Hawaii Statewide Files History - Books.....Story of the Philippines, Chapters XVII-XXI

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Book Title and Information: 
The Story of the Philippines and Our New Possessions, 
Including The Ladrones, Hawaii, Cuba and Porto Rico. 
By Murat Halstead. Published: H.L. Barber, Chicago, 
Ill., 1898. Subjects: Natural riches, industrial 
resources, statistics of productions, commerce and 
population; the laws, habits, customs, scenery and 
conditions of the Cuba of the East Indies and the 
Thousand Islands of The Archipelagoes of India and 
Hawaii, with episodes of their early history, personal 
character sketches of and interviews with Admiral 
Dewey, General Merritt, General Aguinaldo and the 
Archbishop of Manila.
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The Story of the Philippines - Chapters XVII-XXI

CHAPTER XVII

Early History of the Philippines.

The Abolishment of the 31st of December, 1844, in Manila--The Mystery of the 
Meridian 180 Degrees West--What Is East and West?--Gaining and Losing Days--The 
Tribes of Native Filipinos--They Had an Alphabet and Songs of Their Own--The 
Massacre of Magellan--His Fate Like That of Captain Cook--Stories of Long Ago 
Wars--An Account by a Devoted Spanish Writer of the Beneficent Rule of Spain in 
the Philippines--Aguinaldo a Man Not of a Nation, But of a Tribe--Typhoons and 
Earthquakes--The Degeneracy of the Government of the Philippines After It Was 
Taken from Mexico--"New Spain"--The Perquisites of Captain-Generals--The 
Splendor of Manila a Century Ago.

The 31st of December was abolished in Manila in 1844. Up to that time it had 
been retained as the discoverers fixed it by pure piety and patriotism. Pope 
Alexander VI had issued a bull on the 4th of May, 1493, dividing the world into 
two hemispheres, which was quite correct, though it did not correspond to the 
secular lines of more modern days. The gracious object of His Holiness was to 
keep the peace of the world by dividing the lands taken from the heathen between 
the Spaniards and Portuguese. The East was to belong to Portugal. The line was 
drawn to include Brazil. The west was the hunting ground for heathen of Spain. 
The claim of Spain for the Philippines was that they were west. That was the way 
Magellenas (Magellan), the Portuguese navigator sailed through the straits named 
for him, and westward found the alleged Oriental islands, in which we, the 
people of the United States, are now so much interested. When sailing into the 
sunset seas he picked up a day, and never discovered his error for he did not 
get home, and the Captain who navigated his ship did not know he was out of time 
with the European world until he got as far around as the Cape Verde Islands. An 
added day was held in Manila, as a kind of affirmation of clear title, or trade 
mark of true righteousness, on the part of Spain. It is one of the enduring 
puzzles in going around the world that a day is gained or lost, and it is not 
always a sure thing whether there is a loss or gain. The perplexing problem is 
increased in its persistence if one sails westward over the 180 Meridian west 
from Greenwich, and goes beyond that line (which is not the one drawn by 
Alexander VI)--say to the Philippines, and turns back, as is done in the voyage 
from San Francisco to Manila, and vice versa.

In this case, the mystery of the meridian becomes something dreadful. One loses 
a day going west and gains one coming east, and it is a difficulty for a clear 
mind not to become cloudy over the account of loss and gain--or perhaps we may 
say profit and loss, when the account is closed. "The historian of the 
Philippine Expedition" lost a Wednesday going out, jumping from Tuesday to 
Thursday, and found an extra Thursday on the return--celebrated his birthday on 
another day than that on which he was born, and had to correct the ship account 
of his board bill, by adding a day. The Captain's clerk had forgotten it because 
it was not in the Almanac. Ship time begins a day at noon (and ends another), so 
when we crossed the meridian 180 degrees west at 2 p. m. by the sun, and the day 
was Thursday and to-morrow was Thursday also, the forenoon was yesterday by the 
ship. Therefore, Thursday was yesterday, to-day and to-morrow on the same day. 
The forenoon was yesterday--from 12 to 2 p. m. was to-day--and from 2 p. m. to 
midnight was to-morrow! It is no wonder "the historian," whose birthday was 
September the 2nd, found as he was on the west side of the meridian with the 
mystery that the folks at home in the states had celebrated it for him two days 
ago--one day he had lost, and the other they had gained. Jagor, the historian of 
the Philippines, before the days when Admiral Dewey grasped the reins of a 
thousand islands, and a thousand to spare, says in his "Philippine Islands," 
that "when the clock strikes 12 in Madrid, it is 8 hours 18 minutes and 41 
seconds past 8 in the evening at Manila. The latter city lies 124 degrees 40 
min. 15 sec. east of the former, 7 h. 54 min. 35 sec. from Paris. But it depends 
upon whether you measure time by moving with the sun or the other way. If 
westward the course of empire takes its way, Manila is a third of a day catching 
up with Madrid time. If we face the morning and go to meet it Manila is ahead. 
The absence of the right day for Sunday has long been gravely considered by the 
missionaries who have gone to heathen lands beyond the mysterious meridian that 
spoils all the holidays. One might establish a bank on that line and play 
between days, but there is only one little speck of land on the 180 degree 
meridian from pole to pole.

It may be very well worth considering whether the United States should not 
reestablish the 31st of December in Manila, and assert that we hold title to the 
Philippines not only by the victories of the fleet and armies of the United 
States, but by the favor of Alexander VI, whose bull the Spaniards disregarded 
after it had grown venerable with three centuries of usage. We quote a Spanish 
historian who colors his chapters to make a favorable show for his country on 
this subject, as follows: "From the Spaniards having traveled westwards to the 
Philippines, there was an error of a day in their dates and almanacs. This was 
corrected in 1844, when, by order of the Captain-General and the Archbishop, the 
31st of December, 1844, was suppressed, and the dates of Manila made to agree 
with those of the rest of the world. A similar correction was made at the same 
time at Macao, where the Portuguese who had traveled eastward had an error of a 
day in an opposite direction." It will be noticed that the authority of the 
Archbishop was carefully obtained and quoted, but it was beyond his prerogative.

The early history of the Philippines bears few traces of the traditions and 
romances of the natives, but they were in possession of an alphabet when 
"discovered," and were then, as now, fond of music, singing their own melodies. 
The Hawaiians were enabled to get their old stories into print because they 
suddenly fell into the hands of masterful men who had a written language. The 
Icelanders were too literary for their own good, for they spoiled their history 
by writing it in poetry and mixing it with fiction, losing in that way the 
credit that belongs to them of being the true discoverers of America. The 
Filipinos were spared this shape of misfortune, not that they lacked imagination 
within a narrow range of vision, but they were wanting in expression, save in 
unwritten music. Their lyrical poetry was not materialized. The study of the 
natives must be studied as geology is. Geology and native history have been 
neglected in the Tagala country. The rocks of the Philippines have not been 
opened to be read like books. More is known of the botany of the islands than of 
the formation of the mountains and their foundations. The original inhabitants 
were Negritos--a dwarfish race, very dark and tameless, still in existence, but 
driven to the parts of the country most inaccessible. They are of the class of 
dark savages, who smoke cigars holding the fiery ends between their teeth! The 
islands were invaded and extensively harassed by Malay tribes--the most numerous 
and active being the Tagala. Of this tribe is General Aguinaldo, and it is as a 
man with a tribe not a nation that he has become conspicuous. The other tribes 
of Malays will not sustain him if he should be wild enough to want to make war 
upon the United States. The Tagalas are cock fighters and live on the lowlands. 
They eat rice chiefly, but are fond of ducks and chickens, and they have an 
incredibly acute sense of smell, not a bad taste in food, and do not hanker to 
get drunk.

The Visayas are also a tribe. The Igolatas are next to the Tagala in numbers and 
energy. They show traces of Chinese and Japanese blood. There are no Africans in 
the Philippines, no sign of their blood. This may be attributed to Phillip's 
prohibition of negro slavery. General Greene, of New York, took with him to 
Manila a full-blooded black manservant, and he was a great curiosity to the 
Filipinos. When the English conquered Manila in 1762 they had Sepoy regiments, 
and held the city eighteen months. A good deal of Sepoy blood is still in 
evidence. The Chinese have been growing in importance in the Philippines. Their 
men marry the women of the islands and have large families, the boys of this 
class being wonderfully thrifty. The children of Englishmen by the native women 
are often handsome, and of strong organization. The females are especially 
comely.

The early history of the islands consists of accounts of contests with frontier 
rebels, attacks by pirates, and reprisals by the Spaniards, great storms and 
destructive earthquakes. It is remarkable that Magellan was, like Captain Cook, 
a victim of savages, whose existence he made known to civilized people, falling 
in a sea-side contest. Magellan had converted a captive chief to Christianity 
and baptised him as King Charles. More than two thousand of his subjects were 
converted in a day, and the great navigator set forth to conquer islands for the 
dominion of the Christian King, who lived on the isle of Zebu. The Christian 
monarch was entertained and received many presents, making return in bags of 
gold dust, fruit, oil and wine. His Queen was presented with a looking glass, 
and then she insisted upon baptism, and so great was the revival that Magellan 
set out to capture more people for the newly made Christian couple--invaded the 
island of Matau, and with forty-two men landed where the water was shallow, his 
allies remaining afloat by invitation of Magellan, to see how the Spaniards 
disposed of enemies. The Spanish landed at night, and on the morning found a 
great multitude of savages opposed to them, and fought for life, but were 
overwhelmed by thousands of warriors. The Admiral was in white armor, and 
fighting desperately, was at last wounded in his sword arm, and then in the 
face, and leg. He was deserted by his men, who sought to save themselves in the 
water, and killed many of his enemies, but his helmet and skull were crushed at 
one blow by a frantic savage with a huge club. There were thirty-two Spaniards 
killed, and one of the squadron of three ships was burned as there were not men 
enough to sail all the vessels. There is in Manila, in the walled city, where it 
is seen every day by thousands of American soldiers, a stately monument to the 
navigator who found the Philippines, and whose adventurous discoveries insured 
him immortality. His first landing on the Philippines was March 12th, 1521, less 
than thirty years after Columbus appeared in the West Indies, believing that he 
was in the midst of the ancient East Indies, and judging from the latitude in 
the neighborhood of the island empire of the Great Kahn. [This account of 
Magellan is from Antonio de Marga's rare volume published in Mexico.]

    "After the death of Magellan, Duarte Barbosa took the command and he and 
twenty of his men were treacherously killed by the Christian King, with whom 
they had allied themselves, one Juan Serrano was left alive amongst the natives. 
Magellan's 'Victory' was the first ship that circumnavigated the globe.

    "Magellanes passed over to the service of the King of Castile, from causes 
which moved him thereto; and he set forth to the Emperor Charles V., our 
sovereign, that the Islands of Maluco fell within the demarcation of his crown 
of Castile, and that the conquest of them pertained to him conformably to the 
concession of Pope Alexander; he also offered to make an expedition and a voyage 
to them in the emperor's name, laying his course through that part of the 
delimitation which belonged to Castile, and availing himself of a famous 
astrologer and cosmographer named Ruyfarelo, whom he kept in his service.

    "The Emperor (from the importance of the business) confided this voyage and 
discovery of Magellanes, with the ships and provisions which were requisite for 
it, with which he set sail and discovered the straits to which he gave his name. 
Through these he passed to the South Sea, and navigated to the islands of 
Tendaya and Sebu, where he was killed by the natives of Matan, which is one of 
them. His ships went on to Maluco, where their crews had disputes and 
differences with the Portuguese who were in the island of Terrenate; and at 
last, not being able to maintain themselves there, they left Maluco in a ship 
named the Victory, which had remained to the Castilians out of their fleet, and 
they took as Chief and Captain Juan Sebastian del Cano, who performed the voyage 
to Castile, by the way of India, where he arrived with very few of his men, and 
he gave an account to His Majesty of the discovery of the islands of the great 
archipelago, and of his voyage."

The work of De Morga has value as a novelty, as it is more than a defense--a 
laudation of the Spanish rule in the Philippines in the sixteenth century. The 
title page is a fair promise of a remarkable performance, and it is here 
presented:

    The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan and China,

    at the close of the Sixteenth Century

    By Antonio de Morga.

    Translated from the Spanish, with Notes and a Preface, and a Letter from 
Luis Vaez De Torres, Describing His Voyage Through the Torres Straits, by the

    Hon. Henry E. J. Stanley.


The original work of De Morga was printed in Mexico in 1609, and has become 
extremely rare; there is no copy of it in the Bibliotheque Imperiale of Paris. 
This translation is from a transcription made for the Hakluyt Society from the 
copy in the Grenville Library of the British Museum; the catalogue of which 
states that "this book, printed at Mexico, is for that reason probably unknown 
to Bibliographers, though a book of great rarity."

The translator gives a new view to Americans of the part that Spaniards have 
played in the Philippines. He plunges deep into his subject, saying:

    "The great point in which Manila has been a success, is the fact that the 
original inhabitants have not disappeared before the Europeans, and that they 
have been civilized, and brought into a closer union with the dominant race than 
is to be found elsewhere in similar circumstances. The inhabitants of the 
Philippines previous to the Spanish settlement were not like the inhabitants of 
the great Indian peninsula, people with a civilization as old as that of their 
conquerors. Excepting that they possessed the art of writing, and an alphabet of 
their own, they do not appear to have differed in any way from the Dayaks of 
Borneo as described by Mr. Boyle in his recent book of adventures amongst that 
people. Indeed, there is almost a coincidence of verbal expressions in the 
descriptions he and De Morga give of the social customs, habits, and 
superstitions of the two peoples they are describing; though many of these 
coincidences are such as are incidental to life in similar circumstances, they 
are enough to lead one to suppose a community of origin of the inhabitants of 
Borneo and Luzon."

Mr. Consul Farren, Manila, March 13th, 1845, wrote and is quoted in support of 
this view as follows:

    "The most efficient agents of public order throughout the islands are the 
local clergy, many of whom are also of the country. There are considerable parts 
of these possessions in which the original races, as at Ceylon, retain their 
independence, and are neither taxed nor interfered with; and throughout the 
islands the power of the government is founded much more on moral than on 
physical influence. The laws are mild, and peculiarly favorable to the natives. 
The people are indolent, temperate and superstitious. The government is 
conciliatory and respectable in its character and appearance, and prudent, but 
decisive in the exercise of its powers over the people; and united with the 
clergy, who are shrewd, and tolerant, and sincere, and respectable in general 
conduct, studiously observant of their ecclesiastical duties, and managing with 
great tact the native character."

March 29, 1851, Mr. Consul Farren wrote: "Without any governing power whatever, 
the greatest moral influence in these possessions is that which the priests 
possess, and divide among the monastic orders of Augustines, Recoletos, 
Dominicans, and Franciscans (who are all Spaniards), and the assistant native 
clergy. A population exceeding 3,800,000 souls is ranged into 677 pueblos or 
parishes, without reckoning the unsubdued tribes. In 577 of those pueblos there 
are churches, with convents or clerical residences attached, and about 500 of 
them are in the personal incumbency of those Spanish monks. The whole 
ecclesiastical subdivisions being embraced in the archbishopric of Manila and 
three bishoprics."

"The Philippines were converted to Christianity and maintained in it by the 
monastic orders, energetically protected by them (and at no very past period) 
against the oppressions of the provincial authorities, and are still a check on 
them in the interests of the people. The clergy are receivers in their districts 
of the capitation tax paid by the natives, and impose it; they are the most 
economical agency of the government."

The Archbishop of Manila is substantially of this judgment. De Morga opens his 
address to the reader:

    "The monarchy of Kings of Spain has been aggrandized by the zeal and care 
with which they have defended within their own hereditary kingdoms, the Holy 
Catholic Faith, which the Roman Church teaches, against whatsoever adversaries 
oppose it, or seek to obscure the truth by various errors, which faith they have 
disseminated throughout the world. Thus by the mercy of God they preserve their 
realms and subjects in the purity of the Christian religion, deserving thereby 
the glorious title and renown which they possess of Defenders of the Faith. 
Moreover, by the valor of their indomitable hearts, and at the expense of their 
revenues and property, with Spanish fleets and men, they have furrowed the seas, 
and discovered and conquered vast kingdoms in the most remote and unknown parts 
of the world, leading their inhabitants to a knowledge of the true God, and to 
the fold of the Christian Church, in which they now live, governed in civil and 
political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and protection of 
the royal arm and power which was wanting to them. This boast is true of Manila, 
and of Manila alone amongst all the colonies of Spain or the other European 
states. If the natives of Manila have been more fortunate than those of Cuba, 
Peru, Jamaica, and Mexico, it has been owing to the absence of gold, which in 
other places attracted adventurers so lawless that neither the Church nor Courts 
of justice could restrain them."

It is against the orders named as worthy exalted praise that the insurgents are 
most inflamed, and whose expulsion from the islands is certain in case of 
Philippine jurisdiction. The truth appears to be that the Spanish Colonial 
system was slower in the East Indies than in the West Indies and South America 
in producing the revolutionary rebellion that was its logical consequence, and 
the friars more and more became responsible for official oppression and 
gradually became odious.

It was New Spain--Mexico--that ruled the Philippines, until Mexican independence 
restricted her sovereignty. When a Commander-in-Chief died in the Philippines, 
it was sufficient to find amongst his papers a sealed dispatch, as Morga 
records, "From the high court of Mexico, which carried on the government when 
the fleet left New Spain, naming (in case the Commander-in-Chief died) a 
successor to the governorship." It was in virtue of such an appointment that 
Guido de Labazarris, a royal officer, entered upon those duties, and was obeyed. 
He, with much prudence, valor, and tact, continued the conversion and 
pacification of the islands, and governed them, and Morga states that in his 
time there came the corsair Limahon from China, with seventy large ships and 
many men-at-arms, against Manila. He entered the city, and having killed the 
master of the camp Martin de Goiti, in his house, along with other Spaniards who 
were in it, he went against the fortress in which the Spaniards, who were few in 
number, had taken refuge, with the object of taking the country and making 
himself master of it. The Spaniards, with the succor which Captain Joan de 
Salzado brought them from Vigan, of the men whom he had with him (for he had 
seen this corsair pass by the coast, and had followed him to Manila), defended 
themselves so valiantly, that after killing many of the people they forced him 
to re-embark, and to leave the bay in flight, and take shelter in the river of 
Pangasinam, whither the Spaniards followed him. There they burned his fleet, and 
for many days surrounded this corsair on land, who in secret made some small 
boats with which he fled and put to sea, and abandoned the islands.

The change of the name of the islands from Lazarus, which Magellan called them, 
to the Philippines and the capture of the native town of Manila and its 
conversion into a Spanish city is related by Morga in these words:

    "One of the ships which sailed from the port of Navidad in company with the 
fleet, under the command of Don Alonso de Arellano, carried as pilot one Lope 
Martin, a mulatto and a good sailor, although a restless man; when this ship 
came near the islands it left the fleet and went forward amongst the islands, 
and, having procured some provisions, without waiting for the chief of the 
expedition, turned back to New Spain by a northerly course; either from the 
little inclination which he had for making the voyage to the isles, or to gain 
the reward for having discovered the course for returning. He arrived speedily, 
and gave news of having seen the islands, and discovered the return voyage, and 
said a few things with respect to his coming, without any message from the 
chief, nor any advices as to what happened to him. Don Alonzo de Arellano was 
well received by the High Court of Justice, which governed at that time, and was 
taking into consideration the granting of a reward to him and to his pilot; and 
this would have been done, had not the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief 
arrived during this time, after performing the same voyage, and bringing a true 
narrative of events, and of the actual condition of affairs, and of the 
settlement of Sebu; also giving an account of how Don Alonzo de Arellano with 
his ship, without receiving orders and without any necessity for it, had gone on 
before the fleet on entering among the isles, and had never appeared since. It 
was also stated that, besides these islands, which had peacefully submitted to 
His Majesty, there were many others, large and rich, well provided with 
inhabitants, victuals and gold, which they hoped to reduce to subjection and 
peace with the assistance which was requested; and that the Commander-in-Chief 
had given to all these isles the name of Philippines, in memory of His Majesty. 
The succor was sent to him immediately, and has been continually sent every year 
conformably to the necessities which have presented themselves; so that the land 
was won and maintained.

    "The Commander-in-Chief having heard of other islands around Sebu with 
abundance of provisions, he sent thither a few Spaniards to bring some of the 
natives over in a friendly manner, and rice for the camp, with which he 
maintained himself as well as he could, until, having passed over to the island 
of Panay, he sent thence Martin de Goiti, his master of the camp, and other 
captains, with the men that seemed to him sufficient, to the side of Luzon, to 
endeavor to pacify it and bring it under submission to His Majesty; a native of 
that island, of importance, named Maomat was to guide them.

    "Having arrived at the Bay of Manila, they found its town on the sea beach 
close to a large river, in the possession of, and fortified by a chief whom they 
called Rajamora; and in front across the river, there was another large town 
named Tondo; this was also held by another chief, named Rajamatanda. These 
places were fortified with palms, and thick arigues filled in with earth, and a 
great quantity of bronze cannon, and other large pieces with chambers. Martin de 
Goiti having began to treat with the chiefs and their people of the peace and 
submission which he claimed for them, it became necessary for him to break with 
them; and the Spaniards entered the town by force of arms, and took it, with the 
forts and artillery, on the day of Sta. Potenciana, the 19th of May, the year 
1571; upon which the natives and their chiefs gave in, and made submission, and 
many others of the same island of Luzon did the same.

    "When the Commander-in-chief, Legazpi, received news in Panay of the taking 
of Manila, and the establishment of the Spaniards there he left the affairs of 
Sebu, and of the other islands which had been subdued, set in order; and he 
entrusted the natives to the most trustworthy soldiers, and gave such orders as 
seemed fitting for the government of those provinces, which are commonly called 
the Visayas de los Pintados, because the natives there have their whole bodies 
marked with fire. He then came to Manila with the remainder of his people, and 
was very well received there; and established afresh with the natives and their 
chiefs the peace, friendship and submission to His Majesty which they had 
already offered. The Commander-in-Chief founded and established a town on the 
very site of Manila (of which Rajamora made a donation to the Spaniards for that 
purpose), on account of its being strong and in a well provisioned district, and 
in the midst of all the isles (leaving it its name of Manila, which it held from 
the natives). He took what land was sufficient for the city, in which the 
governor established his seat and residence; he fortified it with care, holding 
this object more especially in view, in order to make it the seat of government 
of this new settlement, rather than considering the temperature or width of the 
site, which is hot and narrow, from having the river on one side of the city, 
and the bay on the other, and at the back large swamps and marshes, which make 
it very strong.

    "From this post he pursued the work of pacification of the other provinces 
of this great island of Luzon and of the surrounding districts; some submitting 
themselves willingly, others being conquered by force of arms, or by the 
industry of the monks who sowed the Holy Gospel, in which each and all labored 
valiantly, both in the time and governorship of the adelantado Miguel Lopez de 
Legazpi, and in that of other governors who succeeded him. The land was 
entrusted to those who had pacified it and settled in it, and heads named, on 
behalf of the crown, of the provinces, ports, towns, and cities, which were 
founded, together with other special commissions for necessities which might 
arise, and for the expenses of the royal exchequer. The affairs of the 
government, and conversion of the natives, were treated as was fit and 
necessary. Ships were provided each year to make the voyage to New Sapin, and to 
return with the usual supplies; so that the condition of the Philippine Islands, 
in spiritual and temporal matters, flourishes at the present day, as all know.

    "The Commander-in-Chief, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, as has been said, 
discovered the islands, and made a settlement in them, and gave a good beginning 
to their subjection and pacification. He founded the city of the Most Holy Name 
of Jesus in the provinces of the Pintados, and after that the city of Manila in 
the island of Luzon. He conquered there the province of Ylocos; and in its town 
and port, called Vigan, he founded a Spanish town, to which he gave the name of 
Villa Fernandina. So also he pacified the province of Pangasinan and the island 
of Mindoro. He fixed the rate of tribute which the natives had to pay in all the 
islands, and ordered many other matters relating to their government and 
conversion, until he died, in the year of 1574, at Manila, where his body lies 
buried in the monastery of St. Augustine.

    "During the government of this Guido de Labazarris, trade and commerce were 
established between great China and Manila, ships coming each year with 
merchandise, and the governor giving them a good reception; so that every year 
the trade has gone on increasing."

The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Island Samai was called Filipina by 
Vellalohos, who sailed from Mexico in February, 1543. The capital was fixed at 
Manila in 1571, a distinction enjoyed three hundred and twenty-seven years. It 
was in a letter of Lagozpis in 1567 that the name Ilas Filipinos appeared for 
the first time.

The Dutch became very enterprising and venturesome in the Asiatic archipelagoes 
and gave the Philippines much attention, having many fights with the Spaniards. 
The Ladrones became well known as a resting place between the islands of Philip 
and New Spain--Mexico. The Chinese Pirates were troublesome, and the Spaniards, 
between the natives, the pirates and the Dutchmen, kept busy, and had a great 
deal of naval and military instruction. There were other varieties of life of an 
exciting character, in terrible storms and earthquakes. The storm season is the 
same in the Philippines as in the West Indies, and the tempests have like 
features. October is the cyclone and monsoon month. The most destructive storm 
in the island of Luzon of record was October 31st, 1876. Floods rolled from the 
mountains, and there was a general destruction of roads and bridges, and it is 
reported six thousand persons were killed.

So extensive and exposed is the Bay of Manila, it is one hundred and twenty 
knots in circumference--that it is not properly a harbor, but a stormy sheet of 
water. Admiral Dewey's fleet has had low steam in the boilers all the while to 
quickly apply the power of the engines for safety in case of a visitation from 
the dreaded typhoon, which comes on suddenly as a squall and rages with tornado 
intensity.

There are many volcanoes in the islands, and they exist from the North of Luzon 
to the Sulus in the extreme South, a distance as great as from Scotland to 
Sicily. There is one on Luzon that bears a close resemblance both in appearance 
and phenomena to Vesuvius. The likeness in eruptions is startling. The city of 
Manila has repeatedly suffered from destroying shocks, and slight agitations are 
frequent. Within historic times a mountain in Luzon collapsed, and a river was 
filled up while the earth played fountains of sand. The great volcano Taal, 45 
miles south of Manila, is only 850 feet high, and on a small island in a lake 
believed to be a volcanic abyss, having an area of 100 square miles. Monte 
Cagua, 2,910 feet high, discharges smoke continually. In 1814 12,000 persons 
lost their lives on Luzon, the earth being disordered and rent in an appalling 
way. There were awful eruptions July 20 and October 24, 1867, forests of great 
trees buried in discharges of volcanoes. June 3, 1863, at 31 minutes after 7 in 
the evening, after a day of excessive heat, there was a shock at Manila lasting 
30 seconds, in which 400 people were killed, 2,000 wounded, and 26 public and 
570 private houses seriously damaged. The greater structures made heaps of 
fragments. That these calamities have taught the people lessons in building is 
apparent in every house, but one wonders that they have not taken even greater 
precautions. The forgetfulness of earthquake experiences in countries where they 
are familiar, always amazes those unaccustomed to the awful agitations and 
troubled with the anticipations of imagination. However, there never has been in 
the Philippines structural changes of the earth as great as in the center of the 
United States in the huge fissures opened and remaining lakes in the New Madrid 
convulsions.

In a surprising extent the Spanish government in the Philippines has been in the 
hands of the priests, especially the orders of the church. In the early 
centuries there was less cruel oppression than in Mexico and Peru. And yet there 
is in the old records a free-handed way of referring to killing people that 
shows a somewhat sanguinary state of society even including good citizens.

Blas Ruys de Herman Gonzales wrote to Dr. Morga from one of his expeditions, 
addressing his friend:

    "To Dr. Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant of the Governor of the Filipine isles 
of Luzon, in the city of Manila, whom may our Lord preserve. From Camboia." This 
was in Cochin China, one of the Kings being in trouble, called upon Gonzales, 
who sympathized with him and wrote of the ceremony in which he assisted: "I came 
at his bidding, and he related to me how those people wished to kill him and 
deprive him of the kingdom, that I might give him a remedy. The Mambaray was the 
person who governed the kingdom, and as the king was a youth and yielded to 
wine, he made little account of him and thought to be king himself. At last I 
and the Spaniards killed him, and after that they caught his sons and killed 
them. After that the capture of the Malay Cancona was undertaken, and he was 
killed, and there was security from this danger by means of the Spaniards. We 
then returned to the war, and I learned that another grandee, who was head of a 
province, wished to rise up, and go over to the side of Chupinanon; I seized him 
and killed him; putting him on his trial. With all this the King and kingdom 
loved us very much, and that province was pacified, and returned to the King. At 
this time a vessel arrived from Siam, which was going with an embassy to Manila, 
and put in here. There came in it Padre Fray Pedro Custodio. The King was much 
delighted at the arrival of the priest, and wished to set up a church for him."

Unquestionably there was degeneracy that began to have mastery in high places, 
and this can be distinctly made out early in this century, becoming more obvious 
in depravity, when Spain fell into disorder during the later years of the 
Napoleonic disturbances, and the authority and influence of Mexico were 
eliminated from Spain. I may offer the suggestion and allow it to vindicate its 
own importance, that if we have any Philippine Islands to spare, we should turn 
them over to the Republic of Mexico, taking in exchange Lower California and 
Sonora, and presenting those provinces to California to be incorporated in that 
State as counties. It was under Mexican rule that the Philippines were most 
peaceable and flourishing.

The late Government of the islands as revealed to the American officers who came 
into possession of Manila, was fearfully corrupt. It was proven by documents and 
personal testimony not impeachable, that a Captain-General's launch had been 
used to smuggle Mexican dollars, that the annual military expedition to the 
southern islands was a stated speculation of the Captain-General amounting to 
$200,000, in one case raised to $400,000, that the same high official made an 
excursion to all the custom houses on the islands ordered the money and books 
aboard his ship and never returned either, that one way of bribery was for 
presents to be made to the wives of officials of great power and distinction; 
one lady is named to whom business men when presenting a splendid bracelet, 
waited on her with two that she might choose the one most pleasing, and as she 
had two white arms, she kept both.

The frequent changes in Spanish rulers of the islands are accounted for by the 
demand for lucrative places, from the many favorites to whom it was agreeable 
and exemplary to offer opportunities to make fortunes. It goes hard with the 
deposed Spaniards that they had no chance to harvest perquisites, and must go 
home poor. This is as a fountain of little tears.

The city of Manila is not lofty in buildings, because it has been twice damaged 
to the verge of ruin by earthquakes and many times searched and shaken by 
tremendous gales, and is situated on the lands so low that it is not uplifted to 
the gaze of mankind--is not a city upon a hill, and yet it is "no mean city." 
Antonio de Morga says:

    "The entrance of the Spaniards into the Philippines since the year 1564, and 
the subjection and conversion which has been effected in them, and their mode of 
government, and that which during these years His Majesty has provided and 
ordered for their good, has been the cause of innovation in many things, such as 
are usual to kingdoms and provinces which charge their faith and sovereign. The 
first has been that, besides the name of Philippines, which they took and 
received from the beginning of their conquest, all the islands are now a new 
kingdom and sovereignty, to which His Majesty Philip the Second, our sovereign, 
gave the name of New Kingdom of Castile, of which by his royal privilege, he 
made the city of Manila the capital, giving to it, as a special favor among 
others, a coat of arms with a crown, chosen and appointed by his royal person, 
which is a scutcheon divided across, and in the upper part a castle on the red 
field, and in the lower part a lion of gold, crowned and rampant, with a naked 
sword in the dexter hand, and half the body in the shape of a dolphin upon the 
waters of the sea, signifying that the Spaniards passed over them with arms to 
conquer this kingdom for the crown of Castile.

    "The Commander-in-Chief, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, first governor of the 
Philippines, founded the city of Manila, in the isle of Luzon, in the same site 
in which Rajamora had his town and fort (as has been said more at length), at 
the mouth of the river which pours out into the bay, on a point which is formed 
between the river and the sea. He occupied the whole of it with this town and 
divided it among the Spaniards in equal building plots, with streets and blocks 
of houses regularly laid out, straight and level leaving a great place, 
tolerably square, where he erected the cathedral church and municipal buildings; 
and another place of arms, in which stood the fort and there also the royal 
buildings; he gave sites to the monasteries and hospital and chapels, which 
would be built, as this was a city which would grow and increase every day, as 
has already happened; because in the course of time which passed by, it has 
become as illustrious as the best cities of all those parts.

    "The whole city is surrounded by a wall of hewn stone of more than two and a 
half yards in width, and in parts more than three, with small towers and 
traverses at intervals; it has a fortress of hewn stone at the point, which 
guards the bar and the river, with a ravelin close to the water, which contains 
a few heavy pieces of artillery which command the sea and the river, and other 
guns on the higher part of the fort for the defense of the bar, besides other 
middling-sized field guns and swivel guns, with vaults for supplies and 
munitions, and a powder magazine, with its inner space well protected, and an 
abundant well of fresh water; also quarters for soldiers and artillerymen and a 
house for the Commandant. It is newly fortified on the land side, in the place 
of arms, where the entrance is through a good wall, and two salient towers 
furnished with artillery which command the wall and gate. This fortress named 
Santiago, has a detachment of thirty soldiers, with their officers, and eight 
artillerymen, who guard the gate and entrance in watches, under the command of 
an alcalde who lives within, and has the guard and custody of it.

    "There is another fortress, also of stone, in the same wall, at the ditance 
of the range of a culverin, at the end of the wall which runs along the shore of 
the bay; this is named Nuestra Senora de Guia; it is a very large round block, 
with its courtyard, water and quarters, and magazines and other workshops 
within; it has an outwork jutting out towards the beach, in which there are a 
dozen of large and middle-sized guns, which command the bay, and sweep the walls 
which run from it to the port and fort of Santiago. On the further side it has a 
large salient tower with four heavy pieces, which command the beach further on, 
towards the chapel of Nuestra Senora de Guia. The gate and entrance of this is 
within the city, it is guarded by a detachment of twenty soldiers, with their 
officers, and six artillerymen, a commandant, and his lieutenant, who dwell 
within.

    "On the land side, where the wall extends, there is a bastion called Sant 
Andres, with six pieces of artillery, which can fire in all directions, and a 
few swivel guns; and further on another outwork called San Gabriel, opposite the 
parian of the Sangleys, with the same number of cannon, and both these works 
have some soldiers and an ordinary guard.

    "The wall is sufficiently high, with battlements and turrets for its defense 
in the modern fashions; they have a circuit of a league, which may be traversed 
on the top of the walls, with many stairs on the inside at intervals, of the 
same stonework, and three principal city gates, and many other posterns to the 
river and beach for the service of the city in convenient places. All of these 
gates are shut before nightfall by the ordinary patrol, and the keys are carried 
to the guard-room of the royal buildings; and in the morning, when it is day, 
the patrol returns with them and opens the city.

    "The royal magazines are in the parade; in them are deposited and kept all 
the munitions and supplies, cordage, iron, copper, lead, artillery, arquebuses, 
and other things belonging to the royal treasury, with their special officials 
and workmen, who are under the command of the royal officers.

    "Close to these magazines is the powder magazine, with its master, 
officials, and convicts, in which, on ordinary occasions, thirty mortars grind 
powder, and that which is damaged is refined.

    "In another part of the city, in a convenient situation, is the cannon 
foundry, with its moulds, furnaces, and instrument founders, and workmen, who 
carry on the works.

    "The royal buildings are very handsome, with a good view, and very roomy, 
with many windows opening seaward and to the parade; they are all of hewn stone, 
with two courts and high and low corridors with thick pillars."

The city of to-day verifies the descriptive talent and accuracy of this writer.


CHAPTER XVIII

The Southern Philippines.

Important Facts About the Lesser Islands of the Philippine Archipelago--
Location, Size and Population--Capitals and Principal Cities--Rivers and 
Harbors--Surface and Soil--People and Products--Leading Industries--Their 
Commerce and Business Affairs--The Monsoons and Typhoons--The Terrors of the 
Tempests and How to Avoid Them.

The island and province of Mindoro lies in the strait of its name and south of 
Luzon. It has in the center an elevated plain, we quote from the military notes 
issued by the War Department, from which many sierras extend in different 
directions to the coast, making the latter rugged and dangerous. The island is 
of an oval form, with a prolongation of the northern portion toward the west. 
Though an easy day's sail from Manila, it is one of the least populous islands 
of the archipelago, being extremely mountainous, covered with dense forests, and 
in the more level parts near the coast full of marshes, and very unhealthful. 
The inhabitants of the coast are Tagals, but in the interior there is a low 
tribe of the Malayan race, probably the indigenes of the island, and called 
Manguianos, speaking a peculiar language and living in a very miserable manner 
on the products of a rude agriculture. There are also said to be some Negritos, 
but of these very little is known. There are many short streams. The island is 
110 miles long and has an area of 3,087 square miles. The population is 106,170. 
There is little known of the mountains of the interior, as the inhabitants dwell 
mainly on the coasts. Mindoro constitutes one of the provinces of the 
Philippines under an alcalde.

The capital is Calapan, with a population of 5,585. It is situated to the north, 
on the harbor of its name, defended by a fort of regular construction; it has 
about 500 houses, among the notable stone ones being the parish, court house and 
jail, and casa real. It is the residence of the alcalde mayor and several public 
functionaries. The city is situated 96 miles from Manila.

Mount Kalavite is a long-backed promontory, the western slope of which forms 
Cape Kalavite, and the northern slope Point del Monte; the summit, about 2,000 
feet high, appears dome-shaped when seen from the west, but from the north or 
south it shows a long ridge fairly level; the western end of this ridge is the 
highest part.

The capital of the province, Calapan, is a coast town. The inhabitants are 
occupied in hunting, fishing, and ordinary weaving. The commerce is 
insignificant. Sand banks extend in front of the town to a distance of one-half 
mile. To clear these, the northern Silonai islet should not be shut out by Point 
Calapan. On this line, near the north edge of the banks, the soundings are 36 to 
46 fathoms.

The Semirara Islands form a group of eight islands, all surrounded by reefs.

Semirara, the largest of the group, is hilly, about 512 feet high at the highest 
part. The west coast includes several little bays almost entirely obstructed by 
reefs, on the edge of which are depths of 4 3/4 to 13 fathoms; and off the town 
of Semirara, which stands on the top of the hill facing the largest bay, the 
anchorage is very bad, even for coasters. The east coast is bordered by a reef, 
which extends about a mile from the northeast part of the island; on coming from 
the north this coast of the island must not be approached within three miles 
until the town of Semirara bears full west. There is anchorage at the south of 
the island in 5 to 8 fathoms, sand, during the northeast monsoon. Good coal for 
steaming purposes was found on the island by Captain Villavicencio, of the 
Spanish navy.

Tablas Island is, mountainous, and on its northern extremity is the peak Cabezo 
de Tablas, 2,405 feet high; generally the coasts are clear and steep-to. Off the 
north end are two rocky islets, distant one cable from the coast; the larger one 
is clear and steep, the smaller one has rocks around it.

The west coast of Mindoro Island has no soundings off it excepting in the bays, 
or within one or two miles of the shore in some places. In the interior double 
and treble chains of mountains extend through the island, and some low points of 
land project from them into the sea.

Paluan Bay affords excellent shelter in the northeast monsoon, and is also a 
convenient place for vessels to obtain supplies when passing through Mindoro 
Strait. The bay is five miles wide at the entrance, of a semi-circular form, 
running back three miles in a northerly direction. There are no dangers in it.

A small river disembogues where good water can be obtained with facility; and on 
the beach there is plenty of driftwood. The coral projects one-half mile from 
the entrance of the river, and has 10 and 12 fathoms close to its edge.

Care must be taken when working into Paluan Bay, for the squalls come violently 
off the high land, and very sudden, and at night do not give the least warning.

The Calamianes are a group of high islands lying between the northeast end of 
Palawan and Mindoro, and extending between the parallels of 11 degrees 39 
minutes and 12 degrees 20 minutes N., and the meridians of 119 degrees 47 
minutes and 120 degrees 23 minutes E. Busuanga, the largest island of the group, 
is about 34 miles in extent NW. by W. and SE. by E., and 18 miles broad. It is 
very irregular in form, being indented with numerous deep bays. The islands and 
reefs which front its northeast side form the western side of Northumberland 
Strait.

These islands form, with the northern part of Palawan and the Cuyos Islands, a 
province, the capital of which is at Port Tai Tai. The climate of these islands 
is in general hot and unhealthful. Intermittent fevers and cutaneous diseases 
prevail, attributable, in all probability, to the great moisture and the 
insalubrious quality of the drinking water. All these islands are, generally 
speaking, hilly and broken. The industry of the locality is in collecting 
Salanganes (edible birds' nests), honey, and wax; but cultivation is not 
practiced to any great extent. The forests produce good timber for building or 
cabinet work.

Tara Island, when seen from the northward, shows a triple summit to its 
northwest end; while its southern part looks like a separate island, saddle-
shaped. The island does not appear to be permanently inhabited; in March, 1885, 
it was occupied by parties from Busuanga, burning the grass and digging cassava.

Lagat is a small island 334 feet high, surrounded by a reef with a narrow 
passage between it and the reef off the south of Tara.

Botak Island, 800 feet high, is fairly well cultivated. Off its northern end 
there is a queer pin-shaped rock, and off its southern end are same sharp-
pointed rocks. The vicinity has not been sounded.

The space included between the Sulu Archipelago to the south and Mindoro to the 
north, and having the Philippine Islands on the east and Palawan on the west, is 
distinguished by the name of the Sulu Sea. Although of great depth, 2,550 
fathoms, this sea, which is in connection with the China and Celebes seas, and 
also with the Pacific by San Bernardino and Surigao straits, has a minimum deep-
sea temperature of 50.5 degrees, reached invariably at 400 fathoms. As this 
temperature in the China Sea is at the depth of 200 fathoms, and in the Celebes 
Sea at 180 fathoms, and in the Pacific at 230 fathoms, it may be inferred that 
the Sulu Sea is prevented from freely interchanging its waters with those seas 
by ridges which do not exceed those depths.

In the Sulu Sea easterly winds with fine weather prevail in October, and the 
northeast monsoon is not established until November. In January and February it 
blows hardest, but not with the force of the China seas, and it is felt 
strongest before the openings between Panay and Negros, and Negros and Mindanao. 
At the end of May southwest winds begin to blow, and in a month become 
established, to terminate in October, bringing with them a season made up of 
rain squalls and tempests, which take place principally in July and August. In 
September a heavy mist hangs about the coast of Mindanao.

The island and province of Paragua is the most western of the Philippine 
Archipelago, and is situated to the north of Borneo. It is long and narrow, 
following a northeast direction, and nearly closes on the southwest the Sea of 
Mindanao, which enters from the China Sea by Balabac Strait on the south and 
between Mindoro and Paragua on the north. A chain of high mountains, some 6,560 
feet high, runs lengthwise of the narrow belt formed by the island, whose length 
is 266 miles. The northwest and northeast slopes are narrow. The island has 
extensive and well protected harbors and bays. The area is 2,315 square miles 
and the population 45,000.

The capital is Puerto Princesa, with a population of 1,589.

Panay is divided into three provinces, viz: Capiz to the north, Iloilo to the 
southeast, and Antique to the southwest. In general it is wild, with very high 
coasts, except in the northeastern part, where the latter are somewhat marshy. A 
mountain chain crosses the island from Point Juraojurao on the south as far as 
Point Potol on the north, following a direction almost parallel to the western 
coast. Large groups of sierras branch out to the right and left of the central 
chain; on the eastern slope begins another chain, running northeast to the 
extreme northeasterly point of the island. Owing to its cragginess, it has a 
great number of streams running in different directions. The area is 4,540 
square miles.

The town of Iloilo stands on a low sandy flat on the right bank of a river; at 
the end of this flat is a spit on which a fort is built, and close to which 
there is deep water. Vessels of moderate draft (15 feet) can ascend the river a 
short distance and lie alongside wharves which communicate with the merchant 
houses, but large vessels must anchor outside near the spit. It is a town of 
great commercial importance, and a brisk coasting trade is carried on from it. 
The better class of houses in Iloilo are built on strong wooden posts, 2 or 3 
feet in diameter, that reach to the roof; stone walls to the first floor, with 
wooden windows above, and an iron roof. The poorer class of dwellings are flimsy 
erections of nipa, built on four strong posts. The roads and bridges are in a 
deplorable condition and almost impassable in the rainy season.

The chief imports are Australian coal, and general merchandise from Europe, but 
most sailing ships arrive in ballast.

The exports are sugar, tobacco, rice, coffee, hides, and hemp; it is also the 
principal place of manufacture of pina, juse, and sinamoya, a tissue greatly in 
use among the Philippines. In 1883, 93,750 tons of sugar were exported, 
principally to America.

Typhoons do not occur regularly, but in most years the tail of one passes over 
the place, which suffers also from the visitations of locusts.

Provisions of all kinds can be obtained, but the prices are higher than at 
Manila. In 1886 beef was 12 1/2 cents per pound, bread 11 cents, vegetables 11 
cents, fowls $2 per dozen. Water is scarce and is brought across from Guimaras 
in tank boats; it is supplied to the shipping at the rate of $1 per ton; the 
Europeans depend mainly upon rain water.

There are generally about 500 tons of coal in store, chiefly Australian; it is 
kept for the supply of local steamers that take in what they require alongside 
the wharves. Vessels in the roads can have it brought off in bulk in lighters or 
schooners at a cost of 50 cents a ton. Coolies can be hired at 75 cents per ton, 
but they will not coal vessels if they can get other work. Notice is required 
the day before coaling, as men are not kept in readiness. The price of coal in 
1886 was $11.00 per ton.

There is regular weekly communication with Manila, which is 250 miles distant.

The Province of Capiz is bounded on the north by the Archipelago Sea, on the 
east by the District of Concepcion, on the south by the ridge separating it from 
Iloilo, and on the southwest by the mountains, separating it from the Province 
of Antique. Its very high mountains are covered with luxuriant vegetation, and 
give rise to many rivers which water the valleys of the province. There are gold 
and copper mines, and much tobacco, sugar, rice, and abaca is raised. During the 
year three fairs are held, in which articles of the country are bartered. The 
province is divided into two parts, called Ilaya and Aclan, which are irrigated 
by the rivers Panay and Adan, respectively. The area is 1,543 square miles and 
the population 189,171, distributed among 36 pueblos and 287 barrios.

The capital is Capiz, with a population of 13,676. It is situated 290 miles from 
Manila. It has a harbor for vessels of ordinary draft, and highroads to Iloilo, 
Antique, and the District of Concepcion. There is a steamer kept by the state, 
stopping at the harbor every 28 days and keeping up communication with Manila, 
Romblon, Iloilo, and Cebu.

The Province of Iloilo is to the southeast of the Province of Capiz and west of 
Antique. The ground is generally level, and, being irrigated by numerous rivers, 
is fertile, so that tobacco, cacao, sugar cane, abaca, rice, and maize are 
grown; besides, there is good pasturage for raising herds of cattle and horses, 
and gold and other mines are known. The principal industry is the manufacture of 
fabrics of sinamay, pina, jusi, etc., requiring over 30,000 looms. The 
dimensions are 99 miles in length by 27 miles in width, and the population is 
472,728.

The capital is Iloilo, with a population of 10,380. It is situated 355 miles 
from Manila, and is the residence of the governor, captain of port, and a number 
of treasury, justice, and fomento officials. It has a pretty cathedral, a 
seminary, casa real, and court house. It is one of the most mercantile towns of 
the Visaya group, and has some industries, among which are a machine shop and 
foundry, a carriage factory, and a hat factory.

The Province of Bohol is bounded on the north by the sea between Cebu and Leyte, 
on the east by the Surigao Sea, on the south by the Sea of Mindanao, and on the 
west by the channel separating it from Cebu. The province is composed of the 
islands of Bohol and Dauis. They are somewhat mountainous and well wooded, and 
coffee, abaca, sugar cane, and tobacco are raised. In the mountains of Bohol 
game is plenty, and many coal and phosphate of iron mines are supposed to exist. 
Manufactures consist in fabrics of sinamay and other materials. The area is 
1,617 square miles and the population 247,745.

The capital is Tagbilaran, with a population of 8,638. It is situated 365 miles 
from Manila.

The island and province of Cebu are the most important of the Visayas, on 
account of the central position, nature of the soil, and the industry of its 
numerous inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by the sea separating it from 
Masbate and Leyte, on the east by the sea separating it from Leyte and Bohol, on 
the south by the Mindanao Sea, and on the west by the Tanon Channel and the 
island of Negros. The area is 2,092 square miles and the population 504,076. 
Great mountain chains cross the island; the chief of these starts at the extreme 
north between Point Marab on the west and Baluarte on the east, and, continuing 
south between the two coasts, ends almost in the center of the island. Two other 
chains run along the coast, and one starts near Carcas, to the southwest of the 
city of Cebu, terminating on the south in Tanon Point. The coasts are high and 
the rivers of little importance.

The capital is Cebu, with a population of 35,243. It is the mercantile center of 
the islands, and is situated 460 miles from Manila. It is an Episcopal see, and 
has a good cathedral, Episcopal palace, casa real, court house, and private 
edifices, simple but tasty; there is also a post office and telegraph station. 
On the south, and at the entrance of the channel, is the castle of Point Cauit, 
and north of this the tower of Mandaui; both these fortifications communicate 
with the capital by means of a wagon road, the city being midway between them. 
At the capital reside the politico-military governor, a secretary, judge and 
attorney-general, a number of public functionaries, a captain of engineers, and 
the captain of the port.

Maktan Island consists of an old coral reef, raised a few feet (8 or 10 at most) 
above the present sea level. At the northern part of the island, where a convent 
stands, a low cliff fringes the shore, being an upper stratum of the upheaved 
reef. The raised reef is here preserved, but over the portion of the island 
immediately fronting Cebu it has been removed by denudation, with the exception 
of a few pillar-like blocks which remain, and which are conspicuous from the 
anchorage. The surface is scooped out into irregular basins and sharp projecting 
pinnacles and covered in all directions with mud, resulting from the denudation. 
Nearly all the island is covered by mangroves, but on the part left dry there 
are plantations of cocoanuts.

The only town on the island is Opon, on the west coast, SW. of Mandaui Point in 
Cebu. It was here that Magellan was killed in 1521, after making the first 
passage across the Pacific.

The town of Cebu is the most ancient in the Philippines; it is the seat of 
government of the Visayan Islands, which include Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Negros, and 
Leyte, and it is the residence of a bishop. It is built on a large plain at the 
foot of the chain of hills that traverse the island throughout its length, and 
is a well-constructed, thriving place; the merchants' quarter is situated along 
the port, and includes some well-built stone houses, though many are of old 
construction. The huts of the Malays, for the most part fishermen, are on the 
beach, and form the west part of the city. The fort is a triangular edifice of 
stone, painted red, with an open square in front.

The island of Leyte is bounded on the north by the canal separating it from 
Samar, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the sea separating it 
from Bohol and Cebu, and on the south by the one separating it from Mindanao. It 
is extensive and irregular, having an area of 3,087 square miles and a 
population of 270,491. A high and abrupt mountain chain crosses the island 
nearly parallel to the west coast; the coasts are high, with good natural 
harbors. In the northern part and on the western slopes of the great sierras, 
streams of potable water and also many lagoons abound. This is different from 
the eastern part, where the latter are scarce. The principal product of the 
island is abaca, but rice is also raised and cocoanut oil is extracted. There 
are unworked mines of gold, magnetite, and sulphur.

The capital is Tacloban, with a population of 5,226. It is situated 338 miles 
from Manila. Among the important towns are Baru, population 12,222; Borauen, 
21,290; Cauyaia, 13,732; Dagami, 25,000; Hilongos, 13,713; Jaio, 12,475; Massiu, 
18,499; Palo, 17,736; Tauauau, 18,509.

The island of Negros is mountainous and wild; its coasts are difficult of 
access, and the breakers strong, except on the west coast from Point Bulucabo on 
the north of Palompon on the west, where it is marshy. A high mountain chain 
crosses it from Point Doong on the north to the harbor and point Bombonon on the 
south; from the last third extend several ramifications of high mountains, 
terminating on the coast at the extreme south and in the Sierra Dumaguete. Its 
streams are not important, being short and of little value. The ground is uneven 
but fertile. The natives irrigate their estates, and produce tobacco, coffee, 
sugar cane, and wheat. Manufactures consist in fabrics of abaca and canonegro, 
of which boat cables are made. The interior of the island, covered with thick 
forests, is almost unexplored, being inhabited by a few savages.

The Province of Western Negros is situated on Negros Island, it is bounded on 
the north by the Visayas Sea, on the west by the Paragua Sea, and on the south 
and east by the Province of Eastern Negros. The area is 1,929 square miles, and 
the population 226,995.

The capital is Bacolod, with a population of 6,268. It is the residence of the 
politico-military governor, the secretary, judge, attorney-general, and several 
public functionaries.

It is situated 379 miles from Manila.

The Province of Negros has a population of 94,782--the capital, Dumaguete, 
13,613.

The Province of Romblon consists of the following six islands: Romblon (the 
principal one), Tablas, Sibuyan, Banton, Simara, and Maestre Campo. It is 
bounded on the north by the Tayabas Sea, on the south by the Visayas Sea, on the 
east by the Sea of Masbate, and on the west by the Sea of Mindoro. The area is 
813 square miles, and the population 38,633, distributed among 13 barrios and 3 
rancherias of infieles.

The capital is Romblon, with a population of 6,764. It is situated on the harbor 
of the same name at the north of the island, 204 miles from Manila, and is the 
residence of the politico-military commander.

The Island and Province of Samar is situated to the southeast of Luzon, it is 
bounded en the north by the Strait of San Bernardino, on the south by the 
Jahanetes Canal, separating it from Leyte Island, on the east by the Pacific 
Ocean, and on the west by the Visayas Sea. It is very mountainous, with high, 
steep coasts. A number of sierras and mountains extend in various directions, 
forming valleys and glens fertilized by numerous rivers, which, however, have 
little current and volume. The length of the island is 155 miles. The chief 
products are abaca, rice, and cocoanuts, oil being extracted from the latter. 
Among the medicinal plants the most highly valued is the catbalonga seed. 
Commerce is quite active in spite of the few means of communication and the 
dangerous coasts. The island is visited yearly by tornadoes which devastate 
crops and cause much damage to agriculture. The high mountains and thick forests 
of the interior are inhabited by a great number of savages who have sought 
refuge here. The area is 4,699 square miles, and the population 200,753, 
distributed among 43 pueblos, 208 visitas, and 3 rancherias of subdued infieles.

The capital is Catbalogan, population of 6,459, situated on the harbor and bay 
of like name on the west of the island 338 miles from Manila, and is the 
residence of the politico-military governor.

The Jolo Archipelago, formed of some 160 islands, is situated southwest of 
Mindanao and south of Basilan. It is bounded on the south by the Jolo Sea, on 
the northeast by Mindanao and on the west and southwest by Borneo. The small 
islands are covered with mangroves, while the large ones have thick forests of 
good timber, and the natives raise rice, maize, and various alimentary roots, 
ambergris being found on the coasts. The principal island, called Sulu, or Jolo 
(ch. 47, 48, 49, 50, p. 285), is occupied in a military way by the Spanish 
forces, whose chief, or governor, resides in the old capital, which has well-
constructed and armed forts, a pier, etc. By royal decree of November 13, 1877, 
the sultanship was transformed into a civico-military government. The population 
consists of 500 aborigines, 612 Chinese traders, and 16,000 negroes.

Next to Luzon, the island of Mindanao is the most extensive and important of the 
Philippines.

By decree of July 30, 1860, the territorial division of this island was 
definitely established, and a civico-military government, under the denomination 
of Mindanao and adjacent islands, was created. It is divided into eight 
districts. The island is situated between Visayas on the north and Borneo on the 
south; it is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the 
island of Paragua, the Strait of Balabac, and Borneo. The area is 16,595 square 
miles, and the population 611,300, of which 211,000 are Christians and the rest 
Mohammedans and Pagans. It is very extensive and irregular in form, possessing 
high and extended mountain chains, which have not been entirely explored, and 
which are grown over with very rich woods. It is inhabited almost throughout the 
interior by savages. Its rivers, some of great volume, are as follows: On the 
north coast and Butuan Bay, the Jabonga and Butuan: on the Macajalar coast, the 
Cagayan; in Eligan Bay, the Malanao and others of minor importance; in the cove 
of Dapitan, the Palaven.

In Port Kakule the greatest rise of tide is seven feet. In Surigao Strait the 
flood tide sets to the west, and the ebb to the east. The velocity of the stream 
in the strait reaches six knots at springs. There is a difference of about two 
hours between the time of high water at Surigao and in Surigao Strait. Fishermen 
roughly estimate that when the moon rises the ebb tide commences to run in 
Surigao Strait. From January to June there is but one high water during the 
twenty-four hours, in Surigao Strait, which occurs during the night. From July 
to December the same phenomenon takes place, but the time of high water is by 
day.

From observations made by the Spanish surveyors, it appears that the highest 
tide on the west coasts of the islands of the strait takes place at the same 
hour as the lowest tide on the east coasts.

The Mindanao river disembogues five miles to the south of Palak Harbor by two 
wide arms, on the northernmost of which is the town of Kota-batu, about 5 1/2 
miles from the mouth. The river is navigable for 60 miles by vessels of 3 1/2 
feet draught; it flows through a beautiful valley 30 miles in width, which 
scarcely shows any change of level; the valley is capable of producing tobacco, 
cacao, sugar, maize, and cotton; but this is only known at present by specimens 
produced. The course of the river lies SE. for 45 miles from its mouth to the 
lake Ligauasan, out of which it is seen to flow; from the other side of the lake 
the direction of the river is NNE. to its source in the Sugut Mountains. At 21 
miles from the northern mouth the river divides into two arms, which enter the 
sea 4 1/2 miles apart.

In the northern part of Mindanao is the province of Surigao, bordered on the 
north by the Surigao Sea, on the east by the Pacific, on the south by the 
District of Davao, and on the west by the territory of the infieles. It is 
mountainous, but the Christian population resides on the coasts and in the 
northern point of the territory. The population is 95,775, distributed among 45 
pueblos, 10 barrios, and 30 rancherias of subdued infieles. Abaca and palay are 
raised, and in the gold washings considerable gold of good quality is found.

Military notes on the Philippines affirm that the islands are, in many respects, 
Spain's best possessions, due to the abundance and variety of products, numerous 
and good ports, character of inhabitants, and on account of the vicinity of 
certain countries of eastern Asia, which are now entering upon a stage of 
civilization and commerce. The group is composed of some 2,000 islands. In 1762 
Manila was taken and held by the English for a ransom of 1,000,000 pounds 
sterling. This, however, was never paid, and the islands were finally returned 
to Spain.

The archipelago extends from 5 degrees 32 minutes to 19 degrees 38 minutes, 
north latitude, and from 117 degrees to 126 degrees, east longitude. It thus 
covers about 1,000 miles north and south and 600 east and west.

The whole surface of the Philippines is essentially mountainous, the only plains 
that occur being alluvial districts at the river mouths and the spaces left by 
the intersection of the ranges. The principal ranges have a tendency to run 
north and south, with a certain amount of deflection east and west, as the case 
may be, so that the orographic diagram of the archipelago, as a whole, has a 
similarity to a fan, with northern Luzon as its center of radiation.

While none of the mountain peaks greatly exceed 8,000 feet in height, Apo, in 
Mindanao, is over 9,000 feet; Halson, in Mindoro, is over 8,900 feet; and Mayon, 
in Luzon, over 8,200. The latter is an active volcano, which has been the scene 
of several eruptions during the present century. Extinct or active craters are 
relatively as numerous in the Philippines as in the eastern archipelago, and as 
a consequence of these subterranean forces earthquakes are frequent and violent.

In 1627 one of the most elevated mountains of Cagayan disappeared, and on the 
island of Mindanao, in 1675, a passage was opened to the sea and a vast plain 
emerged. The more recent of the convulsions occurred in 1863 and in 1880. The 
destruction of property was great, especially in Manila.

The general belief is that the Philippines once formed a part of an enormous 
continent from which it was separated by some cataclysm. This continent probably 
extended from Celebes to the farthest Polinesian islands on the east, to New 
Zealand on the south, and the Mariana and Sandwich islands on the north.

These islands, according to Ramon Jordana, are divided into two volcanic 
regions, the eastern and the western. The principal point is the volcano Taal, 
located in the northeastern portion of the province of Batangas. It is situated 
on a small island in the center of the Bombon laguna, and has an altitude of 550 
feet above sea level. Its form is conical, and the rock is composed of basalt 
feldspar with a small quantity of augite. The crater is supposed to be 232 feet 
deep. Its sides are almost vertical, and there are two steaming lagunas at its 
bottom.

In the regions embracing the provinces of Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and 
Pangasinan the soil is mostly composed of clay containing remnants of sea 
shells, a circumstance which gives rise to the belief that the coast of Manila 
has risen from the sea in not so remote an epoch. Smooth, dark gray tophus 
predominates; it forms the bed of the Rio Pasig, and rising forms hillocks in 
the vicinity of the city of Binangonan. Farther on, trachyte and banks of 
conchiferous sand predominate.

The vast plain of Panpanga extends to the north of Manila Bay, to the south of 
which is situated Mount Arayat, of doleritic nature.

The disposition of the mountain ranges in parallel chains affords space for the 
development of streams both in Luzon and Mindanao. The larger islands contain 
inland seas, into which pour countless small streams from the inland hills. Many 
of them open out into broad estuaries, and in numerous instances coasting 
vessels of light draft can sail to the very foot of the mountains. Rivers and 
inland lakes swarm with varieties of fish and shellfish. By reason of Spanish 
restrictions, but little can be said as to the character of the stream banks and 
beds. Four of the rivers are navigable, and, by the statements of those who have 
spent some little time on the islands, most are fordable. Drinking water is 
obtained by many of the towns from the rivers at points just above tide limits, 
and the water is said to be good. Bridges are few and crude, but are generally 
built to withstand heavy strain.

The island of Luzon abounds in rivers and streams. The following are the 
principal water courses:

Rio Grande de Cagayan, the source of which is in the northern slope of the 
Caraballo Norte. It has numerous affluents, among others the Magat and Bangag, 
and, after a course of about 200 miles, falls into the China Sea in the vicinity 
of Aparri.

Agro Grande starts in the north, in the neighborhood of the ranch of Loo, 
receives the affluents Tarlag and Camiling, as well as many others, has a course 
of about 112 miles, and falls into the Gulf of Lingayen.

Abra has its origin on the opposite slope to that where Agno Grande takes its 
rise; runs for about 87 miles, and, after receiving the affluent Suyoc, divides 
into three arms and falls into the China Sea over the sand bars of Butao, Nioig, 
and Dile.

Rio Grande de la Pampanga is called Rio Chico up to the lake of Canasen, near 
Arayat, where it changes its name after its junction with Rio Gapan. Its course 
is a little over 38 miles; it receives the Rio de San Jose and divides into a 
multitude of arms as it falls into the sea to the north of Manila Bay.

Rio Pasig has its source in the Bay Lagoon, and falls after a course of 19 miles 
into Manila Bay.

The military notes on the climate of the Philippines, the official record of the 
temperature and the gales and typhoons, and directions regarding the handling of 
ships in the peculiar tempests that prevail at certain seasons around the 
islands, are of absorbing popular interest, and of striking special usefulness.

Climate.--In the region of Manila, the hottest season is from March to June, the 
greatest heat being felt in May before the rains set in, when the maximum 
temperature ranges from 80 degrees to 100 degrees in the shade. The coolest 
weather occurs in December and January, when the temperature falls at night to 
60 or 65 degrees, and seldom rises in the day above 75 degrees. From November to 
February the sky is bright, the atmosphere cool and dry, and the weather in 
every way delightful. Observations made at the Observatortio Meteorologico de 
Manila have been compiled by the United States Weather Bureau, covering a record 
of from seventeen to thirty-two years, from which the following is an extract:

Temperature, degrees F.:
Mean annual 80 degrees
Warmest month 82 degrees
Coolest month 79 degrees
Highest 100 degrees
Lowest 60 degrees

Humidity:br Relative per cent 78
Absolute grains per cubic foot 8.75

Wind movements in miles:
Daily mean 134
Greatest daily 204
Least daily 95

Prevailing wind direction--N.E., November to April; SW., May to October.

Cloudiness, annual per cent 53
Days with rain 135

Rainfall in inches:
Mean annual 75.43
Greatest monthly 120.98
Least monthly 55.65

The following is the mean temperature for the three seasons, at points 
specified:

           Cold.       Hot.        Wet.
Manila  72 degrees  87 degrees  84 degrees
Cebu    75 degrees  86 degrees  75 degrees
Davao   86 degrees  88 degrees  87 degrees
Sulu    81 degrees  82 degrees  83 degrees 

Seasons vary with the prevailing winds (monsoons or trade winds) and are classed 
as "wet" and "dry." There is no abrupt change from one to the other, and between 
periods there are intervals of variable weather.

The Spanish description of seasons is as follows:

Seis meses de lodo--six months of mud. Seis meses de polvo--six months of dust. 
Seis meses de todo--six months of everything.

The northern islands lie in the track of the typhoons which, developing in the 
Pacific, sweep over the China Sea from NE. to SW. during the southwest monsoon. 
They may be looked for at any time between May and November, but it is during 
the months of July, August, and September that they are most frequent. Early in 
the season the northern region feels the greatest force, but as the season 
advances the typhoon gradually works southward and the dangerous time at Manila 
is about the end of October and the beginning of November. Typhoons rarely, if 
ever, pass south of 9 degrees N. latitude. Sometimes the typhoon is of large 
diameter and travels slowly, so far as progressive movement is concerned; at 
others it is of smaller dimensions, and both the circular and progressive 
motions are more rapid. However they are always storms of terrific energy and 
frequently cause terrible destruction of crops and property on shore and of 
shipping at sea. Thunderstorms, often of great violence, are frequent in May and 
June, before the commencement of the rainy season. During July, August, 
September, and October the rains are very heavy. The rivers and lakes are 
swollen and frequently overflow, flooding large tracts of low country.

At Manila the average rainfall is stated to be from 75 to 120 inches per annum, 
and there the difference between the longest and shortest day is only 1 hour 47 
minutes and 12 seconds. This rainfall, immense though it be, is small as 
compared with that of other parts of the archipelago; e.g., in Liano, NE. of 
Mindanao, the average yearly downpour is 142 inches.

Gales.--The gales of the Philippines may be divided into three classes, known by 
the local names of Colla, Nortada, and Baguio. The Colla is a gale in which the 
wind blows constantly from one quarter, but with varying force and with 
alternations of violent squalls, calms, and heavy rains, usually lasting at 
least three days; these gales occur during the southwest monsoon and their 
direction is from the southwest quarter. The Nortada is distinguished from the 
Colla, in that the direction is constant and the force steady, without the 
alternations of passing squalls and calms. The Nortada is generally indicative 
that a typhoon is passing not very far off. These gales occur chiefly in the 
northern islands, and their direction, as the name implies, is from the 
northward. Baguio is the local name for the revolving storm known as the 
typhoon, which, being the more familiar term, will be used in these notes.

Typhoons.--These storms have their origin to the east or to the southeast of the 
Philippines, whence their course is westward, with a slight divergence to the 
north or south, the average direction appearing to be west by north. They occur 
in all months of the year, but the greater number take place about the time of 
the equinoxes. The most violent ones occur at the autumnal equinox, and on an 
average, two or three occur every year, and sometimes one follows another at a 
very short interval. It is believed that when one of these typhoons passes a 
high latitude in September there will be another in October of that year, and 
one may be looked for in November in a lower latitude. These tempests are not 
encountered in latitudes below 9 degrees N. The rate of progress of these storms 
is about 13 miles an hour; in none of those observed has it exceeded 14 miles 
nor fallen below 11 miles. The diameter of the exterior revolving circle of the 
storm varies from 40 to 130 miles, and the diameter of the inner circle or calm 
region, may be estimated at from 8 to 15 miles. The duration of the true typhoon 
at any one place is never longer than ten hours and generally much less. These 
storms are always accompanied by abundant rain, with low, dense clouds, which at 
times limit the horizon to a few yards distance, and are generally accompanied 
by electrical discharges. The barometer falls slowly for some days before the 
typhoon, then falls rapidly on its near approach, and reaches its lowest when 
the vortex is but a little way off. It then rises rapidly as the vortex passes 
away, and then slowly when it has gained some distance. Near the vortex there 
are usually marked oscillations. The typhoon generally begins with a northerly 
wind, light drizzling rain, weather squally and threatening, a falling barometer 
and the wind veering to the eastward, when the observer is to the northward of 
the path of the storm, and backing to the westward when he is to the southward 
of it; the wind and rain increase as the wind shifts, and the storm generally 
ends with a southerly wind after abating gradually.

The following warnings of the approach of a typhoon, and directions for avoiding 
the most dangerous part of it, are taken from the China Sea Directory: The 
earlier signs of a typhoon are clouds of a cirrus type, looking like fine hair, 
feathers or small white tufts of wool, traveling from east or north, a slight 
rise in the barometer, clear and dry weather, and light winds. These signs are 
followed by the usual ugly and threatening appearance of the weather which 
forbodes most storms, and the increasing number and severity of the gusts with 
the rising of the wind. In some cases one of the earliest signs is a long heavy 
swell and confused sea, which comes from the direction in which the storm is 
approaching and travels more rapidly than the storm's center. The best and 
surest of all warnings, however, will be found in the barometer. In every case 
there is great barometric disturbance. Accordingly, if the barometer falls 
rapidly, or even if the regularity of its diurnal variation be interrupted, 
danger may be apprehended. No positive rule can be given as to the amount of 
depression to be expected, but at the center of some of the storms the barometer 
is said to stand fully 2 inches lower than outside the storm field. The average 
barometric gradient, near the vortex of the most violent of these storms, is 
said to be rather more than 1 inch in 50 nautical miles. As the center of the 
storm is approached the more rapid become the changes of wind, until at length, 
instead of its direction altering gradually, as is the case on first entering 
the storm field, the wind flies around at once to the opposite point, the sea 
meanwhile breaking into mountainous and confused heaps. There are many instances 
on record of the wind suddenly falling in the vortex and the clouds dispersing 
for a short interval, though the wind soon blows again with renewed fury.

In the northern hemisphere when the falling barometer and other signs create 
suspicion that a typhoon is approaching, facing the wind and taking 10 or 12 
points to the right of it, will give the approximate bearing of its center. 
Thus, with the wind NE., the center will probably be from S. to SSE. of the 
observer's position. However, it is difficult to estimate the center of the 
vortex from any given point. This partly arises from the uncertainty as to the 
relation between the bearing of the center and the direction of the wind, and 
greatly from there being no means of knowing whether the storm be of large or 
small dimensions. If the barometer falls slowly, and the weather grows worse 
only gradually, it is reasonable to suppose that the storm center is distant; 
and conversely, with a rapidly falling barometer and increasing bad weather the 
center may be supposed to be approaching dangerously near.

Practical Rules.--When in the region and in the season of revolving storms, be 
on the watch for premonitory signs. Constantly observe and carefully record the 
barometer.

When on sea and there are indications of a typhoon being near, heave to and 
carefully observe and record the changes of the barometer and wind, so as to 
find the bearing of the center, and ascertain by the shift of the wind in which 
semicircle the vessel is situated. Much will often depend upon heaving to in 
time. When, after careful observation, there is reason to believe that the 
center of the typhoon is approaching, the following rules should be followed in 
determining whether to remain hove to or not, and the tack on which to remain 
hove to:

In the northern hemisphere, if the right-hand semicircle, heave to on the 
starboard tack. If in the left-hand semicircle, run, keeping the wind if 
possible, on the starboard quarter, and when the barometer rises, if necessary 
to keep the ship from going too far from the proper course, heave to on the port 
tack. When the vessel lies in the direct line of advance of the storm--which 
position is, as previously observed, the most dangerous of all--run with the 
wind on the starboard quarter. In all cases increase as soon as possible the 
distance from the center, bearing in mind that the whole storm field is 
advancing.

In receding from the center of a typhoon the barometer will rise and the wind 
and sea subside. It should be remarked that in some cases a vessel may, if the 
storm be traveling slowly, sail from the dangerous semicircle across the front 
of the storm, and thus out of its influence. But as the rate at which the storm 
is traveling is quite uncertain, this is a hazardous proceeding, and before 
attempting to cross the seaman should hesitate and carefully consider all the 
circumstances of the case, observing particularly the rate at which the 
barometer is falling.

Northward of the Equator the current is divided into north and south equatorial 
currents by the equatorial counter-current, a stream flowing from west to east 
throughout the Pacific Ocean. The currents in the western part of the Pacific, 
to the northward of the Equator, are affected by the monsoons, and to the 
southward of the Equator they are deflected by the coast of Australia.

The trade drift, which flows to the westward between the parallels of 9 degrees 
and 20 degrees N., on reaching the eastern shores of the Philippine Islands 
again turns to the northward, forming near the northern limit of that group the 
commencement of the Japan stream. The main body of the current then flows along 
the east coast of Formosa, and from that island pursues a northeasterly course 
through the chain of islands lying between Formosa and Japan; and sweeping along 
the southeastern coast of Japan in the same general direction, it is known to 
reach the parallel of 50 degrees N. The limits and velocity of the Japan stream 
are considerably influenced by the monsoons in the China. Sea, and by the 
prevailing winds in the corresponding seasons in the Yellow and Japan seas; also 
by the various drift currents which these periodic winds produce.

Admiral Dewey has forwarded to the navy department a memorandum on mineral 
resources of the Philippines prepared at the admiral's request by Professor 
George W. Becker of the United States geological survey. Only about a score of 
the several hundred islands, he says, are known to contain deposits of valuable 
minerals. He includes a table showing the mineral bearing islands and their 
resources. This table follows:

    "Luzon, coal, gold, copper, lead, iron, sulphur, marble, kaolin; 
Sataanduanes, Sibuyan, Bohol and Panaoan, gold only; Marimduque, lead and 
silver; Mindoro, coal, gold and copper; Carraray, Batan, Rapu Rapu, Semarara, 
Negros, coal only; Masbete, coal and copper; Romblon, marble; Samar, coal and 
gold; Panay, coal, oil, gas, gold, copper, iron and perhaps mercury; Biliram, 
sulphur only; Leyte, coal, oil and perhaps mercury; Cebu, coal, oil, gas, gold, 
lead, silver and iron; Mindanao, coal, gold, copper and platinum; Sulu 
archipelago, pearls."

The coal, Mr. Becker says, is analogous to the Japanese coal and that of 
Washington, but not to that of the Welsh or Pennsylvania coals. It might better 
be characterized as a highly carbonized lignite, likely to contain much sulphur 
as iron pyrites, rendering them apt to spontaneous combustion and injurious to 
boiler plates. Nevertheless, he says, when pyrites seams are avoided and the 
lignite is properly handled, it forms a valuable fuel, especially for local 
consumption.

Not least among the promising resources of the Philippines is a curious natural 
product. Several vegetable growths appear to possess the faculty of secreting 
mineral concretions, in all respects resembling certain familiar precious 
stones. The famous James Smithson was the first to give any real attention to 
these curious plant gems, but, though there can be no doubt of their 
authenticity, neither scientist nor merchant has followed this lead. One of the 
jewels, the bamboo opal, rivals the best stones in its delicate tints of red and 
green, but it is among the rarest, and 1,000 stems may be cut up before a single 
specimen be found.


CHAPTER XIX

Specifications of Grievances of the Filipinos.

An Official Copy of the Manifesto of the Junta Showing the Bad Faith of Spain in 
the Making and Evasion of a Treaty--The Declaration of the Renewal of the War of 
Rebellion--Complaints Against the Priests Defined--The Most Important Document 
the Filipinos Have Issued--Official Reports of Cases of Persecution of Men and 
Women in Manila by the Spanish Authorities--Memoranda of the Proceedings in 
Several Cases in the Court of Inquiry of the United States Officers.

The pages following, showing a cynical disregard of a solemn treaty by the 
Spaniards, a complete exposure of the reasons the Filipinos had for renewing the 
war, and the particulars of cases of individual wrongs suffered, as they were 
made known in the course of legal investigation, have been received direct from 
Manila, and enable us to complete the story of the Philippines with the 
testimony that the depravity of bad faith in regard to treaties, and incidents 
of personal cruelties in Spanish colonial governments, have illustrations in the 
Philippines as in Cuba, and demand of the American Nation in the hour of victory 
that Spain shall lose now and forever all her possessions in the East and West 
Indies, and be restricted to the peninsula and islands--the Canary and Balearic 
groups--that is, in two words to home rule. The circumstances of the treaty 
between the Philippine Junta--the treaty of Biyak--and the Spanish authorities, 
are of great notoriety, but the Philippine story has not until now reached the 
English speaking peoples. We give it from the official paper:

"On signing the Treaty of Biyak na bato, we, the natives of the Philippines and 
the government of Spain, agreed that between our armies be established an 
armistice which was to last three years from the date of the mentioned treaty.

"The natives were to lay down their arms and turn them over to the Spanish 
authorities with all their depot (maestranza, a manufactory of ammunition, for 
repairs of rifles, etc., etc.) their ammunitions and forts.

"The Spanish authorities, on the other hand, bound themselves to consent to the 
reforms (of public opinion amongst) the natives of the country claim; reforms 
which, according to the text of the decree of 9th August, 1897, the Captain and 
Guberno General assured us were granted and the execution of which was suspended 
on account of the insurrection.

"The reforms asked for and granted were the following:

1. Expulsion or at least exclaustration of the religious orders.

2. Representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes.

3. Application of real justice in the Philippines, equal for the Indian and for 
the Peninsular. Unity of laws between Spain and the Philippines. Participation 
of the Indians in the chief offices of the Civil Administration.

4. Adjustment of the property of the Parishes (church property) and of 
contributions in favor of the Indians.

5. Proclamation of the individual rights of the Indians, as also of the liberty 
of the press and of association.

"The same Spanish government agreed to pay the liberating government a war 
indemnity, reduced to the limited sum of 600,000 pesos, in payment of the arms, 
ammunitions, depots and forts which were surrendered, and in order to indemnify 
those who were to be obliged to live abroad during the term of the armistice, as 
an assistance to stay out of the Philippines while they were trying to establish 
themselves and looking for legitimate and decorous means of existence.

"It was agreed in like manner that General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera, Goberno 
General of the islands, should remain in his post during the time of the 
armistice, as a guarantee that the reforms be established.

"And, finally, said authority promised that he would propose and there would be 
conceded a very ample amnesty.

"Contrary to what was stipulated, the mentioned General was removed from his 
post shortly after the agreement was signed; and although the liberating 
government had fulfilled the laying down and delivery of the arms, ammunitions, 
depot and forts of its general encampment, the reforms were not established, 
only part of the offered indemnity has been paid and the amnesty remains a 
project only, some pardons being given.

"The government of Madrid, deriding the natives, and with contempt of what had 
signed as a gentleman the General Commander of their army in the field, tried, 
instead of carrying out the expulsion or exclaustration of the Priests, to 
elevate them more, nominating at once for the two bishoprics, vacant in the 
colonies, two Priests of those same religious orders that oppressed the country 
and were the first cause of the insurrection, the disorder and the general 
dissatisfaction in the islands; thus ridiculing the virtue, knowledge and worth 
of the numerous secular Spanish clergy, and especially of that of the 
Philippines.

"Not contented with this, they have raised and rewarded those Peninsulars who in 
the Philippines, as in Madrid, more cowardly and miserable still, because they 
abused their position and the protection of those same authorities who signed 
the treaty, insulted at banquets, assemblies and through the press, with 
epithets and jokes offensive and vulgar, the patient natives; as happened with 
the Peninsular Rafael Comenge, the protege and farcical table companion of the 
Priest, who amongst us performs the duties of the Archbishopric of Manila; the 
Minister of War has just conceded the said Comenge the grand cross of military 
merit, for shouting against us and imputing to us every kind of baseness and 
vices, knowing that he was lying, and for exacting from the gamblers of the 
Casino Espanol of Manila, as their president; the contribution of 30,000 pesos, 
to present General Primo de Rivera with a golden statute of that value, and, a 
curious coincident, this brave was one of the first who escaped from Manila, 
full of fear when the news arrived there that an American squadron would attack 
that port and that the risk he would run was real.

"You have seen before now, how that insect Wencestao Retana was rewarded with a 
cooked up deputyship to the Cortes, that salaried reptile of the Philippine 
convents, who, with the aid of that tyrant General Weyler, his worthy godfather, 
the despotic incendiary of the town of Calamba, of ominous memory amongst us, 
does nothing but vomit rabid foam, insulting us by day and night with calumnies 
and shrieks, in that paper whose expenses the Procurators of the Manila convents 
pay.

"Prepare yourselves also for seeing that a titled nobility be given to the well 
known 'Quioguiap' (fecer y Temprado), writer in the 'El Liberat,' of Madrid, 
who, to be in unison with the priests, does not cease to call us inferior race, 
troglodytes, without human nature or understanding, big boy; the same who, in 
order to deprive the rich 'Abellas' (father and son) of Carnarines, of the 
position they had conquered by their industry, economy and intelligence as 
almost exclusive purchasers of the Abaco (Manila hemp) of that region, tried and 
succeeded villainously in having them accused and shot in the camp of 
Bagumbayan; the same who afterwards sought in vain the reward of his criminal 
attempts, although conscious of his perverseness, to deliver to himself the 
produce of their harvest and their labor.

"Peace was hardly made, when General Primo de Rivera denied the existence of the 
agreement and shot day after day those same persons whom he had promised to 
protect, believing foolishly that, the nucleus of the revolution once destroyed, 
the insurgents would need thirty or forty years in order to reunite themselves; 
but he accepted freely the pension of the grand cross of San Fernando, which, as 
a reward for the peace, he was given.

"The same happened with bloodthirsty Monet, the author of the hecatomb of 
Zambales, who was promoted to the rank of a general and honored by a grand 
cross; also with his competitor in brutal deeds, General Tejeirs, the assassin 
of the Bisayos, and with the Vice Admiral Montojo, so severely punished later 
on, by whose orders the city of Cebu was destroyed and demolished, to revenge 
the death of an impure Recoleto Priest.

"In eloquent contrast with what the natives had to expect, there has not been 
one single concession or reward for the credulous Pedro A. Paterno, a Filipino, 
the only real agent of the miracle of the Peace, to whom they have denied even 
the modest historical title 'Maguinong' (Don).

"Add to all these infamies and indignities the removal of General Primo de 
Rivera, who, we repeat, was bound to remain in Manila during the three years of 
the armistice, and the nomination in his stead of another governor, General 
Augusti, who, completely without knowledge of the country, brought with him as 
his counsellor the unworthy Colonel Olive, the same who had proceeded with the 
utmost haste and greatest partiality and passion against the pretended 
chieftains, authors, protectors and followers of the sacred movement begun in 
August, 1896; who had, as military prosecutor for the 'Captain General,' exacted 
with insolent cynicism, and with the knowledge and consent of his superior 
officers, considerable sums of money from those who wished to be absolved, in 
order to imprison them again when they did not comply with all his extortions; 
the same who, with shameless partiality worked and used his influence all he 
could towards the shooting of the immortal Tagalo martyr, Dr. Jose Rizal; the 
same finally, who, during the command of weak General Blanco and of bloodthirsty 
and base General Polariyi demanded continually the imprisoning of the so-called 
'Sons of the Country,' the descendants of the Europeans, that is, who had 
amongst us any importance by their learning, their industry, their fortunes or 
their lineage, and who were not willing to bribe him so as to be left in 
liberty.

"In view of this series of acts of faithlessness, of contempt, of insults, of 
crimes, and before all, the forgetting of the treaty, so recently as well as 
solemnly entered upon, those same who signed the treaty of Biyak na bato, have 
considered themselves free of the obligation to remain abroad and of keeping any 
longer the promised armistice.

"And, taking advantage of the Providential coming to the Philippines of the 
revenging squadron of the Great Republic of the United States of North America, 
they come back to their native soil proud and contented, to reconquer their 
liberty and their rights, counting on the aid and protection of the brave, 
decided, and noble Admiral Dewey, of the Anglo-Saxon squadron which has 
succeeded in beating and destroying the forces of the tyrants who have been 
annihilating the personality and energy of our industrious people, model of 
noble and glorious qualities.

"The moment has come, therefore, for the Filipinos to count themselves and to 
enter into rank and file in order to defend with zeal and resolution and with a 
virility of strong men, the soil that saw their birth as well as the honor of 
their name, making publicly and universally known their competence, ability and 
their civic, political and social virtues.

"Let us all fight united; seconding the revenging and humanitarian action of the 
North American Republic; and let us learn from her, accepting her counsels and 
her system, the way of living in order, peace and liberty, copying her 
institutions, which are the only adequate ones for the nations who wish to 
reconquer their personality in history, in the period we are passing.

"On going to battle, let us inscribe on our flag with clearness and accuracy the 
sacred legend of our aspirations.

"We want a stable government, elected by the people themselves; the laws of 
which are to be voted for by those same who have to keep them faithfully, 
conserving or modifying their present institutions in the natural times in the 
life of nations, but modeling them and taking us their own, the democratic ones 
of the United States of North America.

"We want the country to vote its taxes; those necessary for public services and 
to satisfy (pay in full) the assistance North America and the corporations, 
organizations and individuals who help us to rise out of our lethargic state, 
are rendering us; taking care at the same time to abolish all those which have 
for basis a social vice or an immoral action, like the lottery, the tax on 
gambling dens, on galleras (arenas for fights of game cocks) and the farming out 
of the sale of opium. But before all, may there nevermore appear again that 
repugnant tax levied on Pederasty, which, to get two thousand pesos offended the 
universal conscience and the chaste name of 'Chinese Comedies.'

"We want plainest liberty in all its bearings, including that of ideas, 
association and the press, without arriving at lawlessness and disorder; just as 
it is established in that great, so well regulated Republic.

"We want to see the religion of the natives and of those that come to this 
country rigorously respected by the public powers and by the individuals in 
particular.

"We want Christianism, the basis of present civilization, to be the emblem and 
solid foundation of our religious institutions, without force or compulsion; 
that the native clergy of the country be that which direct and teach the natives 
in all the degrees of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

"We want the maintenance of this clergy to be effected as the different regional 
governments may see fit, or, as the city councils or popular elective 
institutions established in every locality may determine.

"We want personal property to be absolutely and unconditionally respected; and, 
as a consequence, the recognition to the land holder of the property he 
cultivates and has improved by his labor, of the so-called Haciendas of the 
religious orders, who have usurped them and robbed them by the perverse acts of 
the confessionary, beguiling the fanaticism of ignorant women and or more than 
timid aged man, afraid of the vengeance the priests in their innate wickedness 
might meditate against their families, who extorted from them dues at the last 
moments of their existence denying them spiritual aid and divine rewards without 
the cession of their material interests before departing from this earth.

"We want the possessions of these land holders to be respected without their 
being obliged to pay any canon, lease or tax whatsoever of religious character, 
depressive or unjust, ceasing thus their detainment, anti-juridicial and anti-
social, on the part of monarchial orders, rapacious orders whom, on the strength 
of their being a 'necessary evil,' the ignorant functionaries of Spanish 
administration, like themselves insatiable extortioners, have been aiding, in 
disdain of right, reason and equity.

"We want in order to consolidate the property, the ominous 'Inspection de 
Montes,' to disappear and cease in its actual functions, as a disorganizing and 
fiscalizing center of the titles of property of the natives, which on pretense 
of investigating and discovering the detainment of State lands, had the custom 
of declaring the property of the State or of others, such as was already 
cultivated and producing by the improvements made by the poor peasant, awarding 
such to their friends or to those who bribe them if the legitimate proprietor 
refused to give them, in shameless auction, what they asked for as a 
remuneration for what they called 'shutting their eyes,' as has happened lately, 
amongst other scandalous cases, in Mindoro, when staking out the limits of the 
new Hacienda adjudged there to the Recoleto Priests.

"We want public administration to be founded and to act on a basis of morality, 
economy and competence, in the charge of natives of the country or of such 
others who by their experience and learning can serve us as guides and teach us 
the basis and the system of those countries who have their economical, political 
and administrative offices and proceedings simplified and well organized.

"We want the recognition of all the substantive rights of the human personality; 
guaranteed by judicial power, cemented in the principles in force in all the 
cultured nations; that the judicial authorities, when applying the laws, be 
penetrated by and identified with the spirit and the necessities of the 
locality; that the administration of justice be developed by simple, economical 
and decisive proceedings; and that judges and magistrates have their 
attributions limited by the functions of a jury and by verbal and public 
judgment, making thus disappear the actual state of affairs, of which 
prevarication and crooked dealings are the natural and necessary mark.

"We want sensible codes, adapted to our manner of being without differentiation 
of races and without odious privileges contrary to the principle of equality 
before the law.

"We want the increase and protection of our industries by means of subventions 
and of local and transient privileges without putting barriers to the general 
exchange of produce and of mercantile transactions with all the nations of the 
globe without exception.

"We want liberty of banking business, liberty of mercantile and industrial 
societies and companies, commercial liberty, and that the Philippines cease to 
be shut up amongst the walls of its convents, to become again the universal 
market, like that of Hongkong, that of Singapore, that of the Straits, that of 
Borneo, that of the Moluccas, and that of some of the autonomous colonies of 
Australia, countries which surround us; and that capital may with confidence 
develop all the elements of wealth of this privileged soil, without more duties 
or charges on import and export than those the circumstances of each epoch may 
require for determined purposes.

"We want roads, canals and ports, the dredging of our rivers and other 
waterways, railroads, tramways and all the means of locomotion and transport, on 
water and earth, with such help and assistance as may be needed to carry them 
out within a certain time and develop them conveniently.

"We want the suppression of the so-called 'Guardia Civil,' this pretorian and 
odious institution in whose malignment and inhuman meshes so many Philippine 
martyrs have suffered and expired; that center of tortures and iniquities, those 
contemptible flatterers of small tyrants and of the concupiscense of the 
priests, those insatiable extortioners of the poor native; those hardened 
criminals animated constantly in their perverseness by the impunity with which 
their accomplices, the representatives of despotism and official immorality, 
covered them.

"In their stead we want a judicial and gubernatorial police, which is to watch 
over and oblige the fulfillment of existing laws and regulations without 
tortures and abuses.

"We want a local army, composed of native volunteers, strictly limited to what 
order and natural defense demands.

"We want a public instruction less levitical and more extensive in what refers 
to natural and positive sciences; so that it may be fitted to industrate woman 
as well as man in the establishment and development of the industries and wealth 
of the country, marine and terrestrial mining, forestal and industrial of all 
kinds, an instruction which is to be free of expenses in all its degrees and 
obligatory in its primary portion, leaving and applying to this object all such 
property as is destined to-day to supply the sustainment of the same; taking 
charge of the administration of such property a Council of Public Instruction, 
not leaving for one moment longer in the hands of religious institutions, since 
these teach only prejudice and fanaticism, proclaiming, as did not long since a 
rector of the university of Manila, that 'medicine and physical sciences are 
materialistic and impious studies,' and another, that 'political economy was the 
science of the devil.'

"We want to develop this public instruction, to have primary schools, normal 
schools, institutes of second degree, professional schools, universities, 
museums, public libraries, meteorological observatories, agricultural schools, 
geological and botanical gardens and a general practical and theoretical system 
of teaching agriculture, arts and handicraft and commerce. All this exists 
already in the country, but badly organized and dispersed, costing the 
contributors a good deal without practical results, which might have been 
expected, by the incompetency of the teachers and the favoritism employed in 
their nominations and remunerations.

"We want laws for hunting and fishing, and teaching and regular vigilance for 
the faithful carrying on of pisciculture, well-known already to the natives, for 
the advantageous disposing of their marine products, such as conch shell, mother 
of pearl, pearls, bichi de mer, ray skins, fish lime, etc., and for the raising 
of all kinds of animals useful for agricultural and industrial purposes and as 
victuals for the natives and for export.

"We want liberty of immigration and assistance for foreign settlers and 
capitalists, with such restrictions only, when there be an opportunity, as limit 
actually Chinese immigration, similar to legislature on this point in North 
America and Australia.

"We want, finally, anything that be just, equitable and orderly; all that may be 
basis for development, prosperity and well being; all that may be a propelling 
element of morality, virtue and respect to the mutual rights of all the 
inhabitants, in their minor relations and in those with the foreigner.

"Do not believe that the American nation is unbelieving or fanatically 
protestant, that it take to the scaffold or to the fire those who do not believe 
determined principles and practice special religious creeds; within that 
admirable organization, masterly and living model of perfection for the old 
nations of Europe and Asia, lives and prospers the Roman Catholic Church.

"There are some seven million inhabitants who profess that religion directed by 
natural clergy with their proper ministers, taken from that fold of Christ.

"Then there are bishops, archbishops, cardinals of the Roman Church, American 
subjects, beloved faithful of the Pope Leo XIII.

"There then is a Temporal Apostolical Delegate representative of the legitimate 
successor of St. Peter; there are parsons, canons, dignitaries and provisors, 
who live and teach in order peace and prosperity, respected by one and all, as 
you yourselves will be the day the American flag will influence in the spiritual 
direction of the Philippine people.

"Then there are cathedrals, parish churches, temples and chapels, sumptuous and 
admired, where they adore the same God of the Sinai and Golgotha, where severs 
and ostensive cult is rendered to Immaculate Virgin Mary and to the Saints you 
have on your altars and none dare to destroy, attack or prostitute them.

"There then are seminaries, convents, missions, fraternities, schools, 
everything Catholic, richly furnished, well kept up and perfectly managed to the 
glory of the religion.

"There resides His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, a wise Roman Catholic prelate, 
American citizen, who recently and on occasion of the present war, has ordered, 
with consent of His Sanctity, that all the catholic clergy of the American 
nation raise daily prayers to the Most High to obtain the triumph of the arms of 
their country, for the good of religion and humanity, which cause, in the 
present conflict legitimately and unquestionably represents that government.

"And just as Christ, to be Messiah, had to be according to the prophecies, Jew 
and of the Tribe of Judah, that is: By right of his political fatherland, as by 
that of his native soil, of the chosen people, thus amongst you who ever wants 
to be a clergyman or merit being canon, dignitary, provisor, bishop, archbishop 
and cardinal, must as an indispensable condition, have been born on your proper 
soil, as is occurring absolutely in all the civilized nations of the old and new 
world, with the only exception of the Philippines.

"There may be priests, religious congregations, nuns and convents, but 
submissive to the laws of the country and obliged to admit in their bosom as 
formerly happened in these isles, as estimable and superior members of such 
institutions, those feel a vocation for a conventual life, as the noble and 
generous people of North America will demand, and will, do not doubt it, 
recognize these your legitimate rights.

Filipinos and Countrymen.

"The protection of the great American Republic will make you respected and 
considered before the cultured powers, legitimately constituted; and your 
personality will be proclaimed and sanctioned everywhere.

"We have the duty to exact the rights we have just proclaimed and the 'natives' 
in all the isles and in all their different races, as well as the 'Mestizo 
Sangley,' as the 'Mestizo Espanol,' and the 'Son of the Country,' we all have 
the honorable duty of defending ourselves against the whip and the contempt of 
the Spaniards, accepting the protection and direction of the humane North 
American nation.

Viva Filipinos

Hurrah for liberty and right. Hurrah for the Grand Republic of the United States 
of North America. Hurrah for President McKinley and Rear Admiral Dewey.

The Junta Patriotica.

"Hongkong, April, 1898."

Under the authority of the United States there have been inquiries by a court 
into the causes of the imprisonment of the inmates of the penitentiary and 
common jail at Manila, and others who have suffered from the enmities of the 
members of the government that ceased when the Spanish flag was taken down and 
the American flag raised. The memoranda following were made in the court 
proceedings, and state the facts as judicially established.

Fulgencia Tuazon

This lady was confined in Bilibid seven years ago (though the record shows July 
11, 1898,) by order of the Governor-General, on a charge of selling counterfeit 
stamps. She was tried, and sentenced to six years' confinement; but the Judge 
accepted a bribe of $900 and released her about a week after her trial. A year 
afterwards she was again arrested by a new judge on the same charge, and $3,000 
was demanded as the price of her liberty. This was refused, and imprisonment 
followed. She claims to have bought the stamps (which were telegraph stamps), 
from the Government.

Dorotea Arteaga

This young lady, who was a school teacher in her native province, Montinlupa, 
Manila province, was confined in Bilibid, August 8th, 1895, charged with 
"sacrilege and robbery," and insurrection. She came to Malate to see about her 
license as a school teacher, and was arrested by the civil guard on the above 
charge. She claims her arrest was instigated by a priest who had made overtures 
to her to have carnal intercourse with him, and had attempted the same, and had 
been repulsed and refused. To cover up his ill-doing he caused her arrest on the 
charge of having stolen part of the vessels used in the communion service of the 
Roman Catholic church. She has never been married and the Alcalde says, "Her 
conduct in prison has been very good."

Senora Maxima Guerrera

This woman was born in Santa Cruz, in 1838, and has been confined in Bilibid 
since 1890, though the record shows that she was imprisoned July 11, 1898, by 
order of the Governor-General. This date, however, is admitted to be an error by 
the Alcalde, without any explanation of the error. The record shows that she was 
imprisoned because she objected to the Government taking wood off her property 
without paying for it. She claims that since her imprisonment, the Government 
has confiscated $10,000 worth of her property.

Felipe Rementina

This prisoner was confined in the year 1889, when only 12 years old. At that 
time a revolution was in progress in the province in which he resided, and he 
was "captured" by the Spanish forces and sent to Bilibid Carcel. He did not know 
with what he was charged, and while he was tried, he never received any 
sentence.

Jose David

"I was put in here June 13th, 1898. Am a civilian and a 'Katipunan.' Was tried, 
but never sentenced." The foregoing is the testimony of the prisoner Jose David, 
and is quoted here as an example of the testimony of some hundreds of others, 
which is almost identical. Large numbers of the natives seem to be members of 
the "Katipunan" society, which appears to be a revolutionary brotherhood of some 
kind. They have been imprisoned for terms varying from one or two months to 
several years (in some cases ten or twelve years), upon the charge of belonging 
to this society; in very many cases without trial, and in the majority with no 
sentence whatever, and, very largely, simply "on suspicion."

Agapito Calibugar

This man was arrested by the Civil Guard, in July, 1889, in his own house, and 
was tried but not sentenced, or rather did not know what his sentence was. He 
was told that his sentence was served out, but he could not be returned to his 
own province of Negros because the Governor had no ships available for that 
purpose. He had no idea why he was arrested and tried. There are several other 
cases similar to this one, in which the charge is "resisting armed forces"--most 
of which were tried by court martial, and never sentenced.

Gregorio Domingo

This prisoner was confined in Bilibid Carcel on the 25th of November, 1896, the 
entry on the prison record against his name being "no se espresa"--"no charge 
expressed." He was, of course, neither tried nor sentenced, but had been in 
prison almost two years, with absolutely no reason attempted to be made for his 
confinement. This case is also cited as an example of many similar ones.

Jose Trabado

This is the case of a man who was a member of the Katipunan society, but who was 
tried and sentenced. He was imprisoned in Bilibid Carcel, May 5th, 1898, his 
sentence being confinement "cardena perpetua"--"in chains forever." He was one 
of five men who received the same sentence for a like offence. He, with the 
others, was set free August 31st, 1898.

Silvino De Castro

In this case the prisoner, who was formerly employed as a clerk in a grocery 
store, was imprisoned in Bilibid Carcel on the 25th of December, 1897, charged 
with having stolen $4.50 (Spanish, which represents about $2.25 American). His 
story was that he was sent out to collect a bill, but lost the said bill, and 
was therefore accused by his employer of stealing the money, and was imprisoned, 
He was tried, but never received any sentence.

Don Fernando Sierra

The prisoner above named is a full-blooded Spaniard, thirty-eight years of age, 
married, and has one child, three months old. He was confined in Bilibid, May 
28, 1893, for "insulting" a civil guard, while drunk, and was tried and 
sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment. He had already served over 
five years of this sentence, when he was released September 2nd, 1898.

Cristan del Carmen

This man was confined in the Carcel De Bilibid, the "common prison," May 4th, 
1898, and his offense was that he was "suspected of being an American!" For this 
heinous crime he was neither tried nor sentenced.

Julian Soriano

In this case the prisoner was confined in Bilibid, March 25th, 1895, after 
having been in prison one year in his province on suspicion of being implicated 
in the killing of a civil guard at a place colled Balauga. He was tried by a 
sergeant of the civil guard, who caused him to be tortured in order to wring a 
confession from him. This torture was inflicted by means of a thin rope or cord, 
tied very tightly around the muscles of the arm above the elbow (cutting into 
the flesh deeply), and left there in some instances for thirty days. In some 
cases the men were also hung up, the weight of the body being sustained by the 
cords around the arms. Several of the prisoners have deep scars on their arms 
caused by the torture. This man was never sentenced.

Leon Bueno

The charge against this man was that he had stolen a pig, and he was confined in 
Bilibid, March 21st, 1893, after being tried and sentenced to eight years' 
imprisonment. He had already served over five years when released Sept. 3, 1898.

Jose Castillo

This man was confined in Bilibid Carcel, December loth, 1894, charged with 
"insulting the armed forces of Spain." His version of the reason for his 
imprisonment is as follows: His cousin and a lieutenant in the guardia civile 
were very close friends, and the said cousin, wishing to present a cow to the 
lieutenant, applied to the prisoner for one, which was given to him. Later on 
the cousin thought he would like to present his friend with another cow, so 
applied to the prisoner for cow No. 2, and was this time refused. In order to 
take vengeance on the prisoner, the cousin denounced him to the civil guard 
lieutenant as a "bandit," and he was arrested and imprisoned as above. The 
prisoner was sixty years of age.

Anastacio de Mesa

The story of this prisoner seems to be particularly sad. He was a chorister or 
sacristan in a Roman Catholic church, with several others, and was arrested, 
with his companions, by the civil guard, charged with "sacrilege." The truth of 
the matter, however, seems to be as follows: The prisoner had a sweetheart with 
whom a lieutenant of the civil guard, named de Vega, appears to have been 
infatuated. After imprisoning Anastacio de Mesa and his companions upon the 
above charge, which seems to be without foundation entirely, de Vega took the 
girl, and compelled her by force and against her will to live with him as his 
mistress. The girl soon died, her end, no doubt, being hastened by the brutal 
cruelty of de Vega. These young men, hardly more than boys, were imprisoned on 
August 3, 1895, after having been tried by court martial, but not sentenced. 
They have now been liberated. It should be stated that de Vega himself 
constituted the "court martial" before which these boys were tried.

Note.--There are several cases of arrests for "insulting and resisting the armed 
forces of Spain." In the case of Pedro Javier, the accused was over seventy 
years old, and in that of Miguel de la Cruz, he was seventy-five years old; 
while in one or two other cases boys of ten or twelve years of age were arrested 
on the same charge.


CHAPTER XX

Hawaii As Annexed.

The Star Spangled Banner Up Again in Hawaii, and to Stay--Dimensions of the 
Islands--What the Missionaries Have Done--Religious Belief by Nationality--Trade 
Statistics--Latest Census--Sugar Plantation Laborers--Coinage of Silver--
Schools--Coffee Growing.

The star spangled banner should have been waving in peaceful triumph over our 
central possessions in the Pacific for five years. Now Old Glory has ascended 
the famous flag-staff, from which it was mistakenly withdrawn, and is at home. 
Its lustrous folds are welcomed by a city that is strangely American, in the 
sense that it is what the world largely calls "Yankee," and does not mean bad 
manners by the most expressive word that has so vast a distinction. The shops of 
Honolulu are Americanized. There is a splendid blossoming of the flag of the 
country. The British parties of opposition have faded out. There is the wisdom 
in English statesmanship to be glad to see us with material interest in the 
Pacific Ocean. In this connection there is something better than a treaty.

Do not mispronounce the name of the capital city of the Hawaiian Islands. Call 
it Hoo-noo-luu-luu and let it sing itself. Remember that this city is not on the 
larger of the islands, but the third in size. The area of Hawaii, the greater 
island, is 4,210 square miles. Oahu, the Honolulu island, has 600 square miles, 
with a population of 40,205, and Hawaii has 33,285 people. The area of the 
islands, told in acres is, Hawaii, 2,000,000; Nani, 400,000; Oahu, 260,000; 
Kauai, 350,000; Malokai, 200,000; Lauai, 100,000; Nichan, 70,000; Kahloolawe, 
30,000. The dimensions of the tremendous volcanoes that are our property now are 
startling:

Dimensions of Kilauea, Island of Hawaii. (The largest active Volcano in the 
World.)

Area, 4.14 square miles, or 2,650 acres. Circumference, 41,500 feet, or 7.85 
miles. Extreme width, 10,300 feet, or 1.95 miles. Extreme length, 15,500 feet, 
or 2.93 miles. Elevation, Volcano House, 1,040 feet.

Dimensions of Mokuaweoweo. (The Summit Crater of Mauna Loa, Island of Hawaii.)

Area, 3.70 square miles, or 2,370 acres. Circumference, 50,000 feet, or 9.47 
miles. Length, 19,500 feet, or 3.7 miles. Width, 9,200 feet, or 1.74 miles. 
Elevation, 13,675 feet.

Dimensions of Haleakala. (The great Crater of Maui, the Largest in the World.)

Area, 19 square miles, or 12,160 acres. Circumference, 105,600 feet, or 20 
miles. Extreme length, 39,500 feet, or 7.48 miles. Extreme width, 12,500 feet, 
or 2.37 miles. Elevation of summit, 10,032 feet. Elevation of principal cones in 
crater, 8,032 and 7,572 feet. Elevation of cave in floor of crater, 7,380 feet.

Dimensions of Iao Valley, Maui.

Length (from Wailuku) about 5 miles. Width of valley, 2 miles. Depth, near head, 
4,000 feet. Elevation of Puu Kukui, above head of valley, 5,788 feet. Elevation 
of Crater of Eke, above Waihee Valley, 4,500 feet.

Honolulu's importance comes from the harbor, and the favor of the missionaries. 
As to the general judgment of the work of the missionaries, there is nothing 
better to do than to quote Mr. Richard H. Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast." He 
said in that classic:

    "It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the American Board, that 
in less than forty years they have taught this whole people to read and write, 
to cipher and to sew. They have given them an alphabet, grammar and dictionary; 
preserved their language from extinction; given it a literature and translated 
into it the Bible, and works of devotion, science and entertainment, etc. They 
have established schools, reared up native teachers, and so pressed their work 
that now the proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in 
New England. And, whereas, they found these islanders a nation of half-naked 
savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting among 
themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs and abandoned to sensuality, they 
now see them decently clothed, recognizing the law of marriage, knowing 
something of accounts, going to school and public worship more regularly than 
the people do at home, and the more elevated of them taking part in conducting 
the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live, holding seats 
on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the 
local magistracies."

Take away the tropical vegetation and the gigantic scenery and we have here, in 
our new Pacific possessions, a new Connecticut. The stamp of New England is upon 
this lofty land, especially in Honolulu, where the spires of the churches 
testify. There is much that is of the deepest and broadest interest in the 
possible missionary work here, on account of the remarkable race questions 
presented. Here are the nations and the people of mixed blood--the Chinese, 
Japanese and Portuguese--a population immensely representative of Oriental Asia. 
The measure of success of the missionaries under our flag in dealing with these 
people can hardly fail to be accepted by the world as a test of the practical 
results of the labor with the Asiatica. In this connection, the figures 
following, from the Hawaiian Annual of 1898, furnish a basis of solid 
information for study:

Table of Religious Belief, By Nationality. (So Far as Reported in Census 
Returns, 1896.)

Roman Nationalities.      Protestants. Catholics. Mormons.
Hawaiians................... 12,842      8,427     4,368
Part Hawaiians..............  3,242      2,633       396
Hawaiian born foreigners....  1,801      6,622        15
Americans...................  1,404        212        34
British.....................  1,184        180         7
Germans.....................    592         83         2
French......................      6         57     .....
Norwegians..................    154          8     .....
Portuguese..................    146      7,812         1
Japanese....................    711         49         4
Chinese.....................    837         67        49
South Sea Islanders.........    178         42         3
Other nationalities.........    176        171         7
                             ======     ======     =====
Totals...............        23,273     26,363     4,886 

Note.--This table shows but 54,522 of the population (just about one-half) to 
have made returns of their religious belief. With 21,535 Japanese and 18,429 
Chinese (probably Buddhists and Confucians) unreported because not provided for 
in the schedules, the great difference is largely accounted for.

The latest census returns show that of the whole population, 109,020, there are: 
Males, 72,517; females, 36,503. The latest information of labor, under contract 
for sugar-making, make the number of males on the island more than double that 
of the females. There has been an increase of population of more than 50,000 in 
the eighteen years from 1878 to 1896. The census of the several islands, taken 
September 27, 1896, shows:

              Population.                   Dwellings.

                                            Unin-
         Male.   Female.   Total.   Inhab-  habi-  Build-  Total.   
                                    ited.   ted.    ing.

Oahu.... 26,164   14,041   40,205   6,685  1,065     60    7,010
Hawaii.. 22,632   10,653   33,285   5,033    955     35    6,027
Molokai.  1,335      972    2,307     651     92      3      746
Lanai...     51       54      105      23     13     ..       36
Maui.... 11,435    6,291   17,726   3,156    650     18    3,824
Niihau..     76       88      164      31      3     ..       34
Kauai .. 10,824    4,404   15,228   2,320    299      8    2,627
         ======   ======  =======  ======  =====    ===   ======
Totals   72,517   36,503  109,020  17,099  3,081    124   21,104


Hawaii's annual trade balance since 1879 is a notable record:

                                    Excess Export Custom House 
Year.    Imports.       Exports.       Values.      Receipts.

1880 $3,673,268.41 $4,968,444.87 $1,295,176.46 $402,181.63 1881 4,547,978.64 
6,885,436.56 2,337,457.92 423,192.01 1882 4,974,510.01 8,299,016,70 3,324,506.69 
505,390.98 1883 5,624,240.09 8,133,343.88 2,509,103.79 577,332.87 1884 
4,637,514.22 8,184,922.63 3,547,408.41 551,739.59 1885 3,830,544.58 9,158,818.01 
5,328,273.43 502.337.38 1886 4,877,738.73 10,565,885.58 5,688,146.85 580,444.04 
1887 4,943,840.72 9,707,047.33 4,763,206.61 595,002.64 1888 4,540,887.46 
11,903,398.76 7,362,511.30 546,142.63 1889 5,438,790.63 14,039,941.40 
8,601,150.77 550,010.16 1890 6,962,201.13 13,142,829.48 6,180,628.35 695,956.91 
1891 7,438,582.65 10,395,788.27 2,957,205.62 732,594,93 1892 4,028,295.31 
8,181,687.21 4,153,391.90 494,385.10 1893 4,363,177.58 10,962,598.09 
5,599,420.51 545,754.16 1894 5,104,481.43 9,678,794.56 4,574,313.13 524,767.37 
1895 5,714,017.54 8,474,138.15 2,760,120.61 547,149.40 1896 7,164,561.40 
15,515,230.13 8,350,668.73 656,895.82

The percentage of imports from the United States in 1896 was 76.27; Great 
Britain, 10.54; Germany, 2.06; France, .25*; China, 4.17; Japan, 3.86. In 1895 
the export of sugar was 294,784,819 pounds; value, $7,975,500.41.

Nationality of Vessels Employed in Foreign Carrying Trade, 1889-1896.

             1889.          1890.          1891.         1892.
Nations.  No.   Tons.    No.   Tons.    No.   Tons.    No.   Tons.

American  185  125,196   224  153,098   233  169,472   212  160,042
Hawaiian   44   56,670    35   43,641    21   26,869    21    4,340
British    22   21,108    16   22,912    33   52,866    30   58,317
German      5    3,337     9    7,070     9    9,005     5    5,978
Japanese   ..  .......   ...  .......     5    8,239     3    4,701
All others  9   12,268     9    9,980    10    8,401    11    8,201
          ===  =======   ===  =======   ===  =======   ===  =======
Total     269  218,579   293  236,701   311  274,852   722  242,579


Bonded Debt, Etc., Hawaiian Islands, June 30, 1897.

                            Per Cent.

Under Loan Act of 1876 ....       7 .... $    1,500.00
  "     "    "    1882 ....       6 ....     67,400.00
  "     "    "    1886 ....       6 ....  2,000,000.00
  "     "    "    1888 ....       6 ....    190,000.00
  "     "    "    1890 .... 5 and 6 ....    124,100.00
  "     "    "    1892 .... 5 and 6 ....     82.100.00
  "     "    "    1893 ....       6 ....    650,000.00
  "     "    "    1890 ....       5 ....    222,000.00
                                         -------------
                                          3,337,100.00
Due Postal Savings Bank Depositors          782,074.25
                                         ============= 
                                         $4,119,174.25


Number and Nationality of Sugar Plantation Laborers.
(Compiled from latest Report of Secretary Bureau of Immigration, December 31, 
1897.)

            Hawaii-    Portu-    Japan-               S. S.     All
Islands.     ans.      guese.     ese.    Chinese.  Isl'ders.  Others.   Total.

Hawaii 594 980 6,245 2,511 24 232 10,586 Mauai 580 526 2,010 1,114 45 110 4,385 
Oahu 197 211 1,331 973 16 55 2,783 Kauai 244 551 3,307 1,691 30 203 6,026 ----- 
----- ------ ----- --- --- ------ Total, 1896 1,615 2,268 12,893 6,289 115 600 
23,780 Total, 1895 1,584 2,497 11,584 3,847 133 473 20,120 ===== ===== ====== 
===== === === ====== Increse, 1896 31 ..... 1,309 2,442 ... 127 3,660 Decrese, 
1899 .... 231 ...... ..... 18 ... ......

The number of day laborers, 11,917, or a little over one-half of the total force 
engaged. The Japanese and South Sea Islanders are about evenly divided in their 
numbers as to term and day service, while Hawaiians and Portuguese show each but 
a small proportion of their numbers under contract. Minors are reducing in 
number. Women laborers, numbering 1,024 in all, show a gain of 89 over 1875. 
Only thirty Hawaiian females are engaged among all the plantations, and confined 
to one plantation each in Oahu, Kauai and Maui.

The Hawaiian Annual of 1898 makes this annotation:

During the year various changes have occurred in the labor population of the 
country; and under the working of the present law, requiring a proportion of 
other than Asiatic of all immigrant labor introduced, there has already arrived 
one company of Germans, comprising 115 men, 25 women and 47 children, all of 
whom found ready engagements with various plantations.

Chinese arrivals in 1897 to take the place of Japanese whose terms were 
expiring, will alter the proportions of these nationalities of plantation labor, 
and by the new law Asiatic laborers must return to their country at the 
expiration of their term of service, or re-engage; they cannot drift around the 
country, nor engage in competition with artizans or merchants.

The islands comprising the Hawaiian territory are Hawaii, Mauai, Oaha, Kauai, 
Molokai, Lauai, Niihau, Kahaalawe, Lehua and Molokini, "The Leper Prison," and, 
in addition, Nihoa, or Bird Island, was taken possession of in 1822; an 
expedition for that purpose having been fitted out by direction of Kaahumanu, 
and sent thither under the charge of Captain William Sumner.

Laysan Island became Hawaiian territory May 1st, 1857, and on the 10th of the 
same month Lysiansky Island was added to Kamehameha's realm by Captain John 
Paty.

Palmyra Island was taken possession of by Captain Zenas Bent, April 15th, 1862, 
and proclaimed Hawaiian territory in the reign of Kamehameha IV., as per "By 
Authority" notice in the "Polynesian" of June 21st, 1862.

Ocean Island was acquired September 20th, 1886, as per proclamation of Colonel 
J.M. Boyd, empowered for such service during the reign of Kalakaua.

Neeker Island was taken possession of May 27th, 1894, by Captain James A. King, 
on behalf of the Hawaiian Government.

French Frigate Shoal was the latest acquisition, also by Captain King, and 
proclaimed Hawaiian territory July 13th, 1895.

Gardener Island, Mara or Moro Reef, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Gambia Bank, and 
Johnston or Cornwallis Island are also claimed as Hawaiian possessions, but 
there is some obscurity as to the dates of acquisition, and it is of record in 
the Foreign Office articles of convention between Hen. Charles St. Julien, the 
Commissioner and Political and Commercial Agent of His Majesty the King of the 
Hawaiian Islands, and John Webster, Esq., the Sovereign Chief and Proprietor of 
the group of islands known as Stewart's Islands (situated near the Solomon 
Group), whereby is ceded to the Hawaiian Government--subject to ratification by 
the King--the islands of Ihikaiana, Te Parena, Taore, Matua Awi and Matua Ivoto, 
comprising said group of Stewart's Islands. But the formalities do not seem to 
have been perfected, so that we are not certain that the Stewart's Islands are 
our possessions. The latest thorough census of the Hawaiian Islands was taken in 
September, 1896, but the population was closely estimated July 1st, 1897.

                                              Japan-   Portu-  All Other
                          Natives.  Chinese.   ese.    guese.  Foreigners.  
Total 
Population as per Census,
  September, 1896 ....     39,504    21,616   24,407   15,191     8,302    
109,020
  Passengers--Arrivals--
Excess over departures,
  4th quarter, 1896 ...    ......     1,377    1,673   ......       339      
3,389
Excess over departures,
  6 mos. to July 1, 1897.  ......     2,908      396       58       207      
3,569
                           ======    ======   ======   ======    ======     
======
Total ...................  39,504     25,901  26,476   15,249     8,848    
115,978


The following denominations of Hawaiian silver were coined during the reign of 
Kalakaua, at the San Francisco mint, and imported for the circulating medium of 
the islands in 1883 and 1884. They are of the same intrinsic value as the United 
States silver coins and were first introduced into circulation January 14th, at 
the opening of the bank of Clans Spreckles & Co. in Honolulu. The amount coined 
was $1,000,000, divided as follows:

Hawaiian Dollars...................................$ 500,000
   "     Half Dollars..............................  350,000
   "     Quarter Dollars...........................  125,000
   "     Dimes.....................................   25,000
Total............................................$ 1,000,000 


Schools, Teachers and Pupils for the Year 1896.

                      ==Teachers.==             ==Pupils.==
              Schools. Male. Female. Total.     Male. Female.
Government ..... 132   111     169    280       5,754  4,435
Independent ....  63    72     130    202       1,994  1,840
                 ===   ===     ===    ===       =====  =====
                 195   183     299    482       7,748  6,275

Nationality of Pupils Attending Schools for the Year 1896.

Nationality.      Male.  Female.
Hawaiian          3,048   2,432
Part-Hawaiian     1,152   1,296
American            219     198
British             105     151
German              152     136
Portuguese        2,066   1,534
Scandinavian         51      47
Japanese            242     155
Chinese             641     280
South Sea Islanders  15      13
Other foreigners     57      33
                  =====   =====
                  7,748   6,275 

Of the Japanese, 8.5 per cent. were born on the islands; of the Chinese, 
percentage born here, 10.3. Of a total of 41,711 Japanese and Chinese, 36,121 
are males and 5,590 females. The figures show that the Asiatics are not at home.

The sugar industry in our new possessions has had great prominence 
agriculturally. The sugar interest of these islands has had a formidable 
influence in the United States. Recent events and the ascertained certainties of 
the future show that the people of the United States will soon raise their sugar 
supply on their own territory. The annexation of these sugar islands was 
antagonized because there was involved the labor contract system. As a matter of 
course, the United States will not change the labor laws of the nation to suit 
the sugar planters of Hawaii, who have been obtaining cheap labor through a 
system of Asiatic servitude. There is but one solution--labor will be better 
compensated in Hawaii than it has been, and yet white men will not be largely 
employed in the cultivation of sugar cane in our tropical islands. The beet 
sugar industry is another matter. There will be an end of the peculiar 
institution that has had strength in our new possessions, that brings, under 
contract, to Hawaii a mass of forty thousand Chinese and Japanese men, and turns 
over the majority of them to the plantations, whose profits have displayed an 
unwholesome aggrandizement. Once it was said cotton could not be grown in the 
cotton belt of our country without slave labor, but the latter trouble is, the 
cotton producers claim, there is too much of their product raised. A ten-million 
bale crop depresses the market. Already experiments have been tried successfully 
to pay labor in the sugar fields by the tons of cane delivered at the mills for 
grinding. This is an incident full of auspicious significance. A general feeling 
is expressed in the current saying that coffee raising is "the coming industry." 
The confidence that there is prosperity in coffee amounts to enthusiasm. Here 
are some of the statistics of coffee growers, showing number of trees and area, 
trees newly planted and trees in bearing:

                                                       No. of Trees or Area.

                                                  Newly      1 to 3 year     
Trees
                                                 Planted.        old.      in 
Bearing.

J. C. Lenhart, Kaupo ..........................  2,000 trs.   4,000 trs.      
....
Mokulau Coffee Co., Kaupo .....................  2,000 trs.  10,000 trs.     2 
acres
E. E. Paxton, Kaupo ...........................  5,000 trs.   7,000 trs.      
....
Native Patches throughout Kaupo ...............   10 acres      ....          
....
Lahaina Coffee and Fruit Co., Ltd., Lahaina ... 10,000 trs.  100,000 trs.  
30,000 trs.
H. P. Baldwin, Honokahua ...................... 35,947 trs.    4,669 trs.   
2,641 trs.
Waianae Coffee Plantation Co., Waianae ........  7,500 trs.   23,000 trs.  
36,000 trs.
C. A. Wideman, Waianae ........................ 10,000 trs.    8,500 trs.     
....
Makaha Coffee Co., Ltd., Waianae ..............  112 acres      ....          
....
Lanihau Plantation, Kailua .................... 20,700 trs.   25,000 trs.  
10,000 trs.
Kona Coffee Co., Ltd., Kailua .................    ....         ....        35 
acres
Geo. McDougal & Sons, Kailua ..................    ....       176 acres    105 
acres
H. C. Achi, Holualoa ..........................    ....         ....       
10,000 trs.
E. W. Barnard, Laupahoehoe ....................    ....         ....       
30,000 trs.
J. M. Barnard, Laupahoehoe ....................    ....        5,000 trs.     
....
John Gaspar, Napoopoo .........................    ....       33,000 trs.  
16,000 trs.
Manuel Sebastian, Kealakekua ..................    ....         ....        
8,000 trs.
J. G. Henriques, Kealakekua ...................    ....         ....        
3,000 trs.
C. Hooper, Kauleoli ...........................    ....        2 acres      12 
acres
J. Keanu, Keei ................................   5 acres     10 acres      16 
acres
A. S. Cleghorn ................................   3 acres       ....       100 
acres
Mrs. E. C. Greenwell ..........................    ....        8 acres      25 
acres
J. M. Monsarrat, Kolo .........................    ....       38 acres      40 
acres
Queen Emma Plantation .........................    ....         ....       
25,000 trs.
L. M. Staples Plantation ......................    ....       25,000 trs.  
12,000 trs.
Olaa Coffee Co., Ltd ..........................   50 acres    90 acres        
....
Grossman Bros .................................  100 acres    30 acres        
....
B. H. Brown ...................................  2,260 trs.    2,000 trs.   
3,225 trs.
Herman Eldart ................................. 40,000 trs.   20,000 trs.   
7,000 trs.

The list of coffee growers is very long. That which is of greater interest is 
the showing made of the immense number of new trees. The coffee movement 
steadily gains force and the pace of progress is accelerated.

Everybody has not been pleased with annexation. The Japanese are not in a good 
humor about it. The minister of Japan got his orders evidently to leave for 
Japan when the news arrived that the question had been settled in Washington, 
and he left for Yokohama by the boat that brought the intelligence. Japanese 
journals of importance raise the question as to the propriety of our 
establishing a coal station here. There is some dissatisfaction among the 
Hawaiians, who are bewildered. They are children who believe stories in 
proportion as they are queer. Many of them feel that they have a grievance. The 
young princess who is the representative of the extinguished monarchy is affable 
and respected. If the question as to giving her substantial recognition were 
left to the Americans here, they would vote for her by a large majority. It 
would not be bad policy for the government to be generous toward her. She is not 
in the same boat with the ex-Queen. The Americans who have been steadfast in 
upholding the policy that at last has prevailed are happy, but not wildly so, 
just happy. Now that they have gained their cause, their unity will be shaken by 
discussions on public questions and personal preferments.

There should be no delay in understanding that in this Archipelago the race 
questions forbid mankind suffrage, and that our new possessions are not to 
become states at once, or hurriedly; that it will take generations of 
assimilation to prepare the Hawaiian Islands for statehood.

The objection to the climate of the marvelous islands of which we have become 
possessed is its almost changeless character. There is no serious variation in 
the temperature. There is a little more rain in "winter" than in "summer." There 
is neither spring nor fall. The trade winds afford a slight variety, and this 
seems to be manipulated by the mountains, that break up the otherwise unsparing 
monotony of serene loveliness. The elevations of the craters, and the jagged 
peaks are from one thousand to thirteen thousand feet. If you want a change of 
climate, climb for cold, and escape the mosquitos, the pests of this paradise. 
There are a score of kinds of palms; the royal, the date, the cocoanut, are of 
them. The bread fruit and banana are in competition. The vegetation is 
voluptuous and the scenery stupendous. There is a constellation of islands, and 
they differ like the stars in their glories and like human beings in their 
difficulties.


CHAPTER XXI

Early History of the Sandwich Islands.

Captain James Cook's Great Discoveries and His Martyrdom--Character and 
Traditions of the Hawaiian Islands--Charges Against the Famous Navigator, and 
effort to Array the Christian World Against Him--The True Story of His Life and 
Death--How Charges Against Cook Came to Be Made--Testimony of Vancouver, King 
and Dixon, and Last Words of Cook's Journal--Light Turned on History That Has 
Become Obscure--Savagery of the Natives--Their Written Language Took Up Their 
High Colored Traditions, and Preserved Phantoms--Scenes in Aboriginal 
Theatricals--Problem of Government in an Archipelago Where Race Questions Are 
Predominant--Now Americans Should Remember Captain Cook as an Illustrious 
Pioneer.

Regarding the islands in the Pacific that we have for a long time largely 
occupied and recently wholly possessed, the Hawaiian cluster that are the 
stepping stone, the resting place and the coal station for the golden group more 
than a thousand leagues beyond, we should remember Captain Cook as one of our 
own Western pioneers, rejoice to read his true story, and in doing so to form a 
correct estimate of the people who have drifted into the area of our Protection, 
or territory that is inalienably our own, to be thoroughly Americanized, that 
they may some day be worthy to become our fellow-citizens.

Sunday, January 18th, 1778, Captain Cook, after seeing birds every day, and 
turtles, saw two islands, and the next day a third one, and canoes put off from 
the shore of the second island, the people speaking the language of Otaheite. As 
the Englishmen proceeded, other canoes appeared, bringing with them roasted pigs 
and very fine potatoes. The Captain says: "Several small pigs were purchased for 
a six-penny nail, so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty. The 
natives were gentle and polite, asking whether they might sit down, whether they 
might spit on the deck, and the like. An order restricting the men going ashore 
was issued that I might do everything in my power to prevent the importation of 
a fatal disease into the island, which I knew some of our men now labored 
under." Female visitors were ordered to be excluded from the ships. Captain 
Cook's journal is very explicit, and he states the particulars of the failure of 
his precautions. This is a subject that has been much discussed, and there is 
still animosity in the controversy. The discovery of the islands that he called 
the Sandwich, after his patron the Earl of Sandwich, happened in the midst of 
our Revolutionary war. After Cook's explorations for the time, he sailed in 
search of the supposed Northwest passage, and that enterprise appearing 
hopeless, returned to the summer islands, and met his fate in the following 
December. Captain George Vancouver, a friend and follower of Cook, says, in his 
"Voyage of Discovery and Around the World." from 1790 to 1795:

"It should seem that the reign of George the Third had been reserved by the 
Great Disposer of all things for the glorious task of establishing the grand 
keystone to that expansive arch over which the arts and sciences should pass to 
the furthermost corners of the earth, for the instruction and happiness of the 
most lowly children of nature. Advantages so highly beneficial to the untutored 
parts of the human race, and so extremely important to that large proportion of 
the subjects of this empire who are brought up to the sea service deserve to be 
justly appreciated; and it becomes of very little importance to the bulk of our 
society, whose enlightened humanity teaches them to entertain a lively regard 
for the welfare and interest of those who engage in such adventurous 
undertakings for the advancement of science, or for the extension of commerce, 
what may be the animadversions or sarcasms of those few unenlightened minds that 
may peevishly demand, "what beneficial consequences, if any, have followed, or 
are likely to follow to the discoverers, or to the discovered, to the common 
interests of humanity, or to the increase of useful knowledge, from all our 
boasted attempts to explore the distant recesses of the globe?" The learned 
editor (Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury) who has so justly anticipated this 
injudicious remark, has, in his very comprehensive introduction to Captain 
Cook's last voyage, from whence the above quotation is extracted, given to the 
public not only a complete and satisfactory answer to that question, but has 
treated every other part of the subject of discovery so ably as to render any 
further observations on former voyages of this description wholly unnecessary, 
for the purpose of bringing the reader acquainted with what had been 
accomplished, previously to my being honored with His Majesty's commands to 
follow up the labors of that illustrious navigator Captain James Cook; to whose 
steady, uniform, indefatigable and undiverted attention to the several objects 
on which the success of his enterprises ultimately depended, the world is 
indebted for such eminent and important benefits."

Captain George Vancouver pays, in the introduction of his report, a remarkable 
tribute to Captain Cook, that should become familiar to the American people, for 
it is one of the features of prevalent Hawaiian literature that the great 
navigator is much disparaged, and denounced. One of the favorite theories of the 
missionaries has been that Cook's death at the hands of the savages was 
substantially the punishment inflicted by God, because the Captain allowed 
himself to be celebrated and worshipped as a god by the heathen, consenting to 
their idolatry when he should have preached to them, as was done with so much 
efficiency nearly half a century later. The fact is the natives had a great deal 
of "religion" of their own, and defended their superstitions with skill and 
persistence before yielding to the great simplicities of the Christian faith. 
Captain Cook, it must be admitted, did not attempt to preach the gospel. The 
gentleness of the natives turned out to contain a great deal that was most 
horrible.

The closing years of the last century were those of rapid progress in the art of 
navigation, and Captain Vancouver gives this striking summary of testimony:

"By the introduction of nautical astronomy into marine education, we are taught 
to sail on the hypothenuse, instead of traversing two sides of a triangle, which 
was the usage in earlier times; by this means the circuitous course of all 
voyages from place to place is considerably shortened; and it is now become 
evident that sea officers of the most common rate abilities who will take the 
trouble of making themselves acquainted with the principles of this science, 
will, on all suitable occasions, with proper and correct instruments, be enabled 
to acquire a knowledge of their situation in the Atlantic, Indian or Pacific 
Oceans, with a degree of accuracy sufficient to steer on a meridianal or 
diagonal line, to any known spot, provided it be sufficiently conspicuous to be 
visible at any distance from five to ten leagues.

"This great improvement, by which the most remote parts of the terrestrial globe 
are brought so sasily within our reach, would nevertheless have been of 
comparatively little utility had not those happy means been discovered for 
preserving the lives and health of the officers and seamen engaged in such 
distant and perilous undertakings; which were so peacefully practiced by Captain 
Cook, the first great discoverer of this salutary system, in all his latter 
voyages around the globe. But in none have the effect of his wise regulations, 
regimen and discipline been more manifest than in the course of the expedition 
of which the following pages are designed to treat. To an unremitting attention, 
not only to food, cleanliness, ventilation, and an early administration of 
antiseptic provisions and medicines, but also to prevent as much as possible the 
chance of indisposition, by prohibiting individuals from carelessly exposing 
themselves to the influence of climate, or unhealthy indulgences in times of 
relaxation, and by relieving them from fatigue and the inclemency of the weather 
the moment the nature of their duty would permit them to retire, is to be 
ascribed the preservation of the health and lives of sea-faring people on long 
voyages."

"Those benefits did not long remain unnoticed by the commercial part of the 
British nation. Remote and distant voyages being now no longer objects of 
terror, enterprises were projected and carried into execution, for the purpose 
of establishing new and lucrative branches of commerce between Northwest America 
and China; and parts of the coast of the former that had not been minutely 
examined by Captain Cook became now the general resort of the persons thus 
engaged."

The special zeal and consistency with which Cook is defended by the English 
navigators who knew him and were competent to judge of the scope of his 
achievements is due in part to the venom of his assailants. The historian of the 
Sandwich Islands, Sheldon Dibble, says: "An impression of wonder and dread 
having been made, Captain Cook and his men found little difficulty in having 
such intercourse with the people as they chose. In regard to that intercourse, 
it was marked, as the world would say, with kindness and humanity. But it cannot 
be concealed that here and there at this time, in the form of loathsome disease, 
was dug the grave of the Hawaiian nation; and from so deep an odium it is to be 
regretted that faithful history cannot exempt even the fair name of Captain Cook 
himself, since it was evident that he gave countenance to the evil. The native 
female first presented to him was a person of some rank; her name was 
Lelemahoalani. Sin and death were the first commodities imported to the Sandwich 
Islands."

We have already quoted Captain Cook's first words on this subject. He had much 
more to say giving in detail difficulties rather too searching to be fully 
stated. As for the charge that Cook personally engaged in debauchery, it rests 
upon the tradition of savages, who had no more idea than wild animals of the 
restraint of human passion. It was debated among the islanders whether the white 
men should be assailed by the warriors, and it was on the advice of a native 
queen that the women were sent to make friends with the strangers; and this was 
the policy pursued. As for the decline of the natives in numbers, and the 
"digging the grave of the nation." the horror of the islands was the destruction 
of female infants, and also the habit of putting aged and helpless men and women 
to death. The general indictment against Captain Cook is that this amiable race 
was just about prepared for Christianity when he thrust himself forward as a 
god, and with his despotic licentiousness destroyed immediate possibilities of 
progress. In Sandwich Island notes by "a Haole" (that is to say, a white person) 
we see what may be said on the other side of the picture: "It becomes an 
interesting duty to examine their social, political and religious condition. The 
first feature that calls the attention to the past is their social condition, 
and a darker picture can hardly be presented to the contemplation of man. They 
had their frequent boxing matches on a public arena, and it was nothing uncommon 
to see thirty or forty left dead on the field of contest.

"As gamblers they were inveterate. The game was indulged in by every person, 
from the king of each island to the meanest of his subjects. The wager 
accompanied every scene of public amusement. They gambled away their property to 
the last vestige of all they possessed. They staked every article, of food, 
their growing crops, the dollies they wore, their lands, wives, daughters, and 
even the very bones of their arms and legs--to be made into fishhooks after they 
were dead. These steps led to the most absolute and crushing poverty.

"They had their dances, which were of such a character as not to be conceived by 
a civilized mind, and were accompanied by scenes which would have disgraced even 
Nero's revels. Nearly every night, with the gathering darkness, crowds would 
retire to some favorite spot, where, amid every species of sensual indulgence 
they would revel until the morning twilight. At such times the chiefs would lay 
aside their authority, and mingle with the lowest courtesan in every degree of 
debauchery.

"Thefts, robberies, murders, infanticide, licentiousness of the most debased and 
debasing character, burying their infirm and aged parents alive, desertion of 
the sick, revolting cruelties to the unfortunate maniac, cannibalism and 
drunkenness, form a list of some of the traits in social life among the 
Hawaiians in past days.

"Their drunkenness was intense. They could prepare a drink, deadly intoxicating 
in its nature, from a mountain plant called the awa (Piper methysticum). A bowl 
of this disgusting liquid was always prepared and served out just as a party of 
chiefs were sitting down to their meals. It would sometimes send the victim into 
a slumber from which he never awoke. The confirmed awa drinker could be 
immediately recognized by his leprous appearance.

"By far the darkest feature in their social condition was seen in the family 
relation. Society, however, is only a word of mere accommodation, designed to 
express domestic relations as they then existed. 'Society' was, indeed, such a 
sea of pollution as cannot be well described. Marriage was unknown, and all the 
sacred feelings which are suggested to our minds on mention of the various 
social relations, such as husband and wife, parent and child, brother and 
sister, were to them, indeed, as though they had no existence. There was, 
indeed, in this respect, a dreary blank--a dark chasm from which the soul 
instinctively recoils. There were, perhaps, some customs which imposed some 
little restraint upon the intercourse of the sexes, but those customs were 
easily dispensed with, and had nothing of the force of established rules. It was 
common for a husband to have many wives, and for a wife also to have many 
husbands. The nearest ties of consanguinity were but little regarded, and among 
the chiefs, especially, the connection of brother with sister, and parent with 
child, were very common. For husbands to interchange wives, and for wives to 
interchange husbands, was a common act of friendship, and persons who would not 
do this were not considered on good terms of sociability. For a man or woman to 
refuse a solicitation was considered an act of meanness; and this sentiment was 
thoroughly wrought into their minds, that, they seemed not to rid themselves of 
the feeling of meanness in a refusal, to feel, notwithstanding their better 
knowledge, that to comply was generous, liberal, and social, and to refuse 
reproachful and niggardly. It would be impossible to enumerate or specify the 
crimes which emanated from this state of affairs. Their political condition was 
the very genius of despotism, systematically and deliberately conducted. Kings 
and chiefs were extremely jealous of their succession, and the more noble their 
blood, the more they were venerated by the common people."

Mr. Sheldon Dibble is a historian whose work was published in 1843. He complains 
most bitterly that the natives bothered the missionaries by trying to give them 
the benefit of native thought. They wanted to do some of the talking, and said 
very childish things, and were so intent on their own thoughts that they would 
not listen to the preachers. But it ought not to have been held to be an offense 
for a procession of heathen to march to a missionary's house and tell him their 
thoughts. That was an honest manifestation of profound interest--the slow 
ripening of a harvest field. Mr. Dibble's book is printed by the Mission 
Seminary, and Mr. Dibble says, page 21: "We know that all the inhabitants of the 
earth descended from Noah," therefore, the Hawaiians "must once have known the 
great Jehova and the principles of true religion." But the historian says on the 
next page that the Hawaiians were heathen from time immemorial, for, "Go back to 
the very first reputed progenitor of the Hawaiian race, and you find that the 
ingredients of their character are lust, anger, strife, malice, sensuality, 
revenge and the worship of idols." This is the elevation upon which Mr. Dibble 
places himself to fire upon the memory of the English navigator Captain James 
Cook. The first paragraph of the assault on Cook is this:

"How unbounded the influence of foreign visitors upon the ignorant inhabitants 
of the Pacific! If the thousands of our countrymen who visit this ocean were 
actuated by the pure principles of the religion of Jesus, how immense the good 
they might accomplish! But, alas! how few visitors to the Western hemisphere are 
actuated by such principles."

This is preparatory to the condemnation of Cook in these terms: "Captain Cook 
allowed himself to be worshipped as a god. The people of Kealakeakua declined 
trading with him, and loaded his ship freely with the best productions of the 
island. The priests approached him in a crouching attitude, uttering prayers, 
and exhibiting all the formalities of worship. After approaching him with 
prostration the priests cast their red kapas over his shoulders and then 
receding a little, they presented hogs and a variety of other offerings, with 
long addresses rapidly enunciated, which were a repetition of their prayers and 
religious homage.

"When he went on shore most of the people fled for fear of him, and others bowed 
down before him, with solemn reverence. He was conducted to the house of the 
gods, and into the sacred enclosure, and received there the highest homage. In 
view of this fact, and of the death of Captain Cook, which speedily ensued, who 
can fail being admonished to give to God at all times, and even among barbarous 
tribes, the glory which is his due? Captain Cook might have directed the rude 
and ignorant natives to the great Jehovah, instead of receiving divine homage 
himself.

"Kalaniopuu, the king, arrived from Maui on the 24th of January, and immediately 
laid a tabu on the canoes, which prevented the women from visiting the ship, and 
consequently the men came on shore in great numbers, gratifying their infamous 
purposes in exchange for pieces of iron and small looking-glasses. Some of the 
women washed the coating from the back of the glasses much to their regret, when 
they found that the reflecting property was thus destroyed.

"The king, on his arrival, as well as the people, treated Captain Cook with much 
kindness, gave him feather cloaks and fly brushes and paid him divine honors. 
This adoration, it is painful to relate, was received without remonstrance. I 
shall speak here somewhat minutely of the death of Captain Cook, as it develops 
some traits of the heathen character, and the influence under which the heathen 
suffer from foreign intercourse."

After setting forth the horrible character of the natives, Captain Cook is 
condemned and denounced because he did not refuse the homage of the ferocious 
savages, paid him as a superior creature. One of Cook's troubles was the frantic 
passion the islanders had to steal iron. The common people were the property of 
the chiefs, and they had no other sense of possession. They gave away what they 
had, but took what they wanted.

Mr. Dibble shows his animus when he charges that Cook did not give the natives 
the real value of their hogs and fruit, and also that he had no right to stop 
pilferers in canoes by declaring and enforcing a blockade. This is a trifling 
technicality much insisted upon. Dibble's account of the death of Cook is this:

"A canoe came from an adjoining district, bound within the bay. In the canoe 
were two chiefs of some rank, Kekuhaupio and Kalimu. The canoe was fired upon 
from one of the boats and Kalimu was killed. Kekuhaupio made the greatest speed 
till he reached the place of the king, where Captain Cook also was, and 
communicated the intelligence of the death of the chief. The attendants of the 
king were enraged and showed signs of hostility, but were restrained by the 
thought that Captain Cook was a god. At that instant a warrior, with a spear in 
his hand, approached Captain Cook and was heard to say that the boats in the 
harbor had killed his brother, and he would he revenged. Captain Cook, from his 
enraged appearance and that of the multitude, was suspicious of him, and fired 
upon him with his pistol. Then followed a scene of confusion, and in the midst 
Captain Cook being hit with a stone, and perceiving the man who threw it, shot 
him dead. He also struck a certain chief with his sword, whose name was 
Kalaimanokahoowaha. The chief instantly seized Captain Cook with a strong hand, 
designing merely to hold him and not to take his life; for he supposed him to be 
a god and that he could not die. Captain Cook struggled to free himself from the 
grasp, and as he was about to fall uttered a groan. The people immediately 
exclaimed, "He groans--he is not a god," and instantly slew him. Such was the 
melancholy death of Captain Cook.

"Immediately the men in the boat commenced a deliberate fire upon the crowd. 
They had refrained in a measure before, for fear of killing their Captain. Many 
of the natives were killed."

"Historian Dibble does not notice the evidence that Cook lost his life by 
turning to his men in the boats, ordering them not to fire. It was at that 
moment he was stabbed in the back. Dibble represents the facts as if to justify 
the massacre of the great navigator, because he allowed the heathen to think he 
was one of their gang of gods. But this presumption ought not to have been 
allowed to excuse prevarication about testimony. The importance of Dibble's 
history is that it is representative. He concludes with this eloquent passage: 
"From one heathen nation we may learn in a measure the wants of all. And we 
ought not to restrict our view, but, look at the wide world. To do then for all 
nations what I have urged in behalf of the Sandwich Islands, how great and 
extensive a work! How vast the number of men and how immense the amount of means 
which seem necessary to elevate all nations, and gain over the whole earth to 
the permanent dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ! Can 300,000,000 of pagan 
children and youth be trained and instructed by a few hands? Can the means of 
instructing them be furnished by the mere farthings and pence of the church? 
Will it not be some time yet before ministers and church members will need to be 
idle a moment for the want of work? Is there any danger of our being cut off 
from the blessed privilege either of giving or of going? There is a great work 
yet to be done--a noble work--a various and a difficult work--a work worthy of 
God's power, God's resources, and God's wisdom. What Christendom has as yet done 
is scarcely worthy of being called a commencement. When God shall bring such 
energies into action as shall be commensurate with the greatness of the work--
when he shall cause every redeemed sinner, by the abundant influence of His Holy 
Spirit, to lay himself out wholly in the great enterprise, then there will be a 
sight of moral sublimity that shall rivet the gaze of angels."

We quote this writer as to what became of the remains of Cook: "The body of 
Captain Cook was carried into the interior of the island, the bones secured 
according to their custom, and the flesh burned in the fire. The heart, liver, 
etc., of Captain Cook, were stolen and eaten by some hungry children, who 
mistook them in the night for the inwards of a dog. The names of the children 
were Kupa, Mohoole and Kaiwikokoole. These men are now all dead. The last of the 
number died two years since at the station of Lahaina. Some of the bones of 
Captain Cook were sent on board his ship, in compliance with the urgent demands 
of the officers; and some were kept by the priests as objects of worship." The 
"heart, liver, etc.," were of course given to the children to eat! The bones are 
still hidden, and presumably not much worshiped. The first of the remains of 
Captain Cook given up was a mass of his bloody flesh, cut as if from a 
slaughtered ox. After some time there were other fragments, including one of his 
hands which had a well known scar, and perfectly identified it. Along with this 
came the story of burning flesh, and denials of cannibalism. Mr. Dibble speaks 
of Cook's "consummate folly and outrageous tyranny of placing a blockade upon a 
heathen bay, which the natives could not possibly be supposed either to 
understand or appreciate." That blockade, like others, was understood when 
enforced. The historian labors to work out a case to justify the murder of Cook 
because he received worship. As to the acknowledgment of Cook as the incarnation 
of Lono, in the Hawaiian Pantheon, Captain King says:

"Before I proceed to relate the adoration that was paid to Captain Cook, and the 
peculiar ceremonies with which he was received on this fatal island, it will be 
necessary to describe the Morai, situated, as I have already mentioned, at the 
south side of the beach at Kakooa (Kealakeakua). It was a square solid pile of 
stones, about forty yards long, twenty broad, and fourteen in height. The top 
was flat and well paved, and surrounded by a wooden rail, on which were fixed 
the skulls of the captives sacrificed on the death of their chiefs. In the 
center of the area stood a ruinous old building of wood, connected with the rail 
on each side by a stone wall, which next divided the whole space into two parts. 
On the side next the country were five poles, upward of twenty feet high, 
supporting an irregular kind of scaffold; on the opposite side toward the sea, 
stood two small houses with a covered communication.

"We were conducted by Koah to the top of this pile by an easy ascent leading 
from the beach to the northwest corner of the area. At the entrance we saw two 
large wooden images, with features violently distorted, and a long piece of 
carved wood of a conical form inverted, rising from the top of their heads; the 
rest was without form and wrapped round with red cloth. We were here met by a 
tall young man with a long beard, who presented Captain Cook to the images, and 
after chanting a kind of hymn, in which he was joined by Koah, they led us to 
that end of the Morai where the five poles were fixed. At the foot of them were 
twelve images ranged in a semicircular form, and before the middle figure stood 
a high stand or table, exactly resembling the Whatta of Othaheiti, on which lay 
a putrid hog, and under it pieces of sugar cane, cocoanuts, bread fruit, 
plantains and sweet potatoes. Koah having placed the Captain under the stand, 
took down the hog and held it toward him; and after having a second time 
addressed him in a long speech, pronounced with much vehemence and rapidity, he 
let it fall on the ground and led him to the scaffolding, which they began to 
climb together, not without great risk of falling. At this time we saw coming in 
solemn procession, at the entrance of the top of the Morai, ten men carrying a 
live hog and a large piece of red cloth. Being advanced a few paces, they 
stopped and prostrated themselves; and Kaireekeea, the young man above 
mentioned, went to them, and receiving the cloth carried it to Koah, who wrapped 
it around the Captain, and afterwards offered him the hog, which was brought by 
Kaireekeea with the same ceremony.

"Whilst Captain Cook was aloft in this awkward situation, swathed round with red 
cloth, and with difficulty keeping his hold amongst the pieces of rotten 
scaffolding, Kaireekeea and Koah began their office, chanting sometimes in 
concert and sometimes alternately. This lasted a considerable time; at length 
Koah let the hog drop, when he and the Captain descended together. He then led 
him to the images before mentioned, and, having said something to each in a 
sneering tone, snapping his fingers at them as he passed, he brought him to that 
in the center, which, from its being covered with red cloth, appeared to be in 
greater estimation than the rest. Before this figure he prostrated himself and 
kissed it, desiring Captain Cook to do the same, who suffered himself to be 
directed by Koah throughout the whole of this ceremony.

"We were now led back to the other division of the Morai, where there was a 
space ten or twelve feet square, sunk about three feet below the level of the 
area. Into this we descended, and Captain Cook was seated between two wooden 
idols, Koah supporting one of his arms, whilst I was desired to support the 
other. At this time arrived a second procession of natives, carrying a baked hog 
and a pudding, some bread fruit, cocoanuts and other vegetables. When they 
approached us Kaireekeea put himself at their head, and presenting the pig to 
Captain Cook in the usual manner, began the same kind of chant as before, his 
companions making regular responses. We observed that after every response their 
parts became gradually shorter, till, toward the close, Kaireekeea's consisted 
of only two or three words, while the rest answered by the word Orono.

"When this offering was concluded, which lasted a quarter of an hour, the 
natives sat down fronting us, and began to cut up the baked hog, to peel the 
vegetables and break the cocoanuts; whilst others employed themselves in brewing 
the awa, which is done by chewing it in the same manner as at the Friendly 
Islands. Kaireekeea then took part of the kernel of a cocoanut, which he chewed, 
and wrapping it in a piece of cloth, rubbed with it the Captain's face, head, 
hands, arms and shoulders. The awa was then handed around, and after we had 
tasted it Koah and Pareea began to pull the flesh of the hog in pieces and put 
it into our mouths. I had no great objection to being fed by Pareea, who was 
very cleanly in his person, but Captain Cook, who was served by Koah, 
recollecting the putrid hog, could not swallow a morsel; and his reluctance, as 
may be supposed, was not diminished when the old man, according to his own mode 
of civility had chewed it for him.

"When this ceremony was finished, which Captain Cook put an end to as soon as he 
decently could, we quitted the Moral."

Evidently the whole purpose of Captain Cook in permitting this performance, was 
to flatter and gratify the natives and make himself strong to command them. The 
Captain himself was sickened, and got away as quickly as he could without giving 
offense. This was not the only case in which the native priests presented the 
navigator as a superior being. Perhaps the view the old sailor took of the style 
of ceremony was as there were so many gods, one more or less did not matter. 
Cook never attached importance to the freaks of superstition, except so far as 
it might be made useful in keeping the bloody and beastly savages in check. 
Bearing upon this point we quote W.D. Alexander's "Brief History of the Hawaiian 
People," pages 33-34:

"Infanticide was fearfully prevalent, and there were few of the older women at 
the date of the abolition of idolatry who had not been guilty of it. It was the 
opinion of those best informed that two-thirds of all the children born were 
destroyed in infancy by their parents. They were generally buried alive, in many 
cases in the very houses occupied by their unnatural parents. On all the islands 
the number of males was much greater than that of females, in consequence of the 
girls being more frequently destroyed than the boys. The principal reason given 
for it was laziness--unwillingness to take the trouble of rearing children. It 
was a very common practice for parents to give away their children to any 
persons who were willing to adopt them.

"No regular parental discipline was maintained, and the children were too often 
left to follow their own inclinations and to become familiar with the lowest 
vices.

"Neglect of the helpless. Among the common people old age was despised. The sick 
and those who had become helpless from age were sometimes abandoned to die or 
put to death. Insane people were also sometimes stoned to death."

Again we quote Alexander's History, page 49:

"Several kinds of food were forbidden to the women on pain of death, viz., pork, 
bananas, cocoanuts, turtles, and certain kinds of fish, as the ulua, the humu, 
the shark, the hihimanu or sting-ray, etc. The men of the poorer class often 
formed a sort of eating club apart from their wives. These laws were rigorously 
enforced. At Honannau, Hawaii, two young girls of the highest rank, Kapiolani 
and Keoua, having been detected in the act of eating a banana, their kahu, or 
tutor, was held responsible, and put to death by drowning. Shortly before the 
abolition of the tabus, a little child had one of her eyes scooped out for the 
same offense. About the same time a woman was put to death for entering the 
eating house of her husband, although though she was tipsy at the time."

Captain Cook seems to have committed the unpardonable sin in not beginning the 
stated work of preaching the gospel a long generation before the missionaries 
arrived, and the only sound reason for this is found in Dibble's History, in his 
statement that the islanders steadily degenerated until the missions were 
organized.

Writers of good repute, A. Fornander, chief of them, are severe with Captain 
Cook on account of his alleged greed, not paying enough for the red feathers 
woven into fanciful forms. Perhaps that is a common fault in the transactions of 
civilized men with barbarians. William Penn is the only man with a great 
reputation for dealing fairly with American Red Men, and he was not impoverished 
by it. Cook gave nails for hogs, and that is mentioned in phrases that are 
malicious. Iron was to the islanders the precious metal, and they were not 
cheated. A long drawn out effort has been made to impress the world that Cook 
thought himself almost a god, and was a monster. The natives gave to the 
wonderful people who came to them in ships, liberally of their plenty, and 
received in return presents that pleased them, articles of utility. Beads came 
along at a later day. The natives believed Cook one of the heroes of the 
imagination that they called gods. He sought to propitiate them and paid for 
fruit and meat in iron and showy trifles. His policy of progress was to 
introduce domestic animals.

Note the temper of Mr. Abraham Fornander, a man who has meant honesty of 
statement, but whose information was perverted:

"And how did Captain Cook requite this boundless hospitality, that never once 
made default during his long stay of seventeen days in Kealakeakua, these 
magnificent presents of immense value, this delicate and spontaneous attention 
to every want, this friendship of the chiefs and priests, this friendliness of 
the common people? By imposing on their good nature to the utmost limit of its 
ability to respond to the greedy and constant calls of their new friends; by 
shooting at one of the king's officers for endeavoring to enforce a law of the 
land, an edict of his sovereign that happened to be unpalatable to the new 
comers, and caused them some temporary inconvenience, after a week's profusion 
and unbridled license; by a liberal exhibition of his force and the meanest 
display of his bounty; by giving the king a linen shirt and a cutlass in return 
for feather cloaks and helmets, which, irrespective of their value as insignia 
of the highest nobility in the land, were worth, singly at least from five to 
ten thousand dollars, at present price of the feathers, not counting the cost of 
manufacturing; by a reckless disregard of the proprieties of ordinary 
intercourse, even between civilized and savage man, and a wanton insult to what 
he reasonably may have supposed to have been the religious sentiments of his 
hosts." This is up to the mark of a criminal lawyer retained to prove by native 
testimony that Captain James Cook was not murdered, but executed for cause. The 
great crime of Cook is up to this point that of playing that he was one of the 
Polynesian gods. Fornander says: "When the sailors carried off, not only the 
railing of the temple, but also the idols of the gods within it, even the large-
hearted patience of Kaoo gave up, and he meekly requested that the central idol 
at least, might be restored. Captain King failed to perceive that the concession 
of the priests was that of a devotee to his saint. The priests would not sell 
their religious emblems and belongings for "thirty pieces of silver," or any 
remuneration, but they were willing to offer up the entire Heiau, and themselves 
on the top of it, as a holocaust to Lono, if he had requested it. So long as 
Cook was regarded as a god in their eyes they could not refuse him. And though 
they exhibited no resentment at the request, the want of delicacy and 
consideration on the part of Captain Cook is none the less glaring. After his 
death, and when the illusion of godship had subsided, his spoliation of the very 
Heiau in which he had been deified was not one of the least of the grievances 
which native annalists laid up against him."

Contrast this flagrancy in advocacy of the cause of the barbarous natives with 
the last words Cook wrote in his journal. We quote from "A Voyage to the Pacific 
Ocean," by Captain James Cook, F.R.S., (Vol. II., pages 251-252):

"As it was of the last importance to procure a supply of provisions at these 
islands; and experience having taught me that I could have no chance to succeed 
in this, if a free trade with the natives were to be allowed; that is, if it 
were left to every man's discretion to trade for what he pleased, and in what 
manner he pleased; for this substantial reason, I now published an order 
prohibiting all persons from trading, except such as should be appointed by me 
and Captain Clarke; and even these were enjoined to trade only for provisions 
and refreshments. Women were also forbidden to be admitted into the ships, 
except under certain restrictions. But the evil I intended to prevent, by this 
regulation, I soon found had already got amongst them.

"I stood in again the next morning till within three or four miles of the land, 
where we were met with a number of canoes laden with provisions. We brought to, 
and continued trading with the people in them till four in the afternoon, when, 
having got a pretty good supply, we made sail and stretched off to the 
northward.

"I had never met with a behavior so free from reserve and suspicion in my 
intercourse with any tribe of savages as we experienced in the people of this 
island. It was very common for them to send up into the ship the several 
articles they brought for barter; afterward, they would come in themselves and 
make their bargains on the quarter-deck.

"We spent the night as usual, standing off and on. It happened that four men and 
ten women who had come on board the preceding day still remained with us. As I 
did not like the company of the latter, I stood in shore toward noon, 
principally with a view to get them out of the ship; and, some canoes coming 
off, I took that opportunity of sending away our guests.

"In the evening Mr. Bligh returned and reported that he had found a bay in which 
was good anchorage, and fresh water in a situation tolerably easy to be come at. 
Into this bay I resolved to carry the ships, there to refit and supply ourselves 
with every refreshment that the place could afford. As night approached the 
greater part of our visitors retired to the shore, but numbers of them requested 
our permission to sleep on board. Curiosity was not the only motive, at least 
with some, for the next morning several things were missing, which determined me 
not to entertain so many another night.

"At eleven o'clock in the forenoon we anchored in the bay, which is called by 
the natives Karakaooa, (Kealakeakua), in thirteen fathoms water, over a sandy 
bottom, and about a quarter of a mile from the northeast shore. In this 
situation the south point of the bay bore south by west, and the north point 
west half north. We moored with the stream-anchor and cable, to the northward, 
unbent the sails and struck yards and topmasts. The ships continued to be much 
crowded with natives, and were surrounded by a multitude of canoes. I had 
nowhere, in the course of my voyages, seen so numerous a body of people 
assembled in one place. For, besides those who had come off to us in canoes, all 
the shore of the bay was covered with spectators, and many hundreds were 
swimming around the ships like shoals of fish. We could not but be struck with 
the singularity of this scene, and perhaps there were few on board who lamented 
our having failed in our endeavors to find a northern passage homeward last 
summer. To this disappointment we owed our having it in our power to revisit the 
Sandwich Islands, and to enrich our voyage with a discovery which, though the 
last, seemed in many respects to be the most important that had hitherto been 
made by Europeans, throughout the extent of the Pacific Ocean."

This is the end of Cook's writing. His murder followed immediately. He fell by 
the hands of people for whom his good will was shown in his last words. The 
concluding pages of the journal answer all the scandals his enemies have so 
busily circulated.

There is a gleam of humor that shows like a thread of gold in the midst of the 
somber tragedies of the Sandwich Islands, and we must not omit to extract it 
from "The Voyage of Discovery Around the World" by Captain George Vancouver, 
when he spent some time in Hawaii, and gives two bright pictures--one of a 
theatrical performance, and the other the happy settlement of the disordered 
domestic relations of a monarch.

A Gifted Native Actress and Some Royal Dramatists.

"There was a performance by a single young woman of the name of Puckoo, whose 
person and manners were both very agreeable. Her dress, notwithstanding the heat 
of the weather, consisted of an immense quantity of cloth, which was wreaths of 
black, red and yellow feathers; but, excepting these, she wore no dress a manner 
as to give a pretty effect to the variegated pattern of the cloth; and was 
otherways disposed with great taste. Her head and neck were decorated with 
wreaths of black, red and yellow feathers; but, excepting these, she wore no 
dress from the waist upwards. Her ankles, and nearly half way up her legs, were 
decorated with several folds of cloth, widening upwards, so that the upper parts 
extended from the leg at least four inches all round; this was encompassed by a 
piece of net work, wrought very close, from the meshes of which were hung the 
small teeth of dogs, giving this part of her dress the appearance of an 
ornamented funnel. On her wrists she wore bracelets made of the tusks of the 
largest hogs. These were highly polished and fixed close together in a ring, the 
concave sides of the tusks being outwards; and their ends reduced to a uniform 
length, curving naturally away from the center, were by no means destitute of 
ornamental effect. Thus equipped, her appearance on the stage, before she 
uttered a single word, excited considerable applause.

"These amusements had hitherto been confined to such limited performances; but 
this afternoon was to be dedicated to one of a more splendid nature, in which 
some ladies of consequence, attendants on the court of Tamaahmaah, were to 
perform the principal parts. Great pains had been taken, and they had gone 
through many private rehearsals, in order that the exhibition this evening might 
be worthy of the public attention; on the conclusion of which, I purposed by a 
display of fireworks, to make a return for the entertainment they had afforded 
us.

"About four o'clock we were informed it was time to attend the royal dames; 
their theatre, or rather place of exhibition, was about a mile to the southward 
of our tents, in a small square, surrounded by houses, and sheltered by trees, a 
situation as well chosen for the performance, as for the accommodations of the 
spectators; who, on a moderate computation, could not be estimated at less than 
four thousand, of all ranks and descriptions of persons.

"The dress of the actresses was something like that worn by Puckoo, though made 
of superior materials, and disposed with more taste and elegance. A very 
considerable quantity of their finest cloth was prepared for the occasion; of 
this their lower garment was formed, which extended from their waist half down 
their legs, and was so plaited as to appear very much like a hoop petticoat. 
This seemed the most difficult part of their dress to adjust, for Tamaahmaah, 
who was considered to be a profound critic, was frequently appealed to by the 
women, and his directions were implicitly followed in many little alterations. 
Instead of the ornaments of cloth and net-work, decorated with dogs' teeth, 
these ladies had each a green wreath made of a kind of bind weed, twisted 
together in different parts like a rope, which was wound round from the ankle, 
nearly to the lower part of the petticoat. On their wrists they wore no 
bracelets nor other ornaments, but across their necks and shoulders were green 
sashes, very nicely made, with the broad leaves of the tee, a plant that 
produces a very luscious sweet root, the size of a yam. This part of their dress 
was put on the last by each of the actresses; and the party being now fully 
attired, the king and queen, who had been present the whole time of their 
dressing, were obliged to withdraw, greatly to the mortification of the latter, 
who would gladly have taken her part as a performer, in which she was reputed to 
excel very highly. But the royal pair were compelled to retire, even from the 
exhibition, as they are prohibited by law from attending such amusements, 
excepting on the festival of the new year. Indeed, the performance of this day 
was contrary to the established rules of the island, but being intended as a 
compliment to us, the innovation was permitted.

"As their majesties withdrew, the ladies of rank and the principal chiefs began 
to make their appearance. The reception of the former by the multitude was 
marked by a degree of respect that I had not before seen amongst any inhabitants 
of the countries in the Pacific Ocean. The audience assembled at this time were 
standing in rows, from fifteen to twenty feet deep, so close as to touch each 
other; but these ladies no sooner approached in their rear, in any accidental 
direction, than a passage was instantly made for them and their attendants to 
pass through in the most commodious manner to their respective stations, where 
they seated themselves on the ground, which was covered with mats, in the most 
advantageous situation for seeing and hearing the performers. Most of these 
ladies were of a corpulent form, which, assisted by their stately gait, the 
dignity with which they moved, and the number of their pages, who followed with 
fans to court the refreshing breeze, or with fly-flaps to disperse the offending 
insects, announced their consequence as the wives, daughters, sisters, or other 
near relations of the principal chiefs, who, however, experienced no such marks 
of respect or attention themselves; being obliged to make their way through the 
spectators in the best manner they were able.

"The time devoted to the decoration of the actresses extended beyond the limits 
of the quiet patience of the audience, who exclaimed two or three times, from 
all quarters, "Hoorah, hoorah, poaliealee," signifying that it would be dark and 
black night before the performance would begin. But the audience here, like 
similar ones in other countries, attending with a pre-disposition to be pleased, 
was in good humor, and was easily appeased, by the address of our faithful and 
devoted friend Trywhookee, who was the conductor of the ceremonies, and sole 
manager on this occasion. He came forward and apologized by a speech that 
produced a general laugh, and, causing the music to begin, we heard no further 
murmurs.

"The band consisted of five men, all standing up, each with a highly polished 
wooden spear in the left, and a small piece of the same material, equally well 
finished, in the right hand; with this they beat on the spear, as an 
accompaniment to their own voices in songs, that varied both as to time and 
measure, especially the latter; yet their voices, and the sounds produced from 
the rude instruments, which differed according to the place on which the 
tapering spear was struck, appeared to accord very well. Having engaged us a 
short time in this vocal performance, the court ladies made their appearance, 
and were received with shouts of the greatest applause. The musicians retired a 
few paces, and the actresses took their station before them.

"The heroine of the piece, which consisted of four or five acts, had once shared 
the affections and embraces of Tamaahmaah, but was now married to an inferior 
chief, whose occupation in the household was that of the charge of the king's 
apparel. This lady was distinguished by a green wreath round the crown of the 
head; next to her was the captive daughter of Titeeree; the third a younger 
sister to the queen, the wife of Crymamahoo, who, being of the most exalted 
rank, stood in the middle. On each side of these were two of inferior quality, 
making in all seven actresses. They drew themselves up in a line fronting that 
side of the square that was occupied by ladies of quality and the chiefs. These 
were completely detached from the populace, not by any partition, but, as it 
were, by the respectful consent of the lower orders of the assembly; not one of 
which trespassed or produced the least inaccommodation.

"This representation, like that before attempted to be described, was a compound 
of speaking and singing; the subject of which was enforced by gestures and 
actions. The piece was in honor of a captive princess, whose name was 
Crycowculleneaow; and on her name being pronounced, every one present, men as 
well as women, who wore any ornaments above their waists, were obliged to take 
them off, though the captive lady was at least sixty miles distant. This mark of 
respect was unobserved by the actresses whilst engaged in the performance; but 
the instant any one sat down, or at the close of the act, they were also obliged 
to comply with this mysterious ceremony.

"The variety of attitudes into which these women threw themselves, with the 
rapidity of their action, resembled no amusement in any other part of the world 
within my knowledge, by a comparison with which I might be enabled to convey 
some idea of the stage effect thus produced, particularly in the three first 
parts, in which there appeared much correspondence and harmony between the tone 
of their voices and the display of their limbs. One or two of the performers 
being not quite so perfect as the rest, afforded us an opportunity of exercising 
our judgment by comparison; and it must be confessed, that the ladies who most 
excelled, exhibited a degree of graceful action, for the attainment of which it 
is difficult to account.

"In each of these first parts the songs, attitudes and actions appeared to me of 
greater variety than I had before noticed amongst the people of the great South 
Sea nation on any former occasion. The whole, though I am unequal to its 
description, was supported with a wonderful degree of spirit and vivacity; so 
much indeed that some of their exertions were made with such a degree of 
agitating violence as seemed to carry the performers beyond what their strength 
was able to sustain; and had the performance finished with the third act, we 
should have retired from their theatre with a much higher idea of the moral 
tendency of their drama, than was conveyed by the offensive, libidinous scene, 
exhibited by the ladies in the concluding part. The language of the song, no 
doubt, corresponded with the obscenity of their actions; which were carried to a 
degree of extravagance that were calculated to produce nothing but disgust, even 
to the most licentious."

From "A Voyage of Discovery," by Captain George Vancouver:

    The Reconciliation by Strategy of a King With One of His Queens.

    "Tahowmotoo was amongst the most constant of our guests; but his daughter, 
the disgraced queen, seldom visited our side of the bay. I was not, however, 
ignorant of her anxious desire for a reconciliation with Tamaahmaah; nor was the 
same wish to be misunderstood in the conduct and behavior of the king, in whose 
good opinion and confidence I had now acquired such a predominancy that I became 
acquainted with his most secret inclinations and apprehensions.

    "His unshaken attachment and unaltered affection for Tahowmannoo was 
confessed with a sort of internal self conviction of her innocence. He 
acknowledged with great candor that his own conduct had not been exactly such as 
warranted his having insisted upon a separation from his queen; that although it 
could not authorize, it in some measure pleaded in excuse for her infidelity; 
and for his own, he alleged, that his high rank and supreme authority was a sort 
of license for such indulgences.

    "An accommodation which I considered to be mutually wished by both parties 
was urged in the strongest terms by the queen's relations. To effect this 
desirable purpose, my interference was frequently solicited by them; and as it 
concurred with my own inclination, I resolved on embracing the first favorable 
opportunity to use my best endeavors for bringing a reconciliation about. For 
although, on our former visit, Tahowmannoo had been regarded with the most 
favorable impressions, yet, whether from her distresses, or because she had 
really improved in her personal accomplishments, I will not take upon me to 
determine, but certain it is that one or both of these circumstances united had 
so far prepossessed us all in her favor, and no one more so than myself, that it 
had long been the general wish to see her exalted again to her former dignities. 
This desire was probably not a little heightened by the regard we entertained 
for the happiness and repose of our noble and generous friend Tamaahmaah, who 
was likely to be materially affected not only in his domestic comforts, but in 
his political situation, by receiving again and reinstating his consort in her 
former rank and consequence.

    "I was convinced beyond all doubt that there were two or three of the most 
considerable chiefs of the island whose ambitious views were inimical to the 
interests and authority of Tamaahmaah; and it was much to be apprehended that if 
the earnest solicitations of the queen's father (whose condition and importance 
was next in consequence to that of the king) should continue to be rejected, 
that there could be little doubt of his adding great strength and influence to 
the discontented and turbulent chiefs, which would operate highly to the 
prejudice, if not totally to the destruction, of Tamaahmaah's regal power; 
especially as the adverse party seemed to form a constant opposition, consisting 
of a minority by no means to be despised by the executive power, and which 
appeared to be a principal constituent part of the Owhyean politics.

    "For these substantial reasons, whenever he was disposed to listen to such 
discourse, I did not cease to urge the importance and necessity of his adopting 
measures so highly essential to his happiness as a man, and to his power, 
interest and authority as the supreme chief of the island. All this he candidly 
acknowledged, but his pride threw impediments in the way of a reconciliation, 
which were hard to be removed. He would not himself become the immediate agent; 
and although he considered it important that the negotiation should be conducted 
by some one of the principal chiefs in his fullest confidence with disdain, was 
equally hard to reconcile to his feelings. I stood nearly in the same situation 
with his favorite friends; but being thoroughly convinced of the sincerity of 
his wishes, I spared him the mortification of soliciting the offices he had 
rejected, by again proffering my services. To this he instantly consented, and 
observed that no proposal could have met his mind so completely; since, by 
effecting a reconciliation through my friendship, no umbrage could be taken at 
his having declined the several offers of his countrymen by any of the 
individuals; whereas, had this object been accomplished by any one of the 
chiefs, it would probably have occasioned jealousy and discontent in the minds 
of the others.

    "All, however, was not yet complete; the apprehension that some concession 
might be suggested, or expected, on his part, preponderated against every other 
consideration; and he would on no account consent, that it should appear that he 
had been privy to the business, or that it had been by his desire that a 
negotiation had been undertaken for this happy purpose, but that the whole 
should have the appearance of being purely the result of accident.

    "To this end it was determined that I should invite the queen, with several 
of her relations and friends, on board the Discovery, for the purpose of 
presenting them with some trivial matters, as tokens of my friendship and 
regard; and that, whilst thus employed, our conversation should be directed to 
ascertain whether an accommodation was still an object to be desired. That on 
this appearing to be the general wish, Tamaahmaah would instantly repair on 
board in a hasty manner, as if he had something extraordinary to communicate; 
that I should appear to rejoice at this accidental meeting, and by instantly 
uniting their hands, bring the reconciliation to pass without the least 
discussion or explanation on either side. But from his extreme solicitude lest 
he should in any degree be suspected of being concerned in this previous 
arrangement, a difficulty arose how to make him acquainted with the result of 
the proposed conversation on board, which could not be permitted by a verbal 
message; at length, after some thought, he took up two pieces of paper, and of 
his own accord made certain marks with a pencil on each of them, and then 
delivered them to me. The difference of these marks he could well recollect; the 
one was to indicate that the result of my inquiries was agreeable to his wishes, 
and the other that it was contrary. In the event of my making use of the former, 
he proposed that it should not be sent on shore secretly, but in an open and 
declared manner, and by way of a joke, as a present to his Owhyhean majesty. The 
natural gaiety of disposition which generally prevails among these islanders, 
would render this supposed disappointment of the king a subject for mirth, would 
in some degree prepare the company for his visit, and completely do away with 
every idea of its being the effect of a preconcerted measure.

    "This plan was accordingly carried into execution on the following Monday. 
Whilst the queen and her party, totally ignorant of the contrivance, were 
receiving the compliments I had intended them, their good humor and pleasantry 
were infinitely heightened by the jest I proposed to pass upon the king, in 
sending him a piece of paper only, carefully wrapped up in some cloth of their 
own manufacture, accompanied by a message; importing, that as I was then in the 
act of distributing favors to my Owhyhean friends, I had not been unmindful of 
his majesty.

    "Tamaahmaah no sooner received the summons, than he hastened on board, and, 
with his usual vivacity, exclaimed before he made his appearance that he was 
come to thank me for the present I had sent him, and for my goodness in not 
having forgotten him on this occasion. This was heard by everyone in the cabin 
before he entered; and all seemed to enjoy the joke except the poor queen, who 
appeared to be much agitated at the idea of being again in his presence. The 
instant that he saw her his countenance expressed great surprise, he became 
immediately silent, and attempted to retire; but, having posted myself for the 
especial purpose of preventing his departure, I caught his hand and, joining it 
with the queen's, their reconciliation was instantly completed. This was fully 
demonstrated, not only by the tears that involuntarily stole down the cheeks of 
both as they embraced each other and mutually expressed the satisfaction they 
experienced; but by the behavior of every individual present, whose feelings on 
the occasion were not to be repressed; whilst their sensibility testified the 
happiness which this apparently fortuitous event had produced.

    "A short pause, produced by an event so unexpected, was succeeded by the 
sort of good humor that such a happy circumstance would naturally inspire; the 
conversation soon became general, cheerful and lively, in which the artifice 
imagined to have been imposed upon the king bore no small share. A little 
refreshment from a few glasses of wine concluded the scene of this successful 
meeting.

    "After the queen had acknowledged in the most grateful terms the weighty 
obligations which she felt for my services on this occasion, I was surprised by 
her saying, as we were all preparing to go on shore, that she had still a very 
great favor to request; which was, that I should obtain from Tamaahmaah a solemn 
promise that on her return to his habitation he would not beat her. The great 
cordiality with which the reconciliation had taken place, and the happiness that 
each of them had continued to express in consequence of it, led me at first to 
consider this entreaty of the queen as a jest only; but in this I was mistaken, 
for, notwithstanding that Tamaahmaah readily complied with my solicitation, and 
assured me nothing of the kind should take place, yet Tahowmannoo would not be 
satisfied without my accompanying them home to the royal residence, where I had 
the pleasure of seeing her restored to all her former honors and privileges, 
highly to the satisfaction of all the king's friends, but to the utter 
mortification of those who by their scandalous reports and misrepresentations 
had been the cause of the unfortunate separtion.

    "The domestic affairs of Tamaahmaah having thus taken so happy a turn, his 
mind was more at liberty for political considerations; and the cession of 
Owhyhee to his Britannic Majesty now became an object of his serious concern."


Captain Cook makes a strong plea in his journal that he was the very original 
discoverer of the Sandwich Islands. Referring to the wonderful extent of the 
surface of the earth in which the land is occupied by the Polynesial race, he 
exclaims:

"How shall we account for this nation's having spread itself, in so many 
detached islands, so widely disjoined from each other, in every quarter of the 
Pacific Ocean! We find it, from New Zealand in the South, as far as the Sandwich 
Islands, to the North! And, in another direction, from Easter Islands to the 
Hebrides! That is, over an extent of sixty degrees of latitude, or twelve 
hundred leagues, North and South! And eighty-three degrees of longitude, or 
sixteen hundred and sixty leagues, East and West! How much farther, in either 
direction, its colonies reach, is not known; but what we know already, in 
consequence of this and our former voyage, warrants our pronouncing it to be, 
though perhaps not the most numerous, certainly, by far, the most extensive, 
nation upon earth.

"Had the Sandwich Islands been discovered at an early period by the Spaniards, 
there is little doubt that they would have taken advantage of so excellent a 
situation, and have made use of Atooi, or some other of the islands, as a 
refreshing place to the ships, that sail annually from Acapulco for Manilla. 
They lie almost midway between the first place and Guam, one of the Ladrones, 
which is at present their only port in traversing this vast ocean; and it would 
not have been a week's sail out of their common route to have touched at them; 
which could have been done without running the least hazard of losing the 
passage, as they are sufficiently within the verge of the easterly trade wind. 
An acquaintance with the Sandwich Islands would have been equally favorable to 
our Buccaneers, who used sometimes to pass from the coast of America to the 
Ladrones, with a stock of food and water scarcely sufficient to preserve life. 
Here they might always have found plenty, and have been within a month's sure 
sail of the very part of California which the Manilla ship is obliged to make, 
or else have returned to the coast of America, thoroughly refitted, after an 
absence of two months. How happy would Lord Anson have been, and what hardships 
he would have avoided, if he had known that there was a group of islands half 
way between America and Tinian, where all his wants could have been effectually 
supplied; and in describing which the elegant historian of that voyage would 
have presented his reader with a more agreeable picture than I have been able to 
draw in this chapter."

And yet there seems to be reason for believing that there was a Spanish ship 
cast away on one of the Hawaiian group, and that their descendants are 
distinctly marked men yet: There was also a white man and woman saved from the 
sea at some unknown period, of course since Noah, and they multiplied and 
replenished, and the islanders picked up somewhere a knack for doing things in 
construction of boats and the weaving of mats that hint at a crude civilization 
surviving in a mass of barbarianism.

Captain George Dixon names the islands discovered by Captain Cook on his last 
voyage:

"Owhyhee (Hawaii), the principal, is the first to the southward and eastward, 
the rest run in a direction nearly northwest. The names of the principals are 
Mowee (Maui), Morotoy (Molokai), Ranai (Lanai), Whahoo (Oahu), Attooi (Kauai), 
and Oneehow (Niihau)."

This account Dixon gives of two curious and rather valuable words: "The moment a 
chief concludes a bargain, he repeats the word Coocoo thrice, with quickness, 
and is immediately answered by all the people in his canoe with the word Whoah, 
pronounced in a tone of exclamation, but with greater or less energy, in 
proportion as the bargain he has made is approved."

The great and celebrated Kamehameha, who consolidated the government of the 
islands, did it by an act of treachery and murder, thus told in Alexander's 
history:

"The Assassination of Keoua.--Toward the end of the year 1791 two of 
Kamehameha's chief counsellors, Kamanawa and Keaweaheulu, were sent on an 
embassy to Keoua at Kahuku in Kau. Keoua's chief warrior urged him to put them 
to death, which he indignantly refused to do.

"By smooth speeches and fair promises they persuaded him to go to Kawaihae, and 
have an interview with Kamehameha, in order to put an end to the war, which had 
lasted nine years. Accordingly he set out with his most intimate friends and 
twenty-four rowers in his own double canoe, accompanied by Keaweaheulu in 
another canoe, and followed by friends and retainers in other canoes.

"As they approached the landing at Kawaihae, Keeaumoku surrounded Keoua's canoe 
with a number of armed men. As Kamakau relates: 'Seeing Kamehameha on the beach, 
Keoua called out to him, "Here I am," to which he replied, "Rise up and come 
here, that we may know each other."'

"As Keoua was in the act of leaping ashore, Keeaumoku killed him with a spear. 
All the men in Keoua's canoe and in the canoes of his immediate company were 
slaughtered but one. But when the second division approached, Kamehameha gave 
orders to stop the massacre. The bodies of the slain were then laid upon the 
altar of Puukohola as an offering to the blood-thirsty divinity Kukailimoku. 
That of Keoua had been previously baked in an oven at the foot of the hill as a 
last indignity. This treacherous murder made Kamehameha master of the whole 
island of Hawaii, and was the first step toward the consolidation of the group 
under one government."

This is one of those gentle proceedings of an amiable race, whose massacre of 
Captain Cook has been so elaborately vindicated by alleged exponents of 
civilization.

There is found the keynote of the grevious native government in an incident of 
the date of 1841 by which "the foreign relations of the government became 
involved with the schemes of a private firm. The firm of Ladd & Co. had taken 
the lead in developing the agricultural resources of the islands by their sugar 
plantation at Koloa and in other ways, and had gained the entire confidence of 
the king and chiefs. On the 24th of November, 1841, a contract was secretly 
drawn up at Lahaina by Mr. Brinsmade, a member of the firm, and Mr. Richards, 
and duly signed by the king and premier, which had serious after-consequences. 
It granted to Ladd & Co. the privilege of "leasing any now unoccupied and 
unimproved localities" in the islands for one hundred years, at a low rental, 
each millsite to include fifteen acres, and the adjoining land for cultivation 
in each locality not to exceed two hundred acres, with privileges of wood, 
pasture, etc. These sites were to be selected within one year, which term was 
afterwards extended to four years from date."

Of course there are many safeguards, particularly in this case, but the points 
of the possession of land conceded, the time for the people to recover their 
rights never comes.

One of the difficulties in the clearing up of the foggy chapters of the history 
of the Hawaiian islands is that within the lifetime of men who were young at the 
close of the last century, the Hawaiian tongue became a written language, and 
made the traditions of savages highly colored stories, in various degrees 
according to ignorance, prejudice and sympathy, accepted as historical. The 
marvels accomplished by the missionaries influenced them to deal gently with 
those whose conversion was a recognized triumph of Christendom, and there was an 
effort to condemn Captain Cook, who had affected to nod as a God, as a warning 
to blasphemers. Still, the truth of history is precious as the foundations of 
faith to men of all races and traditions, and the Englishman who surpassed the 
French, Spaniards and Portuguese in discoveries of islands in the vast spaces of 
the Pacific Ocean, should have justice at the hands of Americans who have 
organized states and built cities by that sea, and possess the islands that have 
been named its paradise because endowed surpassingly with the ample treasures of 
volcanic soil and tropical climate. There the trade winds bestow the freshness 
of the calm and mighty waters, and there is added to the bounty of boundless 
wealth the charms of luxuriant beauty. All Americans should find it timely to be 
just to Captain Cook, and claim him as one of the pioneers of our conquering 
civilization.

The Story of the Philippines - End of Chapters XVII-XXI