Kalamba
Addressed to Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt the original draft of this unfinished letter in German is in the possession of Miss Consuelo López Rizal, a niece of the hero — He gives an account of his arrival in 1887, his first return to his native country — Already he was a famous man: Author of Noli me Tangere, Physician, Ophthalmologist.
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Kalamba, 27 August 1887
Dear Friend:
You are indeed the first gentleman to whom I am writing since I arrived here. My acquaintances and relatives leave me no time to take up the pen; they ask me about everything imaginable; they come from early morning until late midnight; and they want everything told, diagnosed, and so forth. For that reason, dear friend, I beg your pardon for not having written you at all in these last twenty days.
On the 6th of this month at 9 o’clock in the evening I arrived in Manila Bay. That night we had to sleep in the ship for no customs official would come to us to give us permission to land. It was already 9 o’clock in the evening! I consoled myself with the thought that next morning I would step on the soil of my Fatherland, and I slept cursing the formalities and industriousness of our civil servants!
Nobody was waiting for me. What surprise I gave the newspaperman who come aboard when he read my passport: He looked at me astonished.
02-260 [Blumentritt V.1]
1887 Leitmeritz
From: Ferdinand Blumentritt
To: Jose Rizal
Dr. Czepelack interest in the Philippines — Everyone recalls Rizal fondly — A provision of the Penal Code against Indios and Mestizos—Blumentritt’s book has been translated into Spanish by Casal — Writing in Spanish takes up too much time —His visiting uncle also demands time
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Leitmeritz, . . 1887
Deaer Friend,
At this moment you are now near your home and soon you will step on the sacred ground of the Motherland. I hope to receive your first letter dated in the Philippines about the middle or toward the end of September. We talk about your trip with Dr. Czepelack. Your visit stimulated our poor friend to attend to the Philippines to the point of having to ask me for Jagor’s Voyage in order to be able to form an idea of the country and its inhabitants. The photograph I’m enclosing at Dr. Czepelack’s request is that Eysert’s oil sketch that you saw in my room. He sends you affectionate greetings and requests me to tell you that he will never forget your visit the rest of his life. He cannot say enough about you, and also his brother-in-law, Doctor Theumer, who recently came from Aussig, said that your visit with them deeply touched him. I’m glad I took you to the house of the good Czepelack.
Casal has translated my Observations into Spanish, that is, only the first part; I have shortened the second part and translated it into “the Spanish Language of Leitmeritz,” with some variations of the original. The provision on the Indio or Mestizo irritates me exceedingly, because it signifies that every person not born white is in fact a latent criminal. This is a very great injustice that seems more enormous and unjust for being embodied in law. (!) I should like to write a longer article on the subject but writing in Spanish takes up too much of my time . . . . My good uncle… is at present visiting me and I devote to him almost all my time because he is 79 years old and cannot say with certainty: “We shall meet again the coming new year.”
Please write me if you have the tiny pocket atlas of Justus-Perthes. Every afternoon I draw ethnographic maps that I shall send you opportunely.
Viola provides me great pleasure with his frequent letters. All of us send you affectionate greetings and I embrace you and I remain,
Faithfully yours,
F. Blumentritt
02-261 [Blumentritt V.1]