They grow two kinds of cotton for textiles, the white and the Coyote. Another kind, a tree cotton from the Boboy (Eriodendron anfractuosum, D.C.), is only used for stuffing pillows. They extract oil from the seeds of all three kinds.
Like the other civilized natives they live principally on rice and fish, which they capture in large quantities. Blumentritt mentions two kinds, the “Ipon” and the “Dolon,” which they salt or pickle.
They have fine cattle, which they sell to the Igorrotes. It will be noted that the Tinguianes, on the other hand, sell cattle to the Ilocanos. The ponies of Ilocos are highly valued in Manila, where there is a great demand for them. They are smaller than the ponies of other provinces, but are very hardy and spirited, and go at a great pace. Tulisanes formerly infested these provinces and found a ready refuge in the mountains, when pursued by the cuadrilleros, or village constables, who were only armed with bolos, lances, and a few old muskets. But the creation of the Civil Guard, formed of picked officers and men, who were armed with Remingtons and revolvers, and whose orders were, “Do not hesitate to shoot,” made this business very dangerous, and the three provinces suffer little from brigandage. When Juan Salcedo conquered the Ilocos, he found a caste of nobles amongst them who possessed all the riches of the country, and treated the cailanes, or serfs, with great rigour. Their tyranny caused several bloody rebellions, and although at present matters in this respect have improved, there is still room for complaint that the people who do the work do not get a fair remuneration for it, the rich man always endeavouring to keep the poor man in permanent indebtedness. In consequence of this, the Ilocanos are ever ready to emigrate, and besides the places I have mentioned, there are thousands of them in Manila and other parts of the islands. They easily obtain employment either as servants, cultivators, or labourers, for they are superior in stamina to most of the civilised races, and in industry superior to them all.
I have no doubt that there is a great future before this hardy, enterprising, and industrious people.
Ibanags or Cagayanes (6).
The Ibanags inhabit the Babuyanes and Batanes Islands and the northern coast of Luzon, from Point Lacaytacay to Punta Escarpada, and all the country comprised between the Rio Grande and the summits of the Sierra Madre as far south as Balasig.
They also hold the left bank of the river from the sea, right up to the confluence of the River Magat for an average width of some five miles.
They are said to be the finest race and the most valiant men in the islands, and to have manfully resisted the Spaniards.
However, they were conquered and converted to Christianity. From the year 1781 they have been subjected to the worst form of slavery, the forced cultivation of tobacco. The detestable abuses brought into this system by the unblushing rascality of the agents of the treasury, became, finally, so glaring, and the condition of the Ibanags so dreadful, that, in 1882, the Governor-General, Moriones (see Chapter “Spanish Government”), forced the hand of Cánovas and the royal family, who desired to sell the monopoly, and this horrible slavery ceased, having lasted over a century, going from bad to worse.