The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-12-10

to have TIE Strength IL ten men. Tie Is
never ovcrpow cred, ard he never stops his
murdereus career 1ntil be is killed or in
capscitatca Iy % serloas wound.
s.0n Ccrpus Christi day, in 1886, at
Coto BEto, four jurainentados sprang
from Il she'd iEto q crowd CT Christians.
WHO wcro Watching the profession, ard
before they were kilssd ~ the soldiers as
sassigAted or wounded OYER 80 persons.
At .iGio, IN 1876. oil these fanatics,
armed uitii a creess and Il miavclil, attack
cd a company Of soldiers as they marched
from The beach to the garrison. killing
two, fatally wouTding three ard seriously
weisnaing foGr CT The force. At tia Same
place o few weeks aftsrward q similar
sudden attack was made BY three jura-
mentaIos, who Killed fiveand wounded l6
before they eoald be ~bayoneted by the
troops
The ISLANDERS have always chafea under
an alien yoke, which has interfeTed with
tEeir fayceite pursuit Of piracy. Their
discomfort is continually faireEled by the
psnditas, or Mohamnlotan ptissfs, who
feel Eumiliated by the presence of Catholic
monks and missionaries. The datos have
therefore never lest an opportunity to re-
sist, as far as possible. the encrcachineEts
Of Spain. The domestic laws CT Sulu
make it easy for them to obtain vassals
who are bound to them body and soul.
An insolvent debtor and his whole fam
lily, according 10 these laws, beeolr 0 the
property Of his creditor. The slsiftlessness
of the Aialays is so great that their masters
find no difficulty In making them contract
debts out of all proportion TO their re-
sources. The unhappy debtor no longer
belongs to himself. His family can be
dispersed all over the archipelago. But
frequently he Is asked to purchase his
family at the price Of vowing his own life
to the destruction OF the Christians. He
accepts these terms, he seals them with a
vow and str~aightway be becomes what is
know in Malay as a sabil, in Spanish as
a juranlentado ssone who Is sworn"
Through these juralnentados a sort Of
sporadic warfare has been kept up against
tho Spnniards, and not until recent times
has even the capital city Of Sulu been safe
from irruptions and riots.
Spain has tried to keep firearms and
ammunition u of their hands, but this,
like many other things the dons have I'M
~dertaken, has proved unsuccessful. Most
Of the tribes are well organized and equip
ped with modern weapons. They do not,
however, handle them well and depend
more upon their native arms in battle.
They are provided with fine implements
of destruction of their own make. The
principal of these is the harong. 1t is sim
liar to a butchers ~cleaver, with a heavy
blade. It Is said that an expert tribesman
can cut a man in half with one blow from
this instrument. Besides this, they use
the creese, which is a double edged sword.
1t was with this class of weapons that they
would sweep down from the hills on the
Spaniards and massacre them. All males
over 16 are armed and instructed in the
use Of the barong and creese. The natives
forge their own spear and arrow heads
and do exceptionally fine work. The way
they temper the spearheads and swords is
really wonderful. They are very artistic.