CAGAYAN
After Dumaguete, Misamis, and Iligan, the harbour of Cagayan
presented a truly metropolitan appearance, what with a transport, a
coasting vessel, and a navy gunboat, all in at the same time. From the
_Burnside_ we could see nothing of the town save a very dingy wharf,
a few white tents pitched near the water's edge for the convenience
of soldiers guarding the unloading of vessels, and a settlement of
nipa shacks, in front of which were gaily coloured washings hung
out to dry in the hot sun. For miles in every direction hills, with
but little vegetation on their volcanic sides, rose tier above tier
as far as the eye could reach, and the bay reflected on its placid
surface every cloud in the heavens, every tree on the shore.
The long two and a half mile drive from the wharf of Cagayan to the
town proper is lined on either side with well-built nipa dwellings,
a schoolhouse, and some native shops, at that time all empty. The
windows stared back at one like wide-open sightless eyes; the doors
swung to and fro in the warm breeze, and occasionally gave a passing
glimpse of a shrine to the Virgin or some saint, the faded flowers
still in the vases, the candles burned out, and the placid face
looking straight into one's own, pathetic in its neglect.
Deserted Village was writ large on this entrance to Cagayan, but the
town itself looked prosperous; the little shops were flourishing;
and the natives, with ill-concealed interest, peered out furtively
from under their jalousie blinds as the great swinging Dougherty
wagon, with its four strapping mules, tore down the broad streets,
taking us to or from the ship.
This Dougherty wagon was at our disposal all the time we were there,
thanks to the courtesy of the colonel commanding, though sometimes,
when there was an unusually large party from the ship, we women
were put into a two-seated barouche of great antiquity, as dingy and
faded as its own cerulean lining, but the only carriage in town. The
officers called this delightful equipage "the extreme unction," as it
was owned by the padres before the government bought it, and was by
them used in last visits to the dying. The natives crossed themselves
on passing this conveyance, and would no more have ridden in it than
in a hearse, but we found "the extreme unction" very comfortable and
heard no groans or death-bed confessions in its rusty creak, neither
saw aught in its moth-eaten tapestry but that it had once been very
handsome. To our frivolous minds the old carriage resembled nothing
so much as Cinderella's coach just as the clock was striking twelve,
and we were constantly expecting it to turn into a pumpkin under our
very eyes. But it refrained from doing anything so unconventional,
and took us on many pleasant excursions around the quaint old town.
There was much to be seen in Cagayan, as for instance, the Door
of the Bloody Hand, a most gruesome memento of a night attack on
the place some time before, when several insurgents, fleeing from
avenging Americans, tried to force their way into one of the native
houses and seek protection from its inhabitants. Then there was the
Amazon colonel of a native regiment, who, on the day we saw her,
was spreading out washing to dry on a grass plot near her home,
a truly feminine occupation, considering her martial proclivities,
and one that disappointed us sadly, as we should have preferred
seeing her at dress parade; and lastly, there was the old cathedral,
which in its way was decidedly unique.
This cathedral was far more pretentious than any we had seen outside
of Manila, and its altars, for it boasted several, were unspeakable
combinations of cheap gaudiness and some little beauty. Common
tinsel was cheek by jowl with handsome silver, and while a few of
the many mural decorations and paintings were good, most of them were
atrocious--glorified chromos of simpering saints with preternaturally
large eyes, more nearly resembling advertisements for a hair dye
or complexion bleach than ecclesiastical subjects. Around the main
altar stood armoured soldiers of Biblical antiquity, squat, inelegant
figures that had first been painted on canvas and were afterward cut
out like gigantic paper dolls, being put into wooden grooves to ensure
their perpendicularity.
At one side of the church was a glass case containing a coffin of
regulation size, the wax figure within being covered with a black
shroud so that a bare arm only was visible. Across the soft white
flesh, for it was a woman's arm, ran a hideously realistic burn,
suggesting that the figure might have been that of some Christian
martyr, the probable patron saint of Cagayan. Before the principal
altar stood quaint prayer stools of ebony carved to resemble kneeling
human figures, and in the loft was a very good organ, though somewhat
high-pitched and reedy in tone.
The native women of Cagayan were rather more progressive than those
in the towns we had just visited. Some of them even wore hats,
and straightway copied, or rather, tried to copy, those worn by
the cable-ship contingent. They also rode bicycles, looking most
incongruous awheel, the long, spade shaped train to their skirts
tucked out of the way, their wide _camisa_ sleeves standing out like
stiff sails on either side, their demure and modest little kerchiefs
swelling with the quick throbbing of their adventurous hearts. We
were told that one of these women, after seeing the quartermaster's
wife riding a bicycle in her very short and modish skirt, straightway
took two deep tucks in her own long _saya_, train and all. Verily,
the spirit of that Filipina in an American would have emboldened her
to wear--bloomers? Perish the thought--knickerbockers!
At the time of our first visit to Cagayan, the principal occupation of
the American troops there seemed to be chasing two bands of insurrectos
under the respective leadership of one Capistrano and one Vajez, most
wily game, that led them many a weary tramp over the mountainous hills
surrounding the town. Shortly after our arrival Vajez was captured,
and a milder-mannered man never laid traps of spears and forked bamboo
in the pathway of an enemy. He was the personification of gentleness
and confided to the American officer in command that he would long
since have taken the oath of allegiance had not circumstances, over
which he had no control, prevented. The general, greatly impressed
by the cogency of these remarks from a man brought in by force, sent
him to Manila by the first available transport, that he might spread
the light to his brethren there, after which he was doubtless given
opportunity for more proselyting work in Guam.
Capistrano was made of sterner stuff, and on our numerous visits
to Cagayan still roamed the mountains with his picturesque robber
band. One day, under a flag of truce, he came to town and discussed the
military situation with the authorities. He made one very astonishing
claim, namely, that he had no animosity against the Americans, and
was not seeking a fight, meaning, doubtless, he would rather run than
fight, any day, but that he felt remaining in permanent armed protest,
passive though it was, sufficed to show the world his attitude toward
our military occupation of the Philippines. The spectacle of a large
number of well armed men who would not fight in any circumstances has
the merit of novelty. It sounds like a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. But
Capistrano evidently had no sense of humour, and until surrendering,
he and his followers kept well out of the way of the American army,
lest they be disturbed in pursuing the gentle art of peace.
Socially, we enjoyed Cagayan to the utmost, and if fault could be
found with our numerous visits there, it was that we had too good a
time, so good that the undoubted local interest of the place quite
faded into insignificance beside its purely social side. There were
luncheons and dinners given us on shore; and dinners and luncheons
given by us on the ship; there was a delightful tea on the gunboat,
and a concert by the infantry band in our honour; there were horseback
rides for those who cared for them, though all went well armed,
as the roads around Cagayan were then in hostile territory; while
the shooting for the men was exceptionally good, though this was not
discovered until our last visit to Cagayan, when the quartermaster,
after a half day's outing, returned with a prodigious string of ducks.
But while we aristocrats of the _Burnside_ idled away the sunlit hours,
the workers had landed the cable, put up an office in the town, and run
a line on iron poles from the wharf to the cable station; the testing
department, meanwhile, turning over cable on the ship, faults having
developed which were not located for several days. But on the morning
of January 3d all was considered ready for the return trip to Iligan.
Before leaving, two buoys were swung overboard with a block and tackle
arrangement, one five miles north and the other ten or fifteen miles in
the same direction, small lamps being placed on each, thus converting
them into temporary lighthouses should we return to Cagayan after
dark, or in the event of our return by daylight, the buoys themselves,
looming up big and red, would serve as guides, observations having
been made with the sextant upon them and adjacent land.
By half past one that afternoon we weighed anchor and sailed out of
the harbour, our friends on the different ships waving us good-bye,
and that night lay off Iligan in a very rough sea. At daybreak we
drew alongside the buoy, got it and the shore end aboard, and before
splicing, "spoke" Iligan, making several tests which showed that end
working satisfactorily. Then the splice was completed, and by evening
we were under way for Cagayan, laying cable as we went.
In less than an hour after we started there was great excitement on
board, even the loungers on the quarter-deck hurrying forward to hear
the details of what might have been a very serious accident, due to
the cable slipping on the drum. Had the officer on watch not been
very prompt and efficient the cable would have become unmanageable,
"taken charge," as it is called, resulting in great inconvenience,
delay, and possible loss of life to those in the tank.
As it was, we had a delightfully uneventful sail, anchoring off
Cagayan that evening a little after six o'clock. Not caring to
make so important a splice after dark, the cable was cut and buoyed
overnight. This was necessary, as that particular splice had to be
made from a small boat, which of course precluded the use of electric
lights. But by nine o'clock on the following morning our splice was
completed, and communication established between Misamis, Iligan,
and Cagayan, the line being most satisfactory in every respect. So it
was with light hearts that we sailed for Cebu, on the island of Cebu,
where we were to coal, picking up our giant buoys as we went.