Marriages. These Moros followed in their marriages the same customs as those of the Pintados, in giving the dowry. Thus, if the man should, contrary to the woman’s desire, break his pledge and annul the marriage, he would lose the dowry, and she would retain it, free from him. Likewise, if the wife left the husband she was obliged to return him the dowry. If she committed adultery and the husband therefore left her, she returned him double the amount of the dowry. If the wife left the husband in order to marry another, the second husband was obliged to repay to the first husband the dowry which the latter had given to the woman, and to pay a fine, more or less—such an amount as the judge should order him to give. If the husband were a chief, and caught his wife in the act of committing adultery, he had the right to punish her with death, and the adulterer also, and could slay them with impunity. If he killed one and the other escaped, there would be open war between the two families until the other adulterer died. If both escaped, they must pay for their lives with a certain weight of gold. If they were chiefs, the penalty was one hundred taes, fifty for the woman and fifty for the adulterer. This done, they were pardoned, and remained friends. If they were timaguas, they incurred a lighter penalty.
Wars. In wars and slavery among the Moros, they observed the same customs as did the Pintados.
Thieves. There was among the natives a law concerning thieves. It was a petty theft if the amount were less than four taes (that is, twenty pesos); but if more than that sum, it was a serious offense. He who committed the former must return the gold, and then be sentenced, at the will of the judge, to pay a fine in money. If it were the greater theft, involving an amount of four taes or upward, he incurred the penalty of slavery. But if the goods stolen amounted to a cati [catty] of gold, the penalty was death, or the enslavement of the culprit and his children and all those of his household.
It was also a law that for the first theft the penalty was a fine in money, and for the second, slavery; for further offenses, it was death. Or if pardoned, as described above, he was made a slave, with his wife and children. This punishment did not apply to the son who proved that he was outside the house—whether he dwelt in a house of his own or lived with relatives on an independent footing; and therefore he was free. Only those who lived in the house of the delinquent were liable to punishment, because they all were suspected of knowledge of the theft.
There was also a law that anyone who spoke disrespectfully of a chief, or uttered abusive language to him, was liable to death. If he could redeem his life, a fine of fifteen taes of gold was imposed. If he did not have the means to pay and relatives did not contribute to ransom him, and the delinquent begged for mercy, saying that then he would become a slave, his life was spared, and he became the slave of the injured party. For this reason the penalty of a fine was available for him who possessed wealth. If the quarrel were between persons of equal rank, the chiefs settled the matter according to justice and their laws, and the like penalty was imposed. If the delinquent refused to pay according to this sentence, war was declared between the villages or the factions. Hostilities then followed; and from that time those who were captured were enslaved.
One may be released after paying the sum decreed; until then he is a slave. It was a law that if, when two timaguas were together, either of them insulted the other, he must pay a sum of money according to the nature of the insult, which was decided by the judge. If the insult were a gross one, the fine was large accordingly; and if the culprit had not the means to pay more than five taes, he became the slave of the injured person. If the delinquent begged from the chief or some other friend the favor of lending him the money, he became the slave of him who loaned the money. This slavery extended only to the culprit, and not to his children or relatives, except to children who were born during his slavery.
It is usual among the natives of this island to aid one another with money-loans. He who borrowed from a chief or a timagua retained the money until a fixed time had elapsed, during which he might use the money that was lent to him; and besides, he divided with the lender the profit that he made, in acknowledgment of the favor that he had received.
It was a law that if he who borrowed the money became insolvent, and had not means to pay his debt, he was considered a slave therefor, together with the children born during his slavery; those already born were free.
It was a law among these people, when two men formed a business partnership in which each placed the same amount of money, that if one of them went to traffic with the money belonging to both, and while on a trading journey were captured by enemies, the other man who remained in the village must go to ransom his partner, with half of the ransom-price agreed upon; and the captive was then released from liability—not only for what was due to the partnership, but for the amount which was afterward given for his ransom, and was not obliged to pay anything. If the man who lost the money lost it in gambling, or by spending it with women, he was obliged to repay to the partnership the amount which he had drawn therefrom, and he and his children were obliged to pay it. If the amount were so great that they could not pay it within the time agreed upon, he and half his children would become the slaves of the partner. If there were two children, one was a slave and the other was free; if four, two were slaves, and two free; and so on with any larger number. If the children were able to pay their father’s debt afterward, they were set free.
It was a law that he who killed another must die; but if he begged for mercy he would become the slave of the dead man’s father, children, or nearest relatives. If four or five men were concerned in the murder, they all paid to the master of the slave the price which the slave might be worth; and then the judge sentenced them to such punishment as he thought just. If the men had not means to pay the fine, they became slaves. If the dead man were a timagua, the penalty of death was incurred by those who were proved to be his murderers; but if the condemned men begged for mercy they became slaves. Accordingly, after they were sentenced the culprit might choose between death and slavery. If the man slain were a chief, the entire village where he was slain must, when that was proved, become slaves, those who were most guilty being first put to death. If the murderers were private persons only, three or four of the most guilty were put to death, without any resource in mercy; and the rest, with their children, became slaves.