As might be expected, Mahamed lost no opportunity to avenge the insults that his hereditary enemies had for so many years been heaping upon him; accordingly, he led several incursions against them.
Sulu Warriors in Fighting Attitude.
I have not space here to recount the various expeditions of the Spaniards against their southern neighbors. I shall, instead, mention only the more prominent ones of recent years.
In 1851, Sulu Town, the capital of Sulu, was attacked and razed by the Spaniards. Their advantage, however, proved but temporary. The Mohammedans now changed their capital to Maybun on the south coast, which is far less accessible.
In 1860, Governor-General Norzagaray led another expedition against the Mohammedans. This also met with some success; but none of it was decisive. On account of the persistent renewals of the hated Sulu piracy in 1876, another expedition, under Vice-Admiral Malcampo, pierced the interior of Sulu, where he was ambushed and attacked by a body of juramentados,—formidable fanatics, armed with javelins and the deadly kris. He returned to Manila having sustained great loss.
The Dreaded Juramentados.
These juramentados are Mohammedans, who, having taken an inviolable oath to shed the blood of the hated Christian, and, having absolutely no fear of death, are as dangerous as they are fanatical.
