A Visit to the Philippine Islands. Bowring John
the same day. Amnesty was proclaimed, after twenty non-commissioned officers had been executed.
A serious insurrection broke out in Tayabas during the short rule of Oraa (1841–43). The Spaniards say it was the work of a Tagál called Apolinano, lay-brother of the convent of Lucban, not twenty years old, who established a brotherhood (Cofradia) exclusively confined to the native Indians. The object does not seem to have been known, but the meetings of the Cofrades excited alarms and suspicions. The archbishop called on the captain-general to put down the assemblies, which in some places had sought legalization from the authorities. The arrest of Apolinano was ordered, upon which he fled to the mountains, where he was joined by 3,000 Indians, and it was reported in Manila that he had raised the cry of rebellion in Igsavan. On this the Alcalde mayor, accompanied by two Franciscan friars, a few troops, and two small pieces of artillery, marched upon the denounced rebels. They fired upon the Spaniards and killed the Alcalde. On the news reaching the capital, a force of about 800 men was collected. It is said the positions held by Apolinano were impregnable, but he had not kept the promises he had made to the Indians, that sundry miracles were to be wrought in their favour. Only a few advanced to meet the Spaniards, and many of these were killed and the rest took to flight. Almost without loss on their own side, the Spaniards left above 240 Indians dead on the field, and shot 200 whom they made prisoners. Apolinano, in endeavouring to cross a river, was seized by two of his own people, bound, and delivered over to the authorities. He was accused of aspiring to be King of the Tagálos. He averred that the objects of his Cofradia were purely and simply religious. He was shot on the 4th of November, 1841. De Mas says he knew him, and that he was a quiet, sober, unobtrusive young man, exhibiting nothing of the hero or the adventurer. He performed menial services at the convent of Lucban; and as far as I can discover, the main ground of suspicion was, that he admitted no Spaniards or Mestizos into his religious fraternity; but that so many lives should have been sacrificed to a mere suspicion is a sad story.’
Between 1806 and 1844 no less than fourteen governors followed one another. Among them Narciso Claveria (1844–49) is entitled to notice. He added the island of Balanguingui to the Spanish possessions. One of his declarations obtained for him great applause – that “he had left Spain torn by civil dissensions, but that he should make no distinctions between his countrymen on the ground of political differences, but forget all title except that of Español y Caballero (Spaniard and gentleman).” Since that time Ramon Montero has been their Governor ad interim, viz., in 1853, 1854, and 1856. The Marquis of Novaliches took possession of the government in 1854, but held it only for about eight months. Don Manuel Crespo arrived in November, 1854, and the present Governor-General, Don Fernando de Norzagaray, on the 9th of March, 1857.
It is worthy of note that during the period in which there have been seventy-eight governors, there have been only twenty-two archbishops; the average period of the civil holding being four years – that of the ecclesiastical, eleven and a-half years.
CHAPTER IV
GEOGRAPHY – CLIMATE, ETC
The generally accepted theory as to the formation of the Philippines is, that they all formed part of a vast primitive continent, which was broken up by some great convulsion of nature, and that these islands are the scattered fragments of that continent. Buzeta supposes that from Luzon the other islands were detached.8
The Indians have a tradition that the earth was borne on the shoulders of a giant, who, getting tired of his heavy burden, tumbled it into the ocean, leaving nothing above the waters but the mountains, which became islands for the salvation of the human race.
I do not propose to give a detailed geographical description of the Philippine Islands. Buzeta’s two octavo volumes will furnish the most accurate particulars with which I am acquainted as to the various localities. The facts which I collected in the course of my personal observation refer specially to the islands of Luzon, Panay, and Mindanao. The more general information has been derived from Spanish authorities on the spot, or has been found in Spanish books which I have consulted. I cannot presume to consider the present volume as complete or exhaustive, but it will contribute something to augment that knowledge which is already possessed.
The extent of the Philippine Archipelago is about 300 leagues from north to south, and 180 leagues from east to west. The islands of which it is composed are innumerable, most of the larger ones having some Spanish or mestizo population. A range of irregular mountains runs through the centre of the whole. Those known by the name of the Caraballos, in Luzon, are occupied by unsubdued races of idolatrous Indians, and extend for nearly sixty leagues. Several large rivers have their sources in the Caraballos. At the top of Mount Cabunian, whose ascent is very difficult, there is a tomb worshipped by the pagan Igorrotes. There are large lakes in several of the islands, and during the rainy season some of them become enormously extended. These inundations are naturally favourable to the vegetable productions by fertilizing vast tracts of land. Mindanao, which means “Men of the lake,” has its Indian name from the abundance of its inward waters, in the same way that La Laguna has been adopted by the Spaniards as the designation of the province bordering on the Lake of Bay. In this latter district are many mineral and thermal springs, which have given to one of its pueblos the name of Los Baños (the baths). One of them issues from the source at a temperature of 67° of Reaumur. They are much visited by the inhabitants of Manila. There are boiling springs in the pueblo of Mainit.
The climate of the Philippines is little distinguished from that which characterizes many other tropical regions of the East. It is described in a Spanish proverb as —
Seis meses de polvo,
Seis meses de lodo,
Seis meses de todo.
“Six months of dust, six months of mud, six months of everything;” – though it may generally be stated that the rainy season lasts one half, and the dry season the other half of the year. There are, however, as the distich says, many months of uncertainty, in which humidity invades the ordinary time of drought, and drought that of humidity. But from June to November the country is inundated, the roads are for the most part impassable, and travelling in the interior is difficult and disagreeable. Even in the month of December, in several districts of Luzon, we found, as before mentioned, places in which carriages are necessarily abandoned, the palanquin bearers being up to their thighs in mud; and other places in which we were compelled to open a new way through the woods. The heat is too oppressive to allow much active exertion in the middle of the day, and the siesta is generally resorted to from 1 to 3 o’clock P.M., before and after which time visits are paid and business transacted. The pleasant evening time is, however, that of social enjoyment, and the principal people have their tertulias, to which guests are welcomed from half-past 8 o’clock to about 11 o’clock P.M.
The variations of the thermometer rarely exceed 10° of Reaumur, the maximum heat being from 28° to 29°, the minimum 18° to 19°. Winter garments are scarcely ever required.
The difference between the longest and shortest day is 1h. 47m. 12s. On the 20th June, in Manila, the sun rises at 5h. 33m. 12s., and sets at 6h. 26m. 48s.; on the 20th December, it rises at 6h. 26m. 48s., and sets at 5h. 33m. 12s.
The minimum fall of rain in Manila is 84 inches, the maximum 114. Hailstorms are rare. There is no mountain sufficiently high to be “snow-capped;” the highest, Banaho, is between 6,000 and 7,000 feet above the level of the sea.
Like other tropical climates, the Philippines are visited by the usual calamities gathered by the wild elements round that line which is deemed the girdle of the world. Violent hurricanes produce fearful devastations; typhoons cover the coasts with wrecks; inundations of rivers and excessive rains destroy the earth’s produce, while long-continued droughts are equally fatal to the labours and the hopes of husbandry. Earthquakes shake the land, overturn the strongest edifices and sport destructively with the power of man; volcanic mountains inundate the earth with their torrents of burning lava. Clouds of locusts sometimes devour all that is green upon the surface of the ground; and epidemic diseases carry away multitudes of the human race. The ravages caused by accidental fires are often most calamitous, as the greater part of the houses are constructed of inflammable materials. When such a disaster
Diccionario geográfico, estadístico, histórico de las Islas Filipinas. 2 vols. Madrid, 1850.