The Head Hunters of Northern LuzonWillcox, Cornélis De Witt
History
The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon
Willcox, Cornélis De Witt
Igorot (Philippine people); Luzon (Philippines) -- Description and travel
[40] De La Gironière, in his "Aventures d'un Gentilhomme Breton aux
Iles Philippines," describes (Chapter V.) a feast, at which he had,
while on a visit to the Tinguianes, to drink human brains mixed
with _basi_. Whatever De La Gironière says must be received with
considerable caution; but Pickering, a prosaic and matter-of-fact
Britisher, speaking of the Formosan savages, says that "they mixed the
brains of their enemies with wine." ("Pioneering in Formosa," p. 153).
[41] For example, this year (1912) more people "came in" to
meet Mr. Worcester then ever before. In Bontok every valley
of the sub-province was represented, and there was a time when
representatives of all the villages danced together on the plaza,
an event of importance in the history of these people as marking the
passing of old feuds and a determination to live at piece with one
another. A moving picture machine was taken along in a four-wheeled
wagon (showing incidentally that the main trails have become roads
since 1910), and created both enthusiasm and alarm: enthusiasm
when some familiar scene with known living persons was thrown upon
the screen, and alarm when a railway train, for example, was shown
advancing upon the spectators, causing many of them to flee for safety
to the neighboring hills and woods.
[42] For an account of what this Government monopoly really meant,
see Jagor, "Travels," etc., p. 324. A Spaniard of my acquaintance
told me that if a native's attention to his crop did not please
the inspectors, they would cause him to be publicly flogged on
Sunday before the church after mass; and if this course brought no
amendment, they would then cut his stand down. Jagor, who travelled
in the Philippines as long ago as 1859-60, could see no future for
them save under American control, and he predicted that this control
would come, an astonishing prophecy. "In proportion as the navigation
of the west coast of America extends the influence of the American
element over the South Sea, the captivating, magic power which the
great Republic exercises over the Spanish colonies will not fail to
make itself felt also in the Philippines. The Americans are evidently
destined to bring to a full development the germs originated by the
Spaniards." ("Travels in the Philippines," p. 369.) Jagor's work,
it may be remarked, will always remain an authority on the Philippines.
[43] The cable and popular name of the "Compañía General de Tabacos
de Filipinas"; it owns plantations up the Grande in Isabela Province.
[44] So do the aborigines of Formosa. "These aborigines of the hills
live in villages. Their houses are built, of stone, roofed with slate,
and have a remarkably clean, home-like appearance." (Pickering,
"Pioneering in Formosa," p. 69.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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