By Elsdon Best

(Polynesian Society, Journal, Vol. 1)

When a powerful and highly civilized nation comes in contact with a barbaric and isolated people, who have nevertheless advanced many steps on the road of progress, it would naturally be thought that the superior and conquering race would endeavor to collect and place on record information concerning such people: their manners, customs, language, religion, and traditions. Unfortunately, in the case of the Spanish conquests of the XVI century, that nation appears never to have considered it a duty to hand down to posterity any detailed description of the singularly interesting races they had vanquished. As it was with the Gaunches of the Canaries, the Aztecs of Mexico, and the Quichuas of Peru, so was it with the Chamorro of the Ladrones, and the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes of the Philippines. The same vandal spirit that prompted the conquistadores to destroy the Maya and Aztec literature also moved them to demolish the written records of the Philippine natives, and but few attempts were made to preserve relics or information concerning them. The Spanish priests, as the lettered men of those times, were the persons we should look to for such a work, but in their religious ardor they thought only of the subjugation and conversion of the natives, and so, with the sword in one hand and crucifix in the other, they marched through that fair land ignoring and destroying the evidences of a strange semi-civilization which should have been to them a study of the deepest interest. Fortunately, however, there were a few in that period who were interested in such matters, and who wrote accounts of the state of culture of the islanders of that early date. Some of these MSS. have been preserved in the archives of Manila and have lately attracted the attention of Spanish scholars.

Such is the article from which the greater part of these notes is taken. In the volume for 1891 of the Revista Ibero-Americana, published at Madrid, there appeared a series of papers contributed by the Bishop of Oviedo, and entitled La antigua civilizaciÓn de las Islas Filipinas, in which he gives a very interesting description of the natives and their mode of life. The source of this information is an old folio manuscript written on rice-paper in the year 1610 from data collected at the period of the Spanish conquest of the Philippines by Legaspi. It is extended to the year 1606, and relates minutely the condition of the islanders prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The codex is divided into five books, and these again into 183 capitulos, or chapters. The writer lived in the group for twenty-nine years in order to complete his work, which is authorised by authentic signatures of responsible persons. Extracts have also been made from Miguel de Loarca’s account of the Philippines written in 1583, Dampier’s voyage in the Pinkerton collection, and Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

The first historical existence of the Malay proper is traced to Menangkabau in the Island of Sumatra, from whence they have spread over the islands of the East India Archipelago, and by their vigor, energy and skill have made themselves masters of the original inhabitants. At an early period they probably received instruction from Hindoo immigrants in the arts of working metals, spinning, weaving, etc. As to the whence of the various Malayan tribes of the Philippines, it is most probable that they originally reached the Archipelago from Borneo, or the Malay Peninsula. From northern Borneo the Sulu islands form a series of stepping stones across to Mindanao. As the Tagalog language is looked upon as one of the purest of Malay dialects, and contains the least number of Sanscrit words, it may be inferred from this that the race has occupied the islands from an early date. It is possible that the first settlers were carried thither by ocean currents, and that the Kuro Siwo, or Black Current, which sweeps up past Luzon, is also responsible for the existence of the Kabaran (a Malay tribe) in Formosa. From ancient times boats and men have drifted up from the Malay Islands to Japan, and W. E. F. Griffis, in his “Mikado’s Empire,” states that Shikoku and Kiushiu were inhabited by a mixed race descended from a people who had come from Malaysia and southeast Asia. It is most probable that Micronesia was settled from the Philippine Group, which thus became the meeting ground of the northern migration of Polynesians from Samoa, and the Micronesians proper. The Spanish codex before mentioned states that the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes were thought to be derived from the coast of Malabar and Malacca, and that, according to tradition, they arrived at the islands in small vessels called barangayan under the direction of dato or maguinoo (chiefs or leaders), who retained their chieftainship after the landing as the basis of a social organization of a tribal kind, and that every barangay (district or tribal division) was composed of about fifty families. Nothing definite appears to have been obtained from their traditions as to the original habitat of the race, and this may be accounted for by the supposition that the migration occurred at a remote period, and that all knowledge of their former home was lost. When a migratory race takes possession of new regions it maintains little or no correspondence with those left behind; thus in time they forget their old habitations, and their geographical knowledge is reduced to obscure and fading traditions.

On arriving at their new home the invaders must have ejected the indigenous Aieta from the low-lying country, and driven them back into the mountains. Juan de Salcedo, the Cortes of the Philippines, in his triumphal march round the island of Luzon, was unable to conquer many of the hill tribes, both Aieta and Tagalog, some of whom have remained independent until the present time. The Spanish Government forbade all intercourse with these mountaineers, on pain of one hundred lashes and two years’ imprisonment, and this edict had the effect of preserving the ruder, non-agricultural hill-races.

This invading race of Malays was divided into many different tribes, the principal ones being the Tagalog of Luzon and the Bisayan of the southern isles. The Tagalog, or Ta-Galoc, were the most numerous, and were endowed with all the valor and politeness which can be expected in a semi-civilized people. The Pampangan and Camarine tribes were noted for their generosity. The Cagayans were a brave people, but easily civilized. The Bisayans were also called Pintados, or “painted ones,” by the Spanish, from their custom of tattooing the body. Within this community of tribes there are numerous differences of dialects and customs, clothing, character, and physical structure, which in many cases indicate obvious traces of foreign mixture.

As a race, the Philippine natives of the Malayan tribes are of moderate stature, well-formed, and of a coppery-red color, or, as Morga quaintly describes them, “They were of the color of boiled quinces, having a clever disposition for anything they undertook: sharp, choleric, and resolute.” Both men and women were in the habit of anointing and perfuming their long black hair, which they wore gathered in a knot or roll on the back of the head. The women, who were of pleasing appearance, adorned their hair with jewels, and also wore ear-pendants and finger-rings of gold. The men had little or no beard, and both sexes were distinguished for their large, black eyes. The Zambales, or Beheaders, shaved the front part of the head, and wore on the skull a great lock of loose hair, which custom also obtained among the ancient Chamorro of the Ladrones. Most of the tribes filed their teeth, and stained them black with burnt coconut shell; while among the Bisayans the upper teeth were bored, and the perforations filled with gold, a singular custom observed by Marco Polo in China, and which was also practised in ancient Peru and Egypt. Many of the tribes are spoken of by the early Spanish navigators as being endowed with fair intellectual capacities, possessing great powers of imitation, sober, brave, and determined. The Tagalog character, according to some later writers, is difficult to define: the craniologist and physiognomist may often find themselves at fault. They are great children, their nature being a singular combination of vices and virtues.

The costume of the men consisted of a short-sleeved cotton tunic (chinina), usually black or blue, which came below the waist, a colored cotton waistcloth, or kilt (bahaque), extending nearly to the knee, and over this a belt or sash of silk a handbreadth wide, and terminating in two gold tassels. On the right side hung a dagger (bararao) three palms long, and double-edged, the hilt formed of ivory or gold, and the sheath of carabao-hide. They wore a turban (potong) on the head, and also leg-bands of black reeds or vines such as are seen among the Papuans of New Guinea. Chains, bracelets (calombiga), and armlets of gold, cornelian and agate were much worn, and he was reckoned a poor person who did not possess several gold chains. Hernando Requel, writing home to Spain, stated: “There is more gold in this island of Luzon than there is iron in Biscaya.”

The Tinguianes had a peculiar custom of wearing tightly-compressed bracelets, which stopped the growth of the forearm, and caused the hand to swell. Women wore the tapis, a bordered and ornamented cloth wrapped round the body, which was confined by a belt, and descended to the ankles. The bust was covered with a wide-sleeved camisita, or waist (baro), to which was sometimes added a handkerchief. The women of Luzon were without headdress, but made use of a parasol of palm leaves (payong). Among the Bisayans the women wore a small cap or hood, and in the northern isles they were permitted the luxury of being carried on the shoulders of slaves. Both sexes wore the same dress among the Ilokanos, the chief article of attire being a loose coat (cabaya) similar to those of the Chinese. The dress of the Chief’s wives was more elegant than that of women of the common people (timaguas). They wore white robes, and others of crimson silk, plain or interwoven with gold, and trimmed with fringes and trinkets. From their ears were suspended golden pendants of excellent workmanship, and on their fingers and ankles were massive gold rings set with precious stones. The timaguas and slaves went barefooted, but the upper class wore shoes, the women being daintily shod with velvet shoes embroidered with gold. “Both men and women were very cleanly and elegant in their persons and dress, and of a goodly mien and grace; they took great pains with their hair, rejoicing in its blackness, washing it with the boiled bark of a tree called gogo, and anointing it with musk oil and other perfumes. They bathed daily, and looked upon it as a remedy for almost every complaint. On the birth of a child the mother repaired to the nearest stream, and bathed herself and the little one, after which she returned to her ordinary occupation. Women were well treated among these people, and had for their employment domestic work, needle work, in which they excelled, the spinning and weaving of silk and cotton into various fabrics, and also the preparation of the hemp, palm, and banana fibers.

The Philippine natives, with the exception of some of the hill tribes, were diligent agriculturists, this being their chief occupation. In some mountainous regions they adopted a system of terrace cultivation similar to that of China, Peru, and Northern Mexico in bygone times, and which may also be seen in Java. They cultivated rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, coconuts, sugar-cane, palms, various vegetable roots and fibrous plants. They hunted the wild carabao, deer and wild boar. The flesh of the carabao, or water buffalo, was preserved for future use by being cut into slices and dried in the sun, when it was called tapa. Rice was prepared by being boiled, then pounded in a wooden mortar and pressed into cakes, thus forming the bread of the country. They made palm wine (alac or mosto) from the sap of various species of palms. Food was stored in raised houses similar to the pataka of the Maori. The first fruits of the harvest were devoted to the deified spirits of ancestors, called anito. The Bisayans, when planting rice, had the singular custom of offering a portion of the seed at each corner of the field as a sacrifice. The ordinary dainty among the islanders was the buyo or betel quid, consisting of a leaf of betel pepper (tambul or siri) smeared over with burnt lime and wrapped round a piece of areca nut (bonga).

“The Filipinos,” says the old Spanish padre “lived in houses (bahai) built of bamboo six feet from the ground.” These dwellings were supplied with cane screens in the place of divisions and doors. The elevated floor, where they ate and slept, was also made of split cane, and the whole structure was secured by reeds and cords for want of nails. They ascended to these houses by a portable ladder, which was removed when the inmates went out, a sign that no person might approach the dwelling, which was otherwise unsecured. The house was surrounded by a verandah, and in one apartment were the household utensils, dishes and plates of earthenware, and copper vessels for various purposes. They had, moreover, in their houses some low tables and chairs, also boxes, called tampipi, which served for the purpose of keeping wearing apparel and jewels. Their bedding consisted usually of mats manufactured from various fibers. The houses of the chiefs were much larger and better constructed than those of the timaguas. Many of their villages were built on the banks of rivers and the shores of lakes and harbors, so that they were surrounded by water, in the manner of the seaside dwellings of New Guinea and the Gulf of Maracaibo. Among the Tinguianes tree houses were made use of. In these they slept at night in order to avoid being surprised by enemies, and defended themselves by hurling down stones upon the attacking party, exactly in the same manner as the natives of New Britain do to this day.

The external commerce of the Tagalog tribes was principally with China, of which nation there were vessels in Manila on the arrival of the Spanish. They are also said to have had intercourse with Japan, Borneo, and Siam. They had no coined money, but to facilitate trade they utilized gold as a medium of exchange in the form of dust and ingots, which were valued by weight. Magellan speaks of their system of weights and measures. These people were skilful shipwrights and navigators. The Bisayans were in the habit of making piratical forays among the isles. Their vessels were of various kinds, some being propelled by oars or paddles, and others were provided with masts and sails. Canoes were made of large trees, and were often fitted with keels and decks, while larger vessels, called virey and barangayan, were constructed of planks fastened with wooden bolts. The rowers, with paddles (busey) or oars (gayong), timed their work to the voices of others, who sung words appropriate to the occasion and by which the rowers understood whether to hasten or retard their work. Above the rowers was a platform (bailio) on which the fighting men stood without embarrassing the rowers, and above this again was the carang, or awning. They sometimes used outriggers (balancoire) on both sides of the vessel. The laip and tapaque were vessels of the largest kind, some carrying as many as two hundred and fifty men. The barangayan, a type of vessel used from the earliest times, was singularly like those of the ancients described by Homer.

Society among the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes was divided into three classes, the chiefs and nobles, the common people (timagua), and the slaves. The principal of every group, styled maguinoo among the Tagalogs, bagani by the Manobos, and dato by the Bisayans, was the only political, military, and judicial authority. These chieftainships were hereditary, and the same respect was shown to the women as to the men of the ruling families. Their power over the people was despotic, they imposed a tribute upon the harvests, and could at any time reduce a subject to slavery, or dispose of his property and children. The slaves were divided into two classes: the sanguihuileyes, who were in entire servitude as also were their children, lived and served in the houses of their masters; while the namamahayes lived in houses of their own, and only worked as slaves on special occasions, such as at harvesting and housebuilding. Among this latter class there obtained a peculiar half-bond system, which may be explained thus: In the event of a free man marrying a slave woman, and their having only one son, that child would be half free and half enslaved—that is, he would work one month for his owner and the next for himself. If they had more than one child, the first born would follow the condition of the father, the second of the mother, and so on. If there were uneven numbers, the last born was half free and half bond. Slaves were bought, sold, and exchanged like ordinary merchandise. In their social manners these people were very courteous, more especially the Luzon tribes. They never spoke to a superior without removing their turban. They then knelt upon one knee, raised their hands to their cheeks, and awaited authority to speak. The hongi, or nose-pressing salutation of the Polynesians, was an ancient custom in the Philippine Group, and on the island of Timor. It also obtained among the Chamorro of the Ladrones, who termed it tshomiko. The Philippine natives addressed all superiors in the third person, and added to every sentence the word po, equivalent to Sir. They were given to addresses replete with compliments, and were fond of music of the cud, a guitar with two strings of copper wire. In regard to judicial matters, all complaints were brought before the dato of the barangay (district) for examination. Though they had no written laws, they had established rules and customs by which all disputes were settled, and the chiefs recovered their fees by seizing the property not only of the vanquished party, but also of his witnesses. Trial by ordeal was common, the usual mode being that of plunging the arm into a vessel of boiling water and taking out a stone off the bottom; or a lighted torch was placed in the hands of the accused, and if the flame flickered towards him he was pronounced guilty. Theft was sometimes punished by death, in which case, the condemned was executed by the thrust of a lance. In some cases the punishment was by being reduced to slavery. Loans with excessive interest were ordinary, the debtor and his children often becoming enslaved to the lender. Verbal insults were punished with great severity. It was also regarded as a great insult to step over a sleeping person, and they even objected to awakening one asleep. This seems to refer to the widespread belief of the soul leaving a sleeping body. Their worst curse was “May thou die sleeping.” The male children underwent a species of circumcision at an early age, which was but preparatory to further rites. Their oaths of fidelity, in conventions of peace and friendship, were ratified by the ceremony of bloodbrotherhood, in which a vein of the arm being opened, the flowing blood was drunk by the other party. Among these people was sometimes seen that singular mania for imitation called by the Javanese sakit latar, on the Amoor olon, in Siberia, inuira, and in the Philippines malimali. This peculiar malady, presumably by the result of a deranged nervous system, manifests itself as far as I can gather, in the following manner, the afflicted person is seized with a desire to copy or imitate the action and movements of others, and will do the most extraordinary and ridiculous things to attain his object. The despair induced by this strange mania and its consequent ridicule, urges the unfortunate to end his life in the dreaded Amok. These unfortunates were sometimes attacked by the amok frenzy.

It is certain that gold and copper mines have been worked in the islands from early times. The copper ore was smelted, and worked into various utensils and implements, and the gold was formed into ornaments, or used, as a medium of exchange. The ruder mountain tribes brought much gold from the interior and traded it to the lowland people in exchange for various coveted articles. Several of the tribes were in the habit of tattooing the body, the Bisayans being the most noted for the practice. The Catalangan Iraya used for tattoo patterns, and as decorations for sacred places, certain marks and characters which appeared to be of Chinese or Japanese origin. The Iraya proper used only straight and simple curved lines like those of the Aieta. The Ysarog (Issaro), a primitive race of mountaineers, who have been isolated for centuries, are said by later writers to resemble the Dyaks of Borneo. Time was reckoned in former days by suns and moons, and feasts were held on the occurrence of certain astronomical phenomena. Brass gongs were much used at these feasts, and also on war expeditions.

Such are some of the notes collected in reference to this interesting race. These Tagalogs, Bisayans, Pampangans and Cagayanes were despised by their Iberian conquerors as being ignorant savages; but, as the good old padre says in his MS., they were worthy of being placed on a superior level to certain ancient people who possess a more illustrious fame. And who shall say it was not so?

The various tribes of the Philippines were frequently at war with each other, as seems to be the invariable rule where a race is broken up into many separate divisions. The weapons used in former times were the bow and arrow, the lance, long curved knives, and in the southern isles the blow pipe (sarbacan), for propelling poisoned darts. The arrows and lances were pointed with iron and bone, or were simply hardened with fire. Their defensive armour consisted of carved wooden shields (carans), inlaid with tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl, which covered them from head to foot, and also cuirasses formed of bamboo. It is not clear whether they manufactured artillery, but they certainly used cannon of iron and bronze before the advent of the Spanish, at which time the Mindanao tribes held strongly fortified positions—defended with cannon. These fortifications consisted of earthworks and stockades, sometimes surrounded by morasses. Such were the defences of the town of the Chief Rahamora when Legaspi attacked it. This town consisted of four thousand houses, and, having destroyed it, the victorious Spaniards built on its site, in 1571, the city of Manila. The poison used for the sarbacan darts was either derived from certain trees, or, it is said, from the saliva of a green lizard (chacon). The natives are said by Morga to have used this poison in order to kill the Spanish, for whom they had conceived a most bitter hatred.

The Manobos and Zambals were the most savage tribes. The Manobos surprised their enemies while asleep, slaughtered the men, and enslaved the women and children. The priest opened the breast of the first victim with the sacred knife, took out the heart, and ate it. This tribe also sacrificed slaves to the god of war, to whom the color red was sacred. They were also head-hunters, and hung these trophies to the roofs of their houses. The Zambals, a fierce and savage tribe, were also head-hunters, as their name signifies, and were in the habit of extracting and eating the brains of slain enemies. Among the Ifugaos the lasso is said to have been used as a weapon.

In regard to marriage customs, there was one peculiar form worthy of observation. When a man wished to marry he went to live with his prospective father-in-law, thus becoming a member of the household, and as such he worked at whatever duties were imposed upon him. This lasted sometimes for several years. If the family became dissatisfied with him he was dismissed, but if all went well he paid over to the parents what was known as “the price of the mother’s milk”—that is, a compensation for the rearing of his wife. During the probationary period the young man assumed the name of bagontao, and the girl that of dalaga. They were much given to the practice of divination during the period of the wedding festivities, which lasted for several days. Although polygamy did not exist in a legal sense, yet concubinage was common. The first woman married, however, was the only legitimate wife (inasaba). To the inferior wives were assigned the various domestic labors, the milking of the carabao-cows, and the rearing of ducks, swans, geese, and pigeons. The women, in paying visits or in walking abroad, were attended by a following of maids and slaves. In various tribes the Assuan, an evil deity, was supposed to exercise an evil influence over women in labor, and at such a time the husband mounted the house-roof, or stationed himself, before the door, and, with lance or dagger in hand, cut, and slashed vigorously at the air in order to drive away the dreaded spirit. Among these people also obtained that strange and world-wide custom known among anthropologists as the couvade the origin of which it is difficult to conjecture. In China and Africa, in Egypt and South America, in Malabar and Corsica, among the Basques, Caribs, Burmese, and many other races, this singular custom of simulated maternity seems to have originated independently.

The language of the Philippines was divided into many different dialects, of which the Tagalog, an abundant and copious tongue, was the most perfect specimen. These, together with the languages of various outlying groups, can be traced to the same origin by unequivocal marks of affinity, both in word formation and grammatical construction. In spite of various linguistic changes it has been noted by Le Gobien that the language of the Carolines bears a strong resemblance to the Tagalog, and the same may be said of the ancient Chamorro tongue. The Battak speech of Sumatra is said to be closely allied to the Tagalog. Prichard states that the Malagasi resembles Tagalog more than it does any other Malayan tongue. The Tagalog-Bisayan-languages are said by several writers to be the most highly developed of this family, and are in a transition state between the agglutinative and inflective stages. Von Humboldt considered the Tagalog to be the parent language of the Malay type, but this was denied by Crawfurd. In the Javanese, one hundred and ten words per thousand are Sanscrit, in Malay fifty, in the Bugi, seventeen, in Tagalog one and a half, and in Malagasi there are none. It might be inferred from this that the Tagalog-Bisayan migrations from the southwest took place prior to, or about, the sixth century of our era, about which time the Hindu religion was introduced into the East Indies, bringing with it many Sanscrit terms. The native languages hold their own in the Philippines. Pickering, in his “Races of Man,” states that the Tagalog is still the chief language of Luzon, being in general use in all the interior towns.

In respect to religion, the more advanced of the tribes appeared to have arrived at the stage of intellectual progress when Nature worship begins to give place to a dim idea of a Supreme Being, a Maker of all things. This protecting genius, to whom they offered sacrifices, was called Bathalang Meicapal. These people had a vague conception of a future state in which the good were rewarded and the wicked punished. Among the Bisayans, Ologan was the term for Heaven in their ancient religion, and their Hell was Solad. The souls of their dead were said to pass to the mountain of Medias in the Oton district. Tigbalan was the name of a forest demon among the northern tribes, who was treated with great respect. In passing beneath a tree a native would invariably say “Tavit po,”—that is, “By your leave, my lord.” They practised fire worship and fetishism and paid homage to the Sun, Moon, rainbow, to animals, birds, and even to trees, and to rocks of peculiar appearance. The worship of birds appears to have been confined to two species, the bathala, a small blue bird, and the maylupa, a species of crow or kite. The trees, rocks, and headlands which were close to contrary currents, or places dangerous to navigation, were objects of veneration and dread, and the deities of these places were propitiated by offerings of food, or were supposed to be quelled by a flight of arrows being discharged against them. Influenced by terror, they venerated the crocodile, calling it nono, or grandfather, and it was sometimes tamed and cherished by the priests. These huge saurians were extremely dangerous, and many natives lost their lives by them, for which reason they constructed enclosures for bathing purposes. The Manobos revered the lightning, and believed thunder to be its voice. The Bisayans held that all who perished in battle or were killed by crocodiles became divata. The divata or anito were guardian spirits, and among some tribes were represented by idols of gold, ivory, or stone. There were anito of the cultivations, of the rains, of the sea, cocoanut trees, also of newly-born children, and of children during the period of lactation. Again there were family anito, a species of household gods, who protected the family, and who were principally deified ancestors, having, it is said, ascended to heaven on the rainbow (balangao). Images representing these were kept in the houses, or in the vacant space beneath them, and slaves were sometimes sacrificed in their honor. It has been denied by some writers that the Philippine natives had any idols or images, or any places set apart for religious ceremonies, but the account of Cavendish, the adventurous English navigator, who visited the Philippines in 1588, states: “These people wholly worship the Devil, who appears unto them in divers horrible forms, and they worship him by making figures of these forms, which they keep in caverns and special houses, offering to them perfumes and food, and calling them anito or licha.” The MS. which we quote says: “These people lacked capacious temples, neither had they sacred days set apart for religious practices, but they had at the entrances to their towns, and even close to their houses, small chapels or rooms consecrated to the anito, and to the offering of sacrifices. In these places were deposited offerings of food to sustain the souls of the dead in their journey of three days which divided death from the re-incarnation which ensued. Before the figures also were placed small braziers burning perfumes, and plates of sago and fruits.”

The priests of these tribes were known as catalona in the north, and as babailan among the Bisayans. They were the sorcerers, or “medicine men,” and rude beyond measure was their art in curing, consisting generally of the imaginary extraction of pebbles, leaves, or pieces of cane from the affected part. The priests possessed great authority among the people. In their invocations to the anito they sometimes deceived the spectators by a peculiar sound produced by burning the kernels of the cashew (casuy); “and at all times,” says the padre, “they were assisted by the devil.” The secret of these frauds was transmitted by inheritance, or was sold to the highest bidder, and after being consecrated the priests did no other work than net-making or weaving cloth.

As to their sacrifices, the object of them in many cases was to gain a knowledge of the future. Among other modes, they practised divination by an examination of the victim’s entrails, and also by the stars, both widely spread customs. In the case of prolonged illness a new house was built, and the patient removed to it. The priestess being summoned, she sacrificed according to the wealth of the offerers, sometimes a tortoise, and sometimes as many as three slaves. The house was filled with small tables, on which were placed refreshments, and which correspond with the number of guests. The priestess performed a sacred dance, purified and sacrificed the victim, and with the warm blood sprinkled the most distinguished of the guests, distributing to the remainder small copper bells. After repeating an incantation the entrails were examined after the manner of the Roman augurs, by the priests, who were often seized with convulsions, made grotesque contortions, foamed at the mouth, and finally announced the sentence of the death, or recovery of the patient. If the omen was of health, a revel was held, and the valor of the patient’s family and ancestors celebrated with songs. If the omen was of death, they diverted the mind of the patient by dancing, drinking, singing his praises, and persuading him that the gods removed him from this world in order to elevate him to the dignity of anito. At the close of the proceedings the priest received presents of gold and food from the guests. Sacrifices which were offered before undertaking a war or assault were conducted in a similar manner. Others, which were arranged by the chiefs, and dedicated to the principle of good, were celebrated with feasting and dancing to the sound of their primitive music. The best dancer was invited by the priest to give the fatal thrust, and the flesh of sacrificed hogs was distributed among the guests, who looked upon it as sacred food.

The Philippine natives had a firm belief in omens and superstitions of many kinds. Thus, in the house of the fishermen, new nets were not spoken of until they had been tested and found reliable, and among hunters the merits of dogs recently acquired were not discussed until they had been successful in catching game. A belief in the invulnerability (anting) of certain persons was a common superstition. A pregnant woman was not allowed to cut her hair for fear the infant should be bald. Much importance was attached to dreams, of which they were anxious to divine the meaning. In order to navigate their seas with safety it was not permitted to carry in the vessel either animals or land birds, nor even to name them; and in like manner, when travelling by land, they did not mention things which pertained to the sea. Before embarking on a voyage they caused the boat to oscillate and observed carefully to which side it inclined the most. If to the right, it was accepted as a good omen, but if to the left, it was an evil omen. They also tied together many cords, and one end being made fast, would rub the other between the hands, and by observing the manner in which the cords became entangled, they inferred the good or evil fortune which fate had in store for them.

The geogony of primitive and semi-civilized races always contains an element of interest, and that of the Philippine natives was certainly a singular belief. The creators of the earth were the sky and the kite, and the sea. After the bird had flown many times across the ocean, and found nothing to alight upon, the sky, in quarreling with the sea, caused the bird to throw huge rocks with the aim of subduing it. These rocks became islands, and the earth generally.

The tradition of the origin of man is as follows: “Two logs of bamboo, impelled by the waves, were cast on shore at the feet of the bird, which becoming enraged, began to pick them to pieces, when there appeared from the first log a man, and from the second a woman, thus proving the monogeny of the human species.” The man succeeded in gaining the affections of the woman, and from them are descended the whole human race. The dispersion of the race throughout the world was caused by a family quarrel. The many children of the primal couple lived independent in the house of the parents, which displeased the father, who belabored them with a cudgel, and expelled them from the house. Some concealed themselves in the house, and from them are descended the maguinoo, or chiefs. Others went out openly from the house, and these were the fathers of the timagua (timawa) or freemen, and yet others took refuge in the cooking-sheds and beneath the house. From these last sprang the slaves. Finally, those who were banished, and never returned, became the ancestors of distant people, and remote tribes. It is worthy of note that, on the arrival of the Spanish, they were supposed by the natives to be the descendants of the last-mentioned migration. The various animals are also said by tradition to have been derived from other logs of bamboo; and the fact that the monkey came from one close to that which contained man, explains satisfactorily the resemblance between them.

Respecting their idea of a future life, the belief was, that preceding the state of happiness after death, there was a series of incarnations or purifications of the soul, which successive transmigrations took place in a cluster of one and fifty islands, on which were sheltered the souls of the dead. In those beautiful isles departed spirits enjoyed perpetual youth. In this paradise there were trees always loaded with ripe fruits, and fastened to the earth by chains of gold, which served as roots. Of gold also were the ornaments, the bells, ear-rings (panica), the cloths (isine), and many other things. The shores of the sea were formed of pure rice, and there was also a sea of milk, and another of linogao, which is rice boiled with milk or fat. Yet another sea was of blood, and on the bank of this grew plants, whose flowers had petals of flesh ready for eating.

These people held primitive notions concerning original sin, and also cherished a belief in the punishments and rewards of a future life. They accounted for the coming of death into the world in the following manner: Far back in the very night, the god Laon possessed a most beautiful fish which was his delight, also a tree which bore the most luscious fruits. The offenders killed the fish and plucked the fruit. For this offence Laon caused men to die in all ages.

Such was then the state of civilization among the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes at the time when the Malay Mohammedans, and the Spanish conquistadores attempted, from opposite points, to introduce their religions into the archipelago. The Moros of the Sulu Islands were beginning to overrun the Philippines on the arrival of the Spanish, and would eventually have Mohammedanised the entire group. The Philippine natives at this time were in a singularly interesting stage of intellectual progress. They had lived through the crude fetishism of savagedom, and were emerging from the second stage of religious feeling, during which they had evolved, out of the contemplation of Nature, one of those wonderful mythologies which are met with among so many nations. They were beginning to renounce the old Nature worship, of which the central figure was a Supreme Maker.

It has been truly said that nothing requires such calm and impartial judgment as the inquiry into the moral and religious condition of uncivilized races. The co-evolution of religion and civilization is an extremely interesting subject to the student of anthropology, when he notes the gradual refinement of the national religion as the culture of the race improves, and the degradation of that religion when a race retrogrades in civilization. It is one of the many grand problems, based on the retributive laws of Nature, which confront the enquirer into that great and wonderful mystery—the development of the human race. Well it is for him who can learn from the savage Aieta, or the semi-civilized Tagalog, a lesson in the evolution of the human intellect; but, unfortunately, so many who have golden opportunities of studying the intellect and works of uncultured man are careless of those matters, and look with contempt upon the noblest of studies. They cannot interest themselves in the struggling intellect of primitive man; they no longer understand the craving of youth for advancement; they disdain to look upon the dawn of intellectual day.

These are the most interesting points procured from the aforementioned works on the Philippine Islands, a land which we call new, but in which the events of the Tagalog-Bisayan migrations were but as of yesterday. Here, as elsewhere, the rude savage retreats before a superior race, but the receptive Tagalog attaches himself to the civilization of his conquerors. He had already advanced himself to the difficult highway that leads from barbarism to a higher culture, and was thus enabled to receive the teachings of his Iberian invaders; but he who would seek the indigenous Aieta must look for him in the distant recesses of the primeval forest, or in the dark and gloomy caÑons of the great ranges.