and if he gave
ten or more taels, as they might agree, he became wholly free. An
amusing ceremony accompanied this custom. After having divided all
the trinkets which the slave possessed, if he maintained a house of
his own, they divided even the pots and jars, and if an odd one of
these remained, they broke it; and if a piece of cloth were left,
they parted it in the middle.

The difference between the _aliping namamahay_ and the _aliping sa
guiguilir_, should be noted; for, by a confusion of the two terms,
many have been classed as slaves who really are not. The Indians seeing
that the alcaldes-mayor do not understand this, have adopted the custom
of taking away the children of the _aliping namamahay_, making use
of them as they would of the _aliping sa guiguilir_, as servants in
their households, which is illegal, and if the _aliping namamahay_
should appeal to justice, it is proved that he is an _aliping_ as
well as his father and mother before him and no reservation is made
as to whether he is _aliping namamahay_ or _atiping sa guiguilir_. He
is at once considered an _alipin_, without further declaration. In
this way he becomes a _sa guiguilir_, and is even sold. Consequently,
the alcaldes-mayor should be instructed to ascertain, when anyone
asks for his _alipin_, to which class he belongs, and to have the
answer put in the document that they give him.

In these three classes, those who are _maharlicas_ on both the father's
and mother's side continue to be so forever; and if it happens that
they should become slaves, it is through marriage, as I shall soon
explain. If these maharlicas had children among their slaves, the
children and their mothers became free; if one of them had children
by the slave-woman of another, she was compelled, when pregnant, to
give her master half of a gold tael, because of her risk of death,
and for her inability to labor during the pregnancy. In such a case
half of the child was free--namely, the half belonging to the father,
who supplied the child with food. If he did not do this, he showed
that he did not recognize him as his child, in which case the latter
was wholly a slave. If a free woman had children by a slave, they
were all free, provided he were not her husband.

If two persons married, of whom one was a _maharlica_ and the other
a slave, whether _namamahay_ or _sa guiguilir_, the children were
divided: the first, whether male or female, belonged to the father,
as did the