[1] "Originally, when the port of the capital of Filipinas was visited
only by vessels from the Asiatic nations and a few Spanish ships, the
exaction of duties was in the hands of the royal officials, according
to the laws of the Indias. In 1779 Basco y Vargas ordained that
those functionaries should attend only to collecting duties from the
ships which navigated to the coasts of Coromandel, Malabar, Bengala,
Java, Cantón, Acapulco, and Cádiz; and that the duties proper to the
entrance or outgo of products and commodities in the inter-island
commerce should be in charge of the director of alcabala. From this
originated the foundation of the custom-house, it being completed
by royal decrees of 1786 and 1788, from which time it was provided
with the necessary force of men for collecting the import and export
duties." (Note by Montero y Vidal.)
[2] Cf. Forrest, Voyage to New Guinea, p. 368: "They believe the deity
pleased with human victims. An Idaan or Maroot [a tribe in northern
Borneo] must, for once at least, in his life, have imbued his hands in
a fellow creature's blood; the rich are said to do it often, adorning
their houses with sculls and teeth, to show how much they have honored
their author, and laboured to avert his chastisement. Several in low
circumstances will club to buy a Bisayan Christian slave, or any one
that is to be sold cheap; that all may partake the benefit of the
execution. So at Kalagan, on Mindano, as Rajah Moodo informed me,
when the god of the mountain gives no brimstone, they sacrifice some
old slave, to appease the wrath of the deity. Some also believe,
those they kill in this world, are to serve them in the next, as
Mr. Dalrymple observes." He also says (p. 271), that they pay "perhaps
five or six Kangans" for an old slave, and that the above mountain
is "in the district of Kalagan [i.e., Caraga], a little way west of
Pandagitan, which emits at times smoke, fire, and brimstone." This
evidently alludes to Mt. Butulan, a volcano (now apparently extinct),
in the extreme southern point of Davao province, Mindanao.
[3] See account of this at end of "Events in Filipinas," the first
document in VOL. L.
[4] See post, near the end of this volume, the document on the
representation of Filipinas in the Spanish Cortes.
[5] "A fanatic, who, styling himself a new Christ, appeared to the
fishermen and announced to them their true redemption--freedom from
monopolies and tributes, and whatever could allure the unwary. This
fanatic and more than seventy of his following, called 'apostles,' were
seized, with their gowns, litters, flags, and other articles with which
'the new god,' as was reported, must make himself manifest." (Official
despatch, cited by Montero y Vidal.)
[6] It may be noted that in 1809 Folgueras had, "in order to quiet the
public anxiety" to know what was going on, published on two occasions
a sort of gazette (called Aviso al público) of news regarding his
encounter and correspondence with the French in that summer. (Montero
y Vidal, ii, pp. 390, 391.)
[7] See Retana's Periodismo filipino (Madrid, 1895), appendix i
(pp. 533-559), in which a detailed account of this gazette, with lists
of the articles in most of the numbers, is given by J. T. Medina. He
concludes that it had fifteen numbers, irregularly issued, the last
of which was dated February 7, 1812.
[8] According to Jagor (Reisen, pp. 108, 109), "the receipts from
the sale of the bulls of the Crusade in 1819 were $15,930, in 1839,
$36,390, and in 1860, $58,954. In the two years 1844-45 they rose
to $292,115, because the families and the heads of barangay were
forcibly obliged to accept the certificates of indulgences, 'with the
assistance and supervision of the curas and subordinate officials'
(who for this received 8 and 5 per cent respectively), and thus they
were distributed in the houses--certainly one of the most shameless
applications of the repartimiento system."
[9] A note by Montero y Vidal cites José R. Trujillo, a Philippine
official, as stating (1887) that the chief opponent and plotter against
Gardoqui was Joaquin Cirilo de la Cajigas, the chief accountant of the
treasury board and head of the naval bureau; he left a great fortune
to his descendants, "who even now figure as rich men in the country,
while the naval chiefs and officers who served here at that epoch
did not bequeath to their descendants more than poverty and honor,
although some of them had risen to high positions in the naval forces."
[10] "The Holy Office was, however, again abolished by the Cortes,
in its session of 1820.
[11] "In 1797, when on account of the decadence of the Society and
the opposition of Aguilar it practically ceased its functions, its
president at that time, the auditor Don Francisco Javier Moreno, placed
on deposit in the Consulate [of commerce] 6,000 pesos, which at that
period constituted all its funds. At the time of its reëstablishment,
the capital of the Society consisted of 34,224 pesos, two reals,
one grano in ready cash; a debt owed by the convent of San Juan de
Dios, of 7,525 pesos--the remainder of the sum of 15,890 pesos, four
reals, one grano, which by decree of the government dated April 1,
1805, were ordered to be paid for the rebuilding of that convent's
edifice; and twelve gold medals and 241 of silver. It was agreed
to invest these funds in commerce by sea or land, according to
circumstances." (Pamphlet cited by Montero y Vidal.)
[12] For a brief account of this Society's work, see note on
"Agriculture" at end of VOL. LII.
[13] An interesting account of this event is furnished in a letter
by Peter Dobell, then Russian consul in the Philippines, which is
preserved in the New York Public Library; it is printed in the Bulletin
of that institution for June, 1903, at pp. 198-200. Dobell went to
Macao for medical treatment in July, 1820, and this letter was written
from that city, on November 28 of that year. He thus writes: "I arrived
with my wife and daughter at Manilla last March, was received with
great apparent attention, politeness & hospitality. After living there
a couple of months, however, I perceived that there existed a vast deal
of jealousy and envy, against all strangers, and particularly those
who resided or intended to form establishments in the country. Those
ignorant people could not divest themselves of this feeling, even
toward those, whose capitals, talents and industry, were directed
to the most laudable pursuits, and promised to produce great public
as well as private advantages to the colony. At this crisis several
french ships were in the port, one or two Americans and a English ship
from Bengal. In the French ships, had arrived a naturalist sent out
by the government to make collections, and some persons, who intended
to remain in the Philippines to cultivate sugar, cotton &c. &c. In the
month of July last, I discovered that I had in my travels, contracted
a disease, called by the Doctr Hydrocele and becoming very troublesome
to me, I determined as there are no good surgeons in Manilla to pay
a short visit to Macao with my family & return to my post, as soon
as circumstances would permit, after the operation. This I found,
I could do the more conveniently, as my Nephew, a fine young Man of
23 years, had joined me at my arrival and I left him, in full charge
of my office &c and departed. This envious disposition, on the part
of the Spaniards, increased daily, against the Strangers, until an
opportunity presented itself of gratifying their malignant hatred, in
the most cruel & bloody manner & without themselves appearing to have
any thing to do in the business. It is necessary first to tell you,
that the new constitution, had been received during the prevalence
of this feeling, giving extensive privileges & liberal encouragement
to foreigners, who might think proper to settle in the Philippines &
rendering the natives as free & equal, in rights, etc. as their former
masters. This certainly made them a little unruly, but, if not secretly
instigated, it would never have induced them to commit a crime, that
makes humanity shudder. The ship from Bengal, was the Merope Captain
Nichols and it was supposed she had brot into the colony the epidemic,
that has ravaged all India, this year, under the name of the 'Cholera
Morbus.' It made its appearance, in the beginning of October last,
carrying off great numbers of the Indians every day. The humane French
& other Strangers, who beheld these miserable wretches, dying around
them without any medical aid, freely administered what medicines they
had, and were actively & daily employed, in endeavoring to alleviate;
the distress & cure the complaints of all those, who lived within the
sphere of their exertions. This also became, a cause of jealousy and
hatred and the villains, began immediately to exasperate the Indians
by saying, 'this poisonous disease, was introduced by the French &
the other strangers, they have poisoned even the waters, and they
administer poison to the sick, purposely to exterpate the whole
race of Tagalians.' The ferocious Indians wanted nothing farther
to excite them to deeds of blood & plunder. On the 9th of October
about 10 or 11 in the morning they collected, to the number of
about 3,000 Men armed with pikes knives and bludgeons and proceeded
coolly and deliberately to plunder and Massacre all the Strangers
on whom they could lay their hands! I have not time to give you the
details of this shocking business, but you will certainly read them
in the gazettes as I have sent both to England and Russia very full
accounts for publication. Suffice it now to say that the Governor &
the authorities were vainly implored for assistance. They came, it is
true, with the troops, but it was only to behold with sang froid the
horrid spectacle. Not a musket was fired to save the lives of those
unfortunate and defenceless strangers, who to the number of 39 were
plundered & cruelly massacred; some of them were so cut up & mangled
it was impossible to recognize them. As the most of them were Roman
Catholics, they were all collected and thrown into a hole together
without the shadow of a ceremony or a stone to mark their graves! What
is worse, the last accts from there down to the 9th of November
mention that not a spanish life was lost, nor has a single native as
yet suffered punishment for this most atrocious & horrible deed. My
house was attacked & pillaged, my Nephew & a Mr Prince of Boston,
who lived with him, made prisonners, and, after being near two days
in the hands of the Indians, suffering the most abominable treatment,
they luckily escaped Death. Eighty five Chinese & 11 English seamen
were also plundered & assassinated. I have been obliged to represent
this affair in its full suit of Black to my Government and have at the
same time declared my intention of going back to Siberia, next April,
where I shall await the orders of His Imperial Majesty.... I leave
the place & those miscreants to themselves, from the conviction,
that its commerce is ruined forever. In the first place they held
their productions too high & paid too low for European commodities, so
that, when the allowance of the half duties granted to the importers
of sugars shall cease, no french ships will visit the Philippines
to pay from 7 to 9 Dollars a pecul for Sugars. The Cadmus, you say
will make money. If she does, she will I fancy be the only American
ship that profits by its trade to Manilla. All those, who came out
last year lost money on the sales of their cargoes, &, from what we
hear of prices in America, and on the Continent, they must lose by
the returns. But what will give the death blow to the prosperity of
the Philippines, is the late horrible massacre. All those french and
other foreigners, who were anxious to have established themselves
in commerce or on estates in the country, are now frightened off
and certainly no one will find himself, confident enough to trust
to a Government, which could permit such a massacre to take place,
immediately under its eyes, when it had 5,000 men in arms, ready at a
minutes notice to disperse the Mob. Thus situated, Manilla offers no
chance of profit or Speculation; and I confess, however my hopes and
wishes may have been disappointed, I turn from them with disgust &
horror, better pleased to be ordered to live, in some remote corner
of Siberia, on black bread & salt, than roll in wealth, amidst such an
inhuman, illiberal and unchristianlike race of Men.... I must close my
letter by informing you that the Captain General has refused all the
applications for indemnification, from those who have been plundered;
so that as yet, neither the punishment due to the assassins has been
inflicted, nor redress made to the unfortunate people who were robbed."
By the kindness of James A. LeRoy, the Editors have in their hands
a copy (furnished by Dr. Pardo de Tavera from the original in
his possession) of a decree issued by Governor Folgueras (dated at
Manila, October 20, 1820), addressed "to the natives of the Filipinas
Islands, and especially to those of the district of Tondo," in which
he rebukes them severely for thus violating the law of nations,
under the influence of "a general frenzy," and "led astray and
infuriated by certain malicious persons." He characterizes their
belief that the strangers had poisoned the waters as a foolish and
absurd notion, which "the mountain Negritos or the Moros of Joló and
Mindanao would be ashamed to entertain;" and reminds them that the
strangers whom they have plundered and slain were not only friends
and brethren, but the very persons on whom the prosperity of the
islands must depend, since they supplied a market for the produce
of the country. He then presents the report which has been made by
an official whom the governor had specially appointed (October 13)
to investigate this idea of the foreigners' crime, which is to the
following effect: "As the evidence of guilt [cuerpo de delito, the
same as the Latin corpus delicti] in the poisoning which is charged,
the Indians have brought to us, among the spoils which they plundered
from the houses of the Frenchmen, various animals of different forms,
and among them a serpent, of quite the usual size, one of those which
they call 'house-snakes,' in a dissected state; others, with some
little shellfish, preserved in spirits of wine, in a crystal flask;
in another, two granos of muriatic baryte; a quantity of Peruvian
bark, which in my opinion would weigh about an arroba and a half;
and a box of sheet-tin about a vara long, one-fourth as wide, and six
dedos thick, in which also was found a mass of insects, but already
decaying; and finally, in the house of a woman who had been accused
of being an agent of the French for the alleged poisoning, a little
package of some black powders in China paper [i.e., rice paper]." The
official states that these animal specimens have evidently "no other
object than to enrich cabinets of natural history," and could not
in any way have been used for injuring human beings. The muriatic
baryte was for use in analyzing mineral waters, and was, moreover,
useful in various diseases. The Peruvian bark was, as all might
know, a useful medicine and had often been helpful in checking the
cholera itself. The black powders, it was also decided, were also of
medicinal value; and the entire story is characterized as a fiction
and delusion. The official regrets that it was believed by so many
persons who should have known better than to accept so gross an error;
"but it is certain that they did, and, among them, many of the clergy;
and with this the delusion attained such power that it has caused
the very scandalous deeds which all good persons lament; for it is
certain that there is no better way of propagating an error than for
persons of authority to adopt it. There is no doubt, it appears, that
this foolish idea of poisoning had its origin in the ignorance of the
Indians; but there is as little doubt that malicious persons, imposing
upon this folly and lack of knowledge in the Indians, incited them to
perpetrate the assassinations and robberies of the disastrous days,
October 9 and 10." He adds that one of the books brought to him by the
Indians, which they had taken from the house of the French naturalist,
was filled with sketches of fishes, mollusks, and birds peculiar to
the country, which plainly showed that he was only making zoological
observations. In view of all these things, Folgueras calls upon the
natives to repent of their sin, to surrender to the authorities the
instigators of the tumult, to restore to the plundered foreigners
what had been stolen from them, and to denounce the authors of the
murders, that justice might be done to these evil persons. These
exhortations are especially addressed to the inhabitants of Binondo,
"which has been the theatre of the most horrible tragedy, and has
covered itself with blood and ignominy." This decree is published
by Dr. Pardo de Tavera, from the original printed edition, in his
Biblioteca filipina, pp. 45-47.
[14] In his scarce third volume of the Informe, Mas says that the
governor, either wittingly or unwittingly, did well in not sending
out the soldiers, who were natives, until the fury of the people had
spent itself; as otherwise all discipline might easily have been lost,
and the soldiers have joined with their kindred in the massacre.
[15] Our author gives the name of this periodical incorrectly; it
should be El Noticioso Filipino--see Retana's Periodismo filipino,
appendix ii (pp. 561, 563). It was apparently begun on July 29, 1821;
it was issued on Sundays. Its publication ceased before November 1 of
that year. This information was furnished to Retana by Pardo de Tavera;
he also supplied accurate data for La Filantropia (pp. 561-563), which
began on September 1, 1821; it seems to have ceased publication in
1822. El Ramillete Patriótico is known only by an allusion in one of
the numbers of Filantropia, which speaks of the former as having been
"silenced" (presumably by the authorities). Pedro Torres y Lanzas
gives (p. 565) a description of Nos. 27-37 (March 16-May 25, 1822)
of Filantropia.
[16] Regarding this man and his works, see Retana's El precursor
de la político redentorista (Madrid, 1894); it is specially devoted
to Varela's Parnaso filipino (Sampaloc, 1814). Retana says of him:
"It is unquestionable that his writings in prose and verse encouraged
among the Indians the wrong interpretation which was given to the
Constitution of 1812, from which resulted the series of insurrections,
fortunately isolated, which took place in Filipinas."
[17] This publication was begun in January, 1824, and continued until
May, 1833; at first two hundred and fifty copies were printed. It
was finally obliged to suspend publication, for lack of funds. See
Retana's Periodismo filipino, pp. 10-14, and 566; at the latter place,
Torres y Lanzas describes a file of Nos. 49-109 (lacking two numbers)
of this publication, which is presumably preserved in the Archivo
general at Sevilla.
[18] In 1823 the pirates captured the provincial of the Recollects,
with one of his friars; and that order had to furnish 10,000 pesos
for their ransom. (Montero y Vidal, Hist. de Filipinas, ii, p. 482.)
[19] General Ricafort published a relation of this enterprise, dated
at Manila, December 30, 1829; he describes the island, presents an
historical sketch of the insurrection in Bohol since 1744 and the
efforts to quell it, and at the end furnishes a tabulated statement of
the expeditions sent by his orders, with number of men, expenditures,
etc., and of their results--a statement signed by Captain Manuel Sanz,
the leader of the expedition, and dated at Talibon, August 31, 1829;
to this is added the signed statement by the parish curas of Bohol that
the numbers of insurgents who have been conquered or have submitted to
the Spanish rule agree with their respective registers. According to
this account, the number of insurgents reduced or submitted was 19,420;
to this must be added 98 "banished for their rebellious dispositions,"
and 395 "obstinate persons who died at the hands of the troops," and
an unknown ("for lack of information") number of those killed in the
year 1827 and on March 28 of 1828, and more than 3,000 souls who have
fled to other provinces. Some of the troops were Spaniards from Manila,
but the main part of the force was composed of Indians from Bohol and
Cebú, to the number of 5,970 and 54 respectively; 294 of the former
and 32 of the latter deserted the ranks, and 4,977 Boholans and 22
Cebuans were at the end disbanded, as being on the sick list; and
very few were either killed or wounded in the campaign. The reduced
insurgents were formed into the following new villages: Catigbian,
with 1,967 souls; Batuanan, with 6,266 souls; Cabulao, with 790;
Balilijan, with 2,100; and Vilar, with 930. In other villages were
distributed the remaining insurgents.
[20] "The Chinese refused to accept their reduction into villages; more
than eight hundred elected to return to their own country; four hundred
odd were assigned to labor on the public works, as being insolvent;
and about a thousand fled to the mountains in order to elude payment
and punishment. The intendant, in view of the difficulty in collecting
[their] taxes, explained to the government the expediency of modifying
the enactment; and this was done in 1834." (Note by Montero y Vidal.)
[21] These funds were chiefly the obras pías which had been
administered by the Jesuit order in Filipinas up to their expulsion
from the islands; at that time, nearly half of these foundations
were extinguished by the authorities, and such moneys as remained in
them were covered into the royal treasury. Forty-five of the Jesuit
obras pías were thus left, which were administered by the government
in the following manner: The capital was divided (as had long been
the custom of all the orders in Filipinas in administering obras
pías) into three parts; one of these was invested in the commerce
of Acapulco, another in that of the Coromandel Coast and China,
and the other third remained on deposit as a reserve to make good
any losses in the amounts invested. Much light is thrown on the
management of these funds by the Jesuits, in the official report made
(June 23, 1797), in pursuit of a command from the Spanish government,
by Angel de la Fuente, the chief of the Bureau of Secular Revenues
[Contaduría de Temporalidades] at Manila; the original MS. of this
is in the possession of Edward K. Ayer, Chicago. Fuente examined the
account-books which the Jesuits had kept of these funds, and found them
full of confusion, discrepancies, and omissions; but after comparing
and verifying them so far as he could, he made a list of them, with
statement of their origin, amount, and application. He found that in
seventeen of these funds there was no evidence that the money had been
applied as directed by the donors, and only partial indications of this
in fifteen others. He reported that many of these obras pías had been
contributed for the advantage and benefit of the Jesuits themselves,
and therefore, since that order had been suppressed, the funds might
now justly be applied to any desirable pious purpose. To this end,
he recommended that nineteen of the funds be placed in charge of
the diocesan authorities, and twelve others used by the government
for specified purposes, and that the rest be covered into the royal
treasury.
[22] "In order to give aid to the widow of Torres, and pay the
expenses of her voyage to España, a subscription was raised which
produced 12,000 pesos; but we note that the promoter of this married
the widow, and they returned to the Peninsula together." (Note by
Montero y Vidal.)
[23] The "pillar dollar" was so called from the pillars on the
reverse of the coin, which represent the pillars of Hercules, or
the Straits of Gibraltar; this device was characteristic of the
Spanish-American coinage. This dollar was the peso duro (or "hard
dollar"), of eight reals; and its half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth,
and thirty-second parts were represented by smaller coins. The
greater part of the supply of pillar dollars were made in Mexico;
but this coinage ceased in 1822. In the Peninsula, the coins were the
dollar--formerly of ten reals, but now of twenty reals vellón--the
half, the peseta or pistareen (which is one-fifth of the dollar,
or four reals vellón), and the half and the quarter pistareen. After
the Peninsular revolution of 1821, pillar dollars were struck for a
short time at Madrid, but these are easily distinguishable from the
true pillar dollar. In 1810-16, silver coins were used in Brazil,
which were only the Spanish dollar, softened by annealing, and then
restamped; the pillars may be distinguished underneath this surface,
by close inspection. See Eckfeldt and DuBois, Manual of Gold and
Silver Coins (Philadelphia, 1842), pp. 33, 77, 119, 122, See also
chapter on Spanish coinage, especially that called "vellón," in
Lea's Inquisition in Spain (New York, 1906-07), i, pp. 560 et seq.;
this latter, although debased, was the standard of value until 1871,
when it was replaced by the decimal system.
[24] "According to a memorial published by Don Francisco Enríquez
on leaving his office, there were at that time in the funds [of his
department] a surplus of 1,000,000 pesos, and in the storehouses over
275,000 bales of tobacco, the value of which exceeded 4,000,000 hard
dollars." (Note by Montero y Vidal.)
[25] Hangers-on of the palace at Manila tried to throw on Galvey the
blame for this failure; but Montero y Vidal cites Galvey's diary, to
show that he had to contend with overwhelming difficulties, inadequate
supplies and lack of proper facilities, and the insalubrity of the
country. He stated therein that he had made "forty-five expeditions
into the hill-country, and had received therein four wounds, two of
which were mortal." He died in 1839.
[26] Royal decrees of 1835 and 1836 suppressed the Jesuit order
throughout the Spanish empire; all the religious communities and
colleges of men (excepting the colleges of missionaries for Asia,
the clergy of the Escuelas Pías and the hospital convents of St. John
of God), and the houses of the military orders; and all the beaterios
whose inmates were not devoted to educational or hospital labors.
[27] "In Filipinas the peseta is worth only 32 cuartos." (Vidal y
Soler, Viajes por Jagor, p. 227; published in 1874.)
[28] Soon after his return to Spain he published a book (Cádiz, 1839)
relating his experiences as governor of Filipinas.
[29] Camba's wife died, three months after their arrival at Manila;
and at her funeral certain military honors were paid her, as provided
in the regulations of affairs in the Indias, and these were promptly
approved by the home government. Camba's enemies, however, accused
him at Madrid of having had the same honors paid to his wife as were
customary with royal persons; and, at the time, the artillery officials
demanded from him pay for the powder used on that occasion. (Note by
Montero y Vidal.)
[30] In conjunction with the Audiencia, he commissioned a magistrate,
Francisco Otín y Duazo, to draw up new "Ordinances of good government,"
in 1838. (Montero y Vidal, ii, p. 360.)
[31] Montero y Vidal says (iii, p. 21): "On March 21, 1840, the
Economic Society of Friends of the Country made a grant of 500 pesos
to Father Blanco for the expenses of printing and publishing the Flora
which bears his name." In 1845 a second edition appeared, corrected
and enlarged by the author himself; and a third edition was issued
(1877-80) at the cost of the Augustinian order. This last was in four
volumes, a limited edition, with an atlas (in two volumes) containing
478 colored plates; it also included a previously unpublished MS. on
Philippine botany, written late in the sixteenth century, and an
appendix prepared by the editors of Blanco (Fathers Andrés Naves and
Celestino Fernández-Villar) in which they endeavored to coördinate
Blanco's species with those of other authors and to enumerate all the
species of Philippine plants then known. See an account of Blanco's
work and that of his later editors, with estimate of the scientific
value of both, in Review of the Identifications of Species Described
in Blanco's "Flora" (Manila, 1905), by Elmer D. Merrill, botanist of
the Bureau of Government Laboratories at Manila.
[32] In Retana's Periodismo filipino (pp. 566, 567) Torres y Lanzas
describes some copies of this periodical, dated October 5-November 9,
1839, and January 23-February 6, 1841; he cites a letter by Urréjola
to show that Precios corrientes was published weekly, beginning July 6,
1839, by private enterprise.
[33] By a later royal decree, the fiscal was to settle any case of
disagreement between the two censors, and any books seized by the
authorities should be only sent back to the shipper, and not kept by
them--the archbishop having demanded that confiscated books should
be surrendered to him. (Note by Montero y Vidal.)
[34] The full title of this book is as follows: Remarks on the
Phillippine Islands, and on their capital Manila. 1819 to 1822. By
an Englishman. "When a traveller returneth home, let him not leave
the countries where he hath travelled altogether behind him." Lord
Bacon--Essays. Calcutta: Printed at the Baptist mission Press,
Circular Road; and sold by Messrs. W. Thacker and Co. St. Andrew's
Library. 1828.
Opposite the title-page is a folding map, entitled "Map of the province
of Tondo." It is Spanish, dated 1819; and shows as well portions of
the adjacent provinces. The book is dedicated "To Holt Mackenzie,
Esq. This Work is respectfully inscribed, by his obedient humble
servant, The Author. Calcutta, March, 1828."
Notes signed "Eds." are supplied by the Editors; the rest are those
of the author himself. The original text is reproduced as exactly
as possible.
[35] Besides the references already given, see J. Roth's sketch
of the geology of the Philippines, in appendix to Jagor's Reisen,
pp. 333-354.--Eds.
[36] The Bureau of Government Laboratories at Manila published, during
1902-05, a valuable series of bulletins on various topics in botany,
ornithology, biology, diseases of man and beast, etc., and another
series was published by the Mining Bureau; the former bureau is now
replaced by the Bureau of Science.--Eds.
[37] In the environs of Manila, a monument is erected to the memory
of ..., [37-A] a Spanish naturalist of unwearied industry, and it is
said, great talents, sent out by government to examine the Phillippine
Islands. After seven years' incessant labour, he died of a fever, and
at his death his manuscripts, which are all written in cyphers, were
taken possession of by the government; they are said yet to remain
buried in the archives of 'la Secretaria,' having never been sent
to Europe!
[37-A] Apparently referring to Antonio Pineda (VOL. L, p. 61); but he
died only three years after leaving Spain. In the expedition to
which he was attached, he was director of the department of natural
sciences; he was accompanied by Louis Née, a Frenchman naturalized
in Spain. They visited Uruguay, Patagonia, Chile, Peru, and Nueva
España; and in Chile were joined by the Hungarian naturalist, Tadeo
Haenke (who, reaching Cádiz after their vessel sailed, was obliged
to sail to South America to meet them). From Acapulco they went to
Marianas and Filipinas; and journeyed (1791) through Luzón from
Sorsogón to Manila. Pineda labored diligently in Luzón, and made large
collections; but died at Badoc, in Ilocos, in 1792; his brother Arcadio
Pineda, who was first lieutenant of the ship, was charged to put in
order the materials collected by Antonio, but many of these were lost
on the return journey. Returning to South America, at Callao Haenke and
Née parted company; the former again traveled in America, but in the
vicissitudes of these journeys much of the material collected by him
was lost or spoiled. The residue was classified and described, after
his death, by the leading botanists of Europe, and this matter was
published in a work entitled Reliquiæ Haenkeane, seu descriptiones et
icones plantarum quæ in America meridionali et boreali in insulis
Philippinis et Marianis collegit Thaddeus Haenke, Philosophiæ Doctor,
Phytographus Regis Hispaniæ (Pragæ, 1825-35). Née went from Concepción,
Chile, overland to Montevideo, and thence to Spain; and in September,
1794, he reached Cádiz, with a herbarium of 10,000 plants, of which
4,000 were new ones. These were preserved in the Botanical Gardens at
Madrid, with more than 300 drawings. See Ramón Jordana y Morera's
Bosquejo geográfico é historico-natural del archipiélago filipino
(Madrid, 1885), pp. 356-358, 361; and José Gogorza y González's Datos
para la fauna filipina (Madrid, 1888), p. 2.--Eds.
[38] The loftiest peak in Mindoro is Mount Halcón, said to be 8,800
feet in height. The most prominent volcano in the archipelago is Mayón,
7,916 feet high, in Albay, Luzon; in Negros is another volcano, called
Canlaón, 8,192 feet high. In Panay the highest peak is Madiaás, 7,264
feet; and in Mindanao is the loftiest peak in the entire archipelago,
the almost extinct volcano of Apo, which rises to 10,312 feet. See
the chapter on "Mountains and rivers," in Census of Philippines, i,
pp. 00-73.--Eds.
[39] Le Gentil says (Voyage, ii, p. 29): "This animal [the hog] is so
common there that they even use its fat for sauces, ragouts, and fried
articles; for butter is not known in Manila, and there is very little
use of milk there. The Manilans doubtless find less difficulty (for in
that climate people are very fond of repose) in using pork fat in their
food than in rearing and keeping cattle and making butter. This sort
of food, joined to the heat and the great humidity of that country,
occasions serious dysentery in many persons." He adds (p. 123):
"The venereal disease (or 'French disease,' as they call it, I know
not why), is very common there [in Manila]; but they do not die from
it; the great heat and copious perspiration enable people to live at
Manila with this malady, they marry without being frightened at it,
and the evil passes by inheritance to their children; it is a sort of
heritage with which but few European families are not stained."--Eds.
[40] Le Gentil thus speaks of the placer-mining practiced by the
Indians in Luzon (Voyage, ii, p. 32): "It is true that this sort
of life shortens the days of these wretched people; as they are
perpetually in the water, they swell, and soon die. Besides that,
the friars say that it is their experience that the Indians who lead
that sort of life have no inclination to follow the Christian life,
and that they give much trouble to the ministers of God who instruct
them. Despite that, it is to the friars and to the alcaldes that
these Indians sell their gold."--Eds.
[41] In his "Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon," Worcester calls
attention to the various indefinite modes of using the word "tribe,"
among ethnological writers, and proposes (p. 803) the following
definition as a means of securing clearness and accuracy therein:
"A division of a race composed of an aggregate of individuals of
a kind and of a common origin, agreeing among themselves in, and
distinguished from their congeners by, physical characteristics,
dress, and ornaments; the nature of the communities which they form;
peculiarities of house architecture; methods of hunting, fishing, and
carrying on agriculture; character and importance of manufactures;
practices relative to war and the taking of heads of enemies; arms
used in warfare; music and dancing, and marriage and burial customs;
but not constituting a political unit subject to the control of any
single individual nor necessarily speaking the same dialect." He adds:
"Where different dialects prevail among the members of a single
tribe it should be subdivided into dialect groups." He also says
(p. 798): "It was the usage of the Spaniards to designate as a tribe
each group of people which had a dialect, more or less peculiar, of
its own. Furthermore, the custom which is widespread among the hill
people of northern Luzon of shouting out the name of a settlement
when they desire to call for one or more persons belonging to it,
seems in many instances to have led the Spaniards to adopt settlement
names as tribal ones, even when there were no differences of dialect
between the peoples thus designated."--Eds.
[42] The fullest and most authoritative account of the Negritos is,
of course, the monograph by W. A. Reed, The Negritos of Zambales,
published by the Philippine Ethnological Survey. See also Worcester's
account of them in his "Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon,"
in Philippine Journal of Science, October, 1906, pp. 805 et seq.--Eds.
[43] See Le Gentil, Voyage aux Indes.
[44] Is not this, or something resembling it, a custom of the natives
of Australasia?
[45] See Herrera and Ant. de Solis, Hist. of Mexico.
[46] The negro of the east appears to have amalgamated with some other
family. On the south coasts of Australasia, they resemble in many
points the people just described. This continues to be the case as far
as Cape Capricorn. To the northward of this, as far as Murray's Islands
in Torres Straits, they are a stout, tall, athletic race of men, [46-A]
and as hairy on the face and body as Europeans, with long hair, and
without the negro cast of countenance. This race may be traced by
intervals to Ternate, Gilolo, &c., where they are called Harraforas;
[46-B] but none are found in the Phillippines (unless the Ylocos have
some relationship to them). Is not the native of New Ireland and Queen
Charlotte's Islands too of this race? [46-C] The difference between
them is most striking. The one are dwarfish negroes, the others almost
black Europeans. Both are essentially different from the Malay family,
and not only so, but from each other (the native of Amboyna, I think,
forms the link between them) and this difference is apparently
anatomical, in the shape of the skull, facial angles, &c.
We are as yet in the infancy of our knowledge of the origin of these
various families of the human race: like that of languages, it will
in all probability remain one more of conjecture than of fact; but it
is still a subject of deep interest. I have heard from respectable
authority, that the language of Cagayan, the most northern province
but one of the island of Luzon, the men of which are tail, stout,
olive-coloured, almost beardless, and proverbial for their mildness,
peaceable behaviour, and fidelity, so much resembles that of the
Sandwich islanders, that some of these at Manila found no difficulty
in making the Cagayan servants understand them! The province of Ylocos
is the next to this to the north, and forms the north coast of the
island. The Ylocos are black, short-bearded men, and noted for their
insubordination and dissipated character.
[46-A] The writer of this memoir has, on the coast of New Holland,
between Cape Capricorn and Endeavour Straits, had occasion to know this
fact. A party of these savages attacked the captain and supercargo of
a vessel in which he was an officer, and they were repulsed only by
firearms. The account of them given by the supercargo, and indeed by
all the party attacked, uniformly agreed in describing them as the
finest made and strongest looking men possible. Their bodies were
also very hairy.
[46-B] The term "Haraforas" is applied to the Subanos of Mindanao by
Captain Forrest; from his Voyage, pp. 266, 268, 271, 273, 278-282, we
obtain the following interesting and first-hand information about
that people:
"The vassals of the Sultan, and of others, who possess great estates,
are called Kanakan. Those vassals are sometimes Mahometans, though
mostly Haraforas ["who are also called Subanos, or Oran Manubo,"
p. 186]. The latter only may be sold with the lands, but cannot be sold
off the lands. The Haraforas are more opprest than the former. The
Mahometan vassals are bound to accompany their lords, on any sudden
expedition; but the Haraforas being in a great measure excused from
such attendance, pay yearly certain taxes, which are not expected from
the Mahometan vassals. They pay a boiss, or land tax. A Harafora family
pays ten battels of paly (rough rice) forty lb. each; three of rice,
about sixty lb.; one fowl, one bunch of plantains, thirty roots,
called clody, or St. Helena yam, and fifty heads of Indian corn. I
give this as one instance of the utmost that is ever paid. Then
they must sell fifty battels of paly, equal to two thousand pound
weight, for one kangan. So at Dory, or New Guinea, one prong, value
half a dollar, or one kangan, given to a Harafora, lays a perpetual
tax on him. Those vassals at Magindano have what land they please;
and the Mahometans on the sea coast, whether free or kanakan, live
mostly by trading with the Haraforas, while their own gardens produce
them betel nuts, coco nuts, and greens. They seldom grow any rice,
and they discourage as far as they can, the Haraforas from going to
Mindano, to sell the produce of their plantations. On the banks of
the Pelangy and Tamantakka, the Mahometans grow much rice. The boiss
is not always collected in fruits of the earth only. A tax-gatherer,
who arrived at Coto Intang, when I was there, gave me the following
list of what he had brought from some of Rajah Moodo's crown lands,
being levied on perhaps five hundred families. 2870 battels of paly,
of forty lb. each; 490 Spanish dollars; 160 kangans; 6 tayls of gold,
equal to 30 l [sterling]; 160 Malons: a cloth made of the plantain
tree, three yards long, and one broad. This last mentioned cloth is
the usual wear of the country women, made in the form of a Bengal
lungy, or Buggess [i.e., Bugis] cloth, being a wide sack without a
bottom; and is often used as a currency in the market. The currency
in most parts of the country, is the Chinese kangan, coarse cloth,
thinly woven, nineteen inches broad, and six yards long; the value at
Sooloo is ten dollars for a bundle of twenty-five sealed up; and at
Magindano much the same; but at Magindano dollars are scarce. These
bundles are called gandangs, rolled up in a cylindrical form. They
have also, as a currency, kousongs, a kind of nankeen, dyed black;
and kompow, a strong white Chinese linen, made of flax; of which
more particularly hereafter. The kangans generally come from Sooloo;
so they are got at second hand: for the Spaniards have long hindered
Chinese junks, bound from Amoy to Magindano, to pass Samboangan. This
is the cause of so little trade at Magindano, no vessels sailing
from Indostan thither; and the little trade is confined to a few
country Chinese, called Oran Sangly, and a few Soolooans who come
hither to buy rice and paly, bringing with them Chinese articles: for
the crop of rice at Sooloo can never be depended on. In the bazar,
or market, the immediate currency is paly. Ten gantangs of about
four pounds each, make a battel; and three battels (a cylindrical
measure, thirteen inches and five-tenths high; the same in diameter)
about one hundred and twenty pounds of paly, are commonly sold for
a kangan. Talking of the value of things here, and at Sooloo, they
say, such a house or prow, &c., is worth so many slaves; the old
valuation being one slave for thirty kangans. They also specify in
their bargains, whether is meant matto (eye) kangan, real kangan,
or nominal kangan. The dealing in the nominal, or imaginary kangan,
is an ideal barter. When one deals for the real kangans, they must
be examined; and the gandangs, or bundles of twenty-five pieces, are
not to be trusted, as the dealers will often forge a seal, having
first packed up damaged kangans. In this the Chinese here, and at
Sooloo, are very expert. The China cash at Magindano, named pousin,
have holes as in China. I found them scarce; their price is from one
hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty for a kangan. At Sooloo
is coined a cash of base copper, called petis, of which two hundred,
down to one hundred and seventy, go for a kangan."
"On Sooloo are no Haraforas. The Haraforas on Magindano make a strong
cloth, not of cotton, but of a kind of flax, very like what the Batta
people wear on the coast of Sumatra." "One day near Tubuan, a Harafora
brought down some paddy from the country: I wanted to purchase it;
but the head man of the village, a Magindanoer, would not permit him
to sell it me. I did not dispute the point; but found afterwards, the
poor Harafora had sold about three hundred pounds of paly for a prong,
or chopping knife." "They all seem to be slaves to the Magindano
people: for these take what they please, fowls or anything in the
house they like best; and if the owners seem angry, threaten to tie
them up, and flog them." "The inhabitants of this country [of the
Illanos] have generally their name from the lake [i.e., Lake Lanao]
on which they reside. The inlanders dwell chiefly towards the East,
where are said to be thirty thousand men, intermixed in many places
with the Haraforas, who seem to be the primitives of the island. On
the north coast of Magindano, the Spaniards have had great success,
in converting to Christianity those Haraforas. Their agreeing in one
essential point, the eating of hog's flesh, may, in a great measure,
have paved the way."
"The Magindano people sell to the Haraforas iron chopping knives,
called prongs, cloth, salt, &c., for their rice and other fruits
of the earth. For the Haraforas dread going to sea, else they could
carry the produce of their lands to a better market. They are much
imposed on, and kept under by their Mahometan lords; and are all
tributary to the Sultan, or to some Rajah Rajah (noblemen) under
him. Their system proves thus the feudal." "The Haraforas are thinly
scattered; and, being all tributary, many together seldom stay long
at one place. This cannot be for want of water, pasture, or fertile
ground; as with the Tartars on the continent of Asia. On this island,
almost every spot is covered either with timber, brushwood, reeds,
or grass; and streams are found every where in abundance. Nor can it
be to avoid wild beasts; there are none on the island: a good cause
why deer, wild horses and other wild cattle are found in so many
parts of it. I suspect that the Haraforas are often so opprest that
some have wisely got inland, beyond the tax-gatherer's ken."
Evidently Forrest and the writer of the Remarks had in mind two
different peoples, to whom they applied the term Haraforas. Crawfurd
explains this name (Dictionary Ind. Islands, p. 10) as a corruption of
Alforas; it is "not a native word at all, nor is it the generic name
of any people whatsoever. It is a word of the Portuguese language,
apparently derived from the Arabic article al, and the preposition
fora, 'without.' The Indian Portuguese applied it to all people
beyond their own authority, or who were not subdued by them, and
consequently to the wild races of the interior. It would seem to be
equivalent to the 'Indios bravos' of the Spaniards, as applied to the
wild and unconquered tribes of America and the Philippines."--Eds.
[46-C] And that groupe to which Quiros, Mendana, or Torres gave the
name of "Yslas de Gente Hermosa"? [Still thus named on modern charts;
see Voyages of Quiros (Hakluyt Society's publications, London, 1904),
pp. xxiv, 217, 424, 431.--Eds.
[47] Our author here confuses the Spanish name "Pintados" (literally,
"painted," referring to their tattooed bodies) with the native name,
"Bisayas," both being indifferently applied to the islands south
of Luzon.--Eds.
[48] See Sir William Draper's dispatches at the siege of Manila.
[49] Was it not by this system (the mita) that the mines and
plantations of Mexico were wrought? and Mexico,--that Mexico which
the Spaniards of Cortes in the 15th century called New Spain,--became
nearly a desert?
[50] A higher and purer praise is due to this gentleman than having
written the work alluded to: it is that he acted on its spirit, and
first taught the "red man" to know himself as man, and (a far more
arduous undertaking), he taught the white man that his prosperity
was essentially connected with that of the native. The country
in which the foundations of our power were laid on such a basis,
should not have been given away like a ministerial snuff-box. [50-A]
[50-A] Java was conquered by England in 1811, but was restored to
Holland five years later. During that time the island was governed
by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), who published a History
of Java (London, 1817); he was afterward governor of the English
settlements in Sumatra (1818-24), in both these posts ruling with
great ability and vigor and an enlightened and liberal mind. Gilbert
Elliot, Baron Minto, a noted English statesman, was governor-general
of India during 1807-13, and went with Raffles to Java to organize
its government.--Eds.
[51] See Descripcion Geografica y Topografica de la Ysla de Luzon,
Por Don Yldefonso de Arragon, Parte IV. Prov. de la Pampanga, p. 3,
5, &c. The author is a colonel of engineers. [In 1818-20, he was
chief of the topographical bureau at Manila.--Eds.]
[52] Ibid.
[53] "Estos (Pueblos) aunque immediatos a las orillas de la mar,
estén libres de las invasiones de los Moros; la espesura de las
Manglares occulta y hace dificil la entrada, &c."
"These (towns), though close to the sea shore, are free from the
invasions of the Moors (pirates); the thickness of the mangroves
conceal and render the entrances difficult." The writer is speaking of
towns, of which none are more than 20 miles from Manila!-- Descripcion
Geog. y Topograf.
[54] The writer was once obliged to arm all his servants against 16
soldiers with their muskets from a neighboring military post. The two
parties remained some minutes with their arms levelled at each other,
when a parley was begun, which ended the affair without bloodshed. The
origin of the quarrel was a dispute at cockfighting between his
servants and the soldiers.
[55] Such are, for example, Nuestra Señora de Antipolo, about 20 miles
east of Manila, and the Santo Niño (Holy Child) of Zebû: to both of
these it is reckoned almost indispensable to make a pilgrimage: the
natives of Luzon to the first, which is about 25 miles from Manila;
and those of all the Bisayas or Southern Islands to the other. From
Antipolo [55-A] alone have been sent in a single year 180,000 dollars
as the produce of the masses! And the writer has conversed with
pilgrims from the province of Ylocos! In all cases of peril and
difficulty, a vow is made to one of these saints, which is seldom
left unfulfilled. The crew of a small vessel of men offered 54 dollars
for masses at the convent of St. Augustin (I think), on the day of the
feast del Santo Niño.
[55-A] For detailed account of the shrine at Antipolo, its worship,
miracles, etc., see Murillo Velarde's Hist. de Philipinas, fol.
210v-229v; and in the engraved frontispiece to that work may be seen
a representation of the statue of the Virgin of Antipolo (see our
VOL. XLIV, opposite titlepage).--Eds.
[56] This word is defined by the Standard Dictionary (New York, 1895)
as a Scottish slang word meaning "unlawful sexual intercourse." It is
apparently allied to the obsolete Northumbrian word "houghen-moughen,"
meaning "greedy, ravenous"--see Wright's English Dialect Dictionary,
iii (London, 1902), p. 247.--Eds.
[57] Nothing has stamped the character of the Manila Indian with
greater atrocity in the eyes of Englishmen, than their frequent
appeals to assassination (the knife) in cases of supposed or actual
wrongs. How long is it since dirks were laid aside, because useless,
in Scotland? When men cannot appeal immediately to a magistrate,
they appeal to themselves. Duels too are another kind of appeals of
the same sort.
[58] "At Manila, therefore, a doctor [of law] is a species of
phenomenon, and many years pass without one of them being seen; in
two universities there is no doctor, while in 1767 there was but one
competitor for the doctoral of the cathedral. Yet it must be noted
that this competitor was a Mexican, and was not born in Manila. Of
what use, therefore, are two universities in this city? Would not a
single one be more than enough? One who knows Latin is greatly esteemed
in Manila, because that language is not common there, in spite of the
two universities which I have just mentioned; what is learned in those
institutions is very poor, and is only imperfectly understood. When
I arrived there, a great many persons asked me if I knew Latin, and
when I answered that I knew a little of it they apparently had after
that more respect for me. All the ancient prejudices of the schools
seem to have abandoned us of Europe only to take refuge at Manila,
where certainly they have long remained, for the ancient doctrine is
there in too good hands to give place to sound ideas of physics. Don
Feliciano Marqués often honestly confessed to me that in Spain they
were a hundred years behind France, in the sciences; and that at
Manila they were a hundred years behind Spain. One can judge, by
that, of the present state of physics at Manila, in the midst of
two universities. In that city electricity is known only by name,
and the Holy Office of the Inquisition has prohibited experiments
in that line. I knew there a Frenchman, a surgeon by profession,
a man of parts and of inquiring mind, who was threatened with the
Inquisition for having tried to make such experiments; but I think
that what really drew upon him this ill-fortune was the experiment
of the "little friar." [This simple experiment in physics was made
with a little figure resembling a friar; it had never before been
seen in Manila, and everybody ran to look at it and laugh.] "This
experiment of the surgeon, who made his little friar dance, and
sometimes sink to the bottom of the vial by way of correcting him,
drew upon him the displeasure of the entire body of religious with
whom Manila swarms; there was talk of the Holy Office, and it was said
that the surgeon's experiment was a case for the Inquisition. The
surgeon, therefore--whose only intention in the experiment was to
vex the friars who had prevented him from making his experiments in
electricity--was compelled to cease his pleasantry, and Manila had to
express its detestation of the pleasure that it had taken in seeing the
experiment." [The author was visited by many people at his observatory,
who desired to see the sun and the planets through his telescope;]
"the women were even more curious than the men about the rare things
which I showed them, and which I took pleasure in explaining to them;
but not a single religious came to visit my observatory." (Le Gentil,
Voyage, ii, pp. 96, 97.)--Eds.
[59] See El Yndio Agraciado (The aggrieved Indian), a
pamphlet published at Manila in 1821, but suppressed by order of
government. [59-A]
[59-A] Pardo de Tavera says of this pamphlet, in his Biblioteca
Filipina, p. 146: "It attacks one Don M. G., a Philippine Spaniard,
who was allowed to propose a plan of studies which was not much
to the liking of the Filipino Indians. As appears by the title of
this pamphlet, there existed in Manila at that time a publication
(probably weekly) called El noticioso Filipino. [See also Tavera's
account of this sheet, at foot of the same page, which he regards
as the first periodical which appeared in Manila]. Doubtless the
former was the doing of some friar, who took the name of 'Indian'
in order to express himself more freely."--Eds.
[60] This distinction should never be lost sight of. The Indian of
Manila, from whom strangers generally form their estimate of this
people, is so mixed, that a genuine Indian (Malay) family is scarcely
to be met with; they are a mixture of Indian, Chinese, Japanese,
Mexican (from the troops), seamen of different nations, and Spaniards
besides, "Toutes les Capitales se ressemblent, et çe n'est pas d'eux
qu'il faut juger les moeurs d'un peuple quelconque." [60-A] --Rousseau.
Let it never be forgotten, too, that while the Indians of Manila, on
the 9th of October, 1820, were assassinating every foreigner within
their reach, the Indians of the country were saving those in their
power at the hazard of their lives!
[60-A] That is, "All capital cities are alike, and it is not by them
that the morals of any people should be judged."--Eds.
[61] The following statements regarding the native character
are made by Ramon Reyes Lala (The Philippine Islands, New York,
1899, pp. 80-87), himself a Filipino: "The first thing that
in the native character impresses the traveler is his impassive
demeanor and imperturbable bearing. He is a born stoic, a fatalist
by nature. This accounts for his coolness in moments of danger,
and his intrepid bearing against overwhelming odds. This feature
of the Malay character has often been displayed in the conflicts
of the race with the Europeans in the East Indies. Under competent
leadership the native, though strongly averse to discipline, can be
made a splendid soldier. As sailors, too, I do not believe they can
be equaled." "As a result of the stoicism of the native character,
he never bewails a misfortune, and has no fear of death." "Europeans
often seem to notice in them what they deem a lack of sympathy for
the misfortunes of others; but it is not this so much as resignation
to the inevitable." "The educated native, however, impregnated with
the bitter philosophy of the civilized world, is by no means so
imperturbable. While more keenly alive to the sufferings of others,
he is also more sensitive to his own sorrows." "Incomprehensible
inconsistencies obtain in nearly every native. Students of character
may, therefore, study the Filipinos for years, and yet, at last, have
no definite impression of their mental or moral status. Of course,
those living in the cities are less baffling to the physiognomist
and the ethnologist; for endemic peculiarities have been so rubbed
off or modified that the racial traits are not obvious. But observe
the natives, in their primitive abodes, where civilizing forces
have not penetrated! You will then be amazed at the extraordinary
mingling and clashing of antithetical characteristics in one and
the same person; uncertain as to whether the good or the bad may
be manifested. Like the wind, the mood comes and goes, and no one
can tell why. I myself, with all the inherited feelings, tastes, and
tendencies of my countrymen--modified and transmuted [by his education
and long residence in Europe and America], happily--have stood
aghast or amused at some hitherto unknown characteristic manifesting
itself in an intimate acquaintance; and after I had been for years,
too, wholly ignorant of his being so possessed or obsessed. And
after that, the same mental or moral squint would be displayed at
irregular intervals." "His indolence is the result of generations of
tropical ancestors. Besides, deprived by the Spaniards from all active
participation in affairs of the Government, and robbed of the fruits of
industry, all incentive to advancement and progress was taken away. He
therefore yields with composure to the crushing conditions of his
environment, preferring the lazy joys of indolence rather than labor
for the benefit of his oppressors. Naturally. Recent events, however,
show that, given the stimulant of hope, even the 'indolent natives' of
the Philippines can achieve and nobly dare. Some Spaniards also have
asserted that the Filipinos are naturally disloyal and treacherous,
and that their word is not to be depended on. Now, the whole world
knows that they have every reason to be disloyal to the Spaniard,
who has for centuries so cruelly oppressed them. The devotion to
the cause of freedom, however, which has recently made Rizal and
hundreds of others martyrs to Spanish cruelty, shows that they also
have the stuff that heroes are made of, and that they ran be loyal to
an animating principle." "Though calm, the native is not secretive,
but often loquacious. He is naturally curious and inquisitive, but
always polite, and respectful withal--especially to his superiors. He
is passionate, and, in common with all half-civilized races, is
cruel to his foes. The quality of mercy, like the sentiment--as
distinguished from the passion--of love, is perhaps more the product
of the philosophy of civilization than a natural attribute of the
human heart." "All travelers unite in attributing to the natives
extreme family affection. They are very fond of their children; who,
as a rule, are respectful and well-behaved. The noisy little hoodlums
of European and American cities are utterly unknown. The old are
tenderly cared for, and venerated; while in almost every well-to-do
household are one or two poor relatives who, while mere hangers-on,
are nevertheless made welcome to the table of their host. Indeed, the
hospitality of the Filipinos is proverbial. A guest is always welcome,
and welcome to the best. As a rule, the people are superstitious and
very credulous; but how could they be otherwise? For three hundred
years they have been denied even the liberty of investigation; when no
light, save the dim glimmer of priestcraft pierced the utter darkness
of their lot. Those that have been educated, however, have proved
apt converts--only too apt, say the priests and the Spaniards--to the
conclusions of science and of modern research. The native is rarely
humorous, and seldom witty. He is not easily moved to anger, and when
angry does not often show it. When he does, like the Malay of Java,
he is prone to lose all control of himself, and, with destructive
energy, slays all in his path. This is infrequent, however, but is a
contingency that may occur at any time. If a native has been unjustly
punished, he will never forget it, and will treasure the memory of his
wrong until a good opportunity for revenge presents itself. Like all
courageous people, he despises cowardice and pusillanimity. He has,
therefore, but little regard for the meek and humble Chinaman, who
will pocket an insult rather than avenge himself. He greatly esteems
the European, who is possessed of the qualities which he admires,
and will follow him into the very jaws of death. He is easily awed
by a demonstration of superior force, and is ruled best by mild but
firm coercion, based upon justice. He is not often ambitious, save
socially, and to make some display, being fond of ceremony and of the
pomp and glitter of a procession. He is sober, patient, and always
clean. This can be said of few peoples. He easily adjusts himself to
new conditions, and will soon make the best of their surroundings. As
servants they are honest, obedient, and will do as they are told. It
must be said that they enjoy litigation more than is good for them or
for the best interests of the colony. There must be some psychological
reason for this. It doubtless gives some play to the subtlety of the
Oriental mind. It is said that he lacks the sense of initiative, and
to some extent this may be true. The recent conduct of Aguinaldo--a
full-blooded native--proves, notwithstanding, that he is not wholly
deficient in aggressiveness nor in organizing power."
Lala adds (pp. 157, 158): "I have talked with many rude, untutored
natives that, frankly, astonished me with the unwitting revelation
of latent poetry, love of imagery, and spiritual longings in their
nature."--Eds.
[62] Such is, although in somewhat varying degree, the condition of
half-caste classes everywhere. A vivid picture of their condition
in India, which may illustrate that of the mestizos in Filipinas,
is found in a book entitled That Eurasian (Chicago, 1905), by "Aleph
Bey," the pseudonym of an American writer who had spent many years in
India; he depicts, in terms both vigorous and pathetic, the origin,
difficulties, and degraded condition of the Eurasians (or half-castes)
there, and the oppression and cruel treatment which they encounter
from the dominant white class.--Eds.
[63] "To be born in Spain was enough to secure one marked tokens of
respect; but this advantage was not transmitted. The children who first
saw the light in that other world no longer bear the name of chapetons,
which honored their fathers; they become simply creóles." (Raynal,
Etablissemens et commerce des Européens, ii, p. 290.)--Eds.
[64] I am perhaps not quite correct here. [Mas states (Informe, ii,
"Administration of Justice," p. 1), that the limit for civil suits
was 100 pesos fuertes.--Eds.]
[65] It will be understood that these sureties have their share in
the advantages, that is plunder, which the Alcalde derives from the
government. This often amounts to 20, 30, or even 50,000 dollars
in three or four years--though at the time of their leaving Manila,
they are in debt to a large amount. It is but just to observe, that
there are some few honorable exceptions.
[66] This is a typographical error; the reference to Comyn work is
on p. 13 of Remarks.--Eds.
[67] Even from Spanish writers: see Zuniga's History, Morillo [i.e.,
Murillo Velarde], and others. Le Gentil (who names his informants,
men of the first respectability), La Peyrouse, &c. Many public papers
of the government bear witness to these abuses.
"El Alcalde de aqui Señor! (said an old Indian to the writer at
Zebú), le quitará los dientes de la boca a S. Md." "The Alcaldé here,
Sir!--He'll take the teeth out of your worship's mouth." This was
not too strong an expression.
[68] They are well aware of the extent of their influence, and even at
times speak of it. "Si aqui manda su tropa el Rey, se vayan los Indios
al monte, pero si yo cerro las puertas de la Iglesia los tengo todos
a mis pies en veinte quatro horas." "If the king sends troops here,
the Indians will retire to the mountains and forests. But if I shut
the church doors, I shall have them all at my feet in twenty-four
hours," was the remark of an intelligent "frayle" to the writer.
[69] Le Gentil says (Voyage, ii, p. 2): "Every order of religious has,
then, taken possession of these provinces, which they have, so to say,
shared among themselves. In some sort, they command therein, and they
are more kings than the king himself. They have been so shrewd as to
learn the dialects of the various peoples among whom they reside, and
not to teach the Castilian language to them; thus the religious are
absolute masters over the minds of the Indians in these islands."--Eds.
[70] Those who can see only inquisitors in Catholic bishops will be
a little incredulous of one of them checking an attempt to convert
a Protestant! This happened to the writer, who found himself one
evening seated between an Indian clerigo and the bishop of Zebû,
an aged and most worthy prelate. The Indian father, to show his
zeal for the faith, attacked me on the subject of religion with
the usual arguments of ignorant friars, till I was on the point of
quitting the room to avoid answering. "My son," said the old prelate
to the Indian--"we are here to convert the Indians, not to annoy the
strangers who may visit us. I will send this gentleman some books,
and I doubt not they will duly prepare his mind to see the errors of
the Protestant church, and then we may hope for success with him!"
[71] "Yo hé llorado de ansias de ver à un Europeo!" "How often has the
desire of seeing an European made me weep!" was the pathetic remark
of a most worthy minister to the writer of these remarks.--This man
had been 27 years on one small island!
[72] "Insanity is the fashionable disease [at Manila], and a great
many persons are attacked by it; but it prevails more generally among
the women and the religious--the latter most of all, and they are very
subject to it. The life which they lead contributes greatly to this:
to be always shut up, in a climate so hot, eating scanty and poor food,
and much given to study; perhaps also there is some grief at finding
themselves banished and shut in so far away [from Spain]. All these
causes make the brain grow hot, and madness follows. Nearly all the
religious who go to the Philippines arrive there while young.... As for
the women, their natural infirmity may, at a certain age, conduce to
insanity, with which a great many are stricken." (Le Gentil, Voyage,
ii, pp. 130, 131.)--Eds.
[73] They have already conducted them to scenes of the last indecency
and even bloodshed. See Martini's Hist.
The Inquisition has been but little felt in the Philippines of late
years. A tribunal existed, but it was merely nominal, and held only
"in terrorem." It was not wanted as a political engine; and as a
religious one, there was little use for it amongst a people who will
believe any thing and every thing. The Grand Inquisitor, during the
last 25 years, is a man universally beloved!--the Padre Coro.
[74] This is, according to Montero y Vidal (Archipiélago filipino,
p. 72), the name applied by Linnæus to the Caryota onusta of Blanco,
generally called cabonegro by the Spaniards (see VOL. XVIII, p. 177);
but the list of fiber plants in Official Handbook of Philippines
applies to that tree (p. 332) the name Caryota urens L. The natives
also make various sorts of wine and brandy from the sap of the
cocoanut palm (Cocos nucifera); see Delgado's Historia general,
pp. 645-648, 664.--Eds.
[75] There is an instance (I think in the province of Pampanga) of
a negro tribe, who annually pay their tribute--but upon the express
condition that no missionaries are to be sent!
[76] "Bulas." Surely this most absurd of all impositions on the
credulity of a people, should be abolished, or at least imposed in
a less objectionable manner. The "Bula de Cruzada" (originally a
contribution to the wars against the Infidels), for which is granted
permission to eat meat and eggs in Lent, or benefits to the souls
in purgatory ("Bula de Difuntos"), from the Pope is an article of
revenue to the king of Spain. His Most Catholic Majesty farms it to
one of his subjects, who rather than lose a rial of his bargain, will
sell them to Chinese, Turks, or Hindoos, if they are fools enough to
buy them, as the Chinese have been known to do for the souls of their
ancestors!--Quere: What has become of the original intention of these
precious documents? of which a modern Spanish author has remarked,
"Que es el papel mas caro y mas malo que se vende." It is the worst
and dearest paper that is sold, (Gallardo Dicc. Critico Burlesco). It
is, however, an indispensable condition to the performance of many
of the offices of religion to have the last published bull. See
Manila Almanack.
[77] In 1810, the total of receipts was 1,466,610 dollars.
[78] Such assertions demand some evidence in support of them. A very
recent case has occurred, wherein the colonel of a militia regiment
(of Chinese descent), having some dispute with a French gentleman,
and high words taking place, called up the guard stationed at his door,
it is supposed to flog him! The French gentleman having procured some
weapon, kept the whole guard at bay, together with their gallant
colonel. Muskets were levelled at him, and he probably would have
been assassinated, but for the interference of some of the family,
and his own firmness! Complaint was made of this, but no notice was
taken of it, nor was the gallant colonel's conduct thought at all
incorrect. On the contrary it was very generally applauded!
[79] Large boats undecked, pulling from 20 to 30 oars; they carry a
four or six pounder and five or six swivels; they are fine boats and
sail fast. The gun-boats carry a long 24 or 32 pounder, and six or
eight swivels; and including marines, carry from 80 to 100 men.
[80] For recent information on this subject, see chapter on agriculture
(revised by Frank Lamson-Scribner, chief of Bureau of Agriculture),
in Official Handbook of Philippines, pp. 99-126; and Census of
Philippines, iv, pp. 11-394, with full description of chief products
of the islands, methods of cultivation, lists of fruits, vegetables,
and fiber plants, and detailed statistics of production, lands, etc.,
as well as of domestic animals of all kinds.--Eds.
[81] The fish principally caught is one called Dalag (Blennius?) [81-A]
This fish, common I believe to many parts of India, presents some
phenomena well worth the attention of naturalists. In these extensive
plains, only a few pools remain in the dry season; and after the rains,
such multitudes of them are found, that they are caught with baskets
only. They weigh from one to two pounds, and are from one to two feet
in length; they are found in the rice fields, when these have been
overflowed a few weeks, and strange to relate, in the graves and vaults
of churches when in damp situations, but with little or no water near
them; this fact is related on respectable authority. The fish, though
not delicate, is good, and forms a valuable article of food for the
poor.
[81-A] Montero y Vidal mentions this fish (Archipiélago filipino,
p. 107), as belonging to the genus Ophicephalus; it is "abundant
in the rivers, lakes, and pools." See also Official Handbook of
Philippines, pp. 151, 152.--Eds.
[82] They, very unaccountably, neglected any steps to procure the
martin from Bengal or Cochin China. [82-A] This might, however, have
arisen from an idea that, as in the Isle of France, the martins might
have become as great a nuisance as the locusts; but surely the
introduction of some species of hawk would have obviated this.
[82-A] Montero y Vidal says (Archipiélago filipino, p. 113) that the
family of Orthoptera, "leaf-eaters in their adult stage, are the most
fearful scourge for agriculture," perhaps the worst of these plagues
being the locust (Oedipoda manilensis; Spanish, langosta); "the
Indians use great nets to catch them, because not only the government
pays a bounty for a certain quantity of these destructive insects
which the natives may present, but they preserve the insects and use
them for food." He also states (p. 96) that a species of grackle
(Gracula) was imported from China (in the Hist. de Filipinas, ii,
p. 294, he mentions in the same connection martins [pájaros martines])
to exterminate this pest; but does not mention the time or the result
of this experiment.--Eds.
[83] See VOL. XLVIII, p. 96, note 37.--Eds.
[84] This is the Viverra Musanga. [84-A] See Horsfield's Zoology of
Java.
[84-A] Montero y Vidal states (Archipiélago filipino, pp. 86, 87) that
two species of carnivores, Paradoxurus philippinensis and P. musanga,
are dreaded by the coffee-planters; these creatures "spend the day in
holes dug in the ground, and go out at night to hunt their game." He
mentions, besides these, two species of civets, both of the genus
Viverra. Delgado says (p. 875) that he has never seen the miró
(Paradoxurus) except in the island of Leyte.--Eds.
[85] Eight rials are a Spanish dollar.
[86] The following are the common land measures in use at Manila:
La Brasa de tierra is 8 feet 1.6-10 English, (from a new government
measure); 10,000 of these, or a square of 100 each way, is a Quinion.
10 Balitans is a Quinion
10 Loanes is a Balitan
Hence the Quinion contains 661511 16-144ths sq. ft. or 73501 2-9ths
sq. yds., [86-A] which, taking the Bengal bigha at 14400 sq. ft.,
gives about 46 bigahs, or 15 acres English.
[86-A] The quiñón = 2.79495 hectares = 6.89 acres. (Official Handbook
of Philippines, p. 294; Jagor's Reisen, p. xv.) Jagor has balístas
for balitans, and Mallat has baletas.--Eds.
Their dry measure is as follows: