A Visit to the Philippine Islands

Mr. Vice-Consul Bosch has written an interesting report on the capabilities of the province of Pangasinan, and of Sual, its principal port. The circumference of coast is from fifty to sixty miles on the south and east of the Gulf of Lingayen. The interior abounds with facilities for water communication, and the most important river, the Agno, enters the sea at St. Isidro, about one and a half mile from Sual. The Agno has about seventy to eighty miles of internal navigation, and brings produce from the adjacent provinces of La Union and Nueva Ecija, The exports to Manila are generally made from Sual, those for China from Dagupan. Dagupan is at the mouth of a large estuary, but a bar prevents the entry of any large vessel. The want of safe anchorage is the disadvantage of all the coast of the province, with the exception of the harbour of Sual. This harbour, though small, is safe: it is nearly circular. It would hold from twelve to fifteen large vessels and thirty to forty coasters, and is well protected on every side, but there is a somewhat dangerous bank within the port.

There are only about 400 houses in Sual: they are scattered on the plain in front of the harbour, and are of wood. There are, besides, 100 Indian huts (chozas) constructed of the nipa palm. The church is a poor, provisional edifice.

Sual is exhibiting some signs of improvement. The road to the neighbouring province of Zambales is in progress. The allied forces in Cochin China have been lately drawing provisions, especially cattle, from Sual. The value of the exports from Sual, for 1858, is 670,095 dollars; the imports of foreign goods and manufactures into the three ports of the province – Dagupan, Binmaley and Lingayen – amount to 464,116 dollars, all brought by coasting vessels, of which 75 belong to the province. The largest pueblo of the province is San Carlos, with 26,376 inhabitants; the second, Binmaley, with 24,911; the third, Lingayen, with 23,063; but the population of Sual is only 3,451. Rice and sugar are the leading articles of produce exported, but there is at Calasiao a considerable manufacture of hats, cigar-cases, mats and other fabrics of the various fibres of the country. There are no large estates, nor manufactures on an extensive scale. Everything is done by small proprietors and domestic industry. There are many places where markets (called tiangues) are periodically held, and articles of all sorts brought thither for sale. It is calculated that Pangasinan could give 20,000 tons of rice for exportation, after providing for local wants. The sugar, though it might be produced abundantly, is carelessly prepared. Much wood is cut for ship-building and other purposes. On the arrival of the N. E. monsoon commercial enterprise begins and many shipments take place; the roads are passable, the warehouses filled with goods: this lasts till the end of June or July. Then come on the heavy rains: the vessels for the coasting trade are laid up for the season; the rivers overflow; most of the temporary bridges are carried away by the floods; everybody is occupied by what the Spaniards call their “interior life;” they settle the accounts of the past year and prepare for that which is to come, and the little foreign trade of Sual is the only evidence of trading activity.

Labour is moderately remunerated. Taking fifty ship carpenters, employed in one yard, the least paid had 5 rials, the highest 10 rials per week (say 3s. to 6s.). They are also allowed two measures of rice and a little meat or fish. A field labourer (or peon) has a rial a day and his food. A cart with a buffalo and leader costs 1½ rial per day.

Almost all purchases are made by brokers (personeros), who, for a commission, generally of 5 per cent., and a guarantee of 2½ per cent., collect the products of the country from the cultivators, to whom they make advances – always in silver; and it sometimes passes through many hands before it reaches the labouring producer.

There are few native Spaniards in Pangasinan. A good many mestizos are devoted to commerce. In Lingayen, with 23,000 inhabitants, there are more than 1,000 mestizos; in Binmaley, with 24,000 inhabitants, only twenty-two mestizos: the first being a trading, the second an agricultural, pueblo. There are few Indians who have acquired opulence. The Chinese element has penetrated, and they obtain more and more influence as active men of business. No Oriental race can compete with them where patience, perseverance and economy can be brought into play. They are not liked; but they willingly suffer much annoyance and spread and strengthen themselves by unanimity of purpose. In Calasiao they are said in two years to have established nearly eighty shops, and were gradually insinuating themselves into all profitable occupations – attending the markets both as buyers and sellers, and establishing relations with the interior such as no native Indian would have ever contemplated. Nor in the ordinary transactions of life do they make the mistake of requiring extravagant profits. A Chinaman may, indeed, ask a high price or offer a low one in his different relations, but when he sees his way to a clear profit, he will not let the bargain escape him. There is an increasing demand for European merchandise, of which the Chinese are the principal importers; and they, above all other men, are likely to open new channels of trade. The current rate of interest is 10 per cent.; though the church funds are lent at 6 per cent. to those whom the clergy are disposed to favour, which indeed is the legal rate.

Mr. Bosch’s return for the year 1858 shows that eight large vessels, with 7,185 tons, and 282 coasters, with 7,780 tons, entered the port of Sual. Only four of the former carried cargoes away, two having gone to repair damages, and two being Spanish government steamers for the remittal to Manila of money which amounted to 210,000 dollars.

CHAPTER XXIV

ZAMBOANGA

We steamed away from Manila on the 20th December. It was our first purpose to visit Labuan, which had become of some interest to me as Governor of Hong Kong, having been made of late the penal settlement for a certain number of Chinese convicts. Two groups of sixty each had been sent thither, and the Governor was desirous their number should be increased. I do not see how the settlement can be made a prosperous or productive one. The coals which it furnishes are not liked by our engineers, and seldom employed if English or Welsh coals can be obtained. A considerable quantity was reported to me as raised and lying on the shore without demand, but I found no willingness, either on the part of the naval authorities or of the merchants, to purchase it. I expect both China and Japan will be in a condition to provide this very important article on cheaper terms and of better quality than that of Labuan, or any part of Borneo. I should have been glad to have had an opportunity of forming an opinion, grounded on my own observations, as to the prospects of Sarawak. I am disposed to believe the Government has acted judiciously in refusing to buy the colony, and to encumber the treasury with the charges which its establishments would inevitably entail. The arguments which I have seen put forward in its favour by the advocates of the purchase, have certainly little weight. To represent the locality as of any importance as a place of call between Europe and China, is to display extraordinary geographical and commercial ignorance: it is hundreds of miles out of the regular course, and has in itself no attraction to induce any vessel to waste the time which must be expended in visiting it. It has a fertile soil, which may be said of the whole circumjacent region – of almost every island in the tropical archipelagos; but it must depend principally on imported labour, costly and capricious in its supply, and which must be directed by European machinery, still more costly and uncertain, for the climate is, and will long continue, unfriendly to the health of European settlers. The native population is too barbarous to labour; with few wants, they have few motives to exertion. I have had the advantage of much conversation with the Catholic Vicar Apostolic of Borneo, whose knowledge of the natives is probably greater than that of any other European, as he has lived so much among them in the discharge of the duties of his mission. He represents the different tribes as engaged in perpetual wars with one another, each taking any opportunity of pillaging or doing mischief to its neighbours; and our involving ourselves in the native quarrels, by ill-judged partisanship, must lead, he thinks, to much cruelty and injustice. He gave me many particulars of the savage practices of which he had been an eye-witness, particularly in the displays and processions of human heads as trophies of victory. Although I had not an opportunity of visiting Borneo and of witnessing there the progress that has been made under European influences, I have had so many means of studying the character of the native and unsubdued races in the territories of Spain and the Netherlands, that I feel quite justified in the conclusion, that little is to be expected from their co-operation, either as producers of tropical, or consumers of European, articles. The great element which is now revolutionizing these regions, is the introduction of Chinese labour, which has received a check not easily to be surmounted in the unfortunate outbreak at Sarawak, after the events in Canton; but the introduction of the Chinese must be spontaneous, and not forced. The Chinese field-labourer works unwillingly for a master who is to receive the profits of his labour; but far different are his feelings, his activity and perseverance, when the profits are all to be his own. Then, indeed, he becomes a valuable settler, from whom much is to be expected. Our new treaties – the presence of British shipping in so many ports of China – the supersession of the heavy junks by the square-rigged vessels of the West, which the habit of insuring that the Chinese are now adopting cannot fail to promote – will all assist in the transfer of the surplus population of China to regions where their industry will find a wider scope and a more profitable field. The adventurous spirit in China is becoming more and more active. The tens of thousands who have emigrated to California and Australia, and the thousands who have returned with savings which they have deemed a sufficiency, have given an impulse to the emigrating passion, which will act strongly and beneficially in all countries towards which it may be directed. In process of time, and with the co-operation of the mandarins, who are really interested in the removal of a wretched, sometimes starving and always discontented, social element, the difficulties attaching to the removal of females may in time be surmounted, and the Chinese may perpetuate, what they have never yet done, a Chinese community in the lands where they settle. No doubt the mestizo mixture of races – the descendants of Chinese fathers and Indian mothers – is now extensively spread, and is a great improvement upon the pure Malay or Indian breed. The type of the father is more strongly preserved than that of the mother; its greater vigour has given it predominance. The Chinese mestizo is physically a being superior to the Indian – handsomer in person, stronger in limb, more active in intellect, more persevering in labour, more economical in habits. The marvellous exodus of Chinese from their country is one of the most remarkable ethnological circumstances of modern history, and is producing and will produce extraordinary and lasting results. I do not believe any of the other Oriental races able to withstand the secret and widely spreading influences of Chinese competition and superiority. Dealt with justly and fairly, the Chinese are the most manageable of men, but they will be dangerous where despotism drives them to despair.

On the sixth day of our voyage we arrived at Zamboanga. Indian houses were visible through the plantain trees, and amidst the woodlands of the coast, and a large fortification, with the yellow and scarlet Spanish flag, advised us of our adjacency to the seat of government. We sent on shore, and found the guns and the garrison were not in a condition to return our salute, but we received an early and cordial communication from the governor, Colonel Navarro, inviting us to take up our abode at his residence, and we landed at a convenient wooden pier, which is carried out for some distance into the harbour. There was a small body of soldiers to meet us on landing. In walking about we found one street wholly occupied by Chinese shopkeepers, well supplied with European and Chinese wares; they generally appeared contented and prosperous, and will certainly find the means of supplying whatever the population may demand; they will leave nothing undone which is likely to extend their trade or augment their profits. There are about three hundred Chinese settled in Zamboanga, mostly men of Fokien. We walked to the fortification, and on our way met several of the Mahomedan women who had been captured in a late fray with natives; their breasts were uncovered, and they wore not the veils which almost invariably hide the faces of the daughters of Islam. We learnt that these females were of the labouring and inferior classes; but in the fortification we saw the wives and children of the chiefs, who had been captured, and they presented the most marvellous contrasts, between the extreme ugliness of the aged and the real beauty of some of the young. One mother especially, who had a child on her haunches, appeared to me singularly graceful and pleasing. Most of the captured chiefs had been sent to Manila; but in another part of the fortress there were some scores of prisoners, among whom, one seemed to exercise ascendency over the rest, and he repeated some of the formula of the Koran in Arabic words. The Spaniards represented them as a fierce, faithless and cruel race, but they have constantly opposed successful resistance to their invaders.

Next to Luzon, Mindanao is the largest of the Philippines. Though its surface is 3,200 square leagues in extent, the Spaniards do not occupy one-tenth of the whole. The number of Mahomedans (Moros) is great in the interior, and they are the subjects of an independent Sultan, whose capital is Selangan, and who keeps up amicable relations with the Spanish authorities. To judge by some of their native manufactures which I saw at Zamboanga, they are by no means to be considered as barbarians. The inland country is mountainous, but has some fine lakes and rivers little visited by strangers. There are many spacious bays. Storms and earthquakes are frequent visitants. The forests are said to be extensive, and filled with gigantic trees, but travellers report the jungle to be impenetrable. Mines of gold, quicksilver and sulphur are said to abound. Besides Zamboanga, the Spaniards have settlements in Misamis, Caraga and New Guipuzcoa, but they are reported to be unhealthy from the immense putrefaction of decaying vegetables produced by a most feracious soil, under the influence of a tropical sun. Beyond the Moros, and in the wildest parts of the mountains, are coloured races in a low state of savage existence. Mindanao was one of the earliest conquests of Magallanes (1521). The Augustine friars were the first missionaries, and they still retain almost a monopoly of religious instruction, but their success among the Mahomedans has been small. Many attempts have been made by the Spaniards to subdue the interior, but, however great their temporary success, they have never been able long to maintain themselves against the fanaticism of the Moros, the dangers and difficulties of the country and the climate, while supported only by inadequate military means. Misamis is used as a penal settlement. The Spaniards have not penetrated far into the interior of this part of the island, which is peopled by a race of Indians said not to be hostile, but, being frequently at war with the more formidable Mahomedans, they are considered by the Spaniards as affording them some protection, their locality dividing the European settlements from the territory of the Moors. But there is little development of agriculture or industry, and not one inhabitant in ten of the province pays tribute. The Jesuits had formerly much success in these regions; on their expulsion the Recolets (barefooted Augustines) occupied their places, but it would seem with less acceptance. The settlers and the Indians recognizing the Spanish authority have been so frequently molested by the Moors that their numbers are far less than they were formerly, and it is believed the revenues are quite inadequate to pay the expenses of the establishments; but it is said some progress is being made, and if all impediments to commercial intercourse were removed, a great amelioration in the condition and prospects of the natives would result. Caraga, from which New Guipuzcoa has been lately detached, has Surigao for its capital, and is on the north-east corner of the island. The dominions of the Sultan of Mindanao mark the limits of the province. A race of Indians remarkable for the whiteness of their skin, and supposed to be of Japanese descent, called Tago-balvoys, live on the borders of a creek in the neighbourhood of a town bearing the name of Bisig, a station of the Recolets. Some of this race pay tribute, and live in a state of constant hostility with the Moros. They are advanced in civilization beyond the neighbouring tribes. Butuan, in this province, was the last landing place of Magallanes; he planted a cross there, and the Indians took part in the ceremonials, and profess Christianity to the present hour. The Moros have destroyed some of the earlier establishments of the Spaniards. There are immense tracts of uncultivated and fertile lands. Teak is reported to abound in the forests, which are close to the habitations of the settlers. The orang-utan is common, and there are many varieties of apes and monkeys, wild beasts, particularly buffaloes and deer, and several undescribed species of quadrupeds. The Spaniards say that the province of Caraga is the richest of the Philippines; it is certainly one of the least explored. A Frenchman has been engaged in working the gold mines; I know not with what success. A favourite food of the natives is the wild honey, which is collected in considerable quantities, and eaten with fruits and roots. The Butuan River is navigable for boats. There are very many separate races of natives, among whom the Mandayos are said to be handsome, and to bear marks of European physiognomy. Some of the tribes are quite black, fierce and ungovernable. Cinnamon and pepper are believed to be indigenous. Wax, musk and tortoise-shell are procurable, but as the Spanish settlements are not much beyond the coast little is done for the encouragement of the productive powers of the interior. Gold, however, no doubt from the facility of its transport, is not an unimportant article of export, and the Spaniards complain that the natives attend to nothing else, so that there is often much suffering from dearth, and the insalubrity of the climate deters strangers from locating themselves. This is little to be wondered at, as the attacks of pirates are frequent and the powers of government weak. Along the coasts are towers provided with arms and ammunition for their defence; but the pirates frequently interrupt the communications by sea, on which the inhabitants almost wholly depend, there being no passable roads. On the approach of the piratical boats the natives generally abandon their own and flee to the mountains. There are many Mahomedan tribes who take no part in these outrages, such as the Bagobos, Cuamanes and others. Even the mails are interrupted by the pirates, and often delayed for days in localities where they seek shelter. All these drawbacks notwithstanding, the number of tributaries is said to have greatly increased, and the influence of the friars to have extended itself. I have compared various statistical returns, and find many contradictions and inconsistencies.32 Some evidence that little progress has been made is seen in the fact that in the province of Surigao, where the census gives 18,848 Indians, there are only 148 mestizos; in that of Misamis, only 266 mestizos to 46,517 Indians; in Zamboanga, to 10,191 Indians, 16 mestizos; Basilan, 447 Indians and 4 mestizos; Bislig, 12,718 Indians and 21 mestizos; Davao, 800 Indians, no mestizo. This state of things assuredly proves that the island of Mindanao, whatever be its fertility, has few attractions for strangers, otherwise the proportion of the mixed races to the population would be very different from what it appears to be. Father Zuñiga, who, in 1799, published an account of the visit of General Alava, gives many particulars of the then state of the island, and suggests many plans for extending Spanish influence.

Zamboanga is not likely to become a port of much importance unless it is wholly emancipated from fiscal restrictions. The introduction of the custom-house has driven away the whalers that formerly visited the harbours; there is little capital, and the trading establishments are on a very small scale. The roads in the immediate neighbourhood are in very tolerable order; the villages have the general character of Indian pueblos; the country is rich in all the varieties of tropical vegetation; but the interior, even close to the cabaceras, is imperfectly known. Its produce is small in reference to the obvious fertility of the soil. Some companies of troops arrived during our stay at Zamboanga, and it is probable an effort is to be made to strengthen and widen the authority of the Spanish government.

Of the arms used by the Moros the governor had a large collection, consisting of long spears, swords of various forms, handsomely adorned kreeses, daggers and knives displaying no small amount of manufacturing art.

Confined as the Spaniards are to a narrow strip of land along the coast, it may be supposed there are few conveniences for locomotion, nevertheless a carriage was found, and a pair of horses, and harness such as it was, and an Indian driver, and thus we managed to obtain a very pleasant evening ride into the country, and had an opportunity of seeing its great fertility and its varied productions, leading to natural feelings of regret that so many of the boons of Providence should remain unenjoyed and unimproved, accompanied with the hope that better days may dawn. But the world is full of undeveloped treasures, and its “Yarrows unvisited” promise a bright futurity.

There would seem to have been some increase in the population of Zamboanga. In 1779 Zuñiga reports it to be 5,612 souls, “including Indians, Spaniards, soldiers and convicts;” in 1818 the number is stated to have been 8,640; in 1847, 7,190. The Guia of 1850 gives 8,618; that of 1858, 10,191, of whom 16 were mestizos, and tribute-payers 3,871; but I do not think much reliance can be placed on the statistical returns. The last states that the marriages were 55, the births 429, the deaths 956, which represents a fearful mortality. In the province of Misamis for the same period the proportion of births to deaths was 2,155 to 845.

A great value is attached to some of the canes which are found on the island of Palawan, or Paragua, especially where they are of variegated colours, or pure white, and without the interruption of a knot, so as to serve for walking-sticks. I was informed that two hundred dollars had been given for a fine specimen.

A gold-headed sticky with a silk cord and tassels, is the emblem of authority in the Philippines.

CHAPTER XXV

ILOILO AND PANAY

Of the three ports lately opened to foreign commerce, Iloilo is the most promising. The province of Iloilo is one of the most populous of the Philippines. It contains more than half a million of inhabitants, and though portions of the province are very thinly peopled, there is an average exceeding 2,000 inhabitants per square league. Independently of the pueblos which I visited, and of which some description will be given, Cabatuan has 23,000 inhabitants, Miagao 31,000, Dumangas 25,000, Janiuay 22,000, Pototan 34,600, and several others more than 10,000 souls. The province is not only one of the most numerously peopled, it is, perhaps, the most productive in agricultural, the most active in manufacturing, industry, and among the best instructed of the Philippines.33 It has extensive and cultivated plains and forest-covered mountains; its roads are among the best I have seen in the archipelago. At the entrance of the channel are a number of islands called the Seven (mortal) Sins —Los Siete Pecados. The large island of Guimaras limits the channel on the south; it was visited by some of our party, who returned delighted with the extensive stalactite caverns which they explored, reaching them with some difficulty over the rocks, through the woods and across the streams which arrested their progress. The forests are full of game and the river Cabatuan abounds with crocodiles. There are many rivulets and rivers which greatly assist the cultivator, and we found a good supply of cattle. The ponies of Iloilo are among the best in the archipelago, and some attention is paid to the breeding of sheep. A good deal of salt is made, and there is a considerable fishery of trepang (sea-slug) and tortoises for the sake of the shells. But the island is most renowned for the piña fabrics called nipas and sinamays, some of which are of exquisite fineness and beauty; they are largely exported, and their perfection has given them a vast reputation even in Europe.