The Inhabitants of the Philippines Part 46

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

The Visayas Race.

Appearance--Dress--Look upon Tagals as foreigners--Favourable opinion of Tomas de Comyn--Old Christians--Constant wars with the Moro pirates and Sea Dayaks--Secret heathen rites--Accusation of indolence unfounded--Exports of hemp and sugar--Ilo-ilo sugar--Cebu sugar--Textiles--A promising race.

The most numerous and, after the Tagals, the most important race in the Philippines is the Visaya, formerly called Pintados, or painted men, from the blue painting or tattooing which was prevalent at the time of the conquest. They form the ma.s.s of the inhabitants of the islands called Visayas and of some others.

They occupy the south coast of Masbate, the islands of Romblon, Bohol, Sibuyan, Samar, and Leyte, Tablas, Panay, Negros, and Cebu, all the lesser islands of the Visayas group and the greater part of the coast of the great island of Mindanao. In that island the Caragas, a very warlike branch of the Visayas, occupy the coast of the old kingdom of Caraga on the east from Punta Cauit to Punta San Agustin.

Another branch of the Visayas distinguished by a darker colour and by a curliness of the hair, suggesting some Negrito mixture, occupies the Calamiancs and Cuyos Islands, and the northern coasts of Paragua or Palawan as far as Bahia Honda.

In appearance the Visayas differ somewhat from the Tagals, having a greater resemblance to the Malays of Borneo and Malacca. The men wear their hair longer than the Tagals, and the women wear a patadion instead of a saya and tapis.

The patadion is a piece of cloth a yard wide and over two yards long, the ends of which are sewn together. The wearer steps into it and wraps it round the figure from the waist downward, doubling it over in front into a wide fold, and tucking it in securely at the waist. The saya is a made skirt tied at the waist with a tape, and the tapis is a breadth of dark cloth, silk or satin, doubled round the waist over the saya.

In disposition they are less sociable and hospitable than the Tagals, and less clean in their persons and clothing. They have a language of their own, and there are several dialects of it. The basis of their food is rice, with which they often mix maize. They flavour their food with red pepper to a greater extent than the Tagals. They are expert fishermen, and consume large quant.i.ties of fish. In smoking and chewing betel they resemble the other races of the islands. They are great gamblers, and take delight in c.o.c.k-fighting. They are fond of hunting, and kill numbers of wild pig and deer. They cut the flesh of the latter into thin strips and dry it in the sun, after which it will keep a long time. It is useful to take as provision on a journey, but it requires good teeth to get through it.

The Visayas build a number of canoes, paraos, barotos, and vintas, and are very confident on the water, putting to sea in their ill-found and badly-equipped craft with great a.s.surance, and do not come to grief as often as might be expected. Their houses are similarly constructed to those of the other inhabitants of the littoral.

Ancient writers accused the Visaya women of great sensuality and unbounded immorality, and gave details of some very curious customs, which are unsuitable for general publication. However, the customs I refer to have been long obsolete among the Visayas, although still existing amongst some of the wilder tribes in Borneo. The Visaya women are very prolific, many having borne a dozen children, but infant mortality is high, and they rear but few of them. The men are less sober than the Tagals--they manufacture and consume large quant.i.ties of strong drink. They are not fond of the Tagals, and a Visaya regiment would not hesitate to fire upon them if ordered. In fact the two tribes look upon each other as foreigners. When discovered by the Spaniards, they were to a great extent civilised and organised in a feudal system. Tomas de Comyn formed a very favourable opinion of them--he writes, both men and women are well-mannered and of a good disposition, of better condition and n.o.bler behaviour than those of the Island of Luzon and others adjacent.

They had learnt much from Arab and Bornean adventurers, especially from the former, whose superior physique, learning, and sanct.i.ty, as coming from the country of the Prophet, made them acceptable suitors for the hands of the daughters of the Rajas or petty kings. They had brought with them the doctrines of Islam, which had begun to make some converts before the Spanish discovery. The old Visaya religion was not unlike that of the Tagals, they called their idols Dinatas instead of Anitos--their marriage customs were not very different from those of the Tagals.

The ancestors of the Visayas were converted to Christianity at, or soon after, the Spanish conquest. They have thus been Christians for over three centuries, and in constant war with the Mahometan pirates of Mindanao and Sulu, and with the Sea Dayaks of Borneo. However, in some localities they still show a strong hankering after witchcraft, and practise secret heathen rites, notwithstanding the vigilance of the parish priests.

A friar of the order of Recollets who had held a benefice in Bohol, a.s.sured me that they have a secret heathen organisation, although every member is a professing Christian, taking the Sacrament on the great feasts of the Church. They hold a secret triennial meeting of their adherents, who come over from other islands to be present. The meeting is held in some lonely valley, or on some desert island, where their vessels can lie concealed, always far from any church or priest. All the Recollet could tell me about the ceremonies was that the sacrifice of pigs formed an important part of it

The Visayas are no less credulous than the Tagals, for in Samar, during my recollection, there have been several disturbances caused by fanatics who went about in rags, and by prayers, incoherent speeches, and self-mortification acquired a great reputation for sanct.i.ty. The poor ignorant people, deluded by these impostors, who gave themselves out to be G.o.ds, and as such, impervious to bullets, and immortal, abandoned their homes and followed these false G.o.ds wherever they went, listening to their wild promises, and expecting great miracles. They soon came into collision with the Guardia Civil; and on one occasion, armed only with clubs and knives, they made a determined charge on a small party of this corps under the command of a native officer. The Guardia Civil formed across the road and poured several steady volleys into the advancing crowd, breaking them up and dispersing them with heavy loss and killing the false G.o.d. The native officer received the laurel-wreathed cross of San Fernando as a reward for his services.

The Visayas are taxed with great indolence, yet they are almost the only working people in districts which export a great quant.i.ty of produce. Leyte and Samar produce a good many bales of excellent hemp, and it should be remembered that every bale represents at least twelve days' hard work of one man in cleaning the fibre only, without counting the cultivation, conveyance to the port, pressing, baling, and shipping.

In Negros and Panay the sugar estates are much larger than in Luzon, and mostly belong to Spaniards or mestizos. They are not worked by aparceria as in Luzon, but the labourers are paid by the day. Great troubles often occur as bands of labourers present themselves on the plantations and offer to work, but demand an advance of pay. Sometimes, after receiving it, they work a few days and then depart without notice, leaving the planter in great difficulty and without redress. Strict laws against vagrants are urgently required in Visayas. On the other hand the planter is more free to introduce improvements and alterations than when working by aparceria when he has to consult the inquilino or cultivator about any change. The cane-mills are much larger than in Luzon, and are mostly worked by steam engines.

The sugar is handled differently from the custom of Pampanga. Pilones are not used, and no manipulation in farderias is required to prepare it for export. The cane-juice is carefully clarified and skimmed, then boiled in open pans to a much higher point than when making pilon-sugar, and to get it to this point without burning or over-heating much care and experience is required.

From the teache it is ladled into large wooden trays, always in thin layers, and is there beaten up with heavy spatulas until it becomes, on cooling, a pale yellow amorphous ma.s.s. It is packed in mat-bags, and is then ready for shipment. It travels well and loses but little during a Voyage to San Francisco or New York. None of it goes to England, which is now entirely supplied by the vile beet sugar "made in Germany," except for a few hundred tons of Demerara crystals imported for use by connoisseurs to sweeten their coffee.

Ilo-ilo sugar is shipped under three marks, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. An a.s.sortment or cargo of this sugar should consist of 1-8th No. 1, 2-8ths No. 2, 5-8ths No. 3.

A representative a.n.a.lysis of Ilo-ilo sugar is as follows:

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3.

Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.

Crystallizable sugar 86.60 84.50 81.20 Glucose 5.40 5.50 6.56 Mineral matter (ash) 1.50 2.56 3.72 Sand trace .24 1.28

In Cebu the properties are small and are mostly in the hands of Visayas. There are, perhaps, five or six steam-mills, but most of the cane is ground in cattle-mills. They follow the practice of negroes in making sugars direct for export, but the produce is of a lower quality. An a.n.a.lysis of the Cebu sugar is as follows:

Cebu Superior. Cebu Current.

Per Cent. Per Cent.

Crystallizable sugar 81.10 71.00 Glucose 7.90 12.50 Mineral matter (ash) 2.16 2.23

The sugar produced in the other Visayas islands is quite insignificant.

Ilo-ilo and Cebu are the princ.i.p.al ports in the Visayas territory. Besides what they shipped to Manila in 1897, they exported directly to the United States, Great Britain, or other countries, the following: Ilo-ilo, 127,744 tons of sugar; 51,300 piculs of Sapan wood; Cebu, 15,444 tons of sugar; 80,271 bales of hemp; 46,414 piculs of Copra. And it must be remembered that the Visayas cultivate most of the rice, maize, and other food-stuffs which they consume, and also make their own instruments of agriculture. Besides this, Ilo-ilo exported to other parts of the Philippines a million dollars' worth of textiles of cotton, silk, and other fibres, made by the Visayas women in hand-looms. The women in Antique make the finest pina, a beautiful transparent texture of the utmost delicacy, woven from the fibres of the leaves of a non-fruiting pine (ananas). When doing the finest work they have to keep their doors and windows closed, for the least draught would break or disarrange the delicate filaments. The export from other ports in Visayas of textiles of cotton and silk is considerable, and, in addition to what they sell, the Visayas women weave most of the material for their own clothing and for that of the men.

The Visayas also export mat-bags for sugar, which are called bayones; mats for sleeping on, called petates or esteras; pillows stuffed with cotton, hides, mother-of-pearl sh.e.l.l, Balate (Beche de Mer), edible bird's-nests, gutta-percha, gum-dammar, wax, rattans, coffee (of indifferent quality), and leaf tobacco. Both the island of Panay and the coasts of Negros are dotted over with cane plantations.

The Visayas extract oil from cocoa-nuts and forge excellent weapons from sc.r.a.p iron. The bands from bales of Manchester goods are much esteemed for this purpose.

If we take all these points into consideration, the Visayas may not appear so deplorably indolent as they have been said to be. When writing of the other races, I have pointed out that the indolence imputed to them rather goes beyond what is warranted by the facts.

It will be understood that there are degrees in the civilisation of the Visayas, and as amongst the Tagals and other races, considerable differences will be found to exist between the dwellers in the towns and those in the outlying hamlets, whilst the Remontados may be considered to have relapsed into savagery.

The Visayas do a certain amount of trade with the heathen hill-men of their islands, and as will be pointed out when describing these tribes, it is hard to say whether the Christian Visayas or the Mahometan Malays rob these poor savages more shamefully.

The Visayas are a promising race, and I feel sure that when they have a good government that will not extort too heavy taxes from them, nor allow the native and half-caste usurers to eat them up, their agriculture and industries will surprisingly increase.

It is to the Visayas that the American Government must look to provide a militia that will now hold in check, and ultimately subjugate, the piratical Moros of Mindanao and Paragua. The fighting qualities of this race, developed by centuries of combat with their Mahometan aggressors in defence of hearths and homes, will be found quite sufficient if they are well armed and led to make an end of the Moro power within a very few years.

That this aspiration is one well worthy of the countrymen of Decatur, will, I think, be admitted by all who have read my description of the Moros under the heading of Mindanao.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV

The Island of Palawan, or Paragua.

The Tagbanuas--Tandulanos--Manguianes--Negritos--Moros of southern Palawan--Tagbanua alphabet.

The island of Palawan, or, as it is called by the Spaniards, La Paragua, is situated between the parallels 8 25' and 11 30'

N. lat. The capital, Puerto Princesa, was founded in 1872, and is situated on the east coast in lat. 9 45', being 354 miles from Manila, 210 miles from North Borneo, and 510 miles from Singapore. Palawan is about 250 miles long, and from 10 to 25 wide, with an area of about 5833 square miles, the third in size of the Philippine Islands. There are several good ports in the northern part, which is much broken up, and its coasts studded with numerous islets, forming secure anchorages.