A History of the Philippines

History of the Philippines.

Chapter I.

The Philippines as a Subject for Historical Study.

Purpose of this Book.—This book has been written for the young men and young women of the Philippines.It is intended to introduce them into the history of their own island country.The subject of Philippine history is much broader and more splendid than the size and character of this little book reveal.Many subjects have only been briefly touched upon, and there are many sources of information, old histories, letters and official documents, which the writer had not time and opportunity to study in the preparation of this work.It is not too soon, however, to present a history of the Philippines, even though imperfectly written, to the Philippine people themselves; and if this book serves to direct young men and young women to a study of the history of their own island country, it will have fulfilled its purpose.

The Development of the Philippines and of Japan.—In many ways the next decade of the history of the Philippine Islands may resemble the splendid development of the neighboring country of Japan. Both countries have in past times been isolated more or less from the life and thought of the modern world. Both are now open to the full current of human affairs. Both countries promise to play an important part in the politics and commerce of the Far East.Geographically, the Philippines occupy the more central and influential position, and the success of the institutions of the Philippines may react upon the countries of southeastern Asia and Malaysia, to an extent that we cannot appreciate or foresee, Japan, by reason of her larger population, the greater industry of her people, a more orderly social life, and devoted public spirit, is at the present time far in the lead.

The Philippines.—But the Philippines possess certain advantages which, in the course of some years, may tell strongly in her favor.There are greater natural resources, a richer soil, and more tillable ground.The population, while not large, is increasing rapidly, more rapidly, in fact, than the population of Japan or of Java.And in the character of her institutions the Philippines have certain advantages.The position of woman, while so unfortunate in Japan, as in China and nearly all eastern countries, in the Philippines is most fortunate, and is certain to tell effectually upon the advancement of the race in competition with other eastern civilizations.The fact that Christianity is the established religion of the people makes possible a sympathy and understanding between the Philippines and western countries.

Japan.—Yet there are many lessons which Japan can teach the Philippines, and one of these is of the advantages and rewards of fearless and thorough study. Fifty years ago, Japan, which had rigorously excluded all intercourse with foreign nations, was forced to open its doors by an American fleet under Commodore Perry. At that time the Japanese knew nothing of western history, and had no knowledge of modern science. Their contact with the Americans and other foreigners revealed to them the inferiority of their knowledge. The leaders of the country awoke to the necessity of a study of western countries and their great progress, especially in government and in the sciences.

Japan had at her service a special class of people known as the samurai, who, in the life of Old Japan, were the free soldiers of the feudal nobility, and who were not only the fighters of Japan, but the students and scholars as well. The young men of this samurai class threw themselves earnestly and devotedly into the study of the great fields of knowledge, which had previously been unknown to the Japanese. At great sacrifice many of them went abroad to other lands, in order to study in foreign universities. Numbers of them went to the United States, frequently working as servants in college towns in order to procure the means for the pursuit of their education.

The Japanese Government in every way began to adopt measures for the transformation of the knowledge of the people.Schools were opened, laboratories established, and great numbers of scientific and historical books were translated into Japanese.A public school system was organized, and finally a university was established.The Government sent abroad many young men to study in almost every branch of knowledge and to return to the service of the people.The manufacturers of Japan studied and adopted western machinery and modern methods of production.The government itself underwent revolution and reorganization upon lines more liberal to the people and more favorable to the national spirit of the country.The result has been the transformation, in less than fifty years, of what was formerly an isolated and ignorant country.

The Lesson for the Filipinos.—This is the great lesson which Japan teaches the Philippines. If there is to be transformation here, with a constant growth of knowledge and advancement, and an elevation of the character of the people as a whole, there must be a courageous and unfaltering search for the truth: and the young men and young women of the Philippines must seek the advantages of education, not for themselves, but for the benefit of their people and their land; not to gain for themselves a selfish position of social and economic advantage over the poor and less educated Filipinos, but in order that, having gained these advantages for themselves, they may in turn give them to their less fortunate countrymen.The young Filipino, man or woman, must learn the lessons of truthfulness, courage, and unselfishness, and in all of his gaining of knowledge, and in his use of it as well, he must practice these virtues, or his learning will be an evil to his land and not a blessing.

The aim of this book is to help him to understand, first of all, the place that the Philippines occupy in the modern history of nations, so that he may understand how far and from what beginnings the Filipino people have progressed, toward what things the world outside has itself moved during this time, and what place and opportunities the Filipinos, as a people, may seek for in the future.

The Meaning of History.—History, as it is written and understood, comprises many centuries of human life and achievement, and we must begin our study by discussing a little what history means.Men may live for thousands of years without having a life that may be called historical; for history is formed only where there are credible written records of events.Until we have these records, we have no ground for historical study, but leave the field to another study, which we call Archeology, or Prehistoric Culture.

Historical Races.—Thus there are great races which have no history, for they have left no records.Either the people could not write, or their writings have been destroyed, or they told nothing about the life of the people.The history of these races began only with the coming of a historical, or more advanced race among them.

Thus, the history of the black, or negro, race begins only with the exploration of Africa by the white race, and the history of the American Indians, except perhaps of those of Peru and Mexico, begins only with the white man’s conquest of America.The white, or European, race is, above all others, the great historical race; but the yellow race, represented by the Chinese, has also a historical life and development, beginning many centuries before the birth of Christ.

The European Race.—For thousands of years the white race was confined to the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.It had but little contact with other races of men and almost no knowledge of countries beyond the Mediterranean shores.The great continents of America and Australia and the beautiful island-world of the Pacific and Indian oceans were scarcely dreamed of.This was the status of the white race in Europe a little more than five hundred years ago.How different is the position of this race to-day!It has now explored nearly the entire globe.The white people have crossed every continent and every sea.On every continent they have established colonies and over many countries their power.

During these last five centuries, besides this spread of geographical discoveries, the mingling of all the races, and the founding of great colonies, has come also the development of scientific knowledge—great discoveries and inventions, such as the utilization of steam and electricity, which give to man such tremendous power over the material world.Very important changes have also marked the religious and political life of the race.Within these years came the Protestant revolt from the Roman Catholic Church, destroying in some degree the unity of Christendom; and the great revolutions of Europe and America, establishing democratic and representative governments.

The European Race and the Filipino People.—This expansion and progress of the European race early brought it into contact with the Filipino people, and the historical life of the Philippines dates from this meeting of the two races.Thus the history of the Philippines has become a part of the history of nations.During these centuries the people of these islands, subjects of a European nation, have progressed in social life and government, in education and industries, in numbers, and in wealth.They have often been stirred by wars and revolutions, by centuries of piratical invasion, and fear of conquest by foreign nations.But these dangers have now passed away.

There is no longer fear of piratical ravage nor of foreign invasion, nor is there longer great danger of internal revolt; for the Philippines are at the present time under a government strong enough to defend them against other powers, to put down plunder and ravage, and one anxious and disposed to afford to the people such freedom of opportunity, such advantages of government and life, that the incentive to internal revolution will no longer exist. Secure from external attack and rapidly progressing toward internal peace, the Philippines occupy a position most fortunate among the peoples of the Far East. They have representative government, freedom of religion, and public education, and, what is more than all else to the aspiring or ambitious race or individual, freedom of opportunity.

How History is Written.—One other thing should be explained here.Every child who reads this book should understand a little how history is written.A most natural inquiry to be made regarding any historical statement is, “How is this known?”And this is as proper a question for the school boy as for the statesman.The answer is, that history rests for its facts largely upon the written records made by people who either lived at the time these things took place, or so near to them that, by careful inquiry, they could learn accurately of these matters and write them down in some form, so that we to-day can read their accounts, and at least know how these events appeared to men of the time.

But not all that a man writes, or even puts in a book, of things he has seen and known, is infallibly accurate and free from error, partiality, and untruthfulness.So the task of the historian is not merely to read and accept all the contemporary records, but he must also compare one account with another, weighing all that he can find, making due allowance for prejudice, and on his own part trying to reach a conclusion that shall be true.Of course, where records are few the task is difficult indeed, and, on the other hand, material may be so voluminous as to occupy a writer a lifetime, and make it impossible for any one man completely to exhaust a subject.

Historical Accounts of the Philippines.—For the Philippines we are so fortunate as to have many adequate sources of a reliable and attractive kind. In a few words some of these will be described. Nearly all exist in at least a few libraries in the Philippines, where they may sometime be consulted by the Filipino student, and many of them, at least in later editions, may be purchased by the student for his own possession and study.

The Voyages of Discovery.—European discovery of the Philippines began with the great voyage of Magellan; and recounting this discovery of the islands, there is the priceless narrative of one of Magellan’s company, Antonio Pigafetta.His book was written in Italian, but was first published in a French translation.The original copies made by Pigafetta have disappeared, but in 1800 a copy was discovered in the Ambrosian Library of Milan, Italy, and published.Translations into English and other languages exist.It may be found in several collections of Voyages, and there is a good Spanish translation and edition of recent date.(El Primer Viaje alrededor del Mundo, por Antonio Pigafetta, traducido por Dr. Carlos Amoretti y anotado por Manuel Walls y Merino, Madrid, 1899.) There are several other accounts of Magellan’s voyage; but Pigafetta’s was the only one written by an eye-witness, and his descriptions of the Bisaya Islands, Cebu, Borneo, and the Moluccas are wonderfully interesting and accurate.

There were several voyages of discovery between Magellan’s time (1521) and Legaspi’s time (1565). These include the expeditions of Loaisa, Saavedra, and Villalobos, and accounts of them are to be found in the great series of publications made by the Spanish Government and called Coleccion de documentos ineditos, and, in another series, Navarrete’s Coleccion de los viajes y descubrimientos

Spanish Occupation and Conquest.—As we come to the history of Spanish occupation and conquest of the Philippines, we find many interesting letters and reports sent by both soldiers and priests to the king, or to persons in Spain. The first complete book on the Philippines was written by a missionary about 1602, Father Predo Chirino’s Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, printed in Rome in 1604. This important and curious narrative is exceedingly rare, but a reprint, although rude and poor, was made in Manila in 1890, which is readily obtainable. The Relacion de las Islas Filipinas was followed in 1609 by the work of Judge Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas FilipinasThis very rare work was printed in Mexico.In 1890 a new edition was brought out by Dr. José Rizal, from the copy in the British Museum.There is also an English translation.

These two works abound in curious and valuable information upon the Filipino people as they were at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, as does also a later work, the Conquista de las Islas Filipinas, by Friar Gaspar de San Augustin, printed in Madrid in 1698.This latter is perhaps the most interesting and most important early work on the Philippine Islands.

As we shall see, the history of the Philippines is closely connected with that of the East Indian Spice Islands. When the Spanish forces took the rich island of Ternate in 1606, the triumph was commemorated by a volume, finely written, though not free from mistakes, the Conquista de las Islas Moluccas, by Leonardo de Argensola, Madrid, 1609.There is an old English translation, and also French and Dutch translations.

To no other religious order do we owe so much historical information as to the Jesuits. The scholarship and literary ability of the Company have always been high. Chirino was a Jesuit, as was also Father Francisco Colin, who wrote the Labor Evangelica, a narrative of the Jesuit missions in the Philippines, China, and Japan, which was printed in Madrid in 1663. This history was continued years later by Father Murillo Velarde, who wrote what he called the Segunda Parte, the Historia de la Provincia de Filipinas de la Compania de Jesus, Manila, 1749.

There is another notable Jesuit work to which we owe much of the early history of the great island of Mindanao: this is the Historia de Mindanao y Jolo, by Father Francisco Combes.The year 1663 marked, as we shall see, an epoch in the relations between the Spaniards and the Mohammedan Malays.In that year the Spaniards abandoned the fortress of Zamboanga, and retired from southern Mindanao.The Jesuits had been the missionaries in those parts of the southern archipelago, and they made vigorous protests against the abandonment of Moro territory.One result of their efforts to secure the reoccupancy of these fortresses was the notable work mentioned above.It is the oldest and most important writing about the island and the inhabitants of Mindanao.It was printed in Madrid in 1667.A beautiful and exact edition was brought out a few years ago, by Retana.

A Dominican missionary, Father Diego Aduarte, wrote a very important work, the Historia de la Provincia del Sancto Rosario de la Orden de Predicadores en Filipinas, Japon y China, which was printed in Manila at the College of Santo Tomas in 1640.

We may also mention as containing a most interesting account of the Philippines about the middle of the seventeenth century, the famous work on China, by the Dominican, Father Fernandez Navarrete, Tratados historicos, politicos, ethnicos, y religiosos de la Monarchia de China, Madrid, 1767. Navarrete arrived in these islands in 1648, and was for a time a cura on the island of Mindoro. Later he was a missionary in China, and then Professor of Divinity in the University of Santo Tomas. His work is translated into English in Churchill’s Collection of Voyages and Travels, London, 1744, second volume.

The eighteenth century is rather barren of interesting historical matter.There was considerable activity in the production of grammars and dictionaries of the native languages, and more histories of the religious orders were also produced.These latter, while frequently filled with sectarian matter, should not be overlooked.

Between the years 1788 and 1792 was published the voluminous Historia General de Filipinas, in fourteen volumes, by the Recollect friar, Father Juan de la Concepcion.The work abounds in superfluous matter and trivial details, yet it is a copious source of information, a veritable mine of historical data, and is perhaps the best known and most frequently used work upon the Philippine Islands.There are a number of sets in the Philippines which can be consulted by the student.

Some years after, and as a sort of protest against so extensive a treatment of history, the sane and admirable Augustinian, Father Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga, wrote his Historia de las Islas Filipinas, a volume of about seven hundred pages.It was printed in Sampaloc, Manila, in 1803.This writer is exceptional for his fairmindedness, his freedom from the narrow prejudices which have characterized most of the writers on the Philippines.His language is terse and spirited, and his volume is the most readable and, in many ways, the most valuable attempt at a history of the Philippines.His narrative closes with the English occupation of Manila in 1763.

Recent Histories and Other Historical Materials.—The sources for the conditions and history of the islands during the last century differ somewhat from the preceding. The documentary sources in the form of public papers and reports are available, and there is a considerable mass of pamphlets dealing with special questions in the Philippines. The publication of the official journal of the Government, the Gazeta de Manila, commenced in 1861.It contains all acts of legislation, orders of the Governors, pastoral letters, and other official matters, down to the end of Spanish rule.

A vast amount of material, for the recent civil history of the islands exists in the Archives of the Philippines, at Manila, but these documents have been very little examined.Notable among these original documents is the series of Royal Cedulas, each bearing the signature of the King of Spain, “Yo, el Rey.”They run back from the last years of sovereignty to the commencement of the seventeenth century.The early cedulas, on the establishment of Spanish rule, are said to have been carried away by the British army in 1763, and to be now in the British Museum.

Of the archives of the Royal Audiencia at Manila, the series of judgments begins with one of 1603, which is signed by Antonia de Morga.From this date they appear to be complete.The earliest records of the cases which came before this court that can be found, date from the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Of modern historical writings mention must be made of the Historia de Filipinas, three volumes, 1887, by Montero y Vidal, and the publications of W. E. Retana. To the scholarship and enthusiasm of this last author much is owed. His work has been the republication of rare and important sources. His edition of Combes has already been mentioned, and there should also be mentioned, and if possible procured, his Archivo del Bibliofilo, four volumes, a collection of rare papers on the islands, of different dates; and his edition, the first ever published, of Zuñiga’s Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas, an incomparable survey of the islands made about 1800, by the priest and historian whose history was mentioned above.

Accounts of Voyagers Who Visited the Philippines.—These references give some idea of the historical literature of the Philippines. They comprise those works which should be chiefly consulted. There should not be omitted the numerous accounts of voyagers who have visited these islands from time to time, and who frequently give us very valuable information. The first of these are perhaps the English and Dutch freebooters, who prowled about these waters to waylay the richly laden galleons. One of these was Dampier, who, about 1690, visited the Ladrones and the Philippines. His New Voyage Around the World was published in 1697. There was also Anson, who in 1743 took the Spanish galleon off the coast of Samar, and whose voyage is described in a volume published in 1745. There was an Italian physician, Carreri, who visited the islands in 1697, in the course of a voyage around the world, and who wrote an excellent description of the Philippines, which is printed in English translation in Churchill’s Collection of Voyages

A French expedition visited the East between 1774 and 1781, and the Commissioner, M.Sonnerat, has left a brief account of the Spanish settlements in the islands as they then appeared.(Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, Paris, 1782, Vol.3.)

There are a number of travellers’ accounts written in the last century, of which may be mentioned Sir John Bowring’s Visit to the Philippine Islands, 1859, and Jagor’s Reisen in der Philippinen, travels in the year 1859 and 1860, which has received translation into both English and Spanish.

Bibliographies.—For the historical student a bibliographical guide is necessary. Such a volume was brought out in 1898, by Retana, Catalogo abreviado de la Biblioteca Filipina. It contains a catalogue of five thousand seven hundred and eighty works, published in or upon the Philippines. A still more exact and useful bibliography has been prepared by the Honorable T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Biblioteca Filipina, and is published by the United States Government.

It is lamentable that the Philippines Government possesses no library of works on the Archipelago.The foundation of such an institution seems to have been quite neglected by the Spanish Government, and works on the Philippines are scarcely to be found, except as they exist in private collections.The largest of these is said to be that of the Compañia General de Tabacos, at Barcelona, which has also recently possessed itself of the splendid library of Retana.In Manila the Honorable Dr. Pardo de Tavera possesses the only notable library in the islands.

Since the above was written the Philippines Government has commenced the collection of historic works in the Philippines, and a talented young Filipino scholar, Mr. Zulueta, has gone to Spain for extensive search, both of archives and libraries, in order to enrich the public collection in the Philippines.

The publication of a very extensive series of sources of Philippine history has also been begun by the Arthur H. Clark Company in the United States, under the editorship of Miss E. H. Blair and Mr. J. A. Robertson. The series will embrace fifty-five volumes, and will contain in English translations all available historical material on the Philippines, from the age of discovery to the nineteenth century. This notable collection will place within the reach of the student all the important sources of his country’s history, and will make possible a more extensive and accurate writing of the history of the islands than has ever before been possible.

In addition to the published works, there repose numerous unstudied documents of Philippine history in the Archives of the Indies at Seville.

Historical Work for the Filipino Student.—After reading this book, or a similar introductory history, the student should procure, one by one, as many as he can of the volumes which have been briefly described above, and, by careful reading and patient thought, try to round out the story of his country and learn the lessons of the history of his people. He will find it a study that will stimulate his thought and strengthen his judgment; but always he must search for the truth, even though the truth is sometimes humiliating and sad. If there are regrettable passages in our own lives, we cannot find either happiness or improvement in trying to deny to ourselves that we have done wrong, and so conceal and minimize our error. So if there are dark places in the history of our land and people, we must not obscure the truth in the mistaken belief that we are defending our people’s honor, for, by trying to conceal the fact and excuse the fault, we only add to the shame. It is by frank acknowledgment and clear depiction of previous errors that the country’s honor will be protected now and in the future.

Very interesting and important historical work can be done by the Filipino student in his own town or province.The public and parish records have in many towns suffered neglect or destruction.In all possible cases these documents should be gathered up and cared for.For many things, they are worthy of study.They can show the growth of population, the dates of erection of the public buildings, the former system of government, and social conditions.

This is a work in which the patriotism of every young man and woman can find an expression.Many sites throughout the islands are notable for the historic occurrences which they witnessed.These should be suitably marked with tablets or monuments, and the exact facts of the events that took place should be carefully collected, and put in writing.Towns and provinces should form public libraries containing, among other works, books on the Philippines; and it should be a matter of pride to the young Filipino scholar to build up such local institutions, and to educate his townsmen in their use and appreciation.

But throughout such studies the student should remember that his town or locality is of less importance, from a patriotic standpoint, than his country as a whole; that the interests of one section should never be placed above those of the Archipelago; and that, while his first and foremost duty is to his town and to his people, among whom he was born and nurtured, he owes a greater obligation to his whole country and people, embracing many different islands and different tongues, and to the great Government which holds and protects the Philippine Islands, and which is making possible the free development of its inhabitants.

Chapter II.

The Peoples of the Philippines.

The Study of Ethnology.—The study of races and peoples forms a separate science from history, and is known as ethnology, or the science of races.Ethnology informs us how and where the different races of mankind originated.It explains the relationships between the races as well as the differences of mind, of body, and of mode of living which different people exhibit.

All such knowledge is of great assistance to the statesman as he deals with the affairs of his own people and of other peoples, and it helps private individuals of different races to understand one another and to treat each other with due respect, kindness, and sympathy.Inasmuch, too, as the modern history which we are studying deals with many different peoples of different origin and race, and as much of our history turns upon these differences, we must look for a little at the ethnology of the Philippines.

The Negritos.—Physical Characteristics.—The great majority of the natives of our islands belong to what is usually called the Malayan race, or the Oceanic Mongols. There is, however, one interesting little race scattered over the Philippines, which certainly has no relationship at all with Malayans. These little people are called by the Tagálog, “Aeta” or “Ita.” The Spaniards, when they arrived, called them “Negritos,” or “little negroes,” the name by which they are best known. Since they were without question the first inhabitants of these islands of whom we have any knowledge, we shall speak of them at once.

They are among the very smallest peoples in the world, the average height of the men being about 145 centimeters, or the height of an American boy of twelve years; the women are correspondingly smaller.They have such dark-brown skins that many people suppose them to be quite black; their hair is very wooly or kinky, and forms thick mats upon their heads.In spite of these peculiarities, they are not unattractive in appearance.Their eyes are large and of a fine brown color, their features are quite regular, and their little bodies often beautifully shaped.

The appearance of these little savages excited the attention of the first Spaniards, and there are many early accounts of them.Padre Chirino, who went as a missionary in 1592 to Panay, begins the narrative of his labors in that island as follows: “Among the Bisayas, there are also some Negroes.They are less black and ugly than those of Guinea, and they are much smaller and weaker, but their hair and beard are just the same.They are much more barbarous and wild than the Bisayas and other Filipinos, for they have neither houses nor any fixed sites for dwelling.They neither plant nor reap, but live like wild beasts, wandering with their wives and children through the mountains, almost naked.They hunt the deer and wild boar, and when they kill one they stop right there until all the flesh is consumed.Of property they have nothing except the bow and arrow.”1

Manners and Customs.—The Negritos still have this wild, timid character, and few have ever been truly civilized in spite of the efforts of some of the Spanish missionaries.They still roam through the mountains, seldom building houses, but making simply a little wall and roof of brush to keep off the wind and rain.They kill deer, wild pigs, monkeys, and birds, and in hunting they are very expert; but their principal food is wild roots and tubers, which they roast in ashes.Frequently in traveling through the mountains, although one may see nothing of these timid little folk, he will see many large, freshly dug holes from each of which they have taken out a root.

The Negritos ornament their bodies by making little rows of cuts on the breast, back, and arms, and leaving the scars in ornamental patterns; and some of them also file their front teeth to points.In their hair they wear bamboo combs with long plumes of hair or of the feathers of the mountain cock.They have curious dances, and ceremonies for marriage and for death.

Distribution.—The Negritos have retired from many places where they lived when the Spaniards first arrived, but there are still several thousand in Luzon, especially in the Cordillera Zambales, on the Pacific coast, and in the Sierra Madre range; and in the interior of Panay, Negros, Tablas, and in Surigao of Mindanao.

Relation of the Negritos to Other Dwarfs of the World.—Although the Negritos have had very little effect on the history of the Philippines, they are of much interest as a race to scientists, and we can not help asking, Whence came these curious little people, and what does their presence here signify?While science can not at present fully answer these questions, what we do actually know about these pygmies is full of interest.

The Aetas of the Philippines are not the only black dwarfs in the world. A similar little people, who must belong to the same race, live in the mountains and jungles of the Malay peninsula.On the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, all the aboriginal inhabitants are similar pygmies, called “Mincopies.”Some traces of their former existence are reported from many other places in the East Indies.

Thus it may be that there was a time when these little men and women had much of this island-world quite to themselves, and their race stretched unbrokenly from the Philippines across Malacca to the Indian Ocean.As it would have been impossible for so feeble a people to force their way from one island to another after the arrival of the stronger races, who have now confined them to the mountainous interiors, we are obliged to believe that the Negritos were on the ground first, and that at one time they were more numerous.The Indian archipelago was then a world of black pygmies.It may be that they were even more extensive than this, for one of the most curious discoveries of modern times has been the finding of similar little blacks in the equatorial forests of Africa.

The Negritos must not be confused with the black or negro race of New Guinea or Melanesia, who are commonly called Papuans; for those Negroes are of tall stature and belong with the true Negroes of Africa, though how the Negro race thus came to be formed of two so widely separated branches we do not know.

The Malayan Race.—Origin of the Race.—It is thought that the Malayan race originated in southeastern Asia. From the mainland it spread down into the peninsula and so scattered southward and eastward over the rich neighboring islands. Probably these early Malayans found the little Negritos in possession and slowly drove them backward, destroying them from many islands until they no longer exist except in the places we have already named.

With the beginning of this migratory movement which carried them from one island to another of the great East Indian Archipelago, these early Malayans must have invented the boats and praos for which they are famed, and have become skillful sailors living much upon the sea.

Effect of the Migration.—Life for many generations, upon these islands, so warm, tropical, and fruitful, gradually modified these emigrants from Asia, until they became in mind and body quite a different race from the Mongol inhabitants of the mainland.

Characteristics.—The Malayan peoples are of a light-brown color, with a light yellowish undertone on some parts of the skin, with straight black hair, dark-brown eyes, and, though they are a small race in stature, they are finely formed, muscular, and active.The physical type is nearly the same throughout all Malaysia, but the different peoples making up the race differ markedly from one another in culture.They are divided also by differences in religion.There are many tribes which are pagan.On Bali and Lombok, little islands south of Java, the people are still Brahmin, like most inhabitants of India.In other parts of Malaysia they are Mohammedans, while in the Philippines alone they are mostly Christians.

The Wild Malayan Tribes.—Considering first the pagan or the wild Malayan peoples, we find that in the interior of the Malay Peninsula and of many of the islands, such as Sumatra, Borneo and the Celebes, there are wild Malayan tribes, who have come very little in contact with the successive civilizing changes that have passed over this archipelago. The true Malays call these folk “Orang benua,” or “men of the country,” Many are almost savages, some are cannibals, and others are headhunters like some of the Dyaks of Borneo.

In the Philippines, too, we find what is probably this same class of wild people living in the mountains.They are warlike, savage, and resist approach.Sometimes they eat human flesh as a ceremonial act, and some prize above all other trophies the heads of their enemies, which they cut from the body and preserve in their homes.It is probable that these tribes represent the earliest and rudest epoch of Malayan culture, and that these were the first of this race to arrive in the Philippines and dispute with the Negritos for the mastery of the soil.In such wild state of life, some of them, like the Manguianes of Mindoro, have continued to the present day.

The Tribes in Northern Luzon.—In northern Luzon, in the great Cordillera Central, there are many of these primitive tribes. These people are preëminently mountaineers. They prefer the high, cold, and semi-arid crests and valleys of the loftiest ranges. Here, with great industry, they have made gardens by the building of stone-walled terraces on the slopes of the hills. Sometimes hundreds of these terraces can be counted in one valley, and they rise one above the other from the bottom of a cañon for several miles almost to the summit of a ridge. These terraced gardens are all under most careful irrigation. Water is carried for many miles by log flumes and ditches, to be distributed over these little fields. The soil is carefully fertilized with the refuse of the villages. Two and frequently three crops are produced each year. Here we find undoubtedly the most developed and most nearly scientific agriculture in the Philippines. They raise rice, cotton, tobacco, the taro, maize, and especially the camote, or sweet potato, which is their principal food.These people live in compact, well-built villages, frequently of several hundred houses.Some of these tribes, like the Igorrotes of Benguet and the Tinguianes of Abra, are peaceable as well as industrious.In Benguet there are fine herds of cattle, much excellent coffee, and from time immemorial the Igorrotes here have mined gold.

Besides these peaceful tribes there are in Bontoc, and in the northern parts of the Cordillera, many large tribes, with splendid mountain villages, who are nevertheless in a constant and dreadful state of war.Nearly every town is in feud with its neighbors, and the practice of taking heads leads to frequent murder and combat.A most curious tribe of persistent head hunters are the Ibilao, or Ilongotes, who live in the Caraballo Sur Mountains between Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya.

On other islands of the Philippines there are similar wild tribes.On the island of Paragua there are the Tagbanúa and other savage folk.

Characteristics of the Tribes of Mindanao.—In Mindanao, there are many more tribes. Three of these tribes, the Aetas, Mandaya, and Manobo, are on the eastern coast and around Mount Apo. In Western Mindanao, there is quite a large but scattered tribe called the Subanon. These people make clearings on the hillsides and support themselves by raising maize and mountain rice. They also raise hemp, and from the fiber they weave truly beautiful blankets and garments, artistically dyed in very curious patterns. These peoples are nearly all pagans, though a few are being gradually converted to Mohammedanism, and some to Christianity. The pagans occasionally practice the revolting rites of human sacrifice and ceremonial cannibalism.

The Civilized Malayan Peoples.—Their Later Arrival.—At a later date than the arrival of these primitive Malayan tribes, there came to the Philippines others of a more developed culture and a higher order of intelligence.These peoples rapidly mastered the low country and the coasts of all the islands, driving into the interior the earlier comers and the aboriginal Negritos.These later arrivals, though all of one stock, differed considerably, and spoke different dialects belonging to one language family.They were the ancestors of the present civilized Filipino people.

Distribution of These Peoples.—All through the central islands, Panay, Negros, Leyte, Samar, Marinduque, and northern Mindanao, are the Bisaya, the largest of these peoples.At the southern extremity of Luzon, in the provinces of Sorsogon and the Camarines, are the Bicol.North of these, holding central Luzon, Batangas, Cavite, Manila, Laguna, Bataan, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija, are the Tagálog, while the great plain of northern Luzon is occupied by the Pampango and Pangasinan.All the northwest coast is inhabited by the Ilocano, and the valley of the Cagayan by a people commonly called Cagayanes, but whose dialect is Ibanag.In Nueva Vizcaya province, on the Batanes Islands and the Calamianes, there are other distinct branches of the Filipino people, but they are much smaller in numbers and less important than the tribes marked above.

Importance of These Peoples.—They form politically and historically the Filipino people.They are the Filipinos whom the Spaniards ruled for more than three hundred years.All are converts to Christianity, and all have attained a somewhat similar stage of civilization.

Early Contact of the Malays and Hindus.—These people at the time of their arrival in the Philippines were probably not only of a higher plane of intelligence than any who had preceded them in the occupation of the islands, but they appear to have had the advantages of contact with a highly developed culture that had appeared in the eastern archipelago some centuries earlier.

Early Civilization in India.—More than two thousand years ago, India produced a remarkable civilization. There were great cities of stone, magnificent palaces, a life of splendid luxury, and a highly organized social and political system. Writing, known as the Sanskrit, had been developed, and a great literature of poetry and philosophy produced.Two great religions, Brahminism and Buddhism, arose, the latter still the dominant religion of Tibet, China, and Japan.The people who produced this civilization are known as the Hindus.Fourteen or fifteen hundred years ago Hinduism spread over Burma, Siam, and Java.Great cities were erected with splendid temples and huge idols, the ruins of which still remain, though their magnificence has gone and they are covered to-day with the growth of the jungle.

Influence of Hindu Culture on the Malayan Peoples.—This powerful civilization of the Hindus, established thus in Malaysia, greatly affected the Malayan people on these islands, as well as those who came to the Philippines.Many words in the Tagálog have been shown to have a Sanskrit origin, and the systems of writing which the Spaniards found in use among several of the Filipino peoples had certainly been developed from the alphabet then in use among these Hindu peoples of Java.

The Rise of Mohammedanism.—Mohammed.—A few hundred years later another great change, due to religious faith, came over the Malayan race,—a change which has had a great effect upon the history of the Philippines, and is still destined to modify events far into the future. This was the conversion to Mohammedanism. Of all the great religions of the world, Mohammedanism was the last to arise, and its career has in some ways been the most remarkable. Mohammed, its founder, was an Arab, born about 572 A.D. At that time Christianity was established entirely around the Mediterranean and throughout most of Europe, but Arabia was idolatrous. Mohammed was one of those great, prophetic souls which arise from time to time in the world’s history. All he could learn from Hebrewism and Christianity, together with the result of his own thought and prayers, led him to the belief in one God, the Almighty, the Compassionate, the Merciful, who as he believed would win all men to His knowledge through the teachings of Mohammed himself.Thus inspired, Mohammed became a teacher or prophet, and by the end of his life he had won his people to his faith and inaugurated one of the greatest eras of conquest the world has seen.

Spread of Mohammedanism to Africa and Europe.—The armies of Arabian horsemen, full of fanatical enthusiasm to convert the world to their faith, in a century’s time wrested from Christendom all Judea, Syria, and Asia Minor, the sacred land where Jesus lived and taught, and the countries where Paul and the other apostles had first established Christianity.Thence they swept along the north coast of Africa, bringing to an end all that survived of Roman power and religion, and by 720 they had crossed into Europe and were in possession of Spain.For nearly the eight hundred years that followed, the Christian Spaniards fought to drive Mohammedanism from the peninsula, before they were successful.

The Conversion of the Malayans to Mohammedanism.—Not only did Mohammedanism move westward over Africa and Europe, it was carried eastward as well.Animated by their faith, the Arabs became the greatest sailors, explorers, merchants, and geographers of the age.They sailed from the Red Sea down the coast of Africa as far as Madagascar, and eastward to India, where they had settlements on both the Malabar and Coromandel coasts.Thence Arab missionaries brought their faith to Malaysia.

At that time the true Malays, the tribe from which the common term “Malayan” has been derived, were a small people of Sumatra.At least as early as 1250 they were converted to Mohammedanism, brought to them by these Arabian missionaries, and under the impulse of this mighty faith they broke from their obscurity and commenced that great conquest and expansion that has diffused their power, language, and religion throughout the East Indies.

Mohammedan Settlement in Borneo.—A powerful Mohammedan Malay settlement was established on the western coasts of Borneo certainly as early as 1400.The more primitive inhabitants, like the Dyaks, who were a tribe of the primitive Malayans, were defeated, and the possession of the coast largely taken from them.From this coast of Borneo came many of the adventurers who were traversing the seas of the Philippines when the Spaniards arrived.

The Mohammedan Population of Mindanao and Jolo owes something certainly to this same Malay migration which founded the colony of Borneo. But the Maguindanao and Illano Moros seem to be largely descendants of primitive tribes, such as the Manobo and Tiruray, who were converted to Mohammedanism by Malay and Arab proselyters. The traditions of the Maguindanao Moros ascribe their conversion to Kabunsuan, a native of Johore, the son of an Arab father and Malay mother. He came to Maguindanao with a band of followers, and from him the datos of Maguindanao trace their lineage. Kabunsuan is supposed to be descended from Mohammed through his Arab father, Ali, and so the datos of Maguindanao to the present day proudly believe that in their veins flows the blood of the Prophet.

The Coming of the Spaniards.—Mohammedanism was still increasing in the Philippines when the Spaniards arrived. The Mohammedans already had a foothold on Manila Bay, and their gradual conquest of the archipelago was interrupted only by the coming of the Europeans.It is a strange historical occurrence that the Spaniards, having fought with the Mohammedans for nearly eight centuries for the possession of Spain, should have come westward around the globe to the Philippine Islands and there resumed the ancient conflict with them.Thus the Spaniards were the most determined opponents of Mohammedanism on both its western and eastern frontiers.Their ancient foes who crossed into Spain from Morocco had been always known as “Moros” or “Moors,” and quite naturally they gave to these new Mohammedan enemies the same title, and Moros they are called to the present day.

Summary.—Such, then, are the elements which form the population of these islands,—a few thousands of the little Negritos; many wild mountain tribes of the primitive Malayans; a later immigration of Malayans of higher cultivation and possibilities than any that preceded them, who had been influenced by the Hinduism of Java and who have had in recent centuries an astonishing growth both in numbers and in culture; and last, the fierce Mohammedan sea-rovers, the true Malays.

---

1 Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, 2d ed., p.38.

Chapter III.

Europe and the Far East about 1400 A.D.

The Mediæval Period in Europe.—Length of the Middle Age.—By the Middle Ages we mean the centuries between 500 and 1300 A.D. This period begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and the looting of the Imperial City by the rude German tribes, and ends with the rise of a new literature, a new way of looking at the world in general, and a passion for discovery of every kind.

These eight hundred years had been centuries of cruel struggle, intellectual darkness, and social depression, but also of great religious devotion.Edward Gibbon, one of the greatest historians, speaks of this period as “the triumph of barbarism and religion.”

The population of Europe was largely changed, during the first few centuries of the Christian Era, as the Roman Empire, that greatest political institution of all history, slowly decayed.New peoples of German or Teutonic origin came, fighting their way into western Europe and settling wherever the land attracted them.Thus Spain and Italy received the Goths; France, the Burgundians and Franks; England, the Saxons and Angles or English.

These peoples were all fierce, warlike, free, unlettered barbarians. Fortunately, they were all converted to Christianity by Roman priests and missionaries. They embraced this faith with ardor, at the same time that other peoples and lands were being lost to Christendom. Thus it has resulted that the countries where Christianity arose and first established itself, are now no longer Christian, and this religion, which had an Asiatic and Semitic origin, has become the distinguishing faith of the people of western Europe.For centuries the countries of Europe were fiercely raided and disturbed by pillaging and murdering hordes; by the Huns, who followed in the Germans from the East; by the Northmen, cruel pirating seamen from Scandinavia; and, as we have already seen, by the Mohammedans, or Saracens as they were called, who came into central Europe by way of Spain.

Character of the Life during this Period.—Feudalism.—Life was so beset with peril that independence or freedom became impossible, and there was developed a society which has lasted almost down to the present time, and which we call Feudalism.The free but weak man gave up his freedom and his lands to some stronger man, who became his lord.He swore obedience to this lord, while the lord engaged to furnish him protection and gave him back his lands to hold as a “fief,” both sharing in the product.This lord swore allegiance to some still more powerful man, or “overlord,” and became his “vassal,” pledged to follow him to war with a certain number of armed men; and this overlord, on his part, owed allegiance to the prince, who was, perhaps, a duke or bishop (bishops at this time were also feudal lords), or to the king or emperor.Thus were men united into large groups or nations for help or protection.There was little understanding of love of country.Patriotism, as we feel it, was replaced by the passion of fidelity or allegiance to one’s feudal superior.

Disadvantages of Feudalism.—The great curse of this system was that the feudal lords possessed the power to make war upon one another, and so continuous were their jealousies and quarrelings that the land was never free from armed bands, who laid waste an opponent’s country, killing the miserable serfs who tilled the soil, and destroying their homes and cattle.

There was little joy in life and no popular learning.If a man did not enjoy warfare, but one other life was open to him, and that was in the Church.War and religion were the pursuits of life, and it is no wonder that many of the noblest and best turned their backs upon a life that promised only fighting and bloodshed and, renouncing the world, became monks.Monasticism developed in Europe under such conditions as these, and so strong were the religious feelings of the age that at one time a third of the land of France was owned by the religious orders.

The Town.—The two typical institutions of the early Middle Age were the feudal castle, with its high stone walls and gloomy towers, with its fierce bands of warriors armed in mail and fighting on horseback with lance and sword, and the monastery, which represented inn, hospital, and school.Gradually, however, a third structure appeared.This was the town.And it is to these mediæval cities, with their busy trading life, their free citizenship, and their useful occupations, that the modern world owes much of its liberty and its intellectual light.

The Renaissance.—Changes in Political Affairs.—By 1400, however, the Middle Age had nearly passed and a new life had appeared, a new epoch was in progress, which is called the Renaissance, which means “rebirth.” In political affairs the spirit of nationality had arisen, and feudalism was already declining. Men began to feel attachment to country, to king, and to fellow-citizens; and the national states, as we now know them, each with its naturally bounded territory, its common language, and its approximately common race, were appearing.

France and England were, of these states, the two most advanced politically just previous to the fifteenth century. At this distant time they were still engaged in a struggle which lasted quite a century and is known as the Hundred Years’ War. In the end, England was forced to give up all her claims to territory on the continent, and the power of France was correspondingly increased. In France the monarchy (king and court) was becoming the supreme power in the land. The feudal nobles lost what power they had, while the common people gained nothing. In England, however, the foundations for a representative government had been laid. The powers of legislation and government were divided between the English king and a Parliament. The Parliament was first called in 1265 and consisted of two parts,—the Lords, representing the nobility; and the Commons, composed of persons chosen by the common people.

Germany was divided into a number of small principalities,—Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Bohemia, Austria, the Rhine principalities, and many others,—which united in a great assembly, or Diet, the head of which was some prince, chosen to be emperor.

Italy was also divided. In the north, in the valley of the Po, or Lombardy, were the duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice; south, on the western coast, were the Tuscan states, including the splendid city of Florence. Thence, stretching north and south across the peninsula, were states of the church, whose ruler was the pope, for until less than fifty years ago the pope was not only the head of the church but also a temporal ruler. Embracing the southern part of the peninsula was the principality of Naples.

In the Spanish peninsula Christian states had arisen,—in the west, Portugal, in the center and east, Castile, Aragon, and Leon, from all of which the Mohammedans had been expelled. But they still held the southern parts of Spain, including the beautiful plain of Andalusia and Grenada.

The Mohammedans, in the centuries of their life in Spain, had developed an elegant and prosperous civilization.By means of irrigation and skillful planting, they had converted southern Spain into a garden.They were the most skillful agriculturists and breeders of horses and sheep in Europe, and they carried to perfection many fine arts, while knowledge and learning were nowhere further advanced than here.Through contact with this remarkable people the Christian Spaniards gained much.Unfortunately, however, the spirit of religious intolerance was so strong, and the hatred engendered by the centuries of religious war was so violent, that in the end the Spaniard became imbued with so fierce a fanaticism that he has ever since appeared unable properly to appreciate or justly to treat any who differed from him in religious belief.

The Conquests of the Mohammedans.—In the fifteenth century, religious toleration was but little known in the world, and the people of the great Mohammedan faith still threatened to overwhelm Christian Europe. Since the first great conquests of Islam in the eighth century had been repulsed from central Europe, that faith had shown a wonderful power of winning its way. In the tenth century Asia Minor was invaded by hordes of Seljuks, or Turks, who poured down from central Asia in conquering bands. These tribes had overthrown the Arab’s power in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor only to become converts to his faith. With freshened zeal they hurled themselves upon the old Christian empire, which at Constantinople had survived the fall of the rest of the Roman world.

The Crusades.—The Seljuk Turks had conquered most of Asia Minor, Syria, and the Holy Land.A great fear came over the people of Europe that the city of Constantinople would be captured and they, too, be overwhelmed by these new Mohammedan enemies.The passionate religious zeal of the Middle Age also roused the princes and knights of Europe to try to wrest from the infidel the Holy Land of Palestine, where were the birthplace of Christianity and the site of the Sepulcher of Christ.Palestine was recovered and Christian states were established there, which lasted for over a hundred and eighty years.Then the Arab power revived and, operating from Egypt, finally retook Jerusalem and expelled the Christian from the Holy Land, to which he has never yet returned as a conqueror.

Effects of the Crusades.—These long, holy wars, or “Crusades,” had a profound effect upon Europe.The rude Christian warrior from the west was astonished and delighted with the splendid and luxurious life which he met at Constantinople and the Arabian East.Even though he was a prince, his life at home was barren of comforts and beauty.Glass, linen, rugs, tapestries, silk, cotton, spices, and sugar were some of the things which the Franks and the Englishmen took home with them from the Holy Land.Demand for these treasures of the East became irresistible, and trade between western Europe and the East grew rapidly.

The Commercial Cities of Italy.—The cities of Italy developed this commerce. They placed fleets upon the Mediterranean. They carried the crusaders out and brought back the wares that Europe desired.In this way these cities grew and became very wealthy.On the west coast, where this trade began, were Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Florence, and on the east, at the head of the Adriatic, was Venice.The rivalry between these cities of Italy was very fierce.They fought and plundered one another, each striving to win a monopoly for itself of this invaluable trade.

Venice, finally, was victorious.Her location was very favorable.From her docks the wares could be carried easily and by the shortest routes up the Po River and thence into France or northward over the Alps to the Danube.In Bavaria grew up in this trade the splendid German cities of Augsburg and Nuremberg, which passed these goods on to the cities of the Rhine, and so down this most beautiful river to the coast.Here the towns of Flanders and of the Low Countries, or Holland, received them and passed them on again to England and eastward to the countries of the Baltic.

Development of Modern Language.—Thus commerce and trade grew up in Europe, and, with trade and city life, greater intelligence, learning, and independence.Education became more common, and the universities of Europe were thronged.Latin in the Middle Age had been the only language that was written by the learned class.Now the modern languages of Europe took their form and began to be used for literary purposes.Italian was the first to be so used by the great Dante, and in the same half-century the English poet Chaucer sang in the homely English tongue, and soon in France, Germany, and Spain national literatures appeared.With this went greater freedom of expression.Authority began to have less weight.

Men began to inquire into causes and effects, to doubt certain things, to seek themselves for the truth, and so the Renaissance came.With it came a greater love for the beautiful, a greater joy in life, a fresh zest for the good of this world, a new passion for discovery, a thirst for adventure, and, it must also be confessed a new laxity of living and a new greed for gold.Christian Europe was about to burst its narrow bounds.It could not be repressed nor confined to its old limitations.It could never turn backward.Of all the great changes which have come over life and thought, probably none are greater than those which saw the transition from the mediæval to the modern world.

Trade with the East.—Articles of Trade.—Now we must go back for a moment and pursue an old inquiry further.Whence came all these beautiful and inviting wares that had produced new tastes and passions in Europe?The Italian traders drew them from the Levant, but the Levant had not produced them.Neither pepper, spices, sugarcane, costly gems, nor rich silks, were produced on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Only the rich tropical countries of the East were capable of growing these rare plants, and up to that time of delivering to the delver many precious stones.India, the rich Malaysian archipelago, the kingdom of China,—these are the lands and islands which from time immemorial have given up their treasures to be forwarded far and wide to amaze and delight the native of colder and less productive lands.

Routes of Trade to the Far East.—Three old sailing and caravan routes connect the Mediterranean with the Far East. They are so old that we can not guess when men first used them. They were old in the days of Solomon and indeed very ancient when Alexander the Great conquered the East.One of these routes passed through the Black Sea, and across the Caspian Sea to Turkestan to those strange and romantic ancient cities, Bokhara and Samarkand.Thence it ran northeasterly across Asia, entering China from the north.Another crossed Syria and went down through Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean, A third began in Egypt and went through the Red Sea, passing along the coast of Arabia to India.

All of these had been in use for centuries, but by the year 1400 two had been closed.A fresh immigration of Turks, the Ottomans, in the fourteenth century came down upon the scourged country of the Euphrates and Syria, and although these Turks also embraced Mohammedanism, their hostility closed the first two routes and commerce over them has never since been resumed.

Venetian Monopoly of Trade.—Thus all interest centered upon the southern route.By treaty with the sultan or ruler of Egypt, Venice secured a monopoly of the products which came over this route.Goods from the East now came in fleets up the Red Sea, went through the hands of the sultan of Egypt, who collected a duty for them, and then were passed on to the ships of the wealthy Venetian merchant princes, who carried them throughout Europe.Although the object of intense jealousy, it seemed impossible to wrest this monopoly from Venice.Her fleet was the strongest on the Mediterranean, and her rule extended along the Adriatic to the Grecian islands.All eager minds were bent upon the trade with the East, but no way was known, save that which now Venice had gained.

Extent of Geographical Knowledge.—The Maps of this Period.—To realize how the problem looked to the sailor of Genoa or the merchant of Flanders at that time, we must understand how scanty and erroneous was the geographical knowledge of even the fifteenth century.It was believed that Jerusalem was the center of the world, a belief founded upon a biblical passage.The maps of this and earlier dates represent the earth in this way: In the center, Palestine, and beneath it the Mediterranean Sea, the only body of water which was well known; on the left side is Europe; on the right, Africa; and at the top, Asia—the last two continents very indefinitely mapped.Around the whole was supposed to flow an ocean, beyond the first few miles of which it was perilous to proceed lest the ship be carried over the edge of the earth or encounter other perils.

Ideas about the Earth.—The Greek philosophers before the time of Christ had discovered that the world is a globe, or ball, and had even computed rudely its circumference.But in the Middle Ages this knowledge had been disputed and contradicted by a geographer named Cosmas, who held that the world was a vast plane, twice as long as it was broad and surrounded by an ocean.This belief was generally adopted by churchmen, who were the only scholars of the Middle Ages, and came to be the universal belief of Christian Europe.

The Renaissance revived the knowledge of the writings of the old Greek geographers who had demonstrated the earth’s shape to be round and had roughly calculated its size; but these writings did not have sufficient circulation in Europe to gain much acceptance among the Christian cosmographers. The Arabs, however, after conquering Egypt, Syria and northern Africa, translated into their own tongue the wisdom of the Greeks and became the best informed and most scientific geographers of the Middle Age, so that intercourse with the Arabs which began with the Crusades helped to acquaint Europe somewhat with India and China.

The Far East.—The Tartar Mongols.—Then in the thirteenth century all northern Asia and China fell under the power of the Tartar Mongols.Russia was overrun by them and western Europe threatened.At the Danube, however, this tide of Asiatic conquest stopped, and then a long period when Europe came into diplomatic and commercial relations with these Mongols and through them learned something of China.

Marco Polo Visits the Great Kaan.—Several Europeans visited the court of the Great Kaan, or Mongol king, and of one of them, Marco Polo, we must speak in particular.He was a Venetian, and when a young man started in 1271 with his father and uncle on a visit to the Great Kaan.They passed from Italy to Syria, across to Bagdad, and so up to Turkestan, where they saw the wonderful cities of this strange oasis, thence across the Pamirs and the Desert of Gobi to Lake Baikal, where the Kaan had his court.Here in the service of this prince Marco Polo spent over seventeen years.So valuable indeed were his services that the Kaan would not permit him to return.Year after year he remained in the East.He traversed most of China, and was for a time “taotai,” or magistrate, of the city of Yang Chan near the Yangtze River.He saw the amazing wonders of the East.He heard of “Zipangu,” or Japan.He probably heard of the Philippines.

Finally the opportunity came for the three Venetians to return. The Great Kaan had a relative who was a ruler of Persia, and ambassadors came from this ruler to secure a Mongol princess for him to marry. The dangers and hardships of the travel overland were considered too difficult for the delicate princess, and it was decided to send her by water.Marco Polo and his father and uncle were commissioned to accompany the expedition to Persia.

History of Marco Polo’s Travels.—They sailed from the port of Chin Cheu, probably near Amoy,1 in the year 1292. They skirted the coasts of Cambodia and Siam and reached the eastern coasts of Sumatra, where they waited five months for the changing of the monsoon. Of the Malay people of Sumatra, as well as of these islands, their animals and productions, Marco Polo has left us most interesting and quite accurate accounts. The Malays on Sumatra were beginning to be converted to Mohammedanism, for Marco Polo says that many of them were “Saracens.” He gained a good knowledge of the rich and mysterious Indian Isles, where the spices and flavorings grew. It was two years before the party, having crossed the Indian Ocean, reached Persia and the court of the Persian king. When they arrived they found that while they were making this long voyage the Persian king had died; but they married the Mongol princess to his son, the young prince, who had succeeded him, and that did just as well.

From Persia the Venetians crossed to Syria and thence sailed to Italy, and at last reached home after an absence of twenty-six years. But Marco Polo’s adventures did not end with his return to Venice. In a fierce sea fight between the Venetians and Genoese, he was made a prisoner and confined in Genoa.Here a fellow captive wrote down from Marco’s own words the story of his eastern adventures, and this book we have to-day.It is a record of adventure, travel, and description, so wonderful that for years it was doubted and its accuracy disbelieved.But since, in our own time, men have been able to traverse again the routes over which Marco Polo passed, fact after fact has been established, quite as he truthfully stated them centuries ago.To have been the first European to make this mighty circuit of travel is certainly a strong title to enduring fame.

Countries of the Far East.—India.—Let us now briefly look at the countries of the Far East, which by the year 1400 had come to exercise over the mind of the European so irresistible a fascination.First of all, India, as we have seen, had for centuries been the principal source of the western commerce.But long before the date we are considering, the scepter of India had fallen from the hand of the Hindu.From the seventh century, India was a prey to Mohammedan conquerors, who entered from the northwest into the valley of the Indus.At first these were Saracens or Arabs; later they were the same Mongol converts to Mohammedanism, whose attacks upon Europe we have already noticed.

In 1398 came the furious and bloody warrior, the greatest of all Mongols,—Timour, or Tamerlane.He founded, with capital at Delhi, the empire of the Great Mogul, whose rule over India was only broken by the white man.Eastward across the Ganges and in the Dekkan, or southern part of India, were states ruled over by Indian princes.

China.—We have seen how, at the time of Marco Polo, China also was ruled by the Tartar Mongols. The Chinese have ever been subject to attack from the wandering horse-riding tribes of Siberia.Two hundred years before Christ one of the Chinese kings built the Great Wall that stretches across the northern frontier for one thousand three hundred miles, for a defense against northern foes.Through much of her history the Chinese have been ruled by aliens, as they are to-day.About 1368, however, the Chinese overthrew the Mongol rulers and established the Ming dynasty, the last Chinese house of emperors, who ruled China until 1644, when the Manchus, the present rulers, conquered the country.

China was great and prosperous under the Mings.Commerce flourished and the fleets of Chinese junks sailed to India, the Malay Islands, and to the Philippines for trade.The Grand Canal, which connects Peking with the Yangtze River basin and Hangchau, was completed.It was an age of fine productions of literature.

The Chinese seem to have been much less exclusive then than they are at the present time; much less a peculiar, isolated people than now.They did not then shave their heads nor wear a queue.These customs, as well as that hostility to foreign intercourse which they have to-day, has been forced upon China by the Manchus.China appeared at that time ready to assume a position of enormous influence among the peoples of the earth,—a position for which she was well fitted by the great industry of all classes and the high intellectual power of her learned men.

Japan.—Compared with China or India, or even some minor states, the development of Japan at this time was very backward. Her people were divided and there was constant civil war. The Japanese borrowed their civilization from the Chinese. From them they learned writing and literature, and the Buddhist religion, which was introduced about 550 A.D. But in temperament they are a very different people, being spirited, warlike, and, until recent years, despising trading and commerce.

Since the beginning of her history, Japan has been an empire.The ruler, the Mikado, is believed to be of heavenly descent; but in the centuries we are discussing the government was controlled by powerful nobles, known as the Shogun, who kept the emperors in retirement in the palaces of Kyoto, and themselves directed the State.The greatest of these shoguns was Iyeyásu, who ruled Japan about 1600, soon after Manila was founded.They developed in Japan a species of feudalism, the great lords, or “daimios,” owning allegiance to the shoguns, and about the daimios, as feudal retainers, bodies of samurai, who formed a partly noble class of their own.The samurai carried arms, fought at their lords’ command, were students and literati, and among them developed that proud, loyal, and elevated code of morality known as “Búshido,” which has done so much for the Japanese people.It is this samurai class who in modern times have effected the immense revolution in the condition and power of Japan.

The Malay Archipelago.—If now we look at the Malay Islands, we find, as we have already seen, that changes had been effected there. Hinduism had first elevated and civilized at least a portion of the race, and Mohammedanism and the daring seamanship of the Malay had united these islands under a common language and religion. There was, however, no political union. The Malay peninsula was divided. Java formed a central Malay power. Eastward among the beautiful Celebes and Moluccas, the true Spice Islands, were a multitude of small native rulers, rajas or datos, who surrounded themselves with retainers, kept rude courts, and gathered wealthy tributes of cinnamon, pepper, and cloves.The sultans of Ternate, Tidor, and Amboina were especially powerful, and the islands they ruled the most rich and productive.

Between all these islands there was a busy commerce.The Malay is an intrepid sailor, and an eager trader.Fleets of praos, laden with goods, passed with the changing monsoons from part to part, risking the perils of piracy, which have always troubled this archipelago.Borneo, while the largest of all these islands, was the least developed, and down to the present day has been hardly explored.The Philippines were also outside of most of this busy intercourse and had at that date few products to offer for trade.Their only connection with the rest of the Malay race was through the Mohammedan Malays of Jolo and Borneo.The fame of the Spice Islands had long filled Europe, but the existence of the Philippines was unknown.

Summary. —We have now reviewed the condition of Europe and of farther Asia as they were before the period of modern discovery and colonization opened. The East had reached a condition of quiet stability. Mohammedanism, though still spreading, did not promise to effect great social changes. The institutions of the East had become fixed in custom and her peoples neither made changes nor desired them. On the other hand western Europe had become aroused to an excess of ambition. New ideas, new discoveries and inventions were moving the nations to activity and change. That era of modern discovery and progress, of which we cannot yet perceive the end, had begun.

---

1 See Yule’s Marco Polo for a discussion of this point and for the entire history of this great explorer, as well as a translation of his narrative. This book of Ser Marco Polo has been most critically edited with introduction and voluminous notes by the English scholar, Sir Henry Yule. In this edition the accounts of Marco Polo, covering so many countries and peoples of the Far East, can be studied.

Chapter IV.

The Great Geographical Discoveries.

An Eastern Passage to India.—The Portuguese.—We have seen in the last chapter how Venice held a monopoly of the only trading-route with the Far East. Some new way of reaching India must be sought, that would permit the traders of other Christian powers to reach the marts of the Orient without passing through Mohammedan lands. This surpassing achievement was accomplished by the Portuguese. So low at the present day has the power of Portugal fallen that few realize the daring and courage once displayed by her seamen and soldiers and the enormous colonial empire that she established.

Portugal freed her territory of the Mohammedan Moors nearly a century earlier than Spain; and the vigor and intelligence of a great king, John I. , brought Portugal, about the year 1400, to an important place among the states of Europe. This king captured from the Moors the city of Ceuta, in Morocco; and this was the beginning of modern European colonial possessions, and the first bit of land outside of Europe to be held by a European power since the times of the Crusades. King John’s youngest son was Prince Henry, famous in history under the title of “the Navigator.” This young prince, with something of the same adventurous spirit that filled the Crusaders, was ardent to extend the power of his father’s kingdom and to widen the sway of the religion which he devotedly professed. The power of the Mohammedans in the Mediterranean was too great for him hopefully to oppose and so he planned the conquest of the west coast of Africa, and its conversion to Christianity.With these ends in view, he established at Point Sagres, on the southwestern coast of Portugal, a naval academy and observatory.Here he brought together skilled navigators, charts, and geographies, and all scientific knowledge that would assist in his undertaking.1

He began to construct ships larger and better than any in use.To us they would doubtless seem very clumsy and small, but this was the beginning of ocean ship-building.The compass and the astrolabe, or sextant, the little instrument with which, by calculating the height of the sun above the horizon, we can tell distance from the equator, were just coming into use.These, as well as every other practicable device for navigation known at that time, were supplied to these ships.

Exploration of the African Coast.—Thus equipped and ably manned, the little fleets began the exploration of the African coast, cautiously feeling their way southward and ever returning with reports of progress made. Year after year this work went on. In 1419 the Madeira Islands were rediscovered and colonized by Portuguese settlers. The growing of sugarcane was begun, and vines were brought from Burgundy and planted there. The wine of the Madeiras has been famous to this day.Then were discovered the Canaries and in 1444 the Azores.The southward exploration of the coast of the mainland steadily continued until in 1445 the Portuguese reached the mouth of the Senegal River.Up to this point the African shore had not yielded much of interest to the Portuguese explorer or trader.Below Morocco the great Sahara Desert reaches to the sea and renders barren the coast for hundreds of miles.

South of the mouth of the Senegal and comprising the whole Guinea coast, Africa is tropical, well watered, and populous.This is the home of the true African Negro.Here, for almost the first time, since the beginning of the Middle Ages, Christian Europe came in contact with a race of ruder culture and different color than its own.This coast was found to be worth exploiting; for it yielded, besides various desirable resinous gums, three articles which have distinguished the exploitation of Africa, namely, gold, ivory, and slaves.

Beginning of Negro Slavery in Europe.—At this point begins the horrible and revolting story of European Negro slavery. The ancient world had practiced this ownership of human chattels, and the Roman Empire had declined under a burden of half the population sunk in bondage. To the enormous detriment and suffering of mankind, Mohammed had tolerated the institution, and slavery is permitted by the Koran. But it is the glory of the mediæval church that it abolished human slavery from Christian Europe. However dreary and unjust feudalism may have been, it knew nothing of that institution which degrades men and women to the level of cattle and remorselessly sells the husband from his family, the mother from her child.

Slaves in Portugal.—The arrival of the Portuguese upon the coast of Guinea now revived not the bondage of one white man to another, but that of the black to the white.The first slaves carried to Portugal were regarded simply as objects of peculiar interest, captives to represent to the court the population of those shores which had been added to the Portuguese dominion.But southern Portugal, from which the Moors had been expelled, had suffered from a lack of laborers, and it was found profitable to introduce Negroes to work these fields.

Arguments to Justify Slavery.—So arose the institution of Negro slavery, which a century later upon the shores of the New World was to develop into so tremendous and terrible a thing.Curiously enough, religion was evoked to justify this enslavement of the Africans.The Church taught that these people, being heathen, were fortunate to be captured by Christians, that they might thereby be brought to baptism and conversion; for it is better for the body to perish than for the soul to be cast into hell.At a later age, when the falsity of this teaching had been realized, men still sought to justify the institution by arguing that the Almighty had created the African of a lower state especially that he might serve the superior race.

The coast of Guinea continued to be the resort of slavers down to the middle of the last century, and such scenes of cruelty, wickedness, and debauchery have occurred along its shores as can scarcely be paralleled in brutality in the history of any people.

The Portuguese can hardly be said to have colonized the coast in the sense of raising up there a Portuguese population. As he approached the equator the white man found that, in spite of his superior strength, he could not permanently people the tropics.Diseases new to his experience attacked him.His energy declined.If he brought his family with him, his children were few or feeble and shortly his race had died out.

The settlements of the Portuguese were largely for the purposes of trade.At Sierra Leone, Kamerun, or Loango, they built forts and established garrisons, mounting pieces of artillery that gave them advantage over the attacks of the natives, and erecting warehouses and the loathsome “barracoon,” where the slaves were confined to await shipment.Such decadent little settlements still linger along the African coast, although the slave-trade happily has ended.

The Successful Voyage of Vasco da Gama.—Throughout the century Prince Henry’s policy of exploration was continued.Slowly the middle coast of Africa became known.At last in 1486, Bartholomew Diaz rounded the extremity of the continent.He named it the Cape of Storms; but the Portuguese king, with more prophetic sight, renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.It was ten years, however, before the Portuguese could send another expedition.Then Vasco da Gama rounded the cape again, followed up the eastern coast until the Arab trading-stations were reached.Then he struck across the sea, landed at the Malabar coast of India, and in 1498 arrived at Calcutta.The end dreamed of by all of Europe had been achieved.A sea-route to the Far East had been discovered.

Results of Da Gama’s Voyage.—The importance of this performance was instantly recognized in Europe. Venice was ruined. “It was a terrible day,” said a contemporary writer, “when the word reached Venice. Bells were rung, men wept in the streets, and even the bravest were silent.”The Arabs and the native rulers made a desperate effort to expel the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean, but their opponents were too powerful.In the course of twenty years Portugal had founded an empire that had its forts and trading-marts from the coast of Arabia to Malaysia.Zanzibar, Aden, Oman, Goa, Calicut, and Madras were all Portuguese stations, fortified and secured.In the Malay peninsula was founded the colony of Malacca.It retained its importance and power until in the last century, when it dwindled before the competition of Singapore.

The work of building up this great domain was largely that of one man, the intrepid Albuquerque.Think what his task was!He was thousands of miles from home and supplies, he had only such forces and munitions as he could bring with him in his little ships, and opposed to him were millions of inhabitants and a multitude of Mohammedan princes.Yet this great captain built up an Indian empire.Portugal at one bound became the greatest trading and colonizing power in the world.Her sources of wealth appeared fabulous, and, like Venice, she made every effort to secure her monopoly.The fleets of other nations were warned that they could not make use of the Cape of Good Hope route, on penalty of being captured or destroyed.

Reaching India by Sailing West.—The Earth as a Sphere.—Meanwhile, just as Portugal was carrying to completion her project of reaching India by sailing east, Europe was electrified by the supposed successful attempt of reaching India by sailing directly west, across the Atlantic. This was the plan daringly attempted in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Columbus was an Italian sailor and cosmographer of Genoa. The idea of sailing west to India did not originate with him, but his is the immortal glory of having persistently sought the means and put the idea into execution.

The Portuguese discoveries along the African coast gradually revealed the extension of this continent and the presence of people beyond the equator, and the possibility of passing safely through the tropics.This knowledge was a great stimulus to the peoples of Europe.The geographical theory of the Greeks, that the world is round, was revived.The geographers, however, in making their calculations of the earth’s circumference, had fallen into an error of some thousands of miles; that is, instead of finding that it is fully twelve thousand miles from Europe around to the East Indies, they had supposed it about four thousand, or even less.Marco Polo too had exaggerated the distance he had traveled and from his accounts men had been led to believe that China, Japan, and the Spice Islands lie much further to the east than they actually do.

By sailing west across one wide ocean, with no intervening lands, it was thought that one could arrive at the island-world off the continent of Asia.This was the theory that was revived in Italy and which clung in men’s minds for years and years, even after America was discovered.

An Italian, named Toscanelli, drew a map showing how this voyage could be made, and sent Columbus a copy. By sailing first to the Azores, a considerable portion of the journey would be passed, with a convenient resting-stage. Then about thirty-five days’ favorable sailing would bring one to the islands of “Cipango,” or Japan, which Marco Polo had said lay off the continent of Asia. From here the passage could readily be pursued to Cathay and India.

The Voyage of Christopher Columbus.—The romantic and inspiring story of Columbus is told in many books,—his poverty, his genius, his long and discouraging pursuit of the means to carry out his plan.He first applied to Portugal; but, as we have seen, this country had been pursuing another plan steadily for a century, and, now that success appeared almost at hand, naturally the Portuguese king would not turn aside to favor Columbus’s plan.

For years Columbus labored to interest the Spanish court.A great event had happened in Spanish history.Ferdinand, king of Aragon, had wedded Isabella of Castile, and this marriage united these two kingdoms into the modern country of Spain.Soon the smaller states except Portugal were added, and the war for the expulsion of the Moors was prosecuted with new vigor.In 1492, Grenada, the last splendid stronghold of the Mohammedans in the peninsula, surrendered, and in the same year Isabella furnished Columbus with the ships for his voyage of discovery.

Columbus sailed from Palos, August 3, 1492, reached the Canaries August 24, and sailed westward on September 6. Day after day, pushed by the strong winds, called the “trades,” they went forward. Many doubts and fears beset the crews, but Columbus was stout-hearted. At the end of thirty-four days from the Canaries, on October 12, they sighted land. It was one of the groups of beautiful islands lying between the two continents of America. But Columbus thought that he had reached the East Indies that really lay many thousands of miles farther west. Columbus sailed among the islands of the archipelago, discovered Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti), and then returned to convulse Europe with excitement over the new-found way to the East.He had not found the rich Spice Islands, the peninsula of India, Cathay or Japan, but every one believed that these must be close to the islands on which Columbus had landed.

The tall, straight-haired, copper-colored natives, whom Columbus met on the islands, he naturally called “Indians”; and this name they still bear.Afterwards the islands were called the “West Indies.”Columbus made three more voyages for Spain.On the fourth, in 1498, he touched on the coast of South America.Here he discovered the great Orinoco River.Because of its large size, he must have realized that a large body of land opposed the passage to the Orient.He died in 1506, disappointed at his failure to find India, but never knowing what he had found, nor that the history of a new hemisphere had begun with him.

The Voyage of the Cabots.—In the same year that Columbus discovered the Orinoco, Sebastian Cabot, of Italian parentage, like Columbus, secured ships from the king of England, hoping to reach China and Japan by sailing west on a northern route. What he did discover was a rugged and uninviting coast, with stormy headlands, cold climate, and gloomy forests of pine reaching down to the sandy shores. For nine hundred miles he sailed southward, but everywhere this unprofitable coast closed the passage to China. It was the coast of Labrador and the United States. Yet for years and years it was not known that a continent three thousand miles wide and the greatest of all oceans lay between Cathay and the shore visited by Cabot’s ships. This land was thought to be a long peninsula, an island, or series of islands, belonging to Asia. No one supposed or could suppose that there was a continent here.

Naming the New World.—But in a few years Europe did realize that a new continent had been discovered in South America.If you will look at your maps, you will see that South America lies far to the eastward of North America and in Brazil approaches very close to Africa.This Brazilian coast was visited by a Portuguese fleet on the African route in 1499, and two years later an Italian fleet traversed the coast from the Orinoco to the harbor of Rio Janeiro.Their voyage was a veritable revelation.They entered the mighty current of the Amazon, the greatest river of the earth.They saw the wondrous tropical forests, full of monkeys, great snakes, and stranger animals.They dealt and fought with the wild and ferocious inhabitants, whose ways startled and appalled the European.All that they saw filled them with greatest wonder.This evidently was not Asia, nor was it the Indies.Here, in fact, was a new continent, a veritable “Mundus Novus.”

The pilot of this expedition was an Italian, named Amerigo Vespucci. On the return this man wrote a very interesting letter or little pamphlet, describing this new world, which was widely read, and brought the writer fame. A few years later a German cosmographer, in preparing a new edition of Ptolemy’s geography, proposed to give to this new continent the name of the man who had made known its wonders in Europe, So it was called “America.” Long after, when the northern shores were also proved to be those of a continent, this great land was named “North America.” No injustice was intended to Columbus when America was so named. It was not then supposed that Columbus had discovered a continent. The people then believed that Columbus had found a new route to India and had discovered some new islands that lay off the coast of Asia.

Spain Takes Possession of the New Lands.—Of these newly found islands and whatever wealth they might be found to contain, Spain claimed the possession by right of discovery.And of the European nations, it was Spain which first began the exploration and colonization of America.Spain was now free from her long Mohammedan wars, and the nation was being united under Ferdinand and Isabella.The Spaniards were brave, adventurous, and too proud to engage in commerce or agriculture, but ready enough to risk life and treasure in quest of riches abroad.The Spaniards were devotedly religious, and the Church encouraged conquest, that missionary work might be extended.So Spain began her career that was soon to make her the foremost power of Europe and one of the greatest colonial empires the world has seen.It is amazing what the Spaniards accomplished in the fifty years following Columbus’s first voyage.

Hispaniola was made the center from which the Spaniards extended their explorations to the continents of both North and South America.On these islands of the West Indies they found a great tribe of Indians,—the Caribs.They were fierce and cruel.The Spaniards waged a warfare of extermination against them, killing many, and enslaving others for work in the mines.The Indian proved unable to exist as a slave.And his sufferings drew the attention of a Spanish priest, Las Casas, who by vigorous efforts at the court succeeded in having Indian slavery abolished and African slavery introduced to take its place.This remedy was in the end worse than the disease, for it gave an immense impetus to the African slave-trade and peopled America with a race of Africans in bondage.

Other Spanish Explorations and Discoveries.—Meanwhile, the Spanish soldier, with incredible energy, courage, and daring, pushed his conquests.In 1513, Florida was discovered, and in the same year, Balboa crossed the narrow isthmus of Panama and saw the Pacific Ocean. Contrary to what is often supposed, he did not dream of its vast extent, but supposed it to be a narrow body of water lying between Panama, and the Asian islands. He named it the “South Sea,” a name that survived after its true character was revealed by Magellan. Then followed the two most romantic and surprising conquests of colonial history,—that of Mexico by Cortes in 1521, and of Peru by Pizarro in 1533–34. These great countries were inhabited by Indians, the most advanced and cultured on the American continents. And here the Spaniards found enormous treasures of gold and silver. Then, the discovery of the mines of Bogota opened the greatest source of the precious metal that Europe had ever known. Spaniards flocked to the New World, and in New Spain, as Mexico was called, was established a great vice-royalty. Year after year enormous wealth was poured into Spain from these American possessions.

Emperor Charles V.—Meanwhile great political power had been added to Spain in Europe. In 1520 the throne of Spain fell to a young man, Charles, the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. His mother was Juana, the Spanish princess, and his father was Philip the Handsome, of Burgundy. Philip the Handsome was the son of Maximilian, the Archduke of Austria. Now it curiously happened that the thrones of each of these three countries was left without other heirs than Charles, and in 1520 he was King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy and the Low Countries, including the rich commercial cities of Holland and Belgium. In addition to all this, the German princes elected him German emperor, and although he was King Charles the First of Spain, he is better known in history as Emperor Charles the Fifth.2

He was then an untried boy of twenty years, and no one expected to find in him a man of resolute energy, cold persistence, and great executive ability.But so it proved, and this was the man that made of Spain the greatest power of the time.He was in constant warfare.He fought four wars with King Francis I.of France, five wars with the Turks, both in the Danube valley and in Africa, and an unending succession of contests with the Protestant princes of Germany.For Charles, besides many other important changes, saw the rise of Protestantism, and the revolt of Germany, Switzerland, and England from Catholicism.The first event in his emperorship was the assembling of the famous German Diet at Worms, where was tried and condemned the real founder of the Protestant religion, Martin Luther.

The Voyage of Hernando Magellan.—In the mean time a way had at last been found to reach the Orient from Europe by sailing west.This discovery, the greatest voyage ever made by man, was accomplished, in 1521, by the fleet of Hernando Magellan.Magellan was a Portuguese, who had been in the East with Albuquerque.He had fought with the Malays in Malacca, and had helped to establish the Portuguese power in India.

On his return to Portugal, the injustice of the court drove him from his native country, and he entered the service of Spain. Charles the Fifth commissioned him to attempt a voyage of discovery down the coast of South America, with the hope of finding a passage to the East.This was Magellan’s great hope and faith,—that south of the new continent of America must lie a passage westward, by which ships could sail to China.As long as Portugal was able to keep closed the African route to all other ships than her own, the discovery of some other way was imperative.

On the 20th of September, 1519, Magellan’s fleet of five ships set sail from Seville, which was the great Spanish shipping-port for the dispatch of the colonial fleets.On December 13 they reached the coast of Brazil and then coasted southward.They traded with the natives, and at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata stayed some days to fish.

The weather grew rapidly colder and more stormy as they went farther south, and Magellan decided to stop and winter in the Bay of San Julian.Here the cold of the winter, the storms, and the lack of food caused a conspiracy among his captains to mutiny and return to Spain.Magellan acted with swift and terrible energy.He went himself on board one of the mutinous vessels, killed the chief conspirator with his own hand, executed another, and then “marooned,” or left to their fate on the shore, a friar and one other, who were leaders in the plot.

The Straits of Magellan.—The fleet sailed southward again in August but it was not until November 1, 1520, that Magellan entered the long and stormy straits that bear his name and which connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. South of them were great bleak islands, cold and desolate. They were inhabited by Indians, who are probably the lowest and most wretched savages on the earth. They live on fish and mussels. As they go at all times naked, they carry with them in their boats brands and coals of fire.Seeing the numerous lights on the shore, Magellan named these islands Tierra del Fuego (the Land of Fire).For twenty days the ships struggled with the contrary and shifting winds that prevail in this channel, during which time one ship deserted and returned to Spain.Then the remaining four ships passed out onto the boundless waters of the Pacific.

Westward on the Pacific Ocean.—But we must not make the mistake of supposing that Magellan and his followers imagined that a great ocean confronted them.They expected that simply sailing northward to the latitude of the Spice Islands would bring them to these desired places.This they did, and then turned westward, expecting each day to find the Indies; but no land appeared.The days lengthened into weeks, the weeks into months, and still they went forward, carried by the trade winds over a sea so smooth and free from tempests that Magellan named it the “Pacific.”

But they suffered horribly from lack of food, even eating in their starvation the leather slings on the masts.It was a terrible trial of their courage.Twenty of their number died.The South Pacific is studded with islands, but curiously their route lay just too far north to behold them.From November 28, when they emerged from the Straits of Magellan, until March 7, when they reached the Ladrones, they encountered only two islands, and these were small uninhabited rocks, without water or food, which in their bitter disappointment they named las Desventuradas (the Unfortunate Islands).

The Ladrone Islands.—Their relief must have been inexpressible when, on coming up to land on March the 7th, they found inhabitants and food, yams, cocoanuts, and rice. At these islands the Spaniards first saw the prao, with its light outrigger, and pointed sail.So numerous were these craft that they named the group las Islas de las Velas (the Islands of Sails); but the loss of a ship’s boat and other annoying thefts led the sailors to designate the islands Los Ladrones (the Thieves), a name which they still retain.

The Philippine Islands.—Samar.—Leaving the Ladrones Magellan sailed on westward looking for the Moluccas, and the first land that he sighted was the eastern coast of Samar.Pigafetta says: “Saturday, the 16th of March, we sighted an island which has very lofty mountains.Soon after we learned that it was Zamal, distant three hundred leagues from the islands of the Ladrones.”3

Homonhón.—On the following day the sea-worn expedition, landed on a little uninhabited island south of Samar which Pigafetta called Humunu, and which is still known as Homonhón or Jomonjól.

It was while staying at this little island that the Spaniards first saw the people of the Philippines.A prao which contained nine men approached their ship.They saw other boats fishing near and learned that all of these people came from the island of Suluan, which lies off to the eastward from Jomonjól about twenty kilometres.In their life and appearance these fishing people were much like the present Samal laut of southern Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.

Limasaua.—Pigafetta says that they stayed on the island of Jomonjól eight days but had great difficulty in securing food. The natives brought them a few cocoanuts and oranges, palm wine, and a chicken or two, but this was all that could be spared, so, on the 25th, the Spaniards sailed again, and near the south end of Leyte landed on the little island of Limasaua.Here there was a village, where they met two chieftains, whom Pigafetta calls “kings,” and whose names were Raja Calambú and Raja Ciagu.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.The house was built as Filipino houses are today, raised on posts and thatched.Pigafetta thought it looked “like a haystack.”

It had been the day of San Lazarus when the Spaniards first reached these islands, so that Magellan gave to the group the name of the Archipelago of Saint Lazarus, the name under which the Philippines were frequently described in the early writings, although another title, Islas del Poniente or Islands of the West, was more common up to the time when the title Filipinas became fixed.

Cebu.—Magellan’s people were now getting desperately in need of food, and the population on Limasaua had very inadequate supplies; consequently the natives directed him to the island of Cebu, and provided him with guides.

Leaving Limasaua the fleet sailed for Cebu, passing several large islands, among them Bohol, and reaching Cebu harbor on Sunday, the 7th of April. A junk from Siam was anchored at Cebu when Magellan’s ships arrived there; and this, together with the knowledge that the Filipinos showed of the surrounding countries, including China on the one side and the Moluccas on the other, is additional evidence of the extensive trade relations at the time of the discovery.

Cebu seems to have been a large town and it is reported that more than two thousand warriors with their lances appeared to resist the landing of the Spaniards, but assurances of friendliness finally won the Filipinos, and Magellan formed a compact with the dato of Cebu, whose name was Hamalbar.

The Blood Compact.—The dato invited Magellan to seal this compact in accordance with a curious custom of the Filipinos.Each chief wounded himself in the breast and from the wound each sucked and drank the other’s blood.It is not certain whether Magellan participated in this “blood compact,” as it has been called; but later it was observed many times in the Spanish settlement of the islands, especially by Legaspi.

The natives were much struck by the service of the mass, which the Spaniards celebrated on their landing, and after some encouragement desired to be admitted to the Spaniards’ religion.More than eight hundred were baptized, including Hamalbar.The Spaniards established a kind of “factory” or trading-post on Cebu, and for some time a profitable trade was engaged in.The Filipinos well understood trading, had scales, weights, and measures, and were fair dealers.

Death of Magellan.—And now follows the great tragedy of the expedition. The dato of Cebu, or the “Christian king,” as Pigafetta called their new ally, was at war with the islanders of Mactán. Magellan, eager to assist one who had adopted the Christian faith, landed on Mactán with fifty men and in the battle that ensued was killed by an arrow through the leg and spear-thrust through the breast.So died the one who was unquestionably the greatest explorer and most daring adventurer of all time.“Thus,” says Pigafetta, “perished our guide, our light, and our support.”It was the crowning disaster of the expedition.

The Fleet Visits Other Islands.—After Magellan’s death, the natives of Cebu rose and killed the newly elected leader, Serrano, and the fleet in fear lifted its anchors and sailed southward from the Bisayas. They had lost thirty-five men and their numbers were reduced to one hundred and fifteen. One of the ships was burned, there being too few men surviving to handle three vessels. After touching at western Mindanao, they sailed westward, and saw the small group of Cagayan Sulu. The few inhabitants they learned were Moros, exiled from Borneo.They landed on Paragua, called Puluan (hence Palawan), where they observed the sport of cock-fighting, indulged in by the natives.

From here, still searching for the Moluccas, they were guided to Borneo, the present city of Brunei.Here was the powerful Mohammedan colony, whose adventurers were already in communication with Luzon and had established a colony on the site of Manila.The city was divided into two sections, that of the Mohammedan Malays, the conquerors, and that of the Dyaks, the primitive population of the island.Pigafetta exclaims over the riches and power of this Mohammedan city.It contained twenty-five thousand families, the houses built for most part on piles over the water.The king’s house was of stone, and beside it was a great brick fort, with over sixty brass and iron cannon.Here the Spaniards saw elephants and camels, and there was a rich trade in ginger, camphor, gums, and in pearls from Sulu.

Hostilities cut short their stay here and they sailed eastward along the north coast of Borneo through the Sulu Archipelago, where their cupidity was excited by the pearl fisheries, and on to Maguindanao. Here they took some prisoners, who piloted them south to the Moluccas, and finally, on November 8, they anchored at Tidor. These Molucca islands, at this time, were at the height of the Malayan power. The ruler, or raja of Tidor was Almanzar, of Ternate Corala; the “king” of Gilolo was Yusef. With all these rulers the Spaniards exchanged presents, and the rajas are said by the Spaniards to have sworn perpetual amnesty to the Spaniards and acknowledged themselves vassals of the king. In exchange for cloths, the Spaniards laid in a rich cargo of cloves, sandalwood, ginger, cinnamon, and gold.They established here a trading-post and hoped to hold these islands against the Portuguese.

The Return to Spain.—It was decided to send one ship, the “Victoria,” to Spain by way of the Portuguese route and the Cape of Good Hope, while the other would return to America.Accordingly the “Victoria,” with a little crew of sixty men, thirteen of them natives, under the command of Juan Sebastian del Cano, set sail.The passage was unknown to the Spaniards and full of perils.They sailed to Timor and thence out into the Indian Ocean.They rounded Africa, sailing as far south as 42 degrees.Then they went northward, in constant peril of capture by some Portuguese fleet, encountering storms and with scarcity of food.Their distress must have been extreme, for on this final passage twenty-one of their small number died.

At Cape Verdi they entered the Portuguese port for supplies, trusting that at so northern a point their real voyage would not be suspected.But some one of the party, who went ashore for food, in an hour of intoxication boasted of the wonderful journey they had performed and showed some of the products of the Spice Islands.Immediately the Portuguese governor gave orders for the seizure of the Spanish vessel and El Cano, learning of his danger, left his men, who had gone on shore, raised sail, and put out for Spain.

On the 6th of September, 1522, they arrived at San Lucar, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, on which is situated Seville, one ship out of the five, and eighteen men out of the company of 234, who had set sail almost three full years before. Spain welcomed her worn and tired seamen with splendid acclaim. To El Cano was given a title of nobility and the famous coat-of-arms, showing the sprays of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and the effigy of the globe with the motto, the proudest and worthiest ever displayed on any adventurer’s shield, “Hic primus circumdedisti me.”

The First Circumnavigation of the Earth.—Thus with enormous suffering and loss of life was accomplished the first circumnavigation of the earth.It proved that Asia could be reached, although by a long and circuitous route, by sailing westward from Europe.It made known to Europe that the greatest of all oceans lies between the New World and Asia, and it showed that the earth is incomparably larger than had been believed and supposed.It was the greatest voyage of discovery that has ever been accomplished, and greater than can ever be performed again.

New Lands Divided between Spain and Portugal.—By this discovery of the Philippines and a new way to the Spice Islands, Spain became engaged in a long dispute with Portugal.At the beginning of the modern age, there was in Europe no system of rules by which to regulate conduct between states.That system of regulations and customs which we call International Law, and by which states at the present time are guided in their dealings, had not arisen.During the middle age, disputes between sovereigns were frequently settled by reference to the emperor or to the pope, and the latter had frequently asserted his right to determine all such questions as might arise.The pope had also claimed to have the right of disposing of all heathen and newly discovered lands and peoples.

So, after the discovery of the East Indies by Portugal and of the West Indies by Spain, Pope Alexander VI. , divided the new lands between them. He declared that all newly discovered countries halfway around the earth to the east of a meridian 100 leagues west of the Azores should be Portuguese, and all to the west Spanish.Subsequently he shifted this line to 270 leagues west of the Azores.This division, it was supposed, would give India and the Malay islands to Portugal, and to Spain the Indies that Columbus had discovered, and the New World, except Brazil.

As a matter of fact, 180 degrees west of the meridian last set by the pope extended to the western part of New Guinea, and not quite to the Moluccas; but in the absence of exact geographical knowledge both parties claimed the Spice Islands.Portugal denied to Spain all right to the Philippines as well, and, as we shall see, a conflict in the Far East began, which lasted nearly through the century.Portugal captured the traders, whom El Cano had left at Tidor, and broke up the Spanish station in the Spice Islands.The “Trinidad,” the other ship, which was intended to return to America, was unable to sail against the strong winds, and had to put back to Tidor, after cruising through the waters about New Guinea.

Effect of the Century of Discoveries.—This circumnavigation of the globe completed a period of discovery which had begun a hundred years before with the timid, slow attempts of the Portuguese along the coast of Africa. In these years a new era had opened. At its beginning the European knew little of any peoples outside of his own countries, and he held not one mile of land outside the continent of Europe. At the end of a hundred years the earth had become fairly well known, the African race, the Malay peoples, the American Indians, and the Pacific islanders had all been seen and described, and from now on the history of the white race was to be connected with that of these other races. The age of colonization, of world-wide trade and intercourse, had begun. The white man, who had heretofore been narrowly pressed in upon Europe, threatened again and again with conquest by the Mohammedan, was now to cover the seas with his fleets and all lands with his power.

---

1 See the noted work The Life of Prince Henry of Portugal, surnamed the Navigator, and its Results, by Richard Henry Major, London, 1868. Many of the views of Mr. Major upon the importance of Prince Henry’s work and especially its early aims, have been contradicted in more recent writings. The importance of the Sagres Observatory is belittled. Doubts are expressed as to the farsightedness of Prince Henry’s plans, and the best opinion of to-day holds that he did not hope to discover a new route to India by way of Africa, but sought simply the conquest of the “Guinea,” which was known to the Europeans through the Arab Geographers, who called it “Bilad Ghana” or “Land of Wealth.” The students, if possible, should read the essay of Mr. E. J. Payne, The Age of Discovery, in the Cambridge Modern History, Vol I.

2 The classical work on this famous ruler is Robertson’s Life of Charles the Fifth, but the student should consult if possible more recent works.

3 Primer Viaje alrededor del Mundo, Spanish translation by Amoretti, Madrid, 1899, page 27.

Chapter V.

The Filipino People Before the Arrival of the Spaniards.

Position of Tribes.—On the arrival of the Spaniards, the population of the Philippines seems to have been distributed by tribes in much the same manner as at present.Then, as now, the Bisaya occupied the central islands of the archipelago and some of the northern coast of Mindanao.The Bicol, Tagálog, and Pampango were in the same parts of Luzon as we find them to-day.The Ilocano occupied the coastal plain facing the China Sea, but since the arrival of the Spaniards they have expanded considerably and their settlements are now numerous in Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, and the valley of the Cagayan.

The Number of People.—These tribes which to-day number nearly 7,000,000 souls, at the time of Magellan’s discovery were, probably, not more than 500,000. The first enumeration of the population made by the Spaniards in 1591, and which included practically all of these tribes, gives a population of less than 700,000. (See Chapter VIII. , The Philippines Three Hundred Years Ago.)

There are other facts too that show us how sparse the population must have been. The Spanish expeditions found many coasts and islands in the Bisayan group without inhabitants. Occasionally a sail or a canoe would be seen, and then these would disappear in some small “estero” or mangrove swamp and the land seem as unpopulated as before. At certain points, like Limasaua, Butúan, and Bohol, the natives were more numerous, and Cebu was a large and thriving community; but the Spaniards had nearly everywhere to search for settled places and cultivated lands.

The sparsity of population is also well indicated by the great scarcity of food.The Spaniards had much difficulty in securing sufficient provisions.A small amount of rice, a pig and a few chickens, were obtainable here and there, but the Filipinos had no large supplies.After the settlement of Manila was made, a large part of the food of the city was drawn from China.The very ease with which the Spaniards marched where they willed and reduced the Filipinos to obedience shows that the latter were weak in numbers.Laguna and the Camarines seem to have been the most populous portions of the archipelago.All of these things and others show that the Filipinos were but a small fraction of their present number.

On the other hand, the Negritos seem to have been more numerous, or at least more in evidence.They were immediately noticed on the island of Negros, where at the present they are few and confined to the interior; and in the vicinity of Manila and in Batangas, where they are no longer found, they were mingling with the Tagálog population.

Conditions of Culture.—The culture of the various tribes, which is now quite the same throughout the archipelago, presented some differences. In the southern Bisayas, where the Spaniards first entered the archipelago, there seem to have been two kinds of natives: the hill dwellers, who lived in the interior of the islands in small numbers, who wore garments of tree bark and who sometimes built their houses in the trees; and the sea dwellers, who were very much like the present day Moro tribes south of Mindanao, who are known as the Sámal, and who built their villages over the sea or on the shore and lived much in boats.These were probably later arrivals than the forest people.From both of these elements the Bisaya Filipinos are descended, but while the coast people have been entirely absorbed, some of the hill-folk are still pagan and uncivilized, and must be very much as they were when the Spaniards first came.

The highest grade of culture was in the settlements where there was regular trade with Borneo, Siam, and China, and especially about Manila, where many Mohammedan Malays had colonies.

Languages of the Malayan Peoples.—With the exception of the Negrito, all the languages of the Philippines belong to one great family, which has been called the “Malayo-Polynesian.”All are believed to be derived from one very ancient mother-tongue.It is astonishing how widely this Malayo-Polynesian speech has spread.Farthest east in the Pacific there is the Polynesian, then in the groups of small islands, known as Micronesian; then Melanesian or Papuan; the Malayan throughout the East Indian archipelago, and to the north the languages of the Philippines.But this is not all; for far westward on the coast of Africa is the island of Madagascar, many of whose languages have no connection with African but belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family.1

The Tagálog Language.—It should be a matter of great interest to Filipinos that the great scientist, Baron William von Humboldt, considered the Tagálog to be the richest and most perfect of all the languages of the Malayo-Polynesian family, and perhaps the type of them all.“It possesses,” he said, “all the forms collectively of which particular ones are found singly in other dialects; and it has preserved them all with very trifling exceptions unbroken, and in entire harmony and symmetry.”The Spanish friars, on their arrival in the Philippines, devoted themselves at once to learning the native dialects and to the preparation of prayers and catechisms in these native tongues.They were very successful in their studies.Father Chirino tells us of one Jesuit who learned sufficient Tagálog in seventy days to preach and hear confession.In this way the Bisayan, the Tagálog, and the Ilocano were soon mastered.

In the light of the opinion of Von Humboldt, it is interesting to find these early Spaniards pronouncing the Tagálog the most difficult and the most admirable.“Of all of them,” says Padre Chirino, “the one which most pleased me and filled me with admiration was the Tagálog.Because, as I said to the first archbishop, and afterwards to other serious persons, both there and here, I found in it four qualities of the four best languages of the world: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Spanish; of the Hebrew, the mysteries and obscurities; of the Greek, the articles and the precision not only of the appellative but also of the proper nouns; of the Latin, the wealth and elegance; and of the Spanish, the good breeding, politeness, and courtesy.”2

An Early Connection with the Hindus.—The Malayan languages contain also a considerable proportion of words borrowed from the Sanskrit, and in this the Tagálog, Bisayan, and Ilocano are included.Whether these words were passed along from one Malayan group to another, or whether they were introduced by the actual presence and power of the Hindu in this archipelago, may be fair ground for debate; but the case for the latter position has been so well and brilliantly put by Dr. Pardo de Tavera that his conclusions are here given in his own words.“The words which Tagálog borrowed,” he says, “are those which signify intellectual acts, moral conceptions, emotions, superstitions, names of deities, of planets, of numerals of high number, of botany, of war and its results and consequences, and finally of titles and dignities, some animals, instruments of industry, and the names of money.”

From the evidence of these works, Dr. Pardo argues for a period in the early history of the Filipinos, not merely of commercial intercourse, like that of the Chinese, but of Hindu political and social domination.“I do not believe,” he says, “and I base my opinion on the same words that I have brought together in this vocabulary, that the Hindus were here simply as merchants, but that they dominated different parts of the archipelago, where to-day are spoken the most cultured languages,—the Tagálo, the Visayan, the Pampanga, and the Ilocano; and that the higher culture of these languages comes precisely from the influence of the Hindu race over the Filipino.”

The Hindus in the Philippines.—“It is impossible to believe that the Hindus, if they came only as merchants, however great their number, would have impressed themselves in such a way as to give to these islanders the number and the kind of words which they did give. These names of dignitaries, of caciques, of high functionaries of the court, of noble ladies, indicate that all of these high positions with names of Sanskrit origin were occupied at one time by men who spoke that language.The words of a similar origin for objects of war, fortresses, and battle-songs, for designating objects of religious belief, for superstitions, emotions, feelings, industrial and farming activities, show us clearly that the warfare, religion, literature, industry, and agriculture were at one time in the hands of the Hindus, and that this race was effectively dominant in the Philippines.”3

Systems of Writing among the Filipinos.—When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the Filipinos were using systems of writing borrowed from Hindu or Javanese sources.This matter is so interesting that one can not do better than to quote in full Padre Chirino’s account, as he is the first of the Spanish writers to mention it and as his notice is quite complete.

“So given are these islanders to reading and writing that there is hardly a man, and much less a woman, that does not read and write in letters peculiar to the island of Manila, very different from those of China, Japan, and of India, as will be seen from the following alphabet.

“The vowels are three; but they serve for five, and are,

The consonants are no more than twelve, and they serve to write both consonant and vowel, in this form. The letter alone, without any point either above or below, sounds with a.

Placing the point above, each one sounds with e or with i

Placing the point below, it sounds with o or with u

For instance, in order to say ‘cama,’ the two letters alone suffice.

If to the ᜃ there is placed a point above, it will say

If it is given to both below, it will say

The final consonants are supplied or understood in all cases, and so to say ‘cantar,’ they write

barba,

But with all, and that without many evasions, they make themselves understood, and they themselves understand marvellously. And the reader supplies, with much skill and ease, the consonants that are lacking. They have learned from us to write running the lines from the left hand to the right, but formerly they only wrote from above downwards, placing the first line (if I remember rightly) at the left hand, and continuing with the others to the right, the opposite of the Chinese and Japanese.... They write upon canes or on leaves of a palm, using for a pen a point of iron. Nowadays in writing not only their own but also our letters, they use a feather very well cut, and paper like ourselves.

They have learned our language and pronunciation, and write as well as we do, and even better; for they are so bright that they learn everything with the greatest ease.I have brought with me handwriting with very good and correct lettering.In Tigbauan, I had in school a very small child, who in three months’ time learned, by copying from well-written letters that I set him, to write enough better than I, and transcribed for me writings of importance very faithfully, and without errors or mistakes.But enough of languages and letters; now let us return to our occupation with human souls.”4

Sanskrit Source of the Filipino Alphabet.—Besides the Tagálog, the Bisaya, Pampango, Pangasinan, and Ilocano had alphabets, or more properly syllabaries similar to this one.Dr. Pardo de Tavera has gathered many data concerning them, and shows that they were undoubtedly received by the Filipinos from a Sanskrit source.

Early Filipino Writings.—The Filipinos used this writing for setting down their poems and songs, which were their only literature.None of this, however, has come down to us, and the Filipinos soon adopted the Spanish alphabet, forming the syllables necessary to write their language from these letters.As all these have phonetic values, it is still very easy for a Filipino to learn to pronounce and so read his own tongue.These old characters lingered for a couple of centuries, in certain places.Padre Totanes5 tells us that it was rare in 1705 to find a person who could use them; but the Tagbanua, a pagan people on the island of Paragua, use a similar syllabary to this day.Besides poems, they had songs which they sang as they rowed their canoes, as they pounded the rice from its husk, and as they gathered for feast or entertainment; and especially there were songs for the dead.In these songs, says Chirino, they recounted the deeds of their ancestors or of their deities.

Chinese in the Philippines.—Early Trade.—Very different from the Hindu was the early influence of the Chinese.There is no evidence that, previous to the Spanish conquest, the Chinese settled or colonized in these islands at all; and yet three hundred years before the arrival of Magellan their trading-fleets were coming here regularly and several of the islands were well known to them.One evidence of this prehistoric trade is in the ancient Chinese jars and pottery which have been exhumed in the vicinity of Manila, but the Chinese writings themselves furnish us even better proof.About the beginning of the thirteenth century, though not earlier than 1205, a Chinese author named Chao Ju-kua wrote a work upon the maritime commerce of the Chinese people.One chapter of his work is devoted to the Philippines, which he calls the country of Mayi.6 According to this record it is indicated that the Chinese were familiar with the islands of the archipelago seven hundred years ago.7

Chinese, Description of the People.—“The country of Mayi,” says this interesting classic, “is situated to the north of Poni (Burney, or Borneo).About a thousand families inhabit the banks of a very winding stream.The natives clothe themselves in sheets of cloth resembling bed sheets, or cover their bodies with sarongs.(The sarong is the gay colored, typical garment of the Malay.)Scattered through the extensive forests are copper Buddha images, but no one knows how they got there.8

“When the merchant (Chinese) ships arrive at this port they anchor in front of an open place ...which serves as a market, where they trade in the produce of the country.When a ship enters this port, the captain makes presents of white umbrellas (to the mandarins).The merchants are obliged to pay this tribute in order to obtain the good will of these lords.”The products of the country are stated to be yellow wax, cotton, pearls, shells, betel nuts, and yuta cloth, which was perhaps one of the several cloths still woven of abacá, or piña.The articles imported by the Chinese were “porcelain, trade gold, objects of lead, glass beads of all colors, iron cooking-pans, and iron needles.”

The Negritos.—Very curious is the accurate mention in this Chinese writing, of the Negritos, the first of all accounts to be made of the little blacks.“In the interior of the valleys lives a race called Hai-tan (Acta).They are, of low stature, have round eyes of a yellow color, curly hair, and their teeth are easily seen between their lips.(That is, probably, not darkened by betel-chewing or artificial stains.)They build their nests in the treetops and in each nest lives a family, which only consists of from three to five persons.They travel about in the densest thickets of the forests, and, without being seen themselves, shoot their arrows at the passers-by; for this reason they are much feared.If the trader (Chinese) throws them a small porcelain bowl, they will stoop down to catch it and then run away with it, shouting joyfully.”

Increase in Chinese Trade.—These junks also visited the more central islands, but here traffic was conducted on the ships, the Chinese on arrival announcing themselves by beating gongs and the Filipinos coming out to them in their light boats.Among other things here offered by the natives for trade are mentioned “strange cloth,” perhaps cinamay or jusi, and fine mats.

This Chinese trade continued probably quite steadily until the arrival of the Spaniards.Then it received an enormous increase through the demand for Chinese food-products and wares made by the Spaniards, and because of the value of the Mexican silver which the Spaniards offered in exchange.

Trade with the Moro Malays of the South.—The spread of Mohammedanism and especially the foundation of the colony of Borneo brought the Philippines into important commercial relations with the Malays of the south. Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards these relations seem to have been friendly and peaceful. The Mohammedan Malays sent their praos northward for purposes of trade, and they were also settling in the north Philippines as they had in Mindanao.

When Legaspi’s fleet, soon after its arrival, lay near the island of Bohol, the “Maestro de Campo” had a hard fight with a Moro vessel which had come up for trade, and took six prisoners.One of them, whom they call the “pilot,” was closely interrogated by the Adelantado and some interesting information obtained, which is recorded by Padre San Augustin.9 Legaspi had a Malay slave interpreter with him and San Augustin says that Padre Urdaneta “knew well the Malayan language.” The pilot said that “those of Borneo brought for trade with the Filipinos, copper and tin, which was brought to Borneo from China, porcelain, dishes, and bells made in their fashion, very different from those that the Christians use, and benzoin, and colored blankets from India, and cooking-pans made in China, and that they also brought iron lances very well tempered, and knives and other articles of barter, and that in exchange for them they took away from the islands gold, slaves, wax, and a kind of small seashell which they call ‘sijueyes,’ and which passes for money in the kingdom of Siam and other places; and also they carry off some white cloths, of which there is a great quantity in the islands.”

Butúan, on the north coast of Mindanao, seems to have been quite a trading-place resorted to by vessels from all quarters. This country, like many other parts of the Philippines, has produced from time immemorial small quantities of gold, and all the early voyagers speak of the gold earrings and ornaments of the natives. Butúan also produced sugarcane and was a trading-port for slaves.This unfortunate traffic in human life seems to have been not unusual, and was doubtless stimulated by the commerce with Borneo.Junks from Siam trading with Cebu were also encountered by the Spaniards.

Result of this Intercourse and Commerce.—This intercourse and traffic had acquainted the Filipinos with many of the accessories of civilized life long before the arrival of the Spaniards.Their chiefs and datos dressed in silks, and maintained some splendor of surroundings; nearly the whole population of the tribes of the coast wrote and communicated by means of a syllabary; vessels from Luzon traded as far south as Mindanao and Borneo, although the products of Asia proper came through the fleets of foreigners; and perhaps what indicates more clearly than anything else the advance the Filipinos were making through their communication with outside people is their use of firearms. Of this point there is no question.Everywhere in the vicinity of Manila, on Lubang, in Pampanga, at Cainta and Laguna de Bay, the Spaniards encountered forts mounting small cannon, or “lantakas.”10 The Filipinos seem to have understood, moreover, the arts of casting cannon and of making powder.The first gun-factory established by the Spaniards was in charge of a Filipino from Pampanga.

Early Political and Social Life.—The Barangay.—The weakest side of the culture of the early Filipinos was their political and social organization, and they were weak here in precisely the same way that the now uncivilized peoples of northern Luzon are still weak.Their state did not embrace the whole tribe or nation; it included simply the community.Outside of the settlers in one immediate vicinity, all others were enemies or at most foreigners.There were in the Philippines no large states, nor even great rajas and sultans such as were found in the Malay Archipelago, but instead on every island were a multitude of small communities, each independent of the other and frequently waging war.

The unit of their political order was a little cluster of houses from thirty to one hundred families, called a “barangay,” and which still exists in the Philippines as the “barrio.”At the head of each barangay was a chief known as the “dato,” a word no longer used in the northern Philippines, though it persists among the Moros of Mindanao.The powers of these datos within their small areas appear to have been great, and they were treated with utmost respect by the people.

The barangays were grouped together in tiny federations including about as much territory as the present towns, whose affairs were conducted by the chiefs or datos, although sometimes they seem to have all been in obedience to a single chief, known in some places as the “hari,” at other times by the Hindu word “raja,” or the Mohammedan term “sultan.” Sometimes the power of one of these rajas seems to have extended over the whole of a small island, but usually their “kingdoms” embraced only a few miles.

Changes Made by the Spaniards.—The Spaniards, in enforcing their authority through the islands, took away the real power from the datos, grouping the barangays into towns, or “pueblos,” but making the datos “cabezas de barrio,” or “gobernadorcillos.”Something of the old distinction between the dato, or “principal,” and the common man may be still represented in the “gente illustrada,” or the more wealthy, educated, and influential class found in each town, and the “gente baja,” or the poor and uneducated.

Classes of Filipinos under the Datos.—Beneath the datos, according to Chirino and Morga, there were three classes of Filipinos; the free persons, or “maharlica,” who paid no tribute to the dato, but who accompanied him to war, rowed his boat when he went on a journey, and attended him in his house.This class is called by Morga “timauas.”11

Then there was a very large class, who appear to have been freedmen or liberated slaves, who had acquired their own homes and lived with their families, but who owed to dato or maharlica heavy debts of service; to sow and harvest in his ricefields, to tend his fish-traps, to row his canoe, to build his house, to attend him when he had guests, and to perform any other duties that the chief might command.These semi-free were called “aliping namamahay,” and their condition of bondage descended to their children.

Beneath these existed a class of slaves. These were the “siguiguiliris,” and they were numerous. Their slavery arose in several ways.Some were those who as children had been captured in war and their lives spared.Some became slaves by selling their freedom in times of hunger.But most of them became slaves through debt, which descended from father to son.The sum of five or six pesos was enough in some cases to deprive a man of his freedom.

These slaves were absolutely owned by their lord, who could theoretically sell them like cattle; but, in spite of its bad possibilities, this Filipino slavery was ordinarily not of a cruel or distressing nature.The slaves frequently associated on kindly relations with their masters and were not overworked.This form of slavery still persists in the Philippines among the Moros of Mindanao and Jolo.Children of slaves inherited their parents’ slavery.If one parent was free and the other slave, the first, third, and fifth children were free and the second, fourth, and sixth slaves.This whole matter of inheritance of slavery was curiously worked out in minute details.

Life in the Barangay.—Community feeling was very strong within the barangay.A man could not leave his own barangay for life in another without the consent of the community and the payment of money.If a man of one barrio married a woman of another, their children were divided between the two barangays.The barangay was responsible for the good conduct of its members, and if one of them suffered an injury from a man outside, the whole barangay had to be appeased.Disputes and wrongs between members of the same barangay were referred to a number of old men, who decided the matter in accordance with the customs of the tribe, which were handed down by tradition.12

The Religion of the Filipinos.—The Filipinos on the arrival of the Spaniards were fetish-worshipers, but they had one spirit whom they believed was the greatest of all and the creator or maker of things.The Tagálog called this deity Bathala,13 the Bisaya, Laon, and the Ilocano, Kabunian. They also worshiped the spirits of their ancestors, which were represented by small images called “anitos.” Fetishes, which are any objects believed to possess miraculous power, were common among the people, and idols or images were worshiped. Pigafetta describes some idols which he saw in Cebu, and Chirino tells us that, within the memory of Filipinos whom he knew, they had idols of stone, wood, bone, or the tooth of a crocodile, and that there were some of gold.

They also reverenced animals and birds, especially the crocodile, the raven, and a mythical bird of blue or yellow color, which was called by the name of their deity Bathala.14 They had no temples or public places of worship, but each one had his anitos in his own house and performed his sacrifices and acts of worship there. As sacrifices they killed pigs or chickens, and made such occasions times of feasting, song, and drunkenness. The life of the Filipino was undoubtedly filled with superstitious fears and imaginings.

The Mohammedan Malays.—The Mohammedans outside of southern Mindanao and Jolo, had settled in the vicinity of Manila Bay and on Mindoro, Lubang, and adjacent coasts of Luzon.The spread of Mohammedanism was stopped by the Spaniards, although it is narrated that for a long time many of those living on the shores of Manila Bay refused to eat pork, which is forbidden by the Koran, and practiced the rite of circumcision.As late as 1583, Bishop Salazar, in writing to the king of affairs in the Philippines, says the Moros had preached the law of Mohammed to great numbers in these islands and by this preaching many of the Gentiles had become Mohammedans; and further he adds, “Those who have received this foul law guard it with much persistence and there is great difficulty in making them abandon it; and with cause too, for the reasons they give, to our shame and confusion, are that they were better treated by the preachers of Mohammed than they have been by the preachers of Christ.”15

Material Progress of the Filipinos.—The material surroundings of the Filipino before the arrival of the Spaniards were in nearly every way quite as they are to-day. The “center of population” of each town to-day, with its great church, tribunal, stores and houses of stone and wood, is certainly in marked contrast; but the appearance of a barrio a little distance from the center is to-day probably much as it was then. Then, as now, the bulk of the people lived in humble houses of bamboo and nipa raised on piles above the dampness of the soil; then, as now, the food was largely rice and the excellent fish which abound in river and sea.There were on the water the same familiar bancas and fish corrals, and on land the rice fields and cocoanut groves.The Filipinos had then most of the present domesticated animals,—dogs, cats, goats, chickens, and pigs,—and perhaps in Luzon the domesticated buffalo, although this animal was widely introduced into the Philippines from China after the Spanish conquest.Horses came with the Spaniards and their numbers were increased by the bringing in of Chinese mares, whose importation is frequently mentioned.

The Spaniards introduced also the cultivation of tobacco, coffee, and cacao, and perhaps also the native corn of America, the maize, although Pigafetta says they found it already growing in the Bisayas.

The Filipino has been affected by these centuries of Spanish sovereignty far less on his material side than he has on his spiritual, and it is mainly in the deepening and elevating of his emotional and mental life and not in the bettering of his material condition that advance has been made.

---

1 The discovery of this famous relationship is attributed to the Spanish Jesuit Abbé, Lorenzo Hervas, whose notable Catalogo de las Lenguas de las Naciones conocidas was published in 1800–05; but the similarity of Malay and Polynesian had been earlier shown by naturalists who accompanied the second voyage of the famous Englishman, Captain Cook (1772–75). The full proof, and the relation also of Malagasy, the language of Madagascar, was given in 1838 by the work of the great German philologist, Baron William von Humboldt.

2 Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, 2d ed., p.52.

3 Another possible explanation of the many Sanskrit terms which are found in the Philippine languages, is that the period of contact between Filipinos and Hindus occurred not in the Philippines but in Java and Sumatra, whence the ancestors of the Filipinos came.

4 Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, 2d ed., pp.58, 59, chap.XVII.

5 Arte de la Lengua Tagala.

6 This name is derived, in the opinion of Professor Blumentritt, from Bayi, or Bay, meaning Laguna de Bay. Professor Meyer, in his Distribution of the Negritos, suggests an identification from this Chinese record, of the islands of Mindanao, Palawan (called Pa-lao-yu) and Panay, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Samar, Bohol, and Luzon.

7 Through the courtesy of Professor Zulueta, of the Manila Liceo, permission was given to use from Chao Ju-kua’s work these quotations, translated from the Chinese manuscript by Professor Blumentritt. The English translation is by Mr. P. L. Stangl.

8 “This would confirm,” says Professor Blumentritt, “Dr. Pardo de Tavera’s view that in ancient times the Philippines were under the influence of Buddhism from India.”

9 Conquista de las Islas Filipinas, p.95.

10 Relacion de la Conquista de la Isla de Luzón, 1572; in Retana, Archivo del Bibliófilo Filipino, vol.I.

11 Sucesos de las Filipinas, p.297.

12 These data are largely taken from the account of the customs of the Tagálog prepared by Friar Juan de Plasencia, in 1589, at the request of Dr. Santiago de Vera, the governor and president of the Audiencia.Although there are references to it by the early historians of the Philippines, this little code did not see the light until a few years ago, when a manuscript copy was discovered in the convent of the Franciscans at Manila, by Dr. Pardo de Tavera, and was by him published.It treats of slave-holding, penalties for crime, inheritances, adoption, dowry, and marriage.(Las Costumbres de los Tagálog en Filipinas, segun el Padre Plasencia, by T.H.Pardo de Tavera.Madrid, 1892.)

13 See on this matter Diccionario Mitologico de Filipinas, by Blumentritt; Retana, Archivo del Bibliófilo Filipino, vol.II.

14 This word is of Sanskrit origin and is common throughout Malaysia.

15 Relacion de las Cosas de las Filipinas hecha por Sr. Domingo de Salazar, Primer obispo de dichas islas, 1583; in Retana, Archivo, vol.III.