the problem was.

It should be borne in mind that the country over which he was made
Governor-General consisted of two-thirds of the Island of Mindanao and
the Sulu Archipelago--a long chain of large and small islands
extending almost to Borneo. The inhabitants were principally
Mohammedans, known to the Spaniards as Moros. Along the coast of
Mindanao were scattered small Philippine settlements--Christian
Filipinos. Widely {186} separated back in the islands were numerous
tribes speaking different dialects. In appearance they were not unlike
the Diacs of Borneo. Some of them were headhunters. Among some of them
cannibalism still existed in the form of religious ceremonies.

The Moros were the masters of all the seas in this vicinity. They were
the old Malay pirates so well known in books of travel. The Spaniards
had waged intermittent war against them since early in 1600, but they
never effectively conquered them. They would send down a large
expedition, win a victory and withdraw. This procedure, however, made
little or no impression on the pirates, who shortly returned to their
trade when the Spanish victors had returned home.

The Moros were all fanatical Mohammedans, intolerant of Christians or
Christian influence, and when the Spaniards arrived in Manila about
1687 they dominated all the seas about the Philippine Islands. They
were armed with all kinds of firearms, ranging from the old Queen Bess
muzzle-loader to the most modern rifles. Their artillery ranged from
the broadside guns of battleships of {187} the 18th Century to a
smaller cannon of bronze, made principally in Borneo. They were bold,
adventurous sailors, slave traders and slave hunters and successfully
terrorized the hill tribes. Indeed, they were greatly feared along the
coast of Mindanao.

Early in the American occupation a treaty had been made with the
Sultan of Sulu, who claimed the headship of Moros from the Island of
Sulu northward to the great Island of Mindanao. In Mindanao there were
different sultans who claimed headships in their own districts, and
foremost amongst these was Datu Ali, who had waged a long and
successful war with the Spaniards.

Here then was a difficult problem: to establish civil government among
these wandering hill tribes, Filipino settlements, and piratical
Mohammedan groups, each fearing and hating the other. General Wood's
first task as he conceived it was to stop slave-trading and establish
relations of tolerance