[15] Navarrete says (Tratados, p. 2): “The Chinese traders who crossed over to Manila, when asked who they were and what they desired, answered, Xang Lai; that is, ‘We come to trade and barter.’ The Spaniards, who did not understand the Chinese language, imagined that that was the name of a nation; and united those two words into one, by which until this day they designate the Chinese, calling them Sangleys. In this way we Europeans have corrupted many other words for that part of the world. The Philipinas Islands are called Liù Sung; the Spaniard corrupted the words, and calls them Luzon. The city of Manila is called Mainila, which means ‘marsh’ or ‘mire;’ our people cut out an ‘i,’ and the name became Manila. The island which the natives call Minolo is named Mindoro by the Spaniards, and that of Malindic we call Marinduque.” [↑]
[16] The guayaba or guava (Psidium guayava), well-known and valued in America for its acid fruit, and early introduced thence into the Philippines, where it is known as bayabas. [↑]
[17] The macupa (Eugenio malaccensis—Linn.) is about the size of a sweet pepper and of somewhat the same shape, rather larger and quite red in color, but more lustrous; bitter-sweet in taste, somewhat agreeable, but has no solid flesh which can be eaten. The proper season for the fruit is April, May, and June. The leaves of the tree have medicinal properties. The balimbing (Averrhora carambola—Linn.) has the odor of a quince, and is used by the natives as food with dry fish or meat. There are several varieties, and the flesh is watery. It makes an excellent preserve, and is a good sea food. See Delgado’s Historia, pp. 505, 506, 512; and Census of Philippines, iv, pp. 124–126; also, for the paho, santol, and papaw (papaya), our VOL. XIII, p. 141, note 20, VOL. XVI, p. 87, note 72, and VOL. XXI, p. 144, note 36. [↑]
[18] See VOL. XVI, p. 87, note 72. See also Census of Philippines, p. 125. [↑]
[19] Athanasius Kircher was born near Fulda, Germany, in 1602, and became a Jesuit novice at the age of sixteen. He was for several years a teacher in the Jesuit college at Wurtzburg, but was driven to France (1632) by the war then waging in Germany. Having spent some time at Avignon, he was sent to Rome, where he died on November 27, 1680. He was one of the most illustrious writers in the Jesuit order; see list of his works in Sommervogel’s Bibliothèque, iv, cols. 1046–1077. They embrace a wide range of subjects—science, mathematics, Egyptian hieroglyphics, archæology, etc. The allusion in the text is probably to Kircher’s China monumentis (Rome, 1667). [↑]
[20] The small sapota or chico zapote (Achras sapota—Linn.) was, according to Delgado, peculiar to Nueva España. The tree is tall, wide-spreading, and tufted. Delgado also describes another variety called zapote prieto (Diospyros ebenaster—Retz), of which there are two varieties, one white and one black, which he declares to be natives of Nueva España. The Census of Philippines says, however, that they are natives of China. The fruit resembles a medium-sized apple, and has a green exterior. A pleasant preserve is made of it. See Delgado’s Historia, pp. 517, 518, and Census of Philippines, iv, p. 126. [↑]
[21] Ates (Anona squamosa—Linn.) is a fruit somewhat resembling in appearance a small pineapple. Its exterior is green and the interior white, and it contains many beautiful bright seeds. It is aromatic and delicate in flavor, and mild and pleasant to the taste. It is heating in its effects. Oranges of various indigenous species are found, among them being several wild species—one of the latter, the amumuntay (citrus histrix), being twelve or thirteen inches in circumference and very juicy and bitter. There are seven varieties of lemons, some of superior quality. See Delgado’s Historia, pp. 519, 520, 548–560; Census of Philippines, iv, pp. 124–126; our VOL. V, p. 169, and VOL. XVI, p. 87, note 72. [↑]
[22] The iguana is very abundant in some localities, and sometimes attains a size of five feet, and can swallow fair-sized fowls whole. They are often found on trees or in bushes along the river banks. When disturbed they drop into the water and thus escape. The eggs are considered a great delicacy by the natives, and the flesh of one species, the ibid, ibit, or pelubid, is highly esteemed. See Handbook of the Philippines (Manila, 1903), p. 150. [↑]
[23] Tunasan is in the province of Laguna, which is thus mentioned in the U. S. Philippine Gazetteer (p. 574): “This province is considered the garden of the Philippines. Its soil and climate are adapted to the successful growth of every variety of tropical plant and tree known to the archipelago.” Both mechanical and agricultural industries are considerably developed in Laguna. [↑]
[24] In the irrigated lands of Pangasinán the rice yield is eighty-fold; in dry lands fifty-fold; in highlands of the third class, at least forty- to sixty-fold. The most fertile farm of the Philippines (Imus) has 13,442 hectares devoted to rice cultivation. Its lands of the first class yield one hundred-fold; of the second, seventy-five-fold; and of the third fifty-fold. Other lands in the islands yield from fifteen-fold up. See Census of Philippines, iv, p. 93. [↑]