third and fifth; the second, the fourth, and the sixth
fell to the mother, and so on. In this manner, if the father were
free, all those who belonged to him were free; if he were a slave,
all those who belonged to him were slaves; and the same applied to
the mother. If there should not be more than one child he was half
free and half slave. The only question here concerned the division,
whether the child were male or female. Those who became slaves fell
under the category of servitude which was their parent's, either
namamahay or sa guiguilir. If there were an odd number of children,
the odd one was half free and half slave. I have not been able to
ascertain with any certainty when or at what age the division of
children was made, for each one suited himself in this respect. Of
these two kinds of slaves the sa guiguilir could be sold, but not the
namamahay and their children, nor could they be transferred. However,
they could be transferred from the barangay by inheritance, provided
they remained in the same village.

The maharlicas could not, after marriage, move from one village to
another, or from one barangay to another, without paying a certain
fine in gold, as arranged among them. This fine was larger or smaller
according to the inclination of the different villages, running from
one to three taels and a banquet to the entire barangay. Failure
to pay the fine might result in a war between the barangay which
the person left and the one which he entered. This applied equally
to men and women, except that when one married a woman of another
village, the children were afterwards divided equally between the two
barangays. This arrangement kept them obedient to the dato, or chief,
which is no longer the case--because, if the dato is energetic and
commands what the religious fathers enjoin him, they soon leave him
and go to other villages and other datos, who endure and protect them
and do not order them about. This is the kind of dato that they now
prefer, not him who has the spirit to command. There is a great need
of reform in this, for the chiefs are spiritless and faint-hearted.

Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place
in the presence of those of his barangay. If any of the litigants
felt himself aggrieved, an arbiter was unanimously named from
another village or barangay, whether he were a dato or not; since
they had for this purpose some persons, known as fair and just men,
who were