The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-03-22
Paper Read Before the ChoutauQua Circle.

Paper Read Before the Cha,.tauQua Circle. (
.NOR military purposes the "Divi-
X sion of the Philippines" is di-
vided into three departments:
Luzon, with headquarters at
Manila; Visayas, with headquarters at
Iloilo; and Mindanao, with headquar-
ters at ZambOangO.
After several months of service on
Cebu, Negros, and Panay, all of which
are in the Department of Visayas," it
was our misfortune to receive orders
to leave Dumaguete for Cudurangan,
Mindanao. say misfortune, for this
reason: We had become accustomed
to the natives of this department, and
with the exception of a very few
cases, were enjoying ourselves as only
soldiers can, after many months of
hiking in tropical country.
As mentioned before, the majority
of the Visayans are a peaceful and
contented class of people, and most of
our hiking had been in connection
with the capture of Ladrones or pOpis-
hos, of which there were several bands.
But now we were to leave these people
and sail two hundred or more miles
south to an island the natives of which
were the avOwed enemies of all Chris
tians.
Our trip took the better part of four
days, including stops at Dapitan, Santa
Maria and Zamboango, where we ar
rived at our destination. We were
Immediately assigned quarters in an
old but spacious building which had
formerly been occupied by Datto Palo,
a Moro chief noted for his extreme
cruelty to all Christians. Our stop
was to be brief, as We were equipped
for field service, consequently we had
no time to become familiar with the
natives of that village, but shall try
to give you brief idea of the natives
and the island as remember it.
The inhabitants are Mohammedan
Moros, the majority being cruel and
fierce tribes of savages, whose. religion
has taught them to continue the enemy
of all Christians, and who fear neither
God nor man. They are all of small
stature, very few being over five feet in
height, black hair, pleasant features
and physically perfect. Their dress is
somewhat different from the Visayans
they wear bright colors and much
jewelry; the men wear turbans, and
the women wear trousers, due nc
doubt to their faith. The women are
fair to look upon, and are considered
virtuous, altho many are occupants Of
harems, which are kept by all natives
of any prominence. A slave girl MAJ
be purchased for very small amount
of money, and she generally consider
herself superior to the wife of the ont
who owns her, and, strange to say, il
treated 40.
The natives of this village, and alst
of Malabang, appeared to be goo'
tempered and patient, always greeting
us with a "Buenas dias, eenorp o
"Buenas noches, senorp as the hou
would be. But once away from tn
villages, all appearance to civilization
disappears; instead of the Moro wit
his bright clothes, you find one with
geestring or possibly pair of blacl
skin-tight trousers; here you fin
him looking for trouble, and his limit
ed amount of clothing permits hin
perfect freedom of the limbs. Thei
weapons are swords, bolos, spears an
q weapon called a kriss, and l assur
you that they use them very effectivel
if permitted to get within reach of thei
opponent. These are very beautifr
and costly, many being hand mad
with ivory hllts, and exquisite carvin
on the blades. W00dcarving an
ivory work, in addition to fghtin,
constitute their whole existence. The
are inveterate chewers of the betel nj
which leaves their teeth the color {
!. carmine.
The carabao is their mode of tran
portation on land, and the sach-e-an {
prau, both of which have bamboo OH
riggers, on water. Much of their tin