Usefulness of N on-Christian Tribes. 625 



class of men who spend night and day in search of food to sat- 

 isfy the veriest necessities of life for themselves and their families, 

 men who in all kinds of weather clear and cultivate parcels of land 

 far away from their own dwellings — men, in fact, who sell what 

 they have produced at a third or a fourth of the customary prices 

 — it would be ridiculous to characterize such men as lazy. The 

 Negritos are hard workers, workers from necessity and from 

 habit, and their faults are due to lack of method, of ambition, 

 of proper initiative, of insufficient food ; and so with a little effort 

 it would be possible not only to better their own condition, but 

 that of the entire community and of the forests which shelter 

 them. Thoroughly inured to the climate, always seeking the 

 verdure of the forest and its cool breezes and feeling agile and 

 happy where all is solitude, it would be difficult to find a substi- 

 tute for the Negrito for forest work. 



Like all other humanity, the Negritos have their shortcomings. 

 Proud of the official authority with which some of them are in- 

 vested, they wish proper respect to be shown to their rank and 

 they generally seek an employment which is on a friendly basis 

 rather than paternal. They wish to smoke cigars and chew betel 

 nuts while they are working and prefer to go a whole day with- 

 out food rather than be deprived of them. They are very fond 

 of music and dancing and on a day of "undas," or the solemnities 

 attendant upon a funeral, most of them will lavish all the pro- 

 ducts of the chase and of their work for an entire year. Such 

 disagreements as arise among themselves are generally the result 

 of amorous intrigues or jealousy, for questions of the ownership 

 of property, much less of thefts, are unknown : their property 

 is owned in common and robbery is considered the most de- 

 grading of crimes. 



By making a superficial study of their customs, tastes and 

 vices, learning how to avoid the difficulties and to work in har- 

 mony with them, one can be assured of finding in these tribes a 

 body of men that are intelligent, docile, faithful, agile and in- 

 dustrious for any class of unskilled forest work which they may 

 be called upon to perform. 



