ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 1038 
islanders—such worthless things as the face cards from old packs of 
playing cards, bits of cloth which the Spaniards pretended to value, 
putting them first about their own necks and laughing to see the gul- 
lible natives imitate them in doing the same. Legazpi says that these 
natives were well named ladrones (thieves). They would not board 
his ships, though he invited them to do so, ** showing them much love 
and affection and looking upon them as friends.” This is easily 
accounted for by the treatment the natives had met with at the hands 
of the Loaisa expedition (1526), which, when ready to depart from 
Guam, allured 11 of the islanders on board by deceitful means and 
carried them away for the purpose of making them work the ship's 
pumps. 
That they were naturally kind and generous is shown by their treat- 
ment of shipwrecked sailors cast upon their shores and their reception 
of the early missionaries who founded the first colony on the island. 
These missionaries complained that they could not make the natives 
take life seriously, saying that what they promised one minute they 
forgot the next. On the other hand, the missionaries spoke of the 
remarkable intelligence shown by the children in learning the Christian 
doctrine, the moderation of the natives in eating, and the absence of 
intoxicants. Their sense of hospitality was very marked. Women 
were treated with consideration, and had greater authority than in 
almost any other land hitherto known, It is certain that the natives 
distinguished between right and wrong. An upright man was called 
-*tunas.” or “straight.” and the abstract quality of right or rectitude 
was called |‘ tininas,” or straightness.” A bad man was called 
“Sabale,” which signifies evil or immoral, in distinetion from the word 
.“tailaye,” which has more the sense of “worthless” and is also 
applied to things. 
“As to their customs,” says Padre Gaarcia, “1 feel called upon to 
say that although they have been ‘alled ‘ladrones,’ on account of the 
pilfering of a few pieces of iron from our ships, they do not deserve 
the name, for though they leave open their houses it is very seldom 
that anything is missed.” They were very courteous on meeting or 
in passing before one another, saying ‘ati adingmo.” which signified 
‘let me kiss your feet.” A traveler in passing by their houses was 
always invited to stop and partake of food. One of the first mani- 
festations of ill will on the part of the natives toward the early 
missionaries was their discontinuance of this courtesy.“ It was also 
customary to offer betel nut and leaves of betel pepper to visitors. It 
was considered a mark of politeness to take the hand of another and 
gently pass it across the breast. They held poetry in high esteem and 
regarded their poets as men of supernatural endowments.’ They were 
«Garcia, Vida y Martyrio de Sanvitores, p. 224, 1683. bTdem., p. 198. 
