“And what wounds!” exclaims Doctor Montano; “the head of one corpse is cut off as clean as if it had been done with the sharpest razor; another soldier is almost cut in two! The first of the wounded to come under my hands was a soldier of the Third Regiment, who was mounting guard at the gate through which some of the assassins entered. His left arm was fractured in three places; his shoulder and breast were literally cut up like mince-meat; amputation appeared to be the only chance for him; but in that lacerated flesh there was no longer a spot from which could be cut a shred.” It is easily seen how precarious and nominal has been Spanish rule on most of the islands of this vast archipelago. In the interior of the great island of Mindanao there is no system of control, no pretence even of maintaining order. It is a land of terror, the realm of anarchy and cruelty. There murder is a regular institution. A _bagani_, or man of might, is a gallant warrior who has cut off sixty heads. The number is carefully verified by the tribal authorities, and the _bagani_ alone possesses the right to wear a scarlet turban. All the batos, or chiefs, are _baganis_. It is carnage organised, honoured, and consecrated; and so the depopulation is frightful, the wretchedness unspeakable. The Mandayas are forced to seek a refuge from would-be _baganis_ by perching on the tops of trees like birds, but their aerial abodes do not always shelter them from their enemies. They build a hut on a trunk from forty to fifty feet in height, and huddle together in it to pass the night, and to be in sufficient numbers to repulse their assailants. The _baganis_ generally try to take their victims by surprise, and begin their attack with burning arrows, with which they endeavour to set on fire the bamboo roof. Sometimes the besiegers form a _testudo_, like the ancient Romans, with their locked shields, and advance under cover up to the posts, which they attack with their axes, while the besieged hurl down showers of stones upon their heads. But, once their ammunition is exhausted, the hapless Mandayas have nothing to do but witness, as impotent spectators, the work of destruction, until the moment comes when their habitation topples over and falls. Then the captives are divided among the assailants. The heads of the old men and of the wounded are cut off, and the women and children are led away as slaves.