Note 1 — Relation of the Filipinas Islands and of the Character and Conditions of their Inhabitants.
Reading edition
The land is fertile, and abounds in all provisions common to this region.1 If at times some places lack Page 41the necessaries of life, it is because the natives are the laziest people in the world, or because they are forced to leave their towns through war, or for other reasons. The land is neither sowed nor cultivated. Another cause for the lack of provisions is, that they have so little authority over their slaves. They are satisfied with what is necessary for the present, and are always more ready to rob their neighbors of their possessions, than to work and cultivate their own land.