this witness stated that he knew
that before the Spaniards came to these islands for their discovery,
pacification, and settlement, and that of all the peoples who then
were, or have since been, discovered here, all the natives of the
islands, so far as this witness is informed--chiefs, timaguas, and
slaves, without distinction of rank--wove cotton fabrics, with which
they clothed themselves, all from cotton of their own planting. It is
true that, as far back as this witness can remember, he thinks that
he has never known cotton to have been planted or gathered in this
province, or along the river and coast of Manila, from the village
of Cabite to this province; but in all the other tribes except these
cotton was planted, large quantities being gathered and sold to the
inhabitants of this Pampanga, and to those of the river and coast
of Manila, who gave in exchange the rice which they cultivated,
and sometimes gold; and they procured the cotton for the purpose of
spinning it and weaving cloth for their own garments. This continued to
be the custom for many years after the coming of the Spaniards; for,
although one or two ships came from China each year at that time,
these brought no cloths or silks, but only iron, and earthenware,
and _camanguian_. The principal reason why the Tagalos of Manila
and the inhabitants of all this Panpanga have never cultivated
cotton, is because they do not know how; and because they have never
been accustomed to grow anything but rice, on which they chiefly
subsist. This was his answer.

In reply to the second question this witness stated that since the
Spaniards have become established in these islands, he has noticed
how the Chinese have come hither, in larger numbers every year,
eight ships at least coming annually from China; and in some years
this witness has seen as many as twenty and thirty, all laden with
cloths and bolts of silk. And when the natives of these islands
and of this province saw all these cloths brought by the Chinese,
they made less exertion to weave their own; but to avoid even that
little work, all the natives began to clothe themselves with the
said stuffs from China, discarding entirely their own, which they
formerly wore. And so far has this gone at the present day, that all
alike--without distinction of chief from timagua, or of timagua from
slave--dress in these stuffs, making it impossible to judge of their
rank from their dress. In this way a very large qu