"Since they have seen the Spaniards use their weapons, many of the natives handle the arquebuses and muskets quite skilfully. Before the arrival of the Spaniards they had bronze culverins and other pieces of cast iron, with which they defended their forts and settlements, although their powder is not so well refined as that of the Spaniards." (Ibid., p. 82.) "This intercourse and traffic had acquainted the Filipinos with many of the accessories of civilized life long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Their chiefs and datos dressed in silks, and maintained some splendor of surroundings; nearly the whole population of the tribes of the coast wrote and communicated by means of a syllabary; vessels from Luzon traded as far south as Mindanao and Borneo, although the products of Asia proper came through the fleets of foreigners; and perhaps what indicates more clearly than anything else the advance the Filipinos were making through their communication with outside people is their use of firearms. Of this point there is no question. Everywhere in the vicinity of Manila, on Lubang, in Pampanga, at Cainta and Laguna de Bay, the Spaniards encountered forts mounting small cannon, or lantakas. The Filipinos seem to have understood, moreover, the arts of casting cannon and of making powder. The first gun-factory established by the Spaniards was in charge of a Filipino from Pampanga." (Dr. D. P. Barrows, A History of the Philippines, pp. 101-102.) [54] (Relación de las Islas Filipinas, Miguel de Loarca; Arévalo, June, 1582.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 169.) [55] Antonio de Morga, Sucesos, Chap. 8.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 80. [56] "The coconuts furnish a nutritious food when rice is scarce. From the nut-shells they make dishes, and (from the fibrous husk) match-cords for their arquebuses; and with the leaves they make baskets." (Relación, Miguel de Loarca; Arévalo, June, 1852.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, p. 169.) See also First Voyage Around the World, Antonio Pigafetta.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 33, p. 105, for description of how the palm sap was obtained, oil made, and of other uses of the coconut. [57] Relación, Miguel de Loarca; June, 1582.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 5, pp. 34-188. Conquest of the Island of Luzon. Manila, April 20, 1572.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 3, p. 171. [58] Relation and Description of the Philippine Islands, Francisco de Sande; Manila, June 8, 1577.--Bl. and Rb., Vol. 4, p. 98. "Cotton is raised abundantly throughout the islands. It is spun and sold in the skein to the Chinese and other nations, who come to get it. Cloth of different patterns is also woven from it, and the natives also trade that. Other cloths, called medriñiques, are woven from the banana leaf." (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Antonio de Morga; Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 106.)