Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 06).djvu/145

 they say, arrepeque. They have no nasal or guttural words. It is understood, from some signs that we saw them make, that they are all pagans; and that they worship idols and the devil, to whom they sacrifice the booty obtained from their neighbors in war. It is believed that they originated from the Tartars, from certain peculiarities found among them which correspond to those found in that people.

These islands extend north and south with the land of Labrador, which lies near Terra-nova [Newfoundland], and are not a great distance from Japon. It is quite safe to say that they have intercourse with the Tartars, and that they buy iron to sell it to the latter. The Spaniards who passed these islands called them the islands of Ladrones ["Thieves"]; for in sober truth all these people are thieves, and very bold ones, very deft in stealing; and in this science they might instruct the Gitanos [gypsies], who wander through Europe. In verification of this, I will recount an occurrence witnessed by many Spaniards, one which caused much wonder. While a sailor was stationed, by the order of the captain, on the port side of the ship, with orders to allow none to come aboard, and while he, sword in hand, was absent-mindedly looking at some of the canoes of the islanders—a sort of little boat all made of one piece, in which they sail—one of the natives plunged under the water and swam to where he was, quite unconscious of anything of the sort, and without his seeing it, snatched the sword from his hand and swam back with it. At the cry of the sailor,