VENTURELLO] MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF TAGBANUAS 537 
sum required upon this occasion his creditor will designate a time, 
usually a month, in which time he will return in person or send a 
representative to collect the debt, with this provision that in case 
the fixed time should have expired and the debtor is not able to 
pay then shall the amount be increased two fold. When the day has 
arrived and the debtor is not able to settle, the creditor will again 
fix a time and thus successively until the debt is finally paid. If 
in some of the visits of the creditor or his representative, he should 
be able to obtain some almaciga, wax, objects of metal, etc., whose 
amount would not cover the debt, not even the half, these objects 
would not be placed to the credit of the debtor but would only 
serve as a fine or the payment of the expenses of the voyage of the 
creditor in his going to and from the rancheria of the debtor. In 
case the days of grace have expired, and the debtor, notwithstand- 
ing his superhuman efforts, does not find possible means to liquidate 
the debt, then the creditor will declare him and his posterity slaves 
unless his fellow beings aid him to pay. In this case, the 
creditor can not refuse to accept the sum which they, for the sake 
of humanity, delivered. If the debtor be a headman or chief, he 
will not, because of his position and dignity, fall into slavery; but 
he is obliged to redeem himself by one or two of his own slaves 
according to mutual consent and the importance of the debt. The 
delivery of the slaves being made, this vexatious business is ter- 
minated and the creditor will return to his rancheria with the slaves 
thus obtained. The nobles or headmen for whom the slaves have 
been given are irresponsible for their escape. Should the slaves 
return to the homes from which they were taken, the creditor has 
the right to demand them at the hands of the local authorities who 
are obliged to send them back. In consequence of this irresponsi- 
bility the slave capturers are oftentimes deceived by the slaves who 
after being with them a few days manage to escape, hiding in 
some situation unknown and ignored by the slave owners. But 
there is no evil in this world, with the exception of death, that has 
no corresponding remedy, more or less efficacious, so the slave 
capturers, in order to prevent this escape which occurs so frequently, 
adopt very rigorous measures, keeping their slaves well guarded 
until they have the opportunity to give them to strangers in ex- 
change for articles of commerce at a price more or less cheap. 
These strangers usually are the Moros from Cagayan de Jolé who 
annually visited Palawan and with whom the Moro chiefs of these 
islands engaged in the slave trade. Many slaves, Tagbanuas and 
