Volume 40 — Chapter XVIII

Boats and weapons of these natives

The craft used by the Lutaos for war are, like those of terrible pirates, built with particular attention to speed—both for pursuit, and to seek shelter whenever affairs go wrong with them, or when their undertaking is dangerous to them. For since their wars are always waged for greed, and reputation never induces them, they try to advantage themselves quite at their safety; and they readily abandon any undertaking if they see that it will be costly to them. That care and attention, which govern their boat-building, cause their ships to sail like birds, while ours are like lead in this regard. The planking that they use is very thin, and has no other nails, crotches, or knees than a little rattan. Rattan is the substance which here takes the place of hemp, in tying things together, some planks [in the craft] being tied together with it. For that purpose projecting parts are left at intervals on the inside [of the planks] in which holes are made; and through these the ligament passes, without any harm being done to the plank. Upon so light a foundation they build upper works, as high as they wish, of bamboo upon the cates. The cates are buoys which run on both sides from bow to stern, and they act as outriggers for the ship, which is sustained by these two floats. The ship carries more outside than in. The outside scaffolds allow room for two rows of oars, beside that of the hull. Thus small craft of from seven to twelve brazas (which is the largest size) have a crew of sixty men and upwards. I have seen one that was manned with three hundred hands; for, in order to have the rowing more compressed together they use loose oars, each one handling his own. Those oars are certain round blades, which an Indian manages easily. Therefore, when it is necessary they row exactly to the time of their breathing, by inserting more or less of the oar, according to the force they wish to give. For the rowing is excellent and the oar is put directly into the water, because it is trusted solely to the hands, without being fastened to anything. That is a custom that obliges them to have their craft very flat, and to elevate the sides but little, and they are content to leave but one plank out of the water.

These vessels are crescent-shaped. Consequently, there is but a small keel, or little of it in the water, and that part which they rob from stern and bow is left out of the water—three or four brazas of keel or stem, all of which serves for its speed, and there is little to hold the boat back because of its narrowness. Therefore the helm is not managed like the Spanish helm, by the sweep from the end; accordingly, they use two rudders, one at one side and one at the other, where the flat part of the keel begins. One is usually employed for managing the boat, and both of them when it is stormy. With the second they keep the boat from getting unsteady, which would follow from its lightness, that rudder giving the boat more stiffness and serving as ballast. That is a precaution rendered necessary by its very lightness, the vessels that are lightest being those that require most care by being unsteady. In the middle they have a scaffold, four or six brazas long, which they call burulan or baileo. This consists of a floor raised above the rowers, and has its awning, which is called cayanes. Those awnings are made from the leaves of a small palm which grows in the water. That is the quarters for the fighters and the chiefs, for those vessels do not have any stern-cabin; it is, at the same time, the little castle from which they fight. All that structure finds its support and staunchness in what they call the cates, which are the buoys of which we have spoken. They are made of three or four bamboos as thick as the arm, and even larger, and reach from stem to stern. They are so adjusted that they drag through the water about one and one-half brazas away from the vessel. Consequently, they do not allow it to toss about, however violent the waves, but are the arms that keep the boat safe. They are used in general by all the craft of these islands, and by those of Burney and Maluco; for, since their ships are of no account without this security, they have no safety in the sea nor do the Indians dare to embark. From this circumstance Molina, who represented to the Council that buoys ought to be fastened to the ships so that they could sail or float with a support made of certain bags blown up and thrown alongside, derived his argument. He thought that that would assure the fleets, as they could not then sink, as he had experienced, even if they filled with water. It might have proved successful indeed, and in favor of his discourse, if some heavy sea raised by the hurricanes would not prove sufficient to burst the bags and drag them away from the sides; for hurricanes have more than sufficient violence to break up the stern and destroy the ship. That has been well known by actual experience here; for a few hours of a severe storm are sufficient to destroy the fastenings; and those ships would be wrecked daily if the voyages were not so short, and the vessels of so small burden that they can find shelter in any port. When necessity arises, the men in them beach the vessels themselves, and do so more easily when they go in a fleet, as then they unite their forces. The crossings are so short, because of the multiplicity of islands, that the weather never catches them in such a way that they can not soon escape by drawing near to one land or another. For fair weather this appliance is very useful, so that they take comfort in them freely.

Such are their arms in peace; those of war, for fighting on the land, are lances and shields. The shield is round among the coast-dwellers of the south, and in the islands of Basilan and Joló. In the rest of this island, the general custom of the long and narrow shield which is used in all the other islands is followed; with these, they shield and protect all the body. From these weapons the kris is inseparable, and they use it at close quarters, and after they have used the lance, which they throw in the usual manner. Their lances show the same care as their krises, and are very much ornamented and engraved, and have their covers gilded. The shaft is of the finest ebony, or of some other beautiful wood; and at intervals they put rings of silver or tin on it. The head is of brass, which is used here, and so highly polished that it vies with gold. It is chased so elaborately that there are lances that are valued at one slave each. At the end they fasten a large hawk’s-bell, which they fix upon the shaft in such a manner that it surrounds it; and when they shake the lance it sounds in time with the fierce threats and bravadoes. The valiant use them and as man-slayers, give warning to those who do not know them and those of less valor, so that they may avoid them as they would vipers.

The use of the blowpipe [zarbatana], which is one braza long, has extended from the Borneans to the Joloans, and even to the Lutaos of this island. By blowing through it they discharge certain small darts smeared with so deadly a poison that if one single drop of blood is drawn, death is certain to result, if the antidote is not quickly applied. When our soldiers have to make an expedition to Burney, where other weapons are rarely used, they go prepared with the most efficacious antidotes—namely, human excrement, as has always been happily experienced. These blowpipes are sometimes used also as lances, having the iron fastened at one side, so that, if the shot is not accurate, they use it alternately as a lance. Then when the opportunity is offered they make use of their darts. They are so good shots that they can bring down the smallest bird at twenty or thirty paces.