An Historical View of the Philippine Islands Volume II Part 6

The religious orders had co-operated very considerably with Senor Anda, in enabling him to maintain the Indians of the respective districts in obedience to his orders, by inspiring a horror of the English as enemies of the King and their religion, exciting them even to die in fighting cheerfully against them; likewise offering their houses, estates, and riches, and finally exposing their own persons to very imminent risks. All of them exerted themselves uniformly to this end, for which they jointly and individually were honoured with the thanks of his Majesty for their distinguished loyalty; but the Augustines suffered most, for as Senor Anda retired into the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, which these friars governed, they supplied him with recruits and with provisions. They exhorted the Indians, and even forced them, to serve against the English, and to be ready, at all times, to obey orders. The enemy knew that without this resource Senor Anda could not have acquired the means of resistance; and finding that the Augustines gave him every aid, they were declared traitors, eleven were arrested, and carried away to London and India. All were made prisoners whom they could lay their hands on, and confined in the dungeons of the fort; and they would have been taken away to sea if the preliminaries of peace had not arrived. They plundered a second time their convent; they sold the bells and the library; and a person was even found to purchase the building; in short, every thing they had was confiscated. When Manila was delivered up, in order to repossess themselves of their convent, it was necessary for the provincial to make a contract to pay ten thousand dollars for it, in case the courts of Madrid and London should confirm the confiscation of their property. The British court approved of the conduct of the English council, and, in virtue of its sentence, an Englishman went to Madrid to receive the ten thousand dollars; but our court not consenting to pay this sum, considering it a mere imposition, the English threatened that another opportunity they would make up the loss; but this dispute, as also that respecting the four millions which the Archbishop promised to pay, is buried in oblivion long ago, and was fully covered by the millions sacrificed in the treaties respecting Nootka Sound, and the whale fisheries on the northern coast of America.

All these services of the Augustines to Senor Anda were, however, thrown away, for some of the individuals of their body in the disputes which arose on the succession after the death of the Archbishop, attached themselves to the party of Villa Corta; and consulting their provincial, they replied to Senor Anda, that it was their opinion the dispute ought to be decided by the Royal Audience, and that their decision should be final. So disgusted was he by this determination of the Augustines, that he not only forgot all the services they had rendered him, but on his return as Governor, under some frivolous pretence, he sent soldiers to Pampanga, confiscated their property, and put the whole of the order in confinement at Manila, subst.i.tuting Indian clergy in their room.

His Majesty considered attentively all the services the Augustines had rendered in Manila, and ordered that all their property should be restored to them, together with the province of Pampanga; but when this order arrived, the furniture of the poor monks was already rotten in the store-houses, and the friars themselves having been driven into other provinces or dead, were unable to avail themselves of his Majesty's kindness, and take possession of the province of Pampanga thus allotted to them by his decision. To all which, if the desolation caused by the war is added, the friars will be found to have suffered the most severe losses, and which they have yet scarcely been able to retrieve.

Senor Torre being recovered of his indisposition, which was probably only a.s.sumed, in order to afford Senor Anda the opportunity of entering triumphantly into Manila to receive it from the English, as many suspected was the case, he went to reside at the palace, and began, by degrees, to restore order, and to repair the various ravages occasioned by the war. He made arrangements for tranquillizing the province of Pangasinan, and conducted the government with sufficient ability until the arrival of his successor, Field-Marshal Don Joseph Raon; but the occurrences during his and the succeeding government are of too recent a nature to be committed to the press with that candour which the fidelity of historical record requires.

EXTRACT

From Monsr. Sonnerat's Voyage aux Indes et a la Chine.

Vol. III. Chap. 10.

OF THE

PHILIPPINES AND MOLUCCAS.

These Archipelagos have been already noticed in my Voyage to New Guinea; but I have, since that period, had occasion to make some further observations, equally new as necessary.

I follow M. le Gentil in giving the position, lat.i.tude, and seasons of the princ.i.p.al of these islands. This judicious observer has made a particular study of the subject, and his work appears to me correct.

The Philippines and Moluccas are commonly divided into two distinct Archipelagos; but, in my opinion, all these islands in reality form but one; and if they were all under one Sovereign, they would, doubtless, be comprehended under one designation.

The Philippines are attached to the crown of Spain, and the Dutch possess the Moluccas. These last are more deserving of consideration, and richer than the first. They owe their fertility to the industry of a nation laborious, commercial, and addicted to cultivation. Every thing, on the contrary, in the Philippines, indicates the indolence of a people who direct all their efforts to religion, and whose sole object seems to be to acquire proselytes.

OF THE PHILIPPINES.

The Philippines extend from the 3d or 4th, to the 19th or 20th degree of north lat.i.tude. They comprehend a great number of islands, which, for the most part, are very little known. The princ.i.p.al, and those on which the Spaniards have establishments, are Lucon, Mindoro, Panay, and Mindanao. Next, in point of extent, are ranked Palawan, Buglas or Isle of Negroes, Zebu, Leyt or Leita, and Samar. To the east of Zebu is the little island of Mactan, where Magellan lost his life. Exclusive of these there is a mult.i.tude of small islands.

Lucon lies to the north of all the others: it is likewise the largest, being not less than 450 miles in length, and about 85 at its least breadth. The Spaniards have upon this island established Manila, the capital of their settlements in the Archipelago. Its advantageous position for the commerce of China, and that of other parts of India, ought to render this city the richest in the world; but what Spaniard would occupy his time in the pursuit of transitory riches, which must be acquired by the a.s.siduities of commercial industry, and at the expense of his national prejudices?

Manila lies in 40 30' N. lat.i.tude. The climate is nearly the same as that of Pondicherry and Madras; the town is large and well built; the houses are handsome, and the streets in straight lines. There are several superb churches. It is fortified, and is situated upon the bank of a considerable river, which washes its walls, and communicates through the island of Lucon in every direction. The country which surrounds it is fertile, and adapted to every species of cultivation; but in the hands of the Spaniards it lies an useless waste. They have neither availed themselves of the position of the town, or of the fertility of the surrounding soil; they allow it to exhaust itself, and bear of its own accord crops which they will not be at the trouble of getting in. Even the law, which ought to lend its aid in support of the cultivator of the soil, is at Manila inimical to his views, and the exportation of that abundance which nature holds out to man is prohibited. The treasures of the earth exceed the wants of the limited number of inhabitants in this island, and they are allowed to perish on the soil which gives them birth. The consequence is, that should it happen in any year that a variable atmosphere, hurricanes, or a wet or dry season, should subst.i.tute scarcity for abundance, the most dreadful famine would be the lot of a country which ought never to feel the effects of it.

Such is the general ignorance, such their indolence, their blind and culpable confidence in Providence, that the extent of their cultivation, and the collection of their produce, is limited to their immediate wants. The most horrible misery is often the result of this perilous security, so much at variance with the benevolent views of nature. Common animal instinct teaches us to provide for the future, but the Spaniards cannot boast of even this foresight.

It is computed that there are about 12,000 Christians in Manila. The population of this city was formerly much more extensive while it was resorted to by the Chinese. Many of that nation were settled there, and others were engaged in commercial intercourse; but a bigoted Governor, under the influence of a wretched policy, absolutely drove them out of the island. Commerce and the arts immediately declined, and have never since recovered. Misery and depopulation have been the fatal consequences of this mal-administration.

Vessels do not anchor abreast of Manila; the mouth of the river is interrupted by a bar, which is very dangerous in stormy weather. Small vessels, however, may enter, and their cargoes are discharged at Privateer harbour. Such vessels as are obliged to winter at Manila retire to the port of Cavite, situated in the bottom of the bay to the S. E. and three leagues distant from Manila.

Cavite is provided with a fort, which is not in a state to resist the attack of an European enemy. It is constructed on a tongue of low land, which the sea threatens with submersion; its harbour is not sheltered from the north and N. N. W. winds; and it is infested with a species of worm which attacks vessels, and soon renders them unfit to keep the sea. Another great inconvenience is, that water is procured at a great distance; and for this purpose it is necessary to employ the flat-bottomed boats of the country, which are alone capable of penetrating sufficiently far up the river. Three parts of the town, little considerable in itself, are occupied, like all the Spanish possessions, by convents; the suburbs are called Fauxbourg Saint Roch. It consists of a collection of houses, built of bamboo, and covered with palm leaves; but there are in it, however, the ruins of a church which appears to have been sufficiently handsome. The Indians, who joined the English in 1762, destroyed it, and that which was formerly held in such respect is now become a shelter for cattle.

The Spaniards have many religious establishments in the island of Lucon. It might be averred, that it never was their intention to plant colonies, for they have only sent monks, and appear to have had no other end in view than the propagation of the Catholic faith. The people, therefore, who have submitted to the Spanish yoke, scarcely exhibit any traits of a polished nation. Languishing in inactivity, they are without energy, and appear equally indifferent to virtue as to vice. Indolence, a dereliction of life and timidity, const.i.tute their character, and misery is their habitual state; but there are districts to which the Spaniards have been unable to penetrate. In vain have they tried to subdue those who have retired thither; in vain applied force, severity, and punishment, to subjugate and convert them. These people have escaped from the yoke by removing themselves to defiles where the Spaniards cannot attack them: they have carried with them into the retreat they have chosen the recollection of the injuries they have suffered, and of those with which they have been threatened; they nourish, in the extremity of their asylum, an implacable hatred against the strangers, whom they consider as the oppressors of their native land; they incessantly meditate on, and prepare the means of revenge. Supported by their courage, animated by their hatred, they dare approach even the gates of the capital: their progress is marked with pillage, murder, devastation, and rape; they even live at the expense of such of their countrymen as have submitted; they carry off, they tear from them the support of a miserable existence, which these latter have neither the strength nor the courage to defend.

There is, besides these, in the mountainous parts, a description of people absolutely in a savage state; they shun the face of man, they even shun each other; they are solitary wanderers; they stop when night overtakes them, and take their rest in the hollows of trees; they are strangers even to domestic life. The invincible propensities of nature are alone capable of bending their stubborn character, and impelling the men to satisfy themselves with such females as chance throws in their way, and towards whom desire is the only attraction. The inhabitants of the island of Lucon call themselves Tagals, as do likewise all the inhabitants of the Philippines--they appear to derive their origin from the Malays, and exhibit features of their character--their language, though different from that of the Malays, has its p.r.o.nunciation and its sweetness. All these islands seem to be inhabited by the same people, among whom their customs alone have been subjected to change. In Manila, such has been the intercourse with the Chinese and other nations, that they have become a mixed race.

The Manilians are of a swarthy complexion, large and well made; their dress is composed of a shirt of a kind of linen made of the filaments of the abaca, a species of palm; this shirt is very short, and is worn over a large and wide pair of drawers: but their greatest luxury consists in handkerchiefs, with red borders, of the finest quality; of these they usually wear three, one on the head, one on the neck, and the third is held in the hand. The English manufacture them at Madras expressly for their consumption.

The women wear a kind of little shift, which scarcely reaches to the navel, with a handkerchief loosely covering the neck; a white linen cloth encircles the body, and is fastened by a b.u.t.ton at the waist: they throw over this a coloured stuff, manufactured by the inhabitants of Panay. Over all is worn a mantle, for the most part black, which covers the body from head to foot. Their hair, which is black and highly beautiful, sometimes reaches to the ground: they bestow the greatest care on it, anoint it with cocoa-nut oil, plait it in the Chinese fashion, and, towards the crown of the head, form it into a knot, fastened with a gold or silver pin. They wear embroidered slippers, so very small that they only cover the toes.

The houses of the Indians of Manila are constructed of bamboo, covered with palm leaves. They are erected on pillars of wood, at the height of from eight to ten feet from the ground, and they ascend to them by a small ladder, which is drawn up every night. The custom of thus raising their houses to this elevation, has for its object their protection from the humidity of the soil; but that of drawing up the ladders, by which they mount to them, has in view their security against ferocious animals, and those of their neighbours who live in a savage state. Their bed is, for the most part, a simple mat, spread on the floor.

Their food is rice, plain boiled, which they eat either with salted fish, or by putting into the water in which it is dressed a spice, which takes off its insipid taste.

There are many lakes in the island of Lucon; the most considerable is that called by the Spaniards Laguna de Bay. The river, which washes the walls of Manila, flows out of this lake, and thus a communication, by means of boats, is open to its surrounding sh.o.r.es. This lake is about 30 leagues in circ.u.mference, and about 120 fathoms in depth. In the middle of it is an island, which holds out a refuge to some Indian families. They live by fishing, and preserve their liberty by prohibiting the approach of strangers to their asylum. This lake is bounded on the west by high mountains; the level country is fertile, and is inhabited by a people of gentle manners: they employ themselves in manufacturing matting, cloth, and different fabrics, from the abaca. Perhaps the first monks who were sent to convert them were attracted there by the mildness of their character.

The Spaniards, in supplying them with a religion, have left their laws unaltered; in fact, their ancient usages are retained, and they are governed by an Indian of their village, nominated, however, by the Spaniards, and whose authority they acknowledge.

This people, though of a mild character, treat crimes with severity; the greatest, in their opinion, is adultery, which is the only one punished with death.

Eastward of the lake there are immense plains; large and deep rivers traverse them, and spread to a great distance a natural fertility. This country might be the residence of a numerous population, which might live happy in the cultivation of it. Only a few villages, however, are to be seen scattered here and there; miserable dwellings, inhabited by men devoid of honesty, without justice, who, in a constant state of warfare, entertain mutual fear of each other, and who, instead of laws, of the protection of which they are ignorant, place their security in their arms; these they never quit, they hold them in readiness in approaching each other, and the intercourse they have together less resembles a social act than a state of perpetual warfare. Even the rights of blood afford no security: parents, brothers, wife and husband, live in constant distrust of each other, and, consequently, in a state of reciprocal hatred. The origin of manners, so far removed from the mild character of their neighbours, may be found in the mode adopted for their subjection, and the recollection of those punishments they have been exposed to by the priests, in compelling them to adore the cross.

There are many volcanos in the island of Lucon, which, it is most probable, is the cause of the frequent earthquakes to which it is subject; not a year pa.s.ses without two, three, or four. The Spaniards of Manila construct their houses accordingly; the whole is of wood, and raised on wooden pillars; but to guard against such visitations they are provided with a small apartment made of bamboo, placed in the court or garden. There the whole family sleeps, when the state of the atmosphere seems to indicate an earthquake.

It has been well observed by M. Gentil, that the earthquakes appear to occur more frequently at the end of the year, and most commonly in the night-time. I witnessed two in the month of December, 1770: the first was violent, and threw down many houses; it was announced at nine o'clock at night by a strong southerly wind, which considerably agitated the sea; the atmosphere became charged with a reddish vapour, and in two hours time I felt three successive shocks, which produced in me a kind of sea sickness. The vessels in the road were sensible of the motion, and thought they had struck. The Spaniards employed themselves in chaunting the rosary.

From the volcanos proceed springs of warm water, which are in great abundance in the island of Lucon; to some are attributed even marvellous properties, particularly to those of Bailly, situated on the borders of the lake of Bay. The King has had an hospital and public baths constructed here.

The trade of Manila might be very considerable, and this city become one of the richest and most commercial in all Asia. The Spaniards themselves might proceed to China, Cochin-china, India, Bengal, Surat, and even to the Isle of France, from whence might be drawn the commodities they stand in need of either for their own consumption, or for carrying on the commerce to Mexico; they might take with them, in exchange, the produce of the islands: but the Spaniard, naturally slothful, is more disposed to enjoy his indolence, which he denominates tranquillity, than export the productions of his country; a species of traffic necessarily accompanied with some degree of fatigue.

The government has prohibited the admission of any foreign vessels into their harbours. All the French navigators, who have been desirous of establishing an intercourse, and who have touched at Manila for commercial purposes, have been always received very ungraciously; and privateers, from an ill-judged combination against them, have uniformly sustained great losses there on their prizes. The difficulties which have been thrown in the way of the unloading and loading of vessels, have thoroughly disgusted the merchants of the Isle of France; a commerce, nevertheless, which might be rendered equally advantageous to both nations.

The only vessels admitted at Manila are those of the Chinese and Indians, on the pretence that these people may thug be made converts; these are the vessels which import into Manila the articles of absolute necessity and of luxury, and take in exchange the piastres brought by the galleon from Acapulco.

The commodities which might be drawn from Manila are cordage, pitch and tar, linen cloth, rushes, rotin, indigo, rocon, achiote, and rice. The cotton is of the finest quality, and might be made an important article of exportation to China, where many cargoes of that commodity are sent from Surat, on which the gain is sometimes an hundred per cent.

The sugar cane thrives well here, and yields a sugar superior to that produced at Batavia. There is likewise found here the bark of a tree, which answers as a subst.i.tute for cinnamon, but to the taste of cinnamon it adds a little tartness: its bark is thick and porous, and the tree deemed a b.a.s.t.a.r.d cinnamon. The Spaniards barter it with the Chinese, but they set very little value on it, as the same species is found in Hainam, in Tonquin, and in Cochin China, from whence they import it. Another production is the wild nutmeg, but having no flavour, it is on that account not merchantable. It is small, and the tree which bears it has leaves a foot long; the same species is found at Madagascar.

Tobacco succeeds well here; the chiroutes of Manila are in high repute all over India for their agreeable flavour; even the ladies smoke them all day long.

The cocoa of Manila is considered as superior to that of America; it is the only tree whose cultivation is attended to in all the Philippines, because so much use is made of chocolate. It is the general beverage, and is presented as refreshment on visits: cocoa, as well as tobacco, are not indigenous in the Philippines; they were imported from New Spain.

Wax might likewise be procured from Manila, the mountains swarming with bees which produce it.

There is a great deal of gold found in all the rivers, a sufficient proof that there are mines of that metal; the Indians will earn fifteen pence a day by washing the sands for it.

Iron is found in its native state, but mixed with some other metal, which renders it softer than ours. They work it exactly as it is found. There is likewise abundance of loadstone, and considerable quarries of marble from whence that is procured, with which the churches are decorated.

The Spaniards have but a few insignificant establishments on Mindoro. All travellers have a.s.serted that the inhabitants of this island have tails, but this idea rests on no other ground than that of the Coccix being a little elongated.