Philippine Progress Prior to 1898 Part 15

[29] On July 25, 1609, Don Miguel Ba.n.a.l, a Filipino chief of Quiapo, sent a pet.i.tion to the King, for redress against what he considered a usurpation of his lands. The pet.i.tion begins thus: "Sire:--In former years the archbishop of these Philippine Islands, on pet.i.tion of the natives of the village of Quiapo, which is near the city of Manila, wrote to your Majesty, informing you that the fathers of the Society of Jesus--under pretext that the former dean of this holy church of Manila, whom your Majesty has lately appointed archbishop, had sold them a garden lying back of our village--have been insinuating themselves more and more into our lands and taking more than what was a.s.signed them by the dean; and that we had scarcely any land remaining in the village for our fields, and even for our houses. The pet.i.tion begged your royal Majesty to remedy this and protect us under your royal clemency, since we are natives, who cannot defend ourselves by suits, as we are a poor people, and it would be a matter with a religious order. (Nothing was heard from the King, and in the meantime, pet.i.tioner was forcibly ejected from his own lands, and a house built by him thereon, destroyed.) For I fear that I can find no one to aid me in the suits that the fathers are about to begin against me, or who will appear for my justice, since I have even been unable to find any one who dared to write this letter for me. This letter is therefore written by my own hand and in my own composition, and in the style of a native not well versed in the Spanish language. Also in the meanwhile will you order the fathers not to molest me in the ancient possession that I have inherited from my fathers and grandfathers, who were chiefs of the said village." (Bl. and Rb., Vol. 14, pp. 327-329.)

A letter from Felipe III to Silva, refers to above pet.i.tion and orders thus: "Having examined it in my Council for the Yndias, it has appeared best to order and command you, as I do to inform me of what has occurred in this matter, and is occuring, and in the meantime to take such measures as are expedient. Madrid, on the 7th of December, 1610." (Bl. and Rb., Vol. 17, pp. 151-152.)

[30] "For the above reason there is a large supply of lumber, which is cut and sawed, dragged to the rivers, and brought down, by the natives. This lumber is very useful for houses and buildings, and for the construction of small and large vessels. Many very straight trees, light and pliable, are found, which are used as masts for s.h.i.+ps and galleons. Consequently, vessels of any size may be fitted with masts from these trees, made of one piece of timber, without its being necessary to splice them or make them of different pieces. For the hulls of the s.h.i.+ps, the keels, futtock-timbers, top-timbers, and any other kinds of supports and braces, compa.s.s-timbers, transomes, knees small and large, and rudders, all sorts of good timber are easily found; as well as good planking for the sides, decks, and upper-works, from very suitable woods." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.--Chapter 8, Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 84-87.)

[31] "Their s.h.i.+ps and boats are of many kinds; for on the rivers and creeks inland they use certain very large canoes, each made from one log, and others fitted with benches and made from planks, and built up on keels. They have vireys and barangays, which are certain, quick, and light vessels that lie low in the water, put together with little wooden nails. These are as slender at the stern as at the bow, and they can hold a number of rowers on both sides, who propel their vessels with 'bucceyes' or paddles, and with 'gaones,'

on the outside of the vessels; and they time their rowing to the accompaniment of some who sing in their language refrains by which they understand whether to hasten or r.e.t.a.r.d their rowing. Above the rowers is a platform or gangway, built of bamboo, upon which the fighting men stand, in order not to interfere with the rowing of the oarsmen. In accordance with the capacity of the vessels, is the number of men on these gangways. From that place they manage the sail, which is square and made of linen, and hoisted on a support or yard made of two thick bamboos, which serves as a mast. When the vessel is large, it also has a foresail of the same form. Both yards, with their tackle, can be lowered upon the gangway when the weather is rough. The helmsmen are stationed in the stern to steer. It carries another bamboo framework on the gangway itself; and upon this when the sun s.h.i.+nes hot, or it rains, they stretch an awning made from some mats, woven from palm-leaves. These are very bulky and close, and are called 'cayanes.' Thus all the s.h.i.+p and its crew are covered and protected. There are also other bamboo frameworks for each side of the vessel, which are as long as the vessel, and securely fastened on. They skim the water, without hindering the rowing, and serve as a counterpoise, so that the s.h.i.+p cannot overturn nor upset, however heavy the sea, or strong the wind against the sail.

"It may happen that the entire hull of these vessels, which have no decks, may fill with water and remain between wind and water, even until it is destroyed and broken up, without sinking, because of these counterpoises. These vessels have been used commonly through the islands since olden times. They have other larger vessels called 'lapis,' and 'tapaques,' which are used to carry their merchandise, and which are very suitable, as they are roomy and draw but little water. They generally drag them ash.o.r.e every night, at the mouths of rivers and creeks, among which they always navigate without going into the open sea or leaving the sh.o.r.e. All the natives can row and manage these boats. Some are so long that they can carry one hundred rowers on a side and thirty soldiers above to fight. The boats commonly used are barangays and vireys, which carry a less crew and fighting force. Now they put many of them together with iron nails instead of the wooden pegs and the joints in the planks, while the helms and bows have beaks like Castilian boats." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.--Ch. 8, Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 82-84.)

[32] "The Filipinos, like the inhabitants of the Marianas, who are no less skilful and dexterous in navigation, far from progressing, have retrograded; since, although boats are now built in the islands, we might a.s.sert that they are all after European models. The boats that held one hundred rowers to a side and thirty soldiers have disappeared. The country that once, with primitive methods, built s.h.i.+ps of about 2,000 toneladas, today (1890) has to go to foreign ports, as Hongkong, to give the gold wrenched from the poor, in exchange for unserviceable cruisers. The rivers are blocked up, and navigation in the interior of the islands is peris.h.i.+ng, thanks to the obstacles created by a timid and mistrusting system of government; and there scarcely remains in the memory anything but the name of all that naval architecture. It has vanished, without modern improvements having come to replace it in such proportion as during the past centuries has occurred in adjacent countries." (Rizal's note to Morga.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 84.)

[33] "The s.h.i.+pyards of the galleons built during Don Juan de Silva's term were thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, and eighty leguas from the city of Manila, in different places; namely, on the island of Marinduque, where the galleon San Juan Bautista was built, which is forty leguas from Manila; in the province of Camarines at Dalupanes were built Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, and the Angel de la Guardia (i. e. Guardian Angel), fifty leguas from Manila; in the province of Ibalon at Bagatan were built San Felipe and Santiago, eighty leguas from Manila; in Mindoro was built the galleon San Juan Bautista, fifty leguas from Manila; in Marinduque was built the almiranta San Marcos, forty leguas from Manila; in Masbate was built the royal flags.h.i.+p Salvador, seventy leguas from Manila, in the point where the fleets anchor; in the port of Cavite, six galleys; in the city of Manila, two." (Sebastian de Pineda; Mexico, 1619.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 173-174.)

[34] "Governor Don Diego de Salcedo, considering the many oppressions that were experienced by the provinces near Manila from the continual cutting of timber and building of galleons--a necessary evil and one in which the wrongs that are committed in it can be obviated only with great difficulty--very prudently determined to build the galleon Nuestra Senora del Buen Socorro in the province of Albay. He entrusted its execution to the commander Diego de Arevalo who was most experienced in maritime matters. He appointed him alcalde-mayor of the adjoining province of Camarines for the better expedition of the timber-cutting, putting him under greater obligations (to do well) by the future reward of commander of the galleon which he was about to build. In order that that galleon might be built more quickly and finished sooner, he sent as chief overseer his lieutenant master-of-camp, Don Agustin de Cepeda Carnacedo, who was then master-of-camp of the army of these islands for his Majesty, in order that he might live in the port of Albay. He did that with so great care that in little more than one year the largest and best galleon that had yet been seen in the islands was built--and very few so large have been seen in European seas, and extremely few that are larger. For that purpose the woods of Filipinas are the best that can be found in all the universe." (Casimiro Diaz, O. S. A.; Manila, 1718. Conquistas, in Bl. and Rb., Vol. 37, pp. 250-251.)

[35] "Those who cut these woods and build these s.h.i.+ps and galleys are Indian natives of the said islands. They are carpenters, who are called cagallanes or pandais, in their language. Those Indians who are no more than woodcutters, and serve only as hewers and planers of wood, are paid each seven or eight reals a month, and are given daily rations of one-half celemin of rice. Those of better trades than the latter generally earn ten to twelve reals a month. Those who are masters--the ones who lay out, prepare, round, and make the masts, yards, and topmasts are each paid three or four pesos of eight reals a month, and double rations." (Philippine s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+pbuilding, Sebastian de Pineda (1619).--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, p. 174.)

[36] "When a fleet was being prepared in Cavite there were generally one thousand four hundred of these carpenters there. Just now there are very few, for when the Mindanao enemies burned one galleon and two petaches in the past year, one thousand six hundred and seventeen, which were being built in the s.h.i.+pyard of Pantao, sixty leguas from the city of Manila, they captured more than four hundred of the workmen, and killed more than two hundred others; while many have died through the severe work in the building. And because they have been paid for five years nothing except a little aid, many have fled from the land; and so few remain that when the last s.h.i.+ps sailed from the city of Manila last year, six hundred and eighteen, there were not two hundred of those Indians in Cavite." (s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+pbuilding, Sebastian de Pineda, 1619.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 174-175.)

"As above stated, it will be necessary for Governor Don Alonso Fajardo to devise immediate means for building galleons and to repair the six at Manila. I regard the present building of s.h.i.+ps in that country as impossible. For with the former s.h.i.+ps and fleets and with the depredations and deaths caused by the enemy in those districts the natives are quite exhausted; for, as I said above, in the former years of six hundred and seventeen the Mindanao enemy captured four hundred native carpenters and killed more than two hundred others. The year before that, six hundred and sixteen, in the expedition made by Don Juan de Silva to the strait of Cincapura, where he died, it was found from lists that more than seven hundred Indians, of those taken as common seamen (of whom more than two hundred were carpenters), died on that expedition. Before that, in the year six hundred and fourteen, the said Mindanao enemy captured in the islands of Pintados nine hundred odd Indians, of whom but few have been ransomed. In the s.h.i.+pbuilding and in the hauling of wood many have died. Consequently, on account of all combined, there is a lack of natives for the above works. Therefore your Majesty must order the said Don Alonso Fajardo, governor and captain-general of the said islands, that in case galleons are to be built, it should not be in the islands--on the one hand, on account of the short time that those woods last, and on the other because of the lack in that land of natives (occurring through the above-mentioned causes, and because those natives in the islands are serving in the fleets as common seamen and carpenters)." (Ibid., pp. 182-183.)

[37] "The s.h.i.+pbuilding carried on in these islands on your Majesty's account is the total ruin and death of these natives, as all tell me. For, in addition to the danger caused by it in withdrawing them from the cultivation of their lands and fields--whereby the abundance of foods and fruits of the country is destroyed--many of them die from severe labor and harsh treatment. Joined to this is another evil, namely, that every Indian who takes part in the s.h.i.+pbuilding is aided by all the neighborhood where he lives with a certain number of pesos, on account of the small pay that is given them in behalf of your Majesty. Hence many are being hara.s.sed and worn out by these methods, and a great expense is being caused to your Majesty's royal treasury." (Letter to Felipe III, Alonso Fajardo de Tenza, Cavite, Aug. 10, 1618; Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 130-131.)

[38] "Item: That the governor be warned to endeavor to avoid, as far as possible, the injuries inflicted upon the natives in the cutting of wood and in personal services; for they sometimes draft them in the planting season or at harvest, so that they lose their fields, as I have seen. In addition to this, many times they do not pay the Indians, because there is no money in the treasury, which is continually short of funds. This often arises from the fact that they do not estimate and consider the needs of the Indians with the amount of money that is available; and consequently all the Indians complain. Finally, when the said Indians are paid, it is done by the hand of the chiefs or cabezas de barangay, who generally keep the money." (Reforms Needed in Filipinas, by H. de los Rios Coronel.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 315-316.)

[39] "The loss of so many s.h.i.+ps caused us great sadness of heart. The greatest hards.h.i.+p fell to the Indians, for they cannot live without s.h.i.+ps. When one is lost it is necessary to build another, and that means the cutting of wood. Six or eight thousand Indians are a.s.sembled for that task, and go to the mountains. On them falls the vast labor of cutting and dragging the timber in. To that must be added the blows that are rained down upon them, and the poor pay, and bad nourishment that they receive. At times, religious are sent to protect and defend them from the infernal fury of some Spaniards. Moreover, in the timber collected for one s.h.i.+p there is (actually enough) for two s.h.i.+ps. Many gain advantage at the cost of the Indians' sweat, and later others make a profit in Cavite, as I have seen." (D. F. Navarrete, O. P.; 1676, from his Tratados Historicos.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 38, pp. 42-43.)

[40] "* * * I must remind your Majesty that the islands are at the end of their resources, as far as the Indians in them are concerned; for it is they who bring the timber from the forests for the said s.h.i.+pbuilding. I have thought of an expedient for this, in order not to complete the destruction of the Indians; it is, to ask the viceroys of your Majesty in Nueva Espana and Piru to send vessels here. * *

*" (Letter to Felipe IV, by Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, Cavite, July 11, 1636.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 26, p. 289.)

[41] "Item. That it be ordered that the common seamen who serve in the said s.h.i.+ps, who are always Indian natives, be all men of that coast, who are instructed how to navigate; and that they be made to wear clothes, with which to shelter themselves from the cold; for, because they do not, most of them die in high lat.i.tudes, of which he (the writer) is a witness. Inasmuch as the factor enrolls other Indians who live in the interior, and who do not know the art of sailing, and as they are a wretched people, they are embarked without clothes to protect them against the cold, so that when each new dawn comes there are three or four dead men (a matter that is breaking his heart); besides, they are treated inhumanly and are not given the necessaries of life, but are killed with hunger and thirst. If he were to tell in detail the evil that is done to them, it would fill many pages. He pet.i.tions your Majesty to charge your governor straitly to remedy this." (Reforms Needed in Filipinas, Hernando de los Rios Coronel, 1619-1620.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 299-300.)

[42] "This has been the cause of tumults and insurrections, such as that of Palapag in 1649, and that of the province of Pampanga in 1660; and, in the time of Governor Don Juan de Silva, that of 1614, because of the considerable felling of timber which was occasioned by so much s.h.i.+pbuilding as was caused by the undertaking against the Dutch. Then, most of the provinces of these islands mutinied and almost rose in insurrection; and there was danger of a general outbreak, had not the religious who were ministers in the provinces reduced the minds of the natives to quiet; for they, overburdened by so heavy a load, were at the point of desperation." (Casimiro Diaz, O.S.A.; Manila, 1718, Conquistas.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 37, p. 212.)

[43] "Those islands have so few natives, that if your Majesty does not expressly order no vessels to be constructed in them, not any of their people will be left, for as a result the events that have happened in those islands for the last eight years, both murders and captivities, many of those who have been left, who are constantly coming to Nueva Espana, every year as common seamen in the vessels that regularly sail, remain in Nueva Espana. In the galleon Espiritu Santo which came last year, six hundred and eighteen, were seventy-five native Indians as common seamen, but not more than five of the entire number returned in the said galley. If your Majesty does not have that corrected, the same thing will occur every year, and should your Majesty not correct it, the following things will occur. The first is the great offense committed against our Lord, for many (indeed most) of those native Indians of the Filipinas Islands who come as common seamen are married in those said islands; and, inasmuch as they are unknown in Nueva Espana, they remarry here. Another wrong follows which is very much to the disservice of your Majesty and your royal treasury, which is caused by the said Indian natives of the Filipinas Islands who come as common seamen and remain in Nueva Espana; and if it is not checked in time, it will cause considerable injury to these kingdoms. This consists in the fact that there are in Nueva Espana so many of those Indians who come from Filipinas Islands who have engaged in making palm wine along the other seacoast, that of the South Sea, and which they make with stills, as in Filipinas, that it will in time become a part reason for the natives of Nueva Espana, who now use the wine that comes from Castilla, to drink none except what the Filipinos make. For since the natives of Nueva Espana are a race inclined to drink and intoxication, and the wine made by the Filipinos is distilled and as strong as brandy, they crave it rather than the wine from Espana. Consequently it will happen that the trading fleets (from Spain) will bring less wine every year, and what is brought will be more valuable every year. So great is the traffic in this (palm wine) at present on the coast of Navidad, among the Apusabalcos, and throughout Colima, that they lead beasts of burden with this wine in the same way as in Espana. By postponing the speedy remedy that this demands, the same thing might also happen to the vineyards of Piru. It can be averted, provided all the Indian natives of the said Filipinas Islands are s.h.i.+pped and returned to them, that the palm groves and vessels with which that wine is made be burnt, the palm-trees felled, and severe penalties imposed on whomever remains or returns to make that wine.

"Incited by their greed in that traffic, all the Indians who have charge of making that wine go to the port of Acapulco when the s.h.i.+ps reach there from Manila, and lead away with them all the Indians who come as common seamen. For that reason, and the others above mentioned, scarcely any of them return to the said Filipinas Islands. From that it also results that your Majesty loses the royal revenues derived from those islands, inasmuch as all those Indians are tributaries there, and when absent pay nothing." (s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+pbuildings, by Sebastian de Pineda, 1619.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 18, pp. 183-185.)

[44] Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinos, Chap. 8.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 108.

[45] Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Miguel de Loarca; Arevalo, June, 1582.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 73.

[46] Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Antonio de Morga, Chap. 8.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 96.

[47] Report of Conditions in the Philippines, Antonio de Morga, Manila, June 8, 1598.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 10, pp. 85-86.

"The fis.h.i.+ng is done with salambaos, and with fine-meshed nets; with which they block up the bay and kill the small fish. These nets ought not to be employed, and the size of the mesh should be regulated so that the supply of fish will not be exhausted; for already experience has demonstrated that they are not so abundant as formerly."

Night fis.h.i.+ng was also practiced. "What we call pitch in this region is a resin from which the natives make candles in order to use in their night-fis.h.i.+ng, and is the same as the copal of Nueva Espana, or at the most differs from it very little in color, smell, and taste." (Expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. [Resume of Contemporaneous Doc.u.ments, 1558-68.]--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 2, p. 153.)

Artificial fish-culture seems to have been introduced by the j.a.panese before the Spanish arrival. "The greatest of the j.a.panese industries, which they taught the natives, was breeding ducks and fishes for export. The rivers and coast waters of the Archipelago provided splendid feeding grounds for numerous varieties of fish and fowl, and the j.a.panese a.s.sisted nature's breeding process, particularly in the case of fishes in a manner followed by present day experts. The roe were transported to safe places for development, tanks were used to guard small fish from harm, and various other precautionary measures were adopted properly to rear the fish. To the early Spaniards, the pisciculture of the Filipinos was regarded almost as a new art, so much more advanced it was than fish breeding methods in Europe." (Commercial Progress in the Philippine Islands, Antonio M. Regidor and J. Warren T. Mason, 1905.)

[48] In some of these islands pearl oysters are found, especially in the Calamianes, where some have been obtained that are large and exceedingly clear and l.u.s.trous. Neither is this means of profit utilized. (By the Spaniards, he means, as is clear from the preceding paragraph, which states that, "if the industry and efforts of the Spaniards were to be converted into the working of the gold, as much would be obtained from any one of these islands as from those provinces which produce the most in the world. But since they attend to other means of gain rather than to this, as will be told in due time, they do not pay the proper attention to this matter.") In all parts, seed pearls are found in the ordinary oysters, and there are oysters as large as a buckler. From the (sh.e.l.ls of the) latter the natives manufacture beautiful articles. There are also very large turtles in all the islands. Their sh.e.l.ls are utilized by the natives, and sold as an article of commerce to the Chinese and Portuguese, and other nations who go after them and esteem them highly, because of the beautiful things made from them.

"On the coasts of any of these islands are found many small white snail sh.e.l.ls, called siguei. The natives gather them and sell them by measure to the Siamese, Cambodians, Pantanes, and other peoples of the mainland. It serves there as money, and those nations trade with it, as they do with cacaobeans in Nueva Espana." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Chap. 8.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 103.)

[49] Description of Filipinas Islands, Bartholome de Letona, 1662.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 36, p. 201.

"All these islands are, in many districts, rich in placers and mines of gold, a metal which the natives dig and work. However, since the advent of the Spaniards in the land, the natives proceed more slowly in this, and content themselves with what they already possess in jewels and gold ingots, handed down from antiquity and inherited from their ancestors. This is considerable for he must be poor and wretched who has no gold chains, calombigas (bracelets), and earrings.

Some placers and mines were worked at Paracale in the province of Camarines, where there is good gold mixed with copper. This commodity is also traded in the Ilocos, for at the rear of this province, which borders the seacoast, are certain lofty and rugged mountains which extend as far as Cagayan. On the slopes of these mountains, in the interior, live many natives, as yet unsubdued, and among whom no incursion has been made, who are called Ygolotes. These natives possess rich mines, many of gold and silver mixed. They are wont to dig from them only the amount necessary for their wants. They descend to certain places to trade this gold (without completing its refining or preparation), with the Ilocos; there they exchanged it for rice, swine, carabaos, cloth and other things that they need. The Ilocos complete its refining and preparation, and by their medium it is distributed throughout the country. Although an effort has been made with these Ygolotes to discover their mines, and how they work them, and their method of working the metal, nothing definite has been learned, for the Ygolotes fear that the Spaniards will go to seek them for their gold, and say that they keep the gold better in the earth than in their houses.

There are also many gold mines and placers in the other islands, especially among the Pintados, on the Botuan River in Mindanao, and in Sebu, where a mine of good gold is worked, called Taribon. If the industry and efforts of the Spaniards were to be converted into the working of the gold, as much would be obtained from any one of these islands as from those provinces which produce the most in the world. But since they attend to other means of gain rather than to this, they do not pay the proper attention to this matter." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos; Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 101-103.)

[50] Memorial to the Council by Citizens of the Philippine Islands; July 26, 1586.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 6, p. 223.

"In this island, there are many gold mines, some of which have been inspected by the Spaniards, who say that the natives work them as is done in Nueva Espana with the mines of silver; and, as in those mines, the vein of ore here is continuous. a.s.says have been made, yielding so great wealth, that I shall not endeavor to describe them, lest I be suspected of lying. Time will prove the truth."

Las nuevas quescriven de las yslas del Poniente, Hernando Riquel y otros. Mexico, January 11, 1574.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 243.

[51] "They are the best and most skilful artificers in jewels and gold that we have seen in this land. Almost all the people of Los Camarines pursue this handicraft." Letter from Guido de Lavezaris to Felipe II, Manila, July 17, 1574.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 273.)

"During these five days, the Moros had, little by little, given two hundred taels of impure gold, for they possess great skill in mixing it with other metals. They give it an outside appearance so natural and perfect, and so fine a ring, that unless it is melted they can deceive all men, even the best of silversmiths." (Relation of the Voyage to Luzon, 1570.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 81.)

"There are some chiefs in this island who have on their persons ten or twelve thousand ducats' worth of gold in jewels--to say nothing of the lands, slaves, and mines that they own. There are so many of these chiefs that they are innumerable. Likewise the individual subjects of these chiefs have a great quant.i.ty of the said jewels of gold, which they wear on their persons--bracelets, chains, and earrings of solid gold, daggers of gold, and other very rich trinkets. These are generally seen among them, and not only the chiefs and freemen have plenty of these jewels, but even slaves possess and wear golden trinkets upon their persons, openly and freely." (Reply to Fray Rada's 'Opinion,' Guido de Lavezaris and others; Manila, June, 1574.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 267.)

[52] "About their necks they wear gold necklaces, wrought like spun wax, and with links in our fas.h.i.+on, some larger than others. On their arms they wear armlets of wrought gold, which they call calombigas, and which are very large and made in different patterns. Some wear strings of precious stones--cornelians and agates; and other blue and white stones, which they esteem highly. They wear, around the legs some strings of these stones, and certain cords, covered with black pitch in many foldings, as garters." (Antonio de Morga, Sucesos.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, pp. 76-77.)

[53] "The people are the most valiant yet found in these regions; they possess much good armour--as iron corselets, greaves, wristlets, gauntlets, and helmets--and some arquebuses and culverins." (Letter from Guido de Lavezaris to Felipe II, Manila, July 17, 1574.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 273.)

"At the waist they carry a dagger four fingers in breadth, the blade pointed, and a third of a vara in length; the hilt is of gold or ivory. The pommel is open and has two cross bars or projections, without any other guard. They are called bararaos. They have two cutting edges, and are kept in wooden scabbards, or those of buffalo-horn, admirably wrought."

(This weapon has been lost, and even its name is gone. A proof of the decline into which the present Filipinos have fallen is the comparison of the weapons that they manufacture now, with those described to us by the historians. The hilts of the talibones now are not of gold or ivory, nor are their scabbards of horn, nor are they admirably wrought.--Rizal.)

(Morga's Sucesos, Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 81 and note 65.)

"Since they have seen the Spaniards use their weapons, many of the natives handle the arquebuses and muskets quite skilfully. Before the arrival of the Spaniards they had bronze culverins and other pieces of cast iron, with which they defended their forts and settlements, although their powder is not so well refined as that of the Spaniards." (Ibid., p. 82.)

"This intercourse and traffic had acquainted the Filipinos with many of the accessories of civilized life long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Their chiefs and datos dressed in silks, and maintained some splendor of surroundings; nearly the whole population of the tribes of the coast wrote and communicated by means of a syllabary; vessels from Luzon traded as far south as Mindanao and Borneo, although the products of Asia proper came through the fleets of foreigners; and perhaps what indicates more clearly than anything else the advance the Filipinos were making through their communication with outside people is their use of firearms. Of this point there is no question. Everywhere in the vicinity of Manila, on Lubang, in Pampanga, at Cainta and Laguna de Bay, the Spaniards encountered forts mounting small cannon, or lantakas. The Filipinos seem to have understood, moreover, the arts of casting cannon and of making powder. The first gun-factory established by the Spaniards was in charge of a Filipino from Pampanga." (Dr. D. P. Barrows, A History of the Philippines, pp. 101-102.)

[54] (Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Miguel de Loarca; Arevalo, June, 1582.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 169.)

[55] Antonio de Morga, Sucesos, Chap. 8.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 80.

[56] "The coconuts furnish a nutritious food when rice is scarce. From the nut-sh.e.l.ls they make dishes, and (from the fibrous husk) match-cords for their arquebuses; and with the leaves they make baskets." (Relacion, Miguel de Loarca; Arevalo, June, 1852.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 169.)