140 MILLER. 



Some of them are as well developed as the people near Bula- 

 lakao, but others are small and thin and poorly nourished. As 

 there is no evidence of Negrito blood among them, their slight 

 development may be ascribed to lack of nourishment. 



Dr. Fletcher Gardner, who saw much of these people while 

 he was stationed at Bulalakao, says of them:' 



In appearance the Hampangan Mangyans are pure Malay, of rather 

 small stature, of rather light color, often plump, well formed, and, by 

 Malay standards, good looking. The hair is usually straight, rarely wavy, 

 and never very curly or kinky. The teeth are usually black and worn, 

 from constant use of betel-nut, without cleansing, a fact that led Lander 

 to state that they file and blacken their teeth. The use of betel-nut begins 

 very early among them, so that the appearance described may often be 

 observed in comparatively young persons. They tattoo the body. 



Some of the Mangyans in the Bako region show evidence of 

 Negrito blood. Curly hair is not uncommon and even closely 

 curled hair may be seen. Sometimes, too, one sees the large, 

 round, typical eyes of the Negrito. A few Mangyans have beard 

 enough so that they sometimes shave with a jack-knife. 



If, as seems very likely, there is some Negrito blood in the 

 Mangyans of the Bako region, this fact would account for the 

 small stature which is common among the people there. 



I made inquiries among these people in various parts of 

 Mindoro to find out if they had any tradition of the former 

 presence of Negritos among them,^ but was invariably told that 

 they had never known of any Negritos in Mindoro. The appear- 

 ance of some of the Mangyans makes me believe that there 

 were formerly Negritos in the island. Also, I made careful 

 inquiries about the existence of white people among them, and 

 always received an incredulous denial. The white tribe, I have 

 no doubt, is a myth, which may have been founded on the 

 occurrence of one or of a few albinos among the Mangyans. 



I attempted to trace to its origin the story of people with 

 tails. As might be expected, I learned nothing tending to 

 establish its truth." This is a story which is by no means con- 



' Unpublished manuscript in the division of ethnology, Bureau of Science. 



' Lisboa, Vocabulario de la lengua Bicol (written between 1594 and 

 1618), says: "Mangyan. Negrillos mas bosales que los demas." The 

 Spanish dictionary gives bozal (not bosal, but confusion between s and z 

 is common in Lisboa) as "stupid." This indicates that in Lisboa's time 

 Negritos were believed to exist in the Mangyan territory although probably 

 at that time there were Mangyans elsewhere than in Mindoro. 



° According to Gardner (unpublished manuscript) , the Mangyans, who 

 live near the coast, as well as some Christian Filipinos hold the belief that 

 the Bangon Mangyans, living near Bongabong, have tails. • 



