Academy or Sciences] APPENDIX 243 



He says that there were certain wild Indians in the mountains of Butuan in the Province of 

 Karaga. 21 "They had kinky hair, oblique eyes, a treacherous disposition, brutish customs, 

 and lived by the hunt. 22 They had no king to govern them nor houses to shelter them. Their 

 clothing was just sufficient to cover the shame of their bodies, and they slept wherever night 

 overtook them. They were pagans, and in their manner of life almost irrational. They were 

 warlike and waged an incessant war with the coast people. " Santa Teresa describes how 

 Dabao, a Manobo chieftain of great strength and sagacity and undoubtedly the original of the 

 legendary giant that still lives in Manobo tradition, stirred up rebellion and succeeded in killing 

 many Spaniards in Linao. 23 



The rebellion extended all over the valley and Fray Augustin and other churchmen lost their 

 lives as a result. It was finally suppressed by the capture of innumerable slaves. "Manila and 

 its environments were full of slaves." "The Butuan chiefs, who were the mirror of fidelity, 

 suffered processes, exiles, and imprisonments; and although they were able to win back honor, 

 it was after all their property had been lost." 2i In 1651 peace was restored by the return of the 

 innumerable slaves captured by the Spanish forces. 



1661-1672 



Between the years 1661 and 1672 the Recollects pursued their evangelical labors in the Agusan 

 Valley, notwithstanding the constant opposition of the Manobos. Father Pedro de San Fran- 

 cisco de Asis describes the natives as being "robust and very numerous." He says that in time 

 of peace they were tractable, docile, and reasonable, had regular villages, lived in human society, 

 were superior to the surrounding mountain people, and were easily converted. He claims that 

 there were 4,000 converts living between Butuan and Linao. The people to whom he refers are 

 most probably the ancestors of the Bisayas of. the present day, because, as we shall see later on, the 

 Christianized Manobo towns of the present day did not exist before 1877. 



Father Combos 25 is the authority for the statement that Butuan was the origin of "the 

 rulers and nobility of all the islands of Jolo and Basilan." The following is the extract: 



But the rulers and nobility of all the islands of Jolo and Basflan recognize as the place of their origin ihe 

 village of Butudn (which, although it is located in this island, is within the pale of the Bis&yan Nation) on the 

 northern side, in sight of the B6ol, and but a few leagues away from L6yte and from B6ol, islands which are in 

 the same stage of civilization. Therefore, that village can glory at having given kings and nobility to these 

 nations. 26 



Speaking of the native peoples and their customs San Antonio 27 in 1744 says that "Some 

 of the Manobos in the mountains of Karaga (who are heathen and without number, although 

 some are Christians, a people civilized and well inclined to work, who have fixed habitations and 

 excellent houses) pay tribute." 



We learn from the same authority that one of the missionaries obtained wonderful results 

 in the conversion of Manobos in Lmao. He was unable to specify the number but says that it 

 increased greatly, for up to that time there were only 3,000 converts in the whole district of 

 Butuan. My authority seems to believe that there were two classes of people around Linao, 

 the one whom he distinctly calls Manobos — "tractable, docile, and quite reasonable," living in 



M The Province of Karaga at this time extended from Dapftan on the northwest of Mindanao to Karaga on the southeast. 



" The reference to the possession of kinky hair might lead us to think that the ancestors of the present Manobos were Negritos. The only trace 

 of curly hair among the Manobos of the Agusan Valley is observed among those who occupy the northwestern parts of the valley, and northeastern 

 contiguous to Butuan. 



13 Santa Teresa says that a poisoned arrow pierced the leg of a soldier. This reference to the use. of poisoned arrows, taken in consideration with 

 Santa Teresa's description of the Manobos of that region as being kinky haired, and living by the hunt, seem to indicate that the Manobos of those 

 days were Negritos. A further evidence is added by the application of the term Nfgrillos (little Negroes) to Manobos. The use of poisoned arrows 

 is, to this day, a distinctly Negrito custom. At the present time the use of poisoned arrows is unknown to MaDObos and, as far as I have been 

 able to learn, no tradition as to the former employment of them exists. 



" Blair and Robertson, 36: 134. 



11 Ibid., 40: 126. 



M San Francisco in his Cronicas (see Blair and Robertson, 40: 312) says: " They [the Butuans] are the origin of the best blood and nobility of the 

 Basflans and Joloans, for the king of Jolo even confessed that he was a Butuan." It is surprising to note the dialectical similarity between Sulu arrd 

 the variety of Bisaya spoken in the Agusan Valley. Words that are not found in any other Bisaya dialect, are common to these two dialects. It 

 is therefore probable that formerly there was intercourse between the two peoples. 



■ Ibid., 40:298, 



64858 O - 41 - 17 



