(Polynesian Society, Journal, Vol. 1)
When a powerful and highly civilized nation comes in contact with
a barbaric and isolated people, who have nevertheless advanced many
steps on the road of progress, it would naturally be thought that the
superior and conquering race would endeavor to collect and place on
record information concerning such people: their manners, customs,
language, religion, and traditions. Unfortunately, in the case
of the Spanish conquests of the XVI century, that nation appears
never to have considered it a duty to hand down to posterity any
detailed description of the singularly interesting races they had
vanquished. As it was with the Gaunches of the Canaries, the Aztecs
of Mexico, and the Quichuas of Peru, so was it with the Chamorro of
the Ladrones, and the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes of the Philippines. The
same vandal spirit that prompted the conquistadores to destroy the
Maya and Aztec literature also moved them to demolish the written
records of the Philippine natives, and but few attempts were made to
preserve relics or information concerning them. The Spanish priests,
as the lettered men of those times, were the persons we should look
to for such a work, but in their religious ardor they thought only
of the subjugation and conversion of the natives, and so, with the
sword in one hand and crucifix in the other, they marched through
that fair land ignoring and destroying the evidences of a strange
semi-civilization which should have been to them a study of the
deepest interest. Fortunately, however, there were a few in that
period who were interested in such matters, and who wrote accounts
of the state of culture of the islanders of that early date. Some
of these MSS. have been preserved in the archives of Manila and have
lately attracted the attention of Spanish scholars.
Such is the article from which the greater part of these notes is
taken. In the volume for 1891 of the Revista Ibero-Americana, published
at Madrid, there appeared a series of papers contributed by the Bishop
of Oviedo, and entitled La antigua civilización de las Islas Filipinas,
in which he gives a very interesting description of the natives and
their mode of life. The source of this information is an old folio
manuscript written on rice-paper in the year 1610 from data collected
at the period of the Spanish conquest of the Philippines by Legaspi. It
is extended to the year 1606, and relates minutely the condition of
the islanders prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The codex is divided
into five books, and these again into 183 capitulos, or chapters. The
writer lived in the group for twenty-nine years in order to complete
his work, which is authorised by authentic signatures of responsible
persons. Extracts have also been made from Miguel de Loarca's account
of the Philippines written in 1583, Dampier's voyage in the Pinkerton
collection, and Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
The first historical existence of the Malay proper is traced to
Menangkabau in the Island of Sumatra, from whence they have spread
over the islands of the East India Archipelago, and by their vigor,
energy and skill have made themselves masters of the original
inhabitants. At an early period they probably received instruction
from Hindoo immigrants in the arts of working metals, spinning,
weaving, etc. As to the whence of the various Malayan tribes of
the Philippines, it is most probable that they originally reached
the Archipelago from Borneo, or the Malay Peninsula. From northern
Borneo the Sulu islands form a series of stepping stones across
to Mindanao. As the Tagalog language is looked upon as one of the
purest of Malay dialects, and contains the least number of Sanscrit
words, it may be inferred from this that the race has occupied the
islands from an early date. It is possible that the first settlers
were carried thither by ocean currents, and that the Kuro Siwo, or
Black Current, which sweeps up past Luzon, is also responsible for
the existence of the Kabaran (a Malay tribe) in Formosa. From ancient
times boats and men have drifted up from the Malay Islands to Japan,
and W. E. F. Griffis, in his "Mikado's Empire," states that Shikoku
and Kiushiu were inhabited by a mixed race descended from a people who
had come from Malaysia and southeast Asia. It is most probable that
Micronesia was settled from the Philippine Group, which thus became
the meeting ground of the northern migration of Polynesians from Samoa,
and the Micronesians proper. The Spanish codex before mentioned states
that the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes were thought to be derived from the
coast of Malabar and Malacca, and that, according to tradition, they
arrived at the islands in small vessels called barangayan under the
direction of dato or maguinoo (chiefs or leaders), who retained their
chieftainship after the landing as the basis of a social organization
of a tribal kind, and that every barangay (district or tribal division)
was composed of about fifty families. Nothing definite appears to
have been obtained from their traditions as to the original habitat
of the race, and this may be accounted for by the supposition that
the migration occurred at a remote period, and that all knowledge of
their former home was lost. When a migratory race takes possession of
new regions it maintains little or no correspondence with those left
behind; thus in time they forget their old habitations, and their
geographical knowledge is reduced to obscure and fading traditions.
On arriving at their new home the invaders must have ejected the
indigenous Aieta from the low-lying country, and driven them back
into the mountains. Juan de Salcedo, the Cortes of the Philippines,
in his triumphal march round the island of Luzon, was unable to
conquer many of the hill tribes, both Aieta and Tagalog, some of
whom have remained independent until the present time. The Spanish
Government forbade all intercourse with these mountaineers, on pain
of one hundred lashes and two years' imprisonment, and this edict
had the effect of preserving the ruder, non-agricultural hill-races.
This invading race of Malays was divided into many different tribes,
the principal ones being the Tagalog of Luzon and the Bisayan of the
southern isles. The Tagalog, or Ta-Galoc, were the most numerous,
and were endowed with all the valor and politeness which can be
expected in a semi-civilized people. The Pampangan and Camarine tribes
were noted for their generosity. The Cagayans were a brave people,
but easily civilized. The Bisayans were also called Pintados, or
"painted ones," by the Spanish, from their custom of tattooing the
body. Within this community of tribes there are numerous differences
of dialects and customs, clothing, character, and physical structure,
which in many cases indicate obvious traces of foreign mixture.
As a race, the Philippine natives of the Malayan tribes are of moderate
stature, well-formed, and of a coppery-red color, or, as Morga quaintly
describes them, "They were of the color of boiled quinces, having
a clever disposition for anything they undertook: sharp, choleric,
and resolute." Both men and women were in the habit of anointing
and perfuming their long black hair, which they wore gathered in a
knot or roll on the back of the head. The women, who were of pleasing
appearance, adorned their hair with jewels, and also wore ear-pendants
and finger-rings of gold. The men had little or no beard, and both
sexes were distinguished for their large, black eyes. The Zambales,
or Beheaders, shaved the front part of the head, and wore on the
skull a great lock of loose hair, which custom also obtained among
the ancient Chamorro of the Ladrones. Most of the tribes filed their
teeth, and stained them black with burnt coconut shell; while among
the Bisayans the upper teeth were bored, and the perforations filled
with gold, a singular custom observed by Marco Polo in China, and which
was also practised in ancient Peru and Egypt. Many of the tribes are
spoken of by the early Spanish navigators as being endowed with fair
intellectual capacities, possessing great powers of imitation, sober,
brave, and determined. The Tagalog character, according to some later
writers, is difficult to define: the craniologist and physiognomist
may often find themselves at fault. They are great children, their
nature being a singular combination of vices and virtues.
The costume of the men consisted of a short-sleeved cotton tunic
(chinina), usually black or blue, which came below the waist, a
colored cotton waistcloth, or kilt (bahaque), extending nearly to
the knee, and over this a belt or sash of silk a handbreadth wide,
and terminating in two gold tassels. On the right side hung a dagger
(bararao) three palms long, and double-edged, the hilt formed of
ivory or gold, and the sheath of carabao-hide. They wore a turban
(potong) on the head, and also leg-bands of black reeds or vines
such as are seen among the Papuans of New Guinea. Chains, bracelets
(calombiga), and armlets of gold, cornelian and agate were much worn,
and he was reckoned a poor person who did not possess several gold
chains. Hernando Requel, writing home to Spain, stated: "There is
more gold in this island of Luzon than there is iron in Biscaya."
The Tinguianes had a peculiar custom of wearing tightly-compressed
bracelets, which stopped the growth of the forearm, and caused the
hand to swell. Women wore the tapis, a bordered and ornamented cloth
wrapped round the body, which was confined by a belt, and descended
to the ankles. The bust was covered with a wide-sleeved camisita,
or waist (baro), to which was sometimes added a handkerchief. The
women of Luzon were without headdress, but made use of a parasol of
palm leaves (payong). Among the Bisayans the women wore a small cap
or hood, and in the northern isles they were permitted the luxury
of being carried on the shoulders of slaves. Both sexes wore the
same dress among the Ilokanos, the chief article of attire being a
loose coat (cabaya) similar to those of the Chinese. The dress of
the Chief's wives was more elegant than that of women of the common
people (timaguas). They wore white robes, and others of crimson
silk, plain or interwoven with gold, and trimmed with fringes and
trinkets. From their ears were suspended golden pendants of excellent
workmanship, and on their fingers and ankles were massive gold rings
set with precious stones. The timaguas and slaves went barefooted,
but the upper class wore shoes, the women being daintily shod with
velvet shoes embroidered with gold. "Both men and women were very
cleanly and elegant in their persons and dress, and of a goodly mien
and grace; they took great pains with their hair, rejoicing in its
blackness, washing it with the boiled bark of a tree called gogo,
and anointing it with musk oil and other perfumes. They bathed daily,
and looked upon it as a remedy for almost every complaint. On the
birth of a child the mother repaired to the nearest stream, and bathed
herself and the little one, after which she returned to her ordinary
occupation. Women were well treated among these people, and had for
their employment domestic work, needle work, in which they excelled,
the spinning and weaving of silk and cotton into various fabrics,
and also the preparation of the hemp, palm, and banana fibers.
The Philippine natives, with the exception of some of the hill tribes,
were diligent agriculturists, this being their chief occupation. In
some mountainous regions they adopted a system of terrace cultivation
similar to that of China, Peru, and Northern Mexico in bygone times,
and which may also be seen in Java. They cultivated rice, sweet
potatoes, bananas, coconuts, sugar-cane, palms, various vegetable
roots and fibrous plants. They hunted the wild carabao, deer and wild
boar. The flesh of the carabao, or water buffalo, was preserved for
future use by being cut into slices and dried in the sun, when it
was called tapa. Rice was prepared by being boiled, then pounded in
a wooden mortar and pressed into cakes, thus forming the bread of the
country. They made palm wine (alac or mosto) from the sap of various
species of palms. Food was stored in raised houses similar to the
pataka of the Maori. The first fruits of the harvest were devoted
to the deified spirits of ancestors, called anito. The Bisayans,
when planting rice, had the singular custom of offering a portion
of the seed at each corner of the field as a sacrifice. The ordinary
dainty among the islanders was the buyo or betel quid, consisting of
a leaf of betel pepper (tambul or siri) smeared over with burnt lime
and wrapped round a piece of areca nut (bonga).
"The Filipinos," says the old Spanish padre "lived in houses (bahai)
built of bamboo six feet from the ground." These dwellings were
supplied with cane screens in the place of divisions and doors. The
elevated floor, where they ate and slept, was also made of split
cane, and the whole structure was secured by reeds and cords for
want of nails. They ascended to these houses by a portable ladder,
which was removed when the inmates went out, a sign that no person
might approach the dwelling, which was otherwise unsecured. The house
was surrounded by a verandah, and in one apartment were the household
utensils, dishes and plates of earthenware, and copper vessels for
various purposes. They had, moreover, in their houses some low tables
and chairs, also boxes, called tampipi, which served for the purpose of
keeping wearing apparel and jewels. Their bedding consisted usually of
mats manufactured from various fibers. The houses of the chiefs were
much larger and better constructed than those of the timaguas. Many
of their villages were built on the banks of rivers and the shores of
lakes and harbors, so that they were surrounded by water, in the manner
of the seaside dwellings of New Guinea and the Gulf of Maracaibo. Among
the Tinguianes tree houses were made use of. In these they slept
at night in order to avoid being surprised by enemies, and defended
themselves by hurling down stones upon the attacking party, exactly
in the same manner as the natives of New Britain do to this day.
The external commerce of the Tagalog tribes was principally with
China, of which nation there were vessels in Manila on the arrival of
the Spanish. They are also said to have had intercourse with Japan,
Borneo, and Siam. They had no coined money, but to facilitate trade
they utilized gold as a medium of exchange in the form of dust and
ingots, which were valued by weight. Magellan speaks of their system
of weights and measures. These people were skilful shipwrights and
navigators. The Bisayans were in the habit of making piratical forays
among the isles. Their vessels were of various kinds, some being
propelled by oars or paddles, and others were provided with masts and
sails. Canoes were made of large trees, and were often fitted with
keels and decks, while larger vessels, called virey and barangayan,
were constructed of planks fastened with wooden bolts. The rowers,
with paddles (busey) or oars (gayong), timed their work to the voices
of others, who sung words appropriate to the occasion and by which
the rowers understood whether to hasten or retard their work. Above
the rowers was a platform (bailio) on which the fighting men stood
without embarrassing the rowers, and above this again was the carang,
or awning. They sometimes used outriggers (balancoire) on both sides
of the vessel. The laip and tapaque were vessels of the largest kind,
some carrying as many as two hundred and fifty men. The barangayan,
a type of vessel used from the earliest times, was singularly like
those of the ancients described by Homer.
Society among the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes was divided into three
classes, the chiefs and nobles, the common people (timagua), and
the slaves. The principal of every group, styled maguinoo among
the Tagalogs, bagani by the Manobos, and dato by the Bisayans,
was the only political, military, and judicial authority. These
chieftainships were hereditary, and the same respect was shown to
the women as to the men of the ruling families. Their power over
the people was despotic, they imposed a tribute upon the harvests,
and could at any time reduce a subject to slavery, or dispose of
his property and children. The slaves were divided into two classes:
the sanguihuileyes, who were in entire servitude as also were their
children, lived and served in the houses of their masters; while the
namamahayes lived in houses of their own, and only worked as slaves
on special occasions, such as at harvesting and housebuilding. Among
this latter class there obtained a peculiar half-bond system, which
may be explained thus: In the event of a free man marrying a slave
woman, and their having only one son, that child would be half free
and half enslaved--that is, he would work one month for his owner and
the next for himself. If they had more than one child, the first born
would follow the condition of the father, the second of the mother,
and so on. If there were uneven numbers, the last born was half free
and half bond. Slaves were bought, sold, and exchanged like ordinary
merchandise. In their social manners these people were very courteous,
more especially the Luzon tribes. They never spoke to a superior
without removing their turban. They then knelt upon one knee, raised
their hands to their cheeks, and awaited authority to speak. The hongi,
or nose-pressing salutation of the Polynesians, was an ancient custom
in the Philippine Group, and on the island of Timor. It also obtained
among the Chamorro of the Ladrones, who termed it tshomiko. The
Philippine natives addressed all superiors in the third person, and
added to every sentence the word po, equivalent to Sir. They were
given to addresses replete with compliments, and were fond of music
of the cud, a guitar with two strings of copper wire. In regard to
judicial matters, all complaints were brought before the dato of the
barangay (district) for examination. Though they had no written laws,
they had established rules and customs by which all disputes were
settled, and the chiefs recovered their fees by seizing the property
not only of the vanquished party, but also of his witnesses. Trial
by ordeal was common, the usual mode being that of plunging the arm
into a vessel of boiling water and taking out a stone off the bottom;
or a lighted torch was placed in the hands of the accused, and if
the flame flickered towards him he was pronounced guilty. Theft was
sometimes punished by death, in which case, the condemned was executed
by the thrust of a lance. In some cases the punishment was by being
reduced to slavery. Loans with excessive interest were ordinary, the
debtor and his children often becoming enslaved to the lender. Verbal
insults were punished with great severity. It was also regarded as a
great insult to step over a sleeping person, and they even objected to
awakening one asleep. This seems to refer to the widespread belief of
the soul leaving a sleeping body. Their worst curse was "May thou die
sleeping." The male children underwent a species of circumcision at
an early age, which was but preparatory to further rites. Their oaths
of fidelity, in conventions of peace and friendship, were ratified by
the ceremony of bloodbrotherhood, in which a vein of the arm being
opened, the flowing blood was drunk by the other party. Among these
people was sometimes seen that singular mania for imitation called
by the Javanese sakit latar, on the Amoor olon, in Siberia, inuira,
and in the Philippines malimali. This peculiar malady, presumably by
the result of a deranged nervous system, manifests itself as far as
I can gather, in the following manner, the afflicted person is seized
with a desire to copy or imitate the action and movements of others,
and will do the most extraordinary and ridiculous things to attain his
object. The despair induced by this strange mania and its consequent
ridicule, urges the unfortunate to end his life in the dreaded
Amok. These unfortunates were sometimes attacked by the amok frenzy.
It is certain that gold and copper mines have been worked in the
islands from early times. The copper ore was smelted, and worked
into various utensils and implements, and the gold was formed into
ornaments, or used, as a medium of exchange. The ruder mountain
tribes brought much gold from the interior and traded it to the
lowland people in exchange for various coveted articles. Several of
the tribes were in the habit of tattooing the body, the Bisayans being
the most noted for the practice. The Catalangan Iraya used for tattoo
patterns, and as decorations for sacred places, certain marks and
characters which appeared to be of Chinese or Japanese origin. The
Iraya proper used only straight and simple curved lines like those
of the Aieta. The Ysarog (Issaro), a primitive race of mountaineers,
who have been isolated for centuries, are said by later writers to
resemble the Dyaks of Borneo. Time was reckoned in former days by
suns and moons, and feasts were held on the occurrence of certain
astronomical phenomena. Brass gongs were much used at these feasts,
and also on war expeditions.
Such are some of the notes collected in reference to this interesting
race. These Tagalogs, Bisayans, Pampangans and Cagayanes were despised
by their Iberian conquerors as being ignorant savages; but, as the
good old padre says in his MS., they were worthy of being placed
on a superior level to certain ancient people who possess a more
illustrious fame. And who shall say it was not so?
The various tribes of the Philippines were frequently at war with each
other, as seems to be the invariable rule where a race is broken up
into many separate divisions. The weapons used in former times were
the bow and arrow, the lance, long curved knives, and in the southern
isles the blow pipe (sarbacan), for propelling poisoned darts. The
arrows and lances were pointed with iron and bone, or were simply
hardened with fire. Their defensive armour consisted of carved wooden
shields (carans), inlaid with tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl,
which covered them from head to foot, and also cuirasses formed of
bamboo. It is not clear whether they manufactured artillery, but they
certainly used cannon of iron and bronze before the advent of the
Spanish, at which time the Mindanao tribes held strongly fortified
positions--defended with cannon. These fortifications consisted of
earthworks and stockades, sometimes surrounded by morasses. Such
were the defences of the town of the Chief Rahamora when Legaspi
attacked it. This town consisted of four thousand houses, and,
having destroyed it, the victorious Spaniards built on its site, in
1571, the city of Manila. The poison used for the sarbacan darts was
either derived from certain trees, or, it is said, from the saliva of
a green lizard (chacon). The natives are said by Morga to have used
this poison in order to kill the Spanish, for whom they had conceived
a most bitter hatred.
The Manobos and Zambals were the most savage tribes. The Manobos
surprised their enemies while asleep, slaughtered the men, and enslaved
the women and children. The priest opened the breast of the first
victim with the sacred knife, took out the heart, and ate it. This
tribe also sacrificed slaves to the god of war, to whom the color red
was sacred. They were also head-hunters, and hung these trophies to
the roofs of their houses. The Zambals, a fierce and savage tribe,
were also head-hunters, as their name signifies, and were in the
habit of extracting and eating the brains of slain enemies. Among
the Ifugaos the lasso is said to have been used as a weapon.
In regard to marriage customs, there was one peculiar form worthy
of observation. When a man wished to marry he went to live with his
prospective father-in-law, thus becoming a member of the household,
and as such he worked at whatever duties were imposed upon him. This
lasted sometimes for several years. If the family became dissatisfied
with him he was dismissed, but if all went well he paid over to the
parents what was known as "the price of the mother's milk"--that is,
a compensation for the rearing of his wife. During the probationary
period the young man assumed the name of bagontao, and the girl
that of dalaga. They were much given to the practice of divination
during the period of the wedding festivities, which lasted for several
days. Although polygamy did not exist in a legal sense, yet concubinage
was common. The first woman married, however, was the only legitimate
wife (inasaba). To the inferior wives were assigned the various
domestic labors, the milking of the carabao-cows, and the rearing of
ducks, swans, geese, and pigeons. The women, in paying visits or in
walking abroad, were attended by a following of maids and slaves. In
various tribes the Assuan, an evil deity, was supposed to exercise an
evil influence over women in labor, and at such a time the husband
mounted the house-roof, or stationed himself, before the door, and,
with lance or dagger in hand, cut, and slashed vigorously at the air
in order to drive away the dreaded spirit. Among these people also
obtained that strange and world-wide custom known among anthropologists
as the couvade the origin of which it is difficult to conjecture. In
China and Africa, in Egypt and South America, in Malabar and Corsica,
among the Basques, Caribs, Burmese, and many other races, this singular
custom of simulated maternity seems to have originated independently.
The language of the Philippines was divided into many different
dialects, of which the Tagalog, an abundant and copious tongue,
was the most perfect specimen. These, together with the languages
of various outlying groups, can be traced to the same origin by
unequivocal marks of affinity, both in word formation and grammatical
construction. In spite of various linguistic changes it has been
noted by Le Gobien that the language of the Carolines bears a
strong resemblance to the Tagalog, and the same may be said of the
ancient Chamorro tongue. The Battak speech of Sumatra is said to be
closely allied to the Tagalog. Prichard states that the Malagasi
resembles Tagalog more than it does any other Malayan tongue. The
Tagalog-Bisayan-languages are said by several writers to be the most
highly developed of this family, and are in a transition state between
the agglutinative and inflective stages. Von Humboldt considered
the Tagalog to be the parent language of the Malay type, but this
was denied by Crawfurd. In the Javanese, one hundred and ten words
per thousand are Sanscrit, in Malay fifty, in the Bugi, seventeen,
in Tagalog one and a half, and in Malagasi there are none. It might
be inferred from this that the Tagalog-Bisayan migrations from the
southwest took place prior to, or about, the sixth century of our
era, about which time the Hindu religion was introduced into the East
Indies, bringing with it many Sanscrit terms. The native languages
hold their own in the Philippines. Pickering, in his "Races of Man,"
states that the Tagalog is still the chief language of Luzon, being
in general use in all the interior towns.
In respect to religion, the more advanced of the tribes appeared
to have arrived at the stage of intellectual progress when Nature
worship begins to give place to a dim idea of a Supreme Being, a
Maker of all things. This protecting genius, to whom they offered
sacrifices, was called Bathalang Meicapal. These people had a vague
conception of a future state in which the good were rewarded and
the wicked punished. Among the Bisayans, Ologan was the term for
Heaven in their ancient religion, and their Hell was Solad. The
souls of their dead were said to pass to the mountain of Medias in
the Oton district. Tigbalan was the name of a forest demon among
the northern tribes, who was treated with great respect. In passing
beneath a tree a native would invariably say "Tavit po,"--that is,
"By your leave, my lord." They practised fire worship and fetishism
and paid homage to the Sun, Moon, rainbow, to animals, birds, and
even to trees, and to rocks of peculiar appearance. The worship of
birds appears to have been confined to two species, the bathala,
a small blue bird, and the maylupa, a species of crow or kite. The
trees, rocks, and headlands which were close to contrary currents,
or places dangerous to navigation, were objects of veneration and
dread, and the deities of these places were propitiated by offerings
of food, or were supposed to be quelled by a flight of arrows being
discharged against them. Influenced by terror, they venerated the
crocodile, calling it nono, or grandfather, and it was sometimes
tamed and cherished by the priests. These huge saurians were extremely
dangerous, and many natives lost their lives by them, for which reason
they constructed enclosures for bathing purposes. The Manobos revered
the lightning, and believed thunder to be its voice. The Bisayans held
that all who perished in battle or were killed by crocodiles became
divata. The divata or anito were guardian spirits, and among some
tribes were represented by idols of gold, ivory, or stone. There were
anito of the cultivations, of the rains, of the sea, cocoanut trees,
also of newly-born children, and of children during the period of
lactation. Again there were family anito, a species of household
gods, who protected the family, and who were principally deified
ancestors, having, it is said, ascended to heaven on the rainbow
(balangao). Images representing these were kept in the houses, or in
the vacant space beneath them, and slaves were sometimes sacrificed
in their honor. It has been denied by some writers that the Philippine
natives had any idols or images, or any places set apart for religious
ceremonies, but the account of Cavendish, the adventurous English
navigator, who visited the Philippines in 1588, states: "These people
wholly worship the Devil, who appears unto them in divers horrible
forms, and they worship him by making figures of these forms, which
they keep in caverns and special houses, offering to them perfumes and
food, and calling them anito or licha." The MS. which we quote says:
"These people lacked capacious temples, neither had they sacred days
set apart for religious practices, but they had at the entrances to
their towns, and even close to their houses, small chapels or rooms
consecrated to the anito, and to the offering of sacrifices. In
these places were deposited offerings of food to sustain the souls
of the dead in their journey of three days which divided death from
the re-incarnation which ensued. Before the figures also were placed
small braziers burning perfumes, and plates of sago and fruits."
The priests of these tribes were known as catalona in the north,
and as babailan among the Bisayans. They were the sorcerers, or
"medicine men," and rude beyond measure was their art in curing,
consisting generally of the imaginary extraction of pebbles, leaves,
or pieces of cane from the affected part. The priests possessed great
authority among the people. In their invocations to the anito they
sometimes deceived the spectators by a peculiar sound produced by
burning the kernels of the cashew (casuy); "and at all times," says
the padre, "they were assisted by the devil." The secret of these
frauds was transmitted by inheritance, or was sold to the highest
bidder, and after being consecrated the priests did no other work
than net-making or weaving cloth.
As to their sacrifices, the object of them in many cases was to gain a
knowledge of the future. Among other modes, they practised divination
by an examination of the victim's entrails, and also by the stars,
both widely spread customs. In the case of prolonged illness a new
house was built, and the patient removed to it. The priestess being
summoned, she sacrificed according to the wealth of the offerers,
sometimes a tortoise, and sometimes as many as three slaves. The house
was filled with small tables, on which were placed refreshments, and
which correspond with the number of guests. The priestess performed a
sacred dance, purified and sacrificed the victim, and with the warm
blood sprinkled the most distinguished of the guests, distributing
to the remainder small copper bells. After repeating an incantation
the entrails were examined after the manner of the Roman augurs, by
the priests, who were often seized with convulsions, made grotesque
contortions, foamed at the mouth, and finally announced the sentence
of the death, or recovery of the patient. If the omen was of health,
a revel was held, and the valor of the patient's family and ancestors
celebrated with songs. If the omen was of death, they diverted the
mind of the patient by dancing, drinking, singing his praises,
and persuading him that the gods removed him from this world in
order to elevate him to the dignity of anito. At the close of the
proceedings the priest received presents of gold and food from
the guests. Sacrifices which were offered before undertaking a war
or assault were conducted in a similar manner. Others, which were
arranged by the chiefs, and dedicated to the principle of good, were
celebrated with feasting and dancing to the sound of their primitive
music. The best dancer was invited by the priest to give the fatal
thrust, and the flesh of sacrificed hogs was distributed among the
guests, who looked upon it as sacred food.
The Philippine natives had a firm belief in omens and superstitions
of many kinds. Thus, in the house of the fishermen, new nets
were not spoken of until they had been tested and found reliable,
and among hunters the merits of dogs recently acquired were not
discussed until they had been successful in catching game. A belief
in the invulnerability (anting) of certain persons was a common
superstition. A pregnant woman was not allowed to cut her hair for fear
the infant should be bald. Much importance was attached to dreams, of
which they were anxious to divine the meaning. In order to navigate
their seas with safety it was not permitted to carry in the vessel
either animals or land birds, nor even to name them; and in like
manner, when travelling by land, they did not mention things which
pertained to the sea. Before embarking on a voyage they caused the
boat to oscillate and observed carefully to which side it inclined
the most. If to the right, it was accepted as a good omen, but if to
the left, it was an evil omen. They also tied together many cords,
and one end being made fast, would rub the other between the hands,
and by observing the manner in which the cords became entangled, they
inferred the good or evil fortune which fate had in store for them.
The geogony of primitive and semi-civilized races always contains an
element of interest, and that of the Philippine natives was certainly a
singular belief. The creators of the earth were the sky and the kite,
and the sea. After the bird had flown many times across the ocean,
and found nothing to alight upon, the sky, in quarreling with the sea,
caused the bird to throw huge rocks with the aim of subduing it. These
rocks became islands, and the earth generally.
The tradition of the origin of man is as follows: "Two logs of bamboo,
impelled by the waves, were cast on shore at the feet of the bird,
which becoming enraged, began to pick them to pieces, when there
appeared from the first log a man, and from the second a woman,
thus proving the monogeny of the human species." The man succeeded in
gaining the affections of the woman, and from them are descended the
whole human race. The dispersion of the race throughout the world was
caused by a family quarrel. The many children of the primal couple
lived independent in the house of the parents, which displeased the
father, who belabored them with a cudgel, and expelled them from
the house. Some concealed themselves in the house, and from them
are descended the maguinoo, or chiefs. Others went out openly from
the house, and these were the fathers of the timagua (timawa) or
freemen, and yet others took refuge in the cooking-sheds and beneath
the house. From these last sprang the slaves. Finally, those who were
banished, and never returned, became the ancestors of distant people,
and remote tribes. It is worthy of note that, on the arrival of the
Spanish, they were supposed by the natives to be the descendants of
the last-mentioned migration. The various animals are also said by
tradition to have been derived from other logs of bamboo; and the
fact that the monkey came from one close to that which contained man,
explains satisfactorily the resemblance between them.
Respecting their idea of a future life, the belief was, that preceding
the state of happiness after death, there was a series of incarnations
or purifications of the soul, which successive transmigrations took
place in a cluster of one and fifty islands, on which were sheltered
the souls of the dead. In those beautiful isles departed spirits
enjoyed perpetual youth. In this paradise there were trees always
loaded with ripe fruits, and fastened to the earth by chains of gold,
which served as roots. Of gold also were the ornaments, the bells,
ear-rings (panica), the cloths (isine), and many other things. The
shores of the sea were formed of pure rice, and there was also a
sea of milk, and another of linogao, which is rice boiled with milk
or fat. Yet another sea was of blood, and on the bank of this grew
plants, whose flowers had petals of flesh ready for eating.
These people held primitive notions concerning original sin, and
also cherished a belief in the punishments and rewards of a future
life. They accounted for the coming of death into the world in the
following manner: Far back in the very night, the god Laon possessed
a most beautiful fish which was his delight, also a tree which bore
the most luscious fruits. The offenders killed the fish and plucked
the fruit. For this offence Laon caused men to die in all ages.
Such was then the state of civilization among the Tagalog-Bisayan
tribes at the time when the Malay Mohammedans, and the Spanish
conquistadores attempted, from opposite points, to introduce their
religions into the archipelago. The Moros of the Sulu Islands were
beginning to overrun the Philippines on the arrival of the Spanish,
and would eventually have Mohammedanised the entire group. The
Philippine natives at this time were in a singularly interesting stage
of intellectual progress. They had lived through the crude fetishism
of savagedom, and were emerging from the second stage of religious
feeling, during which they had evolved, out of the contemplation of
Nature, one of those wonderful mythologies which are met with among so
many nations. They were beginning to renounce the old Nature worship,
of which the central figure was a Supreme Maker.
It has been truly said that nothing requires such calm and impartial
judgment as the inquiry into the moral and religious condition of
uncivilized races. The co-evolution of religion and civilization
is an extremely interesting subject to the student of anthropology,
when he notes the gradual refinement of the national religion as the
culture of the race improves, and the degradation of that religion
when a race retrogrades in civilization. It is one of the many grand
problems, based on the retributive laws of Nature, which confront the
enquirer into that great and wonderful mystery--the development of the
human race. Well it is for him who can learn from the savage Aieta,
or the semi-civilized Tagalog, a lesson in the evolution of the human
intellect; but, unfortunately, so many who have golden opportunities
of studying the intellect and works of uncultured man are careless of
those matters, and look with contempt upon the noblest of studies. They
cannot interest themselves in the struggling intellect of primitive
man; they no longer understand the craving of youth for advancement;
they disdain to look upon the dawn of intellectual day.
These are the most interesting points procured from the aforementioned
works on the Philippine Islands, a land which we call new, but in
which the events of the Tagalog-Bisayan migrations were but as of
yesterday. Here, as elsewhere, the rude savage retreats before a
superior race, but the receptive Tagalog attaches himself to the
civilization of his conquerors. He had already advanced himself to
the difficult highway that leads from barbarism to a higher culture,
and was thus enabled to receive the teachings of his Iberian invaders;
but he who would seek the indigenous Aieta must look for him in the
distant recesses of the primeval forest, or in the dark and gloomy
cañons of the great ranges.
A THOUSAND YEARS OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY BEFORE THE COMING OF THE
SPANIARDS