The Philippine Islands Part 11

Under a native Government their lot is not likely to be a happy one. One of the aims of the Tagalog Revolutionists was to exclude the Chinese entirely from the Islands.

CHAPTER IX

Wild Tribes and Pagans

The population of the Philippines does not consist of one h.o.m.ogeneous race; there are Mahometans, Pagans, and Christians, the last being in the majority. The one tribe is just as much "Filipino" as the other, and, from the point of view of nationality, they are all equally fellow-countrymen. [53] So far as tradition serves to elucidate the problem of their origin, it would appear that the Filipinos are a mixed people, descendants of Papuan, Arabian, Hindoo, Malay, j.a.panese, Chinese, and European forefathers. [54]

According to the last census (1903), the uncivilized population amounted to 8 1/2 per cent. of the whole.

The chief of these tribes are the _Aetas_, or _Negritos_, the _Gaddanes_, _Itavis, Igorrotes, Igorrote-Chinese, Tinguianes, Tagbunuas, Batacs, Man.o.bos_, etc. Also among the southern races of Mindanao Island, referred to in Chapters x. and xxix., there are several pagan tribes interspersed between the Mahometan clans.

I have used only the generic denominations, for whilst these tribes are sub-divided (for instance, the _Buquils_ of Zambales, a section of the _Negritos_; the _Guinaanes_, a sanguinary people inhabiting the mountains of the Igorrote district, etc.), the fractions denote no material physical or moral difference, and the local names adopted by the different clans of the same race are of no interest to the general reader. The expression _Bukidnon_, so commonly heard, does not signify any particular caste, but, in a general sense, the people of the mountain (_bukid_).

_Aetas_, or _Negritos_, numbering 22,000 to 24,000, inhabit the mountain regions of Luzon, Panay, Negros, and some smaller islands. They are dark, some of them being as black as African negroes. Their general appearance resembles that of the Alfoor Papuan of New Guinea. They have curly matted hair, like Astrakhan fur. The men cover only their loins, and the women dress from the waist to the knees. They are a spiritless and cowardly race. They would not deliberately face white men in anything like equal numbers with warlike intentions, although they would perhaps spend a quiverful of arrows from behind a tree at a retreating foe.

The _Aeta_ carries a bamboo lance, a palm-wood bow, and poisoned arrows when out on an expedition. He is wonderfully light-footed, and runs with great speed after the deer, or climbs a tree like a monkey. Groups of fifty to sixty souls live in community. Their religion seems to be a kind of cosmolatry and spirit-wors.h.i.+p. Anything which for the time being, in their imagination, has a supernatural appearance is deified. They have a profound respect for old age and for their dead. They are of extremely low intellect, and, although some of them have been brought up by civilized families living in the vicinity of the _Negrito_ mountainous country, they offer little encouragement to those who would desire to train them. Even when more or less domesticated, the _Negrito_ cannot be trusted to do anything which requires an effort of judgement. At times his mind seems to wander from all social order, and an apparently overwhelming eagerness to return to his native haunts disconcerts all one's plans for his civilization.

For a long time they were the sole masters of Luzon Island, where they exercised seignorial rights over the Malay immigrants, until these arrived in such numbers, that the _Negritos_ were forced to retire to the highlands. The taxes imposed upon primitive Malay settlers by the _Negritos_ were levied in kind, and when payment was refused, they swooped down in a posse, and carried off the head of the defaulter. Since the arrival of the Spaniards, the terror of the white man has made them take definitely to the mountains, where they appear to be very gradually decreasing.

The Spanish Government, in vain, made strenuous efforts to implant civilized habits among this weak-brained race.

In 1881 I visited the Capas Missions in Upper Pampanga. The authorities had established there what is called a _real_,--a kind of model village of bamboo and palm-leaf huts,--to each of which a family was a.s.signed. They were supplied with food, clothing and all necessaries of life for one year, which would give them an opportunity of tilling the land and providing for themselves in future. But they followed their old habits when the year had expired and the subsidy ceased. On my second visit they had returned to their mountain homes, and I could see no possible inducement for them to do otherwise. The only attraction for them during the year was the fostering of their inbred indolence; and it ought to have been evident that as soon as they had to depend on their own resources they would adopt their own way of living--free of taxes, military service, and social restraint--as being more congenial to their tastes.

Being in the Bataan Province some years ago, I rode across the mountain range to the opposite coast with a military friend. On our way we approached a Negrito _real_, and hearing strange noises and extraordinary calls, we stopped to consult as to the prudence of riding up to the settlement. We decided to go there, and were fortunate enough to be present at a wedding. The young bride, who might have been about thirteen years of age, was being pursued by her future spouse as she pretended to run away, and it need hardly be said that he succeeded in bringing her in by feigned force. She struggled, and again got away, and a second time she was caught. Then an old man with grey hair came forward and dragged the young man up a bamboo ladder. An old woman grasped the bride, and both followed the bridegroom. The aged sire then gave them a douche with a cocoa-nut sh.e.l.l full of water, and they all descended. The happy pair knelt down, and the elder having placed their heads together, they were man and wife. We endeavoured to find out which hut was allotted to the newly-married couple, but we were given to understand that until the sun had reappeared five times they would spend their honeymoon in the mountains. After the ceremony was concluded, several present began to make their usual mountain-call. In the lowlands, the same peculiar cry serves to bring home straggling domestic animals to their nocturnal resting-place.

There is something picturesque about a well-formed, healthy Negrita damsel, with jet-black piercing eyes, and her hair in one perfect ball of close curls. The men are not of a handsome type; some of them have a hale, swarthy appearance, but many of them present a sickly, emaciated aspect. A Negrita matron past thirty is perhaps one of the least attractive objects in humanity.

They live princ.i.p.ally on fish, roots, and mountain rice, but they occasionally make a raid on the neighbouring valleys and carry off the herds. So great was their cattle-stealing propensity in Spanish times, that several semi-official expeditions were sent to punish the marauders, particularly on the Cordillera de Zambales, on the west side of Luzon Island.

The husbandry of the Negritos is the most primitive imaginable. It consists of sc.r.a.ping the surface of the earth--without clearance of forest--and throwing the seed. They never "take up" a piece of land, but sow in the manner described wherever they may happen temporarily to settle.

The _Gaddanes_ occupy the extreme N.W. corner of Luzon Island, and are entirely out of the pale of civilization. I have never heard that any attempt has been made to subdue them. They have a fine physical bearing; wear the hair down to the shoulders; are of a very dark colour, and feed chiefly on roots, mountain rice, game, fruits, and fish. They are considered the only really warlike and aggressively savage tribe of the north, and it is the custom of the young men about to marry to vie with each other in presenting to the sires of their future brides all the scalps they are able to take from their enemies, as proof of their manly courage. This practice prevails at the season of the year when the tree, commonly called by the Spaniards "the fire-tree," is in bloom. The flowers of this tree are of a fire-red hue, and their appearance is the signal for this race to collect their trophies of war and celebrate certain religious rites. When I was in the extreme north, in the country of the _Ibanacs_, [55] preparing my expedition to the _Gaddanes_ tribe, I was cautioned not to remain in the Gaddanes country until the fire-tree blossomed. The arms used by the _Gaddanes_ are frightful weapons--long lances with tridented tips, and arrows pointed with two rows of teeth, made out of flint or sea-sh.e.l.ls. These weapons are used to kill both fish and foe.

The _Itavis_ inhabit the district to the south of that territory occupied by the _Gaddanes_, and their mode of living and food are very similar. They are, however, not so fierce as the _Gaddanes_, and if a.s.saults are occasionally made on other tribes, it may be rather attributed to a desire to retaliate than to a love of bloodshed. Their skin is not so dark as that of their northern neighbours--the _Gaddanes_ or the partially civilized _Ibanacs_--and their hair is shorter.

The _Igorrotes_ are spread over a considerable portion of Luzon, princ.i.p.ally from N. lat. 16 30' to 18. They are, in general, a fine race of people, physically considered, but semi-barbarous and living in squalor. They wear their hair long. At the back it hangs down to the shoulders, whilst in front it is cut shorter and allowed to cover the forehead half-way like a long fringe. Some of them, settled in the districts of Lepanto and El Abra, have a little hair on the chin and upper lip. Their skin is of a dark copper tinge. They have flat noses, thick lips, high cheek-bones, and their broad shoulders and limbs seem to denote great strength, but their form is not at all graceful.

Like all the wild races of the Philippines, the _Igorrotes_ are indolent to the greatest degree. Their huts are built bee-hive fas.h.i.+on, and they creep into them like quadrupeds. Fields of sweet potatoes and sugar-cane are under cultivation by them. They cannot be forced or persuaded to embrace the Western system of civilization. Adultery is little known, but if it occurs, the dowry is returned and the divorce settled. Polygamy seems to be permitted, but little practised. Murders are common, and if a member of one hut or family group is killed, that family avenges itself on one of the murderer's kinsmen, hence those who might have to "pay the piper" are interested in maintaining order. In the Province of La Isabela, the Negrito and Igorrote tribes keep a regular _Dr._ and _Cr._ account of heads. In 1896 there were about 100,000 head-hunting _Igorrotes_ in the Benguet district. This tribe paid to the Spaniards a recognition of va.s.salage of one-quarter of a peso _per capita_ in Benguet, Abra, Bontoc, and Lepanto.

Their aggressions on the coast settlers have been frequent for centuries past. From time to time they came down from their mountain retreat to steal cattle and effects belonging to the domesticated population. The first regular attempt to chastise them for these inroads, and afterwards gain their submission, was in the time of Governor Pedro de Arandia (1754-59), when a plan was concerted to attack them simultaneously from all sides with 1,080 men. Their ranches and crops were laid waste, and many _Igorrotes_ were taken prisoners, but the ultimate idea of securing their allegiance was abandoned as an impossibility.

In 1881 General Primo de Rivera, at the head of a large armed force, invaded their district with the view of reducing them to obedience, but the apparent result of the expedition was more detrimental than advantageous to the project of bringing this tribe under Spanish dominion and of opening up their country to trade and enlightened intercourse. Whilst the expeditionary forces were not sufficiently large or in a condition to carry on a war _a outrance_ successfully, to be immediately followed up by a military system of government, on the other hand, the feeble efforts displayed to conquer them served only to demonstrate the impotence of the Europeans. This gave the tribes courage to defend their liberty, whilst the licence indulged in by the white men at the expense of the mountaineers--and boasted of to me personally by many Spanish officers--had merely the effect of raising the veil from their protestations of goodwill towards the race they sought to subdue. The enterprise ignominiously failed; the costly undertaking was an inglorious and fruitless one, except to the General, who--being under royal favour since, at Sagunta, in 1875, he "p.r.o.nounced" for King Alfonso--secured for himself the t.i.tle of Count of La Union.

The _Igorrotes_ have, since then, been less approachable by Europeans, whom they naturally regard with every feeling of distrust. Rightly or wrongly (if it can be a matter of opinion), they fail to see any manifestation of ultimate advantage to themselves in the arrival of a troop of armed strangers who demand from them food (even though it be on payment) and perturbate their most intimate family ties. They do not appreciate being "civilized" to exchange their usages, independence, and comfort for even the highest post obtainable by a native in the provinces, which then was practically that of local head servant to the district authority, under the name of Munic.i.p.al Captain. To roam at large in their mountain home is far more enjoyable to them than having to wear clothes; to present themselves often, if not to habitually reside, in villages; to pay taxes, for which they would get little return--not even the boon of good highroads--and to act as unsalaried tax-collectors with the chance of fine, punishment, and ruin if they did not succeed in bringing funds to the Public Treasury.

As to Christianity, it would be as hard a task to convince them of what Roman Catholicism deems indispensable for the salvation of the soul, as it would be to convert all England to the teachings of Buddha--although Buddhism is as logical a religion as Christianity. Just a few of them, inhabiting the lowlands in the neighbourhood of Vigan and other christian towns, received baptism and paid an annual tribute of half a peso from the year 1893 to 1896.

Being in Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan Province, about 60 miles up the Rio Grande, I went to visit the prisons, where I saw many of the worst types of _Igorrotes_. I was told that a priest who had endeavoured to teach them the precepts of Christianity, and had explained to them the marvellous life of Saint Augustine, was dismayed to hear an _Igorrote_ exclaim that no coloured man ever became a white man's saint. Nothing could convince him that an exception to the rule might be possible. Could experience have revealed to him the established fact--the remarkable anomaly--that the grossest forms of immorality were only to be found in the trail of the highest order of white man's civilization?

The _Igorrotes_ have worked the copper mines of their region for generations past, in their own primitive way, with astonis.h.i.+ng results. They not only annually barter several tons of copper ingots, but they possess the art of manufacturing pots, cauldrons, tobacco-pipes, and other utensils made of that metal. They also understand the extraction of gold, which they obtain in very small quant.i.ties by crus.h.i.+ng the quartz between heavy stones.

Specimens of the different tribes and races of these Islands were on view at the Philippine Exhibition held in Madrid in 1887. Some of them consented to receive Christian baptism before returning home, but it was publicly stated that the _Igorrotes_ were among those who positively refused to abandon their own belief.

A selection of this tribe was included in the Filipinos on show at the San Louis Exhibition (U.S.A.) in 1904, and attracted particular attention. Some of them liked the United States so much that they tried hard to break away from their keepers in order to remain there.

The _Calingas_ are a branch of the _Igorrotes_, found along the Cagayan River around Ilagan. They are not only head-hunters, but cannibals. A friend of mine, an American colonel, was up there some time during the war, and explained to me the difficulty he had in convincing a Calinga chief that a man's head is his personal property, and that to steal it is a crime.

The _Igorrote-Chinese_ are supposed to be the descendants of the Chinese who fled to the hills on the departure of the corsair Li-ma-hong from Pangasinan Province in 1754 (_vide_ p. 50). Their intermarriage with the _Igorrote_ tribe has generated a caste of people quite unique in their character. Their habits are much the same as those of the pure _Igorrotes_, but with their fierce nature is blended the cunning and astuteness of the Mongol; and although their intelligence may be often misapplied, yet it is superior to that of the pure _Igorrote_. In the Province of Pangasinan there are numbers of natives of Chinese descent included in the domesticated population, and their origin is evidently due to the circ.u.mstances mentioned.

The _Tingulanes_ inhabit princ.i.p.ally the district of El Abra (N.W. coast, Luzon Is.). They were nominally under the control of the Spanish Government, who appointed their headmen petty governors of villages or ranches on the system adopted in the subdued districts. According to Father Ferrando (63 years ago), the form of oath taken in his presence by the newly-elected headman on receiving the staff of office was the following, viz.:--"May a pernicious wind touch me; may a flash of lightning kill me, and may the alligator catch me asleep if I fail to fulfil my duty." The headman presented himself almost when he chose to the nearest Spanish Governor, who gave him his orders, which were only fulfilled according to the traditional custom of the tribe. Thus, the headman, on his return to the ranche, delegated his powers to the council of elders, and according to their decision he acted as the executive only. Whenever it was possible, they applied their own _lex non scripta_ in preference to acting upon the Spanish Code.

According to their law, the crime of adultery is punished by a fine of 30 pesos value and divorce, but if the adultery has been mutual, the divorce is p.r.o.nounced absolute, without the payment of a fine.

When a man is brought to justice on an accusation which he denies, a handful of straw is burnt in his presence. He is made to hold up an earthenware pot and say as follows:--"May my belly be converted into a pot like this, if I have committed the deed attributed to me." If the transformation does not take place at once, he is declared to be innocent.

The _Tinguianes_ are pagans, but have no temples. Their G.o.ds are hidden in the mountain cavities. Like many other religionists, they believe in the efficacy of prayer for the supply of their material wants. Hence if there be too great an abundance of rain, or too little of it, or an epidemic disease raging, or any calamity affecting the community in general, the _Anitos_ (images representing the G.o.ds or saints) are carried round and exhorted, whilst Nature continues her uninterrupted course. The minister of _Anito_ is also appealed to when a child is to be named. The infant is carried into the woods, and the pagan priest p.r.o.nounces the name, whilst he raises a bowie-knife over the newborn creature's head. On lowering the knife, he strikes at a tree. If the tree emits sap, the first name uttered stands good; if not, the ceremony is repeated, and each time the name is changed until the oozing sap denotes the will of the deity.

The _Tinguianes_ are monogamists, and generally are forced by the parents to marry before the age of p.u.b.erty, but the bridegroom, or his father or elder, has to purchase the bride at a price mutually agreed upon by the relations. These people live in cabins on posts or trees 60 to 70 feet from the ground, and defend themselves from the attacks of their traditional enemies, the _Guinaanes_, by heaving stones upon them. Nevertheless, in the more secure vicinities of the christian villages, these people build their huts similar to those of the domesticated natives. From the doors and window-openings skulls of buffaloes and horses are hung as talismans.

Physically they are of fine form, and the nose is aquiline. They wear the hair in a tuft on the crown, like the j.a.panese, but their features are similar to the ordinary lowland native. They are fond of music and personal ornaments. They tattoo themselves and black their teeth; and for these, and many other reasons, it is conjectured that they descend from the j.a.panese s.h.i.+pwrecked crews who, being without means at hand with which to return to their country, took to the mountains inland from the west coast of Luzon. I spent several months with this tribe, but I have never seen a _Tinguian_ with a bow and arrow; they carry the lance as the common weapon, and for hunting and spearing fish.

Their conversion to Christianity has proved to be an impossible task. A Royal Decree of Ferdinand VI.. dated in Aranjuez, June 18, 1758, sets forth that the infidels called _Tinguianes, Igorrotes_, and by other names who should accept Christian baptism, should be exempt all their lives from the payment of tribute and forced labour. Their offspring, however, born to them after receiving baptism, would lose these privileges as well as the independence enjoyed by their forefathers. This penalty to future generations for becoming Christians was afterwards extended to all the undomesticated races.

Many of these tribes did a little barter traffic with the Chinese, but--with the hope that necessity would bring them down to the christian villages to procure commodities, and thus become socialized--the Government prohibited this trade in 1886.

The _Tinguianes_ appear to be as intelligent as the ordinary subdued natives. They are by no means savages, and they are not entirely strangers to domestic life. A great many Christian families of El Abra and Ilocos Sur are of _Tinguian_ origin, and I may mention here that the Ilocano dominated natives have the just reputation of being the most industrious Philippine people. For this reason, Ilocano servants and workmen are sought for in preference to most others.

The _Basanes_ are a very timid people who inhabit the mountains of Mindoro Island. They have long, lank hair and whitish faces, and do not appear to be of one of the original races. They are occasionally met with (when they do not hide themselves) in the cordillera which runs north-west to south-east and then ends off in two spurs, between which, after pa.s.sing Mount Halcon, there is a large valley leading to the southern sh.o.r.e. The _Manguianes_, another Mindoro wild tribe, come to the coast villages sometimes to barter, and bring pieces of gold for the purpose. They also wear gold jewellery made of the metal extracted by themselves.

There is another race of people whose source is not distinctly known, but, according to tradition, they descend from the Sepoys who formed part of the troops under British command during the military occupation of Manila in 1763 (_vide_ p. 88). The legend is, that these _Hindoos_, having deserted from the British army, migrated up the Pasig River. However that may be, the sharp-featured, black-skinned settlers in the Barrio de Dayap, of Cainta Town (Morong district), are decidedly of a different stock to the ordinary native. The notable physical differences are the fine aquiline nose, bright expression, and regular features. They are Christians--far more laborious than the Philippine natives, and are a law-abiding people. I have known many of them personally for years. They were the only cla.s.s who voluntarily presented themselves to pay the taxes to the Spaniards, and yet, on the ground that generations ago they were intruders on the soil, they were more heavily laden with imposts than their fellow-neighbours until the abolition of tribute in 1884.

There are also to be seen in these Islands a few types of that cla.s.s of tropical inhabitant, preternaturally possessed of a white skin and extremely fair hair--sometimes red--known as _Albinos_. I leave it to physiologists to elucidate the peculiarity of vital phenomena in these unfortunate abnormities of Nature. Amongst others, I once saw in Negros Island a hapless young Albino girl, with marble-white skin and very light pink-white hair, who was totally blind in the sunny hours of the day.

The _Mahometan_ and other tribes, inhabiting the Sulu Sultanate, Mindanao, Palauan (Paragua) and the adjacent islands of the South const.i.tuting "Moroland," are described in Chapters x. and xxix.

CHAPTER X

Mahometans and Southern Tribes