Thieves.  If a thief commit a great robbery, he and all his relatives (or at least his nearest kin) are fined.  If they are unable to pay the fine, they are made slaves.  This law applies to all classes, and even to the chiefs themselves; accordingly, if a chief commit any crime, even against one of his own slaves or timaguas, he is fined in the same manner.  But they are not reduced to slavery for lack of means to pay the fine; as, if they were not chiefs, they would be slaves.  In case of a small theft, the punishment falls upon the thief alone, and not on his relatives.

In time of famine. When there is a famine the poor, who have not the means of sustenance, in order not to perish, go to the rich—­and almost always they seek their relatives and surrender themselves to them as slaves—­in order to be fed.

Another kind of slavery. There is another kind of lordship [slavery:  crossed out in MS.], which was first introduced by a man whom they call Sidumaguer—­which, they say, occurred more than two thousand years ago.  Because some men broke a barangay belonging to him—­in Languiguey, his native village, situated in the island of Bantayan—­he compelled the descendants of those who had broken his barangay to bequeath to him at their deaths two slaves out of every ten, and the same portion of all their other property.  This kind of slavery gradually made its way among all the Indians living on the coast, but not among the Tinguianes.

Real timaguas. The freemen of these islands, who are called timaguas, are neither chiefs nor slaves.  This is their mode of life.  If a timagua desires to live in a certain village, he joins himself to one of the chiefs—­for each village usually has many chiefs, each of whom has his own district, with slaves and timaguas, well known to him—­to whom he offers himself as his timagua, binding himself to observe the following laws:  When feasts are given to other chiefs he must attend; for it is the custom that the timagua drink first from the pitarrilla, before any chief does so.  He must, with his weapons, accompany the chief when he goes on a journey.  When the latter enters a boat the timagua must go to ply the oar, and to carry his weapons for the defense of the vessel; but if the vessel sustain any damages he receives no punishment for this, but is only reprimanded.  For this service the chief is under obligation to defend the timagua, in his own person and those of his relatives, against anyone who seeks to injure him without cause; and thus it happens that, to defend the timaguas, fathers fight against their sons, and brothers against one another.  If the timagua goes to any other village and there is wronged, the chief will endeavor, with all his forces, to avenge him to the same extent.  Thus the timaguas live in security, and are free to pass from the service of one chief to that of another, whenever they so desire, and without any obstacle being placed in their way.