The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; [Vol. 1, no. 40]

I690-I691] NATIVES OF SOUTHERN ISLANDS

I69

cause wonder even if she did not affect so great
elaborateness; for she scarcely moves an eyelash or
must move her hand, those who accompany her
substituting themselves for everything. One dries
the sweat from her, another fans her, and a third
looks after her clothing. Down a different street
comes the bridegroom to meet the bride, with a like
or even greater retinue in competition with that of
the relatives of the bride. The men are in gala
costume, and armed; the women are in festal array;
and the chief women in chairs. The dress of the
bridal pair must be white, until, the [bride's] consent having been given, the bridegroom retires, and
exchanges it for a red dress. In this ceremony
coquetry displays greater affectations: for the bride
takes a half-hour to give her answer, and, after it is
given she wastes another long half-hour to reach the
lattice of the chapel. And it is necessary to sit down
to await the bride for that time, amid the laughter
of those who a few days before saw her running and
leaping about like a mad she-goat, while on this
day she deports herself with so great a demonstration of sedateness and virginal modesty. The precision of her steps, they say, is a necessity, because
she is coming bound even to the feet. That is the
ceremony that they practice for the reception of the
husband who is the one who must come to take those
bonds and shackles from her.
On that day the house is all hung with a canopy
that covers everything, so that neither walls nor
ceiling are seen. The bridal-chamber is open to the
sight and richly adorned, for on that day everything
gleams with splendor and adornment. The bride
is seated on a cushion, near a seat made for the groom