Palms. In all these islands are great numbers of cocoa-palms. In some of the nuts are found stones as large as filberts, which the natives prize, although thus far it is not known what efficacy they have. They draw a great quantity of wine from the palm-trees; one Indian can in one forenoon obtain two arrobas of sap from the palm trees that he cultivates. It is sweet and good, and is used in making great quantities of brandy, excellent vinegar, and delicious honey. The cocoanuts furnish a nutritious food when rice is scarce. From the nut-shells they make dishes, and [from the fibrous husk?] match-cords for their arquebuses; and with the leaves they make baskets. Consequently this tree is very useful.
In these islands are very many swine, and goats of excellent quality. There are also a great many wild buffaloes, which, if caught when young, can be easily tamed. There are ducks, and some geese which have been brought from China. There are also a great many fowls of excellent quality, which are similar to those of Castilla. There are some fowls which have no tails, for which reason the natives superstitiously refuse to eat them; but these are better than the other sorts.
As for fruits like those in Castilla, they were formerly not to be found in this land, because of its proximity to China, where there are so many fruits peculiar to that country. There are here some tolerably good fruits, such as excellent bananas[7]; nancas, a very fragrant fruit, and larger than the largest Spanish melon; macupas, which resemble apples; and santors, which taste like the quince. There are also many good oranges and lemons.
In the province of Ylocos is found a large tree whose blossoms resemble the white lily, and taste like fish. The Indians gather the blossoms in the morning, cook them, and eat them in place of fish. And, wonderful to relate, on the next morning the tree is again full of blossoms; and this occurs day after day.
In the mountain region, where there is scarcity of water, are found certain bejucos, six or eight brazas high, and larger around than the thumb. When this stem is cut, there gushes forth a great quantity of water, of excellent taste; and this liquid supplies the lack of water. Each bejuco will yield two or three cuartillos of water.[8]
Chapter Eleventh
Which treats of the rites and ceremonies observed by the Moros in the vicinity of Manilla, and of their social conditions
The god Batala. According to the religion formerly observed by these Moros, they worshiped a deity called among them Batala, which properly means “God.” They said that they adored this Batala because he was the Lord of all, and had created human beings and villages. They said that this Batala had many agents under him, whom he sent to this world to produce, in behalf of men, what is yielded here. These beings were called anitos, and each anito had a special office. Some of them were for the fields, and some for those who journey by sea; some for those who went to war, and some for diseases. Each anito was therefore named for his office; there was, for instance, the anito of the fields, and the anito of the rain. To these anitos the people offered sacrifices, when they desired anything—to each one according to his office. The mode of sacrifice was like that of the Pintados. They summoned a catalonan, which is the same as the vaylan among the Pintados, that is, a priest. He offered the sacrifice, requesting from the anito whatever the people desired him to ask, and heaping up great quantities of rice, meat, and fish. His invocations lasted until the demon entered his body, when the catalonan fell into a swoon, foaming at the mouth. The Indians sang, drank, and feasted until the catalonan came to himself, and told them the answer that the anito had given to him. If the sacrifice was in behalf of a sick person, they offered many golden chains and ornaments, saying that they were paying a ransom for the sick person’s health. This invocation of the anito continued as long as the sickness lasted.
When the natives were asked why the sacrifices were offered to the anito, and not to the Batala, they answered that the Batala was a great lord, and no one could speak to him. He lived in the sky; but the anito, who was of such a nature that he came down here to talk with men, was to the Batala as a minister, and interceded for them. In some places and especially in the mountain districts, when the father, mother, or other relative dies, the people unite in making a small wooden idol, and preserve it. Accordingly there is a house which contains one hundred or two hundred of these idols. These images also are called anitos; for they say that when people die, they go to serve the Batala. Therefore they make sacrifices to these anitos, offering them food, wine, and gold ornaments; and request them to be intercessors for them before the Batala, whom they regard as God.
Government of the Moros. Among the Moros there is precisely the same lack of government as among the Pintados. They had chiefs in their respective districts, whom the people obeyed; they punished criminals, and laid down the laws that must be observed. In the villages, where they had ten or twelve chiefs, one only—the richest of them—was he whom all obeyed. They greatly esteem an ancient lineage, which is therefore a great advantage to him who desires to be a lord. When laws were to be enacted for governing the commonwealth, the greatest chief, whom all the rest obeyed, assembled in his own house all the other chiefs of the village; and when they had come, he made a speech, declaring that, to correct the many criminal acts which were being committed, it was necessary that they impose penalties and enact ordinances, so that these evils might be remedied and that all might live in peace. This policy was not in vogue among the Pintados, because no one of them was willing to recognize another as his superior. Then the other chiefs replied that this seemed good to them; and that, since he was the greatest chief of all, he might do whatever appeared to him just, and they would approve it. Accordingly, that chief made such regulations as he deemed necessary; for these Moros possess the art of writing, which no other natives of the islands have. The other chiefs approved what he ordained. Immediately came a public crier, whom they call umalahocan, who is properly a mayor-domo, or steward; he took a bell and went through the village, announcing in each district the regulations which had been made. The people replied that they would obey. Thus the umalahocan went from village to village, through the whole district of this chief; and from that time on he who incurred the penalties of law was taken to the chief, who sentenced him accordingly. If the penalty be death, and the condemned man say that he prefers to be a slave, he is pardoned, and becomes a slave. All the other chiefs are also judges, each in his own district; but when any important case arises the head chief calls all the others together, in order to decide it, and the affair is settled by the vote of all. The chiefs are accustomed to impose the taxes; but there is no fixed amount for these, save what the proper judge decrees shall be paid.