lavish in his promises, but _lache_
in the extreme as to their fulfilment. He will never come frankly and
openly forward to make a clean breast of a fault committed, or even a
pardonable accident, but will hide it, until it is found out. In common
with many other non-European races, an act of generosity or a voluntary
concession of justice is regarded as a sign of weakness. Hence it
is that the experienced European is often compelled to be more harsh
than his real nature dictates.

If one pays a native 20 cents for a service performed, and that be
exactly the customary remuneration, he will say nothing, but if a
feeling of compassion impels one to pay 30 cents, the recipient will
loudly protest that he ought to be paid more. [77] In Luzon the native
is able to say "Thank you" (_salamat-po_) in his mother-tongue, but
in Panay and Negros there is no way of expressing thanks in native
dialect to a donor (the nearest approach to it is _Dios macbayat_);
and although this may, at first sight, appear to be an insignificant
fact, I think, nevertheless, a great deal may be deduced from it,
for the deficiency of the word in the Visaya vernacular denotes a
deficiency of the idea which that word should express.

If the native be in want of a trivial thing, which by plain asking he
could readily obtain, he will come with a long tale, often begin by
telling a lie, and whilst he invariably scratches his head, he will
beat about the bush until he comes to the point, with a supplicating
tone and a saintly countenance hiding a mass of falsity. But if
he has nothing to gain for himself, his reticence is astonishingly
inconvenient, for he may let one's horse die and tell one afterwards
it was for want of rice-paddy, or, just at the very moment one wants
to use something, he will tell one "_Uala-po_"--there is not any.

I have known natives whose mothers, according to their statement,
have died several times, and each time they have tried to beg the loan
of the burial expenses. The mother of my first servant died twice,
according to his account.

Even the best class of natives do not appreciate, or feel grateful
for, or even seem to understand a spontaneous gift. Apparently,
they only comprehend the favour when one yields to their asking. The
lowest classes never give to each other, unsolicited, a cent's worth,
outside the customary reciprocal feast-offerings. If a European makes
_voluntary_ gratuities to the natives, he is considered