Chapter VI: Part 6

These people were and still are very sagacious, and keen in traffic and bargaining, and in buying and selling; and they applied themselves to all gainful pursuits--and not least to agriculture and to the breeding of animals, regularly carried on for the profits thus made. They have not only great harvests of rice (which is their ordinary bread), but also crops of cotton, with which they clothe themselves, and from which they manufacture quantities of cloths, which were, and are yet, much esteemed in Nueva Espana. For this reason, the Spaniards regarded them as a people from whom large profits might be gained, and they were not mistaken, for, from the gains on cotton fabrics alone (which there they call _lompotes_), one encomendero left an estate of more than one hundred and fifty thousand pesos in a few years. The soil is not only good and favorable with a sunny climate, but fertile and rich. Besides possessing many gold mines and placers--of which they make but small account, because of the China silks which bring them more profit--they raise fowls in great abundance. Besides the domestic fowls, which are most numerous and very cheap, the fields are full of wild ones. There is an infinite number of domestic swine, not to mention numberless mountain-bred hogs, which are very fat, and as good for lard as the domestic breed. There are also many goats which breed rapidly, bearing two kids at a time and twice yearly; there are entire islands abounding with them. As to the buffaloes, there called carabaos, there are beside the tame and domestic breed, many mountain buffaloes, which are used [as food] the same as those in Europe--although somewhat less ugly in appearance, and with singularly large horns, three times the size of those of our breed. They have remarkable skill in striking with these horns; lowering the beard to the breast, with the point of the horn they lift up the most minute object. In spite of these formidable qualities both Indians and Spaniards hunt and slay them. Their flesh, whether fresh or dried, is as good as the most excellent beef. Deer are so abundant that the Japanese import cargoes of their hides from these islands. The sea abounds in all kinds of delicate fish; trees, fruits, vegetables, and garden-stuff are abundant--especially bananas, of which there are as many different kinds as in Europe there are varieties of apples and other fruits. There are six or eight species of orange, the most famous of which is an orange as big as a large-sized melon or gourd. Some of these are white inside, like limes; others are as red as our oranges are yellow; and all kinds are as well-flavored as bunches of delicate grapes. In general, the fruits of those regions, although different from ours in species and form, have much the same flavor as the European fruits. The palms, of which there are many and varied species, are the vineyards and olive-orchards of that country. For beside the many other uses and advantages of this tree, it yields wine, vinegar, and oil in sufficient quantities not only to supply that region abundantly, but likewise to ship and send away to other neighboring regions--especially furnishing wine to Japon, Maluco, and Nueva Espana. The rigging of vessels is also manufactured from this tree. In fact, there is such an abundance of the materials necessary for the construction of ships that a vessel which is built in Nueva Espana or Peru in several years' time for fifty or sixty thousand pesos, is constructed in the Filipinas in less than one year, and at a cost of less than eight thousand pesos. The cane is in itself another miracle, especially the kind called _cauayan_, the size and thickness of which are incredible. I shall not say what I have seen of that species during fourteen years; but one of our Society lately told me in Lisboa, while discussing this subject, that in the river of London he had seen a vessel which had one of these canes for a pump. In addition to Pliny, [45] the most ancient writer who makes much mention of these canes, there are many moderns who testify to their size--especially one who, from information received by those of his nation who have coursed these seas (to our detriment and their own danger), has written an account of these canes and of other plants and fruits of that New World. Although this cane is so large, it is so easily worked that it is employed in whatever is needed for any of the uses of life; from vessels and houses (which can be made from it in all their parts), its use extends to the pot and wood for cooking. It seems to me that its uses could go no farther; and in these it corresponds, too, with what Pliny [46] writes of the reed and the papyrus--particularly as within the hollow of the cane, there are membranes somewhat similar to beaten and glazed paper, on which I have at times written. In some of the canes there is also found a juice or liquor which is drunk as a luxury. There is nothing especially remarkable in the fact that so much abundance should be deposited in the hollow of these canes; for, just as in other regions trees need water, in the Filipinas some are found which furnish it--acting as a perpetual fountain for a whole community, even though it may be on the apparently dry uplands. In all that locality there are no other springs than these trees. The method which they employ for obtaining the liquid from the tree is to make some cuts or incisions in the trunk and the thicker branches; and out of these is distilled and flows a clear, sweet water, in ample quantities. But, to return to the subject of the canes, it should be known that in our church of Manila were erected two ladders, each of which had only two canes somewhat more than eight brazas in length: the steps consisted of strips and slips cut from the said cane. They were used in decorating the church and each one would sustain at its top two or three men; they were erected without any prop being needed to sustain them. Each cane was at the lowest part about three palmos in circumference, which crosswise or in diameter would be about one palmo. [47] These ladders are well adapted to such needs, for being, as they are, strong and yet hollow, they are not very heavy, or hard to move. From these canes they make in China the whips which with three or four blows kill a man.

To this abundance and fertility was added the proximity of China, India, Japon, Malaca, and Maluco. From China they not only began to ship their riches in silks and glazed earthenware, as soon as they learned of our wealth of four and eight real pieces; but they also stocked the islands with cattle (which have since multiplied there exceedingly) and with horses and mares, and great stock-farms have been established. The Chinese have also supplied provisions, metals, fruits, preserves and various luxuries, and even ink and paper; and (what is of much more value) there have come tradesmen of every calling--all clever, skilful, and cheap, from physicians and barbers to carriers and porters. The Chinese are the tailors, the shoemakers, the blacksmiths, the silversmiths, sculptors, locksmiths, painters, masons and weavers; in short, they represent all the trades of the community. Their labor is so cheap that a pair of shoes costs no more than two reals, and so many are made that they have been shipped even to Nueva Espana. From India, Malaca, and Maluco come to Manila male and female slaves, white and black, children and adults; the men are industrious and obliging, and many are good musicians; the women excellent seamstresses, cooks, and preparers of conserves, and are neat and clean in service. The islands also import drugs, spices, and precious stones; marble, pearls, seed-pearls, carpets, and other riches. From Japon are imported much wheat, and flour, also silver, metals, saltpeter, weapons, and many curiosities. All of these things make life in that region pleasant and an object of desire to men; and indeed it seems a copy of that Tyre so extolled by Ezekiel.

In the second place, as concerns the religious, there was from the very beginning the very tractable disposition displayed by so many natives of the islands in embracing the faith. But as the many and excellent ministers whom the holy Order of St. Augustin promptly sent thither were not sufficient for the task of converting the natives, nor were those who were sent by the Order of the seraphic father St. Francis, [48] which in the year 1580 already had in the islands some establishments, and had made many conversions--the fathers of the Society of Jesus were also needed. They were introduced, in that year, by the first bishop of these islands, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar, [49] a priest of the Order of St. Dominic--who afterward died in the city of Toledo, as archbishop of Manila. This great prelate had left his province of Mexico to consult with the Catholic king, Don Felipe Second, concerning matters of grave importance; and, being by his Majesty appointed bishop of the Filipinas, he soon sought from the king permission to take with him to the islands members of the Society--as appears from the same royal provision made for them in Nueva Espana. Accordingly he took with him from that country the first members of the Society to enter those islands--namely, Father Antonio Sedeno and Father Alonso Sanchez. These, our fathers, entered the city of Manila without cloaks, as I have heard Father Antonio Sedeno himself relate, in commending their poverty; for those which they brought with them from Mexico had worn out and rotted in the voyage. They went to rest at [the convent of] San Francisco, where those blessed fathers received them with much charity until they found an abode--which they chose in a suburb of Manila, called Laguio, very wretched and closely packed, and so poorly furnished that the very chest in which they kept their books was the table upon which they ate. Their only food for many days was rice boiled in water without salt, oil, meat, fish, or even an egg, or any other thing; sometimes as a dainty, they secured some salted sardines.

But the good bishop who had brought them did not leave them long in such straits; for not only did he offer us his library, and show us other acts of kindness and charity as a true father, but he tried to improve the site of our habitation, as soon as he saw that those first fathers had no wish to change it for another. Thus, with two ground-plots given them by Andres Cauchela, accountant for the Catholic king in those regions (who owned some lands in Laguio); with property of the Catholic king, obtained at the instance of the aforesaid bishop and at the order of the governor, Don Gonzalo Ronquillo [50]; and with the addition of private offerings of charity--a fine wooden house was constructed (which I myself saw), wherein was fitted up their church, in which our fathers exercised their ministry, with a large attendance, and to the great advantage of the Spaniards.

Three years later their number was increased. The Catholic king sent his royal Audiencia to the islands in the year 1583; and as its president, the governor of the islands and the representative of his Majesty, Doctor Santiago de Vera, who was a member of his council, and judge in the royal Chancilleria of Mexico. [51] He, at the time of his departure from Mexico, requested of the Father Doctor Juan de la Placa, who was then provincial in Nueva Espana, permission to take with him to the islands some of the fathers. Not only did he himself urge this, but also other personages, even the king's ministers, who all insisted that he should in no case go without them. Under this influence the father provincial was constrained to draw from the few members then in his province four individuals: these were Father Ramon de Prado, a Catalan; Father Francisco Almerique, an Italian; Padre Hernan Suarez, a Castilian; and, as coadjutor, the brother Gaspar Gomez--all of whom, as we shall later see, were of great benefit to those regions. So great was the satisfaction of this most Christian man, upon receiving the message of our provincial (who had given him two of Ours, and those other four on his own responsibility), that he immediately fell on his knees before them, and gave thanks to our Lord that he had obtained the ministers whom His Divine Majesty employs for the conversion of peoples, as he has so said. They reached the Filipinas in May or June of the year 1584, and afforded great companionship, comfort, and aid to those who were in the islands. Father Hernan Suarez was especially useful, for God had endowed him with special grace in winning hearts and bringing them to His service--and this, in familiar conversation and ordinary discourse, as well as in the pulpit and the confessional. In this way the whole community was dependent on him; he settled all matters that might give rise to discord, and no one took any step without his opinion and counsel. He ministered to his flock jointly and severally in public and in private, with much charity on his part and satisfaction on theirs. But this very thing was the cause, in a short time, of his death. Exhausted by so much toil, but especially by the fierce heat of the sun--to which he was exposed at every hour, in journeying on foot from Laguio to Manila and back again--and wearied and often perspiring from the sermons which he so frequently preached, he died a holy death within two or three years, to the universal sorrow of his entire congregation which celebrated his obsequies as those of a true father.

For this reason and at the order of Father Antonio de Mendoca, provincial of Nueva Espana, who did not wish that our members should dwell so far from Manila, they were obliged to change their abode and come within the city. Many devout persons and friends of our Society helped them greatly to this end with offerings, some giving them pieces of land, on which was a wooden house of moderate size; others offerings of money, with which they bought more land. Here we dwelt until Captain Juan Pacheco Maldonado, a regidor of Manila, and Dona Faustina de Palacios y Villa Gomez, his wife, our excellent benefactress, erected for us a beautiful stone edifice. This work was begun, with great piety and devotion, on the same day when this Christian captain received the news that the English had robbed a vessel in which he had a great quantity of goods. The mariscal Gabriel de Ribera, another notable benefactor of ours, erected temporarily a very neat wooden church, which was used until the stone church, which we now have, was finished. The greater part of this was done at the expense of this captain, Juan Pacheco. The rest was accomplished with the aid of large gifts contributed by the devout people. In short, this post at Manila began to assume permanent form; our very reverend Father-general Claudio Aquaviva, accepted it as a college, and appointed, as its first rector, in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine, Father Antonio Sedeno.

Of the employments of the fathers of the Society in the Filipinas. Chapter V.

In the residence at Manila (which was the only one that our Society then had in the Filipinas), of the five priests who had gone thither only three remained. For, as we have said, Father Hernan Suarez urged himself on to work until he died of sheer exhaustion--but certainly with most abundant harvest, and having brought great consolation to that commonwealth, where his loss was deeply felt, and his memory was held for many years in great tenderness and affection by all. Father Alonso Sanchez, although inclined by nature to retirement and solitude, could not hide his light, since he was a man of great courage and ability. His retirement was perpetually beset by bishop, governor, royal ministers, prelates of the church, and regidors of the commonwealth. Both within and without Manila, he was forever busied in important affairs--whether concerning the welfare of souls, the peace of men's consciences, the tranquillity and prosperity of the commonwealth, or the service of his Majesty the Catholic king, our sovereign. On this account not only did they send him on several journeys to China and Malaca, but finally despatched him to Europe upon like undertakings, where he was well known at the court of Espana and afterwards at that of Roma. The three who were left behind did not remain idle. Father Antonio Sedeno, in addition to his ordinary occupation of preaching--in which he was so effective that he could move stones by his eloquence--in his capacity as superior attended to the temporal affairs of the residence and to the construction of buildings. He was all the more busy in this latter occupation, from the scarcity, at that time, of architects and builders in Manila; for there were none at all. First he taught this art to the Indians, and then to the Chinese; and he inspired the bishop to build the first stone house ever erected in Manila. Encouraged by this example, they continued to build others, until finally the city reached its present greatness. At this time it is one of the most beautiful and delightful cities in the Indias. Formerly the houses, though large and roomy, were all constructed of wood or cane. In short the good father was the architect of the city, and the people caused him no little labor in inspecting, planning, and arranging its edifices; he aided them out of pure charity and zeal for the advancement of the holy Church, which he hoped would be very great in those regions. The first fort constructed in Manila for the defense of the city was erected under his direction, and with his plans, supervision, and aid, which cost him no little effort. This is the fortress that they call Guia, because it is situated at the principal gate of the city which leads out to the chapel of Nuestra Senora de Guia that stands in front of our house. I once accompanied him when he went to furnish the plans for a stairway in one of the principal houses; and he showed so much patience and indulgence toward the errors which the Indians had committed in his absence that he did not lose his temper in either word or look, but merely had what was wrong taken apart and done over again.

Father Raimundo de Prado also preached with much enthusiasm and devotion; but his principal employment was in the confessional, where he exercised his calling to such advantage that there was scarcely a man or woman who confessed to another priest. He also, at the instance of the bishop, read in our house for the benefit of the clergy, the _Materia de sacramentis_, which lasted, several months; but after that was finished he read no longer, as he could not attend to so many things.

Father Francisco Almerique began the study of the Chinese language, in his zeal to aid in the conversion of the many Chinese who came to Manila and whom we in the Filipinas call Sangleys. He effected several conversions, in particular, that of a young man of much talent who had studied their learning, and made more than ordinary progress, and was about to be graduated in his own country. This young man, abandoning his studies and ambitions for our holy faith, was solemnly baptized in our church at Manila by the hand of the bishop, and took the name of Paul, in devotion to that most glorious apostle, the teacher of the Gentiles. I met him afterward and came to know him well, and saw in him a Christian of the primitive church. Since it enters most opportunely into this matter, let me relate how, having once seen an honorable Spaniard commit some act by no means Christianlike, he said to me: "Father, are not these Christians? and, if so, how can they do this?" I was obliged to satisfy him by making a distinction between the living and the dead faith, and the appreciation and estimation of the things of God in contrast to the inclination and affection for earthly things, which is so common among our Christians of long standing--to the great scandal of the new converts, as this incident shows.

The Japanese who came to Manila also repaired to our church; and I once saw them perform a very decorous and devout dance in a feast of the most holy sacrament. Their mode of dress is decorous, and they sing, to a slow and solemn music, marking the pauses by strokes with a small fan grasped in the palm of the left hand; they move in time with this, only stamping their feet, inclining their bodies somewhat. The effect is most striking, and invites devotion, especially in those who understand what they sing, which are all things pertaining to the divine. In the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, one of them named Gabriel, a native of Miaco, reared in the Society, brought with him to Manila as converts four other companions--who, as soon as they arrived, were baptized with great solemnity in our church and confirmed by the bishop, who treated us with the same love and confidence as if he were of our religious order. On the feast of St. Michael, the twenty-ninth of September of this same year, there was a jubilee in our church, and the bishop desired to celebrate the mass; on that occasion, six hundred persons received communion; for a country and a Christian community so new as that one, this was a very large number, and gave all the more consolation and edification to all.

In this same year occurred a miraculous conversion of an infidel. This latter was crossing the river of Manila in one of those small boats so numerous in the islands, which do not extend more than two dedos [52] out of the water. As there are many caimans in this river (which in that respect is another Nile), one of them happened to cross his course, and, seizing him, dragged him to the bottom with a rapidity which is their mode, by a natural instinct, of killing and securing their prey. The infidel, like another Jonas, beneath the water called with all his heart upon the God of the Christians; and instantly beheld two persons clad in white, who snatched him from the claws of the caiman, and drew him to the bank, safe and sound; and as a result of this miracle he was baptized, with his two sons, and became a Christian. The very opposite befell another Christian, who, forgetful of God, passed every night to the other side of that river to commit evil deeds. God, wearied of waiting for him, sent his "alguazil of the water"--which is the name that we give there to the cayman--who, seizing him, executed upon his person the divine chastisement for his wickedness. All this took place in Manila, in which place Ours were not long confined; they went forth, and dispersed through the islands, the number and variety of which we shall now describe in greater detail.

Of the number and size of the Filipinas Islands. Chapter VI.

The islands properly called the Filipinas begin at the large island of Burnei, not far from Malaca, which serves as a roadstead for the Portuguese who sail for Maluco. This island extends from the first or second degree on the south of the equinoctial line to about the eighth degree on the north side. The Mahometan king of this island, although he retained his own religion, rendered obedience as a vassal of the crown of Castilla when Doctor Francisco de Sande [53] was governor of the Filipinas. The island of Siao [54] is east of Burnei and about six or eight degrees latitude toward the north; its king and his subjects are Christians, converted by the fathers of our Society who live in Maluco. To render homage to the crown of Castilla, he came to the court of Manila at the time when Gomez Perez de las Marinas, knight of the habit of Santiago, was governor of the islands. On this journey he was accompanied by Father Antonio Marta, an Italian, the superior of the Society in the islands of Maluco, and by his companion, Father Antonio Pereira, [55] a Portuguese. I had them all as guests in a house at Tigbauan, in the island of Panai, where for two years I was instructing those peoples, to their profit and my own satisfaction, as I shall later relate. I do not mean Cian, but Siao, for that is the name of the island. Cian is not an island, but the mainland between Malaca and Camboxa, contiguous with Great China and Cochin China. By journeying northward from the two islands of Siao and Burnei, one may traverse in his course from island to island the whole extent of the Filipinas; and, by going east and west, their entire width. Passing through Sarrangan, Iolo, and Taguima, which are three distinct islands, one reaches the great island of Mindanao, whence one comes to the island of Manila, the metropolitan see; as well as to Babuyanes, Hermosa Island, and the greater and lesser Lequios, which include many islands. Of the more northern islands, besides those already named, those which are known and are most populous are: Manila, Mindoro, Luban, Marinduque, Cabras, Tablas, Masbate, Capul, Ibabao, Leite, Bohol, Fuegos, Negros, Imares, Panai, Cagayan, Cuyo, Calamianes, Paravan--besides many others which are less known, although populated, all of which will reach forty or more in number. This is excluding other small uninhabited islands and some of fair size. Among those islands that I have mentioned there are some much larger than Espana, as, for example, Manila and Burnei; and others which are certainly no smaller, as Mindanao and Calamianes. Some are somewhat smaller, as Mindoro, Ibabao, and that of Negros; others very much smaller, as Leite, Sebu, and Panai, but all of them are well peopled, fertile, and rich, and not far distant from one another, and not one so small that it is not in reality large.

The island of Sebu, one of the smallest, would have, if we were to credit the statement of a certain author, a circumference of twelve leguas; but I myself have sailed along the coast of two-thirds of the island (it is triangular in shape), and assert that its circumference is more than fifty Spanish leguas.

Of the division and distribution of bishoprics and provinces in the Filipinas. Chapter VII.

At the instance of the first bishop, Don Fray Domingo de Salazar, and with the information which he gave to the Catholic king Don Felipe Second, of glorious memory, his Majesty divided those islands into four dioceses, beseeching the Holiness of our most Holy Father, Clement Eighth, to establish the aforesaid bishop as the metropolitan archbishop of the city of Manila, with three suffragan bishops. [56] Two of these were in that same island, one in the eastern part, and one in the western; one, the bishop of Nueva Segovia (which by sea is but sixty leguas distant from Great China); his bishopric extends as far as the Ilocos, more than a hundred leguas distant, being conterminous with the archbishopric of Manila. The other is the bishop of Camarines whose bishopric is but little smaller, reaching from the lagoon of Manila to the channel-mouth through which we enter the islands on the way thither from Espana. The third bishopric is even larger, for it embraces almost all the islands of the Pintados (the proper name for which is Bisayas)--beginning with the islands of Panay, Bantayan, Leite, Ibabao, and Capul, and extending to the great island of Mindanao and the more southern islands. Its cathedral and see are in the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus, so named from the discovery of [an image of] the Child Jesus which was found there, as we have related.

The people of the Bisayas are called the Pintados, because they are actually adorned with pictures [Span. _pintados--i.e._, painted, or tattooed]--not because this is natural to them, although they are well built, of pleasing countenance, and white; but because they adorn their bodies with figures from head to foot, when they are young and have sufficient strength and energy to suffer the torment of the tattooing; and formerly they tattooed themselves when they had performed some act of valor. They tattoo themselves by pricking the skin until the blood comes, with sharp, delicate points, according to designs and lines which are first drawn by those who practice this art; and upon this freshly-bleeding surface they apply a black powder, which is never effaced. They do not tattoo the body all at the same time, but by degrees, so that the process often lasts a long time; in ancient times, for each part which was to be tattooed the person must perform some new act of bravery or valiant deed. The tattooed designs are very ingenious, and are well adapted to those members or parts whereon they are placed. During my stay in the Filipinas, I was wont to say, in my satisfaction and admiration for the fine appearance of those natives, that if one of them were brought to Europe much money could be made by exhibiting him. Children are not tattooed, and the women tattoo all of one hand and part of the other. They do not, however, on this account go naked; they wear well-made collarless robes, which reach the ankle and are of cotton bordered with colors: when they are in mourning, these robes are white. They take off these robes in their houses, and in places where garments are unnecessary; but everywhere and always they are very attentive and watchful to cover their persons, with great care and modesty, wherein they are superior to other nations, especially to the Chinese.

The Catholic king also decreed, for the sake of peace, and to facilitate the preaching of the gospel, that the provinces of the religious orders should remain distinct, and that there should be no interference or confusion between the religious and the clergy. He left the orders of St. Francis and St. Augustine from that time in those districts of Indians which they previously occupied, which are numerous and very good. He bestowed upon the Order of St. Dominic, which had gone thither five or six years later than our Society, the remaining territory in the bishopric of Nueva Segovia. To us he granted the islands of Ibabao, Capul, Leite, Samar, Bohol, and others in that vicinity, as well as authority to found a college in the city of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus.

How the Society extended its labors to the villages of the Indians outside of Manila. Chapter VIII.

At this time we had again brought our number in Manila to five. In the place of Father Alonso Sanchez, who was absent in Espana, and of the late Father Hernan Suarez, two others of us had gone to the islands and had learned the language; and one of us, in holy obedience to orders given him, and at the instance of a prebendary of Manila, began to use it in his benefice, fourteen leguas from the city. The principal village of this district is called Balayan; in it and in numerous other villages of the same region there are many good Christians, converted by the discalced friars of the Order of the seraphic Father St. Francis--especially in Balayan, among whose inhabitants there are many persons of note, who are very intelligent and well disposed. During several years an apostolic man of that order preached there, named Father Juan de Oliver, whose holy teaching shone forth in the piety and devotion of that people. I dwelt in that district for more than two months, and during my stay they kept me well occupied in the baptism of children and adults, and in confessions and communions, which were so numerous that all that time seemed to me a Holy Week. All these peoples hold our holy law in the highest esteem, and therefore have the deepest respect for its priests. I shall relate in this connection an incident that befell me at this time with some of the chiefs of Balayan. There was an epidemic of small-pox (called by them Bolotong), which was killing off children and old men, although more fatal to adults than to the young. I was in the habit of walking through the principal streets twice a day, morning and night, when I would send boys on both sides of the street to discover and indicate to me those who desired confession and baptism. Whenever they sent for me (which was not seldom), I entered the house; all the living-rooms are in the upper part, the lower floor being used only for household duties. And it was no small labor to ascend and descend so often, especially by ladders of cane; which are used everywhere. One day, when busied in this my occupation, I passed by a group of their chiefs, who, upon perceiving me, formed a row on one side of the street and saluted me all together, uncovering their heads, and making a low bow. I, inclining my head, removed my cap and passed on. They appreciated my politeness, and considered themselves so favored and honored by it that, upon my return, they displayed the same courtesy, standing in line, and then they all fell upon their knees, as if they desired to excel me in politeness; for that which I had shown them when I first approached seemed to them all too much. My greatest aid to them was at Lian, three leguas from Balayan, in which place--as well as in another near by, called Manisua--I converted many to Christianity and heard many confessions. I was here on Ash Wednesday; not only did the adults receive the ashes with incredible reverence and devotion, but all the mothers brought all their children to receive the emblem, and were not willing to depart until they and all the others had received. For this journey I thank and am deeply grateful to the bishop who was most earnestly desirous that Ours should aid in so important a ministry. As it was clearly evident that the villages of Taitai, Antipolo, and others of that encomienda--which was six leguas from Manila, up the river, and in which there were already some Christians--contained many infidels who should be converted, he entrusted it to the Society. Through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, such fruitful results were accomplished as shall be seen in the course of this narrative. I shall simply state for the present that, at the end of ten years, I was in the habit of saying (in imitation of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus) that I was most thankful to our Lord, for, when I entered the place, I found hardly forty Christians, and at the end of that time there were not four infidels. If I am not mistaken, we baptized with our own hands more than seven thousand souls; and today it is one of the most flourishing of Christian communities that Holy Church possesses, and none in those regions is superior to it.

How the village of Taitai improved its site. Chapter IX.

At that time the village of Taitai lay along the water, on the banks of a marsh or stream formed by waterfalls from the mountains of Antipolo, which emptied into the river near the same mouth by which it flows out of the lagoon. It was situated in a most beautiful and extensive valley, formed between the lagoon and the mountains; and so low that each year, when the waters of the lagoon rise on account of the floods from the many rivers which enter it, the valley is flooded and submerged as is Egypt by the Nile, and remains thus inundated from August until October or November. At this period the valley itself becomes a lagoon of more than an estado in depth, and can be traversed only by means of boats. This inundation abundantly fertilizes the rice fields and seeded lands with which the valley is covered, and, as a result, rich and abundant harvests are gathered. The water enters at the proper season when the rice stalks are hardening and are beginning to ear; consequently the copious irrigation helps it to form seed without hindering the grain from hardening, or the harvest from being gathered. On the contrary it is a convenience, as I myself have often seen, to go in boats for the reaping, and in those boats to bring the bundles of grain to the houses, where they are exposed to the sun to dry. When it is thoroughly dry they thresh and clean it, and store it in their granaries. This inundation not only flooded the village--to such an extent that the streets could be traversed only in boats, in which I went often enough--but also, although the floor of the church had been raised and repairs made to guard against the water, it flowed in over the steps, even to the main altar. On account of this inundation they had selected, not far from the church and farther back from the water, a hill, where those who died during this season were interred. For mass they repaired to Antipolo, which lies a scant three miles inland among the mountains. The first time when I saw my church flooded, and realized that I could not say mass in it, I was obliged to believe what I had never been able to credit, although I had been often told of it. It is customary for these villages, for greater convenience of government, to be divided into districts on the plan of parishes, which they call _barangais_. Each one of these is under the command of a chief, who governs it and appoints those who are to provide for all contingencies; the latter are called _datos_. At that time this village had four hundred families and was divided into four barangais; consequently there were four datos, each one of whom had charge of a hundred inhabitants who are called collectively _catongohan_. I summoned my four datos and from the choir I showed them the altar; they saw (and they had known it beforehand) that mass could not be celebrated. "Without celebrating mass each day," I said to them, "although I may be unworthy of it, I cannot live, for that is my sustenance which gives me strength to serve you for Christ's sake. Now I must go where I can say it--that is, to Antipolo. If you wish to see me again, you will build for me, on the hill where the dead are now buried, a little church in which I can say mass, with some little room to which I can retire; until this be done, I remain with God;" and I went away. Desiring my return, they soon began the work and finished it in such wise that I could stay and celebrate mass, and, too, serve as an attraction to any one who might pass that way. At first they did very little, and that slowly; but as it was necessary to dismantle the church and carry to the hill its materials, and with these the cross belonging to the cemetery, they soon began to show such haste in migrating to the new village that ten or twelve of them crowded into one house, until each one could build his own. Surprised at such haste, I inquired its cause, and they told me that at night they suffered from fear of the demons in the old village, because it had now no church or cross; and so no one dared to sleep there. With this change the village greatly improved its site. That they might not lack water near by for bathing (to which all those nations are much addicted), they carefully opened a ditch at the base of the hill, along the edge of the village, by which water could come in from the stream which they formerly had. Along the streets and around the village they planted their groves and palm-trees, which enrich and beautify it. They afterward constructed on the new site a very beautiful temple with the help of the king our lord, who paid a third of its cost, as his Majesty does for all the churches. Since I have mentioned the baths it is fitting to relate what I can tell about them.

Of baths in the Philippines. Chapter X.

From the time when they are born, these islanders are brought up in the water. Consequently both men and women swim like fishes, even from childhood, and have no need of bridges to pass over rivers. They bathe themselves at all hours, for cleanliness and recreation; and even the women after childbirth do not refrain from the bath, and children just born are bathed in the rivers and springs of cold water. When leaving the bath, they anoint the head with ajonjoli [_i.e._, oil of sesame] mixed with civet--of which, as we shall later show, there is great abundance in those regions. Even when not bathing, they are accustomed to anoint their heads for comfort and adornment, especially the women and children. Through modesty, they bathe with their bodies drawn up and almost in a sitting posture, with the water to the neck, taking the greatest care not to be seen, although no one may be near to see them. The most general hour for bathing is at the setting of the sun, because at that time they have finished their labors, and bathe in the river to rest and refresh themselves; on the way, they usually carry some vessel for bearing water to use in their domestic duties. In the island of Panay I saw all the people, at the conclusion of a burial, hasten to the river upon leaving the church and bathe there, as was the custom among the Jews--although these Indias have no knowledge of that dead law. They keep a vessel full of water before the door of every house; every person, whether belonging to the house or not, who enters it takes water from the jar with which to wash his feet before entering, especially during the season of much mud. They wash their feet with great facility, rubbing one foot with the other: the water flows down through the floor of the house, which is all of cane and fashioned like a window-grating: with bars close together.

They also employ the baths as a medicine, and God our Lord has given them for this purpose springs of hot water. In the last few years the hot springs of Bai, on the banks of the lagoon of Bai, have been most healthful and famous, and many Spaniards of both sexes as well as ecclesiastics and religious, have had recourse to them in various maladies and recovered their health. And, indeed, the ease and delightfulness of the trip almost compel one to undertake it, even though he may not need it. The [Pasig] River extends inland as much as six leguas; and from its source in the lagoon until it reaches the bay of Manila, it is dotted with houses, gardens, and stock-farms, in most delightful variety. As the trees in that climate bear leaves the whole year through, their verdure and coolness increase the charm. I noticed but two trees which shed their leaves; both of them are wild, and do not bear fruit, but both are highly useful and valued for that reason. One is the balete, [57] which grows very tall, has a round, cup-shaped head, like a moderately large walnut tree, and is of a most delightful green. Its leaves are somewhat narrow, like those of the almond tree; and are hard, compact, and glossy to the touch, like those of the orange tree. The Filipinos prize them for their use in cooking, as we do the laurel and the rosemary. This tree is very hardy, and most often flourishes in rocky places; it has a natural tendency to produce roots over almost the whole surface of its trunk so that it appears to be covered with a beard. The Chinese, who are really ingenious, are wont to plant one of these trees on a stone (so small that both the tree and stone can be held in the hand), just as if it were in a flower-pot, and then it can be carried from one place to another; and the tree, like a dwarfed orange tree, grows in proportion to its roots, hardly reaching five palmos in height. As this method of planting these trees on a stone may seem as difficult as it is curious, I shall describe how I have seen it done. They take a sprout of the tree when it is already covered with roots, and a stone which must not be too hard, or smooth, but not very solid, and somewhat porous or hollow. These stones are found there in abundance among the reefs and shoals of the sea. They tie the little tree or sprout to this stone, covering the latter so far as possible on all sides with the fibres and roots; and to make it grow, they cover the stone with water. With the water the tree clings much more readily to the stone, entwines about it, and becomes grafted into all its pores and cavities, embracing it with remarkable amity and union. A large balete stands in the patio [_i.e._, inner court] of our house in Manila, near the regular entrance. In the year 1602, in the month of April or May, I saw it all withered, with its leaves falling. Thinking that it was dying I was greatly grieved, for I did not wish to lose so fine a tree. My sorrow was increased when I saw it next day almost without a leaf; and I showed it to our procurator, who chanced to be with me while I was inspecting the tree. But on the third day I beheld it covered with new leaves, tender and beautiful, at which I was as rejoiced as I had previously been saddened; for it is in truth a beautiful tree. In this I saw represented, as in a picture, the truth of the resurrection.

There is another tree which they call _dabdab_. [58] Its leaves also have an agreeable taste and serve as a lining for the inside of the kettle in which they cook their rice, preventing the latter from adhering to the sides. This tree is very similar to the almond-tree, although its trunk and leaves are much larger. These leaves are nearly as large as the palm of the hand and shaped like a heart. It apparently dies in September and revives in January, when the flower appears, before the leaf; it is different from the balete, being larger and of a different shape, and red like a ruby.

Among other plants brought from Nueva Espana to the Filipinas is the anona, [59] which has grown larger and is more successfully raised in these islands; it yields a most delicious and delicate fruit. It also loses its leaves, but soon renews them, almost as quickly as does the balete.

But, to return to the river of Manila--over which the passage to the baths is made in boats, large or small according to the number of passengers--by going up the stream the lagoon is reached; this, with its forty leagues of circumference, is one of the most remarkable objects in the world. All that region is full of rivers, villages, and groves. The lagoon itself is of fresh water, and has many islets which render it beautiful. It abounds in fish, and in herons, ducks, and other water-fowl. Above all, it contains many crocodiles or caimans (which there are called _buaya_), which cause great havoc among the poor fishermen and traders who navigate the river--especially in stormy weather, when the waters become tumultuous, as often happens, and swamp their vessels.

Of the mission at Tigbauan, and what the fathers of the Society accomplished there. Chapter XI.

In January of the year fifteen hundred and ninety-two, one of us two who were employed at Taitai had to depart for the island of Panai to give instruction and continue the work of conversion in the encomienda of Tigbauan. The island of Panai, as I have already said, is in the province of the Pintados, in the diocese of Sebu. It is a little more than a hundred leguas in circumference, and, in all its extent, most temperate and fertile. Its inhabitants are the Bissayas, a white people, who have among them some blacks--the ancient inhabitants of the island, who occupied it before the Bissayas did. They are not so dark or ugly as are the natives of Guinea, but are very diminutive and weak; but in their hair and beard they closely resemble the Guineans. They are much more barbarous and untamed than are the Bissayas and most of the Filipinos, for they have not, like those peoples, houses or fixed sites for their villages. They do not sow seed, or gather harvests; but with their women and children wander, half naked, over the mountains like beasts. They capture on foot the deer and the javali, [60] and on the spot where they capture an animal they stop, and feed upon it as long as it lasts. Their only natural property is the bow and arrow. The Bissayas through natural compassion have not destroyed these blacks, who are not hostile to them, although they have little dealing with the Bissayas. While I was in Tigbauan, however, a petty war occurred between them which is worth relating for what it shows of such wars among these nations, and their triumphs and trophies. A Bissayan chief, who lived in his solitary house among the mountains, distant from the villages, had a friendship--or, for all I know, a relationship--with a leading Negrillo, who was also headman among his people. Under the cover of this friendship, the Negrillo took his opportunity, as I shall relate, to do a treacherous act. He came one day, as he had often done before, to pay a visit to his friend, who received him as such and gave him food and drink--an act which should soften the most bloodthirsty heart, even if he had been offended. But the Negrillo, without heeding the obligation imposed by kind deeds or by the good-will with which they had been conferred upon him, seized his host unawares, and took his life, also slaying all the other members of his family--men, women, and children. His crime, however, did not go unpunished. A spirited young man, son of the dead man--not daring alone to avenge himself upon the black, who had been reenforced by others of his own color--assembled his kinsmen and friends; besides these [so many joined him that] all the villages of the island were depopulated, in order to fall upon the Negrillos--all eager to enslave the women and children, this being a great source of wealth among those people; they accomplished their purpose, killing many men. This lasted until the matter became known to the royal officials in that region, who pacified them. At the entrance of some of the villages, I saw the trophies of this victory and some of the slaves. The trophies were thus made: one of the large canes, already described, very tall, was driven into the ground. At its point were two, or three, or more pendent bannerets like streamers or pennants, and on them the hair of the dead foes. These blacks have had very little to do with the Spaniards, not so much through hate as from fear and mistrust of them. It has already happened that Spaniards, unaccompanied and straying from the road, have fallen into their hands; but with a few presents and fair words they have been allowed to go free. They also fear the priests as being Spaniards, making no distinction between them. For this reason we could not undertake their conversion, although they were near to the villages of Tigbauan; on this account all our energy was directed towards the Bissayas alone.