Arrival At Mindanao

Mindanao Island is about 10 leagues distant from this part of St. John’s.

The 22nd day we came within a league of the east side of the island Mindanao and having the wind at south-east we steered toward the north end, keeping on the east side till we came into the latitude of 7 degrees 40 minutes, and there we anchored in a small bay, about a mile from the shore in 10 fathom water, rocky foul ground.

Some of our books say that Mindanao City and Isle lies in 7 degrees 40 minutes. We guessed that the middle of the island might lie in this latitude but we were at a great loss where to find the city, whether on the east or west side.

Indeed, had it been a small island lying open in the eastern wind we might probably have searched first on the west side; for commonly the islands within the tropics, or within the bounds of the trade-winds, have their harbours on the west side, as best sheltered; but the island Mindanao being guarded on the east side by St. John’s Island we might as reasonably expect to find the harbour and city on this side as anywhere else: but, coming into the latitude in which we judged the city might be, found no canoes or people that might give us any umbrage of a city or place of trade near at hand, though we coasted within a league of the shore.

ITS FERTILITY.

Mindanao island is the second-largest Philippine Island after Luzon.

It is about 60 leagues long and 40 or 50 broad. The south end is in about 5 degrees north and the north-west end reaches almost to 8 degrees north. It is a very mountainous island, full of hills and valleys. The mould in general is deep and black and extraordinary fat and fruitful.

The sides of the hills are stony yet productive enough of very large tall trees. In the heart of the country there are some mountains that yield good gold. The valleys are well moistened with pleasant brooks and small rivers of delicate water; and have trees of divers sorts flourishing and green all the year. The trees in general are very large, and most of them are of kinds unknown to us.

THE LIBBY-TREES, AND THE SAGO MADE OF THEM

There is one sort which deserves particular notice; called by the natives libby-trees.

These grow wild in great groves of 5 or 6 miles long by the sides of the rivers. Of these trees sago is made, which the poor country people eat instead of bread 3 or 4 months in the year.

This tree for its body and shape is much like the palmetto-tree or the cabbage-tree, but not so tall as the latter. The bark and wood is hard and thin like a shell, and full of white pith like the pith of an elder. This tree they cut down and split it in the middle and scrape out all the pith; which they beat lustily with a wooden pestle in a great mortar or trough, and then put it into a cloth or strainer held over a trough; and, pouring water in among the pith, they stir it about in the cloth: so the water carries all the substance of the pith through the cloth down into the trough, leaving nothing in the cloth but a light sort of husk which they throw away; but that which falls into the trough settles in a short time to the bottom like mud; and then they draw off the water, and take up the muddy substance, wherewith they make cakes; which being baked proves very good bread.

The Mindanao people live 3 or 4 months of the year on this food for their bread-kind.

The native Indians of Ternate and Tidore and all the Spice Islands have plenty of these trees, and use them for food in the same manner; as I have been informed by Mr. Caril Rofy who is now commander of one of the king’s ships. He was one of our company at this time; and, being left with Captain Swan at Mindanao, went afterwards to Ternate and lived there among the Dutch a year or two.

The sago which is transported into other parts of the East Indies is dried in small pieces like little seeds or comfits and commonly eaten with milk of almonds by those that are troubled with the flux; for it is a great binder and very good in that distemper.

In some places of Mindanao there is plenty of rice; but in the hilly land they plant yams, potatoes, and pumpkins; all which thrive very well. The other fruits of this island are watermelons, musk-melons, plantains, bananas, guavas, nutmegs, cloves, betel-nuts, Durians, jacks, or jacas, coconuts, oranges, etc.

THE PLANTAIN-TREE, FRUIT, LIQUOR, AND CLOTH.

The plantain I take to be the king of all fruit, not except the coco itself.

The tree that bears this fruit is about 3 foot or 3 foot and a half round, and about 10 or 12 foot high. These trees are not raised from seed (for they seem not to have any) but from the roots of other old trees. If these young suckers are taken out of the ground and planted in another place it will be 15 months before they bear, but if let stand in their own native soil they will bear in 12 months. As soon as the fruit is ripe the tree decays, but then there are many young ones growing up to supply its place.

When this tree first springs out of the ground it comes up with two leaves; and by that time it is a foot high two more spring up in the inside of them; and in a short time after two more within them; and so on. By that time the tree is a month old you may perceive a small body almost as big as one’s arm, and then there are eight or ten leaves, some of them four or five foot high. The first leaves that it shoots forth are not above a foot long and half a foot broad; and the stem that bears them no bigger than one’s finger; but as the tree grows higher the leaves are larger. As the young leaves spring up in the inside so the old leaves spread off, and their tops droop downward, being of a greater length and breadth by how much they are nearer the root, and at last decay and rot off, but still there are young leaves spring up out of the top, which makes the tree look always green and flourishing. When the tree is full grown the leaves are 7 or 8 foot long and a foot and a half broad; towards the end they are smaller and end with a round point. The stem of the leaf is as big as a man’s arm, almost round, and about a foot in length between the leaf and the body of the tree.

That part of the stem which comes from the tree, if it be the outside leaf, seems to enclose half the body as it were with a thick hide; and right against it on the other side of the tree is another such answering to it. The next two leaves in the inside of these grow opposite to each other in the same manner, but so that, if the two outward grow north and south, these grow east and west, and those still within them keep the same order. Thus the body of this tree seems to be made up of many thick skins growing one over another, and when it is full grown there springs out of the top a strong stem, harder in substance than any other part of the body. This stem shoots forth at the heart of the tree, is as big as a man’s arm, and as long; and the fruit grows in clusters round it, first blossoming and then shooting forth the fruit. It is so excellent that the Spaniards give it the preeminence of all other fruit, as most conducing to life. It grows in a cod about 6 or 7 inches long and as big as a man’s arm. The shell, rind, or cod, is soft and of a yellow colour when ripe. It resembles in shape a hog’s-gut pudding. The enclosed fruit is no harder than butter in winter, and is much of the colour of the purest yellow butter. It is of a delicate taste and melts in one’s mouth like marmalet. It is all pure pulp, without any seed, kernel or stone.

This fruit is so much esteemed by all Europeans that settle in America that when they make a new plantation they commonly begin with a good plantain-walk, as they call it, or a field of plantains.

As their family increases so they augment the plantain-walk, keeping one man purposely to prune the trees and gather the fruit as he sees convenient. For the trees continue bearing, some or other, most part of the year; and this is many times the whole food on which a whole family subsists.

They thrive only in rich fat ground, for poor sandy will not bear them.

The Spaniards in their towns in America, as at Havana, Cartagena, Portobello, etc., have their markets full of plantains, it being the common food for poor people: their common price is half a rial, or 3 pence a dozen. When this fruit is only used for bread it is roasted or boiled when it’s just full grown but not yet ripe, or turned yellow.

Poor people, or Negroes, that have neither fish nor flesh to eat with it, make sauce with cod-pepper, salt and lime-juice, which makes it eat very savoury; much better than a crust of bread alone. Sometimes for a change they eat a roasted plantain and a ripe raw plaintain together, which is instead of bread and butter.

They eat very pleasant so, and I have made many a good meal in this manner. Sometimes our English take 5 or 7 ripe plantains and, mashing them together, make them into a lump, and boil them instead of a bag-pudding; which they call a buff-jacket: and this is a very good way for a change.

This fruit makes also very good tarts. The green plantains sliced thin and dried in the sun and grated will make a sort of flour which is very good to make puddings.

A ripe plantain sliced and dried in the sun may be preserved a great while; and then eat like figs, very sweet and pleasant.

The Darien Indians preserve them a long time by drying them gently over the fire; mashing them first and moulding them into lumps.

The Moskito Indians will take a ripe plantain and roast it; then take a pint and a half of water in a calabash and squeeze the plantain in pieces with their hands, mixing it with the water; then they drink it all off together: this they call mishlaw, and it’s pleasant and sweet and nourishing: somewhat like lamb’s-wool (as it is called) made with apples and ale: and of this fruit alone many thousand of Indian families in the West Indies have their whole subsistence. When they make drink with them they take 10 or 12 ripe plantains and mash them well in a trough: then they put 2 gallons of water among them; and this in 2 hours’ time will ferment and froth like wort. In 4 hours it is fit to drink and then they bottle it and drink it as they have occasion: but this will not keep above 24 or 30 hours. Those therefore that use this drink brew it in this manner every morning.

When I went first to Jamaica I could relish no other drink they had there. It drinks brisk and cool and is very pleasant. This drink is windy, and so is the fruit eaten raw; but boiled or roasted it is not so. If this drink is kept above 30 hours it grows sharp: but if then it be put out in the sun it will become very good vinegar. This fruit grows all over the West Indies (in the proper climates) at Guinea, and in the East Indies.

As the fruit of this tree is of great use for food so is the body no less serviceable to make clothes.

But this I never knew till I came to this island. The ordinary people of Mindanao do wear no other cloth. The tree never bearing but once, and so, being felled when the fruit is ripe, they cut it down close by the ground if they intend to make cloth with it. One blow with a hatchet or long knife will strike it asunder; then they cut off the top, leaving the trunk 8 or 10 foot long, stripping off the outer rind, which is thickest towards the lower end, having stripped 2 or 3 of these rinds, the trunk becomes in a manner all of one bigness, and of a whitish colour: then they split the trunk in the middle; which being done they split the two halves again as near the middle as they can.

This they leave in the sun 2 or 3 days, in which time part of the juicy substance of the tree dries away, and then the ends will appear full of small threads.

The women, whose employment it is to make the cloth, take hold of those threads one by one, which rend away easily from one end of the trunk to the other, in bigness like whited-brown thread; for the threads are naturally of a determinate bigness, as I observed their cloth to be all of one substance and equal fineness; but it is stubborn when new, wears out soon, and when wet feels a little slimy. They make their pieces 7 or 8 yards long, their warp and woof all one thickness and substance.