s was brought into the town in
readiness for any event. The object of the meeting was to discuss the
respective limits of the _Dattos'_ spheres, but owing to the haughty,
insolent tone of the chiefs, nothing definite was arrived at. When
they were invited to state their claims, they arrogantly replied,
"We have no information to give. You say you are going to define
our limits--well, what have you to tell us? We come to listen, not
to talk." Some chiefs, however, feigned to offer their submission,
and all was apparently quiet for a time.

Major Hugh L. Scott (14th Cavalry) was then appointed (in September) to
the government of that district. The Sultan being too weak to control
his subordinates, many of them rallied their men and independently
defied all interference with their old mode of living and rule. The
Sultan, not unnaturally, was averse to ceding his sovereign rights to
any one, and he and his _Dattos_ obstructed, as far as they could, the
Americans' endeavours to better the conditions of the people. Every
few days a _juramentado_ (_vide_ pp. 146, 150) would enter the town
and attack a white man with his _barong_ in broad daylight. There
was nothing furtive in his movements, no hiding under cover to take
his victim unawares, but a straight, bold frontal attack. _Barong_
in hand, a Moro once chased a soldier though the street, upstairs into
a billiard-room, and down the other steps, where he was shot dead by
a sentinel. At another time a _juramentado_ obtained access into the
town by crawling through a drain-pipe, and chased two soldiers until
he was killed. Many Americans were wounded in the streets of Jolo,
but the aggressors were always pursued to death. Petty hostilities,
attacks and counter-attacks, the sallies of punitive parties to avenge
some violence committed, and the necessity for every individual in
the town, civil or military, being armed and always alert, made life
there one of continual excitement and emotion.

In November, 1903, the attitude of the _Dattos_ became very
menacing. Datto Andong actually cut a trench just outside the walled
town of Jolo as a base of operations against the Americans. It was
evident that an important rising of chiefs was contemplated. Major
Scott having called upon the biggest chief, Panglima [262] Hassan,
to present himself and account for the murder of an American survey
party, he came with a large force, estimated at about 4,000, well
armed, as far as the town wal