414 The Tinguian 



if indeed they ever did so. 1 This trade metal was widely distributed, 

 and then reworked by the local smiths. Even to-day the people of 

 Balbalasang make the long journey to Bangued, or even to Vigan, to 

 secure Chinese iron, which they carry back to their mountain forges. 

 There is no positive proof that the Filipinos formerly mined and 

 smelted iron, but there is a strong probability that they did so, prior to 

 the introduction of trade metal. It has already been noted that the 

 Tinguian type of forge and the method of handling and tempering iron 

 is widespread in Malaysia; and, as will be seen later, this process is 

 not that in use among the Chinese, so that it is unlikely that the art 

 was introduced by them. In furnishing iron ready for forging, they 

 were simply supplying in a convenient form an article already in use, 

 and for wjnich there was an urgent demand. In the islands to the 

 south we find that many of the pagan tribes do now, or did until 

 recently, mine and smelt the ore. Beccari 2 tells us that the Kayan of 

 Borneo extract iron ore found in their own country. Hose and Mc- 

 Dougall say that thirty years ago nearly all the iron worked by the 

 tribes of the interior of Borneo was from ore found in the river beds. 

 At present most of the pagans obtain the metal from the Chinese and 

 Malay traders, but native ore is still smelted in the far interior. 3 

 Foreign iron is now used by the Battak of Sumatra, but deserted iron- 

 works are known to exist in their country, while the Menangkabau 

 still possess smelting furnaces. 4 It seems probable that the whole 

 industry had a common source, and was spread or carried as a unit, 

 but when trade relations made the arduous work of mining and smelt- 

 ing unnecessary, it was quickly given up. That native iron might have 

 supplied the needs of many Philippine tribes, including the Tinguian, 

 is certain, for important deposits of magnetite and hematite are found 

 in Abra, in Ilocos Norte, Angat, Bulacan, Albay, and other parts of the 

 Islands. 5 On several occasions, when on the trail, the natives have 



1 Rockhill, T'oung Pao, Vol. XVI, 1915, pp. 268-269; Blair and Robertson, 

 op. cit., Vols. II, p. 116; III, p. 209; IV, p. 74; XXIX, p. 307; XL, p. 48, note; 

 Philippine Census, Vol. I, p. 482 (Washington, 1905). De Morga, Sucesos de 

 las Islas Philipinas (1609), see Hakluyt Soc. edition, pp. 338, et seq. (London, 

 1868). 



2 Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo (Constable, London, 1904), 

 pp. 282-283. See also Low, Sarawak — Its Inhabitants and Productions, pp. 158, 

 209 (London, 1848). 



8 Op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 193-194. 



4 Ratzel, History of Mankind, Vol. I. p. 434; Marsden, op. cit., pp. 173, 181, 

 347 note. 



6 Fifth Annual Report of the Mining Bureau of the Philippine Islands, 

 p. 31 ; Official Catalogue of the Philippine Exhibit, Universal Exposition, p. 231 

 (St. Louis, 1904). 



