NON-CHRISTIANS PEOPLE OF AMBOS CAMARINES. 323 



some Bikol words in it. It may be, however, that this is merely a 

 dialectic variation of Bikol and not a distinct language. 



On the Kalawat Islands, which lie a few miles east of Paracale in 

 Camarines Norte, there is a small population most of whom are Bikol, 

 like the people on the mainland opposite, but there are besides the 

 Bikols certain small groups of people known as "Dumagat." They 

 live for the most part in small groups by themselves not far from the 

 Bikol settlements. These people too, like the Agta of Camarines Sur, 

 show evidence of ISTegTito blood. They are darker than their Bikol 

 neighbors though not noticeably smaller. Some of them have wavj- 

 and some curly hair wliile others have hair as straight as the ordinary 

 Filipino. (Plate I, figs. 3 and 4.) 



The Dumagat people of Kaboong Island, one of the Kalawat group, 

 said they came from the mainland. One man was from near Nueva 

 Caceres and looked much like the people about Mount Isarog. They 

 said that thej^ had all been baptized, but the probability is that they 

 are practically non-Christians, as they are remote from any Christian 

 influence. They talk Bikol among themselves, live for the most part 

 scattered about on the hillsides in houses like those of other Filipinos, 

 plant camotes, maize, taro, and yams, but do not plant rice. They 

 had never heard of Negritos living on the Kalawat Islands. They say 

 they call themselves Dumagat because they live near the sea. 



I was told that on Biitawanan Island off Kinabugsulcan Point in 

 Camarines Sur there is a considerable number of these Dumagat people. 

 There are also a few of them scattered among the Bikol people of the 

 coast towns. I did not visit Butawanan and so can not say whether 

 the people of that island resemble the Dumagat of the Kalawat Islands. 



There are three possible explanations of the origin both of the Agta 

 ]ieople in the vicinity of Mounts Isarog and Iriga, and of the Dumagat of 

 the Islands off the east coast of the province and of the neighboring 

 shores of the mainland. The resemblance between the two groups is 

 sufficiently close to lead one to believe that their origin may be the same. 



The first possibility is that they are remnants of an earlier Malayan 

 invasion which preceded that which brought the Bikols and Tagalogs 

 to the Philippines. The second is that they are the result of crossing 

 between an aboriginal NegTito population and their Malayan neighbors. 

 It is furthermore possible that they may be the result of the crossing 

 of some primitive Malayans with Negritos. That there is Negrito 

 blood in them I have no doubt, although this opinion is based only 

 on their physical appearance. 



The simplest explanation of the characteristics of these peojile is 

 that they are the result of crossing many years ago between the Ma- 

 layan people and Negritos. Occasionally even now men from the low- 



