An Historical View of the Philippine Islands Volume I Part 7

This conduct of the Governor at first gave great satisfaction to the merchants of Manila; but they began very soon to discover his diligence was directed only to his own individual benefit, or that of his friends, as due care had been taken by them to buy up all the best goods, leaving in the market only those of inferior quality; and that no opportunity might be afforded to the merchants to procure a fresh supply of the different articles from the coast, he despatched the ship before the coasters could possibly arrive. By this means almost all the commerce of Acapulco, for that season, centered in him and his friends. About this time the news arrived of the death of Philip the Fourth, and the Archbishop was attacked with protracted illness, which ended in extreme debility, of which he died, 1667. The attention of Salcedo had been completely occupied by the violent disputes, which, during the whole period of his government, subsisted between him and the ecclesiastical authorities, and which terminated in the Commissary of the Inquisition of Mexico ordering him to be seized, and conveyed on board the patache destined for Acapulco, in which ship he died, 1669.

END OF VOL. I.

NOTES TO VOLUME I.

Note I.--Page 6.

Were it not that we have this strong corroborative evidence of the veracity of other travellers on this subject, we should be inclined to attach a degree of impossibility to the existence of an European power of the first distinction, in an insular situation, similar to that of the Philippines, established there for nearly three centuries; yet through the whole of that period incessantly exposed to the inroads and depredations of the surrounding savage nations. But in the perusal of the following pages it will appear sufficiently manifest that the system of colonization pursued by the Spanish monarchy. From the first discovery of the New World, and without little, if any, amelioration, practised at this time, is least of all calculated for either the extension of permanent national dominion, the enlargement of the human mind, or the general dissemination of commercial industry. The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and America produced a revolution among the European nations, which, aided by the phenomenon of the magnetic needle, stimulated the human mind to exertions far more arduous than had been effected by the Crusades; but the same spirit that animated Peter the Hermit seems to have presided over the counsels of the Spanish monarchy and directed its researches. To whatever cause it may be imputed, whether political, moral, or physical, this nation, so justly celebrated about this period, seems to have had little progressive tendency to improvement, and till within these few years the Spanish colonists of the eighteenth, in point of information and commercial enterprize, differed in no respect from those of the sixteenth century. The general dissemination of science, the gradual dispersion of prejudice, the consequent expansion of the human mind, and the example of surrounding nations, will doubtless have due effect on those n.o.ble qualities which characterized the Spaniard of the sixteenth century; and which, though enchained for succeeding ages by the peculiarity of their internal politics, still exist in the Spaniard of the nineteenth. No doubt, indeed, can be entertained that the changes likely to be produced during the present eventful period, will convert the reign of Ferdinand the VIIth into the aera of Spanish regeneration, in all that can be considered steady in council, great in arms, liberal in sentiment, and energetic in social as well as commercial intercourse. And we fully trust that the blind and persecuting influence which dictated the expulsion of the Chinese from the Philippines, and produced consequences nearly bordering on the annihilation of all industry and all commerce in the Islands, no longer disgraces their counsels or finds an advocate in the breast of one true Spaniard.

Note II.--Page 8.

We are well aware that at a distance from the seat of even an energetic government, abuses will exist which may sometimes be beyond its reach; but the instance before us, gives us at once an insight into that system of oppression and abuse of power which prevails in the Spanish settlements, and originated in the invariable practice of the Spanish court, of furnishing the opportunity to their dependants in the mother country to enrich themselves during a temporary residence in the colonies.

Note III.--Page 12.

The most authentic communications on this subject to the translator, are, that during the months of March, April, and May, the heat is sometimes oppressive; June, July, August, and September, forms the rainy season; the month of October of a doubtful character; November, December, January, and February, a heavenly spring: and that the climate in the whole is uncommonly healthy, the natives living to a great age.

Note IV.--Page 13.

If it were not sufficiently ascertained that the author of this work was not a foreigner, but a monastic Spaniard, it might be concluded from this expression, that he meant to cast a strong reflection on the Spanish government; but in the progress of the work the reader will discover that he is fully justified.

Note V.--Page 14.

"The fishermen place their net zig-zag-ways in from eight to eighteen fathom water; at each angle they have several chambers, and over every angle they have a boat moored, with two or three fishermen in it, who are always watching the fish when they enter the chambers, and with a line, supported on the surface by a buoy, they draw a net across the chamber door." Vide Jackson's Mediterranean Commerce, p. 103-4.

Note VI.--Page 18.

The diversity of opinion as to the substance of which these nests are composed, is such, that to this hour we are left on the wide field of conjecture, and without any clue which may be absolutely relied on for unravelling the mystery. The intelligent Sonnerat, as a judicious naturalist, is ent.i.tled to every attention on the subject, and he, by admitting into his work the following quotation from "Transactions philosophiques de la societe Batave, etablie dans l'isle de Java pour l'avancement des arts et des sciences, vol. iii." gives us reason to suppose that he adopts the opinion of that writer. He prefaces his introduction of the subject by the following scientific description of the bird:

"La salangane (hirundo esculenta, Lath. sp. 26. Lin. Rumph. herb.

vi. pag. 183. tab. 75. fig. 4. Forster.)"

And then proceeds with the extract thus:

"The salanganes are of a blackish grey colour, somewhat inclining to green; but on the back, down to the tail, as well as under the breast, the colour is mouse grey. The whole length of the bird, from the back to the tail, is about four inches and a half; and its height, taken from the beak to the extremity of the foot, three and a quarter inches: its girt is ten and a quarter inches: the longest feathers of the wing are about four inches. The head is flat; but the thickness of the downy feathers which cover it make it appear round, and rather large in proportion to the rest of the body. The beak is large, ending in a sharp point, but hooked like that of a nocturnal bird of prey; its size is augmented by the addition of a naked membrane, similar to parchment, which folds inwards when the beak is shut, but expands with the opening of it, and enables the bird, while on the wing, to seize with greater facility the insects which const.i.tute its food. The eyes are black, and very large; and the tongue not forked, but of the form of an arrow. The ears flat and round, with a small oblong opening, and entirely covered by the downy feathers of the head. The neck very short, as are the legs, and bones of the wings. The thighs entirely covered with feathers; and the lower and more delicate parts of the legs, as well as the feet, provided with a black skin resembling parchment: each foot has four toes, three pointing forwards and one backwards; they are separated from each other even to the root, and the middle one, including the claw, is at least as long as the lower part of the leg; each toe is furnished with a black claw, pointed, hooked, and very long, by means of which it attaches itself, with great facility, to the juttings of the rocks. The tail is at least as long as the body, even including the neck and the head; when it is spread out it has the shape of a wedge, and has ten large feathers; the four first on each side are the longest, and when the tail is closed they extend beyond the others about an inch; the others diminish towards the middle of the tail, and nearly equal the length of the body. This bird is extremely light and delicate; ten of these swallows will only weigh about two ounces and a half. The inhabitants of Java call them lawit, and the mountaineers give them the names of berongdagae or waled.

"There are two places in the neighbourhood of Batavia where they are found in great abundance; the one, Calappa-Nongal, is about ten miles to the south of the town; the other, Sampia, is a little more distant towards the south-west, but both lie in that elevated range which takes its direction by the sea coast, and which appears to be different from the great chain which pushes itself into the country, and traverses the whole island. Besides these princ.i.p.al places, there are many others, both in the same district, and at a very great distance from the coast, where these birds are found, though in fewer numbers; and there are even some which are carefully concealed by those of the inhabitants who are acquainted with them.

"There are two bird mountains, called Goa (caverns) by the inhabitants of Java, which are insulated rocks, hollow in the middle, and pierced by a great number of openings, for the most part of sufficient size easily to admit a man; others are more difficult of access, and some so small that nature seems to have intended them for the security of those little animals. These rocks are composed of a grey calcareous stone and white marble, and are covered with a mult.i.tude of lofty trees of different kinds. To the interior of these caverns the birds fix their nests in horizontal ranges, and so close to each other, that, generally speaking, they join; they build them at different heights, from fifty to three hundred feet, higher or lower as they can find a berth; there is not a single hole, or convenient spot sufficiently dry and proper, which is not occupied; but if the surface is in the smallest degree wet, or even damp, the birds immediately abandon it.

"At break of day the whole of the birds take wing with a great noise, and in the dry season immediately shoot up so high in the atmosphere, in search of their food, as to be soon lost to the sight: they return about four in the afternoon, and again take shelter in their holes, to which they confine themselves during the rest of the day, those excepted which are hatching. On the other hand, during the rainy season, it has been often remarked that they never ramble very far from their holes, particularly in the government of Java, where the rocks even border close on the sea.

"They feed on all the varieties of insects which are found hovering over stagnated waters, and they easily secure them by means of the extended opening of which their beak is capable. Their most formidable enemy is a bird of prey, which catches them in great numbers as they escape from their holes, and which the inhabitants are very careful to keep at a distance as much as possible by shooting them.

"They prepare their nests with the more solid parts of their food, and by no means with the froth of the sea or marine plants, as has been a.s.serted [1]. This opinion is the more founded in probability, as it is ascertained by experience that those birds which build on the rocks, already mentioned, have never been seen on the coast, and that they could not repair thither and return in any reasonable time on account of the lofty chains of mountains they would have to traverse, and the tempestuous winds which prevail there. The great difference, then, in the colour and value of these nests, is a proof that their quality depends solely on the nature and abundance of the insects which form their food; perhaps, likewise, on the more or less perfect solitude of the places they resort to for it.

"The nests collected in the territory of Calappa-Nongal and of Goadja are quite grey, and are of one-third less value than those of the territory of Sampia. These last again are in far less estimation than the excellent sort sent every year from Ternate and Pa.s.sir, or those found in the islands immediately adjoining, and on that of Borneo in particular.

"These birds require two months to prepare their nests; they immediately after lay their eggs, and sit fifteen or sixteen days. As soon as the young take flight, the gathering of the nests commences, and is repeated every four months: it is the harvest of the proprietors of those rocks. This is performed by men accustomed from their infancy to clamber among these precipices: with reeds and bamboos they provide themselves with ladders, with which they mount up to the holes; but when the depth of the caves is too great, they have recourse to ropes.

"When at the bottom of these caverns, they place against the inside notched bamboos, which answer the purpose of ladders, to enable them to reach the nests, and if these are beyond their immediate reach, they detach them with bamboo poles; there are likewise holes, but in very limited numbers, which may be got at by means of ladders of bamboo.

"This employment, which is attended with very great risk, costs the lives of many human beings, and particularly of those who attempt to steal the nests. For their preservation, guards are placed here and there.

"The mountaineers usually employed in collecting the nests never undertake it till they have sacrificed a buffalo, the usual prelude, with the Javanese, of all their enterprizes; they mutter a few prayers, anoint their bodies with aromatic oils, and fumigate the caverns with incense, a precaution, according to them, absolutely necessary. The princ.i.p.al of these caverns lie in the island of Java, where a female deity, under the appellation of Raton laut Ridaud, or Princess of the South Sea, is held in high veneration. A small hut, containing a covered bed, is prepared for her, together with several elegant dresses, and which no person but a Princess dare approach. Every Friday, during the period of collecting the nests, incense is burnt in it, and the bodies and clothes of all those who propose to mount the rocks ought to be exposed to this fumigation. The rest of the Javanese are not so superst.i.tious, and attach much less importance to ceremonies. These caverns are lighted, on such occasions, by torches made with the rosin of a large tree, called the cavet, and of the inner bark of the areka.

"The collection of the nests does not last more than a month, and, as has been said, may be repeated three times annually. Some think that it might even be extended to a fourth, but that is not very probable, as all the people employed in this work affirm that a nest, as long as it remains entire, is constantly augmented or thickened by the bird, which never totally abandons it till it becomes dry and woolly in the inside.

"After the nests are gathered, nothing remains to be done but to dry and clean them, and they are then packed in baskets and sold to the Chinese. The price varies, as depending on their whiteness and degree of perfection; some are grey, and others reddish, while those of the best sort are extremely rare. They are sold on the spot for from eight hundred to one thousand four hundred rixdollars for one hundred and twenty-five pounds weight. This price, and the insatiable avarice of the Chinese, often produce cheating, and an adulteration of the article. They have no hesitation in corrupting the guards with money, opium, or clothes; and deceits are practised, against which the most extreme vigilance is often unavailing.

"The two places we have already mentioned, Calappa-Nongal and Sampia, belonged formerly to the Dutch East India Company, but as the advantages resulting from the possession of them were partly unknown, or diminished in value by the dexterity of the Javanese, the company formed the resolution of letting them by public auction, and nearly one hundred thousand rixdollars is drawn from them, a sum far exceeding their utmost expectations. In the same range of mountains there are besides these other places of the same description, but of less importance. There are likewise two or three in the interior, and some others, which are concealed with great care.

"There are in the government of Samarang, in the island of Java, three mountains celebrated for their birds, called Goadaher, Gede, and Nangasari. The sea washes their base, and flows so far into the interior of the latter, that it may be said they can catch fish in the body of the mountain. The nests in these districts are of an excellent quality, but very difficult to collect, on account of the precipitous nature of the rocks, and the violent beating of the surge against them, which renders it necessary for those employed to suspend themselves from the top by ladders of bamboo. In the island of Java, about twenty-five quintals of these nests are collected annually.

"There are likewise swallow caverns in the island of Bantam, and in Sumatra; but the inhabitants of the former are so indolent, and the government so detestable, that they are not even at the trouble to sow rice, nor do they cultivate any one article which contributes to human existence. The Chinese have never attempted to penetrate into the interior of this kingdom, and they have no commerce whatever with the mountaineers; indeed they have very little intercourse even with the coast.

"The Javanese and Europeans established in India eat even the birds themselves when young, but it is difficult to procure them; they are considered as a very luscious food. The nests, on the contrary, when stewed as a soup, and afterwards exposed to the dew, and sweetened with sugar, are said to be highly cooling, and the Javanese administer them successfully in violent fevers. The author of this memoir has had occasion to observe that, prepared in the manner which will be subsequently mentioned, they have been useful in disorders of the throat, and in hoa.r.s.eness. Most probably this remedy has been borrowed from the Chinese, who (according to information furnished to the author by a man who was in the habit of dealing largely in these nests) use them most generally in the winter, because disorders of the throat are very common at that season in the southern regions of the empire, on account of the habits the Chinese are in of indulging themselves over the fire.

"But though the author has repeatedly eat these nests, prepared in various ways, he has not been able to bring himself to put much faith in the very nutritive and strengthening property attributed to them. He has had them a.n.a.lyzed by good chemists, but the result has been only a gummy solution, of rather a disagreeable taste, which might, however, be of service in certain disorders of the chest.

"These nests are, in fact, only articles of luxury or ornament on the tables of the rich. The Chinese are pa.s.sionately fond of them: after well soaking and cleaning them, they are put with a fat capon or a duck into an earthen pot, closely covered; they are simmered for twenty-four hours over a small fire, which is called timmen; thus prepared, this eatable acquires a relish infinitely more rich, and a more nourishing quality.

"The trade in these nests, which some years ago was of little importance, has been greatly on the increase for some time. The price is constantly rising in China, and Batavia is the princ.i.p.al market for them. The company having abandoned it, the inhabitants derive sufficient advantage from it to diminish the exportation of specie, which is highly prejudicial. It is now very well ascertained that the species of swallow which builds these nests is not to be found in China.

"Linnaeus, in his Systeme Naturel, characterizes this swallow, which he calls the hirundo esculenta, by white spots only on the feathers of the tail. But those birds of Java, which construct the nests in question, have no spots either on their tail or elsewhere. The feathers of the tail are entirely of one colour, that is, grey, approaching to black on the upper, and a lighter grey on the under surface.

"Rumph says, in speaking of these apodes marinae, that the feathers of their tail are spotted, and that the breast has black and white spots.

"Valentyn in his description of the small swallow which builds the eatable nests, says nothing of spots, and only states that the body is veined white and black.

"If these differences are allowed to be essential, it will follow that there must be two kinds of these swallows, the one with a spotted breast, and having white spots on the tail, the other without either. It is possible, even, that there may be a third variety, that called momos, or bocrongitams. These likewise form their nests of part of their food; but mixed with so much impure matter that no use can be made of them. Care is taken, therefore, to drive them away, that they may not injure the nests of the better species. They are readily known from these latter by their superior size, and their legs being provided with small feathers down to the feet.

"In the kingdom of Tonquin, and in China, there is a great demand for these nests of the salanganes. They form their most exquisite food, and they attribute to them the property of strengthening the stomach, and of being a powerful aphrodisiac. They are preserved for the tables of the King, and those of the princ.i.p.al n.o.bles who are able to procure them. They are diluted, made into gravy or soup, and mixed with all sorts of choice aliment, and every kind of taste is imputed to them.

"In the state in which the salanganes are sold, they bear a close resemblance to the half of a preserved citron, both in size and shape. They are put into small boats, which the people of the country are sufficiently dextrous in piloting through the rocks where the nests are found. The King of Cochin-China retains in his own hands, exclusively, the portion of this trade which belongs to him, as the most precious production of his dominions, and of which the sale is most to be relied on."