Butuan

“ These two chieftains were visiting Limasaua and had their residences one at Butúan and one at Cagayan on the island of Mindanao. Some histories have stated that the Spaniards accompanied one of these chieftains to Butúan, but this does not appear to have been the case.
On the island of Limasaua the natives had dogs, cats, hogs, goats, and fowls. They were cultivating rice, maize, breadfruit, and had also cocoanuts, oranges, bananas, citron, and ginger. Pigafetta tells how he visited one of the chieftains at his home on the shore. ”

“ All these, perchance, have the same origin as the Visayans and Pintados, because of their great nearness to them. But they are the origin of the best blood and nobility of the Basilans and Joloans, for the king of Xolò even confessed that he was a Butuan. But he gives the lie to that by his barbarous procedure, for he has been the scourge most disturbing to these islands; while the Butuans have ever remained faithful, and have been vassals to God and to our Catholic monarch, following the example of the Caragas throughout. ”

“ In Butúan (Mindanao) a rich harvest of souls is being gathered by Ledesma and Martínez; and even the infidels are very friendly to the new religion. The converts are very devout, and will not countenance any pagan practices. Certain miraculous cures are recorded. The practice of flagellation is maintained in the Jesuit church there, as in other places.
The Filipinos had formerly lived in perpetual warfare between the petty chiefs and their adherents; those who could remove migrated to new homes inland, and thus the mountain regions became settled. ”

“ Even the hint of it succeeded in Lináo where the insurrection took place in the following manner.
259. There are certain wild Indians in the mountains of Butuán, located in the province of Carágha, called Manóbos.1 They have kinky hair, oblique eyes, a treacherous disposition, brutish customs, and live by the hunt. They have no king to govern them nor houses to shelter them; their clothing covers only the shame of their bodies; and they sleep where night overtakes them. ”

“ A boat despatched to the port of Butuan returned in a fortnight with the news that there was much gold, wax, and cinnamon in that district. A small vessel was also sent to Cebú, and on its return reported that the natives showed hostility, having decapitated one of the crew whilst he was bathing.
Nevertheless, General Legaspi resolved to put in at Cebú, which was a safe harbour; and on the way there the ships anchored off Limasana Island (to the south of Leyte) . Thence, running south-west, the port of Dapítan (Mindanao Is.) was reached. ”

“ All the region northeast of Dapitan, as far as the river of Butuan, is under one encomendero, except the villages of Gonpot and Cagayan. These two villages, on account of their production of cinnamon, are under his Majesty, although their population is small, not exceeding two hundred men. The same encomendero has charge also of the district between Dapitan and almost to the Cinnamon Point, so that his encomienda in this island of Mindanao is of nearly sixty leagues’ extent; he is also encomendero of the above-mentioned island of Soloc, and holds another encomienda in the island of Çubu. ”

“ The Spaniards say that the province of Caraga is the richest of the Philippines; it is certainly one of the least explored. A Frenchman has been engaged in working the gold mines; I know not with what success. A favourite food of the natives is the wild honey, which is collected in considerable quantities, and eaten with fruits and roots. The Butuan River is navigable for boats. There are very many separate races of natives, among whom the Mandayos are said to be handsome, and to bear marks of European physiognomy. Some of the tribes are quite black, fierce and ungovernable. ”

“ Samar. The figures here given are those of a recent estimate by the lieutenant-governor of the hill people of that island. Most of the hill people are rated as Filipinos.
Surigao. Surigao has lost most of its non-Christian population to the sub-province of Butuan, but still has a considerable number of Manobos and Negritos and the figures given are far too low. ”

“ Bata-gopit lies at the foot of a volcano-mountain of that name, from whence, at the time of an eruption, the natives procure sulphur, to be afterwards employed in the manufacture of gunpowder. The little kingdom of Butar lies north­eastward of the preceding and reaches to the eastern coast, where are the places named Pulo Serony and Batu Bara; the latter enjoying a considerable trade; also Longtong and Sirigar, at the mouth of a great river named Assahan. Butar yields neither camphor, benzoin, nor gold, and the inhabitants support themselves by cultivation. ”

“ This avocation of his would have sufficed most men for their full duty, but he did it in addition to his regular work as vicar-general. The villages were at such a distance from Manila that it took more than a day to go there by sea, and much more by the rivers.14 In order to teach the new fathers the manner of working with the Indians, and to begin to acquaint them with the language of the natives, which he knew very well, he went with them to the villages commonly known as Bataan. ”

“ I sent a hundred of my tribe up the Rejang, and started myself with seventy to Bintulu. There the Orang Kaya Pamancha came to me and said, 'You are going to kill some of my people.’ 'No; I am not,’ I answered. 'Well,’ he said, 'there is a tribe of Punans living near Bukit Lambir, who owe me for goods, which they have had for some time. They sell their camphor and their wax to others, not to me. Go and attack them; there are only thirty males. ”

“ They have no personality or rank whatever, and eat and drink most vulgarly. There is no difference between the chief and his slave, or between the slave and his master, in the matter of eating and drinking.
As for their sacrifices, each one of the natives, so far as I have seen, has in his house many idols, to whom they pray. They call God, Batala, and the chief idol which they have is thus named; but others call him Diobata [5] —at least among the Pintados they give him this name. The natives of this island usually call him Batala, and even consider him God of all creation. ”

“ He followed the same plan with the Indians, directing them to prepare themselves with arms and arrows, to be ready if they should be needed. None of this was conceded from the Chinese, for it could not be kept secret from so many; and they even heard with their own ears the most prominent people in Manila say: “We cannot go out against the Chinese, if they come with a fleet, and leave behind us such a multitude as there is around the city; so, if we have news that there is a fleet of the Chinese, we shall have to kill all there are here, and go out and meet those who are coming.” ”

“ Province of Bulinao. Next comes Bulinao, also inhabited by Çambales; but the province belongs to his Majesty. It has a population of about four hundred peaceful Indians, besides many more who live among the mountains. The latter are a warlike people, whose only delight and satisfaction is in waging [98] war and in cutting off one another’s heads, which they hang up in their houses. The man who can display the most heads in his house is he who is most respected and feared by all. They cultivate the land although only in small tracts. ”

“ Some days afterward the Indians of Pangasinan were entrusted to our religious. They lived forty leguas distant, and, being all heathen, had need of someone to labor among them. The order likewise took charge of the Indians of Bataan, to whom, as has been said, the father provisor ministered because he had no one to send; as also of the Chinese or Sangleys, who up to that time had had no ministry. Many thousands of them had come and were still coming every year from their own country, on account of their trade and commerce in this colony, which is very great. ”

“ The exactions of the officials drive many refugees over our border: and the hills around Buxa were peopled almost entirely by Bhuttias who had fled from slavery and oppression.
The Bhuttia is a cheerful, hard-working and easily contented individual. He is naturally brave, and has the makings of a good soldier in him. He is generally medium-sized, broad and sturdy, with thick muscular legs such as I have only seen equalled in the chair coolies of Hong Kong and the rickshawmen in Japan. The northern Bhutanese are fair and often blue-eyed. Their Tibetan neighbours hold them in dread. ”

“ His soldiers paraded in front of his house, and kept their suspicious eyes upon us as we sat; many of them were quaintly dressed in red coats, which once had been worn by British troops, and soft hats with ostrich feathers in them, whilst their black legs were bare.
Ma-Batuen, the chief’s mother, received us somewhat coldly when we penetrated into her hut; she is the chief widow of old Gasetsive, Batuen’s father, a noted warrior in his day. The Sechuana tribes have very funny ideas about death, and never, if possible, let a man die inside his hut ”

“ Southern Luzon, the country of Batangas, and the Camarines, extends a hundred miles south of Manila Bay. [52]
In the far north are the rich provinces of Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Abra, Benguet, and Nueva Viscaya. The land at the sea level produces hemp, tobacco, rice, and cocoanuts; the heavily-timbered mountain slopes contain rich woods, cedar, mahogany, molave, ebony, and ipil. A wonderful river rushes through the mountain cañons, and the famous valley of the Cagayan is formed—the garden of Eden of the Philippines. ”

“ He [135] ordered a ship to be built in the kingdom of Siam; but, unfortunately, in conducting her to Manila, she put three times into China, and once into Batavia, incurring by this means an enormous expense on the treasury. He proposed to the King various plans for working the iron and gold mines. He abolished the office of Corregidor of Mariveles, uniting Marigondon and other small towns to the district of Cavite, and forming of the towns on the opposite coast, and of others belonging to Pampanga, the district which we call Batan. ”

“ The Punans proper are found in the central highlands wandering through the upper parts of the basins of all the large rivers; here and there they range into the lowlands, and in rare instances they even reach the coast. The Ukits, on the other hand, confine themselves to the interior, and are found chiefly in the upper parts of the basins of the Kotei, the Rejang, the Kapuas, and Banjermasin rivers. The Bukitans inhabit chiefly the upper basins of the rivers of Sarawak. ”

“ The people are Chinese in type, and nominally Buddhists in religion; but, though brave and hardy, are almost entirely uncivilised, and the ruling authorities are weak and treacherous. The government of Bootan appears to be of a duplicate character; one rajah being a kind of spiritual head of the State without power, whilst another has all the power but apparently no head. ”

“ They are both here; and within the few days since they have arrived it is understood that fifty ships from Mindanao have gone against the islands of Leyte and Camar, which are in the province of Cebu, and have wrought havoc there; the commander was Buycan, another chief from Mindanao. Between these three, Umpi, Silonga, and Buycan, and the present king, Rajaniora, the whole country is divided, and the military power; likewise each one has his own following and people, set apart and acknowledged. ”

“ Their accounts are all kept by the slaves. Those who can read and write are, in consequence, highly prized. All the accounts of the Datu of Soung are kept in Dutch, by a young Malay from Tarnate, who writes a good hand, and speaks English, and whom we found exceedingly useful to us. He is the slave of the Datu, who employs him for this purpose only. He told us he was captured in a brig by the pirates of Basilan, and sold here as a slave, where he is likely to remain for life, although he says the Datu has promised to give him his freedom after ten years. ”

“ Peter Gross declared.
"But, Mynheer Gross, what can twenty-five do? Bulungan has more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, few of whom have ever paid a picul of rice or kilo of coffee as tax to the crown. On the coast there are the Chinese pirates, the Bugi outlaws from Macassar and their traitorous allies, the coast Dyaks of Bulungan, of Tidoeng, and Pasir, ay, as far north as Sarawak, for those British keep their house in no better order than we do ours. In the interior we have the hill Dyaks, the worst thieves and cut-throats of them all. ”

“ Were these people unfriendly or disposed to throw in their lot with their co-religionists, the Tibetans, our line of communications would be exposed to a flank attack along the whole of the Tuna Plain, which is conterminous with the Bhutan frontier, as well as a rear attack anywhere in the Chumbi Valley as far south as Rinchengong. The Bhutanese are men of splendid physique, brave, warlike, and given to pillage. ”

“ Basutoland (250) , a fertile, healthy, grain-growing territory in S. Africa, SE. of the Orange Free State, under protection of the British crown, of the size of Belgium; yields large quantities of maize; the natives keep large herds of cattle.
Basutos, a S. African race of the same stock as the Kaffirs, but superior to them in intelligence and industry.
Batangas, a port in the island of Luzon, one of the Philippine Islands, which has a considerable trade.
Batavia (105) , the capital of Java, on the N. coast, and of the Dutch possessions in the Eastern Archipelago ”