And walks on gold and silver, and knows her power increased, Nor fears the tyrant longer--"Our Lady of the East.""--_Stoddard_.
The most important, and by far the most interesting, as well as the least known of America"s new possessions, gained by her war with Spain, are the Philippine Islands. Comparatively few Americans have ever set foot upon that far-away and semi-civilized land, the possession of which enables America to say with England, "The sun never sets upon our flag."
[Ill.u.s.tration: FILIPINOS OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES.]
The Philippines lie almost exactly on the other side of the globe from us. Approximately speaking, our noonday is their midnight; our sunset is their sunrise. There are some 1,200 of these islands, 400 of which are inhabited or capable of supporting a population; they cover about 125,000 square miles; they lie in the tropical seas, generally speaking, from five to eighteen degrees north lat.i.tude, and are bounded by the China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east; they are about 7,000 miles southwest from San Francisco, a little over 600 southeast from Hong Kong, China, and about 1,000 almost due north from Australia; they contain between 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 inhabitants, about one-third of whom had prior to Dewey"s victory, May 1, 1898, acknowledged Spanish sovereignty to the extent of paying regular tribute to the Spanish crown; the remainder are bound together in tribes under independent native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all told have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Mohammedans and idolaters. There are no Protestant churches in the islands.
[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIVE HUNTERS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.]
THE STORY OF DISCOVERY.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ESCOLTA, LOOKING SOUTH.
This is the Broadway of Manila. Along this famous street the princ.i.p.al retail shops of the city are situated. Chinese and half-castes are the princ.i.p.al retail merchants. At the time of the capture of the city by Admiral Dewey and General Merritt there were not over one dozen European merchants in Manila. Not one American firm was there; the last one, a Boston hemp dealer, having been driven out some years before.]
It was twenty-nine years after Columbus discovered America that Magellan saw the Philippines, the largest archipelago in the world, in 1521. The voyage of Magellan was much longer and scarcely less heroic than that of the discoverer of America. Having been provided with a fleet by the Spanish king with which to search for spice islands, but secretly determined to sail round the world, he set out with five vessels on August 10, 1519, crossed the Atlantic to America, and skirted the eastern coast southward in the hope of finding some western pa.s.sage into the Pacific, which, a few years previous, had been discovered by Balboa.
It was a year and two months to a day from the time he left Spain until he reached the southern point of the mainland of South America and pa.s.sed through the straight which has since borne his name. On the way, one of his vessels deserted; another was wrecked in a storm. When he pa.s.sed through the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of his original five ships, and they were the first European vessels that ever breasted the waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the unknown but placid sea--which he named the Pacific--the bold navigator steered straight to the northwest. Five months later, about March 1st, he discovered the Ladrone Islands--which name Magellan gave to the group on account of the thieving propensities of the natives--the word _Ladrone_ meaning robber.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BEAUTIFUL LUNETA, MANILA"s FASHIONABLE PROMENADE AND DRIVE.
This most celebrated drive and promenade in the city of Manila is by the old sea wall. The Governor and Archbishop, with their escorts and striking equipages, came every afternoon to air themselves, and in the cool of every summer evening, when the fine military band of the Spanish army used to play. The whole population apparently came out to listen.
This was also the place of all great processions, executions, etc.]
After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing on the north coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines.
The natives were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan to the island of Cebu, which lay to the north, and which they reported to be very rich.
After taking possession of Mindanao in the name of his king, the discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he made such demonstrations and gave such descriptions of the glory and power of Spain that he easily formed a treaty with the king of the island, who swore allegiance to his new-found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized in the Catholic faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against some of the neighboring powers, and on April 25, 1521, was killed in a skirmish.
The spot where he fell is now marked by a monument.
FIRST CIRc.u.mNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE.
Trouble soon arose between Magellan"s sailors and their new-found allies. The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty-seven of them were treacherously slain. The remainder, fearing for their lives, escaped in their ships and sailed for home. It was soon discovered that they had too few men to manage the three vessels, and one of them was destroyed. The other two proceeded on their voyage and discovered the spice island of Tidor, where they loaded with spices; but a few days later one of the vessels sprang a leak and went down with her freight and crew. The other, after many hardships, reached Spain, thus completing the first circ.u.mnavigation of the globe.
SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES.
In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined to send another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal inspired him to conquer and christianize the islands. To shorten the long and dangerous voyage, he decided to prepare and start with five ships from the coast of Mexico. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the expedition, consisting of four hundred soldiers and sailors and six Augustine monks.
In due time the expedition landed at Cebu. The formidable appearance of the ships awed the natives, and on April 27, 1565--forty years after Magellan"s remnant had fled from the island--Legaspi landed and took possession. In honor of the Spanish king the archipelago was given the name of the Philippine Islands.
In 1570 Legaspi sent his grandson, Salcedo, to subdue the island of Luzon, the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group. He landed near the present site of Manila. The trustful natives readily agreed to accept the Spanish king as their master, and to pay tribute.
Such slight tribal resistances as were offered were quickly subdued. The next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit his grandson; and, seeing the importance of the situation and its fine harbor, declared that city the capital of the whole archipelago and the king of Spain the sovereign of all the islands. Accordingly, he moved his headquarters to that point, built houses and fortifications, and within a year had the city well organized, when he died, leaving Salcedo as his successor in command. It is remarkable how much these two men accomplished with so small a force; but they did it not so much by arms as by cajoling and deceiving the simple natives. Furthermore, they allowed the conquered people to be governed by their own chiefs in their own way, so long as they paid a liberal tribute to the Spanish crown.
STRUGGLES FOE SUPREMACY.
The history of the Philippines has been monotonous from their discovery until the present, a monotony broken at times by periods of adventures in which Manila has generally been the central scene. About 1580, Lima-hong, a Chinese pirate, took the city with an armed fleet of sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,000 men and 1,500 women. They met with stubborn resistance, but succeeded in scaling the walls and entering the city. The Spanish forces were driven into a fort, which the Chinese stormed. A b.l.o.o.d.y hand-to-hand conflict followed, and the Chinese were finally repulsed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PHILIPPINE WARRIORS.]
Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch attempted to obtain possession of the Philippines. They captured scores of Spanish merchantmen and treasure ships. Many naval engagements followed, the details of which read like the thrilling records of buccaneers and pirates, rather than the wars between two civil powers. Finally, after half a century of warfare, the Dutch were decisively beaten, and abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much to the disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra, and other Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been remarkably prosperous under the mild rule of the Netherlands.
MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH.
In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish authorities. The governor heard of it, and a general ma.s.sacre of the Mongolians followed. It was even planned to destroy every Chinaman on the islands, and they were in a fair way to do it, when, at length, the Spaniards bethought themselves that by so doing they would practically depopulate the islands of tradesmen and mechanics. Accordingly, they offered pardon to those who would surrender and swear allegiance. A century later, England sent a fleet under Admiral Cornish, with General Draper commanding the troops, against Manila. After a desperate battle the city fell, and the terms of surrender incorporated provisions for free trade, freedom of speech, and, best of all, freedom in religion to the inhabitants of the islands, and required Spain to pay England about $4,000,000 indemnity. By the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war between England and Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was that Spain should retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English troops were withdrawn, and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as Cuba was by the same treaty) under the domination of their tyrannical mistress, and remained under Spanish rule from that time until the Americans freed them in 1898.
UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES.
In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the church, as conducted by the friars and priests, was the cause. Such was the case in 1622, in 1649, and in 1660. The occasion of the revolt of 1744 is a fair example of the provocations leading to all. A Jesuit priest ordered all his parishioners arrested as criminals when they failed to attend ma.s.s. One of the unfortunates died, and the priest denied him rights of burial, ordering that his body be thrown upon the ground and left to rot in the sun before his dwelling. The brother of the man in his exasperation organized a mob, captured the priest, killed him, and exposed his body for four days. Thus was formed the nucleus of a rebel army. The insurgents in their mountain fastnesses gained their independence and maintained it for thirty-five years, until they secured from Spain a promise of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the colony.
Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1827, and 1844, but all were suppressed. In 1872, the most formidable outbreak up to that time occurred at Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of this uprising also. Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to prohibit friars from holding parishes. The promises were never carried out, and the friars grew continually richer and more powerful and oppressive. Had the plan of the insurgents not been balked by a mistaken signal, no doubt they would have destroyed the Spanish garrison at Manila, but a misunderstanding caused their defeat. The friars insisted that the captured leaders should be executed, and it was done.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANILA.
Every cottage, however humble, is surrounded by tropical trees and flowers. The interiors are remarkably clean and cheerful. Bamboo enters largely into the construction of all native houses and they are generally covered with thatch.]
THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY.
In 1896, the insurrection broke out again. Its causes were the old oppressions: unbearable taxes, and imprisonment or banishment, with the complete confiscation of property of those who could not pay; no justice except for those who could buy it; extortion by the friars; marriage ceremony so costly that a poor man could not pay the fee; homes and families broken up and ruined; burial refused to the dead, unless a large sum was paid in advance; no provision and no chance for education.
Such were some of the causes that again goaded the natives to revolution and nerved them with courage to achieve victory after victory over their enemies until they were, promised most of the reforms which they demanded. Then they laid down their arms, and, as usual, the Governor-General failed to carry out a single pledge.
Such was the condition, and another revolt, more formidable than any of the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his American fleet entered Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and, by a victory unparalleled in naval warfare, sunk the Spanish ships, silenced the forts, and dethroned the power of Spain forever in a land which her tyranny had blighted for more than three hundred years.
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details concerning all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor Worcester, of the University of Michigan, tells us that the population comprises more than eighty distinct tribes, with individual peculiarities. They are scattered over hundreds of islands, and one who really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and towns far behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the innermost wilds. Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold men, led by the love of science or by the spirit of adventure, have continued to penetrate these dark regions, there are many sections where the foot of civilized man has never trod; or, if so, he came not back to tell of the lands and peoples which his eyes beheld.
DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY.
There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough exploration of these islands. Spain persistently opposed the representatives of any other nation entering the country. She suspected every man with a gun of designing to raise an insurrection or make mischief among the natives.
The account of red tape necessary to secure guns and ammunition for a little party of four or five explorers admitted through the customs at Manila is one of the most significant, as well as one of the most humorous, pa.s.sages in Professor Worcester"s story of his several years"
sojourn while exploring the archipelago.
In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no respect for Spain"s authority, and will have none for ours for years to come.
Two-thirds of them paid no tribute, and many of them never heard of Spain, or, if so, only remembered that a long time ago white men came and cruelly persecuted the natives along the sh.o.r.e. These wild tribes think themselves still the owners of the land. Some of them go naked and practice cannibalism and other horrible savage customs. Any explorer"s life is in danger among them; consequently most tourists to the Philippines see Manila and make short excursions around that city. The more ambitious run down to the cities of Iloilo and Cebu, making short excursions into the country from those points, and then return, thinking they have seen the Philippines. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Such travelers no more see the Philippine Islands than Columbus explored America.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A TYPICAL MORO VILLAGE, SOUTHERN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.]
Even near the coast there are savages who are almost as ignorant as their brethren in the interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only "thirty miles from Manila is a race of dwarfs that go without clothes, wear knee-bracelets of horsehair, and respect nothing but the jungle in which they live." The princ.i.p.al native peoples are of Malayan origin. Of these, to the north of Manila are the Igorrotes; in the islands south of Luzon are the civilized Visayas, and below them in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are the fierce Moros, who originally came from the island of Borneo, settling in the Philippines a short time before the Spanish discovery. They are Mohammedans in religion, and as fanatical and as fearless fighters as the Turks themselves. For three hundred years the Spaniards have been fighting these savages, and while they have overcome them in nearly all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said, upward of $100,000,000 and sacrificed more than one hundred thousand lives in doing so.