s in the course of their proceedings,
and each member signs his name with his own blood--that they establish
brotherhood by mingling their blood and tasting it. They are the
sworn enemies of the Spaniards, and particularly of the priests. I
inquired of Senor Agoncillo, the Philippine commissioner to Paris,
whether those bloody stories were true. He scoffed at the notion
that they might be so, and laughed and shouted "No, no!" as if he was
having much fun. But Agoncillo is a lawyer and a diplomat, and I had
heard so much, of this horrid society I did not feel positive it was
certain that its alleged blood rites were fictitious. Of one thing
I am sure--that the dreadful picture is no joke, and was not meant
for a burlesque, though it might possibly be expected to perform the
office of a scarecrow. It cannot be doubted that there are oath-bound
secret societies that are regarded by the Spaniards as fanatical,
superstitious, murderous and deserving death.

There is a good deal of feeble-minded credulity among the Filipinos,
that is exhibited in the stories told by Aguinaldo. He has many
followers who believe that he has a mighty magic, a charm, that
deflects bullets and is an antidote for poison. Intelligent people
believe this imbecility is one of the great elements of his power--that
his leadership would be lost if the supernaturalism attached to him
should go the way of all phantoms. Aguinaldo is said not to have
faith in the charm, for he takes very good care of himself.

We give several views of executions at Manila. As a rule, these
pictures are not fine productions of art. They are taken under
such conditions of light and background that they are somewhat
shadowy. This sinister addition to our gallery seems to be the first
time the photographs of executions have been reproduced. The photos
were not furtively taken. There is no secrecy about the process, no
attempts to hide it from the Spaniards. Executions in the Philippines
were in the nature of dramatic entertainments. There were often many
persons present, and ladies as conspicuous as at bull fights. There
is no more objections offered to photographing an execution than a
cock fight, which is the sport about which the Filipinos are crazily
absorbed. It is the festal character to the Spaniard of the rebel
shooting that permits the actualities to be reproduced, and hence
these strange contributions to our gallery.

Many of our pictures are self-explanatory. They