make by
rolling the natural tobacco leaf and tying it with a bit of bamboo
fibre. He did look ridiculous. A native teacher told me that they
all begin to smoke when about two years old; poor, little, stunted,
starved things, fed on half cooked rice and raw fish.

Drunkenness is comparatively rare among the natives; the intoxicating
beverage is the "Tuba," which is made about as follows: The flowers
of the cocoanut are cut while still in bud and the sap, or "Beno,"
caught in a tube of bamboo; the liquor is gathered daily as we gather
maple sap and fermented by the addition of a piece of wood, which
also imparts a slight color. The product of this fermentation is an
insidious stimulant. I never tasted it, but one poor soldier told
me his sad experience and that sufficed. After a particularly hard
march, his company came to a halt in a village; he asked for water,
but could get only this innocent looking "Beno;" he took one tiny
glass; it tasted like cologne water; his thirst not being quenched,
he took a second and a third glass, after which he proceeded to make
a howling mob of himself. This, since it happened in the face of the
enemy, with momentary expectation of attack, was a serious offence
enough, but coupled with the fact that he was "on guard" at the time,
entailed punishments, the rigor of which, can be guessed only by
those familiar with army discipline.

Once a party of officers and men were going from one island to another,
carrying money and food for the soldiers. It was found, after starting,
that they were not so heavily guarded as they should be, in view of
the fact that they would be exposed to attack when in the narrow
channels between the islands. At one point where they were hemmed
in, not only by the islands, but by a number of sailing crafts, the
Captain, a Filipino, very seriously asked the Paymaster if he had
plenty of fire arms; his reply was, "Oh, muchee fusile," meaning,
"Oh, very much fire arms." To add to the horror of the situation
they were becalmed. The Captain became very much alarmed and the
soldiers more so. Strange to relate, there came a gale of wind that
not only blew them out into a wider channel beyond the reach of their
insurrecto friends, but put them well on their way. This was told me
as being almost like a miracle. No one can ever realize until they
have been caught in one of these terrific gales what their severity
is. I remember one blast that tore my hair down and swept aw