The early accounts abound in glowing descriptions of the mining wealth of this country. "In many (indeed in most) islands are found amber and civet, and gold mines--these especially in the mountain ranges of Pangasinan and Paracale, and in Pampanga. [49] Consequently there was hardly any Filipino who did not possess chains and other articles of gold, according to the chroniclers. Indeed, many of the early settlers in the country saw no other evidence of wealth but the mines and metals. [50] The early Filipinos did not only know how to work mines, but also knew the art of metal working. From the precious metals they made jewelry and all kinds of ornaments. [51] They also used metal for some of their weapons. [52] And the most noteworthy evidence of their progress in working metals was their use of firearms. [53] Chief among the industries connected with the various kinds of palms found in the Philippines was the distillation of the sap into alcohol, a process known to the Filipinos long before Spanish arrival. "They draw a great quantity of wine from the palm-trees; one Indian can in one forenoon obtain two arrobas of sap from the palm-trees that he cultivates. It is sweet and good, and is used in making great quantities of brandy, excellent vinegar, and delicious honey." [54] "Their drink is a wine made from the tops of coco and nipa palm, of which there is great abundance. They are grown and tended like vineyards, although without so much toil and labor. Drawing off the 'tuba,' they distilled it, using for alembics their own little furnaces and utensils, to a greater or less strength, and it becomes brandy. This is drunk throughout the islands." [55] Other uses similar to those of today were made of the different parts of the coconut and other palms. [56] Textile industries. Weaving was one of the industries well-known to the Filipinos long before the coming of the Spaniards. Contemporary writers all speak of the great quantity of cloths, especially cotton, woven in the country. [57] Says Sande: "All know how to raise cotton and silk, and everywhere they know how to spin and weave for clothing." [58] Besides cotton, the fibers of the abacá or hemp plant was also used for weaving; in fact, the latter must have been used even before the former. [59] They wove cloths also from Piña, and from silk imported from China. [60] The women knew the art of making lace and of embroidery. [61] Miscellaneous industries. That the Filipinos first seen by the Spaniards were not wandering savages, as commonly assumed by later day writers, is shown by the manner in which they built their houses--which very much resembled those of today [62],--and fixed their settlements. [63] It is from such and other similar facts that Rizal, [64] and other writers, [65] claimed for the early Filipinos a higher degree of culture than they were given credit for.