426. The eyes of all are very beautiful and large, either gray or black. The face is broad. The teeth are even and fine; formerly they covered them with ink or a varnish of a black color. Now that is no longer used except among the Tagabalooyes of Caraga, of whom I have written; their beauty, lightness of complexion, and the features of their faces might deceive one, and they would be taken for Spaniards if they kept their mouths shut, and one did not see the black teeth. They also, especially the chief women, adorned the teeth with gold, with exquisite beauty. I do not know whether they waste the gold so now. All of the men are beardless in the face, but their bodies are sufficiently shaggy, as are those of all Asiatics. It is attributed to the temperature of the torrid zone in which we are. Who cares to study this more in detail would better read Fray Gregorio Garcia, the Dominican. [347] In olden times the Indians removed and pulled out, as if it were a defect, any little hair that appeared on the face, with pincers of bamboo made for that very purpose. I have not read that they did this because they considered it a reproach to have a beard, as did those of Peru—who did the same, as I have read in the above-cited author.

427. The women (and in many parts the men, especially the mountaineers), have certain large holes in their ears, in which they place pendants and earrings of gold. They make the greater display of it according to the greater size and openness of the holes. Some women have two holes in each ear, for two kinds of earrings. This is usual among the Zimarrones and blacks, for the civilized people have now adopted the custom of the Castilians in this regard.

428. In olden times the men wore their heads covered or wrapped about with a narrow strip of cotton or linen. Those who esteemed themselves as valiant men wore the two ends hanging to the shoulders. This they called the potong; and some wore this of colored cloth, to declare their chieftainship. No one could wear a red one unless he had killed at least one person, and he could not have it striped until he had killed seven. Now they wear neat white and black hats, which are woven from various materials which they gather in the field.

429. Of the mountain people it is already known that their own skin is their clothing, and that they only use the bahag, which is a linen or cloth which keeps in the privies. But the clothing of the men who live in villages is a half-shirt of linen, silk, or some other material—which, at the most, reaches to the navel; it is open to the air, and has wide sleeves without wristbands, and this is called the baro—and certain garments that they call saluales, which correspond to our small-clothes or under-drawers. These are also loose and wide, and made of any kind of linen or other material; they do not open at the front, but at the side, and they are tied there. They never wear anything on feet or legs. The above is the whole amount of their clothing, and, at the most, a cord or belt at the waist, like a girdle, where they hang the knife. The chiefs and others wear, for church functions and other meetings of theirs, in addition to the said clothing, a long black garment reaching to the feet, with sleeves fitted at the wrists. This they call barong-mahaba, which signifies "long baro." It is an eminently modest and decent garment, and is worn loose and not girdled. For outside wear, these garments are of ordinary materials. For gala attire, they are of silk, and much worked with embroidery, except the long baro, which is always the same. Today the people of highest rank in the villages dress in the Spanish fashion, with coats, trousers, stockings, and shoes, although it is the most usual practice to wear stockings of natural skin, in the midst of all these adornments. In former times, their greatest care was exercised in supplying the lack of clothing with abundance of gold, with which they adorned all the body. That custom is still preserved, although not in the abundance of which we read earlier. In what they wore the full complement of their gala attire was a colored sash drawn up under the arm, which is no longer worn at the present time. All the clothing of the Filipino Indian is reduced to the above, and I believe that it is so throughout this archipelago, without any difference of special note.

430. The dress of the women is the baro already mentioned, but not so long, and only covering the breasts and hanging loose; and a garment as wide above as below, in which they envelope the body from the waist down, fastening one of the ends in the girdle in order to secure it. This garment is called a tapis. The mestizo women wear skirts with plaits and seams, with the opening at one side. The tapis is the unchangeable costume of the Indian women of this archipelago, and this, at the most, is generally of silk, but of a modest hue, and of only one color. Upon their festival occasions the women—some for gala attire, or others, because they are more modest—wear white Spanish petticoats. Some wear an underskirt, especially within doors. But when they go abroad, the tapis is [preferred] above all. Some of them wear garments resembling black mantillas, which they call cobijas, with which they cover the whole body from the head down, in the manner of the mantillas of Espana. With this and the bits of gold that they wear on the body—in the ears, at the throat, on the wrists and fingers (and she who does not possess these ornaments must be very poor indeed)—they appear as Indian women in their wealth of gold, and are Indian women in their being and clothing. Now when the Indian women go abroad, they wear slippers embroidered with silk and gold; few and far between are those who wear shoes. Formerly, they wore a ribbon, of wrought gold which covered their foreheads and temples. Now, at the most, they usually wear a chased silver or gold nail, thrust through the knot of their hair. Women of a somewhat more advanced age and respect wear the long baro, which is made in the same manner as that of the men above described. It is certain that an Indian woman appears well in this manner, for there is no more modest dress for women that one can imagine.

431. The chief bodily adornments of the Visayans were the tattooing and designs which gave them the name of Pintados. They did this in the same manner as the Moro men and women, and it was the olden custom of the Huns, Gelones, and Agathyrsos; but the kind of the designs was according to the deeds and merit of each person. But that barbarous method of adornment was lost long ago, and has not been seen among them for many years. Perhaps they have erased those pictures with the water of holy baptism, since they embraced the true Catholic ceremonies.



CHAPTER XLIII

Of the false religion which these Indians held in their heathendom; and of their superstitions and omens.

432. The great slothfulness and natural carelessness of these Indians is recognized by its results; for as yet not the slightest scrap of writing concerning their religion and ceremonies, or their ancient political government, has been found. Only by tradition and old songs which have been preserved from father to son, and from other things which they have still in use, has it been possible to trace somewhat of their antiquity by means of some careful ministers. The first who took his pen for this purpose, at the instance of the superior government, was our venerable Fray Juan de Plassencia, one of the most zealous workers in the vineyard of this archipelago, in the year 1589. [348] So great credence was given to him in this, that his relation of the customs of the Indians, having been received by the royal Audiencia, was imparted to the alcaldes-mayor of the provinces for their government. Later, in the year 1598, with but little difference in time, Doctor Don Antonio de Morga, auditor and lieutenant-governor of Philipinas, wrote his description. In it the same matter is treated, taken from the other. Our Fray Antonio de la Llave, [349] afterward (in the year 1622) used this in his description. In the year 1660, Father Colin wrote his description, adding anew the best form. Since this is a matter in which we cannot exceed the ancients, yet with them all it will be necessary for me to write something, in order that I may not leave this treatise of my description faulty.

433. These Indians had various sorts of adorations: now to animals and birds, as did the Egyptians; now to the sun and the moon, as did the Assyrians. The Tagalogs adored now Tigmamanoquin, which was a blue bird of the size of a turtledove; now the crow, which they called Meylupa, which signifies "Lord of the soil," as if he were the god Pan, or the goddess Ceres of the ancients; now the crocodile, which they called nono, which signifies "grandfather," to which they offered various sacrifices in order that it might not harm them. Sometimes they adored any old tree, especially the one they call balete, and even those now living show respect to it; now they adored and offered gifts to the stones, crags, reefs, and promontories of seas and rivers. All was the result of their natural fear, so that all these things should cause them no harm. Nevertheless, they had a knowledge of one sole God; and accordingly they adored Him as the principal God, and greater than all. The Visayans called Him Lauon, which signifies "ancient;" and the Tagalogs Bathala Mey capal, signifying "God, the Maker, or Creator of all things."

434. Besides these they had other idols, which the Visayans called Diuata, and the Tagalogs, Anito, each of which had its special object and purpose. For there was one anito for the mountains and open country; another for the sowed fields; others for the sea and rivers; another for the house of their dwelling. These anitos they invoked in their work, according to the functions of each one. Among these they also made anitos of their ancestors, and to these was due the first adoration of all. The memory of this anito is not even yet erased. They kept some small badly-made figures of all these, of gold, stone, ivory, or wood; and they called them Lic-ha or Larauan, which means a "figure" or "image" among them.

435. They also venerated as anitos those who came to disastrous ends, because either the lightning, or the shark, or the sword, killed them; for they thought that such immediately went to glory, by way of the rainbow, which they call balangao. With such barbarous beliefs lived and died the old people, puffed up and vain, considering themselves as anitos. As such they caused themselves to be respected and worshiped; and buried after death in places set apart and of distinction among them all, as they were reverenced there. There are many cases of this known, and it required all the valor and zeal of the father ministers to destroy tombs, fell trees, and burn idols. But it is yet impossible to tear up the blind error of the pasingtabi sa nono, which consists in begging favor from their aged dead whenever they enter any thicket or mountain or sowed fields, in order to build houses and for other things. For if they do not do this, they believe that their nonos will punish them with some evil result. This is found among an ignorant people without malice, who do not know why they do this, but only that they do it because they saw that their aged people do it here. The ministers labored hard to remove this error, especially in the remote villages; for in those that are now civilized the people at present laugh at it.

436. For all these adorations and sacrifices it is not evident that they had any common and public temple. For although these places had the name of simba or simbahan, which signifies "place of adoration and sacrifice," and the people attended them and resorted thither, they were not like our temples common to all, but, as it were, certain private oratories belonging to the houses of their chiefs, where those of their families, or their dependents, or those related by marriage, met to make a feast for any special object. For this purpose they made a bower in the house itself, which they call sibi, dividing it into three naves and lengthening the fourth. They adorned it with leaves and flowers on all sides, and many lighted lamps. In the middle was placed another large lamp, with many ornaments. Such was their simbahan or oratory. This feast was called pandot; it was their most solemn one, and lasted four days. During that time they played many musical instruments, and performed their adorations, which is called nag aanito [350] in Tagalog. When the feast was ended and all the adornment removed, the place had no longer the name of church or temple, and remained a house like all the others.

437. Their sacrifices always redounded to the advantage of their bodies; for they were reduced to all eating, drinking, and making merry. In proportion to the motives, so were the ceremonies of their sacrifices. If it were only for the entertainment of their chief, they made a bower in front of his house, which they filled with hangings, according to their Moorish custom; and there they all ate, drank, danced, and sang. For this it was the usual practice to fetch a hog, which the catalona or priestess ordered the most graceful girl to stab with the knife, amid certain dances. That done, and the hog having been cooked according to their custom it was divided among all the company, as if it were a relic; and they ate it with great reverence and respect, with the other food of their feast. They drank more than they ate, as they always do. With this was ended the greatness of their sacrifice, without God to whom to offer it, or altar therefor.

438. If the sacrifice was for the health of some sick person, the priest of the sacrifice ordered a new house to be built at the expense of the sick one. That done (which took but a very short time, as the materials are close at hand, and many assemble for that purpose), they removed the sick person to it, and arranged what was to be sacrificed. That was sometimes a slave, but most generally some hog or marine animal; its flesh they set before the sick person, with other food according to their custom. The catalona performed her usual dances, wounded the animal, and with its blood anointed the sick person, as well as some of the others among the bystanders. Then it was divided and cleaned, in order that it might be eaten. The catalona looked at the entrails, and making wry faces and shaking her feet and hands, acted as if she were out of her senses—foaming at the mouth, either because she was incarnate as the devil, or because she so feigned so that credit might be given her. In this way she prophesied what would happen to the sick man, either adverse or propitious. If it were propitious, there was great feasting; and if adverse, means were not lacking to her to evade it—as they were also not lacking in case that her prophecy was not fulfilled. If the sick man died, she consoled them all by saying that their gods had elected him as one of their anitos, because of his prowess and merits; and she began to commend herself to this saint, and made them all commend themselves to him, and everything ended in drunkenness and rejoicing. Then the catalona took all the gifts, which all had offered her according to their custom, and returned home, wealthier, but not with more reputation; for those who exercised that office among the Indians were held in no estimation, for they were considered lazy persons who lived by the toil of others.

439. When the sick person died, he was followed by the lamentation of his relatives and friends and even by other and hired mourners, who had that as their trade. In their lamentation they inserted a melancholy song, with innumerable extravagant things in praise of the dead. They bathed, smoked, and shrouded the corpse, and some embalmed it in the manner of the Hebrews, with certain aromatic liquors; and thus did they bury it, with all due respect.

440. The grave of the poor was a hole which was dug under the house itself, and was called silong. The rich and influential were kept unburied for three days, amid the weeping and singing. A box or coffin was made out of one piece, which was the dug-out trunk of a tree; and the cover was tightly fitted on, so that no air could enter. There they buried the deceased, adorned with rich jewels and sheets of gold, especially upon his mouth. As the coffins were usually of incorruptible wood, which was used for this purpose, in this way some bodies have been found uncorrupted after many years.

441. The coffin with the body was placed in one of three places, according to the direction of the deceased: either in the highest story of the house itself, in a place like a cock-house, where they usually keep their treasures and other goods; or under the house, which is the silong, elevated from the ground; or if they place it in the ground itself, they dig a hole, and enclose it with a small railing and there they deposit the box with the body without covering over the hole. They buried others in the fields, and lit fires in the house, and then set sentinels so that the deceased should not come to take away the living with him. Others had themselves buried in a lofty place on the seashore, in order that they might be venerated and worshiped; and sentinels were posted so that no boats should pass there for a certain time.

442. Another box, filled with the best clothes of the deceased and various viands on their dishes, were set near the grave; if the deceased were a man, various weapons that he used were left there; if a woman, her loom, or other work-utensils that she had used. If the deceased had while living been employed in sea-raids, as a pirate, his coffin was made in the shape of a boat which they call barangay. As rowers they placed in it two goats, two hogs, two deer, or more, as they wished, male and female paired, with a slave of the deceased as pilot in order to take care of them all. Some food was put in for their sustenance, and when that food was consumed, they dried up with hunger and thirst, and all perished. If the deceased had been a warrior, a living slave, bound, was placed under him, and was left there to die with him. After the burial, although the lamentation ceased somewhat, the revelry in the house of the deceased did not cease. On the contrary, it lasted a longer or shorter time, according to the rank of the deceased.

443. On the third or fourth day of the funeral, all the relatives assembled at the house of the deceased, for they said that he returned that day to visit them. At the landing of the stairway of the house, they set water in a basin or tub, so that the deceased might wash his feet there, and rid himself of the earth of the grave. They kept a candle lit all that day. They stretched a petate, or reed mat, on the floor and sprinkled ashes on it, so that the deceased might leave the marks of his feet there. At meal time they left the best place at table vacant for the dead guest. They ate and drank, as at the most splendid banquet; and then spent the balance of the day in relating and singing the prowess of the deceased; then each one went home. This ridiculous ceremony is called tibao. The Indians even yet retain the oldtime custom of this assembly, but all superstition and error have been removed from it, and they unite to pray for the deceased; but it is not without inconveniences that ought to be remedied.

444. The mourning consisted in fasting, and during the days of mourning they lived only on vegetables. This fasting or abstinence was called sipa by the Tagalogs. In dress the Visayans wore white, as do the Chinese in sign of mourning, and this is even yet the custom in some villages; but black is the most usual color for mourning in the rest of the islands. With this kind of mourning they cover all the body, so that the face may not be seen, especially if they are women and if the mourning is thorough. During the mourning the men may not wear a hat; but, instead, a black cloth wound about the head. They wear mourning for any deceased relative, even though he be related only very distantly; but the mourning is greater or less according to the degree of relationship, both in manner and in duration of time.

445. From the above is inferred the belief of these Indians in the transmigration of the souls of the deceased. In this they agree not only with the Chinese, who believe in this peculiar error, but also with other Indians whom Torquemada mentions in his second volume. The similarity that they might relate in rites, both with the Indians of Nueva Espana and Peru, and with other nations of greater antiquity, may be compared by the curious reader, by reading the entire book of the Origin of the Indians, and by tracing there that of these Indians. [351]

446. It is an assured fact that the oldtime heathen of these islands knew that after this life there was another one of rest, or let us say paradise (for Bathala Maycapal alone in their belief lived in the sky); and that only the just and valiant, those who had moral virtues and lived without harming anyone, went thither to that place as a reward. In the same way, as all of them believed in the immortality of the soul in the other life, they believed in a place of punishment, pain, and sorrow which they called casanaan, where the wicked went, and where, they said, the devils dwelt. Consequently, the transmigration of the souls of their deceased to other living bodies was a sign of rest to them. Since no one desired his relatives to be numbered among the condemned in casanaan, the error of the Chinese found in them an easier entrance, for it was built upon the foundation of their own errors.

447. The superstitions and omens of these Filipinos are so many, and so different are those which yet prevail in many of them, especially in the districts more remote from intercourse with the religious, that it would take a great space to mention them. They merit tears, although they are all laughable. They are being continually preached against, but we have not succeeded in extinguishing them; and the people obey the customs of their barbarous ancestors rather than the Christian prudence which the ministers teach them. And although I do not at this time consider it as an explicit error, ut in plurimum, yet the error implied in the tenacity with which these people follow the errors of their ancestors is dangerous.

448. Now they ask permission of the nonos for any task, with the pasingtabi sa nono. Now they have innumerable fears if the owl which they call covago hoots; if they find a snake in a new house, or on a journey that they have undertaken; if they hear anyone sneeze; if any rat squeals, or if the lizard sings, or if any dog howls; and other things like these. There must be no talk of fish in the house of the hunter, nor of hunting nor dogs in that of the fisherman; while in neither the one nor the other house must there be any mention of new implements for work, unless they have already been used. Sailors must name nothing of the land, nor landsmen anything of the sea: for all these were omens.

449. Pregnant women could not cut their hair, for they said that the children that they would bear would have no hair. When a woman is about to give birth, some men undress until they are stark naked. Then taking shields and catans, one takes his stand in the silong, and another on the ridge of the house, and they continually fence with the wind with their catans as long as the parturition lasts. I have removed some from this performance by force of punishment. They say that it is to keep the patianac and the osuang away from the woman. These are witches among them who come to obstruct the success of the childbirth, and to suck out the souls of children; and the people act thus in order to prevent them. He who does not wish to have this observed in public, through fear of punishment, removes his wife to another house for the parturition, if he thinks that the witch is in his. The procurer of this witch they say is the bird tictic, [352] and that this bird, by flying and singing, shows the witch or osuang the house where there is a parturition, and even guides him to work other misfortunes. Consequently, whenever they see or hear the tictic, they all grow melancholy, in their fear lest some harm come to them.

450. They greatly fear and reverence the tigbalang or bibit. This is a ghost, goblin, or devil; and as it knows the cowardice of these Indians, it has been wont to appear to them in the mountains—now in the guise of an old man, telling them that he is their nono; now as a horse; and now as a monster. Consequently, the Indians in their terror make various pacts with it, and trade their rosaries for various articles of superstitious value, such as hairs, grass, stones, and other things, in order to obtain all their intents and free themselves from all the dangers. Thus do they live in delusion until God wills that the evangelical ministers undeceive them, which costs no little [effort], because of the very great fear with which they are filled.

451. In order to discover any theft, they generally burn fresh rock-alum, and after it has vaporized and then crystallized they say that the figure which those crystals form is the living picture of So-and-so, and that he is the author of the theft. Since they believe such nonsense as easily as it is difficult to make them believe the divine mysteries, they all agree to that statement, even though the face should be that of a dog; and they make a charge in court against So-and-so, and impute the theft to him. Sometimes they take a screen or sieve (which they call bilao), in which they fasten some scissors in form of a cross, to which a rosary is hung. Then they proceed to call the name of each one who is present at this exercise. If the bilao shakes when the name of Pedro is called, then that poor Pedro is the robber, and pays for the theft, without having perhaps eaten or drunk of it. [353] Sometimes they light a candle to the saint of miracles, my St. Anthony of Padua, misapplying his peculiar protection for all lost things; they believe that if the flame of the candle should flare up in the direction of any of those present at this act, he is thus shown to be the robber. For these and like deceitful artifices, there are not wanting masters, Indian impostors, both men and women, who, in order to gain money, deceive the simple-minded in this manner, without paying any heed to the claims of conscience in these wrongs.

452. The different kinds of these ministers of the devil in the olden days, so far as I have examined them, are twelve, and they are as follows, according to their own old names for them: sonat, catalonan, mangagavay, manyisalat, mancocolam, hocloban, silagan, magtatangal, osuang, mangagayoma, pangatahoan, and bayoguin.

453. The sonat was equivalent to a bishop among them; and they all reverenced him as one who pardoned sins, and ordained others as priests and priestesses. They expected salvation through him, and he could condemn them all. This office was general throughout these islands, but it was held only by the chiefest and most honored, as it was of great esteem among them. It is said that this office came from the Borneans. Some try to make out that he was the master of a kind of exercise that is not decent, but I have found nothing certain among the much that I have examined.

454. The catalonan (as remarked above) was the priest or priestess of their sacrifices; and although his office was an honorable one, it was only while the sacrifice was pending, for after that they paid but scant attention to him.

455. The mangagavay were the sorcerers who gave and took away health and life by their sorceries. It was an office general throughout this archipelago.

456. The manyisalat was the sorcerer appointed for lovers. The mancocolam was the sorcerer or witch who belched forth fire from himself, which could not be extinguished with any application except by his rolling himself in the ordure and filth that falls from the houses into the silong; and the master of the house where he rolled himself died and there was no remedy. The hocloban was another kind of sorcerer more efficacious than the others, since without any medicine he could kill, overturn houses, and work other destruction. This is in Catanduanes, but the two preceding ones are general.

457. The silagan's duty was to draw out the entrails and eat them, from all persons whom he saw dressed in white. That happened toward Catanduanes; and it is not fable, since our Fray Juan de Merida buried a Spanish clerk in Calilaya to whom this misfortune had happened. The magtatangal is said to have been a man who left his body without head and intestines, and that the head wandered about hither and thither during the night in different parts of the world, and in the morning reunited with his body, leaving him alive as before. This story is current in Catanduanes, but it is regarded as a fable, although the natives assert that they have seen it.

458. We have already spoken of the osuang. It is only added that human flesh is his usual food. They all saw this one flying, but this is told in the Visayas and not in Tagalos.

459. The mangagayoma was the sorcerer who made use of the natural remedies in his sorceries; but those remedies were often corrupted by pacts with the devil. The pangatahoan is the same as the soothsayer, who prognosticated the future; and this notion was general throughout this archipelago. The bayoguin was an effeminate man [hombre maricon], inclined to be a woman and to all the duties of the feminine sex.

460. This is sufficient as an index of innumerable other errors, superstitions, and omens, in which their ancients were submerged, and some of their descendants now follow their footsteps. However, I am of the opinion that it is born rather of their simplicity than of their malice, ut in plurimum. Yet I would not be so bold as to assert that there are not some who make their contracts with the devil; and, with or without contracts, it is certain that many enchantments are found here, whence follow deaths to some and extraordinary accidents to others. And although that can be attributed to the multitude of herbs of which they have good knowledge, they always leave suspicion of some diabolical art.

461. The oaths which were and are most usual in these Indians are execratory. Since they lie so much, I do not know why they are not brought to confusion in the promissory notes that are always furnished with curses. In the oath of allegiance which the people of Manila and Tondo took to our Catholic monarchs in the year 1571, they confirmed that promise of their obedience in this manner: "May the sun split us through the middle; may we be devoured by crocodiles; may our women not show us favor or affection"—if they should fail to keep their oath. Sometimes they took the pasambahan, which was, to draw the figure of any wild and monstrous animal, and ask to be torn to pieces by that animal if they broke their contract or agreement. Sometimes they lit a candle, and declared that, just as the candle, so might they be melted, if they did not fulfil their promise. Now this is somewhat better, but not, their perjuries; for with great ease and frequency one catches them in false oaths in legal instruments. This is well known, and therefore should be well punished.



CHAPTER XLIV

Of the former government and social customs of these Indians

462. I have already said that our brother and venerable father Fray Juan de Plassencia wrote in the convent of Nagcarlan and signed (October 24, 1589) a relation describing all the old customs of these Indians, in obedience to a request and charge of the superior government. That relation appeared to all a very truthful statement, as, in order to make it, his examination and vigilance were rigorous.

463. Of this relation I have already used what I thought ought to be set down in their fitting places. Now I shall say in substance what he tells when speaking of the social customs of the Indians and their old-time government, with some additions which serve for the better understanding of the matter.

464. These Indians were not so lacking in prudence in the olden time that they did not have their economic, military and political government, those being the branches derived from the stem of prudence. Even the political government was not so simple among all of them that they did not have their architectonic rule—not monarchic, for they did not have an absolute king; nor democratic, for those who governed a state or village were not many; but an aristocratic one, for there were many magnates (who are here called either maguinoos or datos), among whom the entire government was divided.

465. In the olden days, when, as most of them believe, the Malays came to conquer these islands, they called the boat or ship by the name of barangay, which is well known and much used in these times. In this boat came a whole family, consisting of parents, children, relatives, and slaves, under the government of one who was the leader, captain, or superior of all. In some districts, this man was called maguinoo, and in others dato. And in proportion as they continued to people this archipelago in this manner, it filled up with families and they appropriated their places of settlement, each of them seeking its own convenience for its maintenance and living. And there they lived governed by their own chiefs, not with a hard and fast rule, but all in friendly relations. By virtue of this friendship they were obliged to aid their chief, both in his wars and in the cultivation of his fields; and all to aid one another mutually. But no one was able to usurp the property which belonged to another, even though he were of the same barangay.

466. This barangay consisted of about one hundred persons, more or less, according to the number that they knew were sufficient for their territory. If perchance those of one barangay did any injury to another, cruel wars broke out between them, as broke out between the chiefs of Manila and Tondo when the Spaniards came in to plant with the faith the Catholic dominion, and with it the true peace, which now they enjoy with tranquillity. These chiefs or maguinoos, although some were so by inheritance, commonly did not get these offices by virtue of their blood, but by their merits; or because some one had more power, more wealth, more energy, or more moral virtue than any of the others. This method of government has always seemed so good to these Indians that it is the form followed in all the villages, and all the tributes are divided among various heads of barangays, in accordance with the enumeration of the villages; and those heads are the ones who look after the collection of the royal income, and see that the Indians live like Christians. They must also, by reason of their office, give account to the father minister and the alcalde-mayor of their province, in case there is any fault to find with their respective barangays.

467. No Indian could pass voluntarily from one barangay to another without the payment of a certain sum, which was established among them, and unless he made a great feast to all the barangay which he left. It was much more difficult if they were married. If a man of one barangay married a woman from another, the children had to be divided between the barangays, as was also done with the slaves.

468. The classes of people mentioned in that early age by our brother Plassencia (besides that of chief or dato) are three, as follows. One class is that of the nobles, whom they call mahadlicas. This word signifies, according to the best vocabularies of the Tagalog language, those who are free, and who were never slaves. The second class are called pecheros; and the third are those who were slaves legitimately. Although I find in one vocabulary that mahadlica is rendered as "freedman," still I find that freedman is rendered by timava in most trustworthy vocabularies. And although in the common practice of the Tagalog speech, one now says minahadlica aco nang panginoongco, that is, "My master freed me," I do not believe that it is so; for mahadlica properly signifies "to give freedom to the slave," only because absolute liberty is its peculiar signification, and they make use of this term when it was given to a slave. Thus this term gives liberty, and the slave remains free from all slavery in the uttermost of its meaning. It is certain that the term timava is more correctly used to signify the freedman. Consequently, the Tagalog speech applies it and uses it, not only to express the liberty of the slave, but also for him who breaks the cord at the gallows and is freed from punishment; and for any fierce animal which makes sport of bonds. They only lengthen somewhat the accent of the last syllable in the latter sense, and say nagtitimava.

469. The pecheros were the ones called aliping namamahay. Although in strictness, in the Tagalog, the term alipin signifies "slave," the pechero was not properly a slave, for he always remained in the house and could not be sold. Consequently, this term could only be applied to express their method of service, namely, an up-stairs servant, as I understand it. These pecheros were married. They served their masters, whether datos or not, with the half of their [time in the] fields, or as was agreed upon at the beginning; and served them as rowers. But they lived in their own houses with their wives and children, and were lords of their property, lands, and gold; and their masters had not the slightest liberty of action or dominion over those things. And, even though they should fall by inheritance to a son of their master, if the former went to live in another village he could not take them from their own native village; but they would serve him in their own village, according to their ability, as they served their former master.

470. The slaves who were strictly such were called aliping sa guiguilir. This term comes in strict Tagalog to mean the servants below stairs; for the term guilir signifies "the lower part of the house," or "its lower entrance." These were bought and sold, or acquired by war, although those who were born in a family were seldom sold, for affection's sake. Such served their master in all things; but the latter would give them some portion of his field, if they were faithful and zealous in their labor. If they gained anything by their industry, they could keep it. If they were slaves because of debt, a condition that was very frequent among them, when the debt was paid they were free; but they were also obliged to pay for their support and that of their children. At times it was usual to transfer the debt to another, for the obtaining of some profit; and the poor wretches remained slaves, even though such was not their condition. Much of this is found yet, although not with the rigor of slavery, but by the force of obligation; but these poor pledged creatures suffer a certain kind of slavery in their continuous and toilsome service. The authorities ought to employ all their care for the uprooting of so keenly felt an abuse.

471. If perchance these slaves sa guiguilir acquired any gold through their industry, they could ransom themselves with it and become pecheros; and that ransom did not cost so little that it did not amount to more than five taes of gold, or thereabout. If one gave ten or more, then he became free from every claim, and became a noble. For this purpose a certain ceremony took place between the master and the slave, namely, the division between the twain of all the furniture that the slave used—and that with so great strictness that, if a jar was left over, they broke it and divided up the bits; and if it were a manta, they tore it through the middle, each one keeping half.

472. From the time when our brother Plassencia explained this difference of slaves, many acts of injustice which the Indians practiced on one another were remedied; for they made slaves of those who were never so, because, as the term alipin is so confused, and the alcaldes-mayor did not know the secret, they declared one to be a slave in all rigor, because the Indians proved that he was alipin, which signifies "slave," being silent, in their malicious reserve, as to whether he was namamahay or sa guiguilir. There were many such acts of trickery.

473. Those born of father and mother who were mahadlicas were all also mahadlicas, and never became slaves except by marriage. Consequently, if a mahadlica woman married a slave, the children were divided. The first, third, and fifth belonged to the father, while the mother had the second, fourth, and sixth, and they alternated in the same way with the other children. If the father were free, then those who pertained to him were free; but slaves, if he were a slave. The same is to be understood in regard to the mother and her children. If there were only one son, or if there were an odd number, so that one was left over in the division, the last was half free and half slave. However, it has been impossible to determine at what age the division was made, or at what time. The slavery of these children followed the native condition of their parents in all things, and the children were divided as they pertained to them, whether they were male or female, as they were born. The same thing occurred when one was poor, and did not have the wherewithal with which to endow or buy his wife for marriage; and then, in order to marry her, he became her slave. Hence it resulted that the free children who belonged to the mother were masters and lords of their own father, and of the children who belonged to the father, their own brothers and sisters.

474. If the mahadlicas had children by their slaves, mother and children were all free. But if the mahadlica had intercourse with the slave woman of another, and she became pregnant, the mahadlica gave the master of the slave woman one-half tae of gold because of the danger of the death of her who was pregnant, and because that her legitimate master was deprived of the services of the pregnant woman, by reason of him. When the woman gave birth, one-half the child remained free, and the father was bound to take care of its support; and, if he did not do that, he meant that he did not recognize the child as his, and it remained all slave.

475. If any free woman had children by any slave who was not her husband, all were free. If a free woman married a half-slave, the children were slaves only to the one-fourth part, and they considered that in the question of their service. The service was divided among all those who were considered as masters, by weeks or months, or as the masters might agree. But they had the right because of the parts that were free to compel their masters to free them for a just price, which was appraised in proportion to the character of their slavery. But if one were wholly slave, he could not compel his master to free him for any price, even if he became a slave only for debt provided he did not pay the debt at the expiration of the time.

476. Another form of servitude was found among them, which they called cabalangay; it included those persons who begged from the chief who was head of their barangay whatever they needed, with the obligation of serving him whenever they were summoned to row, work in his fields, or serve at his banquets—they helping to meet the expense [of these] with the tuba or quilang, which was their wine. Thus did their headman give them what they needed, with this agreement.

477. This tyranny of slaves was so extensive in this archipelago that when our Spaniards conquered it, there were chiefs with so many slaves—of their own nation and color, and not foreign—that there were those who had one, two, and three hundred slaves; and most of these were not slaves by birth, but for slight reasons, and even without reasons. For since their best kind of property, after gold, consisted in slaves, as their own conveniences were increased considerably by their services, they expended care in nothing to a greater extent than in increasing the number of their slaves; now by usury and interest, in which they had no respect for their own parents and brothers and sisters; now by petty wars and engagements among themselves, in which the prisoners became slaves; now by the punishment for some slight crime such as for not having observed the interdict on speaking during the funeral obsequies, or if anyone passed by the chief's wife while she was taking a bath, or if, while the chief was passing by the house of any timava, some dust accidentally fell on him. Or they were made slaves because of other reasons, as tyrannical, as trivial, such as are natural for those who have not the light of the holy gospel.

478. After this [report of Father Plassencia] was promulgated, the above abuse was so thoroughly removed that now there is not the slightest amount of slavery among the Indians, in accordance with apostolic briefs, which have been confirmed by various royal decrees of our Catholic monarchs. Thus we are all soldiers of one and the same divine Lord; all militia under the holy cross, which is our Catholic standard; and citizens and sharers of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our kingdom. Thus do we live in these islands, Spaniards and Indians, all vassals of one Catholic monarch in regard to human matters. This point can be seen in extenso in the Politica Indiana of Solorzano in book 2, chapter i. [354]

479. The laws or regulations by which these Indians governed themselves were founded on the traditions and customs of their ancestors, which were not barbaric in all things as were they. For they were directed to venerate and obey their parents, and to treat their elders with the due respect; and individuals to follow the dictate of the community of the village; and to punish crimes, etc.

480. Their judges for this were the chief or dato aided by some old men of his own barangay, or of another barangay if necessary. Or they themselves appointed a judge-arbiter, even if he were of a distinct barangay or village. If there were a suit with rival parties, they tried first to come to an agreement. If they would not agree, an oath was taken from each one, who declared that they would do as the judges should sentence. Having done that, witnesses were examined summarily. If the testimony was equal for each side, then the litigants were reconciled. If the evidence were in favor of one of them, the suit was sentenced in his favor, and the defeated one was notified. If he would not admit the sentence willingly, the judge and all the others proceeded against him, and by way of execution deprived him of all the gold to which he had been sentenced. The greater part of it went to the judges of the case, and to pay the witnesses on the victorious side; while the poor litigant had the least of all, being content with only the glory of victory.

481. Criminal cases were judged according to the rank of the murderer and the murdered. For if the murdered man were a chief among them all his relatives went to the house of his murderer, and the houses of his relatives, and they had continual wars one with the other until—the old men stepped in and acted as mediators, with the declaration of the amount of gold that ought to be given as a payment for that murder. The judges and the chief old men took one-half that sum, and the other was divided among the wife, children, and relatives of the deceased. The penalty of death was never adjudged except when the murderer and his victim were so poor and so destitute that they had no gold for satisfaction and expenses. In that case either his own chief or dato killed the criminal, or the other chiefs speared him after he had been fastened to a stake, and made him give up the ghost by spear-thrusts.

482. In the matter of thefts in which the thief was not known with certainty, and those under suspicion were many, they made a sort of general purgation performed in the following manner. Each one was obliged to bring in a bundle of cloth, leaves, or anything else in which the stolen article could be hidden. Then the fastenings were unwound, and if the stolen goods were found in any of them, the matter ceased, and no investigation was made as to whom the bundle belonged, or who had stolen it. But if the stolen goods were not found, the following means were employed. Each suspect was made to enter a river with a good bottom, staff in hand, and then all at once plunged under. The first one who came up, because he could no longer hold his breath, was regarded as the thief of the stolen goods, for his remorse of conscience, they said, took away his breath. On that account, many were drowned for fear of punishment. The other means was to place a stone in a vessel of boiling water, and to order the suspects to take it out with the hand, and he who refused to put in his hand paid for the theft. Another means was to give them each a wax candle with wicks of equal length, and of the same size and weight, all lit at the same instant; and he whose candle went out first was regarded as the culprit. Of all this, and in all the other suits and civil or criminal causes, the chief took half the gold, and the other half was divided among joint judges and witnesses; and scarce a bit was left for the poor creditor, litigant, or owner. This was one of the greatest sources of gain to the chiefs and datos, and offered the best opportunity for them to exercise their tyranny with the poor, even were the latter guiltless.

483. Adultery was not punishable corporally, but the adulterer paid a certain sum to the aggrieved party; and that was sufficient so that the honor of the latter was restored and his anger removed. They paid no attention to concubinage, rape, and incest, unless the crime were committed by a timava on a woman of rank. On the contrary, the committal of such sins openly was very common, for all of them were very much inclined to this excess; but I cannot find that they were addicted to the sin against nature in the olden time. Verbal insults, especially to chiefs, women, and old men, were regarded as deserving the severest kind of punishment, and it was difficult to obtain the pardon of the aggrieved.



CHAPTER XLV

Of other customs of these peoples, and in regard to their marriage, dowries, children, and issue

484. It is not known whether these natives divided the time into hours, days, weeks, months, or years, or made any other division of time. As this was necessary to them for the reckoning of their commerce, trade, and contracts (in which they all engaged), they used for reckoning their times of payment, and for other transactions and business of their government—for the hours, the state of the sun in the sky, the crowing of the cock, and the laying time of the hens, and several other enigmas which are still employed in the Tagalog speech. To keep account of the changing of seasons, they knew when it was winter or summer by the trees, and their leaves and fruit. They knew of the division into months or years by moons. Consequently, in order to designate the date of payment, they said "in so many moons, in so many harvests, or in so many fruitings of such and such a tree." These were the methods employed in their trading and government.

485. The days were reckoned by the name of the sun, namely, arao. Thus the Tagalogs now reckon ysang arao, "one day;" dalauang arao, "two [days]," and so on until they have the difference of weeks, which they call by the name Domingo, saying "so many Domingos." [355] The night is called gab-i; and the day arao, from the name of the sun. The months were named and reckoned by the name of the moon, namely, bovan in Tagalog. Thus did they divide the seasons after their own manner, and in their own speech. Only there are no terms to indicate the hours of the clock [in their speech]; and now the Castilian [names of] hours are Tagalized, in order to indicate the hours of time. They call the clock horasan, that is, "a thing in which one sees the hours;" whether in its place or in the instrument made for it.

486. They expressed "the year" in their old speech by the word taon. It is metaphorical, for it really means "the assembling of many," and that they have joined together months to make one year. They had a word to signify seasons and climates, namely panahon. But they never knew the word "time" [tiempo], in its general sense, and there is no proper Tagalog word for it; but they use the Spanish word only, corrupted after their manner, for they make it tiyempo.

487. Their business and contracts were for the greater part illegal, filled with usury, interest, and tricks; for each one thought only of increasing his own profits, and paid no attention to his nearest relatives. Consequently, loans with interest were very common and generally practiced (and even yet this archipelago is not free from this abuse, nor have the difficulties experienced in the confessional ceased); and the interest increases to a very high figure, the debt doubling and increasing for so long a time as the debt is delayed, until it results that the debtor, his wealth, and his children, are all slaves. Their general business was the bartering of one product for another (and it is still much in vogue)—food, mantas, birds, stock, lands, houses, fields, slaves, fisheries, palms, nipa-groves, woodlands, and other similar products. Sometimes those products were sold for a price, which was paid in gold, according to the terms of the agreement. Thus they traded among themselves with the products of their own lands, and with foreigners from other nations for products peculiar to them; and for this they were wont to have their deferred payments, their days of reckoning, and their bondsmen who were concerned therein—but with exorbitant profits, because they were all usurers.

488. In regard to money of silver or gold they did not possess it in that [early] time. Those metals were employed in their trading only by the weight, which was used alone for silver and gold; and that weight they called talaro, and was indicated by balances, like ours. They reckoned and divided by this. And after they learned about money they gave to each piece its proper name, taking the coin that we call "toston," or "real of four," as the basis for greater sums. This they called salapi, although that is the common term for all kinds of money. They divided the salapi into two cahatis, the cahatis into two seycapat, the seycapat into two seycavalos, the seycavalo into two calatios, the calatio (which they call aliu) into the cuding, etc. All this division was regulated by tostons in this manner: the cahati signifies one-half toston; seycapat, the fourth part; seycavalo, the eighth; calatio is the Tagalog cuartillo; [356] and so on. In order to say "three reals," they say tatlongbahagui, that is, three parts of the toston. From the toston on, they count up to ten, and from ten to twenty, etc. Consequently, in their language they use this expression for ours, saying, "I ask ten and one more," or "I ask one for twenty;" and so on. But now since they know what pesos are, that is, reals of eight, some of them reckon by pesos, which is more familiar to the Spaniards. But most of them do not forget their salapis, nor the method of reckoning used by the ancients.

489. The gold, which they call guinto, was also reckoned by weight. The largest weight is the tahel, which is the weight of ten reals of silver—or, as we say, of one escudo. The half-tahel is called tinga, which is the weight of five reals. The fourth part is called sapaha, which is two and one-half reals. They also used other metaphorical terms (as the Spanish do the term granos), and said sangsaga, which is the weight of one red kidney-bean [frixolillo] with a white spot in the middle.

490. In order to weigh bulkier things, such as wax, silk, meat, etc., they had steelyards, which they called sinantan, which was equivalent to ten cates, of twenty onzas [i.e., ounce] apiece. The half of that they called banal, which was five cates; and the half of the cate they called soco. Consequently, these old weights having been adjusted to the Spanish weights by the regulations of the year 1727, one cale is equivalent to one libra, six onzas; one chinanta to thirteen libras, and twelve onzas; hence one quintal, of eighty of the old cates, corresponds to four arrobas and ten libras of our weight. A pico of one hundred cates is equivalent to five arrobas, twelve and one-half libras, in the new arrangement. As in the case of gold, one tahel must weigh one and one-fourth onzas in our weight.

491. In regard to the measures of quantity which the ancients used, they were the same as those we now see: caban, ganta, half-ganta, and chupa. The city has regulated them by the Spanish measures in the following manner. The caban, which signifies "box" [arca] in their own Tagalog speech, is equivalent to one fanega of the standard of Toledo. The ganta (gantang in Visayan, and salop in Tagalog) is equivalent to one half of a Toledo almud, which is the hal-zelemin in other territories. The half-ganta is equivalent to one cuartillo, which is called pitis or caguiina in Tagalog. The chupa is the eighth of the half-almud of Toledo, which is called gatang in Tagalog, and also gahinan, for it is the ration of cleaned rice sufficient for each meal of a man. The act of measuring in this manner is expressed by the word tacal among the Tagalogs. When the king issues orders for rice, it is reckoned by cabans of twenty-four gantas apiece; and now it is known that it is of palay rice, which is rice with the husk and uncleaned. When vouchers are issued for the stipends and the support of the religious ministers, the reckoning is by fanegas, at the rate of two cabans of twenty-four gantas each, of the said palay rice uncleaned. And because his Majesty chooses that they give it to us very clean, it is now ruled in the royal accountancy that forty-eight gantas of the fanega of palay is equivalent to a basket of twenty gantas of bigas, which is the name for cleaned rice. Henge the king in his charity, in order to give us our sustenance in the rice without waste, gives valuation to the measure at his own pleasure, for the rice with husk, so that the quantity may be doubled. The estimation of the king in this is not the same as looking into the hollow measure in its strict capacity, as has been already explained.

492. They also measure by brazas and palmos (but for the vara, I find no proper Tagalog term, but only the Spanish). The braza is called dipa; that of the city is of sixty points, into which the six feet contained in it are divided. The palmo is called dancal. Tumoro is one jeme. [357] Sangdamac is the whole width of the hand with the five fingers. Sangdali is the width of one finger; and sucat is the act of measuring in this manner. [358]

493. So was their usage in their business. Although there are no arithmetical numbers among their characters, such as we use, they counted with little stones, making small heaps of them, and made use of the natural words of their own speech, which are very expressive in Tagalog; and they did not feel their ignorance of the numbers written in their own characters; for they could express the highest number very clearly by word of mouth.

494. The maritime folk were wont to go out upon many raids, and those ashore to set strange ambushes for their robberies, to the great loss of life. Their arms were bow and arrow, and a short lance resembling a dart, with the iron head of innumerable shapes; and some without iron, the points being made from the bamboos themselves, or from stakes hardened in the fire. They used cutlasses; large and broad daggers, of excellent quality, with sharp edges; and long blowpipes, through which they discharged arrows dipped in poison. Their defensive arms were wooden shields, breastplates of rattan or thick cord, and helmets of the same material.

495. Among so many barbaric customs, the universality of their vices prevailed; and they were infidel, tyrannical, and unchaste. They regarded virginity as an opprobrium, and there were men who received a salary for the office of deflowering [the girls] of their virginity. No woman, married or single, assured her honor and credit, unless she had some sweetheart; and although this was so honorable for the women, it was considered a dishonor to give the liberty of her body freely. Now the women are modest in their behavior, but easy, if they are sought, as the smoke from the fire of their beginnings still endures. At the birth of males, and even the females, the midwives themselves made easier for them the carnal act, by cutting off I know not what from their organs. And now that the midwives do not do it, there is no lack of the introduction of this abuse among the boys; but it is assured that this is not the circumcision of the Jews. The devil influenced them in other curious ways for the greater sensuality and duration in their carnal acts, methods which are now completely extinct. But they have sufficiently caught the plague of sodomy from the Japanese and Chinese; and I have already seen some persons burned, in my time. In short, men and women never think of being chaste, so that among the most holy all their thought is of their marriages.

496. At the present time we have always tried to see that the brides and grooms are always of equal rank and condition. It was not usual for them to have more than one own wife, and one own husband; but those who were chiefs and wealthy were allowed to have some slaves as concubines, especially if their own wives did not prove fruitful. Only among the Visayans did the first religious ministers of the gospel find established the custom of one man having many legitimate wives, and that of large dowries, which was no small obstruction to the planting of the gospel. The general rule was for each man to have one legitimate wife; and they tried to obtain one who was of their own family, and even very closely related to them, barring out the first degree, for that was always a direct impediment to their marriage. Their marriages were not indissoluble, as are those of Christians. For if the consorts returned the dowry, one to the other, the one at fault to the one without blame, that was sufficient for repudiation; and they could marry others, unless the couple had children, in which case all the dowry was given to these. If profits had been made with the lapse of time, while they had lived together, those profits were divided between them both, if the gains were in common. But if they were the secret gains of one of them, then that one kept them.

497. The dowry, which is called bigaycaya, was always given by the man (and it is even yet given), the parents of the girl determining the sum beforehand, at the time when they discussed the marriage. The parents of the bride received that dowry, and neither the bride nor her parents contributed any fund. The dowry was set according to the rank of the contracting parties; and if, perchance, the parents of the bride asked more than the ordinary sum, they were under obligations to bestow some gift to the married couple to suit the occasion as, for instance, a couple of slaves, some small gold jewel, or a bit of cleared land—for cultivation, as I have seen practiced even yet, and which they called pasonor. In this bigaycaya was included what they called panhimuyat, which was the sum that had to be paid to the mother of the bride in return for her care and labor in the rearing and education of her daughter. In it was also included the pasoso, or the sum that was to be paid to the chichiva, or nurse, who had reared her. At present, if perhaps there is no bigaycaya in any marriage, for any reason, they never fail to collect these revenues from the groom, upon which there is generally a suit.

498. This dowry or bigaycaya was and is given before the marriage with all the solemnity that they can muster up, amid a great concourse of maguinoos, relatives, and friends of the lovers. The latter are given the crosses on the money to kiss, which is counted and exhibited in public, in confirmation of the pact; and then the marriage is immediately celebrated with feasting and rejoicing. The employment of this bigaycaya is not the same in all the villages. In some it is all converted into the property of the parents of the bride, by way of trade, they selling their daughter (as do those of Mesopotamia) for a reasonable price. If the men do not possess the wherewithal with which to buy them promptly, innumerable sins follow and the two live in improper relations, even to the knowledge of the parents themselves—the young man serving as a servant in the houses of the latter to do their will, but in the capacity of a son, as far as familiarity and permission for evil are concerned. Many efforts are employed to extirpate this diabolical abuse, but it still costs great toil. Under the title of catipados (thus they call those who are engaged for marriage) are some concubinages legitimate for all time, for which the bigaycaya is not necessary. Having given up the bigaycaya, the poor couple are left destitute, for the parents of the bride take charge of everything.

499. That money is better used in some villages; for it serves to provide all kinds of clothes for the bride, and for one-half the expenses of the wedding (which are generally very great), and the parochial fees of the marriage, so that scarcely any is left for the parents of the couple. This is the practice that I have seen observed where I have been. These and other ogalis (which are customs) can only have their origin in the past, and come from father to son, and even there is variety in them, according to their distinct origins.

500. That which in Espana is called "the exchange of rings," in order to give security to the marriage contract and the wishes of those who are to contract it, has also been observed here, the couple giving each other some jewel. This has been called talingbohol. This was followed by the habilin, which is the sign that they have given the dowry which they had promised. And this was like the sign in shops to show that the price was fixed and that the article could not be sold at another price. Some fathers have maintained the custom of asking the same price for their daughter as they paid for the mother when they were married; but as fortunes are unequal, this cannot be maintained inexorably, nor at all times, nor with all.

501. The dowry was never returned to the one who gave it, unless the son-in-law were so obedient to his parents-in-law that he should win their affection, in which case they returned him the dowry, at the death of any one; but this was rather a matter of charity than of obligation, as all confess. If the woman who was to be married was alone, and had neither parents nor grandparents, she herself and no other received the dowry. At present, the greed of the Indians must be greater; for this poor lone woman is never without either the chichiva who gave her the breast, who will not be left without her payment, or uncle, aunt, or other relative in whose care she has been because of the loss of her legitimate parents. And since the above consider themselves as her parents in this matter (the pinaca ama, as the Indians call it) they take upon themselves the place of her parents, and get all the money, just as if they were the true parents.

502. All the relatives and friends who go to weddings were also wont to take each some little present. These gifts were set down very carefully and accurately, in an account, noting whatever each one gave. For if Pedro So-and-so gave two reals at this wedding, two reals were also given to him if he had another wedding in his house. All this money is spent, either in paying, if anything is due for the wedding, or as an aid in the expenses. Or if the parents of both the young couple are niggardly, they divide it and keep it. If they are generous, they use it in the pamamuhay, or furnishing of the house of the couple. Consequently, there is no regular custom in this. The nearest relatives give the couple a jewel as a mark of affection, but do not give money. These jewels belong to the bride, and to no one else.

503. Three days before the wedding all the relatives of both parties assemble at the house where it is to be celebrated, to make the palapala, which is a sort of bower, by which they make the house larger so that all the guests may be accommodated easily. They spend three days in making this. The next three days are those customary to the wedding and its feast. Consequently, there are six days of expense, of racket, of reveling, of dancing and singing, until they fall asleep with fatigue and repletion, all helter-skelter without any distinction. Often from this perverse river the devil in turn gets his little harvest—now in quarrels and mishaps which have happened, and now in other more common sins; the greatest vigilance of the father ministers is insufficient to stop these wrongs, and there are no human forces (although there ought to be) which can banish these pernicious ogalis.

504. In the olden days they employed certain ridiculous ceremonies, which had but little decency attending the intercourse of the couple upon the night of the wedding, customs which have now been totally uprooted. The least indecent was the coming of the catalona or babaylana to celebrate the espousals. They brought a hog for this purpose, and with it and on it performed their rites as in other sacrifices. The young couple seated themselves on their bridal bed, in the laps of certain old women who played the part of godmothers of the espousal. These women fed the young couple with their own hands from one dish, and they both drank from one vessel. The groom said that he loved the bride, and she that she loved the groom. Thereupon the shouts of joy broke out, and cries, and there was singing and dancing and drinking. Then the catalona arose with great gravity, and so many were the blessings that she showered down upon the young couple that, according to some that I have heard among these natives, they would exceed without any doubt the flatteries of our gypsy men and women, when they tell the fortune of one who has given them a large reward.

505. If the recently-married couple did not agree well, the groom danced, spear in hand, before a hog, and then gave it the death-thrust, praying meanwhile to his anito, and this was sufficient to make the young couple agree. Now the couple go in festal procession in the manner of a masquerade, to the house where they are to live. Then they form another such procession, in order to convey the godparents to their abodes, and with this the festival is at an end. And after so great expense, they usually remain indebted for the small parochial marriage fees, if the father minister has not been very prompt.

506. In regard to heirs, all the legitimate children equally inherited all the property of their parents. If there were no legitimate children, then the nearest relatives inherited. If one had two or more children by two wives, all legitimate, each child inherited what belonged to his mother, both of the wealth of her time, and of the profits made from it, which could have belonged to her. As to the dowry, it is inferred that the child's grandparents received it, and spent it at the time of the wedding. If there were other children who were not legitimate, who had been had by a free woman, they had one-third of the property, and the legitimate children the other two thirds. But in case that there were no legitimate children, then the illegitimate children of a free woman were the absolute heirs. Some property was given to the children of slave women according to the wishes of the legitimate heirs, and the mother became free, as has been stated above—as did the children also, in the manner already explained.

507. They were also accustomed to have adopted children, and they are still much addicted to this; but the adoption was purchased by the one adopted, who gave the adopter a certain sum of gold, and, without any other intricacies of law, the latter kept the one adopted, although otherwise he had his own legitimate father. This was the contract made in such cases. If the adopter reared the one adopted during his life (whether he had other children or not), the one adopted was to inherit the sum that had been given for his adoption—increased by a like sum, obtaining in the inheritance twenty, if ten had been given. But if the one adopted died first, the total obligation of the adopter expired, even to the heirs of the one adopted. Over and above the inheritance obligation, the adopter generally left the one adopted something else, such as a jewel or a slave, if his services had been good, as a reward for his faithfulness and affection. If however, the one adopted was disagreeable, the adopter gave him up by giving back the sum that had been given for his adoption, and the contract was annulled.

508. If children were had in adultery, they all lived with the mother. If the party aggrieved had been paid and satisfied by the culprit with gold, according to their custom, the children were declared legitimate, and inherited equally with the real legitimate children in the inheritance of the father; but they inherited nothing from the mother. But if the injury were not atoned for, they had no inheritance, and were not regarded as legitimate.

509. These children, and those had by one's own slave woman (notwithstanding the liberty which she and her children enjoyed), and much less the children had by a slave of another master (notwithstanding that gold was paid for her during her pregnancy), did not succeed to the nobility of their parents, nor to their privileges; but were always considered as people of low birth, and were enrolled among the timavas in the villages. The legitimate children alone could inherit nobility, and even posts. Hence if the father were absolute lord in one barangay, his sons succeeded to that office, according to priority of birth; and if there were no sons, then the daughters, and after them the nearest relatives; and it was unnecessary to appoint or name them in their wills. They have never had the custom of making wills, and at most leave a list of their wealth and obligations. However, the custom is now coming in of making some testamentary memoranda before the village clerk, so that it may be legal in court.



NOTES

[1] Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri (see Vol. XVII, p. 294).

[2] For description of Borneo, see Vol. XXXIII, p. 353, note 419. Malayo refers to a portion of the Malay Peninsula. For the origin, settlement, and distribution of the native peoples in the Philippines, see Barrows's account in Census of Philippine Islands, i, pp. 411-417, 447-477; cf. Crawfurd's Dictionary of Indian Islands, pp. 249-253.

[3] Joao de Barros, the great Portuguese historian, was born at Vizeu in 1496 and became page to the crown prince (afterward Joao III), for whose amusement he wrote his three-volume romance, Cronica de Emperador Clarimundo (Coimbra, 1520). Joao III appointed him captain of the fortress of San Jorge de Mina, governor of the Portuguese possessions in Guinea, and (1533) treasurer and general agent for Portuguese India. An attempt to colonize a grant of land in Brazil (received 1539) failed, and was abandoned. Barros died in 1570. The book referred to in the text was his Decados, a history of Portuguese India, written in fulfilment of a royal commission. The first "decade" was completed in nine years (1552), the second soon after, and the third ten years later. The fourth was left unfinished at his death, but was completed later by Diogo do Conto, who added eight more volumes. A complete edition was printed at Lisbon in twenty-four volumes (1778-88). Barros was a conscientious writer and a good stylist. (New International Encyclopaedia.)

[4] An apparent error for the word "kasis," and here wrongly used (see Vol. XVI, p. 134, note 161).

[5] Thus (sur) in text; but, as a matter of fact, Paragua stretches northeast from the north point of Borneo, and the Sulu archipelago in the same direction from its northeast side.

[6] Sumatra is on the whole deficient in lakes. The largest is Lake Singkara, about twenty miles in length by about twelve to fifteen in breadth, with a depth of twenty-four fathoms, and is the source of the Indragiri River. Another lies near the foot of the mountain Marapi, and is called Danau Sapuluh kota, or "Lake of the ten forts." There are two others in the country of the Korinchi Malays; and still another in the country of the Lampungs, toward Java, and called the Ranu (Javanese synonym for "water"). It is about sixteen miles long and eight miles wide. Colin evidently refers to either the first or the last of these. See Crawfurd's Dictionary, p. 416.

[7] India citra Gangem (if we accept Marco Polo's division) would correspond to Greater India, or the country extending from the Ganges to the Indus. India extra Gangem, or Lesser India, included the territory between the eastern coast of the peninsula of India, and that of Cochinchina or Champa. See Wright's edition of Travels of Marco Polo (London and New York, 1892), p. 435, note. Colin says (p. 1), that India extra Gangem or Farther India included the coasts of the rich kingdoms of Malacca, Sian, Camboja, Champa, Cochinchina, Tunquin, and China, as far as the confines of Oriental Tartary. The allusion to an Asiatic Ethiopia is hopelessly confused, and may have arisen from Marco Polo's second division of India, which includes Abyssinia.

[8] Of the Manguianes, or more properly the Mangyan, Pardo de Tavera says in Etimologia de las nombres de razas de Filipinas (Manila, 1901): "In Tagalog, Bicol, and Visaya, manguian signifies 'savage,' 'mountaineer,' 'pagan negroes.' It may be that the use of this word is applicable to a great number of Filipinos, but nevertheless it has been applied only to certain inhabitants of Mindoro. In primitive times, without doubt, the name was even then given to those of that island who to-day bear it, but its employment in three Filipino languages shows that the radical ngian had in all these languages a sense to-day forgotten. In Pampango this radical ending still exists and signifies 'ancient,' from which we can deduce that the name was applied to men considered to be the ancient inhabitants, and that these men were pushed back into the interior by the modern invaders in whose languages they are called the 'ancients.'" They live in the mountains of Mindoro and are probably a mixture of the Negritos with other Filipinos, and possibly in some localities there may be a small infusion of white blood. They are non-Christian, and are very timid. Their dress consists of the "gee" string, with the addition, in the case of the younger girls, of some forty or eighty yards of bejuco (rattan) wrapped around the waist. They are divided into several tribes, chief among which are the "Buquit," "Bangon," and "Batanganes," who roam in bunches or by families, the oldest acting as chief. They are willing workers, and make nearly all the bancas used in the province. They have no knowledge whatever of agriculture, and do not know the value of money. The census of 1903 shows a population of 7,269. See Census of the Philippines, i, pp. 472, 473, 547, and 548; and ii, p. 15.

[9] The Chinese carried on a fairly active trade in the Philippines three centuries before Magellan's discovery of the archipelago. The articles traded by them for the products of the country consisted of pottery, lead, glass beads, iron cooking-pans, and iron needles. Some of them may have gone north above Manila. See Census of Philippines, i, p. 482.

[10] See David P. Barrows "History of the Population of the Philippines," published in vol. 1, of Census of Philippines, for valuable material in regard to the peopling of the Philippines. See also Crawfurd's Dictionary.

[11] Diodorus, surnamed Siculus, or "the Sicilian," was a Greek historian, a native of Agyrion, Sicily, who lived in the time of Caesar and Augustus. After long travels in Asia and Europe he wrote his Bibliotheca, a universal history in 40 books, covering a period from the oldest time to 60 B. C. Books 1-5 and 11-20, besides other fragments, are still extant. The early portion of the work is ethnological, but the later is in the annalist style. (Seyffert's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities.)

[12] Either Iamblichus the Syrian Greek romance writer, who lived in the second century A. D., or Iamblichus the Greek philosopher from Chalcis in Syria, who was a pupil of Porphyrius, and the founder of the Syrian school of Neo-Platonic philosophy, and who died about 330 A. D. The latter justified Oriental superstition and had the reputation of working miracles. (Seyffert's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities.)

[13] See Vol. XVI, p. 117, note 135.

[14] Senor Don Antonio Graino, a bookman in Madrid, Spain, has an unpublished MS. history by Pedro Chirino, probably a copy of the one mentioned by Colin.

[15] See Vol. XII, p. 237.

[16] This should be compared with the Ave Maria as given by Chirino (see Vol. XII, p. 237). Colin also gives the same in the Visayan tongue, but as it differs so slightly from the version as given by Chirino ("ginoon" in place of "guinoon," line 2, second word; "sancta," in place of "santa," line 5, first word; "Ynahan" in place of "inahan," line 5, third word; "macasala" in place of "macasasala" line 6, fourth word; and "camatay" in place of "camatai," last line, fourth word), it is omitted here (see ut supra, p. 239). The version in the Harayan tongue that is given (ut supra, p. 238) by Chirino, is omitted by Colin. In his text we retain also his Spanish translation of the prayer.

[17] Cf. personal names and the ceremonies attendant on bestowing them among the Bornean Malays, in Furness's Home-life of Borneo Head-hunters (Philadelphia, 1902), pp. 16-53; and Ling Roth's Natives of Sarawak, ii, pp. 273-277.

[18] Light thin stuff made of silk or thread; crape. See Velazquez's New Dictionary.

[19] "Such is the wine from nipa, called Tanduay. The famous chemist (a Chinese mestizo) Anacleto del Rosario, discovered a process by which the disagreeable taste of this brandy disappears; and it becomes equal to that of Spain in color, smell, taste, and strength." (Father Pastells, in his edition of Colin, i, p. 62, note 2.)

[20] Gachas: A certain food composed of flour, milk, and water, to which is added honey or sugar, and the consistency of which is midway between starch and flour paste. (Dominguez's Diccionario.)

[21] "Their most popular traditional songs are the Cundiman, the Comintan, the Balitao, the Saloma, and the Talindao. Some are only sung; in others, they sing and dance at the same time." (Pastells, in his Colin, i. p. 63, note 1.)

[22] "The dance here described by the author is that which is called in Filipinas Moro-Moro." (Pastells, ut supra, p. 63, note 3.)

[23] Pastells (ut supra, p. 64, note 1) discusses the meaning of the word Bathala; he thinks that it is ascertained "by resolving the word into its primary elements, Bata and Ala = 'Son God, or Son of God.' This is why the first missionaries did not deprive the natives of this name when they instructed them about the existence of God and the mysteries of the Trinity, the incarnation, and redemption, as states an anonymous but very circumstantial relation written at Manila, on April 20, 1572. This is more evident in the song which the Mandayan baylanas use in their sacrifices, when they chant the Miminsad, saying: [Here follow the words of this song, for which consult our Vol. XII, p. 270, note.] ... The Mandayas believe that Mansilatan is the father of Batla (man being a prefix which indicates paternity, being, or dominion), and the Busao who takes possession of the baylanas when they tremble, and of the Baganis when they become furious; it is a power which is derived from Mansilatan.... This interpretation of the word Bathala is confirmed by that word of the Visayans, Diuata; we always find here the same idea signified in the words Diwa and uata, differing only in their transposition.... In closing, we may note that Dewa in Malay, Dewa in Javanese, Sunda, Makasar, and Day[ak?], Deva in Maguindanao, and Djebata in Bornean, signify 'the supreme God,' or 'Divinity.'"

[24] The caverns were, in especial, formerly the usual sepulchres of the Indians. The anthropologists have profited by this circumstance for their studies, and for furnishing the museums of their respective nations with skeletons of those natives. (Pastells, ut supra, p. 66, note 1.)

[25] The Mahometans [Moros] had their mosque, or langa." (Pastells, ut supra, p. 66, note 3.) Legazpi says (Vol. III, p. 60): "The heathens have no [religious] law at all; they have neither temples nor idols, nor do they offer any sacrifices."

[26] A reference to the common little house or chirping lizard, which is often seen and heard on the walls of the houses. See Census of Philippines, i, p. 74.

Arthur Stanley Riggs says in a note in a forthcoming volume, The Filipino Drama: "The common or house lizard in the Philippines has a pretty, chirping note. When one hears a lizard 'sing,' as the Spaniards call the cry, it means, among the Ilocanos, an important visit of some kind. If hunting at the time one hears several lizards sing, he must turn back immediately, as disaster will inevitably follow further progress. Other curious and interesting superstitions obtain in like manner in other parts of the islands."

[27] i.e., "over and above the dowry."

[28] i.e., "Property which was given to women over and above the dowry, and remained at their own disposition."

[29] Juan Francisco Combes was born at Zaragoza on October 5, 1620. At the age of twelve he entered the Jesuit order as a novice, at Tarragona; after six years of study there, he wished to enter the Philippine missions, and was therefore sent to Mexico to await an opportunity for going to the islands. This did not come until 1643, when Diego de Bobadilla went from Acapulco with forty-seven Jesuit missionaries, of whom Combes was one; five of these died in an epidemic, which carried away one hundred and fifteen of the people on the ship. Combes completed his theological studies at Manila, and was ordained in 1645, being soon afterward sent to Zamboanga. He remained in Mindanao twelve years, often acting as ambassador of the governors to Corralat and other Moro chiefs, and ministering in various places; in 1657 he returned to Manila, where he spent two years, and then three years in Leyte. He was then recalled (1662) to Manila, and tried to induce the authorities there to maintain the forts in the Moro country; but his efforts failed. In 1665 he was sent as procurator for his order to Madrid and Rome; but he died on the voyage, December 29 of that year. (Retana and Pastells's ed. of Hist. de Mindanao, col. vi-xix.)

[30] Of the Caragas, Blumentritt says (Tribes of the Philippines, Mason's translation, p. 535): "In older works are so named the warlike and Christian inhabitants of the localities subdued by the Spaniards on the east coast of Mindanao, and, indeed, after their principal city, Caraga. It has been called, if not a peculiar language, a Visaya dialect, while now only Visaya (near Manobo and Mandaya) is spoken, and an especial Caraga nation is no longer known." It is quite probable that the term Caragas was only a local name applied by the people of this district to themselves or applied to them by the Spaniards; and if they ever did exist as a separate people they have been completely absorbed by the surrounding peoples.

[31] The Mindanaos (properly Maguindanaos, "people who come from the lake") are mentioned by Pigafetta (Vol. XXXIII, p. 239); they live now, as formerly, principally about the Rio Grande, and they gave name to the island of Mindanao. They are Mahometan Moros and were the chief obstacle of the Spaniards in Mindanao, but were finally brought under control by General Weyler, and their power and importance is now almost gone. Their political achievements are the only ones of consequence ever made by peoples of the Philippines. See Census of Philippine Islands, i, pp. 466-467.

[32] Blumentritt (Tribes of the Philippines) identities the Lutaos with the Mono of the district of Zamboanga, who are frequently called Ilanos, and adds that the name appears to be the Hispanicized form of the Malay Orang-Laut ("Men of the Sea"). The description given by Combes fits rather the Orang-Laut themselves than the Ilanos, who live along the seacoast west of Malabang, and are few in number. The Orang-Laut, called also "Sea Gypsies," "Bajau" and "Samal-Laut" ("Samal of the Sea") are found throughout the Malay Archipelago (in the Philippines along southern Mindanao and throughout the Sulu Archipelago), and live for mouths in their small boats. Their original home was Johore and the islands in the strait of Malacca; and they are only imperfectly Mahometanized, some being quite pagans. The Samal living in towns in Zamboanga and the Sulu Archipelago are probably descendants of the Samal-Laut who have abandoned their wandering life. See Census of the Philippines, i, pp. 464, 475, 476, 563.

[33] The Subanon (Spanish form "Subanos"), or "Men of the Rivers" are an important pagan tribe of western Mindanao, who are found in the mountains of Zamboanga, and extending eastward slightly into Cottabato, Misamis, and Dapitan. For a modern description that agrees essentially with that of Combes, see Census of the Philippines, i, pp. 552-560.

[34] Spanish, redentor; in religious orders, the father appointed to attend to the ransoming and return of Christians held captive by Mahometan enemies.

[35] Antonio de Abarca, S.J., was born in Villalba in the diocese of Cuenca, September 13, 1610. He entered the Society March 23, 1628, went to the Philippines in 1632, and took his final vows, January 21, 1649. He was a missionary in Mindanao and the Visayan Islands, and rector of Carigara and Cebu. While going to Rome as procurator, he died at sea (January 23, 1660), near Acapulco. (Combes, Pastells and Retana ed., col. 694.)

[36] This chief is called timoly by the Subanos; hari-hari by the Mandayas; masali campo, by the Monteses; matado, by the Manobos; bagani, by the Bagobos; and dato and sultan by the Mahometans and Moros. (Pastells and Retana's Combes, col. 655.)