My most beloved Fathers and Brothers in Christ:
Now I have to answer your fine letter, by telling you something of these missions, which I do not doubt will interest you greatly. In this and in the other letters which I plan to write you, I shall limit myself to mentioning things which I have either seen myself or have heard from eyewitnesses.
The matter of the Carolinas[1] has alarmed us a trifle hereabout; for as those islands are so near these coasts, and these peoples are so fearful, Christians and heathens have more than once believed themselves enslaved by the Germans. Even yet they do not have all the confidence that would be advisable to make them settle down and quietly build their villages; for any evil information although without foundation and improbable is enough to make them take to the mountains. The reverend father superior of the mission sent us some Spanish banners from Manila for the reductions of these coasts, and we told them all that if they flung the Spanish banners, although a foreign boat should approach, they ought not to fear anything.
Map of the Coraline Islands; photographic facsimile of map in Lettres édifantes (Paris, 1728)
[From copy in library of Harvard University]
You must already have had news of the numerous races of heathens that people the mission of Dávao. The heathens nearest to this capital are the Guiangas, who are scattered among the rivers and rancherías of Dulían; Guimálan, Tamúgan, Ceril, and Biao, and number in all six thousand four hundred souls. They talk a language difficult to understand, for it does not resemble the languages of other races. Those heathens sow rice, maize, sweet potatoes, bananas, and sugarcane. In addition they gather a considerable quantity of wax in their forests. There are some excellent smiths among them, and in general they reveal a sufficient amount of intelligence. But since they are still in a savage state, they commit many acts of barbarism, among which are human sacrifices. As yet they have not heard a father missionary who can talk to them in their language, and only a few of those who come to Dávao have been baptized. I have had something to do at times with the nearest who understand and talk the language of the Bagobos, their neighbors. This very week I am to visit those of the Malá River where there are some Christians and catechumens who are constructing a chapel for me when I go.
The Bagobos are another race of heathens, who, occupying the folds of the volcano of Apo,[2] extend along the southwest part of Dávao between the Taomo and Bolotúcan rivers. They number approximately ten or twelve thousand souls. About eight hundred have as yet been reduced, and only about four hundred have been baptized in the new reductions of Santa Cruz, Astorga, Daliao, Bagó, and Taomo. The Bagobos differ scarcely from the Guiangas, except in the language that is peculiar to the latter. They are reported, nevertheless, to be great sacrificers [of human flesh], and are very much set in the customs of their ancestors. They have two feasts annually: one before the sowing of the rice, and the other after its harvest. This last is of an innocent enough character and is called the feast of women. At that feast all the people gather at the house of their chief or the master of the feast, at the decline of the afternoon. That day they feast like nobles, and drink until it is finished the sugarcane wine which has been prepared for that purpose. There is music, singing, and dancing almost all the night, and the party breaks up at dawn of the following day. The feast which they hold before the sowing is a criminal and repugnant trago-comedy. The tragical part is the first thing that is done. When they have assembled in the middle of the woods, after taking all the precautions necessary, so that the matter may not reach the ears of the authority of the district or of the father missionary, they tightly bind the slave whom they are going to sacrifice. When once assured that they will not be discovered, all armed with sharp knives, they leap and jump about the victim striking him one after the other, or several at one time amid infernal cries and shouts, until the body of the victim sacrificed has been cut into bits. From the place of the sacrifice they then go to the house of their chief or the master of the feast, holding branches in their hands which they place in a large bamboo, which is not only the chief adornment but the altar of the house in which they meet. Here comes the comical part, for like one who has done nothing, they all eat and drink, and some of the most joyful play on musical instruments, and dance. The principal part is reserved for the old man or master of the feast. He standing near the bamboo which I have mentioned above, holding the vessel of wine in his hand, and talking with his comrades, addresses the great demon called Daragó, whose feast they are celebrating, in the following words: “Daragó, we are making you this feast, with great good will and gladness, offering you the blood of the sacrifice which we have made and this wine which we drink so that you may be our friend, accompany us, and be propitious in our wars.” Afterward and as a continuation of what I have said, he begins a kind of litany in which all the most celebrated Daragós whom they know or believe that they know, and whose names are repeated by all at the same time, enter.
The Bagobos recognize two beginnings: and say that they have each two souls. God, or Tiquiama is very good they say and has created all things, although he has been aided by other small gods who are under his orders: such as Mamale, who made the earth; Macacóret, the air; Domacólen, the mountains; and Macaponguis, the water. Of the two souls, one goes to heaven and the other to hell. For they believe that both in this life and in the other, they belong to the devil, to whom they concede the same rights and almost the same power as to God, only with the difference that the devil is very bad, and fond of blood, and the beginning of all evil and confusion. On that account, quite neglectful of God, the being whom they serve and adore in all things is the devil. When they marry, if the lovers think that it will be of any use, they make a human sacrifice so that they may have a good marriage, so that the weather may be good, so that they may have no storm, sickness, etc.: all, things which they attribute to the devil. In the same way also when they learn that there is any contagious disease, or fear death, several of them assemble and make a human sacrifice, asking the devil to let them live, since they generously offer him that victim. They also believe that the disease can be conjured. But the time that it appears that it is necessary to make a sacrifice according to the law of the Bagobos is at the death of any one of the family, before they can remove the laláoan or mourning. In that case the sacrifice announced among them as a feria or a pilgrimage is usually announced among the Christians. At the point and on the day assigned, all the sacrificers assemble, or possibly one member of each of the families who are in mourning, at times fifty or more. The value of the slave sacrificed is paid among them all, and he who pays most has the right to sacrifice first. The victims cry out at such times as long as they can and ask pity of all; but instead of pitying them, they drown the pitiful cries with the most horrible and terrifying shouts that can be imagined. If they perform the sacrifice near the Christians, then they strike without any shouts, and even gag the mouth of the victim.
But let us leave for another letter the relation of not less horrible barbarities. O Fathers and Brothers of my soul, pray for the conversion of these wretched beings, and do not be forgetful of me in your holy sacrifices and prayers.