476 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



should not forget that only those Europeans go to the tropics who 

 display special energy and force of will — a kind of chosen lot among 

 our race — while the natives there include all the levels of the peo- 

 ple. If we add to this that all the Europeans believe in their own 

 superiority and in the inferiority of the brown men, it will seem quite 

 natural that when the Europeans begin to make comparisons be- 

 tween themselves and the natives the comparisons will always be 

 flattering to those who make them. 



In the Philippine Islands, on the other hand, the reaction of the 

 natives against this extreme self-conceit of the whites has been mak- 

 ing itself felt for more than twenty years. This has come to pass 

 since the philosophical heads among them have carefully studied 

 the whites in the various countries of Europe, and have in conse- 

 quence lost faith in the divine likeness of the Caucasians. 



Single examples of the studies of these men have been published, 

 such as that of the war minister of the Philippine republic, Don 

 Antonio Luna, a pure-blooded Malay like his brother the painter. 

 Luna studied in Spain and in Paris (under Pasteur), and lived a 

 little while in England, so that he had opportunities to become ac- 

 quainted with three civilized nations at their home. His literary 

 works are represented to us in the garb of novels and feuilletons, the 

 sarcasm of which, while it certainly escapes the uninitiated Euro- 

 pean, will be all the more effective and precious upon those who are 

 acquainted with the purpose of the brilliant author, which is to 

 satirize the depreciatory accounts by European travelers of the land 

 and people of the Philippine Islands. This he does by telling of his 

 rummaging through the critics' home and finding all the weaknesses 

 and faults which are accredited to the brown men as signs of their 

 incapacity no less prevalent in Europe than in the Philippine archi- 

 pelago; and arguing that therefore the whites and the browns differ 

 only in the color of their skin, in build, and in language, but not 

 in mind- 



If space allowed I should be glad to follow my inclination to 

 repeat some of Luna's descriptions, which are given in a style that 

 reminds one of Maupassant's. I shall only say that Luna has drawn 

 within the circle of his observations the movements of all classes 

 in the aristocratic saloon and in the workman's beerhouse, and 

 remarks that everything that has been charged against the brown 

 man appears likewise in the European. The first sketch is excel- 

 lent. European travelers speak in their works of the " stupid star- 

 ing " at their white-skinned, thoughtful faces by the " brown sav- 

 ages." Luna, whose pen-name is Taga-ilog,* parodies these stories 

 by simply relating that on his arrival in Europe and during his 



* From over the water ; or it may be derived from Ilokos, or Tagal. 



