narrow strip of cloth was bound about the head. The chiefs wore a red jacket. Necklaces of gold, heavy gold bracelets set with precious stones, and anklets made of strings of agates were worn by the rich.

Tattooing. The Visayans and the inhabitants of Albay and Camarines practised tattooing, that is, they marked pictures in their skin with blue ink. Frequently they blackened their teeth. Often they made holes in them and filled these holes with gold. Slaves were not allowed to tattoo themselves.

Tattoo marks were signs that the owner had done brave deeds. Many of the wild tribes still follow this practise.

Weapons. Legazpi said:

"The weapons generally used in the Philippines are swords and daggers; lances with iron points, one and onehalf palms in length; and a few bows and arrows. Whenever the natives leave their houses, even if it is only to go to the house of a neighbor, they carry these weapons; for they are always watchful and distrustful of one another. '

Besides the weapons mentioned by Legazpi, the blow-gun and throwing-sticks were used. Among the Tagalogs and Moros a few firearms and small cannon were in use at the arrival of the Spaniards. Legazpi says the natives obtained these from the Chinese.

For defensive weapons the Filipinos used thick

coverings of cotton, reaching to the feet, corselets of wood or buffalo-hide, long wooden shields, and leather helmets.

Commerce. The Filipinos of the sixteenth century traded mainly with Borneo, Japan, and China. From Nagasaki, in Japan, came silks, cotton, and iron utensils. No money was in use, but gold-dust

was often used in exchange for goods. The natives carried little balances to weigh this gold.

Legazpi, in a letter to Philip II, said:

"Farther north than our settlement are some large islands called Luzon and Vindoro where the Chinese and Japanese come every year to trade. They bring silks, woolens, bells, porcelains, perfumes, iron, tin, colored cotton cloths, and other small wares. In return they take away gold and wax. The people of these two islands are Moros, and having bought what the Chinese and Japanese bring, they trade these same goods throughout this archipelago of islands."

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Writing. The principal Filipino tribes had written alphabets, but no books. They wrote from the bottom of the page to the top in columns, and from the left to the right side of the page. There were fourteen to seventeen letters in their alphabets. is said that many of the people knew how to write. Their records were very simple. They kept accounts of the number of their animals and of other business matters, and wrote letters.

The natives used a sharp point of iron or wood with which they wrote on banana-leaves or bamboo joints. With such frail paper, and houses which burned so easily, it is not strange that no old Filipino books have been preserved. The Moros have old family records that tell the names of their ancestors for a few generations past.

Education and Civilization.-From a study of the languages of the Filipinos we may believe that they

ALPHABETS IN USE AT THE TIME OF THE SPANISH DISCOVERY.

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came from a people that long ago lived in Central Asia. This ancient people had a better civilization than their Malayan descendants who came to these Islands. The simple natives whom the Spaniards found here knew nothing of their past but a few traditions which were passed from parent to child by speech. In their wanderings from island to island they had forgotten the past. They had not been here long enough to build up a good civilization. They were pioneers, fighting battles with many enemies. Without books, roads, temples, or fine houses, they were not what we now call a civilized people. But if the early Filipinos were far behind China, Japan, India, and Europe, they have since shown themselves willing to learn. The ancestors of all the great nations of to-day were once ignorant savages. It is no more disgrace for a people to be young than it is for a child to be young. The Filipinos need not be ashamed that their ancestors four hundred years ago were not highly civilized. The real glory of any people is not in its past, but in the use it makes of the present.

Amusements.-The amusements of the ancient Filipinos were few and simple. They were fond of music, singing, and dancing. Their musical instruments were very simple, and their dances such as those of the wild tribes to-day. They were fond of feasting and of wine. Cock-fighting was seen in Paragua by Magellan's men. Some of their amusements were such as we would not think right to-day.