The slaves are called _aliping sa guiguilir_. They serve their master in his house and on his cultivated lands, and may be sold. The master grants them, should he see fit, and providing that he has profited through their industry, a portion of their harvests, so that they may work faithfully. For these reasons, servants who are born in the house of their master are rarely, if ever, sold. That is the lot of captives in war, and of those brought up in the harvest fields. Those to whom a debt was owed transferred the debt to another, thereby themselves making a profit, and reducing the wretched debtors to a slavery which was not their natural lot. If any person among those who were made slaves (_sa guiguilir_)--through war, by the trade of goldsmith, or otherwise--happened to possess any gold beyond the sum that he had to give his master, he ransomed himself, becoming thus a _namamahay_, or what we call a commoner. The price of this ransom was never less than five taels, and from that upwards; and if he gave ten or more taels, as they might agree, he became wholly free. An amusing ceremony accompanied this custom. After having divided all the trinkets which the slave possessed, if he maintained a house of his own, they divided even the pots and jars, and if an odd one of these remained, they broke it; and if a piece of cloth were left, they parted it in the middle. The difference between the _aliping namamahay_ and the _aliping sa guiguilir_, should be noted; for, by a confusion of the two terms, many have been classed as slaves who really are not. The Indians seeing that the alcaldes-mayor do not understand this, have adopted the custom of taking away the children of the _aliping namamahay_, making use of them as they would of the _aliping sa guiguilir_, as servants in their households, which is illegal, and if the _aliping namamahay_ should appeal to justice, it is proved that he is an _aliping_ as well as his father and mother before him and no reservation is made as to whether he is _aliping namamahay_ or _atiping sa guiguilir_. He is at once considered an _alipin_, without further declaration. In this way he becomes a _sa guiguilir_, and is even sold. Consequently, the alcaldes-mayor should be instructed to ascertain, when anyone asks for his _alipin_, to which class he belongs, and to have the answer put in the document that they give him.