t asunder
by a great ravine. On Coello's map this ravine is erroneously laid
down as extending from south to north; its bearing really is west to
east. Right in front of its opening, and half a league south from Goa,
lies the pretty little village of Rungus, by which it is known. The
exterior sides of the mountain and the fragments of its large crater
are covered with impenetrable wood. Respecting its volcanic eruptions
tradition says nothing.

[Primitive mountaineers.] The higher slopes form the dwelling-place
of a small race of people, whose independence and the customs
of a primitive age have almost entirely separated them from the
inhabitants of the plain. One or two Cimarrons might occasionally
have been attracted hither, but no such instance is remembered. The
inhabitants of the Isarog are commonly, though mistakenly, called
Igorots; and I retain the name, since their tribal relationship has not
yet been accurately determined; they themselves maintaining that their
ancestors always dwelt in that locality. There are some who, in the
opinion of the parish priest of Camarines, speak the Bicol language
in the purest manner. Their manners and customs are very similar,
in many respects, to what they were on the arrival of the Spaniards;
and sometimes they also remind one of those prevailing among the Dyaks
of Borneo at the present day. [143] These circumstances give rise to
the conjecture that they may be the last of a race which maintained
its independence against the Spanish rule, and probably also against
the little tyrants who ruled over the plain before the arrival of the
Europeans. When Juan de Salcedo undertook his triumphal march round
North Luzon he found everywhere, at the mouths of the rivers, seafaring
tribes living under many chieftains who, after a short struggle, were
slain by the superior discipline and better arms of the Spaniards,
or submitted voluntarily to the superior race; but he did not succeed
in subduing the independent tribes in the interior; and these are
still to be found in all the larger islands of the Philippine group.

[Similarity to Indian Archipelago conditions.] Similar conditions are
found in many places in the Indian Archipelago. The Malays, carrying
on trade and piracy, possess the shore, and their language prevails
there; the natives being either subdued by them, or driven into the
forests, the inaccessibility of which ensures to them a miserable
but independent existence. [144]