The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691: 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 Close of the Nineteenth Century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691: 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 Close of the Nineteenth Century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
489. The gold, which they call guinto, was also reckoned by weight. The
largest weight is the tàhel, which is the weight of ten reals of
silver--or, as we say, of one escudo. The half-tàhel is called tingà,
which is the weight of five reals. The fourth part is called sapaha,
which is two and one-half reals. They also used other metaphorical
terms (as the Spanish do the term granos), and said sangsàga, which
is the weight of one red kidney-bean [frixolillo] with a white spot
in the middle.
490. In order to weigh bulkier things, such as wax, silk, meat,
etc., they had steelyards, which they called sinantan, which was
equivalent to ten cates, of twenty onzas [i.e., ounce] apiece. The
half of that they called banal, which was five cates; and the half
of the cate they called soco. Consequently, these old weights having
been adjusted to the Spanish weights by the regulations of the year
1727, one cale is equivalent to one libra, six onzas; one chinanta
to thirteen libras, and twelve onzas; hence one quintal, of eighty
of the old cates, corresponds to four arrobas and ten libras of our
weight. A pico of one hundred cates is equivalent to five arrobas,
twelve and one-half libras, in the new arrangement. As in the case
of gold, one tàhel must weigh one and one-fourth onzas in our weight.
491. In regard to the measures of quantity which the ancients used,
they were the same as those we now see: cabàn, ganta, half-ganta,
and chupa. The city has regulated them by the Spanish measures in
the following manner. The caban, which signifies "box" [arca] in
their own Tagalog speech, is equivalent to one fanega of the standard
of Toledo. The ganta (gantang in Visayan, and salòp in Tagálog) is
equivalent to one half of a Toledo almud, which is the hal-zelemin
in other territories. The half-ganta is equivalent to one cuartillo,
which is called pitìs or caguiina in Tagálog. The chupa is the eighth
of the half-almud of Toledo, which is called gàtang in Tagálog, and
also gahinan, for it is the ration of cleaned rice sufficient for
each meal of a man. The act of measuring in this manner is expressed
by the word tàcal among the Tagálogs. When the king issues orders
for rice, it is reckoned by cabàns of twenty-four gantas apiece;
and now it is known that it is of pálay rice, which is rice with the
husk and uncleaned. When vouchers are issued for the stipends and
the support of the religious ministers, the reckoning is by fanegas,
at the rate of two cabàns of twenty-four gantas each, of the said
pálay rice uncleaned. And because his Majesty chooses that they give
it to us very clean, it is now ruled in the royal accountancy that
forty-eight gantas of the fanega of pálay is equivalent to a basket of
twenty gantas of bigàs, which is the name for cleaned rice. Henge the
king in his charity, in order to give us our sustenance in the rice
without waste, gives valuation to the measure at his own pleasure,
for the rice with husk, so that the quantity may be doubled. The
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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