In the interior of Mindanao are many fierce and savage tribes, owning allegiance to no government, controlled only by their own fierce passions.
A bagani, or man of might, is one that has won recognition by having cut off sixty heads. This entitles him to wear a scarlet turban. No one not a bagani can be a chief. Thus, murder and assassination are legalized and honored.
The Mandayas, to escape from the baganis, are wont to build their huts in the branches of lofty trees, thirty or forty feet from the ground. Here they climb when attacked, defending themselves by hurling stones upon their assailants. The baganis usually attempt to take them by surprise, shooting burning arrows at the ærial habitation, that they may set it on fire. Sometimes, it is said, the bagani will climb up to the hut with their shields locked together above them. Then, cutting down the posts that support this abode in the tree-tops, they soon bring the besieged to terms. The captives are then divided among the besiegers—the heads of the dead and of the wounded, and of all the grown males, are cut off, and the women and children are carried away captives.
The Devil’s Bridge, in Wild Laguna.
Such is the interior of Mindanao; and from this description it can readily be seen how ineffective has been the Spanish occupation of that island.
In 1877 a protocol was signed by England and Germany recognizing Spain’s rights to the Tawi-Tawi group and the chain of islands from Sulu to Borneo.
In 1885 the heir to the Sultanate, having failed to appear in Manila, where he had been cited to receive his investiture at the hands of the Governor-General, as had for some years been the custom, another chief, Datto Harun, was selected by the Spanish Government to take his place. He took the oath of allegiance to the King of Spain, and was supported in his office. Two years later several chiefs found another pretext for rebellion, but they were finally compelled to yield their submission. Over this trifling victory the Spaniards made a great display.
Hardly had the Mohammedan chiefs submitted, when war broke out afresh and Colonel Arolas was sent to the scene of the disturbance. He defeated the natives in several engagements, and, at last, a permanent peace was established. The Sulu protectorate comprises Sulu Mindanao, and about 140 other islands; many of these are uninhabited. Next to Luzon, Mindanao is the largest island in the Archipelago. Sulu is about 35 miles long and 12 miles broad. The population of Mindanao is unknown. Luzon contains about 125,000 Mohammedans, many of whom are slaves.