Dávao, February 20, 1886.
My dearly beloved Fathers and Brothers in Christ:
In order that you may all be encouraged more and more to aid us with your prayers in the great undertaking that we are engaged upon, I am going to mention, as I promised, a few of the customs of several races of this mission. The Tagacaolos belong to a numerous race of heathens, who inhabit the mountains of Culáman from Sarangani to Malálag. The whole mission contains approximately about twelve or fourteen thousand. Their language is easy to understand to him who knows Visayan. They are much divided among themselves and are continually at war, the weak being the slave of the stronger, and being frequently sold to the Moros. The Bagobos almost always supply themselves from this race for their human sacrifices. Do not believe, however, that they are a people inferior to those of other races. The Tagacaolos are lighter complexioned and more docile than the other known heathens. They also have human sacrifices at times, but they easily abandon their barbarous customs.
The Manobos[4] are another numerous and savage race of heathens, who live along various points of the coast, from Malálag to Sarangani. These Manobos have little liking for work, and are warlike and valiant, being usually on the hunt for slaves. They possess firearms, which the Moros sell them in exchange for slaves. This is a misfortune which we regret, but which has no remedy, until with the progress of the reduction the action of authority may be more effectual. The Moros hereabout are a race of thieves, the most shameful that are known. They do not work and live ordinarily on the slave trade which they are always able to procure. I know some Moros in this mission who pass themselves off as friends, but are very evil. There is a pandita named Gúbat, who asserts that he likes me and respects me more than he does his own father, and comes into my presence as if he were the most friendly and obedient person in all the reductions of the coast, telling me always that he is going to collect what they owe him. As it will not take long, I shall recount one of his evil deeds. Two years ago he went to Tubálan, where, uniting with Basíno, Alivao, Mínquil, Batuga, Joac, and Agbay, he went to a ranchería of Tagacaolos and enslaved them to the number of seven, namely, Bayó, Eloy, Salió, Arac, Agueda, Cáoy, and Dila, and brought them to the coast. There they were apportioned as slaves, after the one called Eloy had been knifed, because they feared that they would be exposed by him if opportunity offered. Along the Culáman coast, when they knife one or many, they generally set the head on a pole and keep them for days and months. With that object in view they cut off the head of Eloy, which Batuga carried, while the pandita Gúbat, my friend, carried an arm. But a short time ago, I have been able to rescue and baptize Bayó and Dila, and the latter’s wife and two daughters. From the last named, I learned the history which I have briefly recounted. It is a sample of many others which I could relate to you. Consequently, they are wont to make slaves here treacherously and by violence. Although these Manobos, as I have said, are savage and warlike, there are some rancherías of them, which, having been reduced by the father missionary, have abandoned their evil customs. In Piapi we have already one hundred and ninety baptized persons, almost all Manobos. Their language is somewhat difficult to understand, but one can conquer that difficulty by living among them for a short time. The number of Manobos in this mission is not less than one thousand two hundred.
The Atás are another race of wild and savage heathens who live in the interior. Only the ranchería of Dato Lasiá, which is the nearest, has been visited as yet. It is the least known race, but it is believed with foundation, to be the most numerous, aggregating not less than twenty-five thousand souls. They speak their own tongue. I have baptized a few Atás, by making myself understood in Visayan or Bagobo. On that day that the Atás hear a father missionary speak their language, I have no doubt of their conversion. The difficulty, even supposing that there were father missionaries who could give their work to the mission, will always be very great, because it is in the interior, through mountains, rivers, and woods remote from the coast, where there are no roads or any human aid. Nevertheless, one must pray for them, confident that God will open the way through His infinite mercy.
In the island of Sámal I have also a Christian village, where the heathen Sámals are gradually becoming reduced and baptized. There are now some hundred and thirty-seven baptized.
The other reductions in my care are all on the southern part of this coast, extending from Dávao to Malálag, inclusive. They are Malálag, Piapi, Dígos, Santa Cruz, Astorga, Daliao, Bagó, and Taumo. Among them all there are nine hundred who have been baptized. In general they follow the instructions of the father missionary docilely. Almost all of them possess their little homes on the suitable street, and many of them are beginning to cultivate cacao and other plants which are given to them here, and are highly esteemed. The majority of those baptized as yet in these reductions belong to the Tagacaolo and Bagobo races. Then follow successively the Manobos, Sámals, and Calágars. I shall also endeavor to open the door quite soon to the Guiangas, Bilanes, and Atás. In order to begin, nevertheless, as is fitting, and to carry on this work, some father missionaries are needed, not only because of the great number of the heathens to be administered, but also because they talk several languages, and have habits and customs that differ considerably among themselves.
I conclude this letter by commending myself to the holy prayers and sacrifices of all the Fathers and Brothers of that holy house. From your most affectionate servant in Christ,
Mateo Gisbert, S. J.
Dávao, July 26, 1886.