[129] Southeastern part of Samar.—Rizal.
[130] Colin says, however, that they did tattoo the chins and about the eyes [barbas y cejas]. The same author states also that the tattooing was done little by little and not all at once. "The children were not tattooed, but the women tattooed one hand and part of the other. In this island of Manila the Ilocos also tattooed themselves, although not so much as did the Visayans." The Negritos, Igorrotes, and other independent tribes of the Filipinas still tattoo themselves. The Christians have forgotten the practice. The Filipinas used only the black color, thus differing from the Japanese, who employ different colors, as red and blue, and carry the art to a rare perfection. In other islands of the Pacific, the women tattoo themselves almost as much as the men. Dr. Wilhelm Joest's Tätowiren Narbenzeichnen und Körperbemahlen (Berlin, 1887) treats the matter very succinctly.—Rizal.
[131] This is a confused statement, after what just precedes it and according to the evidence of Father Chirino (see Vol. XII, chapter vii). Morga must mean that they wore no cloak or covering when they went outside the house, as did the Tagáls (both men and women), who used a kind of cape.—Rizal. [This is the sense in which Stanley understood and translated this passage.]
[132] Gûbat, grove, field, in Tagál. Mangubat [so printed in the text of Rizal's edition] signifies in Tagál "to go hunting, or to the wood," or even "to fight."—Rizal.
[133] "At the arrival of the Spaniards at this island (Panay)" says San Agustín, "it was said to have more than 50,000 families. But they decreased greatly … and at present it has about 14,000 tributarios—6,000 apportioned to the crown, and 8,000 to individual encomenderos." They had many gold-mines, and obtained gold by washing the sand in the Panay River; "but instigated by the outrages received from the alcaldes-mayor," says the same historian, "they have ceased to dig it, preferring to live in poverty than to endure such troubles."—Rizal.
[134] This entire paragraph is omitted in the Rizal edition. In the original it is as follows:
La Lengua de todos, los Pintados y Bicayas, es vna mesma, por do se entienden, hablando y escriuiendo, en letras y caratores que tienen particulares, que semejan á los Arabigos, y su comun escribir entre los naturales, es en hojas de arboles, y en cañas, sobre la corteza; que en todas las islas ay muchas, de disforme grueso los cañutos, y el pie es vn arbol muy grueso y maciço.
[135] This difference is no greater than that between the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.—Rizal.
[136] See Chirino (Relacion de las islas Filipinas) Vol. XII, chapters xv-xvii. His remarks, those of Morga, and those of other historians argue a considerable amount of culture among the Filipino peoples prior to the Spanish conquest. A variety of opinions have been expressed as to the direction of the writing. Chirino, San Antonio, Zúñiga, and Le Gentil, say that it was vertical, beginning at the top. Colin, Ezguerra, and Marche assert that it was vertical but in the opposite direction. Colin says that the horizontal form was adopted after the arrival of the Spaniards. Mas declares that it was horizontal and from left to right, basing his arguments upon certain documents in the Augustinian archives in Manila. The eminent Filipino scholar, Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera has treated the subject in a work entitled "Contribucion para el estudio de los antiguos alfabetos filipinos" (Losana, 1884). See Rizal's notes on p. 291 of his edition of Morga.
[137] This portion of this sentence is omitted in Stanley.