The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2) — John Shaqi
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
History
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
Philippines; Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946
Wherever it was humanly possible to do so, the Ifugaos carried me in
a blanket slung under a pole. They took me up almost perpendicular
ascents in this way, but in some cases the ascents were quite
perpendicular and the descents the same, so that I had to try to
climb, constantly falling as the result of weakness and exhaustion,
in spite of the efforts of the Ifugaos to keep me on my feet. We
reached Dukligan at dusk and there we spent the night.
In the morning I found myself unable to rise, so took a stiff dose of
whiskey. As this failed to produce the desired result, I took a second
and finally a third. Under the potent influence of the stimulant I
managed to get up. The willing Ifugaos carried me clear to the rice
terraces near Banaue, making a joke of the hard work involved. There
were always a dozen men on the pole, and whenever one set of carriers
grew weary there was a scramble, closely approaching a fight, to
determine who should be allowed next to take their places.
These jolly people constantly gave a peculiar shout which was
ridiculously like an American college cheer. Ill as I was, I almost
enjoyed the trip, and conceived a great liking for the splendidly
developed men who were seeing me through in such gallant style. Had
it not been for their kindness, I should certainly have left my bones
somewhere between Mayoyao and Banaue.
They were determined to lug me through the rice terraces, but as
it took at least four men to carry me, and the weight of the five
of us was sufficient to cause the tops of the high terrace walls to
crumble so that I had several narrow escapes from falling down them,
I climbed out of my extemporized hammock, took one more big drink of
raw whiskey and on the strength of it managed to stagger along to
the river, where I was amazed to find a horse awaiting me. Nothing
ever looked better to me than did that somewhat decrepit animal!
I was absolutely unfit to travel, but having rested at Banaue for
half a day, and realizing that it was imperatively necessary that I
should get to a doctor at once, I made what was then record time to
Banaue, Bontoc, Cervantes and Baguio, and on arrival at the latter
place proceeded to go to bed and be comfortably ill.
Tramping over the northern Luzón mountains with my lungs partly
solidified left my pumping machinery in such shape that I have never
since been able to make a hard trip on foot, but that is no longer
necessary. Splendid horse trails now make travel through this region
a pleasure.
When we crossed Apayao only one other white man had achieved the
feat. This was a good missionary priest who in 1741 traversed the
country between Abulúg and one of the North Ilocos towns.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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