Note 44 — Letters from Father Mateo Gisbert to the Reverend Fathers and Brothers of Veruela

The Tedurayes or Tirurayes44 live on the slopes at the left of the lower Pulangui. They number from 8,000 to 10,000 at the most. They occupy on the map the place corresponding to color no. 13. They are amiable, friendly to the Spaniards, but oppressed by the Moros. Their fear of molestation from the Moros together with their nomadic tendencies, due to the lack of carabaos and farm implements, make their complete reduction difficult at present. Their system of government is patriarchal, and the chief of the tribe is called bandarra. They pay their tributes to the Moro datos as an annual rent for the lands which they cultivate. The women adorn their hands and legs in an insupportable manner, with huge brass rings; and they pierce their ears in which they place pendants more than one centimeter in diameter. The men allow their hair to grow like the heathens of other tribes, but do not tie it up like those tribes. Their weapons and industry show the influence that they have received from the Moros. They gird the body with belts interwoven from brass wire a decimeter or so in width. Their religion is a shapeless aggregation of superstitious ideas. It is not accurate to say that the Tirurayes have so low an idea of their self respect that they believe themselves to be honored in prostituting their wives and daughters with the Spaniards. Given the supposition of some isolated deed which might seem to prove the abovesaid, a general rule could not be deduced therefrom against the integrity of the customs of the Tirurayes in this matter, against which the nature itself, not only of man but also of the brute animals themselves, cries out with a loud voice.