Segnius irritant animos demisa per aures, Quam quae sunt oculis conspecta fidelibus.

66. Consequently, those who have experience are wont to declare that the faith enters into the Indians through the eyes; and hence it seems worthy of consideration that it was the apostle St. Thomas whom our Lord [229] had prepared for the teaching of the Indians—he who desired that the belief in his glorious resurrection might enter through the eyes: Nisi videro ... non credam (John xx, 25).

67. They are extreme in their observance of their usages and customs, which they call ogali. To be found wanting in these is a great infamy; and, consequently, in order not to break them they will trample everything under foot. The ceremonies and abuses practiced in their weddings and funerals are numerous and curious, and no success has been had in suppressing them, notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made; for all they want from the Spaniards is their clothes, and all the evil that they see in them. I believe that these customs will never be suppressed. [230]

68. Another curious peculiarity is that although there are generally some few who are jealous, if they have any business with the Spaniards, they will not go themselves, but will send their wives or daughters without any fear of danger, in order that their business may be well despatched. [231]

69. They are very material and literal in their conversations, and one cannot say the slightest word to the women in jest, however slight it be; for the most discreet thing that they will answer to one will be, Tampalasanca, which means, "You are a [232] shameless fellow;" and, if not that, [233] a tempest of words, that will make him repent having given occasion for them. [234] This alone is their custom with the Spaniards. [235]

70. It is a thing to be wondered at that even the dogs have another disposition, and have a particular aversion toward Spaniards. When they see Spaniards, they choke themselves with barking. And when the children see a father they cry immediately, [236] and thus from their cradle they begin to hold every white face in horror. [237]

71. They are so cowardly that they fear any Indian who becomes a bully among them—so much that, if they only see him with a poor knife, they fear him so greatly that he can do whatever he wishes. All the village together will not be bold enough to arrest him, for they say that he is posong, which is the same as "bold." I have had many examples of this. [238]

72. The vice of drunkenness is regarded by them as rank in the fourth degree, [239] and they have made it a point of nobility; for the chiefest men think that they are the best workmen at this occupation. [240] It is a fact that those most given to this vice are the Ilocans, then the Visayans, and then our Tagalogs. [241] The Pampangos can be exempted from this rule, for they are very temperate in this wretched habit, as well as in all the other things which we have mentioned. They are very different: for they are truthful, and love their honor; are very brave, and inclined to work; and are more civil, and of better customs. In regard to the vices here mentioned (for they are, in the last analysis, Indians like the rest), they keep them more out of sight and covered. In all things the Pampangos have a nobleness of mind that makes them the Castilians of these same Indians. Consequently, that people must be distinguished from the rest in its character, in all that we have said.

73. Returning now to the others, in general, they possess vanity without honor; for among them it is no reason for less esteem to be drunkards, robbers, or connivers in evil deeds, or [to practice] other like virtues. [242] They lose reputation and honor only if they get the reputation of being sorcerers. Consequently, in the opinion of a very learned minister, there is no case of a restitution of honor, unless some accusation of this infamous sin is imputed to them. In their marriages and among their kindred their disgust is not moved except by this, for the others are excused by self interest, but this fault is not. [243]

74. All that I have said of the men is very different in the women, saltem quoad modum. [244] For they are of better morals, are docile and affable, and show great love to their husbands and to those who are not their husbands. They are really very modest in their actions and conversation, to such a degree that they have a very great horror of obscene words; and if weak nature craves acts, their natural modesty abhors words. [245] The notion that I have formed of them is that they are very honorable, and, most of all, the married women. Although beans are boiled, it is not by the kettleful, as in other regions. [246] Scarcely will one find a Tagalog or Pampango Indian woman, who will put her person to trade; and they are not so abandoned as we see in the women in other regions. They are very averse toward the Spaniard, and love the equality [in marriage] of their own nation; and, as a foreign religious said, are suited "each man to each woman." They rarely have any love for a Spaniard. They have another peculiarity, which if the Indian women of America had, that land would not be so full of mulattoes, who are a ferocious and wicked race. This is their horror for Cafres and negroes, which is so great that they would sooner suffer themselves to be killed than to receive them. The Visayan women, however, are ready for everything, and are not so fastidious. On the contrary, they are very ready to consent to any temptation. [247]

75. The women are very devout, and in every way of good habits. The cause for this is that they are kept so subject and so closely occupied; for they do not lift their hands from their work, since in many of the villages they support their husbands and sons, while the latter are busied in nothing else but in walking, [248] in gambling, and wearing fine clothes, while the greatest vanity of the women is in the adornment and demeanor of these gentlemen, for they themselves are very poorly and modestly [249] clad.

76. In all that I have said, to this point, concerning the nature and morals of these poor people, I have done no more than to approximate [to the truth], as the mathematicians have done in the squaring of the circle. For an essential, substantial, and exhaustive definition [250] is for some other person, to whom divine Providence chooses to communicate this difficult matter. [251] Very praiseworthy is Barclayo, for in his Eupormion and his Argenis, [252] he succeeded in discerning the natures of nations; as did Juan Rodemborgio, [253] and our Gracian in his Criticon. [254] But had they treated of the Filipinos, they would not have been so successful.

77. The bishop of La Puebla, Don Juan Palafox, [255] wrote a keen treatise on the virtues of the Indians of Nueva Espana, in which his uncommon intellect and his holy and good intention are displayed more clearly than is the truth of his argument on the subject; for in a curious way he endeavors to make virtues of all their vices and evil inclinations. For in what they merit before God through their wills, they do not merit if it be the impelling force of their natural inclination and manner of living, because absuetiis non fit passio. [256] One cannot, indeed, compare the voluntary poverty of St. Francis with that of the Indians, which is born of laziness and full of greed; for theirs is the infamous poverty which Virgil places in hell: et turpis egestas. [257] And just as the economy of a poor wretch is not reckoned as fasting, so it will not be proper to say that if St. Antony [258] went barefoot, the Indians do the same; and that they live on certain roots, as did the fathers of the Thebaid. [259] For the fasting and the austerities of St. Arsenius [260] had a different impelling motive—since he left the pleasures and esteem of the court of the emperor Theodosius [261]—than that which they can have, being so born and reared, and never having seen anything else. Hence, Ovid says of the Getas that they left the delights and comforts of Roma, and returned to seek the poverty and misery to which they were accustomed in Pontus:

Roma quid meltus scyt[h]ico [262] quid frigore peius? Huc tamen ex illa Barbarus urbe fugit. [263]

78. It is not my intention to include the Sangley mestizos here, as they are a different race. For although they were the children of Indians at the beginning, they have been approaching more and more to the Chinese nation with the lapse of successive generations. Et compositum ex multis atrahit ad se nuturam simplicis dignioris. [264] Consequently, I leave their description for whomever wishes to undertake that task; for I fear that I shall succeed but very ill with the task which I have here undertaken, as it is so difficult.

79. Finally, summing up all the above, the inference will be that all the actions of these wretched beings are such as are dictated by nature through the animal, intent solely on its preservation and convenience, without any corrective being applied by reason, respect, and esteem for reputation. Consequently, he who first said of a certain people that if they saw the whole world hanging on one nail and needed that nail in order to hang up their hat, they would fling the world down in order to make room for the hat, would have said it of the Indians had he known them. For they think only of what is agreeable to them, or of what the appetite dictates to them; and this they will put in action, if fear, which also dwells in them, do not dissuade them. [265] Hence they will be seen dressed in the shirts and clothes of their masters, for the sole reason [266] that because they no sooner enter any house than they become the owners of everything in it. And the worst thing is that, although they are not good and faithful servants, intrant in gaudium domini sui. [267]

80. They also have other qualities worthy of envy, non quoad causam sed quoad efectum. [268] Such is their contentment with their lot, for they believe that there is no people in the whole world better than they, and that if they possess a bamboo hut, a little rice for a few days, a few small fish, and a couple of leaves of tobacco, they do not envy the tables of Xerxes or Eliogabalus, [269] and can sing with Lucan:

O tuta potestas Augusti parvique laris. Prohl munera nondum intellecta Deum quibus hoc Contingere templis, vel posuit muris nullo Trepidare tumulto, Caesarea pulsata manu. [270]

81. They are also worthy of envy for the calmness and conformity with which they die, with so wonderful peace, as if they were making a journey from one village to another—the Lord working in these creatures as the Lord that He is, [271] for in that transit His mercy shines forth more; and thus said David (Psalm, XLVII, 21) Domini, Domini, exitus mortis; [272] whence that reduplication which the Hebrew grammar calls ohatsere, [273] signifies the superlative in name and action. The same is the declaration of divine wisdom (Proverbs, XX): In viis justitiae ambulo, in medio semitarum judicii, ut ditem diligentes me. [274] The Father celestial summons them for the relief of their burdens, and of the troubles which they have had during life: Venite qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos (Matthew xi, 28). [275]

For it is a fact that if one consider the life and lot of most of them, they resemble that merchant in the gospel of Matthew (chapter 13), who gave all that he had for the precious pearl; for it costs them more than is apparent to become Christians, with so much cutting of timber, and many personal services; and thus God gives them the true rest of death, as to poor and needy ones. Parcet pauperi, et inopi, et animas pauperum salvas faciet (Psalm, xii, 13). [276] Exiguo enim conceditur missericordia (Wisdom, vi, 7). [277]

82. In all the aforesaid, I find no more than the claw by which this lion can be recognized, because of the difficulty of the matter; therefore I refer the matter to another who has greater talent and experience, who can tell more, since I cannot do everything. [278] I remember once to have heard from an inexperienced preacher this ingenious bit of nonsense, that in praising St. John the Baptist he cited that passage of St. Matthew (chapter xi, [7]), coepit Jesus dicere [ad turbas] de Joanne;

83. And he said that John was so great a saint, that even in the mouth of Christ our Lord it was [only] possible to begin speaking of him, but that no end could be reached. The same I shall say of this matter, in all candor.

84. There is no little to learn and study in the matter, concerning the manner in which one must behave with them—especially we ministers, who come from remote lands in order to assist and teach them; for because of not understanding this aright many have become disconsolate, and have conceived a horror of the Indians, and have returned to Espana, or they have lived amid great hardship, in a continual combat of impatience and anxiety, thus frustrating the good vocation which brought them to these islands, a vocation so acceptable to God our Lord. For, as says the angelic doctor St. Thomas, 22, book 188, article 4: Deo nullum sacrificium est magis acceptum, quam celus animarum. [279] To those who take this charge upon them, the words of the Lord in His revelations to St. Brigida are of great consolation. Among many others, he says (book 2, chapter 6): Vos ergo amici mei qui estis in mundo procedite securi, clamate, et anuntiate voluntatem meam. Ego ero in corde et in ore vestro. Ego ero dux vester in via et consolator in morte. Non relinquam vos, procedite alacriter quia ex labore cresit gloria. [280] For it is a fact that all this exhortation is necessary, in order to combat the friction that is caused to the European disposition by dealing with people of customs so different, and which has caused so many to lose their reason.

85. Therefore the compass to which the navigator must always be attentive, in the gulf of the customs of this exasperating race, is patience. For this is the only remedy which Christ our Lord left to His disciples for the attainment of this ministry: (Luke xxi, [19]) In patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras; and St. Paul, in Hebrews x, 36: patientia est vobis necessaria, ut reportetis, repromissionis. [281]

86. With this knowledge and without losing [282] this strong protection one must continually consider that all these vices and evil traits are dictated and impelled by their nature, at times aided by the suggestion of the common enemy when he hopes to succeed in causing us impatience. Very worth considering in this are the words of St. Paul (2 Cor., xi, 19, 20): Libenter enim suffertis insipientes cum sitis ipsi sapientes. Sustinetis enim si quis vos in servitutem redigit, si quis devorat, si quis accipit, si quis extollitur, si quis infaciem vos caedit. [283] For all these hardships, and greater, must be suffered here among these brothers. [284]

87. I confess for my part that, at the beginning, I was afflicted and was greatly tormented, until with the lapse of time I came to realize that such was their disposition and nature, and that these trees could give no better fruit. In time it became to me a motive for praising God to see the variety of conditions and [285] customs which He has placed in human nature, which is so beautified with variety; and I took particular pleasure in seeing youths and boys doing all things backward—without any malice, and without having prompters, like actors; but moved only by that hidden peculiarity that makes them so different from all other nations, and so uniform among themselves, [a likeness] which is so great that any one who has seen one of these monopantos has seen them all. With these considerations I lived consoled, and succeeded in making of them wax and wick, as the saying is. [286]

88. First, one must not shout out at them, for that is a matter that frightens and terrifies them greatly, as can be seen if one cries out at them when they are unaware—when the whole body trembles; and they say that a single cry of the Spaniard penetrates quite to their souls.

89. One must not strike them with the hands, for if we are of flesh, they are of iron, and the hand will suffer greatly, for God does not choose that they be corrected so indecently. [287]

90. All of their faults must not be overlooked, for they will become insolent and worse daily. Consequently, it is necessary for the father ministers to give them some lashes as a father, with great moderation, for it is enough to give lashes for vanity and haughtiness. This must be observed especially in the lads, as is the order of the Holy Spirit (Proverbs, xxiii, 13, 14): Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim percussieris eum virga, non morietur. Tu virga percuties eum: et animam ejus de inferno liberabis. [288] The command of St. Gregory shall be observed carefully (2 p. pastoral, chapter 6): Curandum quippe est ut rectorem subditis, et matrem, et patrem se exhibeat disciplina. [289]

91. Nothing must be taken away from them, or received from them, without paying for it; for they are very poor, and the least thing produces a great want with them. It must be considered that their greatest misery arises from their laziness and rude condition, and that that habit keeps them in its grasp, and they suffer great poverty; for Egestatem operata est manus remissa (Proverbs, x, 4). We must consider also that they support us and that they pay as they are able for our labors. If anything be given to them, let it be purely [290] for God's sake and as an alms, for if it be lent it will be entirely lost, both the merit and the patience [291]—considering their necessity and not their ingratitude, as a thing ordained by God. Propter miseriam asume pauperem, et propter inopiam eius ne dimitas eum vacuum; et caetera (Ecclesiasticus, xxix, 12). [292]

92. It is better, in selecting servants among the Indians for the inside of the house, to see that they be the sons of caciques or chiefs. They must be shown neither love nor familiarity. They must indeed always be treated well, but with uprightness and seriousness of face. It must be considered that in proportion as they are better caressed and clothed, the worse and more insolent they will become. This is the teaching of the Holy Spirit in Proverbs xxiv, 21: Qui delicate a pueritia nutrit servum suum, postea sentiet eum contumacem. They must be taught their duties, and must always be ordered to perform them with prudence and circumspection, for otherwise they will come gradually to lose respect for their master, and for the character which God presents to them in the Spaniard in order to dominate them; and then will result the same thing that happened to the log which, AEsop says, was placed in the lake by Jupiter to be king of the frogs. But the frogs, seeing after a time that it did not move, made sport of it, and jumped on top of it, etc. Not many things should be ordered of them at one time; for their memories are very poor, and they will only keep the last one in mind. The keys of the pantry or to the money must not be entrusted to them, for that would be placing opportunity and temptation in their hands, and they never resist it. Good instruction and subjection in the house, and, above all, the good example of life which they see in their masters, instil much into them; and under such conditions they generally become good servants, especially those of the Pampango nation. On the other hand, also, one must not expect a good servant in the house of a bad master. [293]

93. One must not exhaust them or squeeze them much beyond what they can give of themselves, as we do with the lemon, for all that will be pressed out will be bitter, as says the proverb of the commentary; qui nimis emungit, solet extorquere cruorem. [294] Neither is it well or proper to go about visiting the caciques or going up into their houses, except when necessity requires it; for immediately the whole village will be filled with envy and complaint, and the esteem of the father ministers will suffer considerably. Besides, their stench and vice do not render this diversion desirable. [295]

94. When [296] they are sent with a message to any place, one must very patiently await some notable failure caused ordinarily by their natural sloth and laziness. [297] Sicut acetum dentibus, et fumus oculis, sic piger his qui miserunt illum (Proverbs, x, 26). [298]

95. I do not believe that I should omit mention, saltem per transenam, [299] of a matter very worthy of consideration—namely, that if God chooses to chastise the flourishing Christianity of these islands for our and their sins, by placing it in the hands of Indians ordained as priests (as appears about to threaten us very soon), if God do not apply a remedy, what abominations will not follow! For to declare that they will change their customs [300] and the aforesaid vices is impossible. On the contrary, their arrogance will grow worse with exaltation to so sublime an estate; their cupidity with power will be better fed; their laziness, with the lack of necessity; and their vanity, with the applause that they would wish to have, for they would desire to be served by those whom they would in another estate respect and obey; and the villages would suffer from the curse mentioned in Isaiah xxiv, 2, sicut populus, sic sacerdos. For the Indian who is ordained does not become a priest because it is the calling that conduces to the most perfect estate, [301] but because of the great and almost infinite advantage that comes to him with the new estate that he chooses. How much it differs from being a father cura, to be a baguntao or sexton! From paying tribute, to being paid a stipend! From going to the [compulsory] cutting of timber, to being served in it! From rowing in a banca, to be rowed in it! That does not count with a Spaniard, who, if he become a cleric, often gives up an office as alcalde-mayor, captain, or general, with many other comforts in his native place, while his house is exalted above all the nation of the Indians. Let one contrast this with the vanity with which one who has been freed from the oar, [302] or from an ax in the cutting of timber, will give his hand to be kissed! What a burden for the village will be the father, and mother, sister and nieces ranked as ladies, when many other better women are pounding rice! For if the Indian is insolent and intolerable with but little power, what will he be with so much superiority! And if the wedge from the same log [303] is so powerful, what will it be if driven by so great authority! What plague of locusts can be compared to the destruction that they would cause in the villages? [304] What respect will the Indians have for him, seeing that he is of their color and nation—and especially those who consider themselves as good, and even better perhaps, than he who became a cura, while they do not become anything better than bilango or servant? How severely the good cura will chastise them, and for trifling offenses! [305] as we see the Indians do when they act as gobernadorcillos of their villages for even a single year—when the first thing that they do, and in which they most delight, is immediately to place the picota [306] in front of their houses, in order to apply lashes with the hangman's strap [penca]. What tyranny will the cura practice on them, such as they are wont to practice if they have any power and authority! How well the wedge of the same wood will force its way, without there being any one to say to him, curita facis? [i.e., "Dost thou play the cura?"] [307]

96. Therefore, if any insurrection or mutiny should arise, how well could it be arranged and prepared, [308] if the cura entered also into the dance, as he is also an Indian and interested? For, in all the insurrections that have occurred in these islands, respect for the father ministers has been of great importance; but the very opposite would have happened if these were Indians. Then in the frequent carousals and feasts of which they are so fond, and on which their vanity and their chieftainship are founded, without any doubt there would be great indecency; for the cura would be very tender of conscience who would not pledge them in their cups. In that and other temptations would happen what Lucian relates in the second of his dialogues.

97. A noble youth had a very beautiful and gentle female kitten, which he esteemed so highly that he begged the goddess Venus to change it into a beautiful maiden, in order that he might marry her. The goddess did so. Thereupon, the youth [309] immediately arranged the wedding, to which he invited the best people of the city. While, then, the bride was richly adorned with jewels and surrounded by many other women, [310] and the guests, a mouse happened to appear, and began to approach them in order to eat some crumbs of bread which were scattered about. The bride saw it, and, without power to control herself, ran after the mouse throughout the length of the hall, and the guests were unable to restrain her. The groom was ashamed, and said, [311] "Gentlemen, your pardon; for this girl was formerly a cat, and will always have the habits and bad traits of that animal."

98. I believe that the same thing would happen with the Indians, [312] even when they belong to the caciques or nobility; for it is incredible that they can strip themselves of the peculiarities of their nature. I at least do not believe it at present, although God our Lord can very easily do it, for He is the One who raises up sons of Abraham from the stones. But we must not ask for miracles needlessly, but allow the Indian to remain an Indian, and go to his labor as before. If it is desired to prepare them for the high ministry of the priesthood, it is advisable to test them in the offices of alcaldes-mayor, captains, regidors, and councilors; for it appears to me that there is no one who can say that these said offices are greater and of higher rank and dignity than the priesthood, at least where the Inquisition exists. Then, if they conduct themselves well in the said employments, they can be given the management of the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord; and then one can say with reason: Quia in pauca fuisti fidelis supra multa te constituam. [313] For, as the Church teaches us through the mouths of the holy fathers, the dignity of the priesthood is so great that that of the kings or emperors of the world cannot compare with it. Thus says St. Ignatius the Martyr in his epistle to Smyrna, chapter x, Sacerdotium est apex bonorum omnium, quae sunt in hominibus. [314] St. Ambrose, in chapter 2 of his book De dignitate sacerdotum [315] says so still more clearly. [316] Father Molina [317] has considerable to say on this in the first treatise of his Libro de sacerdotes [i.e., "Book of priests"] as has Father Seneri [318] in his Cura instruido [i.e., "the cura instructed"].

99. Then is it possible that, even though they are Catholics and faithful sons of the Church, we must exalt to so lofty an estate men against whom there would be so many complaints if they became alferezes of a company in the regiment of Manila? Can the sacred habit of St. Peter, which we religious venerate as that of the greatest dignity, and to which we yield the most honorable place—which, as said the patriarch of Antiochia [319] to the emperor of China, is the first rank and order of the Church—be obliged not to experience disgust at such low creatures? I do not know in what it [i.e., the proposal to ordain Indians] can consist, unless it be that in it is realized the vision that the said St. Peter had in Cesarea when the sheet was let down from heaven filled with toads and serpents, and a voice commanded him to eat without disgust—as is read in chapter x of the Acts of the Apostles. For although it signified the calling of heathendom, it must not be understood in moral things of the barbarous and mean nature of some peoples that compose that heathendom, in order to constitute the ecclesiastic hierarchy. [320] When I come to discuss this matter, I find no end, and I find that we can only say: Domine adauge [nobis] fidem (Luke [x]vii, [5]). [321]

100. It is also a fact that the sacred canons do not demand from those who are ordained more than an honorable life and example, and a sufficient knowledge. Then, in order to dispense the spurious and legitimate [322] and the mestizos, there is a brief of Gregory XIII which begins "Nuper ad nos relatum est," [323] issued at Roma, January 25, one thousand five hundred and seventy-five. For all that, I regard them [i.e., Indians as priests] as irregular, not only for the reasons given and stated above, but also because they lack the ecclesiastical and priestly mental ability, and the prudence necessary; and without these all the rest serves as almost nothing, as Pedro Urceolo sang with graceful elegance in his "Epigrams:"

Sis licet ingenuus clarisque parentibus ortus; Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes. Adde docus patriae et claros tibi sume propinquos; Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes. Sint tibi divitae [324] sit larga et munda supellex; Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes. Denique, quidquid eris, nisi sit prudentia tecum; Magna quidem dico, bestia semper eris. [325]

101. May God our Lord preserve your Grace for the many years of my desire. Manila, June 8, one thousand seven hundred and twenty. [326] Your humble servant, who kisses your hand,

Fray Gaspar de San Agustin



[On a loose paper inserted in the copy of this letter owned by the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar (which as stated above, is unsigned), which was formerly owned by the well known Spanish scholar Pascual de Gayangos, is the following: "According to paragraphs [of this letter] which Paterno inserted in his work La antigua civilizacion de Filipinos (Madrid, 1887), p. 241, this letter must have been written by father Fray Gaspar de San Agustin; and according to Sinibaldo Mas, who inserts entire passages from this MS. in his Informe sobre el estado de Filipinas en 1842, i, pp. 63-132, and attributes it to Father Gaspar." Paterno has not had access to the document itself, but has used Mas.]

[Subjoined to the letter is the following, the origin of which we cannot account for, but which indicates the wide circulation that the letter must have had.]

Questions of Father Pedro Murillo [Velarde] [327] of the Society of Jesus

102. What is the Indian? Reply—The lowest degree of rational animal. Question—How many and what are his peculiarities? Reply—Twenty-one, as follows:

Pride Without honor. Friend Without loyalty. A drunkard Without satiety. Compassionate Without mercy. Reserved Without secrecy. Long-suffering Without patience. Cowardly Without fear. Bold Without resolution. Obedient Without submissiveness. One who practices austerities Without suffering. Bashful Without sense of honor. Virtuous Without mortification. Clever Without capacity. Civilized Without politeness. Astute Without sagacity. Merciful Without pity. Modest Without shame. Revengeful Without valor. Poor Without corresponding [mode of life]. Rich Without economy. Lazy Without negligence. Laus Deo.



Resume of the entire letter by the said Father Murillo

103. The Filipino Indian is the embryo of nature and the offspring of grossness. He does not feel an insult or show gratitude for a kindness. His continual habitation is the kitchen; and the smoke that harms all of us serves him as the most refreshing breeze. If the Indian has morisqueta and salt, he gives himself no concern, though it rain thunder and lightning, and the sky fall. He is much given to lying, theft, and laziness. In the confessional he is a maze [embolismo] of contradictions, now denying proofs and now affirming impossible things. Now he plays the part of a devout pilgrim over rough roads and through the deepest rivers, in order to hear mass on a workday at a shrine ten or twelve leguas away; while it is necessary to use violence to get him to hear mass on Sunday in his parish church. They are impious in their necessities with the father, but liberal and charitable to their guests, even when they do not know them; and through that they are greatly disappointed. At the same time they are humble and proud; bold and atrocious, but cowardly and pusillanimous; compassionate and cruel; slothful and lazy, and diligent; careful and negligent in their own affairs; very dull and foolish for good things, but very clever and intelligent in rogueries. He who has most to do with them knows them least. Their greatest diversion is cock-fighting, and they love their cocks more than their wives and children. They are more ready to believe any of their old people than even an apostolic preacher. They resemble mellizas, [328] in their vices and opposite virtues. In lying alone, is no contradiction found in them; for one does not know when they are not lying, whether they are telling the truth by mistake. One Indian does not resemble another Indian, or even himself. If they are given one thing, they immediately ask for another. [329] They never fail to deceive, unless it crosses their own interest. In their suits, they are like flies on the food, who never quit it, however much they be brushed away. Finally, there is no fixed rule by which to construe them; a new syntax is necessary for each one; and, as they are all anomalous, the most intelligent man would be distracted [330] if he tried to define them. Farewell.

[Delgado has the following interesting chapter (pp. 297-302 of his Historia) on this letter, which it is judged advisable to present at this place.]



CHAPTER VII

Some considerations concerning the matter in Father Gaspar de San Agustin's letter

I confess that I read this letter, in which the reverend author criticises the customs and dispositions of the natives of Filipinas, some years ago. But I read it as I am wont to read other letters, for diversion and amusement, without thinking much about its artfulness, and I was delighted with its erudition. However, when I afterward considered its contents with some degree of thought, I saw that it brought forward, in its whole length, no solid proof of what it tries to make one believe; and it appeared to me a hyperbolical criticism from the very beginning. On that account I resolved to make a few brief commentaries on the matter in the letter, both for the consolation of those whom our Lord may call to these missions, and so that it may be understood that at times sadness and melancholy are accustomed to heighten things, making giants out of pygmies—all the more, if a relish for revery and grumbling be joined with a tendency to exaggeration and with figures of speech corresponding thereto. Consequently, I am surprised that the reverend annalist or chronicler [i.e., San Antonio] of the seraphic province of San Gregorio praises this letter, saying that it is worth printing, since its author has penetrated as far as one may penetrate into the characters of the natives of these islands. And yet the author confesses that it is as difficult to define their nature as are the eight impossible things which are recounted there. That seems to me a fine hyperbole.

From the above one can see that, as he commenced this letter by affirming a hyperbole with eight hyperboles, it is not surprising that I called it hyperbolical; and especially if all the hyperboles that it contains from its beginning to its end be enumerated. But ere I begin to express my opinion I would like to sum up two contradictory and opposite expressions that I find in these authors. The reverend father Fray Gaspar says of the Indians, in his letter, that the difficulty of knowing the Indians lies not in the individual but in the race, for, if one be known, all are known.

Father Pedro Murillo says, in his approbation of the Cronicas, [331] that "there is no fixed rule by which to construe the Indians; for each one needs a new syntax, all being anomalous. With the Indians the argument does not conclude by induction, since no one is like to himself; for, in the short circuit of a day, he changes into more colors than a chameleon, takes more shapes than a Proteus, and has more movements than a Euripus. [332] He who has most to do with them, knows them least. In short, they are an aggregate of contrarieties, and the best logician cannot reconcile them. They are an obscure and confused chaos, in which no species can be perceived and no points of exactness distinguished." All these terms considered one by one, compose a very exaggerated hyperbole, in which this author showed his great erudition and little experience, for he only ministered in a few missions, and for a short time. For during most of the time while he lived in these islands he did not leave the professor's chair, except for a short time; and all that he tells of his journey to and travels among the Visayas was learned in passing and hastily, in company with the provincial who visited those missions. There he obtained very little light on the character and temperament of the Indians, as he had no dealings with them as one settled among them. And, just as in this expression he opposes himself without much reason to the reverend father Fray Gaspar, who after forty years of ministry, affirms that the Indians are well designated by the Greek word monopantas—a term which was given to a certain people by a critic, as they were all similar and homogeneous—so also when he affirms that all are anomalous and heterogeneous because they cannot all be constructed in one and the same syntax, does he go beyond the credence that can be given to his ingenious hyperboles. The experience that the said Father Murillo could have is of the Indians who go about in Manila and its environs, who are interpreters, servants in accounting-rooms and secretarial offices, who are accustomed to deal with Spaniards of all kinds, with creoles, mestizos, Sangleys, and other kinds of people who assemble there for trade. They have learned fraud and deceit, as well as the bad morals and propensities of all and every one of them. As is seen, one cannot judge of a whole nation—and much less of all the nations of the islands, who are diverse and distinct in genius and customs by the cases of these Indians who speak Spanish. And taking into account so great diversity, I affirm that it is impossible to find a definition that admits and includes all of them. For these persons whom I have mentioned, reared among so many classes, and among people so heterogeneous, and who are imbued with customs so diverse, cannot form rules by which to explain their own nation, much less by which to define the other nations.

Now if the statements of authors in regard to physical or moral matters are so at variance that we can say that each author has a different opinion—as says the proverb, Quot capita, tot sententiae—and if thus far no ground and certain point has been found at which the understanding may stop, how is it strange that they do not find, in order to describe Indians with customs so unusual and artificial as have those of Manila, a compound idea made up of all that they have learned from the Spaniard, both good and evil; all that they have learned from the Guachinango; [333] and what they have learned from the mestizo, the Sangley, the Moro, the Malabar, the Cafre, and all the other people with whom they have intercourse and with whom they trade? Granting this to be true, it appears that the definition of Father Murillo fits these Spanish-speaking Indians, but not the others, who have not had any intercourse with diverse classes of people. On this account it seems to me that father Fray Gaspar hit the definition exactly, when he said in his letter that the Asiatic Indians of Filipinas are almost the same as all the people of the nations of Eastern India, in what concerns their genius, disposition, and inclination; and are not distinguished one from another except in their rites, clothing, and languages. I add, in what regards their abilities and capacities—which are so good, and in general so well inclined—that I believe that if children, either boys or girls, were taken from Filipinas to Viscaya or to Castilla, the natives [of those countries] would not distinguish them from the Vizcainos, Castilians, or mountaineers. For their vices are not due so much to their nature, as to their bad rearing and education; and they are easily instructed both in the evil and in the good. And notwithstanding what father Fray Gaspar, Father Murillo, and Fray Juan [Francisco] de San Antonio have said, they would have been more successful had they not said, with exaggeration, that it would be impossible to write everything that they have observed of the Indians, on all the paper that is found in China. That is a hyperbole that transcends all faith. Thus does he continue in all that he says; and he affirms, further, that it surpasses all that we can touch with the hands or see with the eyes. Hence from the beginning we can state those two rules of law: semel malus, semper praesumitur malus; and the other, malum ex quocumque defectu. [334]...

What mystery is there in the customs and genius of the Indians that should make them so deep and inscrutable that we cannot reach them, sound them, and explain them? since they are Indians like all the rest of the people of Asia, without there being more or less in them. Therefore, "these profundities, this intricate, confused chaos, this aggregate of contrarieties, this maze of contradictions, are a collection of rhetorical locutions or tropes invented in order to exaggerate and to use hyperboles in what of itself has no mystery—these definitions remaining purely in the manner of speech, or of the conception, of their authors; or perhaps in a mere misapprehension formed by a critical, melancholy, or affected genius.

But since in this letter, the evil propensities of the Indians, both men and lads, who act as servants, are set down in detail, let us see on the other hand, somewhat of the good that the Indians possess. For one should not write and consider only the evil, and omit as fitting all the good, in order thereby to make the object more detestable. For, as says a mystical writer, we must not possess the nature of the dung-beetle, which goes always to the dungheap, but that of the bee, which always seeks out the sweet and pleasant. Let us see what Father Murillo says of the good: "They are most clever in any handiwork, not in inventing but in imitating what they see. They are most beautiful writers; and there are many tailors and barbers among them. They are excellent embroiderers, painters, goldsmiths, and engravers, whose burin has not the like in all the Indias (and I was even about to pass farther if shame did not restrain me), as is seen clearly in the many good engravings that they make daily. They are good sculptors, gilders, and carpenters. They make the water craft of these islands, the galleys, pataches, and ships of the Acapulco line. They act as sailors, artillery-men, and divers; for there is scarce an Indian who cannot swim excellently. They are the under-pilots of these seas. They are very expert in making bejuquillos, [335] which are gold chains of a very delicate and exquisite workmanship. They make hats, petates or rugs, and mats, from palm-leaves, rattan, and nito, [336] which are very beautiful, and embroidered with various kinds of flowers and figures. They are remarkable mechanics and puppet-showmen, and they make complicated mechanisms which, by means of figures, go through various motions with propriety and accuracy. There are some jewelers. They make powder, and cast swivel-guns, cannon, and bells. I have seen them make guns as fine as those of Europa. There are three printing houses in Manila, and all have Indian workmen. They have great ability in music. There is no village however small, that has not its suitable band of musicians for the services of the Church. They have excellent voices—sopranos, contraltos, tenors, and basses. Almost all of them can play the harp, and there are many violinists, rebeck, oboe, and flute players. The most remarkable thing is, that not only do those whose trade it is make those instruments; but various Indians make guitars, flutes, harps, and violins, for pleasure, with their bolos and machetes. And by the mere seeing those instruments played, they learn them almost without any teaching; and the same thing occurs in other things. On this account it is said that the Indians have their understanding in their eyes, since they imitate whatever they see, by another like it." This is what Father Murillo says; but he left the most important things in the inkhorn. I will add them here, as I have heard them affirmed many times by the Spaniards in Cavite, namely: Who are the men who convey and conduct the ships and galleons from Acapulco and other kingdoms? Is it the Spaniards? Ask that of the pilots, masters, and boatswains, and they will all affirm that this great and inestimable good is due to the Indian alone. (Here is indeed where a hyperbole will fit exactly.) Besides this, who are the people who support us in these lands and those who furnish us food? Perhaps the Spaniards dig, harvest, and plant throughout the islands? Of a surety, no; for when they arrive at Manila, they are all gentlemen. The Indians are the ones who plow the lands, who sow the rice, who keep it clear [of weeds], who tend it, who harvest it, who thrash it out with their feet—and not only the rice which is consumed in Manila, but that throughout the Filipinas—and there is no one in all the islands who can deny me that. Besides this, who cares for the cattle-ranches? The Spaniards? Certainly not. The Indians are the ones who care for, and manage and tend the sheep and cattle by which the Spaniards are supported. Who rears the swine? Is it not the same Indians? Who cultivates the fruits—the bananas, cacao, and all the other fruits of the earth? of which there is always abundance in the islands, unless unfavorable weather, locusts, or some other accident cause their loss? Who provide Manila and the Spaniards with oil? Is it not the poor Visayan Indians, who bring it in their vessels annually? Who furnishes so great profit to the Spaniards in Manila with the balate [337] and sigay; and who buys these products very cheaply from the wretched Indians, and resell them for double the sum to the pataches of the coast and to the Sangleys? Who guide and convey us to the villages and missions, and serve us as guides, sailors, and pilots? Perhaps it is the Spaniards? No, it is the Indians themselves, with their so exaggerated, magnified, and heightened laziness. Is this the thanks that we give them, when we are conquering them in their own lands, and have made ourselves masters in them, and are served by them almost as by slaves? We ought to give God our Lord many thanks, because He maintains us only through the affection and by the useful labors of the Indians in this land; and He would perhaps have already driven us hence if it were not for this usefulness of theirs, and for the salvation of the Indians. We also owe many thanks to the Indians, since God our Lord sustains us in their lands by their means; and because we would die of starvation if they did not sustain us, provide us with food, serve us, and conduct us through the islands with so much love and security that they would all first perish before the father in whatever perils arise.

These and many other like things were overlooked by Father Murillo, who was enraptured by their music, engraving, and rugs. By the aforesaid, one will see with how little truth the statement is printed that the Indians are the greatest enemies that the father ministers have; for certainly all the above could not be reconciled with such a proposition. On the contrary, it must be said that the Indians are those who defend us from our enemies; for, in the presidios, who are the soldiers, who sail in the war fleets, who are in the vanguard in war? Could the Spaniards, perchance, maintain themselves alone in this country, if the Indians did not aid in everything? Little experience and less reflection would he have who should propose such a thing. Therefore, these two things do not harmonize well, that those who hate us should defend us, and that those who are our greatest enemies should be the ones to maintain and support us. Nor is it to be wondered at that there have been insurrections on several occasions; these, perhaps, have not arisen because the Indians were ill-disposed to the Spaniards; but, on the contrary, we know that many of them have been caused by the cruelty, wickedness, and tyranny of some alcalde-mayor and other Spaniards who, having been elevated from low beginnings, try to become gods and kings in the provinces, tyrannizing over the Indians and their possessions. This is often the cause of the insurrections. Would that I could mention some especial cases in this matter. However, I do not care to dip my pen in blood, and write tragedies instead of history. For, although I could say more, the authority and arrogance that every Spaniard assumes upon his arrival in this country is incredible.



THE NATIVE PEOPLES AND THEIR CUSTOMS

[San Antonio, [338] in his Cronicas (Manila, 1738-44), i, pp. 129-172, has the following ethnological matter. We omit the side heads.]



CHAPTER XXXIX

Of the origin of the Indians

[After a brief allusion to the creation of man at the beginning of the world, the writer continues:]

384. Now, then, I have said as much as there is to say of the origin of the Indians, if we speak of the first and most remote. For to endeavor to determine the first settlers of these lands, whence and how they came, whether they were Carthaginians, Jews, Spaniards, Phoenicians, Greeks, Chinese, Tartars, etc., is reserved for God, who knows everything; and this task exceeds all human endeavor. And if such study obtain anything, it will amount only to a few fallible conjectures—with danger of the judgment, and without any advance of the truth or of reputation. And such is the notion (omitting many other absurdities that have been written), that the Indians were produced ex putre like unclean animals, or like the wild plants of the field. Others showing them great favor, assign the sun as their father, which produced them from some noble material. Others say [that they were produced] by the ingenious art of chemists or magicians; others that there were two Adams in the world, one in Asia, and another in the Western Indias, and that our Indians proceeded from one of them; others, that there were already people in the world before the creation of Adam; and that from them came the heathen, and from Adam, the Hebrews. All of the above, being so erroneous nonsense, and blindness from the devil, is already refuted, and is well refuted with contempt.

385. The only conjecture that can be made with some more visible foundation is the origin of our Indians, considering those who were found in these islands at the time of the conquest by the Spanish arms. In accordance with this, I shall relate what written records I have found (which is very little), and what I have carefully investigated, which will not be much, for the natives are not very capable of forming adequate accounts of this subject, and what we Europeans are reducing to treatises.

386. Father Colin (both learned and curious in the investigation of the matter which we are treating) reduces the people found in this land by our first conquistadors into three different classes. The first class consisted of those who ruled and governed as absolute masters; and these were civilized after their own fashion. The second consisted of black and barbarous mountaineers who inhabited the tops of the mountains, like brutes. The third consisted of men neither so barbaric nor so civilized as the other two classes; for, although they lived in retirement, they did not hate civilization and human intercourse.

387. This third class still remains in the same ancient condition. They live, as a rule, on the plateaus of the mountains, and at the mouths of rivers, and maintain themselves by hunting and fishing, and some agriculture. Most of them trade, and barter wax with the villages. These people are called Zimarrones, Zambals, Ylagas, Tingues, Tagabalooyes, [339] Manobos, Mangyanes, and various other names, according to the difference of the sites where they live. Some or others of these have become Christians, through the efforts of the near-by evangelical ministers. The rest are heathen, but they have no determined rites, and are governed only by the customs of their ancestors, and those customs are mostly barbaric. Some of these people are accustomed to pay some sort of recognition or feudal due to our Catholic monarch, who is thereby bound to defend them from the invasions of their neighboring enemies. Such is done by the Tagabalooyes in the province of Caraga, who pay their annual feudal due in guinaras and medrinaques (textiles of abaca), [340] in order to be defended from the Moros their neighbors. Likewise the Mangyanes of Mindoro (who number about seven thousand), who pay fifty-two arrobas and a half of wax annually, or 105 tributes; and some of the Manobos in the mountains of Caraga (who are heathen and without number, although some are Christians—a people civilized and well inclined to work, who have [fixed] habitation and excellent houses)—pay tribute.

388. The origin of all these people (who are scattered throughout these islands) is inferred to be either the many civilized Indians who have retreated to the mountains in order not to pay tribute, or in order not to be chastised for any crime; or the many different nations immediate to this archipelago. For some bear traces of being Japanese mestizos, as do the Tagabalooyes, as I am well informed by religious who have had intercourse with them. Some are known to proceed from the Chinese; some from pure Indians, and some from other nations, as is declared by the circumstances of face, body, color, hair, customs, manner, and behavior—according to the experience of various religious, who agree that they are not of the pure race of the Indians, but mestizos as above stated. And even in five clans of Mangyanes who are said to exist in the island of Mindoro, there is one which has a little tail, as do the monkeys; and many religious who have assured me of it, as witnesses. In Valer, on the coast opposite us, a woman was found not long ago who had a long tail, as was told me by the present missionary; and he was unable to be sure of the origin of that race, unless it was a race of Jews.

389. I do not know whether those people who are found only in the environs of Manila, and are called Criollos Morenos [i.e., creole blacks], can be put in this mestizo class. The former are all oldtime Christians, docile, well inclined, and of sufficient understanding. They serve the king in personal duties, and always have their regiment of soldiers, with their master-of-camp, captains, and other leaders; and in this way they are outside the reckoning as Indians. It is difficult to assign their true origin to them. For some make them the descendants of those blacks, of whom we shall speak later, who were the primitive lords of these domains. But I do not see how this can be so, for they do not resemble those Negrillos either in their hair or in the members of their bodies, or in the qualities of their minds, in which these creoles have the complete advantage. And although it might be said that they have been bettered in all ways with the lapse of time, and the change of location to one more civilized and temperate, it is not credible that they would not retain some of their old vices, as is the case with various other races here, and as has been experienced in Nueva Espana. Some people make them the descendants of those slaves who were formerly held here by the petty rulers, brought by foreign traders in exchange for the drugs that formed their commerce and with whose price they made a good profit. Even yet they bring to our settlements a considerable number—so many, that it is necessary for one of the auditors to be judge of the slaves, and his duty costs him his time and patience. The creoles refuse to confess this origin, and it does not seem to me that they would be so well received and so well regarded if they had so vile an origin. Some believe that they descend from the free Malabars who come to these islands under pretext of trade. I incline more to this view, paying heed to the physiognomies and intellect of them all, for they are almost all alike in their clear dark color, aquiline noses, animated eyes, lank hair, docile disposition, and good manners, by which we may infer that those that there are now are Malabar and Indian mestizos.

390. At the present time, all this archipelago, and especially these islands of the Tagalogs, are full of another race of mestizos, who were not found at the first discovery, whom we call Sangley mestizos, [341] who are descended from Indian women and Chinese men. For since trade with them [i.e., the Sangleys] has been, and is, so frequent, and so many remain in these islands under pretext of trade, and they are the ones who supply these islands with clothing, food, and other products, those who have mixed with the Indian women in marriage are numerous; and for this purpose they become Christians, and from them have resulted so many mestizos that one cannot count them. They are all Christians, and quite commonly well disposed, and very industrious and civilized. They take pride in imitating the Europeans in everything, but their imitation is only a copy. They inhabit the same villages with the Tagalogs, but are not reckoned with them; since for the reckoning of the king they belong to a different body. The women are more like the Sangleys or Chinese, but the men not so much; however, these inherit from them ambition, in their continual industry.

391. There is also another kind of mestizo—the Japanese—who result from the Japanese who were shipwrecked on these islands in former years. They are of better conduct than the others, since they have a better origin. They are more esteemed here and have more privileges, for they only pay half as much tribute as do the others.

392. It is tradition that the Negrillos, who belong to the second class of people whom our first conquistadors found, were the first owners of the islands of this archipelago; and that, the civilized nations of other kingdoms having conquered them, they fled to the mountains and settled there, and from there it has never been possible to exterminate them, because their sites are impenetrable. There they have lived and brought forth children until the present. In former times they were so elated with their primitive power that, although their forces were not able to cope with those of foreigners in the open, they were very powerful in the thickets, mountains, and mouths of the rivers; and were accustomed to burst like an avalanche upon the villages, and compel their inhabitants to pay them tribute, as if they were the lords of the land, who were inhabiting it. And if the people refused to give it willingly, they killed right and left, collecting the tribute in the heads of those who were decapitated; as was written by one of our oldtime religious in the following words: "Even in my time, it happens," he says, "that they descended to the settlements and sought tribute from the Tagalogs, and at times took some heads for this purpose. Thus did it happen in Siniloan, which refused tribute at the approach of the Spaniards. The mountain Indians, having revolted, attacked the village; and they took three heads, and badly wounded a Spaniard who was defending them." Thus far the religious. At other times those people did not allow the Indians to make use of the wood and game of the mountains, and the fish of the rivers. For being very skilful in the use of the bow and arrow, and very swift and experienced in the fastnesses of the mountains and thickets, they inhumanly shot with arrows as many as approached their territories, without anyone catching sight or sound of them. For that reason, the inhabitants of the villages consider it wise to make an agreement with the Negrillos to pay them a certain tribute, provided that the latter leave the rivers and fields free. And although this pact is not so apparent at present, I believe that it is practiced secretly because of the fear that the Indians have of them, and because of their dependence on them; since the Negrillos are the lords of the mountains which contain the most virgin forests, with woods of the greatest value. It is a fact, too, that those of the present day are as barbarous as their ancestors.

393. All of these people are black negroes, most of whom have kinky hair, and very few have lank. They are flat-nosed, and almost all of them have thick, projecting lips. They go totally naked, and only have their privies covered with some coverings resembling linen cloths, which they draw on from the back forward, and which are called bahaques. They make those bahaques from the bark of trees, pounded with heavy blows, so that there are some that look like fine linen. Wrapping a rattan around the waist, they fasten the bahaque to it by the two ends. As ornaments they wear certain bracelets of rattan of various colors, curiously wrought; and garlands on their heads and on the fleshy parts of their arms, composed of various flowers and branches; and as a means of greater distinction for some one person, a cock's feather or the feather of some other bird, as a plume. Their food consists of fruits, and roots of the mountain; and if they find, perchance, some deer, they eat it in that place where they kill it. That night they make their abode there, and after they grow tired of dancing, they sleep there—all helter-skelter, like brutes. Next day the same thing happens, and they sleep in another stopping-place. All their customs are the savage and brutish ones characteristic of barbarians; and they recognize no other laws, letters, or government than those of the heads of their families, at the most. They only care about defending their own territories, upon which they have lively wars, some Negrillos against others, with great mortality on both sides. At such times no natives dare enter the mountains, for the Negrillos kill them all, whether friend or enemy. Their most common arms are shield, bow, and arrow. If by a miracle any Christian is found among these people, and if perhaps the religious have reared some of them in Christianity from childhood, it very rarely occurs that he does not flee to the mountains whence he originated, when he becomes grown.

394. One of the islands of this archipelago which has a name, is the one called the island of Negros, because of the abundance of those people. It is located between the two islands of Zebu and Panay, and in it is established a Christian and civilized government. But at one point of this island, which lies toward the west, and is called the point of Sojoton, there is a great number of the said blacks, and not one Christian. In the center of the island is a much greater number; therefore, it is along the beach where the Jesuit fathers and the seculars administer, and where the Visayans or Pintados are settled.

395. The origin of these Negrillos is thought to have been interior India, or citra Gangen, which was called Etyopia; for it was settled by Ethiopian negroes, whence went out the settlers to African Etyopia, as Father Colin proves in detail. Consequently, there being on the mainland of India nations of negroes, and even in Nueva Guinea so many that their first discoverers gave the island that name because of the multitude of these people; and since the distance from those places to these islands and the Philippine archipelago is not great; nor was the land [of Nueva Guinea] which was five hundred leguas in length, entirely settled with blacks—whom the ships of Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza found in one of the capes of the strait of Magallanes: those blacks could very easily pass from one island to another, and their chief abode with their own name might be the island of Negros, as we have remarked. Thence they could extend afterward to dominate and settle the rest of the islands, without any opposition from other people, until the opposition came through other men more rational and civilized than they, who dispossessed them.

396. The third kind of people whom our Spaniards found in this archipelago were the civilized nations, who maintained their government or seigniory on the river banks, on the seashores, and in the other sites with the best locations in these regions, and in the locations most fit for healthful and safe dwelling-places. Among them there was another remarkable class of people, and their domination, scattered throughout the many islands of this archipelago, the chief of whom are the Tagalogs, Pampangos, Visayans, and Mindanaos. Other peoples are reduced to these, although they have various distinguishing marks. The Tagalogs, who are the natives of Manila and its archbishopric, with but little distance between their villages, were Malays, who came from a district called Malayo; that is the origin of all the Malays, who are scattered throughout the most and the better parts of all these archipelagoes. They are located on the mainland of Malaca, and as that district is not far distant from the great island of Borney, it is inferred (and this tradition has been handed down from father to son), that the Malays went to Borney, and from Borney to settle Manila and its district; taking the name of Tagalog—which is the same as Taga Ylog, which signifies, in their own language, "those who live on the rivers;" for the Tagalogs have always lived on the shores of the rivers.

397. That the Tagalogs originated directly from the Malays, is proved (in the opinion of all) by their language, which differs but little from that of the real Malays; by their color, and the shape of their faces and their bodies; by the clothes and vesture in which the Spanish conquistadors found them; by their customs and ceremonies, all of which resemble those of the Malays—of whom the Tagalogs themselves said, and say always, that they are the true descendants. The coming of the Malays to this archipelago is not incredible, as we have so many examples of various accidents in these seas which have originated from the weather, by which we have seen brought to these islands unknown peoples, who spoke languages which no one could understand. For instance, a boat driven from its course, landed in the year 1725 on the opposite coast of Valer and Casiguran, where our religious were in charge; it contained more than twenty men, whose language or garb had not been known until that time. But it is much more easily credible that the Malays came to these islands led by greed for their commercial profits—as, one reads in the histories of the Portuguese, happened in the regions of India with the Persians and Arab Moros, who, having entered under the pretext of trade, afterwards became masters of everything. The same thing is said here of the entrance of the Moro Malays.

398. The Pampangos (according to tradition) originated from the largest island of the Orient, which is that of Sumatra or Trapobana (although some apply the latter name to Zeilan), which is located below the line. That island is seven hundred leguas in circumference, and is near the land of Malaca and Malayo, and for that reason it is included in the Aurea Chersonesus. In the midst of that great island of Sumatra there is a large lake, on whose surrounding marge many different peoples have their abodes. According to Father Colin (who himself examined him), a Pampango who had lost his way reached that place; and, having discovered that there were men there of his own build, language, and clothing, approached, and entered into conversation with them in his own elegant Pampango tongue. They answered him in the same speech, and one of their old men said: "You are descendants of the lost people who, in former times, left here to settle other lands, and have never been heard of since." From this it appears that one may infer the origin of the Pampangos. But it is not easy to determine whether they came from Sumatra direct, or settled first in Borney, because of the nearness of its lands and domains, and thence passed on to settle the islands of this archipelago; although it appears from the statements of some who have been in Borney for a time that they even find there sufficient indications that the Pampangos originated, some from Sumatra and others from Malayo. It is certain that if the island of Borney was not a land continuous with that of these islands in past centuries (and arguments are not lacking for this), at least many islets are found lying in a row and near one another, with which Borney is closely connected. [342] Such a one is Paragua, which extends in a northerly direction. Toward the east, Borney is extended by Mindanao. With this continuation and the short distances between these regions, one can see the little difficulty in changing their abodes from one to the other; and it is believable that the Tagalogs, Pampangos, and other civilized races who were found in this archipelago, and who were almost alike in language, customs, bodily proportions, and clothing, as now we see them, came immediately from Borney, some from some provinces and some from others. That may account for the little difference that is found among them.

399. It is argued that the Visayans and Pintados—who are the ones found in the Camarines, Leyte, Samar, Panay, Zebu, and other neighboring territories—came from the large island of Macasar, which is very powerful and densely populated. It has its emperor, who is called Sumbanco, and many petty rulers. The basis of this argument lies, not only in the short distance from that island to this archipelago, for it is only distant about sixty leguas from the point of Samboanga; but also because in Macasar, as is reported, there are Indians who adorn and tattoo the body as do the Visayans (who are called Pintados on that account). But it is not known with certainty where one and the other originated. We only know of a relation written by the chief pilot, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, of his voyage to the Salomon Islands and their discovery by Albaro de Mendana de Neyra in the year 1595. That relation is addressed to Doctor Antonio de Morga, lieutenant-general for his Majesty of the Philipinas. The said Quiros says in it that, finding themselves in ten long degrees south latitude, they sighted an island to which General Don Albaro gave the name of La Magdalena; and that from its port there came to receive them, he says, "with seventy ships, more than four hundred white Indians, of a very fine symmetry, tall, lusty, and robust, and so well built that they far surpassed us. They had fine teeth, eyes, mouth, the most beautiful hands and feet, and long hair. Many of them were very fair; and among them were the must handsome youths, all naked, and without covering over any part; and all their bodies, legs, arms, hands, and in some the faces, were adorned as among these Visayans." From this it is evident that they are Pintados Indians; and that they were not conquered, like those whom we call here Pintados Visayans. They live in south latitude, in the same parallel as that of the north, from ten to twelve degrees. But it is not easy to determine what might be the origin of the others; since, although it is known that this custom of tattooing and making figures on the body is found in Brasil, in Florida, among the Scythians of Asia, and the Britons of Europa, and even among the Moros of Africa, those nations are very remote from our Pintados; and so remote an origin cannot be conceded to the latter.

400. The large island of Mindanao took its name from a large lake (which is called Danao in the general language of these islands) which is found in that island, and into which many rivers flow. The same thing has happened in that island as I have said of the others, namely, that its first owners and settlers must have been the ones who are now found on the uplands and in the fastnesses of the mountains and the crags. Since they are inclined to the mountains, they allowed the foreign traders to settle their seacoasts and rivers, as they were found uninhabited and defenseless; and when the latter had taken possession of the best of the territories and districts, the true owners were unable to expel the foreigners, since the latter were the more powerful and civilized.

401. From this fact comes the variety of tribes that have been found in that island of Mindanao: such as the Caragas, the Butuans, the Cagayans, the Dapitans, the Mindanaos, the Malanaos, besides the Tagabalooyes, Manobos, and Lutaos, and a great number of blacks, like those of whom we have already written. Of all of them, when we consider their first origin, there is no other inference than that it was in the neighboring islands of Borney, Macasar, or the Malucas, considering not only the Mahometan rites and their manner of dressing, but also the bonds of sympathy existing among them. For to this day they maintain their friendship and trade, and unite for the protection of one another, although they are not all Mahometans, and most of them are infidels, atheists, and total barbarians.

402. If we consider their more immediate origin, the Caraguenos have the first place. They are so called from Caraga or Caraghas, which was formerly the name of all that coast which extended north and south from the point of Surigao to that of San Agustin, and then, turning toward the west, extended from Surigao and ran through Iligan and as far as Dapitan, until in later times a division of districts was made. The Caragas are the oldest people in that island, and without the protection of any foreigners have maintained their location and their valorous courage—which was well known in former times, by the Visayans and even by all the islands of this archipelago. They have rendered greater their valor by the character of Christians (a fact which they owe to the burning zeal of the discalced Augustinian fathers, their first conquistadors), since their aid has been the most efficient and most formidable in the invasions of the Moros, in favor of the Church and its evangelical ministers. These people, if they are not Butuans, differ but little from them, and now they are united; by which we believe the origin of both to have been common.

403. The Butuans, worthy of eternal memory and thanks, as they were the first among whom the Catholic arms found shelter, come down from the village and river of Butuan, the coast which looks to the north from Mindanao. It was the first soil where the famous Magallanes [343] planted the domination of Jesus Christ and that of our Catholic king. All these, perchance, have the same origin as the Visayans and Pintados, because of their great nearness to them. But they are the origin of the best blood and nobility of the Basilans and Joloans, for the king of Xolo even confessed that he was a Butuan. But he gives the lie to that by his barbarous procedure, for he has been the scourge most disturbing to these islands; while the Butuans have ever remained faithful, and have been vassals to God and to our Catholic monarch, following the example of the Caragas throughout.

404. The Cagayans take their name from Cagayan el Chico [i.e., the little], which is [found by] following the coast from Butuan to the west and southwest. It is a bay with this name, which is not of ancient usage, but was given from the other Cagayan, today a province in the upper part of the island of Luzon, between Cape Bojeador and that of Engano. These islanders are reduced and civilized, and differ but little from the previous ones [i.e., the Caragas] from which it is argued that they are not very different from them in their origin.

405. The Dapitans were a people who inhabited a closely hemmed-in strait between the island of Bohol and that of Panglao, and possessed the two shores of that strait. They conquered the Boholans in a war, and assumed their name and territory. These new and triumphant Boholans left that island of Bohol (the country having already been abandoned by the old Boholans), and went to live in Dapitan, located on the Mindanao coast, almost opposite Bohol and Panglao, whence they took the name Dapitan. That name has been extended and preserved even to the present, because of their fortunate progress, and the friendly reception that our first conquistadors experienced from their noble loyalty and honorable valor. No other more remote origin is known of them, but it is conjectured to be like the others.

406. The Mindanaos and Malanaos are Moros, but they seem formerly to have been heathen (from which today they are considered as newcomers), and took their names from the celebrated lakes in their territories. Father Combes says that the Malanaos resemble the Visayans in their government, and the same is inferred of the Mindanaos; and, of both, that one must seek there their true origin. The Mindanaos have always remained Mahometans, and have not allowed the light of the gospel to enter. The Malanaos, with the district of Bayug, were reduced to the yoke of Christ at another time, and were for some years constant to their baptisms by the discalced Augustinian fathers; but later they grew weary of it. At the present time some of those Moros have come to the governor of Manila with the title of ambassadors, from Bayug and Malanao, in order to petition for the discalced Augustinian fathers as ministers of the gospel. This is not the first time when they have requested them, as well as the Franciscan religious, as I have seen in an original document. Since the fathers of the Society are those to whom those places are adjudged for the preaching of the holy gospel, and since the disposition of that race is so faithless in their dealings, some suspicions have been aroused by those embassies, and we are endeavoring to probe their designs in coming.

407. The Tagabalooyes take their name from some mountains which they call Balooy, which are located in the interior of the jurisdiction of Caraga. They are not very far remote from and trade with the villages [of Caraga], and some indeed live in them who have become Christians. Others are being converted through the zeal and care of the discalced Augustinian fathers, who regard them as inhabitants of Baslig, which is their headquarters and priorate. Those people, as has been stated above, are the descendants of lately-arrived Japanese. This is the opinion of all the religious who have lived there and had intercourse with them, and the same is a tradition among themselves, and they desire to be so considered. And it would seem that one is convinced of it on seeing them; for they are light-complexioned, well built, lusty, very reliable in their dealings, respectful, and very valiant, but not restless. So I am informed by one who has had much to do with them; and all the above are qualities which we find in the Japanese.

408. The Lutaya nation, or the Lutaos, do not give much sign of their first origin, just as they do not evince any particular inclination for one kingdom or another. For since their natural disposition is one of self-interest and fickle, and delights in war, they make alliance now with the Joloans, now with the Basilans, and now with the Mindanaos—as quickly with one as another, and as quickly against their allies and with others. They show that they are Moros by the turban, the marlota, [344] their arms, and their ceremonies; but they cannot be very ancient, since the Mahometans have not been very long in India and in these parts. The Lutaos could have come to these islands from the regions whence it is inferred that the others have come.

409. Of the mountain people without civilization or government, and with the life and custom of barbarians, it is inferred that they were some of these primitive possessors, who fled from the civilized foreigners. These people have various names in various settlements. In Yligan and Samboangan, they are called Subanos; in Caraga, Manobos; in Xolo, Guinuanos; in Basilan, Sameacas. [345] And although some say that it is known that they are the descendants of the Malays, because their language is built on the general roots of the Malay language, there are religious (living today) who have lived there for many years, who assure me that they have not heard, in their method of talking with them, any Malay root. Consequently, since the islands are so strung out even as far as the islands of Borney and Macasar, and since the crossing is so easy, it is always inferred that their origin comes from that direction.

410. In the upper and northern part of the great island of Luzon are the two provinces of Cagayan and Ylocos. Those people, as is inferred by Father Colin, are descended from Chinese or Japanese, because the graves of men of larger stature than the Indians have been found there, as well as some Chinese and Japanese jewels which have been preserved among them. If these should be slight indications—for they can proceed from various other circumstances, on account of the great nearness of China and Japan—they may aid in the foundation of that inference. But we cannot get any farther than conjectures, as in everything else, after so much toil. It serves only as a light, so that others may infer a truer origin. And the same is true of Pangasinan, which lies next.

411. On this account, and without all the above serving as an obstacle, one can also conjecture the origin of other nations who are scattered through the innumerable islets of these archipelagoes; for they may proceed from all India extra Gangen and from its most renowned kingdoms, such as Sian, Camboja, China, Cochinchina, Tunquin, Japon, the Lequios, etc.—especially when not few affirm that the Chinese dominated all this archipelago, and that they were the first settlers of the Javas, as is mentioned by Barros. In fine, these are the conjectures that I have found. Other conjectures may be made from their customs and ceremonies, in the comparison of which the curious will find not a few strong arguments, if they read thoughtfully. But, at the last, God is the only one who knows the truth, to which our limited judgments cannot penetrate.



CHAPTER XL

Of the characteristics [genio] and genius [ingenio] of the Filipino Indians

[Paragraphs 412, 413, and a portion of 414 will be found in our Vol. XXVIII, pp. 220-223. The balance of the chapter follows.]

... They are the greatest enemies that the father ministers have. They are impious in the known necessities of their parents and relatives, and very charitable to a guest who comes to them and stays leisurely in their houses, without knowing him and without sending him away; and they do not even take warning by the experience of great inconveniences. Many other contradictions and contrarieties are found daily in these Indians by those who have communication with them and know them, so that in them vices are united to their opposed virtues, as if related. Only in the matter of lying there is no contradiction, for one cannot tell when they are not lying. Neither does one know when they are thankful for any benefits received; for one could write by thousands the cases of their ingratitude which have been experienced—either not taking any account of the good that is shown them, regarding it as a justice due them; or paying with treachery pure and simple their greatest benefactors. All these are truths, and although (in the opinion of Terence) they gain hate for the one who states them, it is not right for the Indians who may read this to hate me; for I know it all by my own experience and that of other fathers of long standing—which indeed the Indians who know them recognize. In Nueva Espana and in Peru the same thing occurs, to about the same extent.

415. From this result other things, in the same father ministers, that seem also to be contradictions. For the minister of the Indians who loves them most would like not to have anything to do with them, but to be very distant from them; and if he succeeds in getting far away from them, then his love for them will not suffer it and he does not rest until he is with his Indians again. It is a providence of God, so that instruction may never be lacking to these wretched beings. This, I believe, appears like the discreet love with which Christ loved Judas, for an example to men; loving persons compassionately, and distinguishing their evil qualities, as things detestable. If all the above-mentioned contradictions of the Indians are malicious, or arise from their lack of understanding, let him who will examine it, for even in this have I found new contradictions. For some actions which appear simple are very doubly acts of malice; and quite the contrary also occurs at other times. In short, whether malicious or simple, their mental standpoint [genio] is incomprehensible, and consequently the merit that belongs to the ministers of instruction very great.

416. In regard to the mind [ingenio] and understanding of these natives, no general rules can be laid down; for there are rude and clever ones in all parts, although it be even among Spaniards and servants in courts. But speaking generally, all authors agree, and experience tells us the same, that the Filipinos are more clever than the Indians of other parts. They can learn any art at all with ease, and imitate with exactness any beautiful production that is placed before them. Consequently, they become so fine writers that the accounting-rooms are filled with them, as are also the secretariats, the courts, and the offices of private persons. But very rarely can one find the copy of an Indian which does not need revision, for they cannot cease lying even in writing; or else because of the little care with which they do it. This is very mortifying to those who dictate and correct. Some of them have been so capable that they have become officials in the accounting-rooms, and have served ad interim in the highest offices. Others serve as managers for alcaldes-mayor, and they have great knowledge of government business; whether with a right conscience, God knows. There are others who have great cleverness for the management of a suit between litigants; and are so keen in entangling the parties that they cannot be disentangled with their laws, and recourse can be had to God alone. There are at present some of them who are printers, and they have sufficient intelligence. In their own political and civil government I have seen many Indians who are very capable, and who can discourse so powerfully, with their natural logic, that they convince. But as it is natural for them to be concerned only about the present time, they need some one to direct them so that they may not make any error in what they discuss. In short, their understandings are fastened with pins and attached always to material things, for they do not understand things with any depth. I believe that this is the reason why there is so little fruit produced from the constant repetition of sermons; for they are perplexed with abundant instruction, or else do not understand it. And although the sermon be very clear, and preached in their own native language, not one of them can yet repeat the substance of what he hears, although he understands it when it is preached. They are, however, very clever at handiwork, because of their great indifference in everything. On that account they can play well on all musical instruments; and their inclination for music is very great, and they make instruments. There are good singers among them, and these have positions, with a fitting salary attached, in all the churches, from the cathedral to the poorest ministry; and thus they are being trained, from the time when they sing soprano. They are fond of verses and representations. They are excellent translators, and can translate a Spanish comedy with elegance into verses of their own language. And thus, although all, both men and women, are fond of reading, they are indefatigable when verses are concerned, and they will act them out as they read them. Accordingly it results that they are clever for all things, in whatever duty they are set; and they would be more so if they were less lazy, or if their greed for temporal possessions were greater. On this account, they have always been, are, and will be poor, without caring for more than the food of the present day. I do not know whether this is a special providence of God for these poor wretches; for when they have a little wealth, as the vessel is so limited, immediately it swells out and then they do not know what to do; and, to let it be known that they are rich, they immediately waste it in expenses that are at best useless, until they remain as they were before. Thus their inclination [genio] is opposite to their judgment [ingenio] in this direction; and although they have sufficient intellect, they yield to their natural disposition [genio], which dominates them, and in this never allow themselves to be directed.



CHAPTER XLI

Of the letters, languages, and civilization of the Filipinos

417. Just as in Italia the Tuscan, Lombard, and Sicilian languages resemble one another, and in Espana the Castilian, Portuguese, and Valencian—for they all recognize one origin (namely, the Roman), although they are, strictly speaking, quite distinct among themselves—so it happens in the languages of these Philipinas Islands. The principal cultured languages found here at the conquest were six, namely, the Tagalog, the Visayan, the Pampanga, the Cagayan, the Ilocan, and the Pangasinan. It is a fact that all the languages here resemble one another, and he who knows one of them can easily talk the others, for the structure of them all differs but little. We trace them all to one origin, which cannot be other than the Malayan language, according to the comparison which has been made of words, and to the formation and construction of them all. Consequently, although these Indians have regarded their origin as distinct from that of various other nations, in the manner already mentioned, it is evident that the more immediate generations must have been Malays, since their letters and languages alone are found in these islands.

418. The vowels in the characters proper to their language are three in number, although they have the same value as our five in use; for the E and the I form one single letter, as do also the O and the U. The consonants are thirteen in number, but they are never used alone, for the vowel is always used with them. Thus by the use of the C and the M alone they write cama [i.e., "bed"]. In order to pronounce words with other vowels, they make use of certain commas, placed either below or above. Consequently, as all the pronunciation of their writing for the most part makes it necessary for them to supply it at the expense of commas, the difficulty that was experienced was considerable, even in the natives themselves. On that account they have applied themselves so easily and willingly to our letters, in order to write in their own language.

419. Their own method of writing was peculiar, by writing the lines from top to bottom, beginning at the left hand and proceeding to the right. This bespeaks a very great antiquity; for the ancient custom of the Hebrews is to write lines, from the right to the left, as the Chinese do at the present time. But the latter write them from top to bottom, as was done in these islands. Diodorus Siculus, who wrote in the time of the emperor Caesar Augustus, says that in an island of the torrid zone the people wrote from top to bottom, and employed only a few letters.

420. Before the people knew anything of paper in these islands they wrote on the smooth bark of bamboo, or on leaves of the many palms which are found in these islands (and even yet this is done, in districts where there is no paper, or even that the schoolboys may not waste paper), the point of a knife or an iron, or some other material, serving as a pen (and now with birds' quills and ink). If it were a missive letter, they wrote it on palm-leaves, and folded it as we fold our letters. Some of them are much given to writing on the ground in a squatting posture, which is the usual way both men and women sit.

421. The cultured languages, as already stated, are six in number—for one cannot reckon the languages of the Negritos and mountain people as such, since each settlement has its own distinct language, which results from the lack of human intercourse. Among the cultured languages, the chief and mother languages are considered the Tagalog, the Pampanga, and the Visayan; and even among these the Tagalog is considered the most polished and powerful. That is not [for instance] because it lacks the tu [i.e., "thou"]—which is well employed with their primitive pronoun ycao or ca, even with persons to whom the greatest respect is due—but on account of the po and Po co, which explains it, and signifies "Sir" [senor mio]. The first is used for men, and the second for women. Interwoven with the words, it shows reverence and courtesy; as, for example, in order to answer "Yes" to a woman one says Oo, Po co, an expression which without the Po co would be too familiar. In many other phrases in the Tagalog language is shown its seriousness and polish; those who write grammars of the language will be able to set them forth.

422. The natives of these islands employ innumerable other elegancies and courtesies, now in actions, now in words, now in names and titles, which they apply to themselves; these are various according to the difference of the provinces, and are too numerous to mention, for they are ceremonial, and they value their ceremonies highly. No one will pass in front of another, without asking permission, and in order to pass, he doubles the whole body with the most profound bow, at the same time lifting one foot in the air, and doubling the knee and lifting both hands to the face. If one has to talk to any person of higher rank, he shows all reverence and squats down [pone en cuclillas], with raised face, and waits thus, until he is asked his reason for coming; for to speak without being questioned would be a point of bad breeding. They employ many courteous acts and expressions in saluting one another when they meet; but these do not seem to me to be so many as in Nueva Espana, where people do not cease to use them until they lose sight of one another in the street. The Filipinos do this here with greater dignity and respect. When they write, they heighten their style with so many rhetorical phrases, metaphors, and pictures, that many who think themselves poets would be glad to do as much; and yet this is only in prose. For, when it comes to poesy, he who would understand it must be very learned in their language, even among his own compatriots.

423. The names which they impose now are usually high-sounding. I know a Pius V, and a Philipe V; and, following this custom, they take as surnames the most honorable names of Espana. This is since they have known Castilians. But, even before, they could rival in this the kings of Espana; for just as the latter have been called "the Wise," "the Prudent," "the Chaste," etc., for the special virtues which have made them worthy of this glory, so here in the Philipinas, they called one "the Strong," another "the Splendid," and another "the Terrible," according to his deeds, or to those of his ancestors, or in accordance with various incidents that happened at birth. Now they are introducing the custom of taking the paternal name added to the baptismal name. However, when the first-born child comes to any one, the latter's Christian name is forgotten; for that instant they call the father by the name of his first-born for the rest of his life. If the name of the first-born is Rosa, the father is called Ama ni Rosa, or Pan-Rosa, which means "the father of Rosa." One must not then ask for such a man in any village by his Christian name (which is the one entered on the parish register), for there are many so named, so that he would not be known by that name. An author is not wanting to call this an instance of courtesy; but many times it serves as a dishonor, if they know him and call him, for example, "father of Judas." They employ many other names and endearing expressions in naming their children, relatives, and families, although I believe that the affection that they feel for one another has very little reality.

424. The "Don" of the Castilians is being rapidly introduced among the Indian chiefs, both men and women, of these islands. In olden times they did not lack a term proper to their own language by which they expressed it, as Lacan or Gat for the men, and Dayang for the women.



CHAPTER XLII

Of the physical features and clothing of these Indians

425. According to the differences in climate we find certain differences in the lines of the body and faces of the Indians, as has been stated above. But this difference amounts to but little. All of them are sufficiently corpulent, well-built, and well-featured, except that they are all flat-nosed; for the cartilage of the bridge of the nose does not come to a point as among Europeans. Consequently, there are no sharp noses among the full-blooded Indians. Some have tried to explain the color by saying that it is the color of cooked quinces, or brown, or an olive color. But it appears much stranger to me, and I have been unable to find a legitimate color to which to compare it; for it is a brown color, but flushed with red. [346] It is generally clearer in the women, and still lighter in all of the Visayans. The hair is black and lank, as is that of the Scythians, Getas [i.e., Getae], and Turks, and is carefully tended with washings, and very fragrant oils, as was that of the Lycians. They assert that they do this in order to free it from grease (which is considerable), but a great part of it consists in vanity. Among the Tagalogs it is allowed to grow to the shoulders, among the Ilocans somewhat longer, and among the Visayans slightly longer or shorter, and done up; but the Cagayans leave it loose and hanging upon the shoulders. This custom must have appeared well to all of them, since everywhere they envy the one who has the longest and heaviest hair; and the same thing is seen among the women. It is indeed considered as an affront to cut the hair for any crime. The Zambals alone shave the head from the middle forward; and from the middle back, as far as the occiput, they wear a large shock of loose hair. Ribbons are never used to tie it, but with the hair itself men, women, and children make a knot near the crown of the head or the occiput, as do the Turks.