ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 103 



islanders — such worthless things as the face cards from old packs of 

 playing cards, bits of cloth which the Spaniards pretended to value, 

 putting them first about their own necks and laughing to see the gul- 

 lible natives imitate them in doing the same. Legazpi says that these 

 natives were well named ladrones (thieves). They would not board 

 his ships, though he invited them to do so, " showing them much love 

 and affection and looking upon them as friends." This is easily 

 accounted for by the ti-eatment the natives had met with at the hands 

 of the Loaisa expedition (1526), which, when ready to depart from 

 Guam, allured 11 of the islanders on board by deceitful means and 

 carried them away for the purpose of making them work the ship's 

 pumps. 



That they were naturally kind and generous is shown by their treat- 

 ment of shipwrecked sailors cast upon their shores and their reception 

 of the early missionaries who founded the first colony on the island. 

 These missionaries complained that they could not make the natives 

 take life seriously, saying that what they promised one minute they 

 forgot the next. On the other hand, the missionaries spoke of the 

 remai'kable intelligence shown by the children in learning the Christian 

 doctrine, the moderation of the natives in eating, and the absence of 

 intoxicants. Their sense of hospitality was very marked. Women 

 were treated with consideration, and had greater authority than in 

 almost any other land hitherto known. It is certain that the natives 

 distinguished between right and wrong. An upright man was called 



! "tunas," or "straight," and the abstract quality of right or rectitude 

 was called "tininas," or " straightness. " A bad man was called 

 "abale," which signifies evil or immoral, in distinction from the word 



i "tailaye," which has more the sense of "worthless" and is also 

 applied to things. 



"As to their customs," says Padre Garcia, "I feel called upon to 

 say that although they have been called 'ladrones,' on account of the 

 pilfering of a few pieces of iron from our ships, they do not deserve 

 the name, for though they leave open their houses it is very seldom 

 that anything is missed." They were very courteous on meeting or 

 in passing before one another, saying "ati adingmo," which signified 

 "let me kiss your feet." A traveler in passing by their houses was 

 always invited to stop and partake of food. One of the first mani- 

 festations of ill will on the part of the natives toward the early 

 missionaries was their discontinuance of this courtesy." It was also 

 customary to offer betel nut and leaves of betel pepper to visitors. It 

 was considered a mark of politeness to take the hand of another and 

 gently pass it across the breast. They held poetry in high esteem and 

 regarded their poets as men of supernatural endowments.* They were 



a Garcia, Vida y Martyrio de Sanvitores, p. 224, 1683. ^Idem., p. 198. 



