CHAPTER XVII

[Mt.  Isarog.] The Isarog (pronounced Issaro) rises up in the middle of Camarines, between San Miguel and Lagonoy bays.  While its eastern slope almost reaches the sea, it is separated on its western side by a broad strip of inundated land from San Miguel Bay.  In circumference it is at least twelve leagues; and its height 1,966 meters. [142] Very flat at its base, it swells gradually to 16 deg., and higher up to 21 deg. of inclination, and extends itself, in its western aspect, into a flat dome-shaped summit.  But, if viewed from the eastern side, it has the appearance of a circular chain of mountains rent asunder by a great ravine.  On Coello’s map this ravine is erroneously laid down as extending from south to north; its bearing really is west to east.  Right in front of its opening, and half a league south from Goa, lies the pretty little village of Rungus, by which it is known.  The exterior sides of the mountain and the fragments of its large crater are covered with impenetrable wood.  Respecting its volcanic eruptions tradition says nothing.

[Primitive mountaineers.] The higher slopes form the dwelling-place of a small race of people, whose independence and the customs of a primitive age have almost entirely separated them from the inhabitants of the plain.  One or two Cimarrons might occasionally have been attracted hither, but no such instance is remembered.  The inhabitants of the Isarog are commonly, though mistakenly, called Igorots; and I retain the name, since their tribal relationship has not yet been accurately determined; they themselves maintaining that their ancestors always dwelt in that locality.  There are some who, in the opinion of the parish priest of Camarines, speak the Bicol language in the purest manner.  Their manners and customs are very similar, in many respects, to what they were on the arrival of the Spaniards; and sometimes they also remind one of those prevailing among the Dyaks of Borneo at the present day. [143] These circumstances give rise to the conjecture that they may be the last of a race which maintained its independence against the Spanish rule, and probably also against the little tyrants who ruled over the plain before the arrival of the Europeans.  When Juan de Salcedo undertook his triumphal march round North Luzon he found everywhere, at the mouths of the rivers, seafaring tribes living under many chieftains who, after a short struggle, were slain by the superior discipline and better arms of the Spaniards, or submitted voluntarily to the superior race; but he did not succeed in subduing the independent tribes in the interior; and these are still to be found in all the larger islands of the Philippine group.

[Similarity to Indian Archipelago conditions.] Similar conditions are found in many places in the Indian Archipelago.  The Malays, carrying on trade and piracy, possess the shore, and their language prevails there; the natives being either subdued by them, or driven into the forests, the inaccessibility of which ensures to them a miserable but independent existence. [144]