The Inhabitants of the Philippines Part 55

Not to be out-done by either soldier or priest, Captain Malcampo, of the Spanish Navy, drove his vessel, the Constancia, right up to the Cotta of Pangalungan till her bowsprit touched the ramparts, then, sword in hand, leading a company of boarders, and using the bowsprit as a bridge, he carried the fort by a.s.sault, and put the garrison to the sword.

The thirsty soil of Mindanao has drunk freely of Spanish blood, and Pampango, Tagal, and Visaya have all worthily borne their part in this long drawn-out crusade of the Cross against the Crescent.

But not alone the Moro sword and spear has delayed for so long the conquest of Mindanao. Deadly fevers lurk in the lowlands, the swamps and the creeks of that rich and fertile island.

The Moros appear impervious to the malaria. At all events they live and thrive in, or in close proximity to, mangrove swamp and flooded jungle. The Tagal or the Visaya is not immune, and some even resist an attack of the terrible perniciosa less than a white man. I shall never in my life forget the awful sights I witnessed in 1887 and 1892 when some native regiments returned to Manila from the war in Mindanao. Any one who saw Shafter's army disembark on their return from Cuba will understand me. Those who could march were mere walking corpses, but the shrunken forms, the livid tint and the gla.s.sy eyes of those who could not stand (and there were hundreds of them), brought the horrors of mismanaged war to the onlooker like one of Vereschagin's realistic masterpieces.

But as the slaughter of the Dervishes at Omdurman teaches, not even the most dauntless bravery can prevail against modern weapons in the hands of tolerably disciplined troops. The quick-firing gun, the howitzer with shrapnell sh.e.l.l, the machine-gun and the magazine-rifle must inevitably bring about the subjugation of every lowland population not supplied with these dread engines of civilisation, and only the hardy dwellers in Nature's loftiest fastnesses, the Himalayas or the Andes, may hope to retain their independence in the future.

It is a striking instance of the irony of fate that, just as modern weapons have turned the scale in favour of the Spaniards in this long struggle, and brought the Moros within measurable distance of subjection, when only one more blow required to be struck, Spain's Oriental Empire should suddenly vanish in the smoke of Dewey's guns, and her flag disappear for ever from battlements where (except for the short interval of British occupation, 1762-3) it has proudly waved through storm and sunshine for three hundred and twenty-eight years.

Such, however, is the case, and it now falls to the United States to complete the task of centuries, to stretch out a protecting hand over the Christian natives of Mindanao, and to suppress the last remains of a slave-raiding system, as ruthless, as sanguinary and as devastating as the annals of the world can show.

The Moros of Mindanao are divided into five groups or tribes; Illanos, Sanguiles, Lutangas, Calibuganes, and Yacanes.

(18) The Moros Illanos, who are the most important and the most dangerous community, are described fully later on. They inhabit the country between the Bay of Iligan and Illana Bay, also round Lake Lanao, the Rio Grande and Lake Liguan.

(19) The Moros Sanguiles live on the south coast from the Bay of Sarangani to the River Kulut.

(20) The Moros Lutangas occupy the Island of Olutanga and parts of the adjacent coasts, all round the Bay of Dumanguilas and Maligay, and the eastern coast of the Bay of Sibuguay.

(21) The Moros Calibuganes occupy the western coast of the Bay of Sibuguay, they are also dotted along the outer coast of the Peninsula as far as the Bay of Sindangan. They communicate by land across the mountains.

(22) The Moros Yacanes occupy the western part of the Island of Basilan, and the islands of the Tapul group.

(23) The Moros Samales are not inhabitants of Mindanao, but occupy and dominate the Islands of Jolo, Tawi-tawi and most of the smaller islands of those groups.

Physically, the Moro is a man built for the fatigues of war, whether by sea or land.

His sinewy frame combines strength and agility, and the immense development of the thorax gives him marvellous powers of endurance at the oar or on the march.

Trained to arms from his earliest youth, he excels in the management of the lance, the buckler and the sword. These weapons are his inseparable companions: the typical Moro is never unarmed. He fights equally well on foot, on horseback, in his fleet war canoe, or in the water, for he swims like a fish and dives like a penguin.

Absolutely indifferent to bloodshed or suffering, he will take the life of a slave or a stranger merely to try the keenness of a new weapon. He will set one of his sons, a mere boy, to kill some defenceless man, merely to get his hand in at slaughter. [30] If for any reason he becomes disgusted with his luck, or tired of life, he will shave off his eyebrows, dress himself entirely in red, and taking the oath before his Pandit, run amok in some Christian settlement, killing man, woman and child, till he is shot down by the enraged townsmen.

Wanton destruction is his delight. After plundering and burning some sea-coast town in Visayas or Luzon, they would take the trouble to cut down the fruit trees, destroy the crops and everything else that they could not carry away.

Yet, as they made annual raids, it would have appeared to be good policy to leave the dwellings, the fruit trees, and the crops, in order to tempt the natives to re-occupy the town and acc.u.mulate material for subsequent plundering.

Commonly, very ignorant of his own religion, he is none the less a fanatic in its defence, and nourishes a traditional and fervent hatred against the Christian, whether European or native.

Looking upon work as a disgrace, his scheme of life is simple; it consists in making slaves of less war-like men, to work for him, and taking their best looking girls for his concubines. His victims for centuries, when not engaged on a piratical cruise, have been the hill-tribes of the island, the Subanos, the Tagacaolos, the Vilanes, the Manguangas and others.

Originally immigrants from Borneo, from Celehes or Ternate, with some Arab admixture, the Moros have for centuries filled their harems with the women of the hill-tribes, and with Tagal and Visayas and even Spanish women, taken in their piratical excursions. They are now a very mixed race, but retain all their war-like characteristics.

Cut off from the sea by the Spanish Naval forces, they turned with greater energy than ever to the plundering and enslaving of their neighbours, the hill-men. These poor creatures, living in small groups, could offer but little resistance, and fell an easy prey. But now the devoted labours of the Jesuit missionaries began to bear fruit. They converted the hill-men, and gathered them together in larger communities, better able to protect themselves, and although the Moros sometimes burnt whole towns and slew all who resisted, carrying off the women and children into slavery, yet, on the other hand, it often happened that, getting notice of their approach, the Jesuits a.s.sembled the fighting men of several towns, and, being provided with a few fire-arms by the Government, they fell upon the Moros and utterly routed them, driving them back to their own territory with great loss. Of late years the Moros have found their slave-raids involve more danger than they care to face, and even the powerful confederation of Lake Lanao was, till the Spanish American war, hemmed in by chains of forts and by Christian towns.

But they have by no means entirely renounced their slave-raiding, and in order to give a specific instance of their behaviour in recent years, I will mention that on the 31st. of December, 1893, a party of 370 of them, under the Datto Ali, son to Datto Nua, accompanied by seven other Dattos, all well armed, and forty of them carrying muskets or rifles, and plenty of ammunition, made an unprovoked and treacherous attack on Lepanto, a Christian village in the Montes country, near the confluence of the Kulaman River with the Pulangui, between the Locosocan and Salagalpon cataracts. This is the extreme southern settlement of the Jesuits, and the nearest missionary resided at Linabo, whilst the nearest garrison was at Bugcaon, some four leagues distant.

The inhabitants, not being provided with fire-arms, sought safety in flight, but the Moros captured fourteen of them. They profaned the church, hacked to pieces the image of Our Saviour, and cut up a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, smashed the altar, and with the debris, lighted a bonfire in the middle of the church, which, strange to say, however, did not take fire.

They stole the cattle and horses, looted the village, and marched off with their spoil and the fourteen captives.

When, however, they reached the ford on the River Mulita, five of the Christians refused to proceed into slavery. These were the Datto Mausalaya, another man named Masumbalan, and three women. They were all put to death by the Moros and barbarously mutilated. The flesh was cut from their bones, and it is said that the Moros consumed some of it, and so terrified the other captives that they marched forward into life-long slavery.

Had the converts in Lepanto been supplied with a few fire-arms, this disaster would not have happened.

The Mindanao Moros commonly wear a bright coloured handkerchief as a head-cloth or turban, a split shirt of Chinese pattern, wide trousers, and gaudy sashes.

The young men shave their heads, but after marriage they let their hair grow long.

The dattos, mandarines, and pandits usually cultivate a moustache, others pluck out all the hair on the face. The poorer women commonly dress in white and wear a jacket and a skirt coming down well below the knee. The richer ones wear silks of the brightest colours.

A white turban or head-cloth is a sign of mourning.

The ill.u.s.tration shows a group of Moros of the East coast. They are unarmed, unlike those of Lake Lanao.

The Moro n.o.ble takes great pride in his long descent, and in the distinction gained in war by his ancestors. During the long hours of their friendly meetings called Bicharas, they relate to each other tales of their ancestors' heroism.

Their feudal system has been more or less copied by Subanos, Man.o.bos, Monteses and other hill-races. The datto or mandarin is the feudal chief amongst all these, but the Moros have gone a step further, and have inst.i.tuted rajahs and sultans, although with only a shadowy authority; for every important matter must come before the council of dattos for approval.

They use t.i.tles similar to those of the Malays of Borneo and Joh.o.r.e. Tuang, the head-man of a village; Cuano, a Justice of the Peace; Lamudia, Nacuda and Timuay, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cla.s.s judges; Gangalia, a constable; Baguadato, a princ.i.p.al, or Cabeza; Maradiadina, eldest son of a princ.i.p.al. A datto is known by the richness of his apparel and by using gold b.u.t.tons, and especially by always carrying a handkerchief in his hand. He is usually followed by a slave carrying his siri-box.

Like the Malays, they call the heir of a rajah the Rajah-muda; the nephew of a sultan uses the epithet Paduca; the son of a sultan calls himself Majarasin, the pure or mighty.

Orang-Kaya, corresponds to a magnate; Cachil, to a prince of the blood. The war-minister of a sultan is called the Datto Realao.

A princ.i.p.al priest is called a Sarif or sheriff; and an ordinary priest a Pandita, or learned man.

The learning of these worthies is of the most rudimentary description, and consists in being able to read the Koran in Arabic, and to recite certain prayers which they often do not understand.

They have some wretched sheds for places of worship which they call Langa. During the fast of Sanibayang, which lasts for seven days, they are supposed to abstain from all nourishment. However, at midnight, when they think their G.o.d may be napping, they indulge in a hurried meal on the quiet. At the end of their week of abstinence they undergo a purification by bathing, and indemnify themselves for their fasts by several sumptuous banquets. They are forbidden to eat swine's flesh, or drink spirituous liquors, but they are not at all strict in their religion, and the savoury smell of roast pork has been known to overcome their scruples.

They are very fond of smoking tobacco, and of chewing buyo; some indulge in opium smoking.

Their amus.e.m.e.nts are gambling, c.o.c.k-fighting, and combats of buffaloes. Their slave-girls perform various libidinous dances to the sound of the agun, or bra.s.s gong, and the calintangang, a kind of harmonium of strips of metal struck by a small drum-stick.

The dance called the Paujalay is usually performed at a marriage of any importance, and the young dancers, clad in diaphanous garments, strive to present their charms in the most alluring postures, for the entertainment of the dattos and their guests.

They have also a war-dance called the Moro-moro, which is performed by their most skilful and agile swordsmen, buckler on arm and campilan in hand to the sound of martial music. It simulates a combat, and the dancers spring sideways, backwards or forwards, and cut, thrust, guard, or feint with surprising dexterity.

The Moros are polygamists in general, although the influence of the Christian women taken as captives and sometimes married to their captors, has, in many cases, succeeded in preventing their husbands from taking a second wife. The cleverness and apt.i.tude for business of Christian Visayas, and Tagal women captives, has sometimes raised them to the highest position in rank and wealth amongst the Moros; and few of them would have returned to their former homes, even if an occasion had offered. The custom of seizing girls for slaves and concubines which has prevailed amongst the Moros for centuries, has of course had the effect of encouraging sensuality, and the morals of Moro society may be compared to those of a rabbit-warren.

The Moros do not always treat their slaves with cruelty, they rather strive to attach them to their new home by giving them a female captive or a slave-girl they have tired of, as a wife, a.s.sisting them to build a house, and making their lot as easy as is compatible with getting some work out of them.

But perhaps the greatest allurement to one of these slaves is when his master takes him with him on a slave-raid, and gives him the opportunity of securing some plunder, and perhaps a slave for himself.

Once let him arrive at this stage, and his master need have no fear of his absconding.