[18] “Such is the wine from nipa, called Tanduay. The famous chemist (a Chinese mestizo) Anacleto del Rosario, discovered a process by which the disagreeable taste of this brandy disappears; and it becomes equal to that of Spain in color, smell, taste, and strength.” (Father Pastells, in his edition of Colin, i, p. 62, note 2.)
[19] Gachas: A certain food composed of flour, milk, and water, to which is added honey or sugar, and the consistency of which is midway between starch and flour paste. (Dominguez’s Diccionario.)
[20] “Their most popular traditional songs are the Cundimán, the Comintán, the Balitao, the Saloma, and the Talindao. Some are only sung; in others, they sing and dance at the same time.” (Pastells, in his Colin, i. p. 63, note 1.)
[21] “The dance here described by the author is that which is called in Filipinas Moro-Moro.” (Pastells, ut supra, p. 63, note 3.)
[22] Pastells (ut supra, p. 64, note 1) discusses the meaning of the word Bathala; he thinks that it is ascertained “by resolving the word into its primary elements, Bata and Ala = ‘Son God, or Son of God.’ This is why the first missionaries did not deprive the natives of this name when they instructed them about the existence of God and the mysteries of the Trinity, the incarnation, and redemption, as states an anonymous but very circumstantial relation written at Manila, on April 20, 1572. This is more evident in the song which the Mandayan baylanas use in their sacrifices, when they chant the Miminsad, saying: [Here follow the words of this song, for which consult our Vol. XII, p. 270, note.] ... The Mandayas believe that Mansilatan is the father of Batla (man being a prefix which indicates paternity, being, or dominion), and the Búsao who takes possession of the baylanas when they tremble, and of the Baganis when they become furious; it is a power which is derived from Mansilatan.... This interpretation of the word Bathala is confirmed by that word of the Visayans, Diuata; we always find here the same idea signified in the words Diwa and uata, differing only in their transposition.... In closing, we may note that Dewa in Malay, Déwa in Javanese, Sunda, Makasar, and Day[ak?], Deva in Maguindanao, and Djebata in Bornean, signify ‘the supreme God,’ or ‘Divinity.’”
[23] The caverns were, in especial, formerly the usual sepulchres of the Indians. The anthropologists have profited by this circumstance for their studies, and for furnishing the museums of their respective nations with skeletons of those natives. (Pastells, ut supra, p. 66, note 1.)
[24] The Mahometans [Moros] had their mosque, or lañgà .” (Pastells, ut supra, p. 66, note 3.) Legazpi says (Vol. III, p. 60): “The heathens have no [religious] law at all; they have neither temples nor idols, nor do they offer any sacrifices.”
[25] A reference to the common little house or chirping lizard, which is often seen and heard on the walls of the houses. See Census of Philippines, i, p. 74.
Arthur Stanley Riggs says in a note in a forthcoming volume, The Filipino Drama: “The common or house lizard in the Philippines has a pretty, chirping note. When one hears a lizard ‘sing,’ as the Spaniards call the cry, it means, among the Ilocanos, an important visit of some kind. If hunting at the time one hears several lizards sing, he must turn back immediately, as disaster will inevitably follow further progress. Other curious and interesting superstitions obtain in like manner in other parts of the islands.”
[26] i.e., “over and above the dowry.”