Note 2 — The Spanish Prisoners

Baron Honoré Fréderic Adhemar Bourgeois du Marais, a Frenchman of noble birth and noble sentiments, was the son of Viscount Bourgeois du Marais. Born at Bourg Port, in the Algerian province of Constantina, in 1882 he left Europe with a party of gentlemen colonists in the s.s. Nouvelle Bretagne, intending to settle in Port Breton, in Australasia. The vessel having put into Manila, she was detained for debt, but escaped from port in the teeth of a hurricane. A Spanish gunboat went in pursuit and brought her back, and Baron Du Marais decided to remain in the Philippines. For several years he was associated with his countryman M. Daillard in the development of the Jalajala Estate (vide p. 360). On M. Daillardʼs decease he became the representative of the “Compañia Tabacalera” at their vast estate of Santa Lucia (Tárlac), which prospered under his able management. His wonderful tact in the handling of natives secured their attachment to him. After fifteen yearsʼ absence from home he went to Europe to recruit his health, returning to the Islands in November, 1898. After the ill-fated mission of humanity referred to above, his body lay hidden in the jungle for nearly two years, until November, 1900, when it was discovered and brought to Manila for interment at the Paco cemetery. The funeral, which took place on November 25, was one of the most imposing ceremonies of the kind ever witnessed in Manila. Monsignor Chapelle officiated at the Requiem mass celebrated at the Cathedral in the presence of the chief American authorities, the French and Spanish Consuls-General and representatives of the foreign residents, Chambers of Commerce, the Army and Navy, the Clubs, the Press, and every important collectivity. The cortége was, moreover, escorted by a large body of troops to the last resting-place of this gallant hero.