The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the PhilippinesAnderson, Isabel
History
The Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines
Anderson, Isabel
Hawaii; Philippines
"That night I was sleeping the sleep of the very tired when I was
awakened by a blood-curdling shout, a gun was thrown to the floor, and a
man's voice yelled for help. I simply froze--I couldn't move hand or
foot. The voice was in the outpost guard room, just under my own. Of
course, I was sure the whole guard was overpowered and being boloed. I
waited for them to come to me as I lay there. Then I heard a man's
voice call from an upstairs window, 'What's the matter down there?' and
the answer, 'Number Four had a nightmare, sir--thought there was a goat
on his bunk.' Just as I was going to sleep again I threw out my hand in
my restlessness, and to my horror, clasped it round a cold, shiny
boa-constrictor. Every large house has one in the garret to keep down
the rats. This time I gave the scream and sprang out of bed. But no
snake was to be found, and I decided it must have been the bed post. But
what a night that was!"
We reëmbarked at Legaspi and sailed on to the island of Samar, which is
in the typhoon belt. Catbalogan is a town which has been visited by very
severe typhoons and terrible plagues, but by very few people. It is a
small place, far away and forgotten, but the island of Samar is where
the massacre of the Ninth Infantry occurred--the massacre at Balangiga
by the natives in 1902. There were triumphal arches of bamboo and
flowers, and speeches in the town hall, Governor Forbes speaking in both
English and Spanish. Afterward eight small boys and girls dressed in
red, white and blue danced for us enchantingly the Charcca and the Jota,
clicking their little heels and snapping their little fingers in true
Spanish style. Delicious sweetmeats were offered on the veranda, real
native dishes, and we drank cocoanut milk and ate cocoanut candy,
preserves, nuts and cakes. Two half-Chinese girls who spoke English took
very good care of us.
As we left we looked out over the sea to the setting sun and watched a
lonely fisherman standing on a rock throwing his net.
Next morning from the _Rizal_, we saw across a stretch of calm water the
blue ranges of the mountains of Bohol. Native bancas glided silently
about, and a straw-sailed boat drifted idly round the point, where the
picturesque gray walls of the oldest Spanish fort in the Philippines
stood guard. Its sentinel houses at the corners were all moss grown, and
pretty pink flowers were breaking out of the crevices of the rocks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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