2370 LEAFLETS or PurniPPINE BOTANY (Vor. VII, Arr. 112 
‘men folks at Bayabas or whole families would go off for a 
week or so to some place where there was a fiesta being 
held.  Idleness makes possible more than one of such 
pernicious habits. The Christian native cannot, do so, for 
he has a house, field and a few animals to consider. I 
have always found the so called wild-tribes perfectly ration- 
al and able to work as well as the settled Christianos, and why 
they do not is a mystery to me, unless they prefer being 
absolutely free of any incumbrances or independent.  Taey 
know right from wrong as well as I do. Whatever ad- 
vantages the valley dealer took of them and their few 
products, the wild man had and exercised distinct advan- 
tages over his Christian brethren. When one considers the 
whole matter from both sides, there seems to be very little 
reason for taxing one class and not the other, except that 
the government can get at the one and not at the other. 
"My work proceeded very nicely until the Manobos went on 
a strike, because I fed them ouly on their accustomed ra- 
tions. They wanted rice and salmon, the same as José my 
Manila servant was eating oceasionally. Still I was winning 
my way with them. Every night they would come in the 
house for a few cigarettes. I had a little German made tin 
petroleum lamp. Before, they used to sit around the fire place 
or torch made of the resin of Canarium or of Agathis, but 
now they would crowd around my lamp. After buying for 
them a couple of peseta lamps, I began to be known as 
their Teniente de Bayabas or President of Bayabas, for 
up to this time they had no governmental official head. 
I took advantage of my dignity and ordered them to clean 
up around their houses. I secured some paper pads, lead 
pencils and a primary chart reader from the local head 
teacher at Cabadbaran, and started a night school for them. 
Although I was most too tired to do this extra work for them, 
yet it proved distinctly to my advantage. They would come 
in with a fresh pair of pantaloons, with a coat or jacket 
on, and by and by would come washed and even slicked up. It 
gave me a prestige, and in cooperation with, the municipal 
authorities at Cabadbaran I managed to keep them at doing 
something. Only twice I had to call for the police to give 
them fair warning to lay off on their lazy indolent habits. 
