322 MILLER. 



the mountain are two houses. About the same distance below at a 

 place where the hill is a little less steep is a group of six small houses. 

 Off on another spur, across a deep gulch twenty minutes walk away, 

 can be seen another house. Still others are scattered about in the 

 forest, some near and some several hours' travel away. 



The day I was at Consosep about 75 individuals — men, women, and 

 children — came together in response to a call and they were probably 

 not more than one-half or two-thirds of all the people belonging to 

 this settlement. They are a peculiar people. They are not Negritos, 

 although the name hj which they are known both among themselves 

 and to others — Agta — might indicate that they are. Neither are they 

 typically Malayan. There are, it is true, many among them who do 

 not differ at all in ai>pearance from the ordinary Christian Filipino, 

 but as a rule they are smaller than the average among the latter. They 

 are also darker. Very few of them have straight hair. Some have 

 hair which is almost kinky, while the majority have wa'^'y hair. Some 

 have thick lips and a few the large, noticeable eyes of the tj'pical Negro. 

 (Plate I, figs. 1 and 3; Plate III.) 



They dress like most of the other people of the Philippines. The 

 women wear a camisa and for a skirt several pieces of cloth wrapped 

 about the body and tucked in at the waist. The men wear trousers 

 reaching to the knees and most of them some kind of a jacket or shirt. 

 However, when working in the fields they 'wear usually only the loin 

 cloth. 



In former times these people lived in rude shelters much like those 

 in which the Negritos still live. Now they dwell in small houses, so 

 small that even they can not stand upright anywhere in them. They 

 are built about 1.5 meters above the ground with floors of bamboo and roofs 

 of leaves. 



These people plant upland rice, camotes, maize, taro, squash, bananas, 

 yams, and some few other plants. They have no goats or sheep, but 

 occasionally kill birds to eat. 



An old woman with whom I talked who had lived at Consosep all 

 her life said that she did not remember a time when there were Negritos 

 about there. From this as well as from the appearance of the people 

 one would conclude that the Negrito admixture took place many years 

 ago. She also said that formerly they were more numerous than now, 

 that they had been killed by smallpox, cholera, and in fights with the 

 Spaniards, but that they were increasing in number now. 



They marry at from 13 to 15 years of age. The old woman above 

 mentioned told me of one woman who had eight children. One man 

 sometimes has as many as three wives, although as a rule they are mo- 

 nogamous. They are said to have a language of their own which has 



