Arandia then sought to bargain with them. In 1758 a decree was passed that was meant not only for them, but for the other heathen tribes. The decree read that those who would accept baptism need pay no tribute or tax for the rest of their lives. The Igorrotes were not caught by this offer. As a matter of fact, they gave themselves no trouble to pay tribute or tax, anyway, so the offer had no attraction for them.
IGORROTES.
At this same time Arandia had still another trouble on his hands, but one for which he was not to blame. A few years before, in 1749, the sultan of Sulu was deposed from his throne during a rebellion. Being in name, at least, a vassal of Spain, he came to Manila to ask Spanish aid in regaining his rights.
A STREET IN JOLÓ.
The acting governor-general at that time was the Bishop of Nuevo Segovia (nö ā´vō sā gō´vē ä). This worthy gave the sultan a warm welcome and showed him high honor. The Moro ruler was urged to accept baptism, and at last did so, with several of his suite. After that he and a large number of followers were kept in great style in Manila. The sultan was known as Ferdinand I., and great attention was paid him as rightful ruler of the Sulu archipelago. But for some reason nothing was done to help him recover his lost throne.
Finally, however, he was told that he was to be taken to Sulu. In fact, with a large Spanish escort, the party did go as far as Zamboanga. There the sultan and his people, with a prince of Sulu who had come to Mindanao to greet him, were thrown into prison. To explain this, it was charged that the sultan had written disloyal letters to friends in Sulu. In one of these letters, it was claimed, he had said that he had not acted of his own free will in accepting baptism. These letters had been intercepted at Zamboanga, and were declared to be treasonable.
The sultan was taken back to Manila as a prisoner, and this act at once drove the Moros to fresh fury. Again there was war all along the southern coast. It was pressed with great cruelty on both sides, and many lives were lost. The trouble lasted for some years, but the Spanish gained neither power nor territory by all this waste of lives and money.
When Arandia came into office he wished to send the sultan back to Sulu and restore to him his rights. In this, however, he was opposed by the clergy. Had he persisted in trying to do this it would have made great strife; so he yielded. Ferdinand I. stayed on in Luzon, but was not kept in confinement. His son, his daughter, and several chiefs of his people were with him in the city; but he was none the less a prisoner, and remained such until the British took Manila in 1762. In 1763 the English commander sent him to Sulu and reseated him on his throne. As for the Moros of the Sulu archipelago, they never again trusted the Spanish.