THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



appealed to their senses by its brilliant processions, rich robes, and images. Even the smallest 

 villages have now their religious fetes. The priest is the king of the village, and looks upon 

 the spread of knowledge with an unfavourable eyo. In the year 1886 there were no fewer 

 than 1,608 schools in the Philippines. At the time of writing the natives are at war with the 

 United States of America, and the future of the islands politically cannot be forecast, but the 

 Spanish dominion appears to be doomed. 



The aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippine Islands are the Negritos (Ae'tas), a little dark 

 race of whom we shall have more to say presently, when dealing with the Malay Peninsula 

 with crisp black hair, and features somewhat like those of a Negro. These primitive people 

 are found in the islands of Luzon, Mindoro, Negros, Panay, and Mindanao, but not as a pure 

 race, for the Malays have intermarried with them. The pure Negrito has a stature of only about 

 4 feet 6 inches, the skull is round (brachycephalic), the legs are without calves, and the feet 

 are turned inwards. The head appears to be rather large for the small body. The man and 

 the woman shown in our illustrations have their bodies decorated with deep scars. By nature, 

 these people are gentle, timid, and affectionate. Their mental powers are of a low order, 

 and they cannot count beyond the number of fingers on one hand. They mostly wander 

 about from place to place, except in those districts where Malays and others have influenced 

 their habits. 



The Aeta carries a bamboo lance, a bow of palm 

 wood, and poisoned arrows. He is wonderfully light- 

 footed, running with great speed after deer, or climbing 

 trees like a monkey. If he has any religion at all, 

 it is a kind of spirit-worship. Anything which to 

 these people appears to have a supernatural character 

 is deified. For the dead and for old age they have 

 a profound respect. They offer little encouragement 

 to those who endeavour to train them up to a higher 

 standard of life, and even when more or less domesti- 

 cated can never be trusted to do anything which 

 requires an effort of judgment. 



Mr. John Foreman, F.R.G.S., was fortunate 

 enough to see a Negrito wedding, which he thus 

 describes: "The young bride, who might have been 

 about thirteen years of age, was being pursued by 

 her future spouse as she pretended to run away, and 

 it need hardly be said that he succeeded in bringing 

 her in by feigned force. She struggled and again 

 got away, and a second time she was caught. Then 

 an old man with grey hair came forward, and 

 dragged the young man up a bamboo ladder. An 

 old woman grasped the bride, and both followed the 

 bridegroom. The aged sire then gave them a ducking 

 with a cocoanut shell full of water, and they all 

 descended. The happy pair knelt down, and the 

 elder having placed their heads together, they were 

 man and wife. We endeavoured to find out which 

 hut was allotted to the newly married couple, but 

 were given to understand that until the sun had re- 

 appeared five times they would spend their honeymoon 

 in the mountains." The Negritos live principally 

 on fish, roots, and mountain rice, but they often 

 make raids on the valleys and carry off cattle: their 



Ji'ium l/r. A. B. Mtyn-'x Album ion 1'itilippinen 

 Ti/litn," Dresden. 



A NEGRITO WOMAN. 



