II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CIVILIZED OR CHRISTIAN TRIBES. Extracts from Early Narratives and Reports-Comments of Recent Travelers and of Clergymen-Opinions of some of the American Governors and Census Supervisors-Governor Taft's Description of Filipino Traits and Customs. There is a strong resemblance, mentally, morally, and physically, between the members of the eight civilized tribes, the principal difference being in respect to language. This is quite apparent when they assemble in large numbers, as well as in their manners and customs and their way of dealing with persons and things. Doctor Barrows has fully discussed the differences which prevail in the several dialects and the probable cause of these variations. It is sufficient to say that while as a medium of communication the dialects are so distinct that one tribe can not understand another, many of the words apparently have a common philological basis. Be this as it may, there is no doubt but that the Filipinos have a common racial origin and, at one time, had a common language; and that the division into tribes with different dialects was largely due to the incessant warfare which prevailed, and still prevails among certain branches of the Igorots and among other tribes, not prevented from free communication by any other obstacle, natural or artificial. Of the characteristics, manners, customs, and superstitions of the civilized Filipinos a great deal has been written and told. Every professional traveler of consequence who has visited the islands during the past two hundred and fifty years, and a great many other people, have stated their opinions and conclusions, which differ so widely in essentials that it is not easy from their accounts to reach a conclusion regarding the general character of the civilized Filipinos, except as most incomprehensible, or as a people who will fit any description whatever between ignorance and enlightenment, intellectual capacity and incapacity, virtue and vice, treachery and fidelity, cowardice and courage, lying and veracity, the thief and the honest man. Some of these commentators have had years of close contact with and observation of the Filipinos; others have had so little experience with them that one marvels at the accounts they have given, while between the two extremes are those who have had reasonable opportunities for observation and whose views are conservative, but none the less convincing on that account. As this subject is one of much interest, it is proposed to quote, without comment, from those who have been in the Philippine Islands long enough to be entitled to an opinion, and who (492) have had some opportunity to study the character, manners, customs, and superstitions of the natives. In reading these diverse views it is well to consider the point of view of the relator, as well as his mental attitude toward the subject. Legaspi, who reached the Philippines in 1565, thus describes the Filipinos of Cebú: * * * These people wear clothes, but they go barefooted. Their dress is made of cotton or of a kind of grass resembling raw silk. * They are a crafty and treacherous race and understand everything. * *They are naturally of a cowardly disposition and distrustful, and if one has treated them ill they will never come back. * ** They are a people extremely vicious, fickle, untruthful, and full of other superstitions. No law binds relative to relative, parents to children, or brother to brother. No person favors another unless it is for his own interest. On the other hand, if a man in some time of need shelters a relative or a brother in his house, supports him, and provides him with food for a few days, he will consider that relative as his slave from that time on, and is served by him. When these people give or lend anything to one another, the favor must be repaid double, even if between parents and children, or between brothers. At times they sell their own children when there is little need or necessity for doing so. * * * * * * * * Privateering and robbery have a natural attraction for them. Whenever the occasion presents itself, they rob one another, even if they be neighbors or relatives, and when they see and meet one another in the open fields at nightfall they rob and seize one another. * * * Any native who possesses a basketful of rice will not seek for more, or do any further work until it is finished. Thus does their idleness surpass their covetousness. I believe that these natives could be easily subdued by good treatment and the display of kindness. But if we undertake to subdue them by force of arms, and make war on them, they will perish and we will lose both friends and foes, for they readily abandon their houses and towns for other places, or precipitately disperse among the mountains and uplands and neglect to plant their fields. One can see a proof of this in the length of time it takes them to settle down again in a town which has been plundered, even if no one of them has been killed or captured. * They easily believe what is told and presented forcibly to them. They hold some superstitions, such as the casting of lots before doing anything, and other wretched practices, all of which will be easily eradicated if we have some priests who know their language and will preach to them. * * * * * When this was written Legaspi had been in the islands four years. Francisco de Sande, who was governor from 1575 to 1580, in a letter to Philip IV, said: Most of the Indians are heathen, but have no intelligent belief or any ceremonies. They believe in their ancestors and, when about to embark upon some enterprise, commend themselves to these, asking them for aid. They are greatly addicted to licentiousness and drunkenness, and are accustomed to plunder and cheat one another. They are all usurers, lending money for interest, and go even to the point of making slaves of their debtors, which is the usual method of obtaining slaves. Another way is through their wars, whether just or unjust. * They do not understand any kind of work, unless it be to do something actually necessary, such as to build their houses, which are made of stakes after their fashion, to fish according to their method, to row and perform the duties of sailors, and to cultivate the land. * * The natives are all very idle. If they would apply themselves to * * * work a little of the time, they could have all they wanted, but as it is a hot country and they are barbarians, they go naked. Nevertheless, all know how to raise cotton and silk, and everywhere they know how to spin and weave for clothing. There is no need for any one to spend any gold, for they catch the fish which they eat, the wine is made from palms which are very abundant, and from these same trees they obtain also oil and vinegar. In the mountains there are wild boars, deer, and buffalo, which they can kill in any desired number. Rice, which is the bread of the country, grows in abundance. Therefore, they are afflicted by no poverty, and only seek to kill one another, considering it a great triumph to cut off one another's heads and take captives. Antonio de Morga, who resided in the Philippines several years, the first auditor of the audiencia of Manila, in his book on "The Philippine Islands," published in 1609, wrote as follows in describing the natives of Ambos Camarines: The people who inhabit this great island of Luzón, in the province of Camarines, as far as near the provinces of Manila, both in the maritime districts and in the interior, are natives of this island, of middling stature, of the color of boiled quinces, well featured, both men and women, the hair very black, scanty beard, of a clever disposition for anything they undertake, sharp and choleric, and resolute. All live by their labor, gains, fishing, and trade, navigating by sea from one island to another, and going from one province to another by land. They very generally bathe their whole bodies in the rivers and creeks, both old and without hesitation, for at no time does it do them any harm. young, Gaspar de San Agustín, an Augustinian friar, about the year 1703, wrote as follows regarding the natives of the Philippines: * * * * * * * * They are generally inconstant, distrustful, malicious, sleepy, idle, timid, and fond of traveling by rivers, lakes, and seas. * They are envious, ill-bred, and impertinent. * * They take care of their own plates, and exhibit in their dwellings some possessed before the arrival of the Spaniards, but in convents and houses they break enough plates to ruin their masters. *They are bold and insolent in * * * * * * * * * making unreasonable requests, careless of the when or how. For their four eggs they want a hundred dollars. It matters little, however, for they are just as well pleased when they fail as when they succeed. * In selling they will ask thirty and accept six; they take the chance of cheating. The Indians show great indifference to danger; they will not move out of the way of a restive horse, nor, if in a small boat, give place to a large one. In the river, if they see crocodiles approaching, they take no notice, and adopt no precautions. The Koran says that everyone has his fate written in the marks on his forehead; so think the Indians, not that they have read the Koran, but because of their own folly, which exposes them to daily misfortunes. They are very credulous among themselves. * * * It is evident that the act of faith is supernatural when they acknowledge the divine mysteries taught by the Spaniards. In other matters they believe nothing which is adverse to their interests. They do not object to rob Spaniards, not even the ministers of religion. * * * Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, an Augustinian friar who had lived among the Filipinos for seventeen years, published in 1803, at Manila, a "Historical View of the Philippine Islands," in which he says: The Indians whom the Spaniards found here were of regular stature, and of an olive complexion, with flat noses, large eyes, and long hair. They all possessed some |