pare them successfully to compete
with either of the other two energetic, creative, and progressive
nations. They have, in truth, dreamed away their best days.

PART II

State of the Philippines in 1810

By Tomas de Comyn

[Population.] The enumeration of the natives for the assessment
of tributes, in the manner ordained by the standing regulations
of the Intendants of New Spain, is not observed in the Philippine
Islands; nor indeed would this be an easy task. The wide extent of
the twenty-seven provinces of which they are composed, scattered, as
they are, through the great space comprehended between the southern
part of Mindanao, and the almost desert islands known by the name of
Batanes and Babuyanes, to the north of that of Luzon, presents almost
insurmountable obstacles, and in some measure affords an excuse for
the omission. Among these obstacles may be mentioned the necessity of
waiting for the favorable monsoon to set in, in order to perform the
several voyages from one island to the other; the encumbered state
of the grounds in many parts, the irregular and scattered situations
of the settlements and dwellings, the variety among the natives and
their dialects, the imperfect knowledge hitherto obtained of the
respective limits and extent of many districts, the general want of
guides and auxiliaries, on whom reliance can be placed, and, above all,
the extreme repugnance the natives evince to the payment of tributes,
a circumstance which induces them to resort to all kinds of stratagems,
in order to elude the vigilance of the collectors, and conceal their
real numbers.

[Estimates.] The quinquennial census, as regularly enjoined, being
thus found impracticable, no other means are left than to deduce from
the annual lists, transmitted by the district magistrates to the
superintendent's office, and those formed by the parish curates, a
prudent estimate of the total number of inhabitants subject to our laws
and religion; yet these data, although the only ones, and also the most
accurate it is possible to obtain, for this reason, inspire so little
confidence, that it is necessary to use them with great caution. It is
evident that all the district magistrates and curates do not possess
the same degree of care and minuteness in a research so important,
and the omission or connivance of their respective delegates, more
or less general, renders it probable that the number of tributes,
not included in the annual