Volume 48 — CHAPTER VII

Missions to the Zambals

Along the provinces of Pangasinan and Pampanga, fronting their western side, there dwells another tribe, which they call Zambal, no less fierce than those already mentioned, and exceeding them in boldness. They are continually assaulting travelers, and they take their greatest pleasure in killing. So continual are their descents from the mountains to infest the said roads that it is only with great peril that one can cross from one province to the other without an escort; and even then many mishaps occur frequently; for these bandits lie hidden in the thickets and ravines at the sides of the road, and, when one of them gives a yell, all discharge their arrows, in the management of which they are very skilful; and, felling to the ground those whom they can reach, they cut off the heads of these, and carry them away in order to celebrate their feasts. They are also wont to approach the villages by night, and in hiding to wait for any person who strays from the rest and leaves the village early; then they do the same with him, be his rank what it may; afterward they take the skull of the slain man’s head and use it for a drinking-vessel, in the same manner as did the Scythians, as Ravisius Textor and Plinius relate.

Besides the aforesaid missions, the province maintains another, scattered through all the islands, to a class of people who, it is believed (and with no small reason), were in olden times the masters of the entire land. One of the grounds for this belief is, that in all the islands (which are very many) these people maintain an identical language, and different from those of all the other peoples among whom they live; while the other natives of each island have a language different [from those spoken in other islands], and even in some places (as is evident throughout all this treatise) are encountered at every turn different dialects in the same island. Another argument is drawn from the similarity which there is between the peoples of those islands and the Malayos, and even in their respective languages—these Malayos are natives of Maluco, and are quite energetic and warlike—excepting the people of whom we now speak. From this it has been inferred that these blacks ruled that country; and that the said Malayos, coming to it and subduing its former masters, compelled them to retire to the bush and the mountain heights, abandoning the rest of the country to the conquerors.

These people of whom we speak are very dark in color, not black like those of Angola; neither have they thick lips, or curly and short hair, like them. But their color is a brownish or pallid [descolorido] black, their hair like that of a mulatto; their lips are not thick; many of them are very corpulent, and all have large abdomens, and generally both men and women appear feeble. All go naked, with no other covering than a long strip like a narrow sash, with which, tied round the waist and drawn between the legs, the men cover their private parts; while the women wear a sort of apron, which covers them behind and before as far as the knees. Both sexes make these coverings from the bark of a tree which they call balete; stripping off its bark, which is very smooth and flexible, they place it in water, afterward beating it in order to loosen the outer layer; then washing and drying it, it remains of the color and softness of a chamois-skin, although it is thin. They keep this on until it wears out, and when they can no longer use it they repair to the shop in the grove, to look for another in their storehouse.

The nature and peculiarities of these Balugas are described by the reverend father, former provincial of the Philipinas, our father Fray Vicente Ibarra, in the report of the missions which he made to the governor of those islands, Don Fernando Valdés Tamon, in the year 1738. He says, then, speaking of these people: “The third mission which is in these mountains is very arduous, not so much on account of the toilsome roads as because the people have less intellect than [any other that] is known in these islands; for this reason it has not been possible to introduce them into any civilization, although those who are baptized are numerous. Their maintenance in the faith is so difficult that it cannot easily be explained after the no small expenses that are incurred; for all the time while the ministers are devoting themselves to their instruction it is necessary to support the fathers, furnishing to them rice, meat, wine, and tobacco, along with some trinkets for the women and children. For those people have neither house nor fields, nor any furniture save the bow and arrow and some heavy knives [machetes], with which they are continually seeking their food, without reserving anything for another day.”

[Mozo adds other information, acquired during his residence of three years among the Negritos; but precedes it by various citations from learned authors. Returning to his subject, he says:]

It is a fact, however, that they do not use the said poisoned arrows against any save animals, considering it an inexpiable crime to shoot rational beings with them; but for hunting those animals—“the great game,” as they call them—they use these arrows continually, and with them kill innumerable beasts. When one of these falls to the ground, they immediately cut off its head; and, having thoroughly washed the flesh, they eat it without any misgivings. I baptized the man who chiefly made this poison, who was already past the age of ninety years, who never was willing to leave me until he died; and on various occasions he explained to me the method of making the said poison, naming to me the separate ingredients, although I never was acquainted with them. These same people have other plants, the use of which I tried, in my religious instructions, to banish among them—not only because some persons make use of them for evil purposes, but also because they lead one to suspect some diabolical aid, for those people accomplish with them things which are truly amazing. But since information of this may be of great assistance in explaining some things which, written by the ancients, give the moderns material for many and various curious inquiries, I will briefly describe what those barbarians are accustomed to do with the said plants. They use, then, I was told, certain herbs that are amatory, or adapted for philters, if thus they should be called (which I do not dispute), in order to captivate the love of those whom they desire to win. For instance, do they desire to marry some woman who does not love them? Then, obtaining their herbs (which they know very well), they carry these with them, endeavoring at the same time to carry them in the mouth when they talk with the woman; and the attraction is usually such that in a short time they succeed in gaining the affection of women who before were very averse to loving them. They do the same when they enter the presence of some person whom they have offended and whom they fear. They take the said herbs in their mouths, and, armed with this antidote, they are not afraid to be seen by him and to talk with him; and such are the results that they experience that, even when that person is greatly offended, he feels for that time so changed that, far from showing his anger, he receives them with great kindness, and with indications of special affection. They are also wont to use the aforesaid herbs in order to succeed in committing their lewd acts with women; and the women do the same in order to make themselves beloved by the men, very often, but not always, succeeding in this. [Mozo relates an instance of this: a convert of his own, a most virtuous, modest, and exemplary widow, at first refused to marry another man, an infidel; but with the odor of these plants he overcame her opposition and carried her away with him. “Never since then have I been able to see them again, although I tried to do so that I might convert that barbarian, and marry them afterward.” He also relates how sometimes the natives would try this spell on him, if they feared that he was offended with them; after careful examination, he was satisfied that it caused not the slightest change in his feelings. He argues that any effect produced by the use of these herbs must, after all, be a natural one, and not caused by diabolical influences—a conclusion which he enforces by quoting various learned doctors. He and other missionaries made vigorous efforts to prevent the natives from such use of these herbs, on account of their bad results—as also in another custom, thus described:]

In order to enable them to kill some deer quickly, they take some herbs which they call in their own language panarongusa, which signifies the same as to say in Spanish, aliciente para venados [i.e., “a lure for deer”]. They distinguish the said herb into male and female, and therefore they make two small bundles of them, the male plants in one and the female in another. This done, they stick an arrow into the ground, and, placing at the top of it the herbs tied together, they begin to call the deer, imitating its voice, which they do to perfection. If in that vicinity there is any deer that hears the said sound, it infallibly sets out at once, and, beginning to scent, steadily approaches the fixed arrow, without taking fright at the men who are stationed near it. They allow the deer to approach, and, when it is in the place which suits them, they shoot an arrow at whichever part of its body they wish, and bring it down without difficulty. When I heard these things, I endeavored with those very persons, after they were baptized, to make a more than minute investigation, to ascertain whether the devil was giving them any instruction in it, whether they used any superstitious words, or performed [like] acts, so that I could form some opinion regarding these; but the unanimous reply of all was, that there was nothing of this sort, but that their ancestors had known that the said herbs possessed this virtue, and that they simply made use of them. There was, consequently, nothing more for me to do, except to declare that these were among the frauds of which the enemy [of souls] avails himself, in order by these baits to ruin their souls, and so much the more as he more secretly endeavored to introduce such things [as these among them]; and that on this account they ought to abstain from this mode of hunting, using only the common one, and trusting in the Lord who gives food to all living creatures, without despising the raven’s nestlings who cry unto Him, that He would furnish what they might need for their support. I think that I succeeded, and that other religious will succeed in gradually banishing much of this abuse.

[In Ilocos Fray Alexandra Cacho formed a village of converts, under the name of San Juan de Sahagun; and Fray Velloxin greatly enlarged the village of Santa Monica, “although in past years there came a pest of smallpox, which in a short time swept away a great number of the inhabitants.” Fray Francisco Alvarez, a son of the province of Philipinas, in 1740 formed two other small villages in the mountains of Santor; this was removed to another site by Mozo himself in 1747, and in the period of three years he secured more than a hundred and fifty conversions, and even the attendance of their children at school. The harvest among those people, Mozo says, is great, and many more might be saved if there were more missionaries; those who are among them are overworked, and in a few years are worn out or killed by their labors.]