TONDO TORTOISE-SHELL TOWN TRADE
which are more damasked than spotted; in a word, of which the colours, according to
Chinese taste are badly distributed, are less valued. The caprice of the Chinese
makes them sometimes value single ‘heads’ at unheard-of prices, such for example,
as go under the name of ‘ white heads,’ for the varieties of which they have peculiar
names. It is impossible to give an accurate description of these varieties, and their
sub-divisions, for these depend on many circumstances unappreciable to our senses.
It is enough for me to observe that such heads as possess the above named
qualities, that is, are very white in their blades, and have the outer rim of each blade,
to the depth of two or three fingers, wholly white, and the weight of which amounts
to two and a half catties, qualities that are rarely found united, may be valued at
1000 guilders or even more (above 241. per pound, avoirdupois). The ‘feet’ or
‘noses’ of the tortoise-shell are in demand only in the Chinese market. Whenever
the two hinder pieces of these have the weight of a quarter of a catty (between 5 and
6 ounces), which is seldom the case, they may reach the value of fifty guilders, or
more. The whole shell of a tortoise seldom weighs more than three catties (four
pounds), notwithstanding, it is asserted, that there occur ‘heads’ of four and five
catties. Tortoise-shells are sometimes found of which the shell, instead of thirteen
blades, consists of a single undivided one. The Bajos call this, which is rarely met
with, loyong (brass ?). The usual modes by which these people catch the tortoise are the
adang (intercepting), the harpoon, and the net. To these, we add the simplest of all,
namely, falling on the females when they resort to the strand to lay their eggs. This
is also the most usual, I may say almost the only way, by which the inhabitants of
the coast catch thiB animal. They need nothing more than, as soon as they have got
the creature ; in their power, to turn it on its back, when, unable to turn itself
again, it lies helpless. It sometimes, also, falls into the hands of the dwellers on
the coast, through means of their fishing stakes, into which it enters like the fish,
and from which it can find no outlet, but remains imprisoned in the innermost
chamber. When the Bajos have caught a tortoise, they kill it immediately by a few
blows on the head. They then take its upper shield, or the back itself off, being the
only thing about the animal that has value. But as the shells adhere fast to each
other, there would be danger of tearing them, if they at once pulled the plates
asunder, they usually wait three days, in which time, the soft parts become decomposed,
and the plates are loosened with very little trouble.”
The Indian islands furnish, I believe, the largest supply of tortoise-shell for the
European and Chinese market, the chief emporia being Singapore, Manilla, and
Batavia, from which are exported yearly about 26,000 pounds: one half of this quantity
is from Singapore.
TOWN. There is no word in Malay or Javanese for town or city, except such as
are Sanscrit, namely, nagri or nagara, pura and praja, with kut’a, which signifies,
literally, “ a fortress.” The application of the word praja to a town is rather singular,
for in Sanscrit it signifies “ subjects” or “ inhabitants,” that is, the inhabitants of the
town are taken by the Javanese for the town itself. I state this on the highest
authority I can quote, that of my friend Professor Wilson. It is not, therefore, an
unreasonable conclusion to. come to, that towns were unknown before the arrival of
the Hindus, even to the most civilised nations of the Archipelago.
TRADE, COMMERCE. In Malay and Javanese, and, generally, in the other
languages of the Archipelago, the most usual word for these is an abstract noun,
derived from the word which signifies “ a stranger,” dagang. In Malay barniyaga or
b&rniyagan is a synonym of frequent use, and this is Sanscrit. The simple native
expression, jiial-bli, “ selling and buying,” is of frequent use also. To sell, to buy, to
be in debt, are all expressed by native words. Interest of money is expressed by
the figurative phrase, “ flower of gold,” which also signifies “ tribute.” Mercantile
profit is usually expressed by the Sanscrit word laba, but sometimes by the native
figurative word bunga, flower or produce, and, occasionally, by the word untung, which
signifies, “ luck.” The only word for capital or stock is modal, which is from the
Telinga. The most usual expression for money is mas-perak, that is, gold and silver,
or pichis, which is the name of the small tin or zinc coins borrowed from the Chinese.
Another word is uwang or wang, which also signifies “ a palace.” The Javanese use
the Sanscrit words arta and yatra for money. For a merchant, the most usual native
word is the same which signifies a stranger. Another native name, juragan, means,
literally, the master or commander of a vessel. Two others are Sanscrit, bopari, and
santri, the last being literally scholar or priest, and a fifth ,sudagfi,r, is Persian.
of the gulf is the Dutch settlement of Gorongtalo, a name which has been also,
occasionally applied to the gulf itself.
TONDO, the name of one of the provinces of the island of Luzon, and th a t which
contains the capital, the city of Manilla. It is bounded to the west by the bay of
Manilla, and the province of Bataan, to the east by the provinces of ISTueva Ecija and
Laguna, to the south by those of Cavité and Laguna, and to the north by the province
of Bulacan. I t is considered to have a circumference of 95 geographical miles, and
an area of about 300 square miles. A rocky ridge of hills passes through it, from
north to south, with the exception of which it is a fertile plain, well watered, and
adapted to the culture of rice, and of most other tropical products. It is, in fact, in
a high state of cultivation. The mass of the inhabitants are of the Tagala nation.
In 1735, the population amounted to no more than 31,805. In the first year of the
present century, it had risen to 100,000 ; in 1818, to 149,951 ; in 1845, to 254,015, and
in 1850, to 281,499. Deducting the population of the city of Manilla, 140,000, the
relative one for the rest of the province is 47P6, which is equal to that, of the finest
parts of Java. Thus, in half a century, the increase was above 180 per cent., arising
from immigration from other provinces and the advent of strangers, attracted by the
commerce of Manilla. The chief town, having the same name as the province itself,
is distant from the city of Manilla about half a league only, and is situated on a river
which had passed through the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan, and over which,
at the town, there is a handsome stone bridge, one of the few in the Philippines. The
town is built in the Spanish fashion, contains some fine buildings, and in 185o'had a
population of 29,257, being one of the largest in the Philippines after Manilla for
Binondo in the same province is considered but a suburb of the capital. I t contains
4855 houses of all descriptions, many of them of solid masonry, among the most
remarkable of which is the government manufactory of cigars, in which 8000 workpeople
of both sexes are employed. The town of Binondo communicates with
Manilla by a fine stone bridge of 149 Spanish varas, or 138 English yards span. The
population in 1850 was 29,211, of whom 4817 paid the capitation tax, amounting to
48,170 reals of plate. Binondo is the commercial part of Manilla, and the residence
of the foreign merchants.
TORTOISE-SHELL, in Malay, Sisik-pânu, literally, “ tortoise scales.” The only
part of the sea tortoises or turtles held of much value by the natives of the Indian
islands is the shell. Tortoises are found in all the seas of the Malay and Philippine
Archipelagos, but the imbricated kind that yields the finest shell is most abundant in
those of Celebes and the Spice Islands, as far as the coasts of New Guinea. The
parties chiefly engaged in their capture are the Bajaus, or Malay sea-nomadic
hunters, of whom the turtle is the principal game. These people distinguish four
species of sea-turtle, to which they ‘give the names of kulitan, akung, ratu, and
boko. The last is the pânu of the Malays and the green esculent turtle, of which the
carapace is of no use, the animal being valued only for its flesh to sell to the Chinese
and Europeans, for among the Mahommedans it is unlawful food. The three first-
named species all yield a marketable shell. The ratu, which signifies king or
royal turtle, is said to be of great size, measuring from five to six feet in length,
but is not often taken, and the shell is of inferior value. All the finest shell is
afforded by the first, the kulitan, the name, in fact, signifying “ shell turtle.” A very
interesting account of the turtle fishery of Celebes, contained in the 16th volume
of the Transactions of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, describes the
animal as follows. “ The first named” (the kulitan) “ is the kind which, on account of
its costly shell, is the most prized. I t is the so-named caret tortoise. The shell or
back of this creature is covered with thirteen shields or blades, which lie regularly
on each other in the manner of scales, five in the centre of the back and four on
each side. These are the plates which furnish such costly tortoise-shell to the arts.
The edges of the scales of the back are further covered with twenty-five thin pieces'
joined one to another, which, in commerce, are known under the appellation of ‘feet’
or ‘ noses ’ of the tortoise. The value of the tortoise-shell depends on the weight of
each ‘head,’ by which expression is understood the collective shell belonging to one
and the same animal. Such is the article of commerce so much in request, both for
the Chinese and European markets. Shells, which have white and dark spots that
touch each other, and are, as much as possible, similar on both sides of the blade
are, in the eyes of the Chinese, much finer, and, on that account, more greedily
bought by them than those which want this peculiarity. On the contrary, shells
which are reddish rather than black in their dark spots, which possess little white