VENTURELLO] MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF TAGBANUAS 515 
In November, 1904, the Insular Government established in the 
barrio of Iwahig (now Iualit settlement), in the Bay of Puerto 
Princesa, a penal colony consisting of a superintendent, one assistant 
and more than 300 prisoners. They began to clear off and develop 
the soil, to plant rice, corn, and vegetables and notwithstanding the 
short space of time since the establishment of the colony it can be 
said that progress has already been made; for even now they are 
beginning to avail themselves of the products, especially the vege- 
tables. 
Apart from the Christian population in the northern part of the 
island and not exceeding 8,497 souls, and the Mohammedans more 
or less numerous, who dwell along the coasts of the southern part, 
the aborigines may be classified into five groups. They are the 
following : 
TAGBANUAS APURAHUANOS 
This tribe is probably the most numerous in the island, occupying 
almost the entire central part, including the eastern and western 
coasts. The principal rancherias on the eastern coast are Iwahig, 
Ira-an, Aborlan, and Tigman; on the western coast, Virong, Apura- 
huan, Apitpitan, and Napsahan in the south. Their dialect differs 
from that of the semicivilized Tagbanuas and the Christians of the 
north. 
Of the five tribes occupying the southern part of the island and a 
small portion of the north, the Apurahuanos who live in the ranche- 
rias enumerated above are the only ones meriting any special men- 
tion. They are mild, gentle, and courteous in their trading. Be- 
sides, they are the only ones who know and use a peculiar writing 
similar to that formerly employed by the Tagalos of Luzon. In 
order to form an exact idea of the construction of these letters or 
characters which the Tagbanuas Apurahuanos (the same as Inaga- 
huanos) use in their writing, there are placed in succession the signs 
composing the alphabet. 
