y^^, 



A NKGRITO MAKING FIRE; BY RUBBING PIE;CI:S OF BAMBOO TOGe;THE;R 



islands of the Pacific. Men frequently 

 shave the crowns of their heads "in order 

 to let the heat out"! 



CONSTRUCTION AND CONTENTS OF HOUSES 



The tiny settlements which we visited 

 were abandoned very hastily, but it was 

 .easy to obtain complete inventories of 

 the property of their owners, which, even 

 to the bows and arrows, was often left 

 behind. The "houses" were constructed 

 by covering small rectangular frame- 

 works of poles with a thin thatch of 

 rattan leaves or grass. Each shelter thus 

 made was inclined toward the sun, or 

 wind or rain, and was held in a slanting 

 position by a stick sharpened at one end 

 and forked at the other, the sharpened 

 end being pushed into the ground and 

 the forked end placed against the shelter 

 at or near its central point (see page 837) . 



The smallest of these structures meas- 

 ured about four feet by five, the largest 

 some eight feet by six. Hanging from 

 them, or placed under them, were a few 

 cocoanut shells; an occasional earthen 



pot, usually broken ; fish lines equipped 

 with stone sinkers and with bone or steel 

 hooks ; an occasional small casting net ; 

 a few bits of bark cloth ; bows of Palma 

 hrava; arrows with heads of Palma 

 hrava, bamboo, or, more rarely, of steel ; 

 a few rude bolos; scraps of cheap cotton 

 cloth, and nothing more ! 



The domestic animals were dogs — 

 which, strangely enough, neither objected 

 to our approach nor got out of our 

 way — and a few wild chickens, partially 

 domesticated. 



The Negritos told us that during the 

 rainy season they went back into the 

 mountains, where they sometimes planted 

 yams, upland rice, or corn ; but that evil 

 spirits often obliged them to abandon 

 their plantings before harvest time ! 

 Throughout the year they subsist chiefly 

 on vegetable products, which they obtain 

 from the virgin forest, and on fish and 

 game. They are wonderful woodsmen 

 and display great skill in taking fish and 

 game and in still-hunting their enemies ; 

 but here their proficiency ends. They 



841 



