9o 5 .] METZGER— THE FILIPINO. 29 



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the past few years this was brought to the American public's notice 

 through an unjust attack upon the army in permitting the supposed 

 looting of one of the churches of the Colony and bringing into the 

 states one of these sacred images. Upon investigation this " Black 

 Christ," over which the stir was raised, proved to be a private in- 

 stitution of some scheming natives working upon the superstition 

 of their people to extort money for personal gain. The image was 

 an exquisitely carved piece of wood, waxed and stained to a deep 

 brown, while the eyes were of glass and framed with eyelids most 

 human, and the whole enveloped in rich drapery. With the aid of 

 a ventriloquist (Jose Zaide) the natives were led to believe that 

 this "Black Christ" was the new Messiah through whom their 

 sole redemption from the torments of hell could only be obtained 

 by the making of large donations of money. 



Other superstitious beliefs might be mentioned, such as the dia- 

 bolical influence supposed to be possessed by certain persons which 

 preserves them from all harm even refractory to the effect of bullets, 

 called the anting-anting. Then again the belief held by many, 

 that a crime escapes punishment if committed in Easte week, be- 

 cause the thief on the cross was pardoned of his sins, and many 

 more might be enumerated if but time permitted. 



Before taking up' the third great classification of these domesti- 

 cated natives, I wish to make mere mention of the sport of hunt- 

 ing the wild-buffalo and boar much engaged in by these people 

 and the bull fights, which until 1885 obtained throughout the 

 principal cities of this dependency. Likewise a brief description 

 of this freemasonry that exists on the islands, the so-called Kati- 

 punan. This is a Tagalog word the meaning of which is league. 

 The organization was originally perfected with the object of retri- 

 bution and was the result of the confederation of the various dis- 

 satisfied islanders under the leadership of one Andres Bonifacio, a 

 native half caste, who drew up its constitution and devised its 

 mystic rites, which were of a dread and impressive character, 

 breathing vengeance upon Spain and more especially the monas- 

 tics. Since the end of Spanish rule in the archipelago the Kati- 

 punan has been felt not a little by the American forces operating 

 in the islands, and it must be admitted that it is a powerful agent 

 in the political prosperity of this Colony. In 1896 there was 

 known to have been at least fifty thousand leaguers and by 1900 

 this number was trebled. 



