Note 15 — Relation of the Western Islands Called Filipinas

An interesting reference to one of the earliest and most characteristic industries among the natives of the Philippines. The “wild banana” is the abacá (Musa textilis); its product (made from the fibers of the leaves) is commonly known as “Manila hemp,” and is one of the chief exports from the islands. Two kinds of cloth are now made by the natives from the abacá, called sinamay and tinampipi; in making them, they use only primitive handlooms. See Zúñiga's description of this manufacture, in Estadismo (Retana's edition), vol. ii, pp. 41, 42: cf. pp. 94, 95, where he praises the cotton cloths made in the Philippines.