14 METZGER— THE FILIPINO. [March i 7l 



mountain fastnesses. These idols are called Anitos and are ex- 

 horted when any dire calamity befalls them, and are always 

 appealed to when a child is to be named. In this latter ceremony 

 the priest to the Anito holding the new born in one hand raises a 

 large knife or bolo over its head and upon lowering the blade 

 strikes it into a nearby tree, if the tree emits sap the first name 

 uttered is the one the child will henceforth bear. The oozing of 

 the sap signifies to them the will of the deity. The Tinguians are 

 monogamists and generally are forced by the parent to take a mate 

 before the age of puberty. These people, like the Negritos, live 

 mostly in a baji built in trees, sometimes sixty or seventy feet from 

 the ground. They have a few characteristics akin to the Japanese, 

 principally in the manner of wearing the hair, tuft on the crown 

 of the head, and the custom of blackening the teeth. Their com- 

 mon weapon is the spear, this they use as a matter of defense as 

 well as a means of slaying animals for food. 



The Davanese are unquestionably Hindoos and are supposed to 

 be the descendants of the Indian Sepoys, who deserted the British 

 Army when the latter occupied the city of Manila in 1763. They 

 are few in number and occupy principally the district lying about 

 the pueblo of Cainta. These people are semi-civilized, peaceful 

 and to an extent industrious. 



There are to be seen among the natives of the north a few of the 

 class of people known as Albinos. These abnormalities of nature 

 present a marble white skin, pink white hair, and pink eyes. They 

 are not associated in tribes or clans but may be found scattered 

 about in most any of the provinces of the north. 



Before taking up the analysis of the various domesticated tribes, 

 which go to make up two thirds of the seven million of people who 

 are styled Filipinos, a brief epitome of their early political history 

 is, I believe, essential, as it no doubt has indelibly modified and 

 ultimately formulated the character and customs of these people. 

 We are wont to believe that long before the advent of the Spaniards 

 in this Colony, these islands were visited by the Molaccans, for it 

 was from them that Hernando de Maghallanes, then a Portuguese 

 subject and in the service of his majesty, learned of the existence 

 of these supposed rich possessions in the Pacific, and had it not been 

 for petty jealousies and a weak and arrogant monarch, these same 

 Philippine Islands might have become the possession of Portugal 



