Unofficial letters of an official's wife [by] Edith Moses.

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

a badge of honor for the high chiefs. From the
landing we went in procession up the long street,
escorted by soldiers and followed by a band of Filipinos dressed in brilliant yellow flowered jackets
and tight-fitting cobalt blue cotton trousers. There
were also twenty natives in costume; ten represented
Christians and ten were dressed like Moros. Half
the company was armed with swords and half carried spears. Those with spears had long narrow
shields, and those with swords carried heavy round
ones of black wood decorated in a white diamond
pattern. The spears and long sharp swords looked
very formidable, and every now and then I caught
Auria by the hand, unable to refrain from a slight
shiver as I remembered the tales of Mohammedans
running amuck at the sight of Christians. Auria,
however, appears to like Dattos and shakes hands
with them on every occasion. In the Commandant's
headquarters a delegation of Chinamen, who are,
as everywhere, the middlemen and traders, awaited
the Commission. They have the name of being
great cheats, but they look clean and clever. Later
the Commission held a morning meeting, and,
among others, Datto Piang was interviewed on
many pertinent questions relating to population,
taxes, slavery, gambling, religion, and so on. He
is a canny creature, and I confess not to have felt
much confidence in him.
The interview closed with the usual compliments
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