The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-06
BY MARTHA iNeERsoLL-RoBINsoN N.

stve pearl fisheries on It's shores Here as in the Island of Mlndanao polygamy Is practiced and slavery exists, in it's most degrading forms. The Sultan of Jolo has about seventy wives, and the dattos, or chiefs of the different clans on these islands may have as many as they please, their subjects having as numerous list of wives as they can purchase. The Bogobos, one of the larger tribes, buy their wives by paying two tum- -tums, for each of their purchases. These tum- tums, which are metal kettles used as musical instruments, are worth about $35 in Mexican currency, or s15 of our money. In other tribes various articles of a sim liar nature are used in buying wives.
 White Men New to Them.
 The tribes living In the interior localities on the Island of Mindanao had never seen I white people until the men of the en- gineering corps appeared before them, from whom they at first fled in alarm. It was necessary to have native help in cut ting trails through the dense undergrowth of brush which covers the island. and after considerable difficulty guides were obtained from the first datto encountered. and hundred men were later furnished by each of the dattos in turn through whose territory the line was run. These laborers received fifty cents per day for their work, but so elusive were they and so likely to jump into the brush and de- scrt that an armed guard of five natives for whose action the dattos was held re- sponsible, supplied by the dattos them selves, was in constant attendance. None of these men belonging to any one tribe l will work out of their own territory. l They had absolutely no idea of the proper | use of tools or methods, even the saw | and axe being new to them The only weapon and tool alike is the bolo, which they handle most skillfuly. cutting down huge trees with these home made knives
 Trials Encountered.
 ,, The natural difficulties to be overcome I in establishing the telegraph station were great The forests are dense--past the
 imagination of an American, It is next to impossible to get through many of the tungles, and swamps of great width had
 to be crossed and many of the rivers were found almost impossible
 The whole country is alive with snakes
 Boa constructors are numerous and of
 immense size. These terrible creatures travel in pairs, the males usually await ing their prey in trees, their heads hang
 ing from the lower branches, where they lay for the passing of wild deer or boar 1 which may come within reach of their
 death-squeezing coils. The female boa constructor contents herself on the level
 ground After these monsters of the Jun gle have feasted on a deer or boar (which
 they devour whole) they lie down in the
 sun and sleep until the quantity of food just secured decomposes. Sometimes this requires a weeks time. The largest | snake encountered and killed by the en- 1 gineer and his men measured twenty l eight feet in length. Another which they l also killed had just eaten a seventy-flve pound deer, and 1t was due to this fact l that some of the men were not fatally 1 attacked. The reptile was so stuffed with 1 its heavy meal that 1t was comparatively i slow of action in attacking its captors. The native islanders are exceedingly fond I of snake meat. and not only was flesh of 1 this snake eaten by them, but they also feasted upon the young deer which they l took from the snakes stomach. Centi- pedes are so numerous that 1t is impos. i sible to strike the branches of trees or bushes without stirring them up in ter- rifyins numbers.
 Red, white and black snt& otLsa ca