Nothing is left of it
now but a ruinous church and one or two houses. The first mass was said
here or hereabouts in 1689, by the Dominicans, who kept up the mission
until the monks all died of fever. Did an occasional officer in the old
days prove objectionable to the authorities in Manila, he got an order
to proceed to Tabuk for station; it was almost certain that he would
never return. The point is of unquestionable importance, commanding,
as it does, the main outlet, of the Kalinga country to the plains of
the Cagayan Valley; and so our own Government undertook to garrison
it with Constabulary as a check on raids. The garrison remained long
enough to be carried out on stretchers, and was removed to Lu-bagan,
where the check is just as complete and personal control possible.
We had a long and hard day before us, but we did not know it when we
set out from Tabuk at about seven in the morning. Gallman, Harris,
and I kept together; our first business was to cross a vast, roughly
circular plain fifteen miles in diameter, and densely overgrown with a
rough, reedy grass two feet and more high.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193