The Phillipine pony is not an indigenous animal. It is said to have originated from the small Andalusian horse and the Chinese mare. I have ridden more than 500 Philippine ponies, and, in general, I have found them swift, strong, and elegant animals when well cared for. Geldings are rarely met with. Before the American occupation ponies ranged in value from ?25 to ?150 for a sound animal. Unfortunately, prices of everything have risen since 1898, and, moreover, a fatal horse-disease, called “surra,” unknown in the Islands before that period, has considerably reduced the stock of ponies. Due to these causes, ponies cost to-day about three times the former prices.

The importation of Spanish and Australian horses resulted in failure, because green grass (zacate)—the fodder of Philippine ponies—was not the diet they had been accustomed to. Amateur enthusiasts constantly urged the Spanish authorities to take measures for the improvement of the breed, and in 1888 the acting Gov.-General MoltÓ sent a commission to British India to purchase breeding-horses and mares. A number of fine animals was brought to Manila, but the succeeding Gov.-General, Weyler, disapproved of the transaction, and the stock was sold to the public. Two stallions and two mares fetched together ?2,600, the prices of the others ranging about ?700 each.

Pony-races took place at Santa Mesa (Manila) every spring. They were organized by “the Manila Jockey Club,” usually patronized by the Gov.-General of the day, and the great meet lasted three days, when prizes were awarded to the winners. Ponies which had won races in Manila fetched from ?300 to ?1,000. The new racecourse is at Pasay.

In CebÚ also there were pony races every autumn on the racecourse facing the Cotta and the Government House.

Since 1898 the American authorities have imported thousands of horses from the United States for the public service, and American dealers have brought quantities of them from Australia and the United States for private sale. All their fodder, however, has to be procured from America in pressed bales, as they cannot thrive on the food of the country. It is thought, however, that a plant, called Teosinte, which is now being cultivated, will be suitable for horse-fodder when the animals become thoroughly acclimatized.

The ordinary native has no notion of the proper treatment of ponies, his idea being, generally, that this highly nervous animal can be managed by brute force and the infliction of heavy punishment. Sights, as painful as they are ridiculous, are often the result of this error. Unfortunately, the lower-class native feels little attachment to any animal but the Buffalo, or Carabao, as it is called here, and the family pig.

Buffaloes six years old are considered in the prime of life for beginning work, and will continue at hard labour, when well pastured and bathed, for another six years. At 12 years of age a carefully worked buffalo will still serve for light labour for about five years. It is an amphibious animal, and if left to itself it would pass quite one-third of its life in water or mud, whilst it is indispensable to allow it to bathe every day. When grazing near flooded land it will roam into the water up to its neck and immerse its head for two minutes at a time, searching for vegetable food below the surface. Whilst undisturbed in the field it is usually accompanied by five or six white herons, which follow in its trail in perfect security and feed on the worms and insects brought to the surface by its foot-prints. It seems also to enjoy the attentions of a small black bird, which hops about on its back and head to cleanse its skin and ears of vermin. It is curious to watch this bird flying towards the buffalo, which raises its head to receive it.

The rustic and the buffalo are familiar companions, and seem to understand each other perfectly well. There is a certain affinity between them in many ways. When a peasant is owner of the animal he works, he treats it almost like one of the family. It is very powerful, docile, slow in its movements, and easy to train. Many times I have seen a buffalo ridden and guided by a piece of split rattan attached to a rattan-ring in its nostril by a child three years of age. It knows the voices of the family to which it belongs, and will approach or stand still when called by any one of them. It is not of great endurance, and cannot support hard work in the sun for more than a couple of hours without rest and bathing if water be near. Europeans cannot manage this animal, and very few attempt it; it requires the patience, the voice, and the peculiar movement of the native.

Altogether the buffalo may be considered the most useful animal in the Philippines. It serves for carting, ploughing, carrying loads on its back, and almost all labour of the kind where great strength is required for a short time. A peasant possessed of a bowie-knife, a buffalo, and good health, need not seek far to make an independent living. I owe a certain gratitude to buffaloes, for more than once they have pulled my carriage out of the mud in the provinces, where horses could get along no farther. Finally, buffalo-meat is an acceptable article of food when nothing better can be got; by natives it is much relished. Its flesh, like that of deer and oxen, is sometimes cut into thin slices and sun-dried, to make what is called in the Philippines Tapa, in Cuba Tasajo, and in Spain Cecina.

In the Visayas Islands oxen are used as draught-animals as frequently as buffaloes,—sometimes even for carriages.

Wild buffaloes are met with, and, when young, they are easily tamed. Buffalo-hunting, as a sport, is a very dangerous diversion, and rarely indulged in, as death or victory must come to the infuriated beast or the chaser. A good hunting-ground is Nueva Ecija, near the Caraballo de Baler Mountain.

The domesticated buffalo is subject to a bronchial disease called garrotillo; it rarely recovers from a serious sprain, and more rarely still from a broken leg. In 1887–88, an epidemic disease, previously unknown, appeared among the cattle, and several thousands of them died. From the autopsy of some diseased buffaloes, it was seen that the inside had become converted into blood. Agriculturists suffered great losses. In the poor neighbourhood of Antipolo alone, 1,410 head of cattle died within four months, according to a report which the Governor of MÓrong showed to me. An old acquaintance of mine in Bulacan Province lost 85 per cent. of his live-stock in the season, whilst the remainder were more or less affected.

As a consequence of the Revolution (1896–98) and the War of Independence (1899–1901) the stock of buffaloes was considerably reduced, many thousands of these useful animals having been stolen from their owners by the belligerents, only to slay them or work them to death. When peace dawned again on the Colony, rinderpest commenced to make ravages in the buffalo herds, which are now reduced to a mere fraction of what they were in 1896. The consequences of these losses in live-stock are referred to in Chap. xxxi. Before the wars, a buffalo could be got for ?10 in places, such as hemp districts, where ploughing is seldom necessary, whilst in the sugar-yielding Island of Negros ?30 was about the lowest price for an average trained animal. The present value is from ?125 to ?250.

In all my travels in this Colony I have seen only five Donkeys, which were imported simply as curiosities.

Mules have been imported into the Islands by the American authorities for the public service. If sold they would fetch about ?300 each. They are the most satisfactory draught-animals ever introduced and, but for the fear of the new disease “surra,” might take the place of buffaloes in agriculture.

Sheep do not thrive in this climate. They are brought from Shanghai, and, as a rule, they languish and die in a few months. Oxen, goats, dogs, cats, pigs, monkeys, fowls, ducks, turkeys, and geese are among the ordinary domestic live-stock. Both the dogs and the cats are of very poor species, and the European breeds are eagerly sought for. The better class of natives have learned to appreciate the higher instincts of the European dog. Many Chinese dogs with long, straight hair, pointed nose, small eyes, and black tongues are brought over from Hong-Kong. All thoroughbred Philippine cats have a twist in their tails, and are not nearly so fine as the European race.

Natives do not particularly relish mutton or goat's flesh, which they say is heating to the blood. I have found stewed monkey very good food, but the natives only eat it on very rare occasions, solely as a cure for cutaneous diseases. No flesh, fish or poultry has the same flavour here as in Europe; sometimes, indeed, the meat of native oxen sold in Manila has a repulsive taste when the animal has been quickly fattened for the market on a particular herb, which it eats readily. Neither can it be procured so tender as in a cold climate. If kept in an ice-chest it loses flavour; if hung up in cool air it becomes flabby and decomposes. However, the cold-storage established by the American authorities and private firms, since 1898, has greatly contributed to improve the supply of tender meat, and meat shipments are regularly received from Australia and America.

The seas are teeming with fish, and there are swarms of sharks, whose victims are numerous, whilst crocodiles are found in most of the deep rivers and large swamps in uncultivated tracts. The Taclobo sea-shell is sometimes found weighing up to about 180 lbs. Fresh-water fish is almost flavourless and little appreciated.

In all the rice-paddy fields, small fish called DalÁg (Ophiocephalus vagus), are caught by the natives, for food, with cane nets, or rod and line, when the fields are flooded. Where this piscatorial phenomenon exists in the dry season no one has been able satisfactorily to explain.

The only beast of prey known in the Philippines is the wild cat, and the only wild animal to be feared is the buffalo.

Both the jungles and the villages abound with insects and reptilia, such as lizards, snakes, iguanas, frogs, and other batrachian species, land-crabs, centipedes1, tarantulas, scorpions, huge spiders, hornets, common beetles, queen-beetles (elator noctilucus) and others of the vaginopennous order, red ants (formica smaragdina), etc. Ants are the most common nuisance, and food cannot be left on the table a couple of hours without a hundred or so of them coming to feed. For this reason sideboards and food-cupboards are made with legs to stand in basins of water. There are many species of ants, from the size of a pin's head to half an inch long. On the forest-trees a bag of a thin whitish membrane, full of young ants, is sometimes seen hanging, and the traveller, for his own comfort, should be careful not to disturb it.

Boa-Constrictors are also found, but they are rare, and I have never seen one in freedom. They are the most harmless of all snakes in the Philippines. Sometimes the Visayos keep them in their houses, in cages, as pets. Small Pythons are common. The snakes most to be dreaded are called by the natives Alupong and Daghong-palay (TagÁlog dialect). Their bite is fatal if not cauterized at once. The latter is met with in the deep mud of rice-fields and amongst the tall rice-blades, hence its name. Stagnant waters are nearly everywhere infested with Leeches. In the trees in dense forests there is also a diminutive species of leech which jumps into one's eyes.

In the houses and huts in Manila, and in most low-lying places, mosquitoes are troublesome, but thanks to an inoffensive kind of lizard with a disproportionately big ugly head called the chacon, and the small house-newt, one is tolerably free from crawling insects. Newts are quite harmless to persons, and are rather encouraged than otherwise. If one attempts to catch a newt by its tail it shakes it off and runs away, leaving it behind. Rats and mice are numerous. There are myriads of cockroaches; but happily fleas, house-flies, and bugs are scarce. In the wet-season evenings the croaking of frogs in the pools and swamps causes an incessant din.

In the dry-season evenings certain trees are illuminated by swarms of fire-flies, which assemble and flicker around the foliage as do moths around the flame of a candle. The effect of their darting in and out like so many bright sparks between the branches is very pretty.

There are many very beautiful Moths and Butterflies. In 1897 I brought home about 300 specimens of Philippine butterflies for the Hon. Walter Rothschild.

The White Ant (termes), known here as Anay, is by far the most formidable insect in its destructive powers. It is also common in China. Here it eats through most woods, but there are some rare exceptions, such as Molave, Ipil, Yacal, etc. If white ants earnestly take possession of the woodwork of a building not constructed of the finest timber, it is a hopeless case. I have seen deal-wood packing-cases, which have come from Europe, so eaten away that they could not be lifted without falling to pieces. Merchants' warehouses have had to be pulled down and rebuilt owing to the depredations of this insect, as, even if the building itself were not in danger, no one would care to risk the storage of goods inside. The destruction caused by anay is possibly exaggerated, but there is no doubt that many traders have lost considerable sums through having had to realize, at any price, wares into which this insect had penetrated.

Bats are to be seen in this Colony, measuring up to 5 feet from tip to tip of their wings. They are caught for the value of their beautiful soft skins, which generally find a sale to Europeans returning home. Bat-shooting is a good pastime, and a novelty to Europeans. Small Bats frequently fly into the houses in the evening.

Deer and Wild Boars are plentiful, and afford good sport to the huntsman. In MÓrong district—in Negros Island—and in Rizal Province, on and in the vicinity of the estate which I purchased—I have had some good runs. Monkeys, too, abound in many of the forests. In all the islands there is enjoyment awaiting the sportsman. Pheasants, snipe, a dozen varieties of wild pigeons, woodcock, jungle-fowl (gallus bankiva), wild ducks, water-fowl, etc. are common, whilst there are also turtle-doves, calaos (buceros hydrocorax), hawks, cranes, herons, crows, parrots, cockatoos, kingfishers, parroquets, and many others peculiar to the Archipelago which I will leave to ornithologists to describe.2 One curious species of pigeon (calanas nicobarina) is called in Spanish Paloma de puÑalada because of the crimson feathers on its breast, which look exactly as if they were blood-stained from a dagger-stab.3 In 1898 I saw some specimens of this pigeon in the Hamburg Zoological Gardens. There are several birds of gorgeous plumage, such as the oropendolo (Spanish name).

It is a curious fact that these Islands have no singing birds.

The Locust Plague is one of the great risks the planter has to run. In 1851 the Government imported some Martins from China with the hope of exterminating the locusts. When the birds arrived in the port of Manila they were right royally received by a body of troops. A band of music accompanied them with great ceremony to Santa Mesa, where they were set at liberty, and the public were forbidden to destroy them under severe penalties. At that date there were countless millions of locusts among the crops. These winged insects (TagÁlog, balan?g) come in swarms of millions at a time, and how to exterminate them is a problem. I have seen a mass of locusts so dense that a row of large trees the other side of them could not be distinguished. Sailing along the Antique coast one evening, I observed, on the fertile shore, a large brown-coloured plateau. For the moment I thought it was a tract of land which had been cleared by fire, but on nearing it I noticed that myriads of locusts had settled on several fields. We put in quite close to them and I fired off a revolver, the noise of which caused them to move off slowly in a cloud. When locusts settle on cultivated lands, miles of crops are often ruined in a night by the foliage being consumed, and at daybreak only fields of stalks are to be seen. In the daytime, when the locusts are about to attack a planted field, the natives rush out with their tin cans, which serve as drums, bamboo clappers, red flags, etc., to scare them off, whilst others light fires in open spaces with damp fuel to raise smoke. Another effective method adopted to drive them away is to fire off small mortars, such as the natives use at provincial feasts, as these insects are sensitive to the least noise.

The body of a locust is similar in appearance to a large grasshopper. The females are of a dark brown colour, and the males of a light reddish-brown. The female extends the extremity of her body in the form of an augur, with which she pierces the earth to the depth of an inch, there to deposit her eggs. In two or three weeks the eggs hatch. Every few days the females lay eggs, if allowed to settle. The newly-born insects, having no wings until they are about ten days old, cannot be driven off, and in the meantime they make great havoc among the crops, where it is difficult to extinguish them. The method employed to get rid of them is to place a barrier, such as sheets of corrugated iron roofing, at one side of a field, dig a pit in front of the barrier, and send a number of men to beat round the three sides of the field until the young locusts jump in heaps into the pit. I have heard planters say that they have succeeded, in this way, in destroying as much as 20 tons of locusts in one season. I do not know the maximum distance that locusts can fly in one continuous journey, but they have been known to travel as much as 60 miles across the sea. Millions of unwinged locusts (called lucton) have been seen floating down river streams, whilst, however, the winged insect cannot resist the heavy rains which accompany a hurricane.

It is said that the food passes through the body of a locust as fast as it eats, and that its natural death is due either to want of nourishment, or to a small worm which forms in the body and consumes it. It is also supposed that the female dies after laying a certain number of eggs. Excepting the damage to vegetation, locusts are perfectly harmless insects, and native children catch them to play with; also, when fried, they serve as food for the poorest classes—in fact, I was assured, on good authority, that in a certain village in Tayabas Province, where the peasants considered locusts a dainty dish, payment was offered to the parish priest for him to say Mass and pray for the continuance of the luxury. In former times, before there were so many agriculturists interested in their destruction, these insects have been known to devastate the Colony during six consecutive years.

In the mud of stagnant waters, a kind of beetle, called in Visaya dialect Tan?ga, is found, and much relished as an article of food. In the dry season, as much as fifty cents a dozen is paid for them in Molo (Yloilo) by well-to-do natives. Many other insects, highly repugnant to the European, are a bonne bouche for the natives.