the necessaries of life, it is because the natives are the laziest people in the world, or because they are forced to leave their towns through war, or for other reasons. The land is neither sowed nor cultivated. Another cause for the lack of provisions is, that they have so little authority over their slaves. They are satisfied with what is necessary for the present, and are always more ready to rob their neighbors of their possessions, than to work and cultivate their own land.
More or less gold is found in all these islands; it is obtained from the rivers, and, in some places, from the mines, which the natives work. However, they do not work the mines steadily, but only when forced by necessity; for because of their sloth and the little work done by their slaves, they do not even try to become wealthy, nor do they care to accumulate riches. When a chief possesses one or two pairs of earrings of very fine gold, two bracelets, and a chain,
have wines of many kinds: brandy, made from palm-wine (which is obtained from the cocoa-nut palm, and from the wild nipa palm); pitarrillos, which are the wines made from rice, millet, and borona; and other wines, made from sugar-cane. There are fragrant fruits—large and small bananas, and nanças. These nanças are as large as a winter melon, and contain a yellow fruit of the size of a friar's plum, within which is a kernel that, when roasted, has the flavor of a chestnut. It has a delicious taste, and there is no fruit in Spain that will compare with it. There is abundance of fish, and much game—deer, mountain boars, and excellent waterfowl." For enumeration and brief description of the leading vegetable products of the archipelago, see Philippine Gazetteer, pp. 70–95. Fuller descriptions are given in various documents which will be reproduced in the present series.
We may add here that, "on the death of Legazpi, which occurred in August, 1572, so many unauthorized and irregular acts were committed by Andrés de Mirandaola that the governor, Guido de Lavezares, was compelled to ship him to New Spain, with other persons whose presence in the archipelago cast odium on the Spanish name" (Cartas de Indias, p. 804).
