 The islands called formerly de Los Ladrones and de Las Velas Latinas whose name has now fortunately been changed through Religion into Las Marianas, are innumerable and run from north to south, from Japan to Peru. The thirteen discovered and illumined by the Gospel, are the only ones of which I wish to speak, from the information which the ministers of the Gospel (missionaries) have given. They have traveled over them many times, correcting the information of the older voyagers who saw them only from a distance or in great haste. They are situated in longitude 164 degrees from La Palma, Canary Islands and three hundred leagues nearer than Manila on the voyage from New Spain to the Philippines, 13 degrees latitude boreal from Muag which is 22 degrees and is the nearest one to Japan that has yet been discovered in the small boats that the missionaries have had thus far. From the charts and letters it is a matter of six days journey from japan. These thirteen islands are in their position so Marian that starting from the southwest to Northwest they form a crescent, a very appropriate throne for the feet of Mary and a symbol of the protection of this Sovereign Queen, in spite of Mahoma who has united to his crescent many of the islands of this archipelago.
Their names, not as they are confused in some histories but as they were written by Padre Sanvitores who changed the names into sacred ones, since he wished to make even the land itself Christian, are in order (from the south to the north) as follows: Guam, which he called San Juan; Arpana, which he called Santa Ana; Aquiguan, renamed the Holy Angel; Tinian called Buenavista Mariana; Saipan, Saint Joseph; Anatajan, St. Joaquin; Sariguan, St. Charles; Guguan, St. Philip; Alamagan, La Concepcion; Pagon, St. Ignatius; Agrigan, St. Francis Xavier; Asanson, la Asuncion; and Maug, San Lorenzo. The largest are Guam, which is 35 leagues square and Aguigan which is fifty. The latter is more fertile and pleasant than the others. The islands are not far apart, the farthest only a day's journey from another. They have commerce and use the same language, a rare thing among gentiles who are not subject to one dominion.
The climate is healthful and benign, although the last islands (northern) are cooler than the first and in none is the cold or heat excessive. They do not suffer the terrible earthquakes that are known in other islands of the archipelago. The land is mountainous and has great marshes, always covered with a spiny growth, with many trees but none of those of Europe. The most noticeable tree is the one they call in their language "Maria" (Palo Maria) of which they construct their houses and boats. Under the title of "Maria," a harbinger of happiness and of the good tidings which would be theirs through this name(?). The islands have many rivers of fresh water, and on the Island of Guam there are more than thirty. No alligators are found, nor snakes, nor other poisonous animals. There are fish in the rivers, especially eels, but for some superstition, they do not catch them.
On the land there are not found other animals than cats and dogs which are believed to have remained here from the galleon Concepcion when it was wrecked in these islands. In the air are seen birds that resemble turtle doves. The islanders do not eat them, but keep them in cages and teach them to speak. Thus far no mines of silver or gold have been found nor anything of value. That which is most valuable among the natives is iron, for which they trade with the Spanish ships, exchanging the poor products of their soil also tortoise shells, and whoever has the most iron is the most powerful. Nature is parsimonious with these people, and they are content with so little. Certainly a lesson for those who seek after material things to satisfy their insatiable thirst and hunger. It goes to show that very little suffices him who does not seek what is extra and nothing is extra to him who is not content with only the necessary. The islands have many ports where ships can anchor, some of them very suitable for the ships that come from New Spain as well as those from the Philippines, unless contrary winds make entrance impossible which the Servant of God believes is the work of demons because of their fear of losing to the Faith their long held dominion over these Islands. Now we are confident that the Star of the Sea will appease the winds since the Marinas are under Her protection as well as under her title.
In the Island of San Juan there are seven ports; that of San Antonio which is in the western part, across from a town which the natives call Hati, in which port there are two good rivers from which to obtain water. Another port, which was vented by the Dutch for some three months during past years, careening their ships, in half a league from the point that divides the inlet of San Antonio from the southern part and faces a village, called in their language, Humatag. It has a good river where the Dutch obtained water. Proceeding on this side from the south, there is found a third port three leagues distant, at a village called Habadisan. It has some shelter from the west and more from the north, but lacks a river. Traveling three leagues to the eastward two bays are found, separated by a point of land, where there are two rivers. The first bay faces a village called Pipug, and the second more to the east, faces a village called Irig. it is well sheltered from the west and has sufficient protection also from other winds. Leaving the port of San Antonio which we mentioned before, and proceeding along the coast on the north within the distance of a musket shot there is another port at a village called Tarogrichan, with rivers of good water, which has on both sides, the same shelter from the winds as San Antonio.
Continuing more to the north, near the town of San Ignacion de Agadna, where now are located the principal church and house of the Padres of the society in front of a reef which faces West-Northwest at a distance of a shot of an arguebus from said reef, there is found a very good sandy anchorage and land for the length of 18 brazas and at a distance of two musket shots from the reef the depth is of 10 brazas and going in further at a distance of a shot of an arguebus from land the depth of the water is of 22 brazas. It has a good river which flows into the center of the bay. It is protected from all winds and appears to be the best port and most appropriate of the island of San Juan.
On the Island of Zarpana or Santa Ana, which the natives call Rota, or Luta, there is a port in which the Dutch anchored the three ships mentioned above. It faces a settlement called Socanrago and San Pedro, and looks towards the north-east. One league to the south there is another port with good depth and protection from all winds. On the island of Saypan there is a good port, whose entrance faces the east, and is protected by the principal point of the island, which looks to the southeast. The port is near a village which is called Raurau.
In the islands farther north, called Pani, and Los Volcanes. It is said that there are good ports, especially one on the western part of Agrigan, a distance of some fifteen leagues beyond Los Volcanes, which is said to be a suitable anchorage for ships coming from Manila. All these ports nature has opened in these islands in order that the Faith might enter if people would enter through a port other than that of their own interest. Whence came the people of these islands is only surmised but is not known. Padre Colin in his India Sacra, believes that they came from Japan and he makes this seem credible because of their nearness to Japan, the similarity of the people in many ways, expecially in the high regard they have for the nobility, in spite of their own poverty. they have preserved in their memorized history which is confused with many fables a belief that they came from the south or west. The similarity of their skins and of their language, coloring, the teeth, and their mode of governing, or lack of it, makes one suspect that they may have the same origin as the Bisayos of Tagalogs. There are some inhabitants who would trace their history to the Egyptians, according to the reference of Gomara, in his Historia de las Indias as Magellan learned when he came to these islands in 1521. When or how the first people came here is still unknown. It must have been a storm that spared their lives but drove them to a sterile land. The number of inhabitants is large.
In Guam alone there are fifty thousand, on other island forty thousand, and less on others, divided among the town and villages, along the beaches, usually in groups of fifty, sixty or even a hundred and fifty houses. In the mountains there are from six to ten or twenty in a group. The houses are the cleanest that have yet been found among Indios; built of coconut and palo Maria. the walls and the ceiling made in the style of a vault are curiously woven of coconut leaves. They have four rooms, with doors, and curtains of the same matting. one serves as sleeping room, another for storing food, one as kitchen, and the fourth is large enough in which to build and store boats. The Marianos are in color a somewhat lighter shade than the Filipinos, larger in stature, more corpulent and robust than Europeans, pleasant and with agreeable faces. They are so fat they appear swollen. The women wear long hair and in various ways they bleach it white. They color their teeth black, believing this is a great adornment to their beauty. The men do not wear long hair, but shave their head leaving only a small topknot on the crown, about the length of a finger. They remain in good health to an advanced age and it is very usual to live ninety or one hundred years, and among those who were baptized during the first year of the Mission, there were more than a hundred twenty persons who were more than one hundred years old.
It may be due to their robustness, being accustomed to certain distempers from the cradle, or for the uniformity and natural condition of their food, or because of exercise and not too much anxiety, and for the lack of vices and worries, which are roses with thorns, which flattering and then grieving men, finish them off. Perhaps all together contribute to the prolonged age of the Islanders. Since they have few ailments they know few medicines, and treat themselves with a few herbs, of which experience and necessity have taught them the uses and virtues. Their costume is that of a state of innocence although with the vices which sin brings about, but fewer than their nudity and barbarity would promise. Only the women cover as much as modesty requires with an apron called tifis. They live during four months of the year on products of the ground, coconuts, which are abundant, bananas, sugar cane, and fish. the remainder of the year they supplement the lack of fruits with certain roots similar to sweet potato. The little rice which is grown they save for festines. They practice no excess in eating: they have no wine or other intoxicating liquor which as been a great impediment for the Faith in other countries. Their drink is water and thus their commonest ailment is dropsy. Their occupation is the cultivation of coconut groves and banana trees, the care of crops, and sea fishing. As they are accustomed to this from childhood, they appear more like fish than men. Their boats are very light, small and pretty, painted with a kind of bitumen which colors the hills of Guam red. It is mixed with lime and coconut oil, and beautifies their boats greatly. their language is easy to pronounce and to understand, especially for anyone who knows Tagalog or Bisayan. It is reduced to a few rules and much freedom is permitted in variety of vowels and consonants in a single word. This within the same island and within the same town; it causes embarrassment to those who are beginners since the difference of tense is very small. It is an elegance of style to place the noun before the adjective. Thus they called Padre Sanvitores from the time he arrived in the islands Padre Maagas which means Grande Padre. They practice many courtesies, and an ordinary usage, on meeting and on passing in front of another, is Ati Arinmo which means: "Give me permission to kiss your feet." And if one passes by a house they ask him if he will remain to eat, and they bring out buyo (Betel nut) which is a plant they like very much, and keep in the mouth, like tobacco. To pass the hand over the breast of the person one visits is considered a great courtesy.
They rarely expectorate, and do so with great modesty and never near the house of another, nor in the morning, in which there appears to be some superstition, I do not know what. It is unnecessary to ask if they know any letters, sciences or arts, those who are ignorant even of the elements, and did not know of the existence of fire in the world until they saw it lighted by Spaniards who survived the shipwreck in 1638. For all this, they admire poetry and believe poets to be men who perform wonders. We wonder at times how such great ignorance goes hand in hand with their great conceitedness through which they think themselves the wisest and most talented of the world and despise all other nations as compared to themselves.
Their barbarity is not in keeping with the great esteem which they have for their nobility and their observance and discretion of lineage, high, low and middle class, which would seem to point to an origin in some civilized nation. It is seen how pride banished from heaven, lives in all parts of the earth, among clothed people, and the unclad alike. For nothing in the world would one of their chiefs, called Chamorris, marry the daughter of a commoner, even if she were very rich and he very poor as is said of the Japanese. Formerly, parents of the nobility killed sons who married daughters of plebeian families whether it be for love or for riches. In order to maintain their family status with splendor, the first born inherits large estates of coconuts, bananas, as well as other choice properties and it is not the son of the defunct who inherits his father's estate but rather the brother or nephew of the defunct. The heir now changes his name and takes the name of the founder or chief ancestor of the family. Those of low station are not permitted to eat or drink in the houses of the nobles, or even to go near them. If they need anything they ask for it from a distance. These customs exist principally in the town of Agadna, where through the goodness of the water and other conditions which in this location are better than elsewhere, the Principals who came from Japan or from elsewhere gathered. All the inhabitants of the island fear and respect the chiefs of Agadna. There are in this settlement fifty three principal houses. As for the rest up to one hundred and fifty are on separate grounds because they are of low people and would be given no part in the affairs of the town or the court. The nature and temperament, although at first seemed harmless and nude of deceit, as they were of clothing, gained in Europe great praises of the Padres of the Society and of the first Spaniards who dealt with them and allowed themselves to be persuaded by the demonstrations of kindness and hospitality which they saw in them.
Later it has been known to be deceitful, double and treacherous, because they conceal with contrary words and appearances one or two years the feeling of offense which they received until they find the opportunity for vengeance and they never heed promise to do nor not to do whatever seem but to them. They are warriors of the most barbarous, easily disturbed, and easily appeased, hesitant to attack, and prompt to flee. As one town gets ready to go against another with great shouts, but without a leader without order or discipline they are wont to be two or three days in a campaign without attacking, each observing the movements of the other; and when they arrive at the moment of battle they arrange the peace very soon, because on falling dead two or three on one side, it gives itself up as defeated, and sends ambassadors to the other, with the tortoise shells which are the sign or surrender. The victors celebrate the triumph with satiric songs, in which they exaggerate their valor, and make fun of the conquered. The arms which they use are stones and lances in place or irons with long hewn human bones. These are made of three or four shark tines which puncturing easily the flesh, break off and some of the points remain inside the flesh causing certain death. No remedy for this poison has been found although it was tried later in Mexico by a team of doctors. They use these arms from childhood and are very skillful in handling them; moreover, they can throw stones from a sling with such dexterity and strength that they are able to drive them into the trunk of a tree. They do not use the bow, nor arrow, nor sword; they have only some cutlasses and knives acquired from our ships in exchange for their products. They have never used the shield nor any other defensive arm, depending only on the swiftness of their movements to prevent being injured and escape the blows of the adversary. They are by nature jokesters (buffoons) enjoying fun and fiesta. The men get together to dance, to play with lances, to run, leap, wrestle and to test in various ways their strength, and amid these entertainments they retell with great laughter their stories or fables, and a drink composed of gruel, rice and grated coconut. The women have their own fiestas, in which they decorate themselves with wreaths on their foreheads, sometimes of flowers resembling jasmine, sometimes of alvalorios and tortoise shell, pendants of beads made from small pink shells which they value as much as we do pearls. They also make belts of them with which they gird themselves, adding pendants all around of small coconuts over some skirts of strands of the roots of trees, with which they finish off their regalia and finery, which looks more like a cage than a dress. Twelve or thirteen get together and make a circle, without moving from one spot, they sing in verse their histories and ancient things with measured time and harmony of three voices: soprano, contraltos, and falsettos, with the occasional tenor assistance of one of the Principals who attend these fiestas. The movements of the hands accompany the voices, so that with the right they go along forming half moons, and in the left some small boxes of little shells, which serve them as castanets. This is in such perfect time and so well done that it causes no little admiration to see the liveliness with which they learn the things to which they apply themselves. Of their customs I shall not omit saying that although they were given the name of Ladrones because of some little stealth of iron, which they must have done on our ships, they do not deserve it, for all the houses being open, rarely is anything missing from them. The young men, who are called Urritaos are very indecent and live in public houses with the unmarried women, whom they buy or rent from their parents for two or three hoops of iron, and some number of tortoise shells. This does not hinder them from marrying later. The married ones ordinarily content themselves with one woman and do not disturb the others. They abhor assassins; and because of this they did not honor as they usually did, some of the villages of the island of Saipan, because they have found them for several years back cruel, and very inclined to make lances. They are liberal and kind to visitors, as has been experienced by our ships upon passing through their lands, and much more by those who landed there, thrown up by the shipwreck of the Concepcion. In conclusion, although their customs generally are like those of blind people, they are not so barbaric, as are their barbarisms, and like that of other nations. |
