The Inhabitants of the PhilippinesSawyer, Frederic H.
History
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
Sawyer, Frederic H.
Ethnology -- Philippines; Philippines -- Social life and customs
Even insects and reptiles are named by them; they could give details
of their habits, and knew whether they were poisonous or dangerous.
They always showed themselves greatly interested in sport, and much
appreciated a good shot. They spoke of a gun that killed well as a hot
gun (baril maínit). If they were trusted with a gun they were very
reluctant to spend a cartridge unless for a dead certainty. If two
cartridges are given to a hunter, he will bring in two deer or pigs,
otherwise he will apologise for wasting a cartridge, and explain how
it happened.
Their usual way of taking game is to set strong nets of abaca in the
woods in the form of a V, then the beaters and dogs drive the game
towards the hunters, who are concealed near the apex, and who kill
the deer or wild pigs with their lances whilst entangled in the nets.
I have found the Tagals very satisfactory as domestic servants,
although not so hard-working as the Ilocanos. Some of them could clean
glass or plate as well as an English butler, and could lay the table
for a dinner party and ornament tastefully with flowers and ferns,
folding the napkins like a Parisian waiter.
They could also write out the ménu (their orthography having been
previously corrected), and serve the dinner and wines in due sequence
without requiring any directions during the meal.
Some of them remained in my service the whole time I was in the
Philippines; one of them, Paulino Morillo, came to England with me
in charge of my two sons, and afterwards made three voyages to Cuba
with me. I gratefully acknowledge his faithful service. His portrait
is appended.
I did not find them sufficiently punctual and regular as cooks, nor
did they make their purchases in the market to as much advantage as the
Chinese cooks, who never bid one against another to raise the price.
As clerks and store-keepers I found the Tagals honest, assiduous,
and well-behaved. As draughtsmen they were fairly skilful in drawing
from hand sketches, and excelled in copying or tracing, but were quite
untrustworthy in taking out quantities and computing. Some of them
could write beautiful headings, or design ornamental title-pages. I
have by me some of their work that could not be done better even in
Germany or France. But the more skilful they were the more irregular
was their attendance, and the more they had learned the worse they
behaved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account