The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 18 of 55 - 1617-1620 - Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Sh by Unknown
page 76 of 307 (24%)
page 76 of 307 (24%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
to leave the shores and plains, and to retire to the most isolated
and rugged parts of the islands, where they now are. They are still so brutal and so averse to civilization that they scarcely deserve more than the name of men; for they often cut off the heads of their own fathers and brothers as a pastime, for no other reason than their natural cruelty and brutality. Very few of them have fixed settlements, nor do they plant crops; but they live upon camotes (a kind of potato), other herbs and roots, and the game which they hunt. They hardly ever come to the plains or coasts except to make assaults and to cut off heads. The one who has cut off the greatest number of these is most feared and respected among them. The skulls they keep in their huts as trophies, or to serve as jugs and cups in their drinking-bouts. There is such abundance of wild game in the province of Pangasinan that within a space of only twenty leguas over sixty thousand, and sometimes as many as eighty thousand, deer are killed every year. The Indians pay these deerskins as tributes; while trade in them is a source of great profit for Japon, because the Japonese make of them good leather for various purposes. _Ten thousand tributes_. There must be in Pangasinan between ten thousand and twelve thousand half-pacified tributes, two thousand belonging to his Majesty, and the rest to private individuals. The capital of this province is a place called Binabatonga. It formerly contained about three thousand houses, or, according to other estimates, a greater number; but it now has only about two thousand. The province has some good ports. One is that of Agoo, commonly called "the port of Japon," because it was the first port which the Japonese occupied in these islands [when our people first saw them here]. Another port is Bolinao, which is better than any other. |
|