Of the anitos which they have for their rice, I have not been able to discover more than five, as follows:
Aniton Tauo. He seems to me to be lord of the winds, and superior to his four associates whom I shall immediately name. They offer the pinicpig, which are the firstfruits of their rice to that one. They gather the green rice and pound it, and afterwards parch it in a jar or kettle and offer it to him, first making their bit of an altar where they hang some handfuls of rice in proportion to the devotion of each one. They call that method of offering mamiarag. Then follows Dumagan, who they say causes the rice to head well; then Calasacas, who makes it ripen; then Calasocos, who they say dries it. Accordingly, they sacrifice to him so that he may not dry it up. Then follows Damolag, who they say keeps it from the hurricanes when it is in flower. Those anitos or idols have very many priests and priestesses, although, as I have said, no one sees the said idols or talks with them. They do not even paint them or have their images; but what the priest or priestess says to them they consider as an oracle and say that it will not fail. Every class of people have recourse to those sacrifices; although some Indians do not believe in it at all, yet, notwithstanding, all attend them, Christians and heathens, without excepting anyone.
Of the superstitions of the Indians
I believe that the errors which they possess in this matter of superstitions are not less than those which I have mentioned of their idolatry, although I have not investigated it as thoroughly as the matter of their idolatry. But with the lapse of time, they will be discovered and ascertained. There is a bird which they call salacsac. Its beak is red, as are also its feet. Some of its feathers are green and some blue with black and white spots. That bird gets its food in the river. If it appears on the right hand of any one journeying to any place, he returns, for he says that some accident will happen to him, or some great trouble on the road, or in the place where he is going, such as being killed, or being shot with arrows, or something similar. If the said bird appears on his left hand he says that the same thing will happen to those whom he leaves at home, such as his children, wife, father, mother, or very near relative, and on that account he also returns. However, if the bird sings like a man who is laughing, then he goes on, and says that that bird is favorable to him. But if the said bird sings or croaks in any other way he returns, for he says that it announces some very great danger to him. There is another bird smaller than a gurrion which they call pasimanuquen. They say the same of this as of the salacsac. They say the same of the tocó, so called by the Tagálog, and chacon by the Spaniard. If they go to the mountain or near it and any tree falls, they say the same as of the chacon and of the two birds above mentioned. If they go on a journey and hear anyone sneeze they also return, and if they are prepared and about to do anything, they leave it then if anyone sneezes. If they hear any crow cawing at night, they say that it announces the death of a very near relative. If any dog which belongs to them breaks any of its teeth or falls down, they either kill the dog or give it to some one; for they say that it announces some death to them. If the dog jumps out of the window when it wants to leave the house, they also say that it announces the same thing. If they dream that the clothing that they have is ragged, they throw it away because they say that they will die. If they dream that the house falls down on them and burns them, they destroy it, for they also say they will die. The devil also has attempted to discredit the holy rosary among them, and when they go hunting they take it off, for they say that the dogs will bite the deer or wild boar if they wear a rosary. Not one of these Indians eats if he is alone, because they say that they will die. Consequently, what they do is generally to make their food ready and carry it until they find a company before whom they may eat. They have also dedicated some places of the mountain and bamboos to the anito, and, consequently, they cut nothing there, for they say that they will die and that the anito will kill them, although they do not know to what anito it is dedicated, or who dedicated the said mountain or district to such and such an anito, and know only an old observance which they have received from their ancestors. In their marriages they also have their superstitions. After any marriage has been performed, husband and wife go to the mountain to seek the salacsac or the pasimanuquen, and if the bird sings well they return very happy; but if it sings badly they return very sad. If it sings well they carry along the road a bombon or pitcher of water, and by means of the said water, which is drunk by all the bystanders, the two newly-married people will have children. For the bird to sing well, it must sing on their right hand and in the manner of the said bird which laughs. To sing ill means nothing else than to sing on the left hand, so that the bird is somewhat hoarse and sad. In such case they say that said marriage will have a bad ending, and that one of the two will die in a short time. If they do not see the bird, they say that they will have no children.
Of the customs of these Indians
Although those Indians have their kind of rank, since some are chiefs, and others not, and there are others who are descended from slaves, yet notwithstanding that they have no obedience one for the other. The poor man does not obey the rich, nor does the chief have any authority over him who is not a chief. Those who are obeyed (although but little) are the old men, when they assemble as if in council or meeting of the old men. But, in private no one dares to order another one, neither the chief him who is not a chief, nor the rich man the poor man; for here every one is master of his own will, and each one thinks that he is greater than his neighbor. Their method of governing is by fear, and accordingly each one tries to make the others fear him more than any other. In order to accomplish that each one endeavors to beat the others in committing murders, so that the others may fear him. They commit those murders by treachery. In order that the relatives of the murdered man may not slay the murderer, the latter pays such and such a sum of gold to the kindred of the murdered person, according to the rank of the deceased. For if such deceased was a chief or had many kin, his murder costs more and is redeemed by a greater sum. The lowest price with which a murder is generally redeemed is five taes of gold. If the murderer has no gold, he redeems the said murder with silver at the rate of eight pesos per tae of gold, although gold is valued at ten pesos per tae among those Indians; for it is very low grade gold, and as I have heard said does not reach fourteen carats. The little gold that they do possess is much adulterated with silver, copper, and bronze. But if the said murderer has no gold or silver with which to redeem the murder that he committed, he goes to the mountain and deceives some black or steals him and drags him to his ranchería, and delivers him to the relatives of the murdered man so that they may slay the said black. There is [no] great difficulty in this for in mountains there they have many acquaintances among the blacks. Those blacks are not without their enemies in some rancherías of the blacks themselves, where they go to make the seizure. And since the blacks are very revengeful in taking vengeance on their enemies, they aid the Zambals to capture them. The Zambal gives the black, whose services he has used for that purpose, some arrows or machetes.
But it must also be noticed that they do not always kill the black who is thus captured, for sometimes they let him live, and he is made a perpetual slave. There are many such slaves today, and I even believe that all the slaves whom they have are of this kind. If the murderer gives a slave in this way, he redeems the murder that he committed. Even if he cannot give gold or silver or a slave he kills one of his sons or delivers him to the relatives of the murdered one so that they may slay him. They never hesitate to kill that son thus delivered up, for when he can bear arms he will rebel and return to his father. If perchance the child of the murderer given for ransom of the murder which he committed is a daughter, when the said daughter is married she will go to the house of her father or relatives with her husband. For among the Zambals the woman is greater than the man, and the men sometimes obey the women. The latter are very haughty, and when the husband does not obey his wife, marriages are unmade very easily. If we reach such straits that the murderer has neither gold, silver, nor anything of value and cannot get a slave in the mountain, or a black, which is the same thing for that purpose, and has no son or daughter, or very near relative, such as some small orphan child, then in such case his kin themselves help him in ransoming himself, for in any other event, the relatives of the murdered person would infallibly kill him.
Accordingly, these Indians esteem it highly to have kinship, and, although they be very remote relatives, they treat one another as brothers because of the need which they have one of the other, so that they may be aided one by the other in such cases. Notwithstanding the said estimation which they have for their relatives, we see an evil and perverse custom which they have which is worse than the most blood-thirsty beasts, namely, that Zambals are not accustomed to have more than two children, one a male and the other a female. Consequently, if they already have one male child, they kill all the sons at birth until a daughter is born. Then after they have had said daughter scarcely is the woman pregnant when they already arrange to kill the son or daughter, as soon as it emerges from the womb of the mother. But if any one begs said son or daughter, even while yet in the womb of its mother it is given to such person. But the one who has asked for it must pay its mother all the time that the said mother is occupied in suckling such boy or girl; and afterward it is considered as the child of that person at whose account it was reared and kept alive. However, I know many in this manner who have great love for their true parents. Since we discovered said custom among them, we had delivered from death three children, although to the great sorrow of their parents because they had not killed them. But as soon as we find out that any woman is pregnant, we warn her that she must not kill the son or daughter that she brings forth, for we will punish her very severely, and they, for fear of the punishment, allow their children to live.