History of the Philippine Islands Part 22

[271] Paho. A species of very small mango from one and one-half to five centimeters in its longer diameter. It has a soft pit, and exhales a strong pitchy odor.--Rizal.

[272] A Spanish word signifying a cryptogamous plant; perhaps referring to some species of mushroom.

[273] In Tagal this is kasubha. It comes from the Sanskrit kasumbha, or Malay kasumba (Pardo de Tavera's El Sanscrito en la lengua tagalog).--Rizal.

This plant is the safflower or b.a.s.t.a.r.d saffron (Certhamus tinctorius); its flowers are used in making a red dye.

[274] Not a tree, but a climber. The plants are cultivated by training them about some canes planted in the middle of certain little channels which serve to convey irrigation to the plant twice each day. A plantation of betel--or ikmo, as the Tagals call it--much resembles a German hop-garden.--Rizal.

[275] This fruit is not that of the betel or buyo, but of the bonga (Tagal bunga), or areca palm.--Rizal.

[276] Not quicklime, but well slaked lime.--Rizal.

Rizal misprints un poco de cal viva for vn poluc de cal viua.

[277] The original word is marcada. Rizal is probably correct in regarding it as a misprint for mascada, chewed.

[278] It is not clear who call these caskets by that name. I imagine it to be the Spanish name, properly spelt buxeta. The king of Calicut's betel box is called buxen in the Barcelona MS. of the Malabar coasts.--Stanley.

[279] See VOL. IV, p. 222, note 31; also Delgado (ut supra), pp. 667-669. Delgado says that bonga signifies fruit.

[280] Tagal, tuko.--Rizal.

[281] This word in the original is visitandolas; Rizal makes it irritandolas (shaking or irritating them), but there are not sufficient grounds for the change.

[282] The Indians, upon seeing that wealth excited the rapacity of the encomenderos and soldiers, abandoned the working of the mines, and the religious historians a.s.sert that they counseled them to a similar action in order to free them from annoyances. Nevertheless, according to Colin (who was "informed by well-disposed natives") more than 100,000 pesos of gold annually, conservatively stated, was taken from the mines during his time, after eighty years of abandonment. According to "a ma.n.u.script of a grave person who had lived long in these islands" the first tribute of the two provinces of Ilocos and Pangasinan alone amounted to 109,500 pesos. A single encomendero, in 1587, sent 3,000 taheles of gold in the "Santa Ana,"

which was captured by Cavendish.--Rizal.

[283] This was prohibited later.--Rizal.

[284] See VOL. XIV, pp. 301-304.

According to Hernando de los Rios the province of Pangasinan was said to contain a quant.i.ty of gold, and that Guido de Labazaris sent some soldiers to search for it; but they returned in a sickly state and suppressed all knowledge of the mines in order not to be sent back there. The Dominican monks also suppressed all knowledge of the mines on account of the tyranny of which gold had been the cause in the West Indies.--Stanley.

[285] Pearl-fishing is still carried on along the coasts of Mindanao and Palawan, and in the Sulu archipelago. In the latter region pearls are very abundant and often valuable; the fisheries there are under the control of the sultan of Sulu, who rents them, appropriating for himself the largest pearls.

[286] Probably the cowry (Cypraea moneta). Crawfurd states (Dict. Ind. Islands, p. 117) that in the Asiatic archipelago this sh.e.l.l is found only on the sh.o.r.es of the Sulu group, and that it "seems never to have been used for money among the Indian Islanders as it has immemorially been by the Hindus."

[287] Jagor, Travels in the Philippines (Eng. trans., London, 1875), devotes a portion of his chapter xv to these jars. He mentions the great prices paid by the j.a.panese for these vessels. On p. 164, occurs a translation of the above paragraph, but it has been mistranslated in two places. Stanley cites the similar jars found among the Dyaks of Borneo--the best called gusih--which were valued at from $1,500 to $3,000, while the second grade were sold for $400. That they are very ancient is proved by one found among other remains of probably the copper age. From the fact that they have been found in Cambodia, Siam, Cochinchina, and the Philippines, Rizal conjectures that the peoples of these countries may have had a common center of civilization at one time.

[288] "Not many years ago," says Colin (1663), "a large piece [of ambergris] was found in the island of Jolo, that weighed more than eight arrobas, of the best kind, namely, the gray."--Rizal.

[289] This industry must now be forgotten, for it is never heard of.--Rizal.

[290] Perhaps Morga alludes to the sinamay, which was woven from abaka, or filament of the plant Musa textilis. The abaka is taken from the trunk and not the leaf.--Rizal.

[291] This name seems to be Malay, Babu-utan, wild swine.--Stanley.

[292] The men of these islands were excellent carpenters and ship-builders. "They make many very light vessels, which they take through the vicinity for sale in a very curious manner. They build a large vessel, undecked, without iron nail or any fastening. Then, according to the measure of its hull, they make another vessel that fits into it. Within that they put a second and a third. Thus a large biroco contains ten or twelve vessels, called biroco, virey, barangay, and binitan." These natives were "tattooed, and were excellent rowers and sailors; and although they are upset often, they never drown." The women are very masculine. "They do not drink from the rivers, although the water is very clear, because it gives them nausea.... The women's costumes are chaste and pretty, for they wear petticoats in the Bisayan manner, of fine medrinaque, and lamboncillos, which resemble close-fitting sayuelos [i.e., woolen shifts worn by certain cla.s.ses of religious]. They wear long robes of the same fine medrinaque. They gather the hair, which is neatly combed, into a knot, on top of the head, and place a rose in it. On their forehead they wear a band of very fine wrought gold, two fingers wide. It is very neatly worked and on the side encircling the head it is covered with colored taffeta. In each ear they wear three gold earrings, one in the place where Spanish women wear them, and two higher up. On their feet they wear certain coverings of thin bra.s.s, which sound when they walk." (The citations herein are from Colin.) These islands have also retrograded.--Rizal.

[293] Cavite derives its name from the Tagal word cavit, a creek, or bend, or hook, for such is its form.--Stanley.

[294] This province had decreased so greatly in population and agriculture, a half century later, that Gaspar de San Agustin said: "Now it no longer has the population of the past, because of the insurrection of that province, when Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara was governor of these islands, and because of the incessant cutting of the timber for the building of his Majesty's ships, which prevents them from cultivating their extremely fertile plain." Later, when speaking of Guagua or Wawa, he says: "This town was formerly very wealthy because of its many chiefs, and because of the abundant harvests gathered in its s.p.a.cious plains, which are now submerged by the water of the sea."--Rizal.

[295] Now the port of Sorsogon.--Rizal.

[296] Now the port of Mariveles (?).--Rizal.

[297] Subik (?).--Rizal.

[298] Mindoro is at present [1890] so depopulated that the minister of the Colonies, in order to remedy this result of Spanish colonization, wishes to send there the worst desperadoes of the peninsula, to see if great criminals will make good colonists and farmers. All things considered, given the condition of those who go, it is indubitable that the race that succeeds must know how to defend itself and live, so that the island may not be depopulated again.--Rizal.

[299] Samar. This proves contrary to the opinion of Colin, who places Tendaya in Leite.--Rizal.

[300] Southeastern part of Samar.--Rizal.

[301] Colin says, however, that they did tattoo the chins and about the eyes [barbas y cejas]. The same author states also that the tattooing was done little by little and not all at once. "The children were not tattooed, but the women tattooed one hand and part of the other. In this island of Manila the Ilocos also tattooed themselves, although not so much as did the Visayans." The Negritos, Igorrotes, and other independent tribes of the Filipinas still tattoo themselves. The Christians have forgotten the practice. The Filipinas used only the black color, thus differing from the j.a.panese, who employ different colors, as red and blue, and carry the art to a rare perfection. In other islands of the Pacific, the women tattoo themselves almost as much as the men. Dr. Wilhelm Joest's Taetowiren Narbenzeichnen und Koerperbemahlen (Berlin, 1887) treats the matter very succinctly.--Rizal.

[302] This is a confused statement, after what just precedes it and according to the evidence of Father Chirino (see VOL. XII, chapter vii). Morga must mean that they wore no cloak or covering when they went outside the house, as did the Tagals (both men and women), who used a kind of cape.--Rizal. [This is the sense in which Stanley understood and translated this pa.s.sage.]

[303] Gubat, grove, field, in Tagal. Mangubat [so printed in the text of Rizal's edition] signifies in Tagal "to go hunting, or to the wood,"

or even "to fight."--Rizal.

[304] "At the arrival of the Spaniards at this island (Panay)" says San Agustin, "it was said to have more than 50,000 families. But they decreased greatly ... and at present it has about 14,000 tributarios--6,000 apportioned to the crown, and 8,000 to individual encomenderos." They had many gold-mines, and obtained gold by washing the sand in the Panay River; "but instigated by the outrages received from the alcaldes-mayor," says the same historian, "they have ceased to dig it, preferring to live in poverty than to endure such troubles."--Rizal.

[305] This entire paragraph is omitted in the Rizal edition. In the original it is as follows:

La Lengua de todos, los Pintados y Bicayas, es vna mesma, por do se entienden, hablando y escriuiendo, en letras y caratores que tienen particulares, que semejan a los Arabigos, y su comun escribir entre los naturales, es en hojas de arboles, y en canas, sobre la corteza; que en todas las islas ay muchas, de disforme grueso los canutos, y el pie es vn arbol muy grueso y macico.

[306] This difference is no greater than that between the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.--Rizal.

[307] See Chirino (Relacion de las islas Filipinas) VOL. XII, chapters xv-xvii. His remarks, those of Morga, and those of other historians argue a considerable amount of culture among the Filipino peoples prior to the Spanish conquest. A variety of opinions have been expressed as to the direction of the writing. Chirino, San Antonio, Zuniga, and Le Gentil, say that it was vertical, beginning at the top. Colin, Ezguerra, and Marche a.s.sert that it was vertical but in the opposite direction. Colin says that the horizontal form was adopted after the arrival of the Spaniards. Mas declares that it was horizontal and from left to right, basing his arguments upon certain doc.u.ments in the Augustinian archives in Manila. The eminent Filipino scholar, Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera has treated the subject in a work ent.i.tled "Contribucion para el estudio de los antiguos alfabetos filipinos"

(Losana, 1884). See Rizal's notes on p. 291 of his edition of Morga.

[308] This portion of this sentence is omitted in Stanley.

[309] Bahay is "house" in Tagal; pamamahay is that which is in the interior and the house. Bahandin may be a misprint for bahayin, an obsolete derivative.--Rizal.

[310] Cf. this and following sections with Loarca's relation, VOL. V, of this series; and with Plasencia's account, VOL. VII, pp. 173-196.

[311] Timawa.--Rizal.

[312] The condition of these slaves was not always a melancholy one. Argensola says that they ate at the same table with their masters, and married into their families. The histories fail to record the a.s.sa.s.sination for motives of vengeance of any master or chief by the natives, as they do of encomenderos. After the conquest the evil deepened. The Spaniards made slaves without these pretexts, and without those enslaved being Indians of their jurisdiction--going moreover, to take them away from their own villages and islands. Fernando de los Rios Coronel, in his memorial to the king (Madrid, 1621) pp. 24-25, speaks in scathing terms of the cruelties inflicted on the natives in the construction of ships during the governorship of Juan de Silva. A letter from Felipe II to Bishop Domingo de Salazar shows the awful tyranny exercised by the encomenderos upon the natives, whose condition was worse than that of slaves.--Rizal.

[313] For remarks on the customs formerly observed by the natives of Pampanga in their suits, see appendix to this volume.

[314] This fundamental agreement of laws, and this general uniformity, prove that the mutual relations of the islands were widespread, and the bonds of friendship more frequent than were wars and quarrels. There may have existed a confederation, since we know from the first Spaniards that the chief of Manila was commander-in-chief of the sultan of Borneo. In addition, doc.u.ments of the twelfth century that exist testify the same thing.--Rizal.

[315] This word must be sagigilid in its Tagal form. The root gilid signifies in Tagal, "margin," "strand," or "sh.o.r.e." The reduplication of the first syllable, if tonic, signifies active future action. If not tonic and the suffix an be added, it denotes the place where the action of the verb is frequently executed. The preposition sa indicates place, time, reference. The atonic reduplication may also signify plurality, in which case the singular noun would be sagilid, i.e., "at the margin," or "the last"--that is, the slave. Timawa signifies now in Tagal, "in peace, in quietness, tranquil, free," etc. Maginoo, from the root ginoo, "dignity," is now the t.i.tle of the chiefs; and the chief's reunion is styled kaginoohan. Colin says, nevertheless, that the Chiefs used the t.i.tle gat or lakan, and the women dayang. The t.i.tle of mama applied now to men, corresponds to "uncle," "Senor,"