Chapter XXXVII: Appendix: Relation of the Zambals (2)

The married women have one good custom, and that is that they are chaste and loyal to their husbands. Scarcely can a married woman be found among the Zambals of whom it can be said casually that she has had lascivious communication with another, although it is very common for all the people to sleep together in one hut or thicket, and all, both men and women, are intoxicated. But there will be no occasion for a man to jest with a married woman, and more, in the presence of others. But I also believe that that chastity or less incontinence in this matter was not taught by the devil for the welfare and honor of these Zambals, but to give them more opportunities to commit more murders and to make them more turbulent, for the married men are very jealous of their wives and in no case do they leave them. Wherever they go, they go together, and do not lose sight of one another. When they go on a journey, they take all their possessions and the wife carries it all in a basket which she bears on her back by means of a cord from the head. The man with his bow and arrow escorts her. They are accustomed even to carry the hen and its chicks in the said basket or under the arm, so that they carry all that they can of the possessions which they have in their house except what is not portable, and those they hide in the thicket. And if the husband absents himself because of any occurrence, and cannot take his wife with him, and if, during the said absence, the wife weakens in her chastity, and it comes to be common property in the ranchería, for if she has been weak it is very difficult to keep such news from her husband, for these Indians cannot keep a secret: then in such an event the husband kills without any remedy the one who has offended him by sinning with his wife. And having killed such a person, he informs the relatives themselves of said wife of the treachery which his wife has committed in order that they may kill her; and if the said relatives neglect to kill such a wife, then, in that case her own husband kills her and can kill also any relative of the said wife without being obliged in that account to pay anything. Notwithstanding this custom, that quarrel is generally patched up with gold, but they must have much gold among them for that means. I know a principal woman, one of the most influential of said Zambals, whom one of these contentions cost more than thirty taes of gold and two slaves whom she delivered up so that their heads might be cut off. But it is to be noted that the offender of the wife, or the adulterer [mancebo], gives said gold to the husband of said wife, and the wife gives the gold to her own relatives, if they are her cousins and brothers. That woman and chieftainess is called Monica Corosan and was married in facie eclesia [i.e., with the rites of the Church], and because she has been weak and little or not at all faithful to her husband, it cost her the sum above mentioned, and she was divorced and separated from her legitimate husband, by whom she had a son, and was remarried to her adulterer. He already has three daughters. But although the said quarrel was patched up by means of the gold she has not dared to appear before her relatives for more than twelve years. Consequently, the fact that said women are so chaste proceeds from this rigor which they exercise in this matter. If they value their husbands and relatives so greatly, it is because the latter may take vengeance. I believe that the single women are also chaste, although some are generally careless; but both the woman and the accomplice pay with their lives if the fact is learned. If any woman is pregnant, her relatives force her to tell who is the accomplice of her pregnancy, and if the two do not marry, the relatives kill them both without being obliged to give any compensation therefor.

Burials. In their burials, they are not wont to shroud the deceased but to clothe him. If he is a chief they put two dresses on him, according to their manner, and two robes. If the deceased has any share in any inheritance of gold, before they bury said deceased, the gold is divided before the corpse itself, and the part which belonged to him is placed in the grave with the said corpse with his store of certain articles of food. I have heard it said of the natives of Buquil that if the deceased is a chief and has any slave, they kill a slave and bury him with his master. I have had very little to do with the natives of Buquil, and, consequently, I do not know how much truth there is in this, and I do not affirm it. I have also heard another thing said which would horrify the ears were I to tell it; hence I do not dare to set it down on this paper. For, as I say, I have had but little to do with the natives of Buquil, as they have not allowed us to enter there, and if I were to qualify it as true when I was not sure that it was true, if it afterwards appears to be false, it will be inferred that there is but little truth in this paper of mine. Consequently, I will not mention it.

There is a kind of contempt which is very great among the Indians for one who has not murdered anyone. Consequently, those who have some little gold with which to pay for their murders are much given to this vice of murdering. They generally buy slaves or negrillos of the mountain so that their little sons might kill them. Binding the wretched slave or black they take said sufferer into the presence of their sons from three to seven years old and there kill him, and by that means their minds and all their being become acquainted with the idea of blood, so that when they are grown they may have so evil a custom. It is a curious thing that they generally buy many blacks or slaves for that purpose, and if one cannot do it, or has no wealth for the purpose of buying a black or slave in order that he may kill him alone, he unites with others, and thus many together buy said black. One buys the right to give the first lance-thrust or stab, another the second, another to take away a quarter of the head, another another bit of it, another half the head--according to the amount of the capital of each one--and he who wounds him with greater ferocity, that one has the best lot. I will relate a matter in regard to this, which happened to me when I was vicar of Abucay. Once I had about five little Zambal lads in the convent whom I was teaching to pray and read. It happened that the fathers of three of them came to see them, and that gave the children, who were seven or eight years old, a desire to return to Playa Honda with their fathers. I gave them permission, for their parents begged it of me. I did not give permission to the other two, and, consequently, they remained in said convent with me. While the other little fellows were returning in company with their fathers and passing by Mariyumo, which is a visita of Mariueles, it happened that the Indians of that visita, who are also Zambals and but very little different from those of Playa Honda, had that day caught a black of the mountain, whom they were about to kill on the following day. The Zambals and the children, their sons, stayed for the feast in celebration of the killing of the black. For their joy in being present at a death of any person in such a manner is as great as it is for Spaniards to attend a zarza or play or all to play at ring. [89] That news came to the ears of the children, who remained under my care in Abucay, two months afterwards. They were told of the feast which their three companions had had in the village of Mariyumo when they were at the killing; and so great was their sorrow that they had not returned on that past occasion with their three companions that they began to bewail their lack of luck because they had not returned with their companions so that they also might have been present at the killing. Hence, one can infer their so great inclination for this vice, for those who have never seen nor known any better customs learn to kill from early childhood. And in case that anyone has entire information concerning the peace and quiet into which the Christians come by means of the Catholic faith, since they have to live among Indians of such customs, they must always have death in their hands or before their eyes, for one can trust no one, since they do not trust themselves. For every step that they take is at the risk of their lives. Often they kill from necessity, as they believe, so that they may not be killed, as happens when they see in their rancherías any person or persons whom they do not know. Since they do not know whether such persons are about to kill them, they anticipate them and take away their lives, but it is more usual to kill for revenge and to make oneself feared and famous in this matter. There are many of them who, when they have committed fifteen murders, place on the hams of the legs certain strings of a small white fruit of an herb which they call bantacan. When they have killed seventeen persons, they place the said fruit very close together in the manner of a rosary which they call tigdin. When the number has reached more than nineteen, they take away said fruit and in its place wear certain very highly colored sigueyes. But it is to be noted that, although twenty men take part in one murder, in order that they may wear that regalia, which they consider as tabi, [90] each one claims said murder as his, as if he had done it alone. They also generally tie a long narrow strip of anahao, or palmleaf, on the hilt of their dagger or yua. That token shows that he who carries it was the first one to strike the person that was killed on that occasion. Notwithstanding the abovesaid, if anyone goes to their rancherías in company with another Zambal of their number, he is sufficiently safe although he might be still safer at Manila.

Of the change which we see today in these Indians

He who considers their barbarous customs, idolatries, superstitions, and the natural and great inclination for killing which these Indians possess, and in which they have been reared; and hears of the so great change and the difference which exists at present in all their customs, when compared to those that they possessed in their recesses and rancherías: will easily understand that already God is walking among them, and that He has already taken pity on the souls and wishes them for Himself. The immortality of the soul has already been explained to these Indians in their mother tongue; as has also the reward which God has for those who keep His commandments and those of our holy mother Church, and the punishment reserved for those who break them, and that, for as many sins as man commits he has to take his punishment in this life or in the next; and the unity of God, His eternity, and at the same time that which the Christian man must believe in order to be saved.

It has been father Fray Domingo Escalera who has already learned their language, and has gone communicating it from one to the other, until there are now very few who do not understand this. When said father explains to them something of which they have not heard, all look at one another, as if surprised to hear what they are hearing. I have not had the capacity to do as much as the said father, but I have managed to explain it also in the Tagálog tongue to those who understand it. But they do not understand many things, and I cannot tell them to them. Consequently, I trust, God helping, that said father will produce great fruit among these Indians, as he has learned their language. These Indians did not observe any festivals or Sunday, or Lent, or vigil, or Friday. Consequently, although there are many Christians baptized from childhood, it was the same as if they were heathen, and there was no difference between heathens and Christians. Having explained to them on one occasion the seriousness of the sin of breaking feast days, one of them went to the mountain and one Sunday while cutting some bamboos he hurt his foot. The rumor spread among the Indians that God had punished that Indian because he worked on Sunday, and from that time they have observed feast days and Sundays. On another occasion, namely, Ash Wednesday, the said father told them that they ought to abstain from eating meat throughout Lent, and that God would punish whoever broke said precept. Next day an Indian went hunting, and having killed a carabao calf, while he was cutting it up and carrying it to his house or to the village, the mother of the calf came out of the thicket and killed the Indian. Thereupon, the father took occasion to again charge them to abstain from meat during Lent, Friday, and vigil. All through Lent there was scarcely one Christian or heathen who dared to eat meat. For about eight months we lived in a small house which had scarcely room for the two beds of two religious. We had three Indians of Abucay who built us another larger house where we could live with some freedom. There was no Indian who would be so kind as to aid them in their customs in anything, until they saw that the presidio of the Spaniards which is located twelve leguas from the village where we united these Indians, had already about forty men, and as soon as they heard the arquebuses in Buquil, which was ten leguas from the said village, they moved quickly, and no longer answered a dry "no quiero" [i.e., "I will not"], for whatever we commanded them, as they had before answered us all the time. I have already said above that the devil had discredited the rosary of the most holy Virgin, our Lady, among these Indians, and although some had rosaries which some faithful ones or religious had given them, in order to incline them to that holy devotion, yet no one of them could recite it, for there was no one who knew anything of the prayer. They only kept it in order to show it to those who went to trade and traffic at their rancherías, in order that they might consider them as Christians, as it is a kind of affront among them not to be a Christian. On the contrary they believed that nothing good would happen to them if they wore the rosary about their necks. But seeing the esteem which we had for those sacred beads, and that in their sicknesses when they asked us for any remedy for their attacks in which we do not apply any other medicine except the sacred rosary, and when they recognize that they recover miraculously from their illness by the use of the rosary alone, they believe that the devil had deceived them, and are growing very fond of this holy devotion, so that now very many of the married men, the single youth, indeed, the old men, wear the rosary about their necks, some recite it in their houses, and others attend church morning and afternoon to recite the rosary with the lads, and very many of them already know the whole prayer, and recite it at night in their houses in a loud voice. They formerly obeyed no one, but now they show great respect to their gobernadorcillos, to their chief, and to the old men, so that, if they are seated anywhere and their gobernadorcillo arrives, they all rise, and no one sits or covers his head until his gobernadorcillo is seated. Father Domingo Escalera has lived for a short time with the Indians of Nuebo Toledo, since they were gathered together. Having come to the said village during the last days of the past Lenten season, and seeing the so great change that God had produced in them, he said: "At the rate with which God is changing the hearts of these Indians, they will be better Christians than those of Masinloc before ten years' time, although said Indians of Masinloc have been Christians for more than sixty years." When we reached their districts in the beginning, the children and even the women fled from us, but today the women are very affable and those who have anything to wear go to church and scarcely can we keep the children away from us. When we go to the village, they come down from their houses and accompany us, and we can scarcely walk, because they seize us by our habits, and place their scapularies before our eyes. Every morning and afternoon they go to the church to pray and to hear mass. Before mass we recite the rosary, and after mass the whole prayer. In the afternoon we leave the church in the manner of a procession in two choirs, and the father sings the prayer and they answer until the prayer is finished. And on entering the church again candles are lighted to our Lady, and the holy rosary is also recited.

Method used in getting these Indians to persevere in said prayers

The Zambals are the most cowardly people in these islands, although they have hitherto been considered by the neighboring provinces as a people of great courage and warlike. Their cowardice could be proved by many examples, but that does not concern the present matter. Their whole strength consists in fleeing, and their courage in hiding. From that cowardice it proceeds that all the murders that they commit are by treachery. It never happens that if, fighting face to face, the enemy escapes and is on his guard and watchful, they commit any murder, because of their great timidity and cowardice. Accordingly, in order that those whom we have assembled in the three villages above mentioned, may persevere in their settlements, the most efficacious fear and the one most suited to their nature is that the Spaniards of the fort and presidio of Paynauen of whom they have a very great fear, may come very often to the said villages and overrun the land, and penetrate even into their old recesses where they formerly lived; and if perchance they should find anything planted in the said recesses that they would destroy it and cut it down without leaving them anything. And so that they may see that the father protects them, when the said Spaniards come to the village, the father opposes them and takes the part of the Indians. [91] But it is always necessary in this matter for the soldiers to conquer, and the father is always very careful to always inform the Spaniards by whom and where anything is planted which it may be necessary to destroy, and that the edicts which his Lordship, the governor, sent them be carried out. These are to the effect that no one should plant anything in the old rancherías and that in the village each one should plant one thousand feet of gabes, and five hundred of sugar-cane; that said soldiers are to continue to make raids through the whole plain as I say, very often; yet, whenever the soldiers come to the village, they are to ask the gobernadorcillo and cabezas (for whom already they have some obedience) for permission to go to look for those who have become fugitives, and the father is to go along in order to assure such fugitive. As said absence has proceeded a trifle from fear of the Spaniard, the Indians of the village themselves are to go to seek those who should have become fugitives, in order that they may not go in company with the Spaniard to the mountain, for the fear which they have of the said soldiers is inexplicable. They are to oblige said Indians to make their gardens and fields in the village, where they have fine lands, very fertile for fields and gardens. If any are found to be neglectful in this, such persons are to be bound in order to keep them and take them to the fort so that they may pound rice for the soldiers. By those measures, there is no man who dares to return to the mountain. After they have lost their fear of the Spaniards, the latter are to try to excite trouble between the Indians and the blacks of the mountain, [92] but at all events said Spaniards are to make no trouble for the Indians whom they find in the villages, but rather must treat them well.

In order that this may have effect, it is necessary for the governor to send twenty or thirty horses to the said district, so that the Spaniards may get over the country, for the roads are intolerable, especially from the fort to Santa Rossa de Banguen. That is a distance of six leguas of very troublesome sandy ground without a drop of fresh water in the dry season. There is a distance of six leguas also from Santa Rossa de Banguen to Nuevo Toledo, where one cannot find a tree under which to rest. Accordingly, without the said horses, nothing can be done, for all those who should go to the said places run great risk from the sun, as happened when Adjutant Alvaro Martin Franco went to the said villages to hold the elections, when almost all the Spaniards who accompanied him fell sick. Said horses will be of great use to the soldiers in hunting, for this country has abundance of game. With the horses also they can overrun the land of Buquil, and terrorize intractable persons. Since said Spaniards often go to and fro between these villages and to Buquil, no Indian will go to the mountain, since no harm is done to them in the village; and those of the mountain considering their restlessness and that they are not safe and that the Spaniards destroy their fields will descend to sow and to live in the settlement. For today, if those of the mountain do not descend, it is because they fear that the Spaniards will punish them for not having descended before.

In order to suppress all their bad customs, after having preached against them, proving them with natural arguments which are very easy and clear, with some examples which cause them horror, the most efficacious means which I find is for the father to investigate all their customs, and to understand them thoroughly, so that he may know them all; and then to make fun of the Indians because they do not know that that is bad. If this is not sufficient, it is efficacious for the father to make them afraid that he is going to retire because they refuse to learn good customs, and abandon their abuses and atrocities, so that in such an event the Spaniards may come upon them and kill them all; and by means of the fear which they have the father can do whatever he wishes with them.

I assert that I have investigated thoroughly whatever I have written in this paper by the aid of some Christian Zambals who are very good Catholics whom I have had under my care for four years, and whom I have been teaching to read and have instructed in our holy Catholic faith by means of the Tagálog books which have been written for that purpose by the zealous ministers whom that Tagálog nation has had. One of these Zambals is the son of a priest of the idols, who was reared in a ranchería where sacrifices were often made to the idols. An uncle of this lad whom I also have under my charge was formerly bayoc of the Zambals, so that he knows all the ceremonies, superstitions, and sacrifices, and is also thoroughly conversant with their customs, for he lived among the said Zambals for about twenty years. Besides this, for three years I have had with me another child about ten years old who also knows the customs of these Indians, because he was born and raised among them, for he is the son of Zambal parents. All of those persons tell me what passes among the said Zambals. Besides this, I have also managed to prove it from the children of the village who, since they do not realize my purpose in questioning them in regard to these things, tell me it all. But if I ask any of the old men, or anyone who is very maliciously minded, he will not tell me anything unless I ask him secretly.

Consequently, I consider as true whatever I have written here, and I have refused to write anything of which I am doubtful.

Fray Domingo Perez

[Below is added by another person:]

Until the year 1682, said Zambals were reduced and softened by the vigilance and attendance of the father missionaries of the order of our father St. Dominic. May our Lord prosper everything as He is able.

Afterward in November, of the year 83, a bold Indian with another who accompanied him, waited in a concealed thicket for the father-vicar, Fray Domingo Perez, who was journeying from one village to another, and shot him with an arrow, so that he reached his village badly wounded and died in a short time, after confessing to father Fray Juan Rois. Since that time the Zambals have been in revolt. May it be the Lord's will that they grow quiet. Now since the assembly of 84 the fathers have been living cautiously and near the fortress. The vicar is father Fray Gregorio [93] and his associate Fray Juan Navas, [94] errant. In Masinloc the vicar is Fray Juan Fernandez [95] and his associate Fray Juan, [96] errant.

[Copy endorsed: "The undersigned, provincial archivist of the province of Santísimo Rosario de Filipinas and conventual of the convent of Santo Domingo of this city, certifies that the preceding copy is faithfully copied from the original, which is preserved in the third archives of martyrs--cajon 8, legajo 1, no. 2. In order that the above may be apparent he signs the present in this convent of Santo Domingo, January 3, 1906. The archivist,

Fray Julián Malumbres (rubric), O.P."]

[Endorsed: "A copy.

Manuel de Yriarte, chief, division of archives, ex-officio notary public."]

NOTES

[1] The translation of the title-page of this book is as follows: "Manifesto and historical summary of the foundation of the venerable brotherhood of the Santa Misericordia of the city of Manila, the hospital, house, and girls' school and church of Santa Ysabel; with the accommodations and advantages for the common public welfare, particularly of these islands; the alms, succors, and dowries for the holy religious orders, and hospitals, orphan girls, widows, those in prison, and other needy persons. Satisfaction of the charitable and indefatigable task, disinterested and noble method of procedure, faithful management without interruption or any diminution in the works of charity, and the administration of the pious foundations under their charge. Favors and protection which it merited and obtained from our Catholic Monarchs. Recommendation, concessions, indulgences, and relics with which the supreme pontiffs have honored and enriched it. All compiled and extracted from the books, bulls, decrees, and other authentic instruments which are kept in their archives, by commission and order of the purveyor and deputies who comprise the present board, by Captain Don Juan Baptista de Uriarte, regidor of this most noble city, and its procurator-general, and former treasurer and present secretary of said venerable brotherhood. Printed in the college and university of Santo Thomas, with the necessary licenses, by Juan Correa. The year 1728." The narrative is preceded by an introduction; a statement by the author to the purveyor and deputies of the financial board of the Santa Misericordia, to the effect that he has completed his task of compilation, dated June 28, 1728; thanks of the purveyor and deputies to the author, and expression of intention to print the work, dated June 30, 1728; decree to be sent to Fray Juan de Arrechedera, O.P., commissary of the Holy Office, dated June 30, 1728; approbation of latter, July 8, 1728; government license, July 9, 1728; table of chapters; note to reader.

Torrubia gives the following figures for the work accomplished by the Misericordia from its foundation (in 1594) up to 1730. "This house has endowed twenty-three thousand orphan girls, the daughters of Spaniards; it has spent in their maintenance five hundred and eight thousand, nine hundred and sixteen pesos. It has supplied to our Catholic monarch in pressing emergencies four hundred and forty-nine thousand, four hundred and eighteen pesos. It has expended in Divine worship one hundred and fifty-five thousand, seven hundred and eighty-four pesos; and it has given in alms four million, one hundred and thirteen thousand, two hundred and seven pesos. This statement of expenditures is accurate, and is drawn from the original books of the said house. In the life of the venerable Fray Simon de Roxas, book 8, fol. 418, it is mentioned as unprecedented that the Misericordia of Lisboa in one year gave in alms thirty thousand ducados; but that of Manila gives every year seventy-one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-four pesos."

[2] See other letters from Corcuera to the Misericordia, dated in 1637 and 1639 respectively, in our VOL. XXIX, pp. 172-174.

[3] The Order of the Holy Trinity was founded primarily by St. John of Matha, a native of Provence who was ordained to the priesthood. On the occasion of his first mass, he determined to devote himself to the redemption of Christian captives from the Mahometans. Retiring for a season of prayer to the cell of the aged French hermit, St. Felix of Valois, the latter approved the plan, and in 1197, they both went to Rome where they obtained the approbation of Pope Innocent III for the erection of a new order. The pope ordered the bishop of Paris and the abbot of St. Victor to draw up the rules for the order, which received papal sanction in 1198. A white habit with a red and blue cross on the breast was assigned as a distinctive dress. It received a new confirmation and additional privileges by a papal bull of 1209. The French monarch Philippe Auguste authorized the existence of the order in his kingdoms, and Gauthier III, lord of Châtillon, granted them land for a convent. Later as the order increased, the latter, seconded by the king, granted them Cerfroid, near Grandlieu, on the borders of Valois, which became the chief house of the order. The two saints founded many houses in France. Many Christian slaves were ransomed in Morocco and Spain. It was a fundamental rule of the order that at least one-third of its revenues should be set aside for the redemption of captives. It was estimated in the seventeenth century that since its foundation the order had ransomed 30,720 Christian captives. At one time there were as many as two hundred and fifty houses. See Baring Gould's Lives of the Saints, ii, pp. 226-230; and Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, p. 810.

[4] The limits of our space prevent us from presenting part i of this interesting document in full; but such matter is selected as relates to Manila, Cavite, Cebú, and Zamboanga, as being the most important Spanish settlements in the islands. The list at the end shows the contents of Valdés Tamón's report in full, and presents an enumeration of all the military posts, with the names bestowed on the forts therein. Part ii, on the ecclesiastical estate, is translated in full (save for preliminary and final remarks, and two letters of minor interest).

[5] The city of Manila is located in 14° 35' 31'' N. latitude, and 120° 58' 08'' E. longitude (from Greenwich). The following longitudes (reckoned from Greenwich) will enable the reader to compute the differences in maps on which longitude is reckoned from other meridians:

Madrid (Observatory), Spain, 3° 41' 21'' W.; San Fernando (Observatory), Spain, 6° 12' 24'' W.; Paris (Observatory), France, 2° 20' 14'' E.; Ferro, the extreme southwest of the Canary Islands (the assumed dividing line between the east and west hemispheres), 17° 20' W.; Washington, D. C. (Observatory), 77° 2' 48'' W. (U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, p. 183.)

[6] See accompanying plan of Manila, obtained from the Valdés Tamón MS. in Madrid. An interesting "historical sketch of the walls of Manila" is found in the Annual Report of the U. S. War Department, 1903, iii, pp. 434-446, which contains numerous illustrations of the walls and gates, some of which show defenses which have since been demolished. A note (by Capt. A. C. Macomb) states that the map of Manila referred to in Valdés Tamón's report is supposed to be identical with that carried to England by General Draper after the capture of Manila in 1762, which is now in the British Museum in London. Concerning the plates of the map taken to England by Draper (the famous Murillo Velarde map, engraved in 1734), see our VOL. XLIX, note 25.

[7] Possibly guns for firing chain-shots (also called "angel-shots").

[8] Pandayes: a term adapted from the Tagal, panday being the equivalent of the Spanish oficial.

[9] Thus in MS., but evidently a clerical error, since the amount of pay is so inadequate for the number of men. The amounts of pay given in these lists, added together, make a total which is over 7,000 pesos short of the total in the next paragraph; it is probable, then, that the pay of these artisans should be at least 7,000 more than the amount stated in the text.

[10] Perhaps meaning men who had the care of keeping the barracks in order and repair. The word is not found in the dictionaries.

[11] A word evidently coined from the native word galagala (see VOL. XII, p. 34, note), and probably referring to the occupation of gathering the resin which bears that name. It may be added to the note above cited that this resin (also known as "almáciga" and "dammar") is obtained in the mountains of southern Luzón and Panay, the best coming from Camarines. (Official Handbook of Philippines, p. 296); galagala, then, may be a Bícol word.

[12] Cebú is in 10° 18' N. latitude, and 123° 53' 05'' E. longitude (U. S. Gazetteer of Philippine Islands, p. 454).

[13] In the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), iv, pp. 335-408, is the transcript of an interesting document--"Information furnished by Don José Antonio Niño de Villavicencio in regard to the situation of the town of Zamboanga; its original subordination to the royal crown; its fortification, dismantling, and reestablishment; the condition in which it was in 1737; its expenses; and the amounts which it paid toward these." After a sketch (illustrated by various official documents) of the early history of Zamboanga as a military post, he relates its dismantling, and its reestablishment by Bustamante; this latter is begun on April 5, 1719, under the command of General Gregorio Padilla y Escalante, and its fort is named "Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza." Villavicencio carefully describes the fort, and presents an itemized statement of the expenses of maintaining it--which amount to 20,000 pesos annually, besides a reserve fund of 5,000 pesos which may be drawn upon for extraordinary and urgent expenses. The salary of the governor and military commander is 396 pesos a year. Two Jesuit chaplains are kept there, who receive each 100 pesos annually. There are eighteen other officers (commissioned and non-commissioned), and two hundred privates; also five other officials, including a surgeon. Besides this force of Spaniards is a company of Pampango soldiers--a hundred men and five officers; and a considerable number of men are also employed as rowers, builders, coast-guards, and seamen. Rations amounting to 9,855 cavans of rice are allowed in the budget of expenses; and the sum of 5,000 pesos is allowed yearly for ammunition and military supplies for this post. The rice and other provisions are mainly furnished from the provinces of Iloilo and Panay, on account of their fertility and their nearness to Zamboanga. A considerable part of the expenses of that post is obtained from the contribution made by the inhabitants of the subjugated provinces, each tributario giving annually a ganta of clean rice; this amounts to 109,503 gantas of clean rice--equivalent, at the rate of twenty gantas cleaned to 48 gantas of palay, to 10,950 cavans of the latter--which is estimated to be worth, at the prices paid by the royal officials, 5,356 pesos. Enumeration is made of the numbers of tributes paid in various provinces, as follows: Tondo, 5,606 1/2; Bulacan, 4,963 1/2; Pampanga, 8,067; Pangasinan, 10,896 1/2; Ilocos, 8,665 3/4; Cagayan, 5,218 1/2; Laguna de Bay, 6,795; Tayabas, 1,612 1/2; Camarines, 7,512; Albay, 3,481; Panay, 6,170 1/2; Yloilo, 10,406 1/2; Island of Negros, 503 1/2; Leite, 8,154 1/4; Cebu, 4,411 1/2. All these are tributaries of the crown; to these are added the contributions made by "the tributaries and the encomenderos of the encomiendas independent of the royal crown," which amount to 18,144 gantas. A deduction must be made from these of 1,105 3/4 gantas, "from those who in the number of the said tributes do not make this contribution, on account of being servants of the churches, and for other reasons;" the result is the total above given. The tributaries of the following provinces are exempted from the contribution: Balayan, Mindoro, Caraga, Mariveles, Calamianes, and Cavite. A further source of revenue for the expenses of Zamboanga is found in the monopoly on the wine of the country; this had formerly belonged to the crown, but had been surrendered at the petition of the city of Manila. Later, the citizens being called upon to make donations for the support of Zamboanga, the city petitioned that this be accomplished by renewing the above crown monopoly of wine. "This new monopoly having begun to be in force from the year 1731, the sum at which this contribution [to Zamboanga] may be estimated must be figured according to the successful bids [remates] at which the privilege has been leased;" it was farmed out--that is, sold at auction to the highest bidder for a term of three to five years. The first of these was Don Esteban Garcia de los Rios, for 1731-33, for the sum of 10,000 pesos a year; the second, Captain Pedro de Ceballos, for 1734-36, 15,500 pesos a year; the third, Captain José Ruiz, for 1737-41, 25,000 pesos a year. The proceeds of this monopoly, then, averaged during eleven years 16,833 pesos a year. This document is dated at Manila, February 4, 1738.

In regard to the contributions made by the Indians for the expenses (outside of ecclesiastical) of the Philippine colonies, Torrubia says (Dissertacion, pp. 98-103): "When the post of Samboangan was rebuilt in the year 1755, it was the opinion of the very reverend Father Juan de Bueras, provincial of the Society of Jesus, that the Indians of Pintados, as those most interested in the maintenance of the fort, should aid therein with a half-ganta of rice for each tribute. His opinion was accepted, but with the enlargement of the contribution to two gantas (which make one ganta of cleaned rice), and its extension to all the islands, which amount is paid up to this day. I have understood that this contribution amounts annually, on the average, to two thousand five hundred pesos. During the fifty and more years when Samboangan did not exist, it was paid just as when the fort was there, notwithstanding that the cabildo opposed it; and the Indians paid, without the motive for this imposition still remaining, at the least estimate, more than one hundred and fifty thousand pesos. The Indians are obliged to make other contributions. For the maintenance of the soldiers, they furnish rice to his Majesty at two reals a caban, and usually it is worth more; this is called the compra, and forty or forty-five thousand cabans (or fanegas) of rice are levied from them in compra, allotting it pro rata according to what each Indian sows. For these cabans (or fanegas) no more than two reals are paid, although that amount is worth four reals, or more; and it is to be noted that in the suburbs of Manila the price ordinarily does not go below three reals. The same practice is current in the compras of wheat, although it is true that in this the Indians seldom lose much. Besides this, the Indians do the timber-cutting for the ships, and do not receive more than sixteen reals a month, which they do not have even for their tools (which they carry with them); they are soldiers, they row in the galleys, and they are mariners, artillerists, calkers, and carpenters. And we know very well that in these occupations they serve in the Ribera of Cavite without pay, and likewise in the armadas, three, four, or five years, only to obtain a situation in the ship which goes to Nueva España or Acapulco. Here [i.e., in Madrid], without considering these contributions, all the expenses [of the islands] are summed up for the account of his Majesty." He goes on to say that from the sum of expenses must also be deducted the voluntary contributions of the citizens; also that these military expenses have been unfairly laid at the door of the Zamboanga fort. The soldiers there and in the forts at Cebú and Iloilo are paid from the situado contributed by the natives themselves; and the fleets which are sent against the Moros, and the coastguard galleys at Zamboanga, are not an expense caused by the fort there; "even if they were, it is a necessary one, under penalty of the Moros eating us alive."

Torrubia ends his Dissertacion, which is a plea for the maintenance of the fort at Zamboanga, with a scheme for the formation of a fund--to be formed by levying a small tax on each of the Christian Sangleys, and on every "tramp," whether Indian or mestizo--which shall be regarded as an obra pia, and be placed in the management of the Misericordia; its proceeds are to be used for the support of the military posts and fleets which are maintained against the Moros, for the support of missionaries in the Moro provinces, and even for the extension of the gospel still further. This would relieve the natives from the oppressive "Zamboanga donation," the citizens from the frequent contributions now expected from them by the government, and the royal treasury from the heavy burden of supporting the present list of armadas and forts; and the Moro pirates would be easily held in check, and the interests of both the Spaniards and the Indians protected.

[14] Zamboanga is in 6° 53' N. latitude, and 123° 5' E. longitude (U. S. Philippine Gazetteer, p. 928).

Zamboanga was selected as the site for the fort in Moroland, "because it was the indispensable landing-place for the hostile people; because it deprived the Mindanaos of that port, which was the most important one in their dominion, in which they built their ships, and where they took refuge from an enemy; because it was the most suitable place for our infantry; and because it was the frontier of all the islands of Moroland, where those enemies landed, recruited their forces, and repaired their vessels. It also was the point of vantage for intimidating those kings, and depriving Mindanao of half its power; and for facing (at three leguas distance) Basilan, the people of which are so valiant, and subject to Joló, so that that king also is thus disarmed of half his forces. To this was added the consideration that the post had Christian Indians as neighbors, who, free from the extortions of the Moros, would aid in the conquest [of those lands] and the extension of our power and of our faith, as has been actually done." (Torrubia, pp. 45, 46.)

[15] Fábrica (Latin, Italian, and Spanish; French, fabrique): a technical term in church administrative usage. The ordinary and common meaning is the material building or edifice, which (technically) includes repairs, improvements, changes, etc., as well as the necessary expense for caretakers of it, as watchmen, beadles, sweepers, etc.; these people are paid from the funds of the fábrica--which might be rendered as "building-fund," except that in ecclesiastical usage fábrica usually presupposes that the building it already reared, while the English phrase "building-fund" includes the idea of constructing it. (Yet in Latin, Italian, and Spanish the term fábrica is also used to include money for the erection of the church edifice, in cases where it has not yet been built; where it has been completed and paid for, fábrica is restricted to the meaning first given above, the "keep" of the building.)

Thus usually the term has a material sense only; but sometimes (though not commonly) fábrica is taken, as in the present text, in a spiritual sense, and implies the support or maintenance (honoraria) of the churchmen, the ministers attached to the building, as well as the maintenance of divine worship, as required by ritual. Fábrica then refers to affairs of the soul or spirit, the spiritual upbuilding or edifice of the faithful. By extension, the same term is sometimes used to mean the board of churchwardens who administer the property. In the Philippines the church property (save that belonging to the religious corporations) was in the hands of the bishop as sole trustee and administrator, a power which he might delegate to his provisor or vicar. The distribution of the fund mentioned in the text is unusual.--Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.

[16] To this should be added 4 tomins, omitted in the table for lack of room; the same addition should therefore be made to the total of the cash column.

[17] This name, also Pineda in the next item, and Manzano in the last one, is abbreviated in the original; and the forms given above are necessarily conjectural.

[18] In the MS. "Tondo" was written here, but afterward crossed out.

[19] To this sum should be added 4 granos, omitted from the amount of cash stated for Mindoro, for lack of room.

[20] He was royal secretary in the Council of the Indias. In this letter (dated September 20, 1735) he states that the king desires information about the islands, and their fortresses and fortifications, because the recent fire in the palace at Madrid had destroyed many papers; he asks for plans of fortifications, and reports of troops, munitions, and artillery, and that they be sent as speedily as possible.

[21] Evidently, from the context, referring to Cagayán de Misamis, in Mindanao.

[22] At the time a royal secretary; his letter is dated at Madrid, August 30, 1739, and asks for the report on the ecclesiastical estate in the islands which is herewith presented.

[23] The title-page of this book reads in English thus: "Religious hospital work [conducted] by the sons of our pious father and patriarch, the father of the poor, St. John of God, in his province of San Raphael of the Philipinas Islands: a condensed epitome of its foundation, progress, and present condition, in succinct and instructive style. Dedicated to the very reverend father Fray Alonso de Jesus y Ortega, general of the same holy hospital order, by the reverend father Fray Antonio de Arze, vicar provincial and visitor, and prior of the convent at Manila--in obedience to whom it was written by Fray Juan Manuel Maldonado de Puga, a religious and priest; preacher, master of novices, and chaplain rector in the same convent of Manila. Year of 1742." The dedication to the general, by Antonio de Arze, is dated at Manila, July 14, 1740. The book is approved by Fray Pedro de Zaragoza, of the same order, at Ocaña, February 26, 1742; and permission for its issue is given by the general of the order at Granada, September 28 following. It is approved by Father Martin Garcia, S.J., "synodal examiner of this archbishopric and that of Sevilla, and of the bishoprics of Malaga and Barzelona," at Granada, on September 20; and the license by the ordinary is dated at Granada, on September 26. The approval of the book by the Inquisition is signed by Fray Pablo de Ezija, a Capuchin, at Granada, June 12 of the same year; and finally, the permission of the royal Council to print it is dated at Madrid, on July 9. The colophon reads: "Printed at Granada, by Joseph de la Puerta, printer and seller of books: year of 1742."

[24] The same as French entresol; apparently equivalent to the English word "basement," and referring to the space left under Filipino buildings.

[25] Spanish, azucar rosado; described by Dominguez as "sugar cooked to the point of caramel, to which is added a little lemon juice, so that the sugar remains [granulated] like sponge sugar, thus serving, with water, for a refreshing drink."

[26] These signatures indicate that the opinion rendered by the Jesuits dates back of 1717, since in that year Clain died; it is probably earlier than 1708, since in that year Arias and Bobadilla went to the Palaos Islands (Murillo Velarde, Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 377 verso).

[27] Palma brava: the common name of Livistonia rotundifolia, of the order Palmæ; see Merrill's Dictionary of the Plant Names of the Philippines (Manila, 1903).

[28] Of interest in this connection is Herrmann Sokeland's "Ancient Desemers or Steelyards," in Annual Report of Smithsonian Institution, 1900, pp. 551-364. It is well illustrated with engravings of various primitive weighing instruments which are preserved in the museums of Berlin, Germany, some of which came from Thibet and India.

[29] Apparently meaning here, not the Castilian language in general, but as spoken in the islands.

[30] The marco is a weight equivalent to the half of a libra, and is used for weighing gold and silver. The marco of gold is divided into fifty castellanos, and that of silver into eight onzas. (Barcia.)

[31] Albarejo (or alberjon): a provincial term (used in La Mancha), applied, like the Catalan candeal, to a variety of white wheat. (Barcia.)

[32] Spanish tumbaga (from Malay tambâga, copper): an alloy of copper and zinc, or a species of brass, with an excess of zinc; also known as "Dutch gold" and "pinchbeck."

[33] In the Spanish text, extension; but this is apparently a misprint for some other word, for which, in accordance with the obvious meaning, we substitute "suppression." At the beginning of Maldonado's work is printed a list of errata therein, thirty-two in number; this is followed by the naïve remark, "There are some others, which the discreet reader can correct."

[34] Spanish, Pico de oro; the same as the Greek Chrysostom.

[35] The word caballería has many meanings, but probably only two are here involved; these are found in the supplement to Domínguez's Diccionario nacional (ed. of 1878). One is, "In the Indias it is understood as the distribution of lands or seigniorial domains granted to the settlers or conquistadors in a country." It is possible that the text refers to some of those military allotments, which might have descended unbroken to Maldonado's time; but it is much more probable that he uses the word in the sense of a measure for land. Caballería, in Andalusia, means also the area of sixty fanegas (or 3.8758 hectares) of land.

[36] This sentence sounds somewhat contradictory to the following one; but it is the literal rendering of the Spanish, se graduaron con prelacion de los Legados à las deudas de Justicia. This is but one of many uncertainties in the text of Maldonado's work which presumably arise from the blunders of native amanuenses which he mentions at the beginning of chapter xvii; the translation is as close as possible, but in various places has been necessarily made more free than is usual in this series, in order to render intelligible involved, elliptical, or even apparently erroneous phraseology.

[37] In the text, Escudo--a rather surprising and foreign use of this word instead of corona.

[38] In the text, Tierras Tubiganes: tubigan is the Tagal word for Spanish aguanoso, meaning "wet," or "irrigated."

[39] In the text, simenteras tabalcanes; but the word tabalcan does not appear in Tagal dictionaries, and is probably a misprint for tubigan, as a result of some error by Maldonado's native copyists. Quiñon in Spanish means "share" or "portion," usually of profit in an enterprise; but here it is evidently the Hispanicized form of the Tagal qiñong, which is defined by Noceda and Sanlucar as a land measure equivalent to 100 brazas square of area.