In the lower part of the Philippine group, in the islands of Sulu and Mindanao, the Catholic Spanish conqueror early came into conflict with a religion not less intense and fanatical than his own. The story of this fierce struggle between Malay Mussulman and Spanish Catholic reads not unlike the more celebrated conflict between Christian and Mohammedan in the days of good King Ferdinand and pious Isabella. Here, too, was waged that dire battle of the creeds that deluged half of Europe with holy blood. Here, too, was mutual advance and retreat, but no reconciliation—no conversion.

The island of Sulu, on account of its position between Mindanao and Borneo, became, in this wise, populated by the followers of the Prophet: About three centuries ago Paguian Tindig, a Borneo chief, quarreled with his brother and was forced to flee for his life. He landed on Sulu Island, where he soon achieved great fame as a warrior. His cousin, Adasaolan, who had accompanied him, had taken up his abode in Basilan. Here he lorded it over the natives, but acknowledged the suzerainty of the Spaniards.

Adasaolan married a Mahometan princess—a daughter of the King of Mindanao, where, it appears, Islamism had been carried by Arab missionaries.

Soon afterward, Adasaolan, longing for the possession of the fat acres of Sulu, attacked his cousin Tindig, and vanquished that intrepid soldier, who died fighting bravely. However, Rajah Bongso, and not Adasaolan, succeeded Tindig. Nevertheless, Adasaolan had, with the aid of friends from Borneo and Mindanao, introduced Mahometanism into Sulu, which has since become the Mecca of the Philippines.

In 1596 the Spaniards sent an expedition to Mindanao, but were repulsed. Their ravages and constant desire for conquest embittered the Mohammedans,—who, retaliating, began to fit out expeditions against their Christian enemies; like birds of prey they hovered round the bays with their prahus, penetrating every inlet. These pirates soon became the terror of the Spanish coasts, and were as brave as they were merciless. For three centuries they preyed upon Spanish merchantmen, pillaged the northern towns and villages, massacring the old and helpless, leading thousands of Christian women into concubinage, and tens of thousands of able-bodied men into slavery. Myriads were thus murdered, and incalculable damage done, all because of the continued attempt of the Spaniards to win their southern neighbors to their own faith.

In 1750 the Sultan Mahamed Alimudin, having been deposed by his brother, Prince Bantilan, visited Manila. He was lavishly entertained by the Priest-Governor, who was unceasing in his efforts to persuade him to embrace Christianity. The Sultan at last yielded and was baptized. He was christened Ferdinand I. of Sulu. The rank of a Spanish Lieutenant-General was also accorded him.

All this was done with great pomp and ceremony. Te Deums were sung in all the churches; glittering processions marched daily through the streets; comedies were acted on the streets, for the benefit of the populace, who shared in the general rejoicing: bull-fights and other equally delightful and harmless recreations were also the order of the day—all given at the expense of the Church, which regarded the conversion of the Head of the hated Mussulmans as an event of no ordinary importance.

The Sultan lived in great state. He had a retinue of sixty persons, and was accompanied by many of the princes of the blood. All lived on the generous bounty of Spain.

Measures were now apparently begun to restore the deposed monarch to his throne. But the Spaniards pretended to discover that the Sultan harbored designs against them, and that he possessed a secret preference for the Mussulman faith. For this crime he, with all his relatives and retainers, 160 in number, was cast into prison, where he was confined several years.

A decree of extermination was then declared against the Mohammedans. A fleet of ships, carrying 2000 men, at once proceeded to Sulu, which the natives defended most ably. The Spanish campaign proved a dismal failure, and awful were the reprisals of the infuriated Mussulmans.

In 1755 most of the Sultan’s suite was sent back to Sulu, though the Sultan himself was still kept in close confinement.

The wily Mohammedan again professed Christianity; but, though the Sultan was henceforth treated with greater leniency, he was not released: he remained captive in Manila until the occupation of the British, in 1763, who restored him to his throne in Sulu.

As might be expected, Mahamed lost no opportunity to avenge the insults that his hereditary enemies had for so many years been heaping upon him; accordingly, he led several incursions against them.

I have not space here to recount the various expeditions of the Spaniards against their southern neighbors. I shall, instead, mention only the more prominent ones of recent years.

In 1851, Sulu Town, the capital of Sulu, was attacked and razed by the Spaniards. Their advantage, however, proved but temporary. The Mohammedans now changed their capital to Maybun on the south coast, which is far less accessible.

In 1860, Governor-General Norzagaray led another expedition against the Mohammedans. This also met with some success; but none of it was decisive. On account of the persistent renewals of the hated Sulu piracy in 1876, another expedition, under Vice-Admiral Malcampo, pierced the interior of Sulu, where he was ambushed and attacked by a body of juramentados,—formidable fanatics, armed with javelins and the deadly kris. He returned to Manila having sustained great loss.

These juramentados are Mohammedans, who, having taken an inviolable oath to shed the blood of the hated Christian, and, having absolutely no fear of death, are as dangerous as they are fanatical.

By the laws of Sulu, the bankrupt debtor is the slave of his creditor; and not only he, but likewise his wife and children, whom he can free only by the sacrifice of his life—by enrolling himself in the ranks of the juramentados, who combine the performance of a religious duty with the patriotic pleasure of killing their Christian enemy. The panditas, or priests, encourage him in this resolve until he is brought to a very frenzy of enthusiasm. In their meetings the priests sing to these sworn assassins impassioned chants, that hold out the most entrancing visions of the joys of Paradise, perpetual happiness, and the honeyed kisses and rapturous embraces of beautiful houris. Similar to the Druids of old, they, too, stand like avenging deities in the religious gloom of the forests, and incite these fanatics to the destruction of their enemies: they promise eternal reward; holding up to their excited imaginations delightful pictures of sensual enjoyment.

Thus lashed into a fury of madness, the juramentado becomes more beast than human, and is forever lusting for murder. He oils his supple limbs and rushes ferociously into the conflict. Nothing can stay him. He knows that he is going to certain death—that is but the door to Paradise! In his excitement he feels no pain; and, though severely wounded, he will continue his furious onset until killed. Hence, he cares not how many oppose him; the more the better; he will probably succeed in doing greater execution.

A distinguished French scientist, Dr. Montano, gives a vivid description of the entry of eleven juramentados into the village of Tianzgi. Divided into three or four bands they secretly entered the town, by concealing themselves, with their krises, in loads of fodder that they pretended to have for sale. After stabbing the guards they rushed up the street,—striking at all whom they met.

The soldiers in the garrison, hearing the cry “Los juramentados!” seized their guns and advanced to meet them.

The mad Mahometans rushed blindly on them, cutting and slashing right and left. Again and again, though shot and shattered by the hail of bullets, they rose and flung themselves upon their enemies. One of them, though transfixed by a bayonet, remained erect,—struggling fiercely to reach the soldier that had impaled him. Nor would he cease his furious efforts till another soldier had blown his brains out with a pistol. Before all of the juramentados could be killed, they had hacked fifteen soldiers to pieces, besides wounding many others.

“And what wounds!” says Dr. Montano; “the head of one corpse is cut off as clean as if it had been done with a razor; another soldier is cut almost in two. The first of the wounded to come under my hand was a soldier of the Third Regiment, who was mounting guard at the gate through which some of the assassins entered. His left arm was fractured in three places; his shoulder and breast were literally cut up like mince-meat; amputation appeared to be the only chance for him; but in that lacerated flesh there was no longer a spot from which could be cut a shred.”

The Mussulmans are, indeed, over the whole of the island of Mindanao. It is under the Sultanate of Sulu, there being two Sultanates in the island. Not more than a fourth of Mindanao is under Spanish rule, although by an old treaty, never enforced, Spain claimed suzerainty over all the territory subject to the Sultan of Sulu. This treaty was formally recognized at the close of the war of 1876.

In the interior of Mindanao are many fierce and savage tribes, owning allegiance to no government, controlled only by their own fierce passions.

A bagani, or man of might, is one that has won recognition by having cut off sixty heads. This entitles him to wear a scarlet turban. No one not a bagani can be a chief. Thus, murder and assassination are legalized and honored.

The Mandayas, to escape from the baganis, are wont to build their huts in the branches of lofty trees, thirty or forty feet from the ground. Here they climb when attacked, defending themselves by hurling stones upon their assailants. The baganis usually attempt to take them by surprise, shooting burning arrows at the Ærial habitation, that they may set it on fire. Sometimes, it is said, the bagani will climb up to the hut with their shields locked together above them. Then, cutting down the posts that support this abode in the tree-tops, they soon bring the besieged to terms. The captives are then divided among the besiegers—the heads of the dead and of the wounded, and of all the grown males, are cut off, and the women and children are carried away captives.

Such is the interior of Mindanao; and from this description it can readily be seen how ineffective has been the Spanish occupation of that island.

In 1877 a protocol was signed by England and Germany recognizing Spain’s rights to the Tawi-Tawi group and the chain of islands from Sulu to Borneo.

In 1885 the heir to the Sultanate, having failed to appear in Manila, where he had been cited to receive his investiture at the hands of the Governor-General, as had for some years been the custom, another chief, Datto Harun, was selected by the Spanish Government to take his place. He took the oath of allegiance to the King of Spain, and was supported in his office. Two years later several chiefs found another pretext for rebellion, but they were finally compelled to yield their submission. Over this trifling victory the Spaniards made a great display.

Hardly had the Mohammedan chiefs submitted, when war broke out afresh and Colonel Arolas was sent to the scene of the disturbance. He defeated the natives in several engagements, and, at last, a permanent peace was established. The Sulu protectorate comprises Sulu Mindanao, and about 140 other islands; many of these are uninhabited. Next to Luzon, Mindanao is the largest island in the Archipelago. Sulu is about 35 miles long and 12 miles broad. The population of Mindanao is unknown. Luzon contains about 125,000 Mohammedans, many of whom are slaves.

The fierce and conservative nature of the people, the peculiar and long-rooted feudal laws, the presence of an ancient dynasty, and of an ineradicable, fanatical belief,—these are a few phases of the complex problem to be met now. So far, the Spaniards have succeeded in maintaining their protectorate only by a protracted military occupation, which, as I have said, has by no means been always effective.

The Sulu Islanders dress with great taste. The women are fond of bright colors and love to adorn themselves with jewelry. They have the baggy nether dual-garment, so dear to all other women of their faith. Their tight-fitting bodice is usually covered with arabesque designs. In embroidering them they show great skill. For a head-covering they wear the jabul, a long strip of stuff, sewn like a deep narrow sack, open at the sides. This, if allowed to fall, would reach down to the feet; the end, however, is always held under the arm. The women are usually very graceful, and many are also pretty.

The men wear tight breeches, usually a scarlet, or of some other bright, color. On the sides are rows of shining buttons, that give a very dazzling effect. A buttoned waistcoat, a jacket with close-fitting sleeves, and a turban complete a costume that is as picturesque as it is unique. The men are handsome and very robust, lithe and active. Their complexion is a dusky bronze, and they have piercing black eyes. Their forehead is low, and their black hair falls in glossy waves upon the neck. Though brave and daring to an extraordinary degree, they are conservative and cautious—no less quick in mind than agile in body, and always sober and self-contained. They are extremely suspicious, and as merciless when angry as they are obstinate and vindictive. They are far more artistic than their Christian neighbors in the north. Their coats of mail, krises, lances, swords, and other weapons are of their own making. They are most skilful navigators, too, which accounts for their success as pirates. All males over sixteen years of age bear arms. The office of chief is hereditary. When a chief dies, the pandita, or priest, chants a requiem, while the attendants beat a hollow piece of wood that serves as a gong. The neighbors rush in, and shout and stamp their feet while the body is sprinkled with salt. A successor is then proclaimed. The panditas have great power over their flocks, inciting them to frequent fasts and to furious flagellations. Many and varied are the ceremonials of their belief.

The Spanish Government derives no taxes from the Sulu Protectorate, but gives the Sultan a pension of $2,400 a year. The Sultan is called the Stainless One, and is the chief of both Church and State. He is an irresponsible despot, and the head of the feudal system. The Sultanate is hereditary under the Salic law. The Sultan has his Advisory Council and his Ministers. He lives in considerable state in the centre of the new capital, Maybun, in a large well-constructed palace of wood.

The roomy vestibule is always lined with an abundant display of indigenous plants and shrubs, dazzling to the eye and intoxicating to the senses. It is, indeed, as if the entire tropic realm had been ravished of its richest, rarest, and most gorgeous specimens of plant-life to glorify this spacious entrance-way. From there on to the throne-room is of but little interest.

Of course, letters, despatches, or verbal requests of foreigners have all to be transmitted through the official interpreter, servants meanwhile flitting about, in the gayest and most ludicrous costumes, offering betel-nut to each and everyone,—to the bevy of Sultanas and to foreign guests, all seated on silken and highly embroidered cushions scattered on the floor.

In the town of Maybun there is nothing to be seen of any note, but the country round about is magnificent.

Slavery exists by birth and conquest. Rice, Indian corn, sugar-cane, indigo, and coffee are the common products of the Sultanate. The chief export is pearls, for which the natives dive often a hundred feet. They frequently attack sharks, which they fight with the deadly kris, never failing to come off victors.