Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-10-15


way because OF his own fanatical be-
liefs. When man decides to 60
juramentado Ca Spanish word mean
ing .'sworn'), he is carefully bathed.
the second time in his life; the first
time was on the occasion of his birth;
he exchanges his gay.colored tur-
ban for one OF immaculate Whiteness,
Or sometimes wears the white one
over the other; wraps his body in
strong rope, as protection against
spear-thrusts, crises, or campilaas:
arms himself with a carefully uoIishej
and well sharpened wea.pon; goes to
tne nearest priest who blesses him
anu siNes I'm an anting -anting; and
'he.' he runs amuk That IS. he
makes frantic dash into the midst
81 a crowd, cutting and slashing all
Who come within the radius OF his
swiftly flying cris. He has sworn TO
kill as many Christians as possible
before: he IS taken. That he will him
self be killed is absolutely certain,
for the moment a juramentado ap-
pears he is attacked by every weapon
within reach, though he usually sue
ceeds in taking many lives before he
loses his own. He is furious with
franzied excitement AMI seems pos
ssssed with the very spirit of mad
ness; his eyes start from their sock
cts, his lips are fleckea with foam,
and amid distracted medley OF
shrieks and yells, while yet araad-
ishing MS cris in air, ne dis asnts
+ ing, content with the belief that his
soul will mount 70 heaven on an in
visible AEBorak, and that, arrived at
that last abiding place, he viii be-
met by seven beautiful angels bear
ing golden Umbrellas, ana they Will
escort him into the presence OF Allah
the Great midst clamor of applause
ami appreciation.
Many OF the customs. superstitions
and legends Of the Moros are intense
with interest The greatest ambition
OF the Moro is to be able TO journey
! % Mecca before he dies. A small, pre-
] cipitate mountain which projects from
] the Celebes sea, at the mouth Of the
Rio Grande de Mindanao, plainly yis-
I ible from Cottabato. was once the
mecca OF the Moros. Allah once con-
] fided to priest (so one OF their wan
dering minstrels sings) that the
mountain was not properly balanced,
! anu that il made the earth tip on this
side. So, many hundreds of years
4 ago, when a terrific seismic eruption
caused part of the mountaisl 10 detaen
! itself from the central cone and slide
off into the sea, the Moors claim
/ that Allah was but removing Mecca
TO it's present situation in Arabia. This
! legend does not coincide with their
theory Of migration from Egypt and
Arabia, but they never stop to think
Of such trivialities.
The Moros believe, presumably. in
a plurality of divinities, though they
claim that there is but one God. Al
lah. and that Mohammed is His
prophet. Still, when about to set out
on journey by water, in one Of their
small native vintas, or sail boats,
they perch their little brown forms
on the prov Of the little craft and
blow bamboo trumpet or conch-shell
calling 10 the god Of the wind to come
and watt them to their desired des
lination. And during the recent cpl
demic of cholera which swept the
] valley like cloud Of poisonous gas
leaving whole settlements desolated
little boats, gaily caparisoned will
] bright sails and scarlet flowers, came
floating down the river with the tide
These, the Moros claimed. were e
appease the wrath of the malignant
Ipirits that hoyered over the valley
and also 10 serve as offerings to tn,
.ssag god.
fhe Moro is !. iirm eaiieyer IN tn
..aim anown as antne ..nting. which
Is more of less respected Throughout
die entire Philippines, rom Luzon U
sulu, Sometimes an antinganting 4
but slip Of paper with Arabic char
! acters scrawled over II; but Nor
. believes that IL he pastes one OF thes'
in his grove or banana or cocoanu
trees, and adds, "Whosocyer shal
steal and eat Of the fruit Of thes'
i trees shall straightway die of cholera
! be stricken with the plague, or perisl
| Of severe attack Of jysintery, tha
! that person viii certainly die VIII
, - .di