Voyage to a New Land

Out at sea the graceful slender boats where the datus would sail away lay waiting. The sun shone
brightly; a good wind blew, filling the sails of the boats. Soon the boats were full of people: the ten
datus, their families, and their slaves. The people left on the shore stood waving as long as the boats
were in sight. At last the lookout man shouted, “land, land! I see land, far to the north! before them but
so far away that they could hardly see it. All the men rushed to the sides of the boat. Before them, but
so far away that they could hardly see it, was an island, a beautiful green jewel on the sapphire sea.

As the boats drew nearer, the datus could see the palm trees upon the shore and many people watching
them, waiting for them to land. The island where the Bornean datus landed was Panay. The inhabitants
of Panay at that time were Negritos called ati.

They had a chief whose name was Marikudo. His wife was Maniwantiwan. The Ati were friendly and
hospitable. They were simple people. They welcomed the strangers.

They looked with surprise and admiration at the rich clothes and ornaments worn by the datus and their
wives.

Maniwantiwan spoke in the assembly. She said, "Give them land. But in exchange, ask for a golden hat
for yourself, Marikudo. For myself, I want a necklace of pearls. I want a necklace long enough to reach
the ground." Marikudo now approached Datu Puti and said, "We shall be glad to give you land.

But you must give in exchange for the land a golden hat for me and a pearl necklace for my wife." Datu
Puti willingly took off his own fiat and offered it to Marikudo. "This golden hat is precious," he said. "But
the land is good and you, my friend, are kind. So I give this hat to you." at the same time, the datu gave
the most precious and longest necklace to the wife of the maniwantiwan.

marikudo and maniwantiwan were in great pleasure. Smiles are seen in bothy faces. In return of datu
puti's goodness, marikudo let datu puti chose a land.

Datu Puti selected the land along the seashore. His followers were happy. They began building their
huts. The followers of Marikudo helped them.

Months passed. Then he grew restless. He wanted to sail the seas again. He wanted to see what other
islands lay to the north and east of Panay. One day he called his followers together.

He told them to elect a chief datu, for he was about to leave them. Datu Sumakwel was elected superior
datu or ruler of Panay. He was the oldest and wisest of the datus. Datu Puti now helped his men divide
the land into three kingdoms or sakop. The first sakop was called Irong-irong, now known as Iloilo. Datu
Paimburong was made ruler of Irong-irong. The second sakop was called Aklan, at present Aldan and
Capiz. Datu Bangkawa became the first ruler of Aklan. The third sakop was called Hantik, now known as
Antique. Datu Sumakwel was made ruler of Antique. At last the day came when Datu Puti said good-bye
to his people.

For several days the datus sailed. Their ships were driven by contrary winds. They saw many islands.
They kept sailing until they reached

Southern Luzon. They landed along the Taal Lake region, the beauty of the country charmed the datus—
Taal Lake enclosing tiny Taal Volcano. The Borneans, enchanted by so much beauty around them, were
deter-mined to found colonies in the Taal region. The colonies they founded in Panay spread to other
Visayan islands. The colonies in Luzon spread to Batangas, to the Laguna de Bay region, and then to the
Bicol region.

At last Datu Puti said to Marikudo, "You are very kind to us, my friend. I and my people would like to live
with you. We would like to be brothers. Can you give us some of your land?"

Marikudo did not answer at once, He blew upon his horn to assemble his followers. He asked them what
answer he should give the Borneans.