Those to whom a debt was owed transferred the debt to another, thereby themselves making a profit, and reducing the wretched debtors to a slavery which was not their natural lot.  If any person among those who were made slaves (sa guiguilir)—­through war, by the trade of goldsmith, or otherwise—­happened to possess any gold beyond the sum that he had to give his master, he ransomed himself, becoming thus a namamahay, or what we call a commoner.  The price of this ransom was never less than five taels, and from that upwards; and if he gave ten or more taels, as they might agree, he became wholly free.  An amusing ceremony accompanied this custom.  After having divided all the trinkets which the slave possessed, if he maintained a house of his own, they divided even the pots and jars, and if an odd one of these remained, they broke it; and if a piece of cloth were left, they parted it in the middle.

The difference between the aliping namamahay and the aliping sa guiguilir, should be noted; for, by a confusion of the two terms, many have been classed as slaves who really are not.  The Indians seeing that the alcaldes-mayor do not understand this, have adopted the custom of taking away the children of the aliping namamahay, making use of them as they would of the aliping sa guiguilir, as servants in their households, which is illegal, and if the aliping namamahay should appeal to justice, it is proved that he is an aliping as well as his father and mother before him and no reservation is made as to whether he is aliping namamahay or atiping sa guiguilir.  He is at once considered an alipin, without further declaration.  In this way he becomes a sa guiguilir, and is even sold.  Consequently, the alcaldes-mayor should be instructed to ascertain, when anyone asks for his alipin, to which class he belongs, and to have the answer put in the document that they give him.

In these three classes, those who are maharlicas on both the father’s and mother’s side continue to be so forever; and if it happens that they should become slaves, it is through marriage, as I shall soon explain.  If these maharlicas had children among their slaves, the children and their mothers became free; if one of them had children by the slave-woman of another, she was compelled, when pregnant, to give her master half of a gold tael, because of her risk of death, and for her inability to labor during the pregnancy.  In such a case half of the child was free—­namely, the half belonging to the father, who supplied the child with food.  If he did not do this, he showed that he did not recognize him as his child, in which case the latter was wholly a slave.  If a free woman had children by a slave, they were all free, provided he were not her husband.