CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
CHAPTER IIn which account is given of the progress of the mission to the Italons, from the year 1700 to the present time.
After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”][On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]
After we had been able to reduce to our holy faith two tribes who dwelt at the summits of the most rugged mountains in the province of Pampanga, the Caraclans and Buquids, and from them had been formed three villages—Santor and Bongabon, quite populous; and Pantabangan, of smaller numbers, and lying more within the mountains2—this gate being now opened so that we could proceed further, it only needed that we should have the courage to do so. For at the first step were encountered two contiguous tribes: the Italons, a people fierce, brave, and bold; and the Abacas, who are somewhat less so. The religious therefore feared that those people, to judgefrom their ferocious natures, would without doubt tear them to pieces at the very outset, without even listening to them; and for this very reason they greatly dreaded to set foot within the territory of those tribes. While we were in these straits, our provincial then being our father reader Fray Francisco Zamora, about the year 1702 he selected for this purpose father Fray Antolin de Arzaga,3whose virtue and ardor he knew well from experience, and entrusted to him this enterprise, as dangerous as difficult. [This gospel pioneer went out, equipped with what was necessary for administering the sacraments and with some trinkets to give the natives, “and with no other arms than his confidence in God.”]
[On August 16, 1702, a letter from Father Arzaga to his superior gave account of his progress thus far; it was written from Pantabangan, which is “distant from Santor eight leguas by a very difficult road.” From the latter village he sent a message, by the hands of four chiefs, to the chief of Lublub, who came out to meet him with forty infidels; but the father finally persuaded them to let him enter their village, where he exhorted and instructed them, receiving an attentive hearing. “This village [i.e., Lublub] has about one hundred and fifty persons; it is distant from this one [of Pantabangan] four leguas to the east, by an uneven road. This Italon tribe consists of fifty-six villages (so far as I have yet ascertained), which lie on the shores of two deep rivers, toward the north. They have a general language which is entirely separate from those of Tagalos andPampanga; they have well-kept villages, with high houses. They take great care of their fields, and keep their grain intambobos, or granaries, thus anticipating times of sterility and sickness. The fishing, as also the hunting, is abundant and good; the climate is temperate; and there are many open plains, beautiful to see. The people are kindly, but very warlike and of courageous dispositions; they are quite ingenious, and are hospitable. They understand that there is a God, and that He is in heaven, caring for all whom He creates—to whom they offer sacrifices, only when they make agreements of peace—and that there is no other God than He. They say that He rewards the good and punishes the bad, but they do not know in what manner; and they admit that they have immortal souls. They make a contract of marriage with one wife only, which lasts until death; they do not allow concubinage; and they do not marry their relatives. They observe the truth well; and, what is more, they desire to be Christians.”4Certain “bad Christians” have told these Italons that the Spaniards are trying to load them with tributes and take away their liberty; therefore they are waiting to make their decision, and fifteen of them, accompaniedby an Augustinian religious, are carrying Arzaga’s letter to Manila. He continues:]
“The Abaca tribe consists of ten villages, divided into two jurisdictions, one of which belongs to this village and contains six villages toward the north, extending, as they have told me, to the boundaries of the Igorrots. Twenty-two persons in the first village, called Diama, came to visit me as soon as I arrived here; having explained to them some mysteries of our holy faith, they returned to their own village. I visited them there, and they received me thus: They had placed a tall cross at the entrance of their jurisdiction, and from that place to the village they had cleared the roads, which are very bad, adorning them with arches up to the front of the house in which they lodged me; and there they had built another cross, even taller. This village is distant a legua and a half [from Pantabangan], and from it the gate is open for the entire Italon and Abaca tribes; it has wars with the Italons in regard to certain murders. I conferred with them about their making peace [with those villages], and their learning the truth which our holy faith teaches. They listened attentively to what I said to them; and, in conclusion, we made an agreement that they will at once become Christians and make peace. They ask that I catechize them, build a church, and baptize them. They are almost of the same type as the Italons; but some of them have several wives, and this is not so liberal a people as the former one. This village [of Diama] contains over a hundred persons; they speak a different language, for which reason it is necessary that there be a minister who can learn it, and devote himself to their instruction, for I am studying the Italon tongue.What I state to your Reverence is, that a minister is needed whom we can consult about some cases which are presenting themselves here; for it is very discouraging to act in the midst of scruples, in matters of conscience. What your Reverence shall ordain will be in every way most just.
“The second jurisdiction of this people pertains to Caranglan, to which I went with the determination to visit the four remaining villages; for father Fray Francisco de la Maza wrote to me from Itui that two of those villages desired to be converted, and were asking for a minister of our order, on account of being in our jurisdiction. I asked about this in Caranglan, and they said that it was true as regards one of them, which is an important village and is already Christian; and in the other village there are many persons who are Christians, although for lack of a minister they are going without administration. These two villages are a half-day’s journey from Caranglan, by a bad road, and one is contiguous to Itui, on the western side. There are many rivers to be crossed; and, as these were filled by a storm which caught me at Caranglan, I could not cross them, although I waited a week. One Abaca has continued forty years in apostasy; he asks that I will reconcile him with the church, and baptize his wife and three children, and I am instructing them in order to do this. I am sending away the Italons [with this letter], and tomorrow the Indian who went to Manila will come, to go with me to the Abaca villages; we will do what is possible there, until the coming of another minister. When he shall come, I will go on to the Italons who are further up [the river]; they tell me that it will require twomonths, only to go to the villages. I have information that they desire to see a father, and to be Christians; this was furnished to me by Nicolàs de los Santos, who has been among these people; and he has done and is doing much good to their souls. He is my constant companion in my journeys, and serves me in everything; I earnestly commend him to your Reverence.”
[The Italons who carried this letter to Manila were received with great kindness by Governor Zabalburu; and on their return they were accompanied by the minister for whom Arzaga had asked, for which post was selected his uncle, Fray Balthasar de Santa Maria Isisigana,5who went as superior of that mission. The two entered upon its labors with indefatigable zeal and energy, and on December 28, 1702, Isisigana sent in an encouraging report of what they had accomplished. Arzaga had already built a church at a place four leguas from Pantabangan, which he dedicated to St. Thomas de Villanueva; and Isisigana writes that they have just erected another at San Agustin, and built a house for the minister, while at Santo Christo de Burgos, about six leguas distant from this, the timber is already being cut for another church and convent. Most of the people, whether adults or children, desire to embrace the Catholic faith; and the missionaries go about, surrounded by the children, who sing and dance withjoy. In building the church of San Agustin, the fathers were aided by thirty infidels from another village, one and one-half leguas distant, who came of their own accord, simply because they had heard that a church was being erected there. Fray Arzaga went to the upper Italons, by wretched roads; he went on foot from Pantabangan to Tablayàn, the first Italon village, about eighteen leguas. Many natives visited him there; he desired to go farther, but was attacked with an illness which almost proved mortal, and was obliged to return to Pantabangan. The chief of Tablayan, with his family, accompanied him thither; and they were ready to build him a church and house at once, if he could have remained with them. The missionaries asked for cattle from Manila, and the provincial sent them two hundred and twenty. As they grew skilled in the native dialects, they were able to extend their labors further, and they baptized many people from the tribes in that region, Abaca, Italon, and Irapi; and by 1704 they had formed several villages and erected five churches. The fruits of their zeal, and those gathered by other Augustinian missionaries in the islands, are shown by a certificate given to the governor in that year by the provincial of the order, which reads as follows:]
“I, Fray Juan Bautista de Olarte, pensioned lecturer in sacred theology, provincial of the province of Santissimo Nombre de Jesus of the hermits of our father St. Augustine, do certify that, from the eighth day of October, 1702, until the twentieth of May in this present year, the two missionary religious of the said my order who were employed in the conversion of the natives in the Italon and Abaca tribes, who dwell in the mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn,6have founded five villages, to wit: Santo Tomàs de Villanueva, which is composed of eighty families; Santo Christo de Burgos, one hundred families; San Agustin, one hundred and sixty; San Pablo, one hundred and forty; San Joseph, seventy families. They all have accepted the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy sacrament of baptism has been administered to four hundred and seventy-nine persons, all adults, who are instructed and taught in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith; and those who at present are being catechized and instructed for baptism number more than eight hundred persons.
“I also certify that in the said mountains of Pantabangàn and Caranglàn dwell the tribes called Igorrots, Irapis, and Sinay, and others, which contain a great number of natives who live in their pagan state; and that the Italon tribe alone contains fifty-six villages, all infidels, who have offered to become Christians when they shall have ministers who can teach them and preach the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the said missionaries of my order are employed in this ministry.
“I also certify that the minister of my order who serves in the villages of Tarlac, Magalan, and Bucsi, Zambal villages in the province of Pampanga, has catechized and baptized, from the year 1702 up to May 20 of this present year, fifty-eight adults, all of whom have come down from the mountains of the said villages.
“I also certify that the minister who serves in the village of Pórac in the said province of Pampanga has catechized, instructed, and baptized, in the missions which he has carried on in the mountains of the said village during the said two years, twenty-six natives among the blacks who dwell in that neighborhood.
“I also certify that the religious of the said my order who serve in the villages of Agoò, Bavang, and Bacnotan in the province of Pangasinan have converted to our holy faith, and instructed and baptized, in the period of two years twenty-six natives from the tribe called Igorrots, who dwell in the said mountains.
“I also certify that the ministers who serve in the province of Ilocos have in the period of two years converted to our holy faith and baptized one hundredand fifty-six natives from the infidel Tinguians who are in and belong to the said province, and live in its mountains and hills.
“I also certify that the minister for the village of Antique in the province of Octong has in his charge and care the islets which are called Cagayàn, and has labored for seven years to convert the natives inhabiting them to our holy faith. Having gone thither to visit the Christians, in the past year of 1703, he gave instruction in the Christian doctrine and the mysteries of our holy faith to forty-four adults, and baptized them, with others, who were the children of Christian parents; and he heard the confessions of all the old Christians, for he remained in that mission four months. In the said province of Ogtòn, the religious who are ministers at Guimbal, Tigbavan, and Xaro have converted to our holy faith and baptized thirty-six adults, on various occasions when they have gone into the mountains in their respective jurisdictions. That there has not been a greater increase [in the number of conversions] not only in this province, but in those of Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Ilocos, is [due to] the lack of religious ministers; for those in my province are not enough for even the maintenance of the villages and Christians who are in their charge. And in order that these things may be evident in the proper place, I give the present at the demand and order of the captain-general of these islands, and president of the royal Audiencia, Don Domingo Zabalburu; it is dated at this royal convent of San Pablo at Manila, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and four.
Fray Juan Bautista Olarte, provincial.”
[So great was the zeal of Arzaga and Isisigana that they devoted themselves to seeking out the heathen among those wild mountains, enduring privations, exposure, and sufferings, until the health of both was broken down. Arzaga was again attacked by a sickness which prostrated him, and died in 1707; his uncle held out three years longer, and was then called in from the field, in order to recruit his strength, but he was never able to return to his labors, and died in 1716, in the convent of Vava.7In their place was sent to this mission field Fray Alexandro Cacho,8in zeal and courage a worthy successor tothem. He succeeded in converting a chief named Dinalavang, dreaded as well as renowned for his fierce and warlike disposition and for his skill in all military exercises; also a sister of this man, as valiant and dextrous as he, baptized as Doña Maria. Mozo gives an interesting account of the fierce and cruel practices of these savage tribes (whom he compares to the Huns), “which more than once I have rebuked, when I have been among those people.” “If they succeed in killing a person they try to drink his blood; and, cutting off pieces of his lungs, together with the testicles9and other parts, they also draw out the entrails, and then divide these among themselves and eat them raw—not only to make themselves terrible, but also because they say it is a powerful medicine for exciting courage, fierceness, and fortitude in their battles. They also cut off the head, and carry it away in order to celebrate their festivals, with great gluttony and carousing, [filling the skull] with a sort of wine which they make from sugarcane and callilang. Afterward, they take the grinders and teeth and set these in the hilts of their cutlasses; and, as a consequence, there is hardly any one in this tribe or in the Ibilaos whose cutlass is not adorned with many teeth of those whom he has killed, or who has not in his hut a collection of the skulls from human heads—this very thing inspiring them with greater courage when they fight, in the same way as it happened, as Virgil sings, to Æneaswhen he saw on his antagonist Turnus the scarf of his beloved Pallas. So these people, when they see the teeth of their own tribesmen on the sword-hilts of their opponents, fling themselves upon the latter like mad dogs; and from this may be readily inferred what degree of ferocity and barbarism theirs must be, and what sort of hardships and labors it will cost to free them from the power of the demon …. They greatly dislike arrogance in their neighbors; and they likewise abhor every sorcerer and wizard, a motive which makes them treat without mercy any one of these whom they seize, cutting him to pieces with their knives; and even at their feasts, and in the superstitious rites which they practice, they utter a thousand execrations against such persons, hurling at them a thousand curses, and swearing that they will not spare any one of them who may fall into their hands, [an oath] which they fulfil exactly.” Mozo describes the secret raids made by these people against their enemies, marching at night and attacking a defenseless village at daybreak; and he accuses them of aiding their ordinary weapons with a diabolical practice—“they throw into a hole in some creek a root and herbs which they carry, provided [for this purpose], and, by their using various magic spells which the demon has taught to them, so violent a wind is raised, and a tempest of rain, that with the noise thus caused they are not observed, and likewise are better protected from the villages against which they march.” He adds, “I do not relate fables;” and states that he has several times endeavored to restrain them from this devilish proceeding. Sometimes, he says, the proceedings are reversed, and the aggressors are, in their turn, surprised by those whomthey have attacked, who then take revenge upon them. Mozo relates how, on one occasion, a hostile band of heathen attacked some Christians, and captured a loaded musket, its match still lighted; they examined it carefully, and, while handling it, incautiously let the match fall on the priming. The gun was discharged, killing some and crippling others of the group crowded around it; the survivors fled in terror, but afterward returned to the spot, and with a cord dragged the gun to their village and buried it in the ground. Learning that its owner lived in Bongabon, they immediately rated the people of that village as sorcerers, who had placed a powerful magic in the gun; and for more than fifty years they taught their children, as soon as the latter could speak, to avoid the dwellers in Bongabon as dangerous sorcerers.]