LUKBAN
removed daily . The prisoners also have the use of two large stone tanks filled with water for bathing , and soap is issued to them as part of the ration . It is difficult to ascertain if the rations were always fully issued ; but it is supposed that they are , although one hungry and despondent-looking chap of decidedly prepossessing appearance told me that they did not get enough to eat . However , if it is issued - the full ration - it should be enough for their wants , and is probably more than the average native receives outside . There is an offensive smell about the quarters , but this is generally found in jails where large numbers of men are confined .
All of the prisoners had a more or less cowed appearance , and seemed ready to dodge upon the approach of an American . General Chaffee visited every one of the different quarters , and , with the aid of an interpreter , talked with various of the prisoners . The usual response was , “ No sabe ”; and they did not look as if they did . They are a miserable-looking lot of little brown rats , and were utterly spiritless . All rose from their squatting position whenever an American approached , and stood to “ attention ,” raising their hands to their heads in a sort of half-salute and half-doffing of an imaginary hat . The great majority of them are in rags , and have hardly enough of them to cover their nakedness . There is no provision for furnishing them clothing . Among all the quarters not a cigarette was to be found ; and the lack of these , which is almost as necessary to the Filipino as food or water , seems to wilt them altogether .
Outside the shacks , day after day , the rain falls incessantly . Some of the shacks leak , but the majority are in good condition . One of the party remarked that death would be preferable to him than month after month of such imprisonment , and no one disagreed with him . However , it is possible that the natives have become used to it . Nothing seems to break their apathy . One to whom I spoke kindly and questioned as to his treatment changed for a moment into a gleam of intelligence , but quickly resumed his original stare . 14
A daily log of atrocities
In the meantime , about the middle of that month , Smith ’ s field men started a daily log of activities that appear like a record of death and destruction . Reporting from USS Villalobos since it embarked on a voyage from Cavite , the ship ’ s captain wrote :
Starting October 18 , 1901 until 10 days later , they arrested suspected insurgent leaders at Malibago near Babatngon , Caibiran , Culaba , Kawayan , Almeria and Naval , province of Biliran , overhauled en route
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