Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 08).djvu/89

 year at that time, these brought no cloths or silks, but only iron, and earthenware, and camanguian. The principal reason why the Tagalos of Manila and the inhabitants of all this Panpanga have never cultivated cotton, is because they do not know how; and because they have never been accustomed to grow anything but rice, on which they chiefly subsist. This was his answer.

In reply to the second question this witness stated that since the Spaniards have become established in these islands, he has noticed how the Chinese have come hither, in larger numbers every year, eight ships at least coming annually from China; and in some years this witness has seen as many as twenty and thirty, all laden with cloths and bolts of silk. And when the natives of these islands and of this province saw all these cloths brought by the Chinese, they made less exertion to weave their own; but to avoid even that little work, all the natives began to clothe themselves with the said stuffs from China, discarding entirely their own, which they formerly wore. And so far has this gone at the present day, that all alike—without distinction of chief from timagua, or of timagua from slave—dress in these stuffs, making it impossible to judge of their rank from their dress. In this way a very large quantity of cloth is used—far more, as it seems to this witness, than the number stated in the question; and he is very certain that, if this tendency is not checked and corrected, the price of every one of those stuffs will in a few years be doubled; for now even the cheapest costs not less than a peso. For the natives of these islands do not accumulate wealth, but spend it all in food and clothing; and as none of the natives, however high his rank