115. Their laws and policy, which were not very barbarous for barbarians, consisted wholly of traditions and customs, observed with so great exactness that it was not considered possible to break them in any circumstance. One was the respect of parents and elders, carried to so great a degree that not even the name of one’s father could pass the lips, in the same way as the Hebrews [regarded] the name of God. The individuals, even the children, must follow the general [custom]. There were other laws also. For the determination of their suits, both civil and criminal, there was no other judge than the said chief, with the assistance of some old men of the same barangay. With them the suit was determined in the following form. They had the opponents summoned, and endeavored to have them come to an agreement. But if they would not agree, then an oath was administered to each one, to the effect that he would abide by what was determined and done. Then they called for witnesses, and examined summarily. If the proof was equal [on both sides], the difference was split; but, if it were unequal, the sentence was given in favor of the one who conquered. If the one who was defeated resisted, the judge made himself a party to the cause, and all of them at once attacked with the armed hand the one defeated, and execution to the required amount was levied upon him. The judge received the larger share of this amount, and some was paid to the witnesses of the one who won the suit, while the poor litigant received the least.
In criminal causes there were wide distinctions made because of the rank of the murderer and the slain; and if the latter were a chief all his kinsmen went to hunt for the murderer and his relatives, and both sides engaged in war, until mediators undertook to declare the quantity of gold due for that murder, in accordance with the appraisals which the old men said ought to be paid according to their custom. One half of that amount belonged to the chiefs, and the other half was divided among the wife, children, and relatives of the deceased. The penalty of death was never imposed by process of law, except when the murderer and his victim were common men and had no gold to satisfy the murder. In such a case, if the man’s dato or maginoo (for these are one and the same) did not kill him, the other chiefs did, spearing him after lashing him to a stake.
117. In a matter of theft, if the crime were proved, but not the criminal, and more than one person was suspected, a canonical clearance from guilt had to be made in the following form. First they obliged each person to put in a heap a bundle of cloth, leaves, or anything else that they wished, in which they might discover the article stolen. If the article stolen was found in the heap, at the end of this effort, then the suit ceased; if not, one of three methods was tried. First, they were placed in the part of the river where it is deepest, each one with his wooden spear in his hand. Then at the same time they were all to be plunged under the water, for all are equal in this, and he who came out first was regarded as the criminal. Consequently, many let themselves drown for fear of punishment. The second was to place a stone in a vessel of boiling water, and to order them to take it out. He who refused to put his hand into the water paid the penalty for the theft. Thirdly, each one was given a wax candle of the same wick, and of equal size and weight. The candles were lighted at the same time, and he whose candle first went out was the culprit.
118. There are three kinds and classes of people: the chiefs, whom the Visayans call dato and the Tagálogs maginoo; the timauas, who are the ordinary common people, called maharlicà among the Tagálogs; and the slaves, called oripuen by the Visayans and alipin by the Tagálogs. The last are divided into several kinds, as we shall relate soon. The chiefs attain that position generally through their blood; or, if not that, because of their energy and strength. For even though one may be of low extraction, if he is seen to be careful, and if he gains some wealth by his industry and schemes—whether by farming and stock-raising, or by trading; or by any of the trades among them, such as smith, jeweler, or carpenter; or by robbery and tyranny, which was the most usual method—in that way he gains authority and reputation, and increases it the more he practices tyranny and violence. With these beginnings, he takes the name of dato; and others, whether his relatives or not, come to him, and add credit and esteem to him, and make him a leader. Thus there is no superior who gives him authority or title, beyond his own efforts and power. Consequently, might was proclaimed as right, and he who robbed most and tyrannized most was the most powerful. If his children continued those tyrannies, they conserved that grandeur. If on the contrary, they were men of little ability, who allowed themselves to be subjugated, or were reduced either by misfortunes and disastrous happenings, or by sicknesses and losses, they lost their grandeur with their possessions, as is customary throughout the world; and the fact that they had honored parents or relatives was of no avail to them, or is of no avail to them now. In this way it has happened that the father might be a chief, and the son or brother a slave—and worse, even a slave to his own brother.
119. Their manner of life and ordinary conduct from the days of old is trade, in all sorts of things by wholesale, and more by retail in the products of the earth, in accordance with what is produced in each district. The maritime peoples are great fishers with net, line, and corral. The people who live inland are excellent farmers and hunters. They are always cultivating rice, besides other vegetables and garden products, quite different from those of Europa. The women also are shrewd in trading, especially of their weaving, needlework, and embroideries, which they make very neatly; and there is scarcely one who cannot read and write. Sometimes the husband and wife go together on their trading, and, whether for this or for any other thing, she must always go ahead; for it is not their custom to go together. Even if it be a band wholly made up of men or of women, or of men and women mixed, and even if the road be very wide, they go in single file one after the other.
120. The maritime peoples were accustomed to make many raids, and those of the interior to set ambushes for such depredations, wasting life in this. Their weapons consisted of bow and arrow; a spear with a short handle, and a head shaped in innumerable ways, most often with harpoon points; other spears without any head, with the point made on the shaft itself (which is now of bamboo and now of wood), a vara long, hardened in fire. They had swords; large, sharp daggers, made very beautifully; and slender, long blowpipes [ceruatanas], through which they shot most dangerous poisoned arrows, in the manner of the inhabitants of Samatra. Such are their offensive weapons. Their defensive weapons are wooden shields and rattan or corded breastplates, and other armor helmets of the same material.
121. What justice, what fidelity, what honesty should there be amid so great cruelty and tyranny? Virginity and purity were ignominious, which is the general vice of idolaters. Whether married or single, the woman who had no lover could not be safe; and by regarding that as an honor, they considered it a dishonor to give their persons free. When men children were born in certain provinces, the mothers themselves performed on them a certain form of circumcision, quite different from that of the Jews and Moros, and only in order to render them more skilful in their lewdness. Yet with all this, they abhorred, and chastised, and rigorously punished incest.
122. In the celebration of their marriages, espousals, and divorces, and in the giving and receiving of dowries, they also proceeded according to reason. In the first place, they agreed as to the dowry, which is promised and given even now by the man, in the sum named by the parents. When it is determined the betrothal takes place, generally with a conventional penalty which is rigorously executed. However, neither men nor women take it for an insult or grieve greatly if the betrothal be refused, because then they benefit by the fine. The truth is, that if those who are bound by the fine were the parents, after their deaths the children are free to break the contract without incurring the penalty, by only the restitution of the amount received as dowry.
Matrimony at present includes, besides the above, the delivery of the person and the dowry. The latter is not received by the woman but by her parents or relatives, as it were selling their girls, in the manner of the Mesopotamians and other nations. The parents convert the dowry into their own estate, and it is distributed with the other property, at their deaths, among all the children equally. But if the son-in-law has been very obedient to his parents-in-law; then the latter generally return the dowry to their children. The other relatives are only depositaries of what they must again deliver to the children. Besides the dowry, the chiefs formerly gave some presents to the parents and relatives, and even to the slaves, to a greater or less amount according to the rank of the bridegroom.
The pagan ceremony and form of marriage had to be authorized by a sacrifice; for after the marriage had been agreed upon and the dowry paid over, the catalona came, and a hog was brought to her. The ceremonies were performed as in other sacrifices. The lovers having seated themselves in their bridal chamber, each in the lap of an old woman who acted as godmother, the latter gave them to eat from one plate and to drink from one cup. The bridegroom said that he took the woman to wife, and, accepting her, the catalona or babaylana immediately gave them a thousand benedictions, saying to them: “May you be well mated. May you beget many children and grandchildren, all rich and brave,” and other things of this sort. Thereupon the hog was slain, and the lovers were married; and when the others became tired of dancing and singing, all became intoxicated and went to sleep. If the recently-married couple did not suit each other, another sacrifice was ordered, in which the bridegroom himself danced and slew the victim—the while talking to his anito, and offering himself to it for the sake of peace and harmony with his wife. That having been done, he calmed himself, confident that then and thenceforth the two would live in harmony, and enjoy their married life in peace.