The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 03 of 55: 1569-1576; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 03 of 55: 1569-1576; Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
In every port [S: village] we find that the people have their god. All
of them call him _divate_ [S: Diuata], and for surname they give
him the name of their village. They have a god of the sea and a god
of the rivers. To these gods they sacrifice swine, reserving for
this especially those of a reddish color. For this sacrifice they
rear such as are very large and fat They have priests, whom they
call _bailanes;_ and they believe that the priests talk with their
gods. When they are about to perform the sacrifice, they prepare the
place with many green branches from the trees, and pieces of cloth
painted as handsomely as possible. The _bailan_ plays on a heavy
reed pipe about one braza in length, such as are common to that land,
in the manner of a trumpet; and, while thus engaged, the people say
that he talks to their gods. Then he gives a lance-thrust to the
hog. Meanwhile, and even for a long time before commencing the rite,
the women ring a certain kind of bell, play on small drums, and beat
on porcelain vases with small sticks--thus producing a sort of music
which makes it very difficult for them to hear one another. After the
hog is killed, they dress it, and all eat of the flesh. They throw a
portion of the dressed animal, placed in nets, into the river or into
the sea, according to the location of the village; and they say that
they do this in order that the god of the river or that of the sea may
eat it. No one eats of the part touched by the lance-thrust, except
the _bailan_. These people believe that their souls go down below;
and they say that world is better, and that [since] it is cooler
than the world above, where the heat is so great. They are buried
with their riches--blankets, gold, and porcelain. When chiefs die,
slaves are killed and buried with them, so that they may serve their
masters in the other world. If the dead man is renowned as a seaman,
they bury with him the vessel in which he sailed, with many slaves
to row him, so thathe may go in it to the other world. [66]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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