Negritos of Zambales

by

William Allan Reed



Manila Bureau of Public Printing 1904



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Department of the Interior, The Ethnological Survey,

Manila, March 3, 1904.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit a study of the Negritos of Zambales Province made by Mr. William Allan Reed, of The Ethnological Survey, during the year 1903. It is transmitted with the recommendation that it be published as Part I of Volume II of a series of scientific studies to be published by this Survey.

Respectfully,

Chief of the Ethnological Survey.

Hon. Dean C. Worcester,

Secretary of the Interior, Manila, P. I.



LETTER OF SUBMITTAL

Department of the Interior, The Ethnological Survey,

Manila, March 1, 1904.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith my report on the Negritos of Zambales.

Very respectfully,

William Allan Reed.

Dr. Albert Ernest Jenks,

Chief of The Ethnological Survey, Manila, P. I.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter of Transmittal Letter of Submittal Illustrations Preface

Chapter 1: Distribution of Negritos Present Distribution in the Philippines In Luzon In the Southern Islands Conclusion Chapter 2: The Province of Zambales Geographical Features Historical Sketch Habitat of the Negritos Chapter 3: Negritos of Zambales Physical Features Permanent Adornment Clothing and Dress Chapter 4: Industrial Life Home Life Agriculture Manufacture and Trade Hunting and Fishing Chapter 5: Amusements Games Music Dancing The Potato Dance, or Pina Camote The Bee Dance, or Pina Pa-ni-lan The Torture Dance The Lovers' Dance The Duel Dance Chapter 6: General Social Life The Child Marriage Rice Ceremony Head Ceremony "Leput," or Home Coming Polygamy and Divorce Burial Morals Slavery Intellectual Life + Superstitions Chapter 7: Spanish Attempts to Organize Negritos

Anthropometric Measurements Vocabularies Plates



ILLUSTRATIONS

I. Outline map of the Philippine Islands, showing distribution of Negritos. 18 II. Outline map of Zambales, showing distribution of Negritos. 30 III. Negrito women of Bataan on a rock in a stream. 30 IV. Negrito man from Nangsol, near Subig, Zambales. 30 V. Negrito man from Aglao, Zambales. 30 VI. Negrito woman of Zambales. 30 VII. View near Santa Fe, Zambales. 30 VIII. Capitan of Villar. 30 IX. Negrito man of Zambales. 30 X. Showing the relative height of American, mixed blood and pure Negrito. 30 XI. Group of Negritos and Constabulary at Cabayan, Zambales. 30 XII. Old man of Zambales, pure Negrito. 30 XIII. Old man of Zambales, pure Negrito, showing hair on face and chest. 30 XIV. Negrito of Zambales, showing hair on the chin and skin disease on the arm. 30 XV. Pure Negrito of Zambales, showing hair on the chin. 30 XVI. Negrito Man of Zambales, showing hair on the face. 30 XVII. Negrito girls of Zambales, one with hair clipped behind to eradicate vermin. 30 XVIII. Negrito man of Zambales, pure blood. 30 XIX. Negrito man of Zambales, mixed blood. 44 XX. Negrito man of Zambales, pure blood. 44 XXI. Negrito man of Zambales, mixed blood. 44 XXII. Negrito girl of Zambales, pure blood. 44 XXIII. Negrito woman of Zambales, mixed blood. 44 XXIV. Old Negrito woman of Zambales, pure blood. 44 XXV. Negrito man of Zambales, pure blood. 44 XXVI. Negrito man of Negros, mixed blood. 44 XXVII. Negrito man of Zambales. 44 XXVIII. Negritos (emigrants from Panay) of Maao, Occidental Negros; mixed bloods. 44 XXIX. Group of Negrito men at Santa Fe, Zambales. 44 XXX. Principal men of Tagiltil, Zambales; pure Zambal and mixed Negrito. 44 XXXI. Negritos of Zambales, mixed bloods. 44 XXXII. Group of people called Aburlin; non-Christian Zambal and Negrito mixed bloods. 44 XXXIII. Negrito women of Zambales. 44 XXXIV. Group of Negrito women at Santa Fe, Zambales, showing dress. 44 XXXV. Negrito girls of Zambales, one wearing necklace of dried berries. 58 XXXVI. Combs worn by Negritos of Zambales. 58 XXXVII. Ornaments worn by Negritos of Zambales. 58 XXXVIII. Negrito man, wife, and hut, Bataan. 58 XXXIX. Better class of Negrito hut, Zambales. 58 XL. Negrito man of Bataan making fire with bamboo. 58 XLI. Negrito men of Bataan making fire with bamboo. 58 XLII. Bows and arrows used by Negritos of Zambales. 58 XLIII. Position taken by Negritos of Zambales in shooting. 58 XLIV. Negrito man of Bataan drawing a bow; hog-bristle ornaments on the legs. 58 XLV. Negrito man of Negros (emigrant from Panay) drawing a bow. 58 XLVI. Musical instruments used by Negritos of Zambales. 58 XLVII. Negritos of Zambales singing the "talbun." 58 XLVIII. Negritos of Zambales dancing. 58 XLIX. Negrito men of Bataan beating gongs and dancing. 58 L. Negritos of Zambales dancing the "torture dance." 58 LI. Negrito woman and daughter, Bataan. 72 LII. Pure Negrito woman and mixed blood, with babies, Zambales. 72 LIII. Negrito women and children, Zambales. 72 LIV. Negrito children, Santa Fe, Zambales. 72 LV. Capitan of Cabayan, Zambales, with Negrito and Zambal wives. 72 LVI. Boys of Zambales, showing scars made by blistering for fevers, etc. 72 LVII. Negrito woman of Zambales, pure blood, showing scars made by blistering for fevers, etc. 72 LVIII. Negrito woman of Zambales, pure blood, showing skin disease. 72 LIX. Negrito man of Zambales, mixed blood, showing skin disease. 72 LX. Negrito boy of Zambales, mixed blood, showing skin disease. 72 LXI. Negrito man of Zambales, mixed blood, showing skin disease. 72 LXII. Capitan-General del Monte, Negrito of Zambales. 72

Figure 1. "Belatic," trap used by Negritos. 45 Figure 2. Marks on dice used by Negritos. 49



PREFACE

This report is based on two months' field work pursued during May and June, 1903. Accompanied by Mr. J. Diamond, a photographer, the writer went in the latter part of April to Iba, Zambales, where a few days were spent in investigating the dialects of the Zambal people and in preparation for a trip to the interior.

After a journey of 25 miles inland a camp was established near Tagiltil. During the three weeks we were there the camp was visited by about 700 Negritos, who came in from outlying settlements, often far back in the mountains; but, owing to the fact that most of them would remain only as long as they were fed, extended investigations had to be conducted largely among the residents of Tagiltil and the neighboring rancheria of Villar.

From Tagiltil a trip was made southward behind the low mountain chain, which marks the limit of the plain, and through a hitherto unexplored territory, very broken and next to impassable except in the dry season. The trail, known only to Negritos and but little used, followed for the most part the beds of mountain streams. Four little rancherias were passed, the people of two of which had already visited us. A hard two-day trip brought us to Santa Fe, a barrio of San Marcelino. After a week with the Negritos at this place a trip was made toward the Pampanga boundary to Cabayan and Aglao, the former locality inhabited by several small groups of Negritos, the latter an isolated Ilokano barrio in and near which the Negritos live. A visit to the rancherias near Subig and Olongapo concluded the investigation. In all, more than a thousand Negritos were seen.

With only a short time at a place it is evident that an exhaustive study of the people of any particular locality could not be made. But the culture plane of the entire area is practically the same, and the facts as here presented should give a good idea of the customs and the general condition of the Negritos of Zambales Province. The short time at my disposal for the investigation is my only excuse for the meager treatment given some lines of study—as, for example, physical anthropology and language.

Inasmuch as nothing has yet been published by The Ethnological Survey on the Negritos of the Philippines, I have thought it not out of place to preface my report with an introductory chapter on their distribution. The data contained therein have been compiled by me from information gathered by the Survey during the past two years and are sufficiently authentic for the present purpose.

The photographs of the Zambales Negritos were made by Mr. J. Diamond and those of the Bataan Negritos are from the collection of Hon. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the Interior. Credit for each photograph is given on the plate as it appears.



CHAPTER I

DISTRIBUTION OF NEGRITOS

Probably no group of primitive men has attracted more attention from the civilized world than the pygmy blacks. From the time of Homer and Aristotle the pygmies, although their existence was not absolutely known at that early period, have had their place in fable and legend, and as civilized man has become more and more acquainted with the unknown parts of the globe he has met again and again with the same strange type of the human species until he has been led to conclude that there is practically no part of the tropic-zone where these little blacks have not lived at some time.

Mankind at large is interested in a race of dwarfs just as it would be in a race of giants, no matter what the color or social state; and scientists have long been concerned with trying to fix the position of the pygmies in the history of the human race. That they have played an important ethnologic role can not be doubted; and although to-day they are so scattered and so modified by surrounding people as largely to have disappeared as a pure type, yet they have everywhere left their imprint on the peoples who have absorbed them.

The Negritos of the Philippines constitute one branch of the Eastern division of the pygmy race as opposed to the African division, it being generally recognized that the blacks of short stature may be so grouped in two large and comprehensive divisions. Other well-known branches of the Eastern group are the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands and perhaps also the Papuans of New Guinea, very similar in many particulars to the Negritos of the Philippines, although authorities differ in grouping the Papuans with the Negritos. The Asiatic continent is also not without its representatives of the black dwarfs, having the Sakai of the Malay Peninsula. The presence of Negritos over so large an area has especially attracted the attention of anthropologists who have taken generally one or the other of two theories advanced to explain it: First, that the entire oceanic region is a partly submerged continent, once connected with the Asiatic mainland and over which this aboriginal race spread prior to the subsidence. The second theory is that the peopling of the several archipelagoes by the Negritos has been a gradual spread from island to island. This latter theory, advanced by De Quatrefages, [1] is the generally accepted one, although it is somewhat difficult to believe that the ancestors of weak and scattered tribes such as to-day are found in the Philippines could ever have been the sea rovers that such a belief would imply. It is a well-known fact, however, that the Malays have spread in this manner, and, while it is hardly possible that the Negritos have ever been as bold seafarers as the Malays, yet where they have been left in undisputed possession of their shores they have remained reckless fishermen. The statement that they are now nearly always found in impenetrable mountain forests is not an argument against the migration-by-sea theory, because they have been surrounded by stronger races and have been compelled to flee to the forests or suffer extermination. The fact that they live farther inland than the stronger peoples is also evidence that they were the first inhabitants, for it is not natural to suppose that a weaker race could enter territory occupied by a stronger and gain a permanent foothold there. [2]

The attention of the first Europeans who visited the Philippines was attracted by people with frizzly hair and with a skin darker in color than that of the ruling tribes. Pigafetta, to whom we are indebted for an account of Magellan's voyage of discovery in 1521, mentions Negritos as living in the Island of Panglao, southwest of Bohol and east of Cebu. [3] If we are to believe later historians the shores of some of the islands fairly swarmed with Negritos when the Spaniards arrived. Meyer gives an interesting extract from an old account by Galvano, The Discoveries of the World (ed. Bethune, Hakluyt Soc., 1862, p. 234): [4]

In the same yeere 1543, and in moneth of August, the generall Rui Lopez sent one Bartholomew de la torre in a smal ship into new Spaine to acquaint the vizeroy don Antonio de Mendoca, with all things. They went to the Islands of Siria, Gaonata, Bisaia and many others, standing in 11 and 12 degrees towards the north, where Magellan had beene. * * * They found also an Archepelagus of Islands well inhabited with people, lying in 15 or 16 degrees: * * * There came vnto them certaine barkes or boates handsomely decked, wherein the master and principall men sate on high, and vnderneath were very blacke moores with frizled haire * * *: and being demanded where they had these blacke moores, they answered, that they had them from certaine islands standing fast by Sebut, where there were many of them.

Zuniga [5] quotes the Franciscan history [6] as follows:

The Negritos which our first conquerors found were, according to tradition, the first possessors of the islands of this Archipelago, and, having been conquered by the political nations of other kingdoms, they fled to the mountains and populated them, whence no one has been able to accomplish their extermination on account of the inaccessibility of the places where they live. In the past they were so proud of their primitive dominion that, although they did not have strength to resist the strangers in the open, in the woods and mountains and mouths of the rivers they were very powerful. They made sudden attacks on the pueblos and compelled their neighbors to pay tribute to them as to lords of the earth which they inhabited, and if these did not wish to pay them they killed right and left, collecting the tribute in heads. * * *

One of the islands of note in this Archipelago is that called Isla de Negros on account of the abundance of them [negroes]. In one point of this island—on the west side, called "Sojoton"—there is a great number of Negritos, and in the center of the island many more.

Chirino has the following to say of the Negritos of Panay at the end of the sixteenth century: [7]

Amongst these (Bisayas) there are also some negroes, the ancient inhabitants of the island of which they had taken possession before the Bisayas. They are somewhat less black and less ugly man those of Guinea, but are smaller and weaker, although as regards hair and beard they are similar. They are more barbarous and savage than the Bisayas and other Filipinos, for they do not, like them, have houses and fixed settlements. They neither sow nor reap, and they wander through the mountains with their women and children like animals, almost naked. * * * Their sole possessions are the bow and arrow.

Meyer, [8] who has given the subject much study and has conducted personal investigations on the field, states that "although at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards in the country, and probably long before, the Negritos were in process of being driven back by the Malays, yet it appears certain that their numbers were then larger, for they were feared by their neighbors, which is now only exceptionally the case."

Of the vast amount of material that has been written during the past century on the Negritos of the Philippines a considerable portion can not be taken authoritatively. Exceptions should be made of the writings of Meyer, Montano, Marche, and Blumentritt. A large part of the writings on the Philippine Negritos have to do with their distribution and numbers, since no one has made an extended study of them on the spot, except Meyer, whose work (consisting of twelve chapters and published in Volume IX of the Publications of the Royal Ethnographical Museum of Dresden, 1893) I regret not to have seen. Two chapters of this work on the distribution of the Negritos, republished in 1899, form the most recent and most nearly correct exposition of this subject. Meyer summarizes as follows:

It may be regarded as proved with certainty that Negritos are found in Luzon, Alabat, Corregidor, Panay, Tablas, Negros, Cebu, northeast Mindanao, and Palawan. It is questionable whether they occur in Guimaras, Mindoro, and the Calamianes.

This statement would be more nearly correct if Corregidor and Cebu were placed in the second list and Guimaras in the first. In this paper it is possible, by reason of special investigations, to give more reliable and detailed information on this subject than any yet published.



Present Distribution in the Philippines [9]



In Luzon

This paper concerns itself chiefly with the Zambales Negritos whose distribution in Zambales and the contiguous Provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, and Tarlac is treated in detail in the following chapter. But Negritos of more or less pure blood, known variously as Aeta, Agta, Baluga, Dumagat, etc., are found in at least eleven other provinces of Luzon. Beginning with the southern end of the island there are a very few Negritos in the Province of Sorsogon. They are found generally living among the Bicol population and do not run wild in the woods; they have probably drifted down from the neighboring Province of Albay. According to a report submitted by the governor of Sorsogon there are a few of these Negritos in Bacon and Bulusan, and four families containing Negrito blood are on the Island of Batang near Gabat.

Eight pueblos of Albay report altogether as many as 800 Negritos, known locally as "Agta." It is not likely any of them are of pure blood. In all except three of the towns they are servants in Bicol houses, but Malinao, Bacacay, and Tabaco report wandering groups in the mountains.

Meyer, who makes no mention of Negritos in Sorsogon or Albay, deems their existence in the Camarines sufficiently well authenticated, according to Blumentritt, who places Negrito half-breeds in the neighborhood of Lagonoy and around Mount Isarog. Information received by The Ethnological Survey places them in the mountains near Baao, Bulic, Iriga, Lagonoy, San Jose, Gao, and Tigaon, as well as scattered over the Cordillera de Isarog around Sagnay. All of these places are in the extreme southeastern part of the province contiguous to that part of Albay inhabited by Negritos. In neither province is the type pure. In the northern part of the province a few Negritos, called "Dumagat," are reported near Sipocot and Ragay. The towns of San Vicente, Labo, Paracale, Mambulao, and Capalonga along the north coast also have Negritos, generally called "Aeta." These are probably of purer blood than those around Mount Isarog. More than a hundred families of "Dumagat" are reported on the Islands of Caringo, Caluat, and Jomalic.

Farther to the north the Island of Alabat was first stated by Blumentritt to be inhabited by Dumagat, and in his map of 1882 he places them here but omits them in the map of 1890. Meyer deems their occurrence there to be beyond all doubt, as per Steen Bille's reports (Reise der Galathea, German ed., 1852). Reports of The Ethnological Survey place Aeta, Baluga, and Dumagat on Alabat—the former running wild in the mountains, the latter living in the barrios of Camagon and Silangan, respectively. On the mainland of the Province of Tayabas the Negritos are generally known as Aeta and may be regarded as being to a large degree of pure blood. They are scattered pretty well over the northern part of the province, but do not, so far as is known, extend down into the peninsula below Pitogo and Macalelon. Only at Mauban are they known as Baluga, which name seems to indicate a mixed breed. The Island of Polillo and the districts of Infanta and Principe, now part of the Province of Tayabas, have large numbers of Negritos probably more nearly approaching a pure physical type than those south of them. The Negritos of Binangonan and Baler have received attention in short papers from Blumentritt, but it yet remains for someone to make a study of them on the spot.

Meyer noted in 1872 that Negritos frequently came from the mountains to Santa Cruz, Laguna Province. These probably came from across the Tayabas line, as none are reported in Laguna except from Santa Maria, in the extreme northern part. Even these are probably very near the boundary line into Rizal Province; perhaps they are over the line. Tanay, Rizal Province, on the shore of Laguna de Bay, reports some 300 Negritos as living in the mountains north of that town. From descriptions given by natives of Tanay they do not appear to be pure types. There is also a small group near Montalban, in Rizal Province, not more than 20 miles from Manila.

Going northward into Bulacan we are in possession of more definite information regarding the whereabouts of these forest dwellers. Zuniga in 1803 spoke of the Negritos of Angat—in those days head-hunters who were accustomed to send messages by means of knotted grass stalks. [10]

This region, the upper reaches of the Angat River, was visited by Mr. E. J. Simons on a collecting trip for The Ethnological Survey in February, 1903. Mr. Simons saw twenty-two little rancherias of the Dumagat, having a total population of 176 people. Some of them had striking Negroid characteristics, but nearly all bore evidence of a mixture of blood. In some cases full-blooded Filipinos have married into the tribe and adopted Negrito customs entirely. Their social state is about the same as that of the Negritos of Zambales, though some of their habits—for instance, betel chewing—approach more nearly those of lower-class Filipinos. A short vocabulary of their dialect is given in Appendix B.

Negritos are also found in northern Bulacan and throughout the continuous mountain region extending through Nueva Ecija into Isabela and the old Province of Principe. They are reported from Penaranda, Bongabong, and Pantabangan, in Nueva Ecija, to the number of 500. This region is yet to be fully explored; the same may be said also of that vast range of mountains, the Sierra Madre, of Isabela and Cagayan. In the Province of Isabela Negritos are reported from all the towns, especially Palanan, on the coast, and Carig, Echague, Angadanan, Cauayan, and Cabagan Nuevo, on the upper reaches of the Rio Grande de Cagayan, but as there is a vast unknown country between, future exploration will have to determine the numerical importance of the Negritos. It has been thought heretofore that this region contained a large number of people of pure blood. This was the opinion set forth by Blumentritt. He says:

This coast is the only spot in the Philippines in which the original masters of the Archipelago, the Negritos, hold unrestricted possession of their native land. The eastern side of the Cordillera which slopes toward this coast is also their undisputed possession. However, the western slopes they have been compelled to share with branches of Malay descendants. Here they retain the greatest purity of original physique and character.

These statements stand much in need of verification. Inquiries pursued by The Ethnological Survey do not bear them out—in fact, point to an opposite belief.

There is a small body of what may be pure types near the boundary between Isabela and Cagayan, west of the Cagayan River, but the coast region, so far as is known, does not hold any Negritos.

As many as sixteen towns of Cagayan report Negritos to the total number of about 2,500. They are known commonly as "Atta," but in the pueblo of Baggao there are three groups known locally as "Atta," "Diango," and "Paranan." They have been described by natives of Baggao as being very similar to the ordinary Filipinos in physical characteristics except that they are darker in color and have bushy hair. Their only weapons are the bow and arrow. Their social status is in every way like that of the Negritos as distinguished from the industrious mountain. Malayans of northern Luzon. Yet future investigations may not associate these robust and warlike tribes with the weak, shirking Negritos. Negritos of pure type have not so far been reported from Cagayan.

At only two places in the western half of northern Luzon have Negritos been observed. There is a small group near Piddig, Ilokos Norte, and a wandering band of about thirty-five in the mountains between Villavieja, Abra Province, and Santa Maria, Ilokos Sur Province, from both of which towns they have been reported. It is but a question of time until no trace of them will be left in this region so thickly populated with stronger mountain peoples.



In the Southern Islands

Although Negritos were reported by the early Spanish writers to be especially numerous in some of the southern islands, probably more of them are found on Luzon than on all the other islands in the Archipelago. Besides Luzon, the only large islands inhabited by them at present are Panay, Negros, Mindanao, and Paragua, but some of the smaller islands, as Tablas and Guimaras, have them.

Negritos of pure blood have not been reported from Mindoro, but only the half-breed Manguian, who belong in a group to themselves. It is questionable whether the unknown interior will produce pure types, though it is frequently reported that there are Negritos in the interior.

There is a rather large colony of Negritos on the west coast of Tablas near Odiungan, and also a few on the Isla de Carabao immediately south of Tablas. These have probably passed up from Panay. All the provinces of the latter island report Negritos, locally known as "Ati" and "Agta." They seem to be scattered pretty well over the interior of Panay, being especially numerous in the mountainous region where the Provinces of Antique and Iloilo join. In Antique there are about 1,000 Negritos living in groups of several families each. They are reported from nearly all the towns, being more numerous along the Dalanas and Sibalon Rivers. The number of pure types is said, however, to be rapidly decreasing on account of intermarriage with the Bukidnon or mountain Visayan. They are of very small stature, with kinky hair. They lead the same nomadic life as the Negritos in other parts, except that they depend more on the products of the forest for subsistence and rarely clear and cultivate "ca-ing-in." [11] They seem to have developed more of religious superstitions, and believe that both evil spirits and protecting spirits inhabit the forests and plains. However, these beliefs may have been borrowed from the Bukidnon, with whom they come much in contact. From a mixing of the Ati and Bukidnon are sprung the Calibugan, who partake more of the characteristics of their Visayan ancestors than those of the Ati, and generally abandon the nomadic life and live in clearings in the forest.

About ten years ago there was a group of about 200 Ati at a place called Labangan, on the Dalanas River, governed by one Capitan Andres. They made clearings and carried people across the river for a small remuneration. Many of them are said to have emigrated to Negros to escape public work to which the local authorities subjected them without compensation.

There is a small, wandering group of Negritos on Guimaras, probably emigrants from Panay. They have been reported from both Nagaba and Nueva Valencia, pueblos of that island.

Investigation does not bear out the statements of the historian previously quoted in regard to the early populations of Negros. At least it seems that if the southwestern part of that island known as Sojoton had been so thickly populated with Negritos early in the eighteenth century more traces of them would remain to-day. But they seem to have left no marks on the Malayan population. While in the Isio region in August, 1903, I made special investigation and inquiry into this subject and could find no trace of Negritos. Expeditions of the Constabulary into the interior have never met with the little blacks except a single colony near the boundary line between the two provinces just north of Tolon. A few Negritos have also been seen scattered in the interior of southern Oriental Negros back from Nueva Valencia, Ayuquitan, and Bais. From there no trace of them exists until the rugged mountains north of the volcano of Canlaon are reached, in the almost impenetrable recesses of which there are estimated to be a thousand or more. They are especially numerous back of Escalante and formerly made frequent visits to that pueblo, but recent military operations in the region have made them timid, as scouting parties have fired on and killed several of them. The sight of a white man or native of the plain is a signal for an immediate discharge of arrows. Also in the mountains behind Sagay, Cadiz, and Manapla live a few scattered families. I was fortunate in securing photographs of a Negrito captured by the Constabulary near Cadiz. (See Pl. XXVI.) He was much taller than the Negritos of Zambales, but with very little muscular development. He spoke Visayan, and said he knew no other dialect. While in Negros I also secured photographs of a small colony of Ati, who emigrated from Panay about twenty years ago and now live on a mountain hacienda on the slope of Mount Canlaon.

So far there is no evidence that Negritos exist on Cebu, Bohol, Samar, and Leyte. In Mindanao they are found only in the extreme northern part of Surigao, not having been reported below Tago. They are called "Mamanua," and are not very numerous.

We have detailed accounts of both the Tagbanua and Batak of Paragua, by senor Manuel Venturello, a native of Puerto Princesa, who has lived among them twenty years. These interesting articles, translated by Capt. E. A. Helmick, Tenth United States Infantry, and published in pamphlet form by the Division of Military Information, Manila, are especially full as to customs, religion, language, etc., of the Tagbanua who inhabit the central part of Paragua from the Bay of Ulugan south to Apurahuan. However, the Tagbanua, although perhaps having a slight amount of Negrito blood, can not be classed with the Negritos. But, in my opinion, the Batak who inhabit the territory from the Bay of Ulugan north to Caruray and Barbacan may be so classed, although they are by no means of pure blood. They are described as being generally of small stature but well developed and muscular. They have very curly but not kinky hair, except in rare cases. Their weapons are the bow and arrow and the blowgun or sumpitan, here called "sumpit." Their only clothing is a breechcloth and a short skirt of flayed bark. A notable feature of their customs is that both polygyny and polyandry are permitted, this being the only instance of the latter practice so far observed among the tribes of the Philippines. The Batak are not very numerous; their villages have been decimated by ravages of smallpox during the past five years.



Conclusion

This rapid survey leaves much to be desired, but it contains about all that is definitely known to-day concerning the whereabouts of the Negritos in the Philippines. No attempt has been made to state numbers. The Philippine census will probably have more exact information in this particular, but it must be borne in mind that even the figures given by the census can be no more than estimates in most instances. The habits of the Negritos do not lend themselves to modern methods of census taking.

After all, Blumentritt's opinion of several years ago is not far from right. Including all mixed breeds having a preponderance of Negrito blood, it is safe to say that the Negrito population of the Philippines probably will not exceed 25,000. Of these the group largest in numbers and probably purest in type is that in the Zambales mountain range, western Luzon. However, while individuals may retain in some cases purity of blood, nowhere are whole groups free from mixture with the Malayan. The Negritos of Panay, Negros, and Mindanao are also to be regarded as pure to a large extent. On the east side of Luzon and in the Island of Paragua, as we have just seen, there is marked evidence of mixture.

The social state of the Negritos is everywhere practically the same. They maintain their half-starved lives by the fruits of the chase and forest products, and at best cultivate only small patches of maize and other vegetables. Only occasionally do they live in settled, self-supporting communities, but wander for the most part in scattered families from one place to another.



CHAPTER II

THE PROVINCE OF ZAMBALES



Geographical Features

This little-known and comparatively unimportant province stretches along the western coast of Luzon for more than 120 miles. Its average width does not exceed 25 miles and is so out of proportion to its length that it merits the title which it bears of the "shoestring province." [12]

The Zambales range of mountains, of which the southern half is known as the Cordillera de Cabusilan and which is second in importance to the Caraballos system of northern Luzon, forms the entire eastern boundary of Zambales and separates it from the Provinces of Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Pampanga. A number of peaks rise along this chain, of which Mount Pinatubo, 6,040 feet in height, is the highest. All of the rivers of Zambales rise on the western slope of these mountains and carry turbulent floods through the narrow plains. Still unbridged, they are an important factor in preventing communication and traffic between towns, and hence in retarding the development of the province. Another important factor in this connection is the lack of safe anchorages. The Zambales coast is a stormy one, and vessels frequently come to grief on its reefs. At only one point, Subig Bay, can larger vessels find anchorage safe from the typhoons which sweep the coast. The soil of the well-watered plain is fertile and seems adapted to the cultivation of nearly all the products of the Archipelago. The forests are especially valuable, and besides fine timbers for constructional purposes they supply large quantities of pitch, resin, bejuco, and beeswax. There are no industries worth mentioning, there being only primitive agriculture and stock raising.

The following opinions of Zambales set forth by a Spanish writer in 1880 still hold good: [13]

There are more populous and more civilized provinces whose commercial and agricultural progress has been more pronounced, but nowhere is the air more pure and transparent, the vegetation more luxuriant, the climate more agreeable, the coasts more sunny, and the inhabitants more simple and pacific.



Historical Sketch

According to Buzeta, another Spanish historian, it was Juan de Salcedo who discovered Zambales. [14]

This intrepid soldier [he says], after having conquered Manila and the surrounding provinces, resolved to explore the northern part of Luzon. He organized at his own expense an expedition, and General Legaspi gave him forty-five soldiers, with whom he left Manila May 20, 1572. After a journey of three days he arrived at Bolinao, where he found a Chinese vessel whose crew had made captives of a chief and several other natives. Salcedo, retook these captives from the Chinese and gave them their liberty. The Indians, who were not accustomed to such generosity, were so touched by this act that they became voluntary vassals of the Spaniards.

It seems that nothing further was done toward settling or evangelizing the region for twelve years, although the chronicler goes on to say that three years after the discovery of Bolinao a sergeant of Salcedo's traversed the Bolinao region, receiving everywhere the homage of the natives, and a Franciscan missionary, Sebastian Baeza, preached the gospel there. But in 1584 the Augustinians established themselves at the extreme ends of the mountain range, Bolinao and Mariveles. One of them, the friar Esteban Martin, was the first to learn the Zambal dialect. The Augustinians were succeeded by the Recollets, who, during the period from 1607 to 1680, founded missions at Agno, Balincaguin, Bolinao, Cabangan, Iba, Masinloc, and Santa Cruz. Then in 1680, more than a hundred years after Salcedo landed at Bolinao, the Dominicans undertook the active evangelization of the district.

Let us now examine [continues the historian [15]] the state of these savage Indians whom the zealous Spanish missionaries sought to convert. Father Salazar, after having described the topography of this mountainous province, sought to give an idea of the political and social state of the pagans who formed the larger part of the aboriginal population: "The principal cause," he said, "of the barbarity of these Indians, and that which prevents their ever being entirely and pacifically converted, is that the distances are so great and communication so difficult that the alcaldes can not control them and the missionaries find it impossible to exercise any influence over them."

Each village was composed of ten, twenty, or thirty families, united nearly always by ties of kinship. It was difficult to bring these villages together because they carried on wars continually, and they lived in such a state of discord that it was impossible to govern them; moreover they were so barbarous and fierce that they recognized only superior power. They governed through fear. He who wished to be most respected sought to inspire fear by striking off as many beads as possible. The one who committed the most assassinations was thus assured of the subordination of all. They made such a glory of it that they were accustomed to wear certain ornaments in order to show to the eyes or all the murders they had committed. When a person lost a relative either by a violent or a natural death he covered his head with a strip of black cloth as a sign of mourning and could take it off only after having committed a murder, a thing which they were always eager to do in order to get rid of the sadness of mourning, because so long as they wore the badge they could not sing or dance or take part in any festivity. One understands then that deaths became very frequent in a country where all deaths were necessarily followed by one or more murders. It is true that he who committed a murder sought to atone for it by paying to the relatives of the deceased a certain quantity of gold or silver or by giving them a slave or a Negrito who might be murdered in his place.

The Zambal had nevertheless more religion than the inhabitants of other provinces. There was among them a high priest, called "Bayoc," who by certain rites consecrated the other priests. He celebrated this ceremony in the midst of orgies and the most frightful revels. He next indicated to the new priest the idol or cult to which he should specially devote himself and conferred on him privileges proportionate to the rank of that divinity, for they recognized among their gods a hierarchy, which established also that of their curates. They gave to their principal idol the name of "Malyari"—that is, the powerful. The Bayoc alone could offer sacrifice to him. There was another idol, Acasi, whose power almost equaled that of the first. In fact, they sang in religious ceremonies that "although Malyari was powerful, Acasi had preeminence." In an inferior order they worshiped also Manlobog or Mangalagan, whom they recognized as having power of appeasing irritated spirits. They rendered equal worship to five less important idols who represented the divinities of the fields, prosperity to their herds and harvests. They also believed that Anitong sent them rains and favorable winds; Damalag preserved the sown fields from hurricanes; Dumanga made the grain grow abundantly; and finally Calascas ripened it, leaving to Calosocos only the duty of harvesting the crops. They also had a kind of baptism administered by the Bayoc with pure blood of the pig, but this ceremony, very long and especially very expensive, was seldom celebrated in grand style. The sacrifice which the same priest offered to the idol Malyari consisted of ridiculous ceremonies accompanied by savage cries and yells and was terminated by repugnant debaucheries.

Of course it is impossible to tell how much of this is the product of the writer's imagination, or at least of the imagination of those earlier chroniclers from whom he got his information, but it can very well be believed that the natives had a religion of their own and that the work of the missionaries was exceedingly difficult. It was necessary to get them into villages, to show them how to prepare and till the soil and harvest the crops. And the writer concludes that "little by little the apathetic and indolent natives began to recognize the advantages of social life constituted under the shield of authority and law, and the deplorable effects of savage life, offering no guarantee of individual or collective security."

A fortress had been built at Paynaven, in what is now the Province of Pangasinan, from which the work of the missionaries spread southward, so that the northern towns were all organized before those in the south. It is not likely that this had anything to do with causing the Negritos to leave the northern part of the province, if indeed they ever occupied it, but it is true that to-day they inhabit only the mountainous region south of a line drawn through the middle of the province from east to west.

The friar Martinez Zuniga, speaking of the fortress at Paynaven, said that in that day, the beginning of the last century, there was little need of it as a protection against the "infidel Indians" and blacks who were very few in number, and against whom a stockade of bamboo was sufficient.

It might serve against the Moros [he continues], but happily the Zambales coast is but little exposed to the attacks of these pirates, who always seek easy anchorage. The pirates are, however, a constant menace and source of danger to the Zambal, who try to transport on rafts the precious woods of their mountains and to carry on commerce with Manila in their little boats. The Zambal are exposed to attack from the Moros in rounding the point at the entrance of Manila Bay, from which it results that the province is poor and has little commerce. [16]

Everything in the history of the Zambal people and their present comparative unimportance goes to show that they were the most indolent and backward of the Malayan peoples. While they have never given the governing powers much trouble, yet they have not kept pace with the agricultural and commercial progress of the other people, and their territory has been so steadily encroached on from all sides by their more aggressive neighbors that their separate identity is seriously threatened. The rich valleys of Zambales have long attracted Ilokano immigrants, who have founded several important towns. The Zambal themselves, owing to lack of communication between their towns, have developed three separate dialects, none of which has ever been deemed worthy of study and publication, as have the other native dialects of the Philippines. A glance at the list of towns of Zambales with the prevailing dialect spoken in each, and in case of nearly equal division also the second most important dialect, will show to what extent Zambal as a distinct dialect is gradually disappearing:

Dialects in Zambales Province

Town Primary dialect Secondary dialect

Olongapo Tagalog

Subig Tagalog

Castillejos Tagalog Ilokano

San Marcelino Ilokano Tagalog

San Antonio Ilokano

San Narciso Ilokano

San Felipe Ilokano

Cabangan Zambal

Botolan Zambal

Iba Zambal

Palauig Zambal

Masinloc Zambal

Candelaria Zambal

Santa Cruz Zambal

Infanta Zambal

Dasol Pangasinan Zambal

Agno Ilokano Pangasinan

Barri Zambal

San Isidro Ilokano

Balincaguin Pangasinan

Alos Ilokano Pangasinan

Alumnos Pangasinan Ilokano

Zaragoza Zambal

Bolinao Zambal

Anda Zambal

Of twenty-five towns Zambal is the prevailing dialect of less than half. As will be seen, the Ilokano have been the most aggressive immigrants. As a prominent Ilokano in the town of San Marcelino expressed it, when they first came they worked for the Zambals, who held all the good land. But the Zambal landowners, perhaps wanting money for a cockfight, would sell a small piece of land to some Ilokano who had saved a little money, and when he ran out of money he would sell a little more land, until finally the Ilokano owned it all.

This somewhat lengthy and seemingly irrelevant sketch of the early history of Zambales and of the character of its inhabitants to-day is given to show the former state of savagery and the apathetic nature of the people who, in the days before the arrival of the Europeans, were in such close contact with the Negritos as to impose on them their language, and they have done it so thoroughly that no trace of an original Negrito dialect remains. Relations such as to-day exist between the people of the plains and those of the mountains would not change a dialect in a thousand years. Another evidence of a former close contact may be found in the fact that the Negritos of southern Zambales who have never personally come in contact with the Zambal but only with the Tagalog also speak Zambal with some slight variations, showing, too, that the movement of the Negritos has been southward away from the Zambal territory.

Close study and special investigation into the linguistics of this region, carried also into Bataan and across the mountain into Pampanga and Tarlac, may throw more light on this very interesting and important subject and may reveal traces of an original Negrito dialect. Prominent natives of Zambales, whom I have questioned, and who are familiar with the subject, affirm that the Negritos know only the dialect of the Zambal. Indeed those are not lacking who believe in a blood relationship between the Negritos and the Zambal, but this belief can not be taken seriously. [17]

Very little mention is made by the early writers of the Negritos. In fact they knew nothing of them except that they were small blacks who roamed in the mountains, living on roots and game which they killed with the bow and arrow. They were reported to be fierce little savages from whom no danger could come, since they did not leave their mountain fastnesses, but whose territory none dared enter.



Habitat of the Negritos

As has been stated, the present range of the Negritos of this territory embraces the mountainous portion of the lower half of Zambales and the contiguous Provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga, extending southward even to the very extremity of the peninsula of Bataan.

This region, although exceedingly broken and rough, has not the high-ridged, deep-canyoned aspect of the Cordillera Central of northern Luzon. It consists for the most part of rolling tablelands, broken by low, forest-covered ridges and dotted here and there by a few gigantic peaks. The largest and highest of these, Mount Pinatubo, situated due east from the town of Cabangan, holds on its broad slopes the largest part of the Negritos of Zambales. Many tiny streams have their sources in this mountain and rush down the slopes, growing in volume and furnishing water supply to the Negrito villages situated along their banks. Some of the larger of these streams have made deep cuts on the lower reaches of the mountain slopes, but they are generally too small to have great powers of erosion. The unwooded portions of the table-lands are covered with cogon and similar wild grasses.

Here is enough fertile land to support thousands of people. The Negritos occupy practically none of it. Their villages and mountain farms are very scattered. The villages are built for the most part on the table-land above some stream, and the little clearings are found on the slope of the ridge at the base of which the stream runs. No use whatever is made of the grass-covered table-land, save that it offers a high and dry site for a rancheria, free from fevers.

Practically all of the Negrito rancherias are within the jurisdiction of the two towns of Botolan and San Marcelino. Following the winding course of the Bucao River, 15 miles southeast from Botolan, one comes to the barrio of San Fernando de Riviera, as it is on the maps, or Pombato, as the natives call it. This is a small Filipino village, the farthest out, a half-way place between the people of the plains and those of the uplands. Here a ravine is crossed, a hill climbed, and the traveler stands on a plateau not more than half a mile wide but winding for miles toward the big peak Pinatubo and almost imperceptibly increasing in elevation. Low, barren ridges flank it on either side, at the base of each of which flows a good-sized stream. Seven miles of beaten winding path through the cogon grass bring the traveler to the first Negrito rancheria, Tagiltil, one year old, lying sun baked on a southern slope of the plateau. Here the plateau widens out, is crossed and cut up by streams and hills, and the forests gradually become thicker. In the wide reach of territory of which this narrow plateau is the western apex, including Mount Pinatubo and reaching to the Tarlac and Pampanga boundaries, there are situated no less than thirty rancherias of Negritos, having an average population of 40 persons or a total of more than 1,200. Besides these there are probably many scattered families, especially in the higher and less easily accessible forests of Mount Pinatubo, who live in no fixed spot but lead a wandering existence. And so uncertain are the habits of the more settled Negritos that one of the thirty rancherias known to-day may to-morrow be nothing more than a name, and some miles away a new rancheria may spring up. The tendency to remain in one place seems, however, to be growing.

The mountainous portions of the jurisdictions of the two towns of Botolan and San Marcelino, themselves many miles apart with three or more towns between, are contiguous, the one extending southeast, the other northeast, until they meet. The San Marcelino region contains about the same number of Negritos, grouped in many small communities around five large centers—Santa Fe, Aglao, Cabayan, Panibutan, and Timao—each of which numbers some 300 Negritos. They are of the same type and culture plane as those nearer Pinatubo, and their habitat is practically the same, a continuation of the more or less rugged Cordillera. They are in constant communication with the Negritos north of them and with those across the Pampanga line east of them. The Negritos of Aglao are also in communication with those of Subig, where there is a single rancheria numbering 45 souls. Still farther south in the jurisdiction of Olongapo are two rancherias, numbering about 100 people, who partake more of the characteristics of the Negritos of Bataan just across the provincial line than they do of those of the north.

Here mention may be made also of the location of rancherias and numbers of Negritos in the provinces adjoining Zambales, as attention is frequently called to them later, especially those of Bataan, for the sake of comparison. Negritos are reported from all of the towns of Bataan, and there are estimated to be 1,500 of them, or about half as many as in Zambales. They are more numerous on the side toward Manila Bay, in the mountains back of Balanga, Orion, and Pilar. Moron and Bagac on the opposite coast each report more than a hundred. There is a colony of about thirty near Mariveles. Owing to repeated visits of tourists to their village and to the fact that they were sent to the Hanoi Exposition in 1903, this group has lost many of the customs peculiar to Negritos in a wild state and has donned the ordinary Filipino attire.

Cabcabe, also in the jurisdiction of Mariveles, has more than a hundred Negritos, and from here to Dinalupijan, the northernmost town of the province, there are from 50 to 200 scattered in small groups around each town and within easy distance. Sometimes, as at Balanga, they are employed on the sugar plantations and make fairly good laborers.

The Negritos of Bataan as a whole seem less mixed with the Malayan than any other group, and fewer mixed bloods are seen among them. Their average stature is also somewhat lower. They speak corrupt Tagalog, though careful study may reveal traces of an original tongue. (See Appendix B for a vocabulary.)

In the section of Pampanga lying near Zambales Province more than a thousand Negritos have been reported from the towns of Florida Blanca, Porac, Angeles, and Mabalacat. There are estimated to be about 1,200 in Tarlac, in the jurisdiction of the towns of O'Donnell, Moriones, Capas, Bamban, and Camiling. There are two or three good trails leading from this province into Zambales by which the Negritos of the two provinces communicate with each other. It is proposed to convert the one from O'Donnell to Botolan into a wagon road, which will have the effect of opening up a little-known territory. Across the line into Pangasinan near the town of Mangataren there is a colony of mixed Negritos somewhat more advanced in civilization than is usually the case with these forest dwellers. According to Dr. D. P. Barrows, who visited their rancherias in December, 1901, it seems to have been the intention of the Spanish authorities to form a reservation at that place which should be a center from which to reach the wilder bands in the hills and to induce them to adopt a more settled life. A Filipino was sent to the rancheria as a "maestro" and remained among the people six years. But the scheme fell through there as elsewhere in the failure of the authorities to provide homes and occupations for the Negritos. The Ilokano came in and occupied all the available territory, and the Negritos now hang around the Ilokano homes, doing a little work and picking up the little food thrown to them. Dr. Barrows states that the group contains no pure types characterized by wide, flat noses and kinky hair. In addition to the bow and arrows they carry a knife called "kampilan" having a wide-curving blade. They use this weapon in a dance called "baluk," brandishing it, snapping their fingers, and whirling about with knees close to the ground. This is farther north than Negritos are found in Zambales but is in territory contiguous to that of the Tarlac Negritos. The entire region contains about 6,000 souls. The groups are so scattered, however, that the territory may be said to be practically unoccupied.



CHAPTER III

NEGRITOS OF ZAMBALES



Physical Features

The characteristics which serve more than any others to distinguish the true Negrito from other inhabitants of the Philippines are his small stature, kinky hair, and almost black skin. His eyes may be more round, his nose more short and flat, and his limbs more spindling than is the case with peoples of Malayan extraction, but these features are usually less noticeable. Perhaps undue emphasis has been given by writers on the Negrito to his short stature, until the impression has gone abroad that these primitive men are veritable dwarfs. As a matter of fact, individuals sometimes attain the stature of the shortest of the white men, and apparently only a slight infusion of Malayan blood is necessary to cause the Negrito to equal the Malay in, height.

The Aeta of Zambales range in stature from 4 to 5 feet. To be more exact, the maximum height of the 77 individuals measured by me, taking them as they came, with no attempt to select, was 1,600 millimeters (5 feet 2 inches); the maximum height for females was 1,502 millimeters (4 feet 11 inches); the minimum height for males was 1,282 millimeters (4 feet 2 inches), for females, 1,265 millimeters (4 feet). The average of the 48 males measured was 1,463 millimeters (4 feet 9 inches); of the 29 females, 1,378 millimeters (4 feet 6 inches). There is perhaps no greater variation between these figures than there would be between the averages of stature of as many individuals selected at random from any other race. Yet it should be remembered that some of the Negritos included in this list are not pure types—in fact, are no more than half-breeds.

The abnormal length of the arm of the Negritos has been regarded by some writers as an essentially simian characteristic, especially in the case of the pygmy blacks of Central Africa. With the Aeta this characteristic is not so marked, yet 7 out of 8 males had a reach or span greater than the height. The proportion was not so large among the females, being only 2 in 3. The maximum span for males was 1,635 millimeters, for females 1,538 millimeters, but in neither case did the individuals having the greatest span also have the greatest height. The average span of 48 males exceeded the average height by 37 millimeters; the difference in the case of the females was only 16 millimeters.

Length of arm was taken on only 19 individuals, 16 males and 3 females. The longest arm measured 675 millimeters (2 feet 3 inches), which is not so long as the average Caucasian arm, though more out of proportion to the height, in this case being nearly half the latter measurement. The shortest arm, that of an adult female, was 539 millimeters (21 inches).

So far from being ape like in appearance, some of the Aeta are very well-built little men, with broad chests, symmetrical limbs, and well-developed muscles hardened by incessant use. This applies of course only to the young men and boys just approaching manhood, and is especially noticeable in the southern regions, where the Aeta are generally more robust and muscular. The younger females are also as a rule well formed. In the case of unmarried girls the breasts are rounded and erect, but after marriage gradually become more and more pendant until they hang almost to the waist line. With advancing age the muscles shrink, the skin shrivels up until an individual of 40 to 50 years usually has the decrepit appearance of an octogenarian; in fact, 50 is old age with the Aeta. (See plates.)

Anthropometric observations fall naturally into two groups, dealing with the proportions of the head and body, the latter of which have already been discussed. Great interest attaches also to the relative proportions of the different dimensions of the head and especially to the cephalic index obtained by multiplying the maximum breadth by 100 and dividing by the maximum length. Heads with an index of 75 or under are called dolichocephalic; those between 75 and 80, mesaticephalic; and those over 80 brachycephalic. The beads of the Aeta are essentially brachycephalic. Owing to the lack of proper calipers during the greater part of my stay among them, I was able to measure only 19 individuals, but of those all but 5 were in the brachycephalic group, one instance being noted where the index was as great as 92; the lowest was 78. The average of the males was 82 and of the females 86.

Considerable importance in anthropometry is attached to the study of the nose. The typical Aeta nose may be described as broad, flat, bridgeless, with prominent arched alae almost as high as the central cartilage of the nose and with the nostrils invariably visible from the front. The nasal index obtained by dividing the nasal breadth by the height from the root of the nose to the septum and multiplying the quotient by 100 serves to indicate the group to which the individual belongs. Thus it will be seen that races with a nasal index of more than 100 have a nose wider than it is long. This is a marked characteristic of the Aeta. Of the 76 Aeta I measured, 25 were ultraplatyrhinian—that is, had a nasal index greater than 109. One individual, a female, showed the surprising index of 140.7, the greatest so far recorded to my knowledge. The greatest nasal index among the males was 130.7. Only one example of a mesorhine nose was noted, also of a female, and but 7 platyrhine. The most of them belonged in the hyperplatyrhine group. The following table will show the proper classification of the individuals measured by me:

Nasal index of Zambales Negritos

Group Sex and number Males Females

Mesorhine (69.5-81.4) — 1 Platyrhine (81.5-87.8) 3 4 Hyperplatyrhine (87.9-108.8) 27 16 Ultraplatyrhine (109 and over) 51 10

The shape of the eye varies from the round negroid of the pure bloods to the elongated mongoloid in the case of mixed types. The color of the eyes is a very dark brown or black. The lips are medium thick, far less thick than the lips of the African negro, and are not protruding.

The hair of the Aeta is uniformly kinky in the case of the pure types. Individuals were noted with other negroid features but with curly hair, showing a probable mixture of blood. The hair grows low on the forehead and is very thick. Eyebrows are not heavy, save in particular instances, and beard is very scanty, though all adult males have some beard. There is very little body hair on adults of either Sex, except in the axillary and pubic regions, and it is scant even in these places. The northern Negritos have practically none in the armpits. Two or three old men were seen with a coating of hair over the back, chest, and legs. The head hair is uniformly of a dirty black color, in some instances sunburned on top to a reddish brown. It turns gray at a comparatively early age, and baldness is frequent. (See Pls. XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI.)

In the case of women the hair is generally allowed to grow long, and in this tangled, uncombed state furnishes an excellent breeding place for vermin. However, if the vermin become troublesome the hair is sometimes cut short. (See Pl. XVII.) The cutting is done with the ever-useful bolo or sharp knife and is a somewhat laborious and painful process. Sometimes the hair may be cropped behind and left long on top. This is a favorite style of wearing it among the men, and is frequently followed by the women. Attempt is seldom made to comb the hair, but frequent vermin-catching onslaughts are made, the person performing the work using a sharp piece of bamboo to separate the tangled kinks and to mash the offending parasite against the thumb nail. In Bataan the Negritos sometimes shave a circular place on the crown, but I am not informed as to the reason. The practice is not followed in Zambales.

The color of the skin is a dark chocolate brown rather than black, and on unexposed portions of the body approaches a yellowish tint of the Malayan. The loathsome skin disease common in the northern region of Luzon gives it a mottled appearance.

The Aeta have practically no prognathism. The hands are not large, but the feet are larger in proportion to the size of the body than those of Filipinos. The toes are spreading, and the large toe frequently extends inward so much as to attract attention, though this can not be said to be a marked characteristic of all individuals. It may be caused by a constant practice of the tree climber—that of grasping a branch between the large toes and the other toes. I have seen Negrito boys who would use their feet in this respect as well as they used their hands.



Permanent Adornment

The custom prevails throughout the entire Negrito territory of sharpening the teeth. Usually only the upper teeth are so treated, but numerous cases were noted where the teeth were sharpened both above and below, and still there were others where they were not sharpened at all. This sharpening is not performed at any certain age, and it is apparently not obligatory; I do not believe parents compel their children to submit to this practice. The object seems to be largely for the sake of adornment, but the Negritos say that sharpened teeth enable them to cat corn with greater ease. The sharpening is done by placing the blade of a bolo against the part of the tooth to be broken away and giving it a sharp rap with a piece of wood. The operation, called "ta-li-han," is a somewhat delicate one, requiring care to prevent breaking through into the soft part of the tooth and exposing the nerve, and is no doubt practiced by only one or two persons in a group, though this fact could not be ascertained. Notwithstanding this mutilation, the teeth seem to be remarkably healthy and well preserved except in old age.

In like manner each group of people possesses its scarifier, who by practice becomes adept. Scarification simply for purposes of ornamentation is not practiced to any great extent by the Negritos around Pinatubo. They burn themselves for curative purposes (see Chap. VI) and are sometimes covered with scars, but not the kind of scars produced by incisions. Only occasionally is the latter scarification seen near Pinatubo. In regions where it is common the work is usually done at the age of 15 or 16, although it may be done at any age. The incisions are made with a knife or a very sharp piece of cane, and generally follow some regular design. Scarification is called "ta-bad," and it has no other significance than adornment. The parts of the body usually marked are the breast, shoulders, and back, although scars are occasionally seen on the legs.



Clothing and Dress

The clothing of the Negrito consists simply of the breechcloth and an occasional cast-off shirt given him by some Filipino in exchange for articles. Sometimes in cases of extreme prosperity he may possess a hat and a pair of trousers. The latter garment is usually worn, however, only by the chief man or "capitan" of the tribe, and the rank and file wear only the breechcloth.

A strip of cloth fastened around the waist and extending to the knees serves a woman for a dress. With unmarried girls this strip may be wound under the arms and so cover the breast. Rarely a short camisa is worn, but seldom do the camisa and the saya, or skirt, join. Sometimes, owing to the scarcity of cloth, a narrow strip will be worn over the breast, leaving a broad expanse of dark skin between it and the saya. (Pls. XXIX et seq.)

If given their choice among a variety of colors the Negritos always select black for their breechcloth and saya, because, they explain, the black will not show dirt as will other colors. Gaudy colors seem to attract and will be readily accepted as gifts if nothing else is at hand; yet I had some difficulty in disposing of a bolt of red cloth I had taken among them, and finally had to take the greater part of it back to the pueblo and exchange it for black. So far as I could learn the breechcloth and saya are never washed, and any cloth other than black would soon lose its original color. The cloth used by Negritos is procured in trade from the Christian towns.

In the less easily accessible regions where the wilder Negritos live the breechcloth and saya are made of the inner bark of certain trees which is flayed until it becomes soft and pliable.

The Negrito takes little pride in his personal appearance, and hence is not given to elaborate ornamentation. The women wear seed necklaces, called "col-in'-ta," of black, white, and brown seeds, sometimes of a single solid color and sometimes with the colors alternating. I have also seen necklaces of small stones, hard berries of some sort, pieces of button or bone, and little round pieces of wood. Some women possess glass beads secured in trade from the Christianized natives. Often two or three white or black beads are used for ear ornaments, though it is not a very common practice to puncture the ears for this purpose as in Bataan, where leaves and flowers are often worn stuck in a hole through the lobe of the ear. What appears to be a necklace and really answers the purpose of such is a string of dried berries, called "a-mu-yong'," which are said to be efficacious for the pangs of indigestion. (See Pl. XXXV.) When the Negrito feels a pain within him he pulls off a berry and eats it. One may see a string with just a few berries, and again a complete necklace of them, evidently just put on. These are worn by both sexes and are so worn for the sake of convenience as much as with the idea of ornamentation, for the Negrito has no pocket. Necklaces of fine woven strips of bejuco or vegetable fiber are sometimes seen but are not common. These strands are woven over a piece of cane, the lengthwise strands being of one color, perhaps yellow, and the crosswise strands black, giving a very pretty effect and making a durable ornament which the Negritos call "la-lao'."

Hair ornaments are not generally worn, but nearly every Negrito, male and female, especially in southern Zambales and Bataan, possesses one or more of the so-called combs of bamboo. A single style prevails over the entire Negrito territory, differing only in minor details. A section of bamboo or mountain cane, varying in length from 5 to 10 inches, is split in thirds or quarters and one of these pieces forms the body of the comb. Teeth are cut at one end and the back is ornamented according to the taste of the maker by a rude carving. This carving consists simply of a series of lines or cuts, following some regular design into which dirt is rubbed to make it black. The combs may be further decorated with bright-colored bird feathers fastened with beeswax or gum to the concave side of the end which has no teeth. The feathers may be notched saw-tooth fashion and have string tassels fastened to the ends. In lieu of feathers horsehair and a kind of moss or other plant fiber are often used. The most elaborate decorations were noticed only in the north, while the combs of the south have either no ornamentation or have simply the hair or moss. These combs, which the Negritos call "hook'-lay," are made and worn by both men and women, either with the tasseled and feathered ends directly in front or directly behind. (See Pl. XXXVI.)

Leglets of wild boars' bristles, called "a-ya-bun," are more common in the south than in the north. These are made by taking a strip of bejuco and fastening the bristles to it so that they stand out at right angles to the leg of the wearer. They are used only by men and are worn on either leg, usually on the right just below the knee. The Negritos say these leglets give the wearer greater powers of endurance and are efficacious in making long journeys less tiresome. "For is not the wild boar the most hardy of all animals?" they ask. This idea is further carried out in the wearing of pieces of boars' skin with the hair attached, which may often be seen tied around the legs or wrists. Deerskin, which is quite as common among the Negritos, is never used in such fashion. Metal rings and bracelets are entirely unknown among the Negritos except where secured from the coast towns. (See Pl. XXXVII.)



CHAPTER IV

INDUSTRIAL LIFE



Home Life

The general condition of the Negritos, although not one of extreme misery, is indeed pitiable. Their life is a continual struggle for sufficient food, but their efforts to provide for themselves stop short at that; clothing and houses are of secondary importance. The average Negrito takes little pride in his dwelling place. A shelter sufficient to turn the beating rains is all he asks. He sees to it that the hut is on ground high enough so that water will not stand in it; then, curled up beside his few coals of fire, he sleeps with a degree of comfort.

The most easily constructed hut, and therefore the most common, consists simply of two forked sticks driven into the ground so they stand about 8 feet apart and 4 feet high. A horizontal piece is laid in the two forks, then some strips of bamboo are inclined against this crosspiece, the other ends resting on the ground. Some cross strips are tied with bejuco to these bamboos and the whole is covered with banana leaves. With the materials close at hand a half hour is sufficient for one man to construct such a shelter. Where a comparatively long residence in one place is contemplated more care may be given the construction of a house, but the above description will apply to many dwellings in a rancheria two or three years old. Instead of two upright pieces make it four, somewhat higher, and place a bamboo platform within so the occupants do not have to sleep on the ground, and you have an approved type of Negrito architecture. Sometimes as an adjunct to this a shelter may be erected in front, provided with a bamboo seat for the accommodation of visitors. The more prosperous Negritos in the long-established rancherias have four-posted houses of bamboo, with roof and sides of cogon grass. The floors are 4 feet from the ground and the cooking is done underneath the floors. A small fire is kept burning all night. The inmates of the house sleep just above it, and in this way receive some benefit of the warmth. If it were not for these fires the Negrito would suffer severely from cold during the night, for he possesses no blanket and uses no covering of any sort.

For two reasons he never lets his fire go out; first, because he likes to feel the warmth continually, and second, because it is something of a task to build a fire, once it has gone out. (See Pls. XXXVIII, XXXIX.)

The method of making fire used universally by the Negritos of Zambales is that of the flint and steel, which apparatus they call "pan'-ting." The steel is prized highly, because it is hard to get; it is procured in trade from the Christianized natives. Nearly every Negrito carries a flint and steel in a little grass basket or case dangling down his back and suspended by a fiber string from his neck. In the same basket are usually tobacco leaves, buyo, and other small odds and ends. Sometimes this pouch is carried in the folds of the breechcloth, which is the only pocket the Negrito possesses.

The flint-and-steel method of fire making has almost entirely supplanted the more primitive method of making fire by rubbing two sticks together; but in some instances this method is still followed, and everywhere the Negritos know of it. They do not know whether the method is original with them or, not, but they admit they borrowed the flint-and-steel idea from the Filipinos. When the friction process is employed a piece of bamboo with a hole in it, in which are firmly held some fine shavings or lint, is violently rubbed crosswise against the edge of another piece until the friction ignites the lint. It is called "pan-a-han'." When two men are working together one holds the lower piece firmly while the other man rubs across it the sharpened edge of the upper piece. If a man is working alone the piece with the sharpened edge is held firmly between the ground and the man's waist; the other piece of bamboo with the slit in is rubbed up and down on the sharp edge. (See Pls. XL, XLI.)

In lieu of other vessels, rice and similar foods are cooked in joints of green bamboo, which are placed in the coals and hot ashes. When the food is cooked the bamboo is split open and the contents poured out on banana leaves. This is by far the most common method employed, though not a few Negritos possess earthenware pots, and some few have a big iron vessel. Meats are always roasted by cutting into small bits and stringing on a strip of cane. Maize is roasted on hot coals. Everything is eaten without salt, although the Negritos like salt and are very glad to get it.

It has already been noted that the Negrito has a hard time to get enough to cat, and for that reason there is scarcely anything in the animal or vegetable kingdom of his environment of which he does not make use. He never has more than two meals a day, sometimes only one, and he will often start early in the morning on a deer hunt without having eaten any food and will hunt fill late in the afternoon. In addition to the fish, eels, and crayfish of the streams, the wild boar and wild chicken of the plain and woodland, he will eat iguanas and any bird he can catch, including crows, hawks, and vultures. Large pythons furnish especially toothsome steaks, so he says, but, if so, his taste in this respect is seldom satisfied, for these reptiles are extremely scarce.

Besides rice, maize, camotes, and other cultivated vegetables there is not a wild tuber or fruit with which the Negrito's stomach is not acquainted. Even some that in their raw state would be deadly poisonous he soaks and boils in several waters until the poison is extracted, and then he eats them. This is the case with a yellow tuber which he calls "ca-lot'." In its natural form it is covered with stiff bristles. The Negritos peel off the skin and slice the vegetable into very thin bits and soak in water two days, after which it is boiled in two or three waters until it has lost its yellow color. In order to see if any poison still remains some of it is fed to a dog, and if he does not die they themselves eat it. In taste it somewhat resembles cooked rice. This was told me by an old Negrito who I believe did not possess enough invention to make it up, and is in part verified by Mr. O. Atkin, division superintendent of Zambales, who says in a report to the General Superintendent of Education, October, 1903, concerning the destitution of the town of Infanta, that the people of that town were forced by scarcity of food to eat this tuber, there called "co-rot'." He was told that it was soaked in running water five or six days before cooking, and if not prepared in this way it would cause severe sickness, even death. In fact, some cases were known where persons had died eating co-rot'.

A white, thin-skinned tuber, called "bol'-wi," which is found in the forests, is highly prized by the Negritos, although it grows so deep in the ground that the labor of digging it is considerable. Among the cultivated vegetables are the common butter beans, called "an-tak'," and black beans, known as "an-tak' ik-no'" or "sitting-down beans" from the fact that the pods curl up at one end. Ga-bi and bau'-gan are white tubers, and u'-bi a dark-red tuber—which they eat. Other common products are maize, pumpkins, and camotes.

The Negrito has ordinarily no table but the bare ground, and at best a coarse mat; he has no dishes but banana leaves and cocoanut shells, and no forks or spoons but his fingers. He brings water from a stream in a piece of bamboo about three joints long in which all but one joint has been punched out, and drinks it from a piece of cocoanut shell. If he needs to cut anything to eat he has his ever-ready bolo, which he may have used a moment before in skinning a pig and which is never washed. He is repulsively dirty in his home, person, and everything he does. Nothing is ever washed except his hands and face, and those only rarely. He never takes a bath, because he thinks that if he bathes often he is more susceptible to cold, that a covering of dirt serves as clothing, although he frequently gets wet either in the rain or when fishing or crossing streams. This is probably one reason why skin diseases are so common.



Agriculture

The Negrito can not by any stretch of imagination be called a worker. His life for generations has not been such as to teach habits of industry. But for the fact that he has to do some work or starve, he would spend all his days in idleness except that time which he devoted to the chase. Yet when under pressure or urged on by anticipation of gain from the white man, whose wealth and munificence appear boundless, he is tireless. He will clear ground for a camp, cut and split bamboo, and make tables and sleeping platforms, which he would never think of doing for himself. He can get along without such things, and why waste the time? Yet when the camp is abandoned he will carry these things to his house. Most Negritos have seen the better style of living followed by the more civilized Filipinos in the outlying barrios; yet they seem to have no desire to emulate it, and I believe that the lack of such desire is due to a disinclination to perform the necessary manual labor.

By far the greater part of the Negrito's energies are directed to the growing of tobacco, maize, and vegetables. He does not plant rice to any extent. All planting is done in cleared spots in the forest, because the soil is loose and needs no plowing as in the case of the lowland. The small trees and underbrush are cut away and burned and the large trees are killed, for the Negrito has learned the two important things in primitive farming—first, that the crops will not thrive in the shade, and second, that a tree too large to cut may be killed by cutting a ring around it to prevent the flow of sap. The clearings are never large.

Usually each family has its clearing in a separate place, though sometimes two or more families may cultivate adjoining clearings. The places are selected with a view to richness of soil and ease in clearing. In addition to preparing the ground it is necessary to build a fence around the clearing in order to keep out wild hogs. A brush fence is constructed by thrusting sticks in the ground a few inches apart and twining brush between them.

All work of digging up the soil, planting, and cultivating is done with sharpened sticks of hard wood, sometimes, but not always, pointed with iron, for iron is scarce. This instrument is called "ti-ad'," the only other tool they possess being the bolo, with which they do all the cutting.

Men, women, and children work in these clearings, but I did not see any division of labor, except that the men, being more adept with the bolo, do whatever cutting there is to be done. Once planted, the weeding and care of the crops falls largely on the women and children, while the men take their ease or hunt and fish.

The piece of ground for planting is regarded as the personal property of the head of the family which cleared it, and he can sell it or otherwise dispose of it at his pleasure. No one else would think of planting on it even though the owner has abandoned it, unless he declared that he had no more use for it, then it could be occupied by anyone else.

An instance of the respect which the Negritos have for the property rights of others was given me by a native of the town of Botolan. His grandfather had acquired a piece of land near Mount Pinatubo from a Negrito who had committed some crime in his rancheria and fled to the pueblo to escape death. In return for protection the Negrito had given him the land. This fact became known to the other Negritos, but although the new owner made no use of the land whatever, and never even visited it, it has never been molested or cultivated by others. Now two generations later they have sent down to the grandson of the first Filipino owner asking permission to buy the land. Land may be sold to others, but of course there exists no record of such transactions other than that of memory.



Manufacture and Trade

The Negrito knows little of the art of making things. Aside from the bows and arrows which he constructs with some degree of skill he has no ingenuity, and his few other products are of the most crude and primitive type. The bows of the Negritos of Zambales are superior to any the writer has seen in the Philippines. They are made from the wood of the well-known palma brava and are gracefully cut and highly polished. The strings are of twisted bark, as soft and pliable and as strong as thongs of deerskin. Although made from the same wood, the bows of the Negritos of Negros are not nearly so graceful, and the strings consist simply of one piece of bejuco with a small loop at either end which slips over the end of the bow, and, once on, can neither be loosened nor taken up. The Negritos of Panay generally use a bamboo bow, much shorter and clumsier than those of palma brava.

Also, while the Negritos of the southern islands generally use arrows with hardwood points and without feathered shafts, those used in Zambales are triumphs of the arrow maker's art. In either case the shafts are of the light, hard, and straight mountain cane, but instead of the clumsy wooden points the Zambales Negritos make a variety of iron points for different purposes, some, as for large game, with detachable points. (See Pl. XLII.) The shafts are well feathered with the feathers of hawks and other large birds. Three feathers are placed about the arrow and securely wrapped at each end with a thin strip of bejuco or some strong grass.

The war arrows, in addition to having more elaborately barbed points, are further embellished by incised decorations the entire length of the shaft. These incisions consist simply of a series of lines into which dirt has been rubbed so that they offer a striking contrast to the white surface of the arrow.

The women weave some coarse baskets out of bamboo, but they are neither well shaped nor pretty. Sometimes to adorn them one strand or strip of bamboo is stained black and the other left its natural color. Other objects of manufacture are their ornaments, already described in Chapter III, and musical instruments. (See Chap. VI.)

The Negrito knows that the people of the lowlands for some reason have more food than he. He can not go down and live there and work as they do, because, being timid by nature, he can not feel secure amid an alien people, and, besides, he likes his mountain too well to live contentedly in the hot plains. He makes nothing that the lowlands want, but he knows they use, in the construction of their houses, bejuco, of which his woods are full, and he has learned that they value beeswax, which he knows where to find and how to collect. Moreover, there are certain mountain roots, such as wild ginger, that have a market value. His tobacco also finds a ready sale to the Filipinos.

The bolo is the only tool necessary to cut and strip the bejuco, which he ties into bunches of one hundred and takes into his hut for safety until such a time as a trade can be made. These bunches never bring him more than a peseta each. He collects the beeswax from a nest of wild bees which he has smoked out, melts it, and pours it into a section of bamboo.

It is not always necessary that he take his products down to the town, for the Filipinos are eager enough to trade with him to go out to his rancheria carrying the little cloth, rice, iron, or steel that he is willing to take for his hard-gained produce. Perhaps the townspeople go out because they can drive better bargains. However that may be, the Negrito always gets the worst of the deal, whether in town or at his own home.



Hunting and Fishing

The Negrito is by instinct, habits, and of necessity a hunter. Although he has advanced somewhat beyond that stage of primitive life where man subsists wholly from the fruits of the chase, yet it is so necessary to him that were he deprived of it the existence of his race would be seriously threatened. Since the chase has furnished him a living for centuries, it is not strange that much of the ingenuity he possesses should be devoted to the construction of arms and traps and snares with which he may kill or capture the creatures of the woods and streams. His environment does not supply a great variety of game, but there are always deer and wild boars in abundance. Then there are wild chickens and many birds which none but the Negrito would think of eating, and the mountain streams have a few small fish.

It is the capture of the deer which makes the greatest demands on the Negrito's skill. Doubtless his first efforts in this direction were to lie in wait by a run and endeavor to get a shot at a passing animal. But this required an infinite amount of patience, for the deer has a keen nose, and two or three days might elapse before the hunter could get even a glimpse of the animal. So he bethought himself of a means to entrap the deer while he rested at home. At first he made a simple noose of bejuco so placed in the run that the deer's head would go through it and it would close on his neck like a lasso. But this was not very effective. In the first place it was necessary that the run be of the right width with underbrush on either side, because if the noose were too large the deer might jump through it and if too small he might brush it to one side.

The results of this method were so uncertain that the practice has fallen into disuse. Recourse is now had to the deadly "belatic." I do not believe that this trap, which is common nearly all over the Philippines, is original with the Negrito. It is probably the product of the Malayan brain. A trap almost identical with this and called "belantay" is described by Mr. Abraham Hale [18] as belonging to the Sakai of the Malay Peninsula, whom the Philippine Negrito resembles in many ways. The similarity between the two words "belatic" and "belantay" is apparent. In Ilokano and Pampanga this trap is called "balantic," accented, like the Sakai term, on the last syllable. In Tagalog and Bisayan the letter "n" is dropped and the word is pronounced "be-lat'-ic." Mr. Hale does not state whether the word is Sakai or is borrowed from the Malay. But according to Clifford and Swettenham's Malay Dictionary the pure Malay term is "belante," which, as it is even more similar to the terms in use in the Philippines, puts an end to the doubt concerning the origin of the word.

The belatic consists of a long arrow or spear, which is driven, with all the force of a drawn bough or other piece of springy wood, across the path of the animal which strikes the cord, releasing the spring. (See fig. 1.)

When the string C is struck it pulls the movable ring G, releasing K, which immediately flies up, releasing the string I and hence the spring F. The spear, which is usually tied to the end of the spring, though it may simply rest against it, immediately bounds forward, impaling the animal. The spring is either driven into the ground or is firmly held between the two uprights L. This trap is almost invariably successful.

Wild chickens and birds are caught with simple spring traps. The hungry bird tugging at an innocent-appearing piece of food releases a spring which chokes him to death. The noose snare for catching wild chickens invented by the Christianized natives is also used to some extent by the Negritos. This trap consists of a lot of small nooses of rattan or bejuco so arranged on a long piece of cane that assisted by pegs driven into the ground they retain an upright position. This is arranged in convex form against a wall or thicket of underbrush so that a bird can not enter the space thus inclosed except by way of the trap. In this inclosed area is placed a tame cock whose crowing attracts the wild one. The latter, spoiling for a fight, makes for the noisy challenger and runs his head through a noose which draws the tighter the more he struggles.

The Negrito, as has been said, is remarkably ingenious in the construction of arrows. Those with which he hunts the deer are provided with cruelly barbed, detachable iron point. (Figs. 8, 9, Pl. XLII.) When the animal is struck the point leaves the shaft, unwinding a long woven coil with which the two are fastened together. The barbs prevent the point from tearing out of the flesh and the dangling shaft catches on the underbrush and serves to retard the animal's flight. In spite of this, however, the stricken deer sometimes gets away, probably to die a lingering death with the terrible iron point deeply embedded in its flesh. A similar arrow is mentioned by De Quatrefages as having been found by Alan among the Mincopies of the Andamans. [19]

The arrows which are used to kill smaller animals and birds have variously shaped iron heads without barbs. (Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, Pl. XLII.) However, in shooting small birds a bamboo arrow is used. One end is split a little way, 5 or 6 inches, into three, four, or five sections. These are sharpened and notched and are held apart by small wedges securely fixed by wrappings of cord. If the bird is not impaled on one of the sharp points it may be held in the fork. (Figs. 2, 3, 4, Pl. XLII.) The fish arrows have long, slender, notched iron points roughly resembling a square or cylindrical file. The points are from 4 to 8 inches in length. Sometimes they are provided with small barbs. (Figs. 5, 6, 7, Pl. XLII.)

The Negritos of Zambales are not so expert in the use of bows and arrows as their daily use of these weapons would seem to indicate. They seldom miss the larger animals at close range, but are not so lucky in shooting at small objects. I have noticed that they shoot more accurately upward into the trees than horizontally. For instance, a boy of 10 would repeatedly shoot mangoes out of a tree, but when I posted a mark at 30, yards and offered a prize for the best shot no one could hit it.

The Negritos usually hunt in bands, and, because they have little else to do and can go out and kill a deer almost any time, they do not resort much to the use of traps. A long line of thirty men winding down the path from their village, all armed with bows twice their height and a handful of arrows, their naked bodies gleaming in the early morning sun, presents a truly novel sight. They have with them five or six half-starved dogs. When the haunts of the deer are reached, a big gully cutting through the level table-land, thick with cane and underbrush through which a tiny stream finds its way, half a dozen boys plunge into the depths with the dogs and the rest walk along either side or lie in wait at runs. The Negritos in the thicket yell continually and beat the brush, but the dogs are silent until game is scented. Then the cries of the runners are redoubled and the din warns those lying in wait to be alert. Presently from one of the many runs leading out of the ravine a deer appears and, if there happens to be a Negrito on the spot, gets an arrow. But, unless vitally wounded, on he goes followed by the dogs, which never give up the chase of a wounded deer. When a deer is killed it is hung up in a tree and the hunt proceeds.

Sometimes the thick canebrakes along the river beds are beaten up in this way, or the lightly timbered mountain ravines; for the Negrito knows that the deer lie in a cool, sheltered place in the daytime and come forth to browse only at night. On clear, moonlight nights they sometimes attempt to stalk the deer while grazing in the open field, but are not usually successful. Quite often in the chase a long rope net, resembling a fish net but much coarser and stronger, is placed in advance of the beating party in some good position where the deer is likely to run if started up. These are absolutely sure to hold the deer should the unfortunate animal run into them—a thing which does not happen often.