The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Historical View of the Philippine Islands, Vol I (of 2), by Martinez de Zuniga This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: An Historical View of the Philippine Islands, Vol I (of 2) Exhibiting their discovery, population, language, government, manners, customs, productions and commerce. Author: Martinez de Zuniga Translator: John Maver Release Date: February 29, 2012 [EBook #39010] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORICAL VIEW--PHILIPPINE ISLANDS *** Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State University Libraries.) An Historical View of the Philippine Islands. [Contents] Original Title Page. AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: EXHIBITING [Contents] THEIR DISCOVERY, POPULATION, LANGUAGE, GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, PRODUCTIONS AND COMMERCE. FROM THE SPANISH OF Martinez de Zuñiga. PUBLISHED AT MANILA, 1803. IN TWO VOLUMES. WITH A NEW AND ACCURATE MAP OF THE ISLANDS, FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. TRANSLATED BY JOHN MAVER, ESQ. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. ASPERNE, CORNHILL; AND NONAVILLE AND FELL, NEW BOND-STREET: By T. Davison, Whitefriars. 1814. INTRODUCTION. [v] [Contents] The original, of which the following translation is offered to the English reader, is, probably, the only copy which has yet reached this country. Whether the chance which threw it in the way of the translator may be deemed fortunate or otherwise must be left to the decision of the candid public; but it appeared to him that the information it contains respecting a Spanish colony, the most interesting of any other to a British subject, supplies that desideratum so much wanted in our language;—a correct view down to a very late period of the Spanish establishments in the Philippines. The position of these islands, and, indeed, that of the eastern Archipelago generally, whether considered in a political or commercial point of view, is sufficiently important. They form the entrepôt of Europe, India, China, the immensely extended regions of Spanish America, the north-western coasts of the new, and north-eastern coasts of the old world; and in the storms which at present convulse the political atmosphere of Europe, as well as that of both the Americas, it is not easy even to conjecture what may be their fate. The productions of these islands are various, and of a value and importance unquestionably high. In the hands of an industrious population, and under a fostering government, there is scarcely any vegetable substance which, by slender exertion, they may not be made to yield, whilst the choicest treasures of the mineral kingdom, lodged beneath their irregular surface, minister largely to the cupidity, and furnish materials for the more enterprising labours of man. Gold is in abundance; iron, steel, copper, lead, pitch and tar, hemp, cotton, indigo, sugar, cocoa, pepper, betel, cowries, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl and pearls, hides, coyar, tobacco, corn and rice excellent and abundant, with a variety of other productions, contribute to the wants of commerce; while in this enumeration will be found all the articles which, with the aid of the finest building timber in the world, are requisite for the construction and complete equipment of ships of every description. The established intercourse of these islands with Japan and China offers a ready transit for manufactures; and although it is understood that the East India Company furnishes an adequate supply of our woollen staple to the China market, we may yet fairly expect that British enterprize will not overlook the advantages which the opening of the India trade holds out in this quarter; nor will the introduction of British manufactures into these islands, either with an ultimate view to the above markets, or to those of Spanish America, in any material degree interfere with the staple trade of the Company: there is full scope for adventure in this new vineyard, and labourers will not be wanting. The political jealousy, and the national and religious prejudices of the Spaniards, have till lately opposed a bar to an extended intercourse with the Philippines; but the tide which hitherto has flowed in that direction seems of late to have commenced its ebb. The events of the last twenty years have been in their nature so extraordinary, and in their effects so powerful a solvent of all the prejudices, fostered by ignorance and superstition, that the dawn of a new day seems to open upon mankind. Let us hope that while these clouds vanish before the morning sun, the great bonds of society will remain unbroken, and that the liberties of Europe, and consequently those of the world, will be fixed on a permanent foundation. The well-wisher to the temporal and eternal felicity of the human race will hail, with becoming exultation, the opportunity which it is hoped will now be offered of spreading the Christian faith, and amicably and peaceably lending the reformed religion in aid of the Catholic missions, to civilize the population of this extensive portion of the eastern hemisphere. As a literary production, the original has probably little claim to merit, the author conveying his matter in a style more monastic than flowing; at the same time that he seems to be generally under the influence of that bias, which an early seclusion from life entails upon the mind, and upon which even his official opportunities of intercourse with the best society in Manila seem to have had a very limited effect. The translator has found him too often occupying his pages with contentions between the respective religious orders, insignificant in their nature even to a Spaniard, and so much more so to the English reader, that he has taken the liberty of altogether omitting them in the translation, except where connected with the political affairs of the settlement; and although by these means several of the chapters are reduced to almost nominal importance; yet considering the division of the subject in this form as adopted on fair grounds by the author, he hopes he will be deemed justifiable in retaining it even with the sacrifice of something of appearance. Having said as much as he hopes can be urged against the original production, the translator willingly advocates Zuñiga's cause in respect to its intrinsic value, as giving to the public the only correct view of this interesting settlement, purporting to be brought down to the peace of 1763; but in fact, as we may reasonably conclude, extended to the period of publication at Manila in 1803. From information which may be fully relied on, it appears that Zuñiga may, with more propriety, be deemed the editor than the author, as he was in Manila, and superintended the publication in 1803; with the credit of having only arranged for the press the papers of a deceased collector; a conclusion justified by the circumstance of the work closing with the peace of 1763, for there could not be any very solid reason for his declining an account of the forty years intervening between that event and the period of publication, had he himself been the author. If, however, we are by these means without a detail of the [vi] [vii] [viii] [ix] actual events which took place, it is probable we may have less cause for regret on account of the very limited progress which we well know improvement, or even amelioration, have been suffered to make under the Spanish monarchy during the period in question. At any rate, we have grounds for supposing that if any alteration, favourable or unfavourable, has taken place, Zuñiga has contrived to weave it into the work; for it is asserted by those whose residence renders them competent judges, that the view he gives of the settlement is correct to the latest period. The origin and language of these islanders have engaged the attention of our ablest orientalists. From certain similar characteristics in the persons of the inhabitants of the interior, or aborigines of the islands, they have hitherto had an African origin assigned to them; and nearly from the same source (Madagascar), it has been supposed that the Malay population has flowed, which has in a great measure inundated the Archipelago, as well as some parts of the continental coasts. Similarity, or even approximation of language and manners unquestionably offer great facilities in enquiries of this nature, and they have accordingly been resorted to by all our oriental physiologists in their researches respecting the eastern Archipelago; and so far as regards the Malays and Malayan language, these researches have been attended with corresponding success; but in respect to the aboriginal language, or Tagalic, very slight attempts have been made to trace it beyond the quarter in which it was found to prevail. Our author has not failed to enter into the discussion, and from the premises he lays down, not unreasonably, draws the conclusion that the Tagalic language and original population of all the islands westward of the coast of South America derive from that continent. It is certainly consonant to reason to presume that the aborigines, or mountaineers of the interior of these islands, in their primitive state, were more likely to change their residence (if intentionally) by committing themselves to a favourable breeze blowing pretty constantly in one direction from the eastward; or if in consequence of misfortune, by finding their efforts unavailing to encounter an adverse wind, and again reach their own coasts; than to suppose even with all the aid the monsoons could afford them in an erratic navigation from Africa through the Indian ocean to the Archipelago, that they should diffuse themselves from that point in every direction over the South Sea, in the face of an almost constant current of wind, blowing occasionally with extreme violence. The Malay population most probably had its origin as stated. The superior acquirements of that nation doubtless might enable them to encounter those difficulties which have been mentioned, and either by their extensive conquests, or acknowledged commercial activity, to induce their language to be received as the general medium of intercourse. On the subject of this language, and its different dialects in these islands, some variety of opinion may be fairly allowed to prevail; and Sir W. Jones, Dr. Wilkins, Mr. Marsden, Mr. Raffles, and other authorities, may not be decided as to its source; but it is generally allowed that the language spoken by the Papuans, Samangs, and Negritos of the Philippines, and adjacent islands, is totally different from the Malayan; and as Mr. Marsden expresses himself, “presents a subject of research as curious as it is obscure.” This latter gentleman, in the ingenious introduction to his valuable grammar of the Malayan language, says, that the large islands of this archipelago have their own peculiar language spoken by the inhabitants of the interior, while the Malayan is generally used in the districts bordering on the coasts, at the mouths and on the banks of navigable rivers, and has thence acquired the appellation of the Lingua Franca of the east. The antiquity of this insular or original language, we are, he says, without the means of ascertaining; but he well supports its stability by the strong proof he adduces of Pigafetta's Vocabulary of the Tidore language, in 1521, differing in no respect from that of the present day. Mr. Marsden seems to conclude that the Malay population of this archipelago has its root in Sumatra, the inhabitants of which island claim immediate descent from some of the companions of Noah, landed there from the ark; and both Mr. Marsden, and Mr. Raffles, the present Governor of Java, assert, that the language spoken in Sumatra differs in no material respect from that spoken in the Malayan peninsula. Upon any occasion where additional light could be thrown upon the subject of these islands, the translator has not scrupled to avail himself of the best authorities for that purpose. The Voyage de Sonnerat aux Indes orientales et a la Chine, edited and enlarged by Sonnini, has been of great service in this respect, as containing the most authentic information which was possible to be procured by a foreigner, aided by every facility which the influence of the court of France over that of Madrid could furnish, and entering upon the undertaking with the express intention of seconding the views of France on the colonial establishments of her European neighbours. The translator hopes that, on the whole, the notes and extracts will not be found unimportant or useless. On the subject of the map of the Philippines, accompanying this work, the translator trusts he will be excused expressing the gratification he feels in presenting it to the world as the only correct delineation of these islands in existence. A collection of the existing authorities he found answered no purpose, as being at variance not only with each other, but still more with the unpublished manuscript, and other authentic information he derived from the most competent private sources. To John Barrow, Esq. [x] [xi] [xii] [xiii] [xiv] second Secretary, and Captain Hurd, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, he feels greatly indebted for the communications they favoured him with, and for amenity and politeness which accompanied them. To the first eastern scholar in this country, probably in Europe, Dr. Wilkins, Librarian to the East India Company, he owes more obligations than he can express. He takes this opportunity of expressing his gratitude for the kind assistance afforded by Captain Horsburgh, Hydrographer to the East India Company, who has had full opportunity, for the exercise of his practical and theoretical acquirements as a navigator in the eastern Archipelago, and who surveyed the western coasts of these islands, and in particular the northern extremity of the island of Luzon; to him he owes the correction of many errors, in respect to latitude and longitude, which disgrace the existing charts; and to him likewise the map is indebted, for a more perfect delineation of the coasts, and for the disappearance of certain dangerous rocks which he has ascertained to have no existence. From these sources, aided by the suggestions of commanders in the India service, in regard to the nautical part, and from John Guise, Esq. of Baker-street, whose residence of nine years in Manila afforded him ample means of information respecting the interior of Luzon, the map, it is presumed, may be deemed the most correct extant. To this latter gentleman he has to acknowledge further obligations on the score of the general information he has kindly furnished. To his friend, John Jackson, Esq. whose literary attainments do him so much honour, the translator is under particular obligations for the kind assistance afforded him in regard to the map. To Peter Guichenet, Esq. he feels particularly indebted, as well as to another friend, for the permission to extract from his excellent manuscript translation of Sonnerat as much as answered his purpose. The merit of a translator is very limited. He is answerable for little beyond the actual transfusion of his author's meaning in appropriate language: whatever the present translator has attempted beyond this is contained in the notes, and is added with the hope of rendering the publication as valuable as possible, and as replete with information on the religious, moral, political, and commercial state of these dependencies on the Spanish crown as the existing sources are capable of furnishing. He lays it before the public with diffidence, but with the hope that it will add to the stock of general knowledge; equally useful to the moralist, the politician, and the merchant. PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. CHAPTER I. Their Description—Productions and Commerce. The Philippine Islands were so named by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, in compliment to Philip the Second, when Prince of Asturias. They originally were called the Western Isles, or the Archipelago of Saint Lazarus, the name which Magellan gave them when first discovered by him. These islands are numerous; their appearance on the map is that of a large blanket full of holes and rents. The principal of them is Luzon, so called, because at the doorway of each house stands a large wooden mortar, which, in the language of the country, is called Losong, and in which the Indians wash their rice. This island resembles the arm a little bent, and in the part which corresponds to the elbow is situated the city of Manila, on the shore of a fine bay, thirty leagues in circumference, and which receives some considerable rivers, among others the Pasig, which flowing from a large lake, situated to the east of Manila, at the distance of three leagues, washes its walls on the north side: its water is very soft and salubrious. Before the Spaniards arrived this district was occupied by the nation Tagala, inhabiting many towns and mud villages, governed by petty chiefs. It is now divided into various provinces, under the government of their respective Alcaldes Mayores, who collect the royal tribute, and administer justice among the Indians. At three leagues distance from Manila, to the south-west, lies the port of Cavite, so called from the word cauit, a fish-hook, to which the tongue of land on which it stands bears a strong resemblance. Cavite is defended by an indifferent fort, the governor of which is nominated by the court of Madrid. It is likewise provided with a complete arsenal for the accommodation, as well of the Acapulco ships, and a few small vessels for the defence of the islands from the Moors, as for general use. To the north from the nation Tagala, we found the nations Pampanga, Zambales, Pangasinan, Ylocos, and Cagayan. Each of these nations formed a distinct community, with a distinct language, or dialect of the same language, and was distributed in mud villages, having no king or supreme head to govern them; but in lieu of that, a number of petty chiefs, or rajahs, whose authority scarcely extended over fifty or an hundred families respectively: after the conquest, each of these nations was constituted into [xv] [xvi] [1] [Contents] [2] [3] a province, governed by a Spanish Alcalde Mayor. To the east from the nation Tagala are the Camarines, whose district has been divided into two provinces, that of Camarines, and that of Albay, each under an Alcalde Mayor. The greater part of the island is mountainous; it is crossed from the north to the south by an immense chain, from which diverge those ramifications that spread through the whole island, in many cases even forming detached mountains, like insulated cones in the midst of extensive plains. The whole of this elevated part of the country occupying nearly all the interior, is either a desert, or inhabited by a set of wretched people who do not acknowledge the Spanish government. There are in this island several volcanos, as that of Mayon, which is between the provinces of Albay and Camarines. It has a sugar-loaf figure, and is of such altitude that it may be discovered at an immense distance at sea. The de Taal is of a similar form, and stands in the middle of a large lake, called de Bombon; it exhibits sufficient proof that the mountain in whose top the volcano was, while in its active state, has sunk, remaining, however, still pretty much elevated above the water. There are other volcanos, and many warm springs, indicating the fermentation in the bowels of this island, from which, no doubt, arise those earthquakes to which it is subject, and which, one day, may produce new eruptions. We know that these volcanos at times throw out ashes, stones, sand, water, and lava, inundating and destroying the habitations, and rendering the fields a desert. To the south of Luzon lie the principal islands of Mindoro, Panay, Marinduque, Negros, Masbate, Zebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, besides some very small ones, the whole of which we denominate Bisayas, or Islas de Pintados, Painted Islands, their inhabitants having been accustomed to paint their bodies before our arrival in this quarter. All these islands acknowledge the Spanish government, and pay tribute to the king, which the corregidores, or Alcaldes Mayores of the provinces into which they are divided, collect. More to the south from these islands are Mindanao and Jolo. In Mindanao the provinces of Misamis and Caraga are subject to the Spaniards: the rest of the island has not submitted, and is engaged with Jolo and other islands in constant hostility against them; and although there have been occasional intervals of peace, they have been of short duration. For these two centuries past these islanders have been plundering the coasts of our provinces, have taken an immense number of vessels, pillaged many villages, burnt many towns, destroyed many inhabitants, and made slaves of a very great number of the clergy, both Spaniards and Indians1. We have in Mindanao the garrison of Zamboanga, with a Spanish governor, to check these depredations; but as yet we have found little benefit from this establishment. To the east of these islands, at the distance of three hundred leagues, are found las Marianas, las Carolinas, and the islands de Palaos, or Pelew. Of these, the Marianas alone are under the dominion of the Spaniards. Here there is a governor, with a detachment of troops, to overawe the Indians, and three Franciscan friars to instruct them in the Christian religion. These islands have no other communication with the rest of the world than what is afforded by the Acapulco ship, which, in returning to Manila, touches there, with the portion of the revenue appropriated to the support of this presidency. By this opportunity they likewise receive wine for mass, grain, furniture, clothing, and a few other necessaries; this obscure corner producing only horned cattle, hogs, fowls, and a few vegetables, such as the bread-fruit and others, which serve the inhabitants instead of bread. These supplies are annually imported by the governor; and as there is no other store in the island than his, the price he fixes is at his own option. From this commerce he draws all his income; and under such oppression it is not to be wondered at that this colony is as poor as the first day it was discovered2. Rice, Indian corn, and wheat would grow abundantly in these islands, but every attempt to raise them in any quantity, has been rendered of no avail by the swarms of rats, which pour down from the mountains, and sweep all before them. From the combination of these political and natural causes, the situation of the inhabitants of these islands is so miserable, that some of our historians would persuade us, they entertain no wish to propagate the species, that their children may avoid their unhappy lot. On this account, it is added, the Indians diminish considerably in number; but this seems to be a mistake, as the diminution of the Indians, if it may be so called, may be rather attributed to the following cause. The population of the Marianas, independent of the native Indians, consists of many from New Spain, some Philippine Indians, and some Chinese, who come in the suite of the governors. These men being married to women of the country, the children born of these marriages, are registered by the friars on a list of casts, distinguished from the Indian casts, from which it clearly appears that, in proportion as these mixed casts have increased, the Indian casts must have diminished, and, in all probability, in a short time this latter cast will be annihilated, as has already happened in some of the Spanish settlements. This being the case, we ought not to say the Indians diminish but change their cast. With all these casts united, our historians would wish us to believe, that there are, at present, fewer inhabitants in the Marianas than formerly; but that cannot be the case, since the Jesuits, in quitting these islands, left a greater population than they found in the year 1738; and the Franciscans report that that has increased progressively since. It is certain the population does increase, as is clearly shewn by the lists of the casts. Indeed the inhabitants of the Philippines have doubled every century; and I believe it is the case with all the population of America, although foreigners charge us, with [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] occasioning the diminution of the Indian population, by our oppressive and bad management, quoting our own historians in support of the charge. It ought to be recollected, however, that by these, the number of inhabitants which the Spaniards found on their arrival, is considerably exaggerated, whenever they are desirous of giving additional splendor to the actions of the heroes they celebrate; and, on the contrary, when it is their object to detract, they draw a very opposite picture, and, attempting to diminish their numbers, assert that their diminution is the consequence of oppression. From the amount of the tributes, however, referred to by these historians, and levied at different times, the evident conclusion is, that the Spaniards did not find the tenth part of the inhabitants, which are now in existence. The geographical description of the Philippines is, that they are in the torrid zone, between five and nineteen degrees of northern latitude; the sun twice passes its zenith, and produces those vapours which, descending in copious showers, and being again absorbed by the earth, form fountains, hot springs, and large lakes. This rainy or wet season lasts while we have the Sun to the north, that is, from about May till September, and at times till the beginning of December, from which latter period till May there is continual spring. The regular winds are the north, the east, and the south-west, and they each prevail between three and four months at a time, the change of one wind for another, being attended with violent storms of thunder, lightning, and, at times, whirlwinds. Indeed these storms are complete hurricanes, which run all round the compass in less than twenty-four hours, tearing up trees by the roots, and laying waste the whole country. These are so frequent, that we may justly complain, considering our proximity to the line, of the want of sufficient solar influence, to render the climate of these islands more agreeable. It cannot be said that we have oppressive heat in the Philippines3; there reigns throughout the greater part of the year, a most beautiful spring, and if the atmosphere were less moist, it would be the most delicious climate in the world. To this moist atmosphere, and moderately warm temperature, is joined of course a great fertility. The trees are always covered with leaves, and the soil with vegetation. The harvests of rice are most abundant; the plants shoot up with great beauty immediately, but the luxuriance of the soil renders it necessary, continually to clear away the weeds, which harbour many insects of a destructive kind, and others so dangerous as to diminish greatly the comforts and enjoyments of a country, which, in point of fertility, returns one hundred fold of rice, the common food of the Indians. Rice is the principal production of these islands, and it was cultivated to much greater extent before the Spaniards arrived here4. They have likewise some pulse, as mongos, patani, kidney-beans, and millet. The inhabitants breed up, under the same roof with themselves, pigs, fowls, ducks, goats, and even buffaloes. In the mountains there are many deer, and the woods and fields produce all sorts of pigeons, small birds, quails, a species of partridge; woodcocks, &c. Few are disposed to indulge themselves in this latter kind of sporting; they apply themselves ardently to hunting the deer, to which they are particularly partial. The sea abounds with very rich fish, such as the pargo, the eel, the sole, the pampano, the mojarra, the garropa, the shad, the tunny, the corvina, the tanguingui, and an infinite number of others, caught either with hooks or common nets, and likewise with a species of net very much used in these rivers, and even out at sea, so constructed that the fish may enter, but are unable to escape5. In this occupation the inhabitants of these islands take more delight than in any thing else, as it is a pursuit which at once indulges their indolent habits, and gratifies their partiality to fish in preference to animal food. Throughout the country are found many other productions, contributing to the support of life, and which, though not so relishing as those enumerated above, are probably better suited to their relaxed habits; and the pith of the palm, shoots of the sugar-cane, green withs, and other succulent productions, serve for food to those, who have no desire to labour for their subsistence. They cultivate the bread-fruit, beans, the cacauate, &c. and they pay particular attention to the palm tree, from which they procure both a spirit and an oil, together with a sweet-meat, which they call chancaca. There are few fruit-trees, and those are bad, with the exception of the plantain, of which there is a great variety, and all excellent and fine flavoured, and the orange, of which there are two kinds. The mango, a very rich fruit, it is imagined, the Spaniards imported from the coast of South America. We finish our enumeration with the cultivation of a species of the palm tree, which bears a very hard, little fruit of the form of a green nut. This being cut, a highly scented kernel, or eye, is found enclosed, which is called Itmo. This is laid in lime, to make what they call Buyo, which being chewed, produces a red saliva, together with a disorder in the mouth, to which they are so habituated, that they are uneasy when without it. This custom prevails generally, and even many Spaniards adopt it with great avidity. There are in this country mines of iron and gold, but of little value, either from the indolence of the natives, or the insignificance of these objects to the Spaniards, affording too little profit in their commerce with Acapulco to deserve attention. Gold is likewise, by washing, separated from the sand, which the waters bring down from the mountains. In Paracale they work the mines in the same manner as they do in New Spain, but the natives are so addicted to sloth, it is not possible to render them so productive as those of South America. In the mountains there is excellent timber for building ships or houses, and the canes are of an immense size, very long, and as thick as a man's thigh; of these latter the Indians construct their houses, covering [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] them with the leaf of the palm. They raise cotton for clothing, which they dye various colours with logwood, indigo, and the achiote, a large tree, whose seed is used for that purpose. There is great abundance of wax and wild honey, amber, pearls, mother of pearl, marble, tar, brimstone, and many other objects of less value in a commercial point of view. To these productions the Spaniards have added horses and horned cattle, which have multiplied so much that they are to be found in the mountains without an owner, and where those that want may supply their wants at pleasure. They likewise introduced sheep, geese, grapes, figs, wheat, pepper, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tobacco, and various species of plants, which thrive so well, and produce so much, that the Indian, with all his sloth, acknowledges the utility of cultivating them. There are, in these islands, some natural curiosities deserving particular notice, such as the paxarillo, a species of small swallow, which forms its nest chiefly of the froth of the sea6, and which is held in such estimation by the Chinese, as a principal dish at their table, that they purchase it at any price. The Balate is a species of sea worm, which, likewise, is sold in China at a high price. The Siguey, is a small shining shell7, which forms the current money of the Malays. The Tabon, is a bird, which lays eggs similar to those of the turkey, burying them very deep in the sand on the sea shore, and when hatched by the heat of the sun, it tears away the sand that covers them, and the young come out. The Caiman, is a species of crocodile; a large and uncouth animal, the more curious in this respect, that it is produced from an egg, of the same size as that of the duck. The Chacon, is a lizard, which takes up its abode in the houses, and repeatedly articulates clearly the word toco. The Calo, is a bird, which has a kind of hollow shell in his head, and crows, at certain hours of the day, the same as the cock. The Taclobo, is a large species of the oyster, the shell of which will hold a pitcher of water; indeed they are used as vessels for holy water in the churches. Our historians mention many curiosities even more rare than these, but I do not enumerate them, as they seem to have been ill informed on the subject, and I fear with good reason, having been too much under the influence of the marvellous, they have given credit to the Indians, who are always desirous of distinguishing themselves by the relation of something very uncommon. With all these productions, the Indians formed a species of commerce, or barter, among each other, still considering gold as the representative of general value, or medium of exchange; they were likewise in the habit of trading with the Chinese, and with the Moors of Borneo, for flag-stones, copper, articles of furniture, &c. but in very small quantities, their wants being necessarily few, going almost naked, baking their rice in green canes, and eating it with the leaf of the plantain. The Spaniards, soon after they came into possession of these islands, commenced an extended commerce with India and China, which brought to New Spain, a proportionable increase of profit; and in a little time, Manila became so rich a colony, that it created a jealousy among the merchants of Seville, and, in consequence of their petition, its commerce was restricted. From this period it began to decline, and to the great detriment of these islands, which cannot subsist by the exchange of their own productions alone, these being very limited in their nature, and incapable of much extension, surrounded as they are by other nations, more industrious, and who can work at a cheaper rate8. The luxuriant nature of the soil of these islands, has been much and justly extolled, but, proper allowance has not been made, for the sloth of the Indians, the hurricanes or tempests, which sweep every thing before them, the destructive insects, the rats, and many other things, which diminish greatly the fertility of these beautiful islands9. CHAPTER II. Of the Inhabitants the Spaniards found in the Philippines—their Language, Customs, and Religion. Our historians, affecting always the marvellous, divide into different classes, the inhabitants the Spaniards found, on their first arrival in the Philippines. They denominate them satyrs, men with tails, sea monsters, and whatever else of the fabulous, is calculated to raise wonder in the human mind. In reality, however, they found only two classes, that which we know by the appellation of Negroes, and that of the Indians. The Negroes are very small in stature, and more of a copper colour than those of Guinea, with soft hair and flat noses. They lived in the mountains, almost in a state of nature, merely covering the forepart of the body, with a piece of the bark of a tree; and they subsisted upon roots, and such deer, as in hunting, they could kill with the bow and arrow, at which they were very dexterous. They slept where night overtook them, and they possessed no idea of religion or civilized [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [Contents] [23] habits, rather, indeed, ranking with beasts than as human beings. The Spaniards, have at length succeeded, in domesticating many of them, and converting them to christianity, to which they give no opposition, so long as they get subsistence, but if they are obliged to labour, for the maintenance of their family, they return again to the mountains. The Negroes, without doubt, were the primitive inhabitants of these islands, and they retired to the mountains, on the arrival of the Indians. These latter, settling on the sea shore, continual hostility prevailed between them, but the Indians were never able, to establish themselves sufficiently, to be permitted, even to cut wood in the mountains, without paying a tribute for it. At present, the influence of the Negroes is very limited, but their antipathy to their first invaders, continues unabated; for, if a Negro is killed, or dies suddenly, it is customary for another, to bind himself to his countrymen by an oath, that he will disappear from among them, and that he will not return, until he has avenged the death of his friend, by killing three or four Indians, to accomplish which, he watches their villages, and the passes in the mountains, and if any unfortunately stray from their companions, he murders them. The origin of these Negroes, some believe to be, from Angola10, though they are not so black as their ancestors, which it is pretended, proceeds from the temperature of these islands being milder, and less scorching than that of Africa. This possibly may be so, for it is well known, that by changing, from a sultry to a temperate climate, the blackness of the Negro may be diminished, in the course of a long series of generations; yet, the flat nose, and using a dialect of the same language, which the Indians of these isles speak, appears to prove satisfactorily enough, that the origin of one and the other, is nearly the same. The reason assigned, for their not being more numerous, is, the influence of the rain, wind, sun, and all those inclemencies natural to the climate, to which they are exposed; the errors of the government, having reduced them to the condition, almost, of wild beasts, in which we now see them11. The Indians whom the Spaniards found here, were of regular stature, and of an olive complexion, with flat noses, large eyes, and long hair. They all possessed some description of government better or worse, and each nation was distinguished by a different name; but, the similarity of their dress and manners, proves that the origin of all of them is the same. They had chiefs, who held their situations, either on account of personal valour, or by succession to their fathers, where they had abilities to retain it. Their dominion extended over one or two villages, or more, according to the means they possessed, of extending protection. They were continually at war with the neighbouring villages, and continually making each other slaves. Out of these wars, arose three classes of people; the chiefs or masters of the villages, the slaves, and those whom the chiefs had enfranchised, with their descendants, and who, to this day, are called Timavas, properly signifying children of liberty. In some places, were found Indians whiter than others, descended, without doubt, from Chinese or Japanese, who had been shipwrecked on these coasts, and whom the Indians, naturally hospitable, received, and allowed to intermarry with them; and it is generally believed that the Ygorrotes of Ylocos, whose eyes resemble the Chinese, must have originated from the companions of Limahon, who fled to those mountains, when Juan de Salcedo compelled him to his disgraceful retreat, from the province of Pangasinan. It is not, however, after all, easy to ascertain the origin of these people, but their idiom throws some degree of light on the subject. Although the languages these Indians speak, are many and different, they have so much intercourse one with another, that it may clearly be discovered, they are dialects of the same language, as the Spanish, French, and Italian, are derivatives from the Latin. The prepositions and pronouns, are nearly the same in all of them; the numeral characters, differ very little, and they have many words in common, and of one and the same structure. No doubt can be entertained, that the radical language, from which all those dialects spring, prevails from Madagascar to the Philippines, with local shades of difference. It is spoken too in New Guinea, and in all the islands to the southward, in the Marianas, in the islands of San Duisk, in those of Otaheite, and in almost all the islands in the South Sea. In one collection of voyages, there are given various vocabularies, with such corresponding terminations, as the respective travellers, were able to distinguish among these islands. It is remarkable, that in these almost all the pronouns, are the same with those of the nation Tagala; the numerals, are common to all the dialects, used in these islands, and most of the words are the same, and with the same signification, as in the language Tagala. But, I am the more inclined to believe the identity of the dialects, from a conversation which I had with Don Juan Hovel, an Englishman, who spoke that of San Duisk, and who had a slave, a native of one of those islands. The structure, appeared to be the same, as that of the languages spoken in the Philippines; and on the whole, I feel confident in the opinion, that they are all dialects of the same language, so widely diffused over so large a portion of the earth. It is ascertained, that this language, is in common use for many thousand leagues, extending from Madagascar to the isles of San Duisk, Otaheite, and the isle of Pasquas, which latter, is not more than six hundred leagues distant, from the coast of South America. Yet, the Indians of the Philippines, do not understand the people of these last mentioned islands, when they have occasional intercourse with them; nor, even in these islands, do the inhabitants of one province, understand those of another. So neither does the Spaniard understand the Frenchman, nor the Frenchman the Italian. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] In the same collection of voyages, already referred to, we find a vocabulary of only five terminations, which the Spaniards have distinguished on the coast of Patagonia, and which they have been able to assimilate to the language of these islands, and one of those is the word balay, which in that country signifies a house; and by this same word they designate a house among the Pampangos, and the inhabitants of the Bisayas in general. This may be more matter of accident than of proof, that the languages of one and the other is the same; but on observing, besides this, that the proper names of places about the middle of the continent of South America are very similar to those of the Philippines, I endeavoured to procure a vocabulary of this country, and did not fail to examine, with great diligence and attention, the few words of the language of Chili which Ercilla mentions in his Araucana, and which I found perfectly conformable to the language Tagala. The name Chili is a derivation from this language: the Cormorant is called Cachile, and this is a name which the Malays give to the sons of their kings. Chilian, which is a town of Chili, is a compound from the language of Tagala, in which language the termination an gives the signification town. Thus from Cachile we draw Cachilian, meaning a town, where there are cormorants. Mapocho, which is the situation where the city of Santiago stands, is another word of Tagalic composition, signifying a town, and pocquiot being a kind of herb, we form the name Mapocquiot, a town in which there is abundance of this herb. In Chili they frequently double the syllables in forming a word, as ytayta, biobio, lemolemo, colocolo, &c. and this occurs in the Tagala language; for instance, we say ataata, bilobilo, lebomlebom, colocolo. A great many other words are either actually of Tagalic derivation, or assimilate closely to that language. In examining the structure of these two languages we are compelled to conclude that they flow from one and the same source, and I dare affirm that the Indians of the Philippines are descended from the aborigines of Chili and Peru, and that the language of these islands derives immediately from the parent source, those of the neighbouring islands being dialects of this. Many will urge the absurdity of this supposition, on the plea that the more immediate vicinity of the Philippines to Malacca must have occasioned them to be colonized by the Malays, as our historians generally assert. I do not deny that these islands could easily have been peopled by the Malays, but how could they colonize the Isles de Palaos and Marianas, which are distant more than three hundred leagues? and it is still more improbable that they colonized the islands of San Duisk and Otaheite, which are distant two thousand leagues from the Philippines. All these people, however, have the same language, the same manners and customs, and consequently the same origin as our Indians. There is, in my opinion, this other reason for supposing these latter islands could not be peopled from the westward, viz. that in all the torrid zone the east wind generally prevails, which being in direct opposition to the course from Malacca and the adjacent islands, it is fair to conclude that the inhabitants of all the islands of the South Sea came from the east, sailing before the wind; for we have seen it often happen, that the Indians from the Palaos have arrived at the Philippines, precisely under those circumstances. On the contrary, we have no instance on record, of any of the Philippine Indians having been, even by accident, carried by the winds to the islands to the eastward. Indeed we know the reverse of this to be true, since at times the most experienced pilots, in attempting this navigation, have been compelled to return, without falling in with the islands they went in search of, from the necessity there is in the voyage of being provided with proper nautical instruments. Here, therefore, we appear to have found the most probable solution of our difficulties, that is, that the first settlers came out of the east, we may presume from the coast of South America, and proceeding gradually to the westward through the Pacific Ocean, studded as we find it with islands, and clusters of islands, at no very great distance from each other, and of course of easy access before the wind, it follows that to whatever point, in an eastern direction, we can trace the Tagalic language, we may conclude that at that point emigration must have commenced. Some however dissent from this, on the ground, that the mode of writing in use among the Malays, is similar to that practised by the inhabitants of the Philippines. This consists in forming the lines from the right to the left, like the Arabians, Persians, &c. and not like the Chinese, Tartars, and Japanese, from top to bottom. Their characters are totally different from ours; they have only three vowels, a, e, u, and by placing a point, either above or below the consonant, or leaving it without one, the corresponding vowel is readily known, and equal facility given as if the vowels were specifically inserted. Although they can write, they have no written laws; decisions are made on traditionary law generally, but too often by the right of the strongest. The Rajah, or chief, with the assistance of some of the elders, decides in all civil cases; but in criminal cases, the kinsmen are accustomed to compound with the aggressor, for a sum in gold, unless in cases of murder, when the only atonement admitted, is retaliation; and if the murderer is of a different tribe or village, all the community of which the deceased was a member, make a common cause, against the tribe or community of the murderer, and numbers are generally made slaves on both sides. When it is suspected that one man has robbed another, he is obliged to draw a stone, from the bottom of a cauldron full of boiling water, and if he does not accomplish this, which is the vulgar test, he is fined in a certain quantity of gold, the greater part of which goes to the Rajah or chief. Adultery is likewise punished with a pecuniary fine12, as is the crime of disrespect to the elders, but for fraud, and cheating in their dealings, there is no punishment, and usury is very general among them. Their matrimonial customs are peculiar; they are allowed to marry only one woman, and although the principal people have several concubines, yet they commonly are slaves. They are accustomed to marry a relation (not a sister), with whom if they find themselves unable to live, or if they become tired of her, they return her to her parents, without their being required to assign a cause for the divorce. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] The dowry given on the day of marriage is merely restored: this dowry is of two kinds, and which the bridegroom always pays. The one is called bigay suso, and is paid to the mother, as a compensation for the milk, with which she nourished her daughter. The other is called bigay caya, or green dowry, which is set apart for the maintenance of the newly married couple, although very often, by the expenses of the wedding and apparel, there remains little or nothing for this desirable end. Besides these dowries paid by the bridegroom, he is obliged, for some years, to serve the parents of the bride13, and assist them on certain days, particularly at the sowing of the rice,...