Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 05).djvu/63

 but now there are only a few inhabitants left. It produces rice and gold, for there are gold-placers and mines all over the island; but the gold is found in so small a quantity that it can hardly be detected. From Dapitan to the point of Cinnamon there are more than thirty rivers whose banks are settled.

Observations on the Island of Mindanao. But those who live along the shore are very few, and are called Lutaos—a name applied to a tribe of people in this land, whose only means of sustenance is derived from fishing; and who take their wives, dogs, cats, and all their possessions in their boats. The fish that they catch they trade with the people of the mountains.

Tree-dwellings of the mountaineers of Mindanao. The mountaineers of this island build their houses in certain trees, so large that in each one a house is built which can contain forty or fifty married men and their families; the tree serves as a fortress against the enemy. As far as seen this region abounds in wax. The land is very rough and mountainous, and the inhabitants dress in medriñaque cloth.

Forty leagues from Dapitan, on the side facing Maluco, is Cavite Point, where there is abundance of cinnamon; this is the district which extends toward Maluco.

Island of Taguima. Not far from this Cinnamon Point, lies the island of Taguima, which is about fourteen leagues in circumference, and four leagues wide. It has a population of about five hundred Indians, with two encomenderos. In all parts of Mindanao are found a great many civet-cats. The Portuguese ships, on their way from Malaca to Maluco for cloves, pass by this island, and formerly did much