﻿466 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



barrio or other division, its native name and meaning, date of 

 its establishment, the original families, lists of officials, old 

 stories or legends, and the history of any old abandoned barrios 

 or other divisions. The material was to be forwarded to the 

 Executive Secretary of the Philippine Government and by him 

 to be deposited in the Philippine Library — a Government in- 

 stitution which bears the same relation to the Philippine Islands 

 as the Library of Congress does to the United States. 



Of course, it is recognized that some of the material gathered 

 in this way is apt to be wrong, misleading, or fragmentary. 

 Much of it can, however, be checked by known written history, 

 while often one manuscript will check or correct another, and 

 frequently common sense will act as the best guide as to what 

 is to be received and what rejected. On the other hand, many 

 little points that have entirely escaped writers may be preserved. 

 The generation from which this material was obtained is rapidly 

 passing away, and the new generation that is taking its place 

 is losing, almost insensibly, a part of the storied traditions. 



A considerable number of the 38 provinces have already com- 

 plied fully with the order, and about 600 manuscripts of varying 

 degrees of excellence have been added to the library. Some are 

 written in the native languages, some in Spanish, and some in 

 English. Many of those written in languages other than English 

 are accompanied by English translations. Among the manu- 

 scripts are those for Lepanto subprovince, a part of Mountain 

 Province of northern Luzon. 2 These were gathered under the 



2 The evolution of the present Mountain Province is interesting, and 

 may be followed in various Acts of the Philippine Commission. During 

 the latter part of the Spanish regime, the 7 subprovinces now composing 

 Mountain Province were known as distritos or comandancias, or formed 

 part of another province. Act No. 410, enacted May 28, 1902, provided 

 for the organization of a provincial government in the territory comprised 

 in the comandancias of Lepanto, Bontoc, and Amburayan, and the terri- 

 tory lying between Abra, Cagayan, and Bontoc not included within the 

 limits of any province, and providing for justices of the peace in this 

 territory and in Nueva Vizcaya Province [Public Laws. Manila (1903), 

 1, 970-972]. The new province was called Lepanto-Bontoc. Bontoc sub- 

 province contained certain lands not before assigned. The other two sub- 

 provinces followed closely the limits of the former comandancias. Act 

 No. 411, enacted on the same date as the above [Public Laws (1903), 1, 

 972], provided for the establishment of civil governments in the townships 

 and settlements of the province. Act No. 768, Manila, 1904, enacted May 

 26, 1903 [Public Laws (1904), 2, 422, 423], fixed the boundary lines 

 between Amburayan and Lepanto subprovinces and Benguet Province. A.c< 

 No. 867, enacted September 5, 1903 [Public Laws. Manila (1905), 3], 

 declared the Mountain Judicial District to consist of the Provinces of 



