, and tin. Of the words relating to
commerce, one-third are Malay; to which belong most of the terms used
in trades, as well as the denominations for weights and measures, for
the calendar--so far as it exists--and for numbers, besides the words
for writing, reading, speaking, and narrative. On the other hand, only
a small number of terms which refer to war are borrowed from the Malay.

[Ancient Filipino civilization.] Referring to the degree of
civilization which the Philippines possessed previous to their
intercourse with the Malays, Crawfurd concludes from the purely
domestic words that they cultivated no corn, their vegetable food
consisting of batata(?) and banana. They had not a single domestic
animal; they were acquainted with iron and gold, but with no other
metal, and were clothed in stuffs of cotton and alpaca, woven by
themselves. They had invented a peculiar phonetic alphabet; and their
religion consisted in the belief in good and evil spirits and witches,
in circumcision, and in somewhat of divination by the stars. They
therefore were superior to the inhabitants of the South Sea, inasmuch
as they possessed gold, iron, and woven fabrics, and inferior to them
in that they had neither dog, pig, nor fowl.

[Progress under Spain.] Assuming the truth of the above sketch of
pre-Christian culture, which has been put together only with the help
of defective linguistic sources, and comparing it with the present, we
find, as the result, a considerable progress, for which the Philippines
are indebted to the Spaniards. The influence of social relations has
been already exhibited in the text. The Spaniards have imported the
horse, the bullock, and the sheep; maize, coffee, sugar-cane, cacao,
sesame, tobacco, indigo, many fruits, and probably the batata, which
they met with in Mexico under the name of camotli. [113] From this
circumstance the term camote, universal in the Philippines, appears
to have had its origin, Crawfurd, indeed, erroneously considering
it a native term. According to a communication from Dr. Witmack, the
opinion has lately been conceived that the batata is indigenous not
only to America, but also to the East Indies, as it has two names in
Sanscrit, sharkarakanda and ruktaloo.

[Slight industrial progress.] With the exception of embroidery, the
natives have made but little progress in industries, in the weaving
and the plaiting of mats; and the handicrafts are entirely carried
on by the Chinese.