The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines Part 15

Beyond the sh.o.r.es of Luzon, stretching northward for nearly two hundred miles, is an interesting archipelago of diminutive islands known as the Bashee Rocks, the Batan and the Babuyan Islands.[19] The natives still retain many of the characteristics which were observed by Dampier in his visit to these islands in the seventeenth century.

The inhabitants of the Batan group are like those living on the j.a.panese island of Botel Tobago, which is only sixty miles north of our most northern possession.[20] No missionaries or other persons had been allowed by the natives to land on their sh.o.r.es until a few j.a.panese police arrived in 1909. They are mentioned in pa.s.sing because they are a present-day example of what the people in the northern islands of the Philippine group were before the coming of the white men and the friars.

Their dwellings are very peculiar. Each family has a stone-paved court surrounded by a low wall of stone. Within this enclosure they have three houses: one with its sides sunk down into the ground, in order to give protection from high winds; one with ordinary walls for use during normal weather; and a third built on poles about ten feet above the ground for use during the hot season. From these elevated houses a constant watch is maintained for schools of fish. The people are expert fishermen and make excellent nets, and they have beautiful boats with high bows and sterns.

In Dampier's day the people were friendly and hospitable, as they are at the present time. They valued iron more than gold, and gladly exchanged it for iron. The ancient diggings are still to be seen, but the "pay dirt" is of such a low grade that it is not worth while to work it. The precious metal is washed out by the natives in cocoanut sh.e.l.ls, which take the place of our prospectors' "gold pan." Many gold ornaments of attractive design are still to be found in these islands. Some of those taken from graves remind one strongly of Chaldean work.

The graves of the ancient inhabitants were placed high upon the mountains, some near the smoking craters of the volcanoes, others on the crests of the non-volcanic hills. It is supposed that the graves near the smoking craters were those of persons who had a bad reputation in the community, while those on the tops of the ridges contained the bodies of the good, and that by this method of burial the ideas of heaven and h.e.l.l were carried out in a practical manner. The bodies were placed in _ollas_, or earthenware jars, some of which had a high glaze and were profusely ornamented. The corpse was inserted into the jar in a sitting position, and the orifice was sealed by placing an inverted olla over the mouth of the first. These jars were then placed on end and a small pyramid of stones built around them, on the top of which a little tree was planted. A number of these graves ranged around the edge of a smoking sulphur crater are an uncanny sight, which the natives take good care to avoid.

The women of the Batan Islands, when walking or working out of doors, wear a distinctive headdress, consisting of a long gra.s.s hood, which stretches from the forehead to below the hips. It protects the head and back from the sun, wind and rain, so that it is worn at all times and in all seasons. It is one of the most original and useful of all primitive garments.

During the dry season but little rain falls in these islands, and as there are few streams or springs, every means is employed to catch the least drop. Even the trees in the yards have pieces of rattan twisted around their trunks and larger branches, to make the water drop off into earthen jars.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOMAN OF THE BATAN ISLANDS WITH GRa.s.s HOOD.]

During the autumn migration of hawks and eagles from the north, men are stationed on the thatched roofs of the high dwellings to seize the birds by the feet as soon as they alight. Great numbers are caught in this manner every year and form quite an element of the food supply.

Many of the islands are excellent places for the production of cattle.

Itbayat Island, unique because its sh.o.r.es are higher than the interior, has many thousand head of excellent cattle. The coast is so precipitous that when they are exported they have to be lowered to the water's edge by means of a block and tackle, as at Tangier. They then have to swim out to the waiting s.h.i.+p, where they are hoisted by their horns to the deck.

Another of the cattle islands is called Dalupiri. This beautiful spot was given in its entirety to Aldecoa and Company of Manila by the Spanish government. In fact, when the United States first took possession of the Philippines, this company claimed sovereignty over the island, but this, of course, was not recognized by the United States Government. The cattle that are pastured here are a cross between the black Spanish bulls of fighting lineage and the humped cattle of India.

Great care is taken that the stock be well kept up, and for this purpose there is a constant weeding out of undesirables. The method in which this is done is both interesting and very exciting. The cattle roam at will and are very wild and hard to approach; as a result they have to be hunted with great care. About twenty men are employed in their capture, all of whom are mounted on hardy little horses. Four of them are la.s.soers and the rest huntsmen. The la.s.sos are nooses attached to the ends of bamboo poles about twelve feet long. The rope from the noose, to the length of about twenty-five feet, is coiled around the bamboo pole and tied to it four feet from the lower end. When the la.s.so is thrown over an animal's head the pole is dropped by the rider, the rope unwinds and drags the pole along the ground, until it catches on a rock or a bush and stops the mad career of the animal.

"We started out early one morning," Major Mitch.e.l.l writes me, "to cut several young bulls out of a herd of about five hundred cattle. Led by the manager of the island, we galloped over the rough surface of the coral-bound hilltops and through deep, waving gra.s.s until one of the huntsmen signaled that the herd was in sight. A careful inspection was made of the herd with a telescope, and the animals for capture were selected and carefully pointed out to the la.s.soers, who immediately took up their posts in concealment beside a little plain. The huntsmen then proceeded under cover to points around the herd which would enable them to drive the cattle on to the little plain where the la.s.soers could get in their work. After a wait of about a half hour, the horn of the chief huntsman pealed forth and was answered by the yells of his companions; the herd, unable to go in another direction, dashed for the little plain, followed by its pursuers. Crouching behind some low bushes the la.s.soers waited until the cattle, now in full stampede, had come within fifty yards, when in a twinkling they dashed into the midst of the galloping herd.

"After a terrific race one la.s.so held true on a fine young bull, while the rest scampered off into the ravines and water courses. The dragging bamboo pole soon brought him to a stop, and after several charges at his captors, two more la.s.sos were placed on him, and he was securely fastened and dragged to a tree, against which his head was tied. A little saw was produced from somewhere, and his gallant horns were cut off short. An old, sedate carabao, who seemed to be perfectly at home, made his appearance, the young bull was tied to the carabao's harness and towed off toward the corral. At first he tried frantically to gore the carabao, but as his horns had been removed no harm resulted. The carabao did not mind it in the least but continued tranquilly on his way. Three more bulls were captured on that day; each furnished exceedingly fast and interesting sport. I have seen mounted work of a great many kinds, such as pig sticking, stag hunting, and hunting of many kinds of game, including our own fox hunting and polo, but never have I seen any mounted work which required more dash, nerve, good judgment and endurance than that displayed by these herdsmen of the northern islands."

Although these islands are bounded on the north by the Balintan Channel, through which some of the s.h.i.+pping pa.s.ses from America to the southern part of China, they are seldom visited. This is because, as I have said before, there are no ports, not even good anchorages. During the typhoon season they are exposed to the full force of these great hurricanes, while the waters are infested with hidden rocks and coral ledges. The U. S. cruiser _Charleston_ ran aground on a coral reef east of the island of Camaguin in 1900 and sank immediately. During the Russo-j.a.panese war the fleet of the Russian Admiral Rojesvenski pa.s.sed on either side of Batan Island. The j.a.panese had observers on the summit of Mt. Iraya on this island, who are supposed to have signaled by heliograph to Mt. Morrison in Formosa of the coming of the fleet. The great armada could be seen from this mountain for more than one hundred miles.

CHAPTER VII

AMONG THE HEAD-HUNTERS

When the Americans first came to the Philippines, most of the mountain country could be reached only on foot over dangerous trails. Very large tracts were unexplored, and the head-hunting tribes, who are found nowhere but in this northern part of Luzon, pillaged the neighbouring towns. A state of order has now been established, except in parts of Kalinga and Apayao.

The Mountain Province, the home of the head-hunters, includes the sub-provinces of Benguet, Lepanto, Amburayan, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao. The officers of the provinces are a governor, a secretary-treasurer, a supervisor in charge of the road and trail work and the construction of public buildings, and seven lieutenant governors. All these officers are appointed by the governor general.

They live on horseback, undergo great hards.h.i.+ps and also take great risks.

The manners and customs of these head-hunting tribes differ somewhat.

Each one, for instance, has a different mode of treating the captured head when it is brought in, but all celebrate a successful hunt with a canao, or festival. The Ifugaos place the head upon a stake and hold weird ceremonial dances around it, followed by speech making and the drinking of _bubud_, as they call their wine; afterward the skull of the victim is utilized as a household ornament. Venison and chicken are served at such feasts and the large fruit-eating bats, which are considered delicacies. If one of the tribe has been so unfortunate as to have his head taken, they berate the spirit at the funeral, "asking him why he had been careless enough to get himself killed."

The most picturesque of the head-hunting tribes that my husband saw were the Kalingas, who are different from all other natives of Luzon. It is said that the Spaniards took fifteen hundred Moros into this part of the country more than a hundred years ago, so they may have founded this tribe. At all events, the Kalingas are superbly developed, tall and slight, some of the men having handsome and almost cla.s.sical features.

Neither the men nor the women cut the hair, which, in the case of the men, is banged in front and tied up with rags behind, some wearing nets to keep it out of their eyes. Although the women have abundant hair they use "switches," into which they stick beautiful feathers. The men also decorate themselves in the same way. On the back of the head they often wear little caps woven of beautifully stained rattan and covered with agate beads, and these are used as pockets in which small articles are carried. Great holes are pierced in the lobes of their ears, into which are thrust wooden ear plugs, with tufts of red and yellow worsted.

Almost every Kalinga woman wears a pair of heavy bra.s.s ear ornaments and sometimes a solid piece of mother-of-pearl cut like a figure eight.

The Kalingas are particularly warlike, their very name meaning "enemy"

or "stranger," and endeavours to bring them under government control were begun only a few years ago. There are still some _rancherias_ which the lieutenant governor has not yet visited, as it seemed best to wait and bring the people to terms by peaceful means.

While we were enjoying ourselves at Baguio, the Secretary of War, Governor Forbes, Secretary Worcester, General Edwards, and my husband started north into the mountains to see some of the strange tribes that were gathering from far and wide to meet the great _Apo_, or chief, as they called Secretary d.i.c.kinson. I give the account of the trip in my husband's own words:

On Sat.u.r.day night, July 31st, after the a.s.sembly baile, we motored to the docks and went aboard the transport _Crook_ for the trip northward.

We were made very comfortable on this big transport, with deck cabins, but we all slept on the open deck by preference and had a pleasant run till in the morning we were entering Subig Bay, a splendid vast harbour between great mountains, the narrow entrance guarded by Isola Grande.

Here we landed and visited the batteries, and although it was a small island it was a stewing hot walk about it--especially as the Secretary sets a great pace--till a torrential shower came up and drove us to the commanding officer's house, where we had a bite of breakfast--and all the breakfasts at the posts which we have visited have been so good!

General Duvall had come up from Manila on his yacht _Aguila_, and on board of her we crossed the bay to Olongapo, where there is the present naval station. The great hulk of the famous floating dock _Dewey_ was looming up there, just floated again after her mysterious sinking which, even now, they do not seem to be able to explain.

The guard was out with the band, and the honours were paid and the marines paraded, but soon another severe tropical storm broke, and drove some of us back to the s.h.i.+p while the others went on to another breakfast at the Officers' Club. This storm suggested a typhoon, but there had been no warning from the Jesuit observatory at Manila, and so we rejoined the _Crook_ out by Isola Grande and went to sea without fear.

This is the rainy and typhoon season but the warnings of severe storms are so carefully given that they have lost their terrors now-a-days; and this year, so far, there hasn't been a disturbance, much to our comfort, as it has permitted the carrying out of all our plans. It is a most unusual thing for such good weather to continue. The hot season is over, and this is called the intermediate, but it is the time of rains on this coast, the seasons differing slightly on the different coasts and in the different islands. So all that night we cruised up the coast through showers of rain and lightning, pa.s.sing by Bolinao Light, which we had first sighted as we approached the Philippines.

Before daylight we stopped off Tagudin, and through the darkness could be seen the dim shadow of land and mountains, and a light burning on the beach as a beacon. With dawn we saw a wonderful tropical sh.o.r.e develop before us, of low land fringed with palm, surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges, a tiny village on the beach, and a crowd of people gathered together. Soon a surf-boat put out and brought aboard the governors of the nearby provinces--Early and Gallman, brave, ready men, who have taken these wild people in hand and become demi-G.o.ds among them--and after a bite of breakfast we were all taken ash.o.r.e through the surf, very handily, and the Secretary was welcomed by a native band and the chief men of the neighbourhood and crowds of half naked natives.

The Ilocanos of the northwest coast of Luzon are a fine, kindly race, but there had also come down from the interior a lot of small brown men to pack in our baggage, Bontoc Igorots, head-hunters and dog-eaters, of whom we were to see more in their own country. These little fellows at first seemed like dwarfs; but soon after, as we saw them better, they proved small but well formed and well nourished, strong, gentle little people. They ran forward and seized our packages and disappeared down the trail in a wild, willing manner. Off they trotted while we were packed into carromatos, dragged by weedy, diminutive native horses, which are wonderfully powerful for their size. We went, after greeting the people, off down the trail, through the outskirts of Tagudin (we didn't go into the town, which was somewhat to one side, as there had been some cholera there), with its nipa houses of plaited gra.s.s, perched up above the ground, many decorated in honour of the occasion. We rattled along an excellent road (for we have certainly done wonders in road-building here), past paddy fields, where the slow carabao grazed with little children perched on their backs, past troops of natives, with their loads, standing alongside.

Governor General Forbes had made the most wonderful preparations for the trip. It was the first time that any American officials (only Insular officials previously) had gone in to these wild people, and of course the Secretary is the highest in rank that can visit the Islands since he is the one through whom the President governs the Philippines and the President can never come. The trip was unique and all the arrangements were extraordinary. For a new trail had been planned into the mountains but was not due to be done for eight months, and yet thousands of these wild men had been called in and helped to finish the road so much the more quickly (for we were the first party to pa.s.s over it, and some of the bridges had only been finished the night before we pa.s.sed), eagerly and willingly, when they were told that the great Apo was coming in to visit them. Forbes had sent to Hongkong for some rick'shaws and had had men trained to pull and push them, but these had not stood the test well and we didn't have the need or the chance to use them; he also had had palanquin chairs brought over from China and men taught in a way to carry them, and these we did use on some of the steep descents. But we rode horses, excellent ones, from Forbes's own stable, almost all the way.

Every three kilometers, companies of Igorots and Ifugaos were stationed to act as _cargadores_ and rush along the baggage by relays, and this they did with shouts and cheers as quickly as we traveled. Tiffin and breakfasts had been prepared all along the way. Every eventuality had been antic.i.p.ated, and it was really too well done, for it made our traveling seem so easy that we had to think hard to realize into what out-of-the-way places we were going. A few days before it would have been necessary to work our way over the perpendicular old trails, with difficulty finding bearers for our packs, and we would have been compelled to carry our own food, a severe trip and a hard undertaking.

We went in absolutely unarmed and without escort, and yet nearly every native that we saw, after we reached the hills, carried his spear and head ax; but there wasn't a suggestion of danger. People were brought together on this occasion from different tribes who two years ago would have killed each other at sight, and yet to-day were dancing with each other.

We were accompanied by the governors of the sub-provinces as we pa.s.sed through them, and an unarmed orderly and Sergeant Doyle, who had charge of Governor Forbes's horses, and generally by a shouting horde of natives. The Secretary proved a wonder; well mounted, as he was, he led on at a great pace, till it seemed a sort of endurance test. I was more than pleased to find that I stood it as I did, for we traveled four days out of the five for forty miles a day, and rode most of it a-horseback.

I came out finally in much better form than when I went in.

And so, from the beach where we landed, the carromatos carried us across the low coast plain, over new bridges on which the inscriptions stated that they had been finished for the pa.s.sage of the Secretary and his party, and under triumphal arches made of bamboo which welcomed him; all the natives whom we pa.s.sed saluted, and many wished to shake hands or only touch the hand as we pa.s.sed, till we came into the foothills, and over them into a little village of nipa huts among the bamboo and tropical trees, where we found our horses waiting. Here we mounted and started off at a good pace over the well built road that trailed around cliff and crag as we worked into the mountains, a procession, a cavalcade, winding in and out. We traveled along the valley of a river, that later became a gorge with steep cliffs and precipitous sides; all the natives were out to greet the Secretary; and finally we came to a tiny village where we had a drink of refres.h.i.+ng cocoanut water, all the people standing about or hanging out of the windows of the simple houses, which looked very clean and neat. We trailed on along the narrow road, cut into the rock in many places, really a remarkable road, and up the gorge with the rus.h.i.+ng river below us. The mountains rose high and opened up in lovely velvety greens, and shaded away into the blues of distance. We stopped at a little native rest house, above a ford in the river, where we found a luncheon prepared for us, but it was a hurried luncheon, and on we went climbing a winding trail that zigzagged up the steep mountainside, through tropical tangle of bamboo and fern and great overhanging trees with trailing parasites--the ghost tree, the hard woods, and some with a beautiful mauve flower at the top that even Mr.

Worcester couldn't tell me the name of (he said he had been so busy inventing names for the birds that he hadn't had time yet to find names for trees). And below the views opened up wider and more splendid, and range on range of mountains rose above each other, while the precipices grew deeper and more terrifying.

And suddenly, as we came to a turn in the trail, there appeared above us a most picturesque sight against the skyline, some Ifugao warriors, lithe, beautifully formed men, whose small size was lost in their symmetry, with spears in their hands, turbans of blue wrapped about their heads, and loin cloths of blue with touches of red and yellow in their streaming ends that hung like an ap.r.o.n before and like a tail behind; their handsome brown bodies like mahogany. They had belts made of round sh.e.l.ls from which hung their bolos. These were the head men of a company of Ifugaos who had come this far to greet the party and they stood so gracefully on the point above us; and around the turn we found the rest of the band, stunning looking fellows, standing at attention in line behind their lances, which were stuck in a row in the ground. Here we had another tiffin, while these warriors seized and scampered off with our luggage.

From this time on, as we traveled, we found reliefs of these picturesque people, waiting their turn at carrying, and then all would join in the procession, and shouting a cheer like American collegians, their war cry, they would rush on and frighten us to death with the risk of going over the steep places. Away off in the distance, reechoing through the valleys, we could hear the cheers and cries, very musical, of others of our party as they traveled along. Soon we began to be greeted by the tom-toms of natives who had come out to honour the Secretary, and by their singing as we approached, and then they would dance round in a strange way as we pa.s.sed on.

The Ifugaos had come to meet the Secretary from several days' journey away, mostly through Bontoc Igorot country, all armed, and yet there hadn't been a sign of trouble. And these Ifugaos, who two years ago were wild head-hunters, have been brought into wonderful control by their governor, Gallman. There are some one hundred and twenty thousand of these picturesque people, among whom head-hunting is now nearly stamped out; though there are sporadic cases doubtless. These little savages, too, appear most gentle and tractable, most willing and laughing, in the rough tumbling of the trail; and they have proved very clever, for they were the builders of the roads over which we traveled (we were told that they could drill rock better than Americans, on a few months' practice, and that they have sat for a few days and watched j.a.panese bricklayers set brick, and then done it as well as the j.a.panese). But indeed their _s.e.m.e.nteras_--their paddy fields--their terracing, which they have practised for hundreds of years, is the most wonderful in the world, and there is nothing even in j.a.pan to compare with their work of this kind.

Their great game of head-hunting has taught them cleverness, and they are full of snap and go.

The Ifugao is a great talker and has all the gestures of an orator. When he begins a speech he first gives a long call to attract attention, then climbs a stand fifteen feet high by means of a ladder. He generally begins his remarks by stating that he is a very rich man, and goes on to praise himself and his tribe, and at the end of his harangue he often himself leads off in the applause by loudly clapping his hands. He has become a fine rifleman and is a fearless fighter. In clout, coat and cap, and a belt of ammunition, with legs bare, he travels incredible distances and makes a good constabulary soldier. The Governor General is anxious to form them into a militia, but they lose their grip, we were told, when they are taken down from the hills to the plain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CONSTABULARY SOLDIERS.]

And so we went on up to over four thousand feet, to where the pa.s.s broke through the mountain, and there before us was a vast valley with a splendid plain beyond, and in the middle of it, on a prominence, we could see Cervantes, where we were to stop our first night. It seemed so near and yet proved many miles away as we traced our way down the steep coasts of the valley and the view of the plain below widened and the ranges of mountains beyond rose into finer heights. We twisted and trailed zigzag down the pine-clad slopes, for the change of vegetation (due to the mountain range, which divided a different climate on either side of it) in pa.s.sing over the ridge had been remarkable, and though we had seen rare orchids and begonias as we mounted, we descended from the same height through pine and pasture.

When finally we reached the plateau and had crossed a river bed we were met by the people of the village of Cervantes--many girls in gay dress riding astride on their midget ponies, and men and boys on their rugged little mounts. These escorted the party under the triumphal arches into the gra.s.s streets of the pretty village, where the simple public buildings were decorated, and the local band played, till we finally were taken to the houses where we were to spend the night, the Secretary and the Governor and Clark and myself going to the Lieutenant Governor's. He was married to a Filipina wife. And here I must say that we met several of these Filipina wives of white men, and they had most perfect manners and self possession and real grace (and this one was a good cook). The house was a best cla.s.s native house and more comfortable than we had antic.i.p.ated, though there were sounds and smells that rather disturbed us. There was a reception and baile at the munic.i.p.al building in the evening, where we had to go and dance a riG.o.don, each partnered off with some dainty little Filipina lady. And then we did hurry home to rest, for we had been up since half after four that morning and were to start next morning a little after five.

The next day's trail was very fine, for we started off over a river which we crossed on a flying bridge, a swinging car on a cable, while the horses were forded; and then we had splendid but slow climbing up the gorge of one river after another, coasting the mountainside, where we could see the mark of the trail many miles ahead above us and part of our procession trailing along in single file or rus.h.i.+ng along with distant shout, as the little willing native cargadores carried their loads up and up. Above us rose Mount Data, with its mysterious waterfall that seems to come right out of its peak, and clouds circled about us, and below the valleys streaked away into the distance and the ranges rose higher and higher, and the play of light and shadow was beautiful on the greens and grays and browns and blues of the distances. We began to see rancherias, the native villages, perched up on the hills, the thatched roofs like haystacks, with blue smoke at times coming through; and paddy fields began to climb the upper valleys in their terraces, with the pale green rice, and fringes of the banana palm of which the hemp is made. In places the red croton was planted on the terraces for luck, and in the ravines which we crossed there were cascading falls and pools.

We rose higher and higher over another range, and at the tip-top of the trail another group of Igorots were dancing and playing their tom-toms as we pa.s.sed, and rushed alongside to touch fingers. Soon we pa.s.sed through a village built in a stony gorge where a river ran down. The houses consisted of conical thatched roofs supported on four wooden piers with ladders leading up into the roofs where the people lived. The foundations were terraced in stone and the paths were stone-terrace, and it all looked very neat and clean. On our way back we stopped for tiffin at this same village and had the women come and show us how they weave, for it was a place famed for its weaving. This time our tiffin was farther on, at a rest-house with a splendid view, and it had been laid out so prettily with temporary flower beds and bamboo arches. The Belgian priest from a town nearby had come to join us at luncheon, and although he spoke no English I had a pleasant time with him in French, for he proved to be a sort of relative of our cousins the de Buisserets; his name was Padre Sepulchre, one of a band of Belgians belonging to no order but educated highly for missionary priesthood, who have been sent out, since our occupation, by the Pope, and many of whom are rich and gentlemen born. This one had already in two years spent some twenty thousand dollars gold of his own money in his town. Another such missionary we met at Bontoc, and several at other places, and all are said to do good work.