A Woman's Journey Through The Philippines
Florence Kimball Russel
11 chapters
9 hour read
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11 chapters
On a cable ship that linked together the strange lands seen en route. By Florence Kimball Russel Author of “Born to the Blue” Etc. Boston, L. C. Page and Company—MDCCCCVII
On a cable ship that linked together the strange lands seen en route. By Florence Kimball Russel Author of “Born to the Blue” Etc. Boston, L. C. Page and Company—MDCCCCVII
Copyright, 1907 By L. C. Page & Company (Incorporated) Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London All rights reserved First Impression, June, 1907 Colonial Press Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A. TO My Husband WITHOUT WHOSE INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT THIS BOOK WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN WRITTEN I. Introductory Statements 11 II. Dumaguete 27 III. Misamis 53 IV. Iligan 92 V. Cagavan 105 VI. Cebu 115 VII. Zamboanga 145 VIII. Sulu 183 IX. Bongao 208 X. Tampakan
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A Woman’s Journey Through the Philippines Chapter I Introductory Statements
A Woman’s Journey Through the Philippines Chapter I Introductory Statements
The difficulty discovered, it must be localized. A hush falls over the ship. Down to the testing room go the experts. Seconds, minutes, hours crawl by. At last some one leaves the consultation for a brief space, frowning heavily and apparently deep in thought. No one dares address him, or ask the questions all are longing to have answered, and when his lips move silently we know that he is muttering over galvanometer readings to himself. During this time everyone talks in whispers, and not alway
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Chapter II Dumaguete
Chapter II Dumaguete
Some thrifty and unimaginative souls tied up their bits of ice in cloths or packed them in small boxes, to take back to the village, while others, engrossed in their examination of the strange substance, transferred it from one hand to the other until, miracle of miracles, it had entirely disappeared. Others, emulating the laughing people on the big boat, put their pieces of ice into their mouths, but not for long at a time, as the intense cold made their teeth ache; while still others piously c
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Chapter III Misamis
Chapter III Misamis
The Misamis women were charmed with their white sisters, and could no more conceal their artless delight than so many children. They laughed and giggled nervously. They gesticulated as they talked, and shrugged their pretty shoulders with a grace taught them by our Spanish predecessors. They patted imaginary stray hairs into place in their sleek black coiffures, and settled camisa or panuela with indescribably quick and bird-like movements. Those of them who could speak Spanish talked clothes an
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Chapter IV Iligan
Chapter IV Iligan
As for the barracks, the natives say that the Spaniards burnt them down on evacuating in favour of their American foe, while the churches probably never existed save in imagination, though one place of worship was in process of construction at the time of our visit, the skeleton of its framework being covered by a well finished roof, which, by the way, is a peculiarity of carpentering in these islands. The woodwork of the structure had a weather-beaten air, which told only too plainly how long a
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Chapter V Cagayan
Chapter V Cagayan
This cathedral was far more pretentious than any we had seen outside of Manila, and its altars, for it boasted several, were unspeakable combinations of cheap gaudiness and some little beauty. Common tinsel was cheek by jowl with handsome silver, and while a few of the many mural decorations and paintings were good, most of them were atrocious—glorified chromos of simpering saints with preternaturally large eyes, more nearly resembling advertisements for a hair dye or complexion bleach than eccl
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Chapter VI Cebu
Chapter VI Cebu
Cebu is a town with a past, like the Ibsen woman; it also has a future; but at present it is in the transmigratory period between the two, and is in consequence odious. The place is chiefly interesting because it is the oldest town in the archipelago settled by Europeans, and one revels in its queer, moss-grown churches and conventos , each of them said to be the most ancient edifice in the Islands. This occasions much amicable dispute among the different religious orders of Cebu, and it is real
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Chapter VII Zamboanga
Chapter VII Zamboanga
Most of our success with these southern Moros may be traced to religious tolerance, and the fact that we interfere with them only in their disturbance of non-Mohammedan neighbours. Slave raids are a thing of the past, and leading dattos have been notified that any piratical or fanatical incursions into American territory will be punished swiftly and surely. It has also behooved us to respect their race prejudice, to be considerate of their religious idiosyncrasies, and to dispense justice untemp
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Chapter VIII Sulu
Chapter VIII Sulu
These marketmen were eminently good to look upon from an artistic standpoint, and as they lounged around in groups or singly, one longed to imprison them on canvas in all the gorgeousness of their tropical colouring. One fishmonger, whom I especially remember, sported a ravishing costume, consisting of bright green trousers, skin-tight of course, a purple coat, and a high peaked hat of silver, gilt, and crimson. He might better have been in comic opera than in the humble occupation of selling cr
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Chapter IX Bongao
Chapter IX Bongao
Under the date of February 21, 1900, a thrilling story was told, it being the official and unvarnished account of a disastrous hunting trip taken by five of the post soldiers, the dispassionate routine language but giving it verisimilitude; while the subsequent happenings serve to show what kind of government seems most to appeal to these people. The story, as nearly as I can remember it, reads that five of the garrison soldiers were given permission to go to a neighbouring island of the Tawi Ta
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Chapter X Tampakan and the Home Stretch
Chapter X Tampakan and the Home Stretch
After the head man had religiously shaken every newcomer’s hand, our officers began bargaining with him and with his people for their knives, and the crowd of men around us grew every moment greater, with not a woman in sight. There were men in complete Moro costume, handsome and picturesque; others ruining their appearance by the addition of a hideous balbriggan undershirt, sandwiched between tight trousers with innumerable buttons and a brilliantly coloured turban; while still others, in littl
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