Geographical Relations and History 241 



mountains separating the narrow valleys, the lack of water transpor- 

 tation, the difficulty of maintaining trails, have all tended to keep the 

 people in small communities, while the practice of head-hunting has 

 likewise raised a barrier to free communication. Thus, the settle- 

 ments within a limited area have become self-sustaining groups; a 

 condition which has existed long enough to allow for the development 

 of five dialects. 



The traditions of the Tinguian furnish us with no stories of an 

 earlier home than Luzon, but there are many accounts of migrations 

 from the coast back into the mountains, after the arrival of the Span- 

 iards and the Christianization of the Ilocano. The fact that there is 

 an historical background for these tales is amply proven by fragments 

 of pottery and the like, which the writer has recovered from the re- 

 ported sites of ancient settlements. 



The part played by this people in Philippine history is small in- 

 deed, and most of the references to them have been of an incidental 

 nature. 



Apparently, they first came in contact with the Spanish in 1572 

 when Salcedo was entrusted with the task of subduing that part of 

 Luzon now known as the Ilocano provinces. The people he encoun- 

 tered are described as being more barbarous than the Tagalog, not so 

 light complexioned, nor so well clad, but husbandmen who possessed 

 large fields, and whose land abounded in rice and cotton. 



Their villages were of considerable size, and each was ruled over 

 by a local headman who owed allegiance to no central authority. 

 There was a uniform, well recognized code of law or custom, and a 

 considerable part of the population could read and write in a native 

 script similar to that of the Tagalog. They also possessed gold, which 

 was reported to have come from rich mines in the interior, and on 

 primitive forges were turning out excellent steel weapons, but the use 

 of fire-arms was unknown. According to Reyes, their weapons con- 

 sisted of lances, bows and arrows, bolos, great shields which pro- 

 tected them from head to foot, blow guns and poisoned arrows. The 

 newcomers also found a flourishing trade being carried on with Man- 

 ila and the settlements in Pangasinan, as well as with the Chinese. 

 This trade was of such importance that, as early as 1580 pirate fleets 

 from Japan frequently scoured the coast in search of Chinese vessels 

 and goods, while from time to time Japanese traders visited the 

 Ilocos ports. 



Apparently trade relations were not interrupted for a considerable 

 time after the arrival of the Spaniards, for in 1629 Medina states that 



