introduction.
the story of rufino’s expedition to the moro country in the summer of 1901 reads like a chapter from anabasis. it has to do with capitan isidro’s curious experiences as a hostage in the home of datto amay bancurong, at lake lanao. it deals with the last chapter in the history of two american deserters, morgan and miller, of the fortieth united states volunteers, who, under general rufino, served as officers—soldiers of fortune in a lost campaign—and who, as a last tribute of the treachery and faithlessness of those they served, received their death-blows at the hands of filipinos who had caught them off their guard.
the information published by rufino shortly after his surrender has been valuable to the officers of our own army who are now exploring the mysterious [255]interior of mindanao. capitan isidro’s intimacy with the moros during the long period of his captivity should render his interpretation of the character, the life, and customs of this savage tribe authoritative. general rufino, being one of the last insurrectos to surrender, has not been as yet rewarded by the government. this fact will be of consequence in case of any further outbreak on the northern coast of mindanao. general rufino lingers still about the scene of his exploit, and may be met with almost any time in oroquieta, or, still better, in the sullen and revengeful village of palilan, near the border of the moro territory.
rufino’s narrative.
we left mount liberdad on june 1, 1901, with eighteen officers, and privates to the number of four hundred and forty-two. our destination was the town of uato, on the shore of lake lanao, where, in obedience to our instructions from the filipino junta at hong kong, we were to arrange a conference with the leading dattos in regard to an alliance of the filipino and the [256]moro forces to conduct a joint campaign against the american army of invasion.
among our officers were two deserters from i company of the fortieth united states volunteers, morgan and miller, who were mere adventurers, and who desired to clear the country and embark for africa. morgan was supposed to have been wanted for some criminal offense in the united states. he claimed to have deserted as a consequence of punishments received by him which he considered to be undeserved. his comrade miller followed him; but i have heard that morgan took it hard because his friend had followed such a questionable lead. an understanding had been previously arranged between our officers and morgan, so that when the latter left the lines at oroquieta we received him and his comrade at aloran, six miles north.
general rufino in moro country
general rufino in moro country
captain isidro rillas with the datto
captain isidro rillas with the datto
our first stop was to be at lintogout, a station on the river by the same name, that flows into the long estuary that divides our country from the moro territory. as you can see, our march was very rough. the mountain chain, of which mount liberdad, mount rico, and mount [257]esperenza are the most important peaks, is very wild and hazardous. a few miles from the coast the country breaks into ravines and hills. there are no villages; no depots for supplies. the trails are almost imperceptible, and can be followed only by the most experienced montesco guides. back in the mountains there are many natural strongholds, which are practically inaccessible. the mountain wall, with its plutonic ca?ons and precipitous descents, wrapped in a chilly fog, continually towered above us on the west.
to add to our embarrassments, we were harassed by a detachment of united states troops that had been pursuing us. their plan was to close in upon us in two sections, from the front and rear. near lintogout we came to an engagement with lieutenant patterson’s command. my army was by this time seriously crippled. we had lost one hundred and forty men the previous day by desertion. the deserting men, however, did not take their arms. lieutenant patterson’s command must have been quite exhausted, for they camped at night on a plateau [258]along the precipice, where an attack by us would have been inadvisable. the troops were new and untried; the experience for them was something they had not anticipated. yet they kept at it stubbornly, slinging their carbines on their backs, and climbing up hand over hand in places where they had lost the trail. their guides were evidently somewhat of a puzzle to them, as the montese idea of distance is indefinite. “when i have finished this cigar we will be there,” they say; and “poco distancia” with them means often many miles.
we were not inconvenienced much by the engagement. our american lieutenants superintended the construction of intrenchments, back of which we lay, and fired a volley at the enemy. at their advance our army scattered, and a number of our soldiers, taking inexcusable advantage of the opportunity, deserted. on the next day we set out, reduced in numbers to two hundred and fifty-two. none of our men were killed or wounded in the fight.
we then proceeded overland to lake lanao, [259]the journey occupying sixteen days, during which time the army had no rice, but had to exist entirely on the native fruits. our tardiness in reaching lake lanao was caused by two attacks by moros, june 15th. in order to avoid this enemy we made a detour, coming dangerously near the coast at tucuran. at tucuran three men deserted. thence our march led inland to bacáyan, following the south shore of the lake. before we reached bacáyan we were met (june 29th and 30th) by dattos casiang and pindalonan, with their combined forces. our side lost two killed, three wounded (who were taken captive); and the moros, thirteen killed, three wounded. arriving at bacáyan july 1st, we waited there twelve days.
then we set out along the south shore to uato on the lake, which place we reached without engagement on the nineteenth of july. we stopped at uato ten days, there borrowing $500 “mex” from datto bancurong. we were obliged to leave captain isidro rillas with the datto for security. the very money that we now were borrowing [260]the moros had received from us for their protection during our campaign, and for their promising not to molest us all the time that we were in their territory. having loaned us money, they now sold us rice, in which negotiation, just as in the former one, they took advantage of our helplessness. the deal, however, was a necessary one, because the army had been for a long time without funds or rations. leaving uato we proceeded to liángan, on the north coast, opposite tudela (on the jolo sea). we left the moro country on the recommendation of the two american deserters, who had been dissatisfied for some time at the turn affairs were taking.
we were attacked the first day out of uato by the combined forces of three powerful dattos, who had previously borrowed rifles from us on the pretext of desiring to kill game. the engagement lasted until sunset. of the moros, ten were killed and many wounded. night coming on, the enemy withdrew for re-enforcements. they returned the next day several thousand strong, and would have utterly annihilated us (for we were worn by fever and starvation) had it not [261]been for datto bandia’s advice, which finally discouraged the attack.
we reached liangan july 31st with two hundred and thirty-nine men. here we purchased rifles from the moros, crossed the bay at night, and reached tudela august 5th. procrastination on the part of the conferring dattos made a failure of the expedition. we had spent about $10,000 gold for rations, good will, and protection.
morgan and miller, when the army was disbanded, lived around langaran for a while. one day while they were bathing in the sea, they were cut-down by natives—i do not know why. morgan was killed while arguing with his assailants. “we have done a lot for you,” he said; but those were his last words. miller, attempting to escape by running through the shallow water, was pursued by bancas and dispatched. the bodies were found later in a marsh.
capitan isidro rillas’s narrative.
i was to have been educated for the church; but after studying for some time in cebu preparatory [262]to a course at rome, i set aside the wishes of my parents, who desired that i become a jesuit, and took unto myself a wife.
you wonder, probably, why we visayans, who are very peaceable, should have assumed a hostile attitude toward the americans. of course, we do not really like the game of war. but what positions would we hold among our own communities if we were to be easily imposed upon? you would have thought it a queer army that assembled at mount liberdad in 1901,—barefooted hombres, ignorantes from the rice-pads and the hemp-fields, armed with cutlasses and bolos—for we had no more than fifty guns—undisciplined and without military knowledge. but the appearance of your army in the war of independence caused amusement to the british soldiers—for awhile? the government generously recognized a number of the leaders of the insurrection, and in doing so has not done wrong. our leaders are to-day, among our people, what your patriots are in your own land. and even you have no respect for those who hid themselves among the women during the affair [263]at oroquieta. left alone, we could soon organize our government, our schools, and army. but, of course, conditions render this impossible, and so we think american protection is the best.
you ask for some account of my experiences with the moros during our excursion to their territory. our army was at first about five hundred strong, but nearly half the men deserted on the way. we had not counted on so much hostility among the moros, although they are ancient enemies of ours, and until very recently have raided our coast villages and carried off our people into slavery. but when we wanted slaves, we purchased them—young moros—from their parents at misamis.
though our mission was an altogether friendly one, our hosts did not let any opportunity go by of taking an unfair advantage of us. general rufino was obliged to leave me as a hostage at uato at the home of datto bancurong.
if we could have effected an alliance with the moros, it would no doubt have been a formidable one. the moros are well armed and expert fighting men. most of our weapons have been purchased [264]from them, as they had formerly acquired a stock of stolen spanish guns. those living in the lake lanao vicinity must have about two thousand remington and mauser guns, besides a number of old-fashioned cannon, which are mounted in their forts. they manufacture their own ammunition, which is necessarily of an indifferent quality.
we told the moros that they would all have to work if the americans should come. we knew that they were all slaveholders and ladrones; we knew that while they kept their slaves they would not need to work; and so we thought our argument ought to appeal to them.
when i was left with datto bancurong, security for the five hundred pesos that rufino had been forced to borrow, i was treated with considerable hospitality. at one time when i had the fever, he secured some chickens for me,—they were very scarce. the datto had three wives, but one of them was rather old. i did not notice any ornaments of gold upon them. they wore silver rings and bracelets, which the native jewelers had made. the women are industrious, [265]and consequently do most of the work. they are quite skillful with the loom, and manufacture from the native fabric, ampic (sashes) which their husbands wear. but for themselves they buy a cheaper fabric from the chinos, which they dye in brilliant colors and make into blankets. you would probably mistake the men for women at first sight because of their peculiar cast of features. they are dressed much better and more picturesquely than the women, wearing bright silk turbans, sashes with gay fringe, and blouses often fancifully colored and secured by brass or mother-of-pearl buttons.
the moro tribes, because they recognize no ruler but the local datto, are unable to accomplish anything of national significance. concerted action is with them impossible. thirty or forty villages are built around the lake. they are so thickly grouped, however, that one might as well regard them all as one metropolis. the mountains form a background for the lake, which is located on a high plateau. the climate here is more suggestive of a temperate zone than of a place within four hundred miles of the equator, [266]and the nights are often disagreeably cold. to become a datto it is only necessary to possess a few slaves, wives, and carabao. a minor datto averages about four slaves, a dozen head of cattle, and two wives. he wears silk clothes, and occupies the largest nipa house.
the moro weapons are of several kinds,—the pu?al (a wedge-bladed knife), the campalon (a long broadsword), and the sundang (a malay kriss). they also use head-axes, spears, and dirks. being mohammedans, they show a fatalistic bravery in battle. it is a disgrace to lose the weapon when in action; consequently it is tied to the hand. many of their knives were made by splitting up the steel rails laid at iligan. the brass work of the spanish locomotives, also, was a great convenience in the manufacture of their cutlery.
although they have schools for the boys, the moro people do not make a speciality of education. the young men are taught from the koran by priests, who also teach the art of making characters in arabic. their music is for the most part religious, inharmonious, and unmelodious. [267]the coluctang, their most important instrument, resembles our guitar. they seem to recognize three grades of priests—the emam, the pandita, and the sarip, named in order of superiority. their churches are great, circular inclosures, made of nipa and bamboo, with no attempt at decoration. sacred instrumental music is supplied by bells and drums. the drum at uato, where i was, being of extraordinary size, required two men to operate it. each town contains a large percentage of ladrones, whose influence is offset by the pandita (or elders), three or five for every barrio. these are the secondary priests, and it is necessary that they go into the church three times a day to pray. at sunrise, at midday, and at sunset they will cry repeatedly, “aláh! aláh! bocamad soro-la!” (allah is god; mohammed, prophet.) all the priests wear bright robes like the dattos, but the clergy is distinguished by a special bangcala, or turban, which is ornamented by a string of silver rings.
there are about five hundred filipinos living with the moros, mostly slaves. deer, jungle-cock, wild hogs, and cattle are to be found in the plains and forests near the lake. the soil is fertile, and sufficient crops of corn, rice, coffee, and tobacco may be raised, camotes (wild potatoes), fruits, and cocoanuts are very scarce.
though many of the dattos are disposed to treat the americans as friends, three in particular will entertain a different attitude. these are bayang, mario, and taraia, who, among them, have control of many men. they realize, however, that the new invaders will be harder to oppose than were the spaniards of the former laissez faire régime. the filipinos will, of course, be glad to see the moros beaten in the conflict that is now inevitable.
to conclude my narrative, we finally got the better of our hosts, the enemy. the moros wanted $1,500 in return for the $500 they had loaned rufino. “then you must let the hostage come to his own people,” said rufino, “so that he can use his influence among them and solicit funds; for otherwise we will not ransom him.” the situation did not look so very bright for me; but at a conference of the interested dattos they reluctantly decided that i might depart. eight [269]moros were appointed to accompany me as a body-guard. on reaching iligan it was requested that the post commander furnish me an escort back to oroquieta, which was done. the moros profited so much by our excursion, selling us good will and rice, that i am sure they will forgive us for not paying them the ransom money, which is no more than the brokerage on a small loan.
