seemed equally pleased; in fact, our
presence only gave them another holiday, making but a small addition
to their regular and appointed festivals. Biñan is divided by a river,
and is about a mile from the Laguna. Its streets are of considerable
width, and the neighbouring roads excellent. Generally the houses have
gardens attached to them; some on a large scale. They are abundant
in fruits of great variety. Rice is largely cultivated, as the river
with its confluents affords ample means of irrigation. The lands are
usually rented from the Dominicans, and the large extent of some of
the properties assists economical cultivation. Until the lands are
brought into productiveness, little rent is demanded, and when they
become productive the friars have the reputation of being liberal
landlords and allowing their tenants to reap large profits. It is said
they are satisfied with one-tenth of the gross produce. A tenant is
seldom disturbed in possession if his rent be regularly paid. Much
land is held by associations or companies known by the title of
Casamahanes. There is an active trade between Biñan and Manila.
Greatly gratified with all we had seen, we again embarked and crossed
the Laguna to Pasig. Descending by that charming river, we reached
Manila in the afternoon.