Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 05).djvu/119

 pieces of iron dipped in ink. This ink incorporates itself with the blood, and the marks are indelible. They are healthy people, for the climate of that land is good. Among them are found no crippled, maimed, deaf, or dumb persons. No one of them has ever been possessed by evil spirits, or has become insane. Therefore they reach an advanced age in perfect health. The Pintados are a courageous and warlike race; they have continually waged war on both land and sea. They bore their ears in two places and wear beautiful ornaments, not only in their ears, but also around their necks and arms. Their dress is neat and modest, made generally of cotton, medriñaque, or silk (which they get from China and other places). They are greatly addicted to the use of a kind of wine which they make from rice and from the palm-tree, and which is good. Very rarely do they become angry when drunk, for their drunkenness passes off in jests or in sleep.

The men are very fond of their wives, for it is the men who give the dowry at marriage. And even if their wives commit adultery, action is never taken against the woman, but against the adulterer. An abominable custom among the men is to bore a hole through the genital organ, placing within this opening a tin tube, to which they fasten a wheel like that of a spur, a full palm in circumference. These are made of tin, and some of them weigh more than half a pound. They use twenty kinds of these wheels; but modesty forbids us to speak of them. By means of these they have intercourse with their wives. The