Santos: A Profile of Greater Pampanga in 1818

Part 8 of 20

ASIDE from the many carabaos found here, which are meant for agriculture and commerce, and whose number last year (1818) reached 23,000 heads, there are also many wild carabaos in the forests.

Last year also, there were 13,000 heads of cattle and 12,000 horses. Their growth in quality and number [page 14] is definitely due to the many lush pastures found in this province.

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Regarding goats, they are few; but since the natives observed how they multiplied fast, they went into breeding them, and profitably so. They learned from experience that [blurred; illegible] and pasture go hand in hand and are very useful for goat-breeding.

The number of sheep is so small that you practically see almost none, and at present, the indios do not show any interest in breeding them.

Its mountains and forests have very many deer. To get an idea of the great number of these wild animals, it is enough to say that in the pueblo of Tarlac alone, the inhabitants caught more than seven thousand of them last year; and so one can get an intelligent guess of how many they hunt in the entire upper Pampanga.

Also in those forests, one can find many wild pigs with delicate meat. Also, civet-cats.

Given the above, there is an abundance of meat in this province, and the inhabitants are engaged in the lucrative trading of the heads, [illegible], [illegible] of deer and carabaos, their hide and horns, domesticated and wild pigs, as well as the civet-cat, which is a valued product.

In this province, there are factories of pazos [not in the dictionary], jugs with one handle, golgoretas [not in the dictionary], and other highly-valued earthenware vessels, which they export in volumes outside of the province.

There are also factories of soap; kilns for calcining lime, and for making bricks and tiles. These products give the people here the opportunity to engage in profitable business, especially in lime which is produced [page 15] from oysters and seafoods by the poblaciones near the bay; and in marble and good-quality stone which are found in great quantity in those mountains, produced by the communities dwelling on the high land.

The majority of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture, while others are engaged in the manufacture of the above-mentioned products, the felling of trees, fan-palms (palmas bravas); canes and rattans. Others are fisherfolks and hunters, boat-rowers (casqueros y banqueros) and dealers in firewood. And, lastly, some others are engaged in trading in other provinces.

Some of the women work in the field. Others are engaged in the pressing of sesame, lubang and tangantangao, or the manufacture of earthenware; but especially in the weaving of silken and cottony blankets, rayadillos [not in the dictionary], tapestry and sinamay. Others work as spinners or seamstresses, or are engaged in business in different pueblos.

From Apalit, first pueblo of Pampanga from Calumpit in the province of Bulacan, there is a road (calzada) along the coast of the Rio Grande, passing by San Simon and San Luis up to the front of Candaba. During the dry season, there is a road for carriages (carruajes) passing by Sta. Ana up to Magalang; and from this pueblo to the visitas Macavalo, Matondo, Bucsit, Garlit, and San Miguel up to Tarlac, the last pueblo of this province, coterminous with Pangasinan.

But during the rainy season, these roads are cut by the rivers and streams which rise up three yards and are covered with reed-grass and cogons, and the weak bamboo bridges are destroyed, and so they are passable only on horseback and with great difficulty. During the months of December and January, the waters recede and the natives begin to rebuild or repair the bridges, and the road is again good up to June.