1220 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tained and still use their ancient syllabic 

 alphabet, scratching the characters on 

 freshly cut. joints of bamboo or bits of 

 banana leaf. 



They build comparatively good houses, 

 and are more active and systematic in 

 cultivating the soil than are their north- 

 ern brothers. Several schools have been 

 started for their children, who prove to 

 be bright pupils. 



In northern and northwestern Min- 

 doro many individual Mangyans show 

 marked evidences of Negrito blood. I 

 believe that the.i;fi^have been Negritos., in 

 this island and that they have disappeared 

 by fusing with their neighbors. 



The interior of southern Mindoro has 

 been found to be, relatively speaking, 

 quite thickly populated. The inhabitants 

 raise cotton and spin and weave their 

 own cloth. They are so timid that it has 

 thus far been impossible to establish 

 communication with them. 



Like the people of all other PhiHppine 

 wild tribes, the Mangyans have their own 

 peculiar music, using bamboo flutes and 

 primitii^e stringed instruments to produce 

 it. They sing a good deal. Certain in- 

 dividuals among them pretend to a sort 

 of clairvoyancy and profess to be able to 

 tell what persons at a great distance are 

 doing. 



The Mangyans communicate with each 

 other in the forest by beating on the 

 enormous buttressed roots of certain 

 trees, apparently using a primitive sort 

 of Morse alphabet. 



All in all, they are a very interesting 

 people, deserving of a more careful study 

 than they have as yet received.* 



THK MANOBOS fSEE PICTURl^S, PAGES 1 1 72, 

 II73, II76, 1234, AND 1235) 



The Manobos are said to be the second 

 most powerful tribe in Mindanao, al- 

 though the Mandayas compete with them 

 closely for this position. They are be- 

 lieved to number about 60,000. They in- 

 habit the whole lower Agusan River val- 

 ley and are founrl in smaller numbers to 

 the north of Malalag on the Gulf of 



* Mr. Merton L Miller spent some time 



amoni? them and has publ],-,..ed the results of 

 his observations in the PhiHppine Journal of 

 Science for June, 1912. 



Davao, on Cape St. Augustine, and at 

 various points in the interior of the dis- 

 trict of Cotabato, even extending across 

 the line into the subprovince of Bukid- 

 non. They are a more than ordinarily 

 tall and rather light-skinned people, with 

 hair which is often wavy and sometimes 

 curls quite closely; but as their territory 

 abuts upon that of the Negritos in north- 

 ern Mindanao, it is probable that inter- 

 marriage with the latter tribe accounts 

 for the occasional occurrence of closely 

 curling hair. 



Their dress is very similar to that of 

 the Mandayas (see page 11 72). Indeed, 

 most of the women wear Mandaya skirts, 

 many of which are said to be made by 

 Manobo women captured in war by the 

 Mandayas, kept as slaves, and taught the 

 complicated art of skirt-making. Rich 

 people also wear the great engraved sil- 

 ver disks called patinas, which are manu- 

 factured by the Mandayas and are so 

 highly prized by their women (see page 



1176). 



The Manobos, however, differ from 

 the Mandayas in language and in customs 

 to a marked degree. Furthermore, they 

 seem to lack the skill in weaving and in 

 metal working which the Mandayas pos- 

 sess. 



Heretofore they have lived in single 

 houses or small groups of houses scat- 

 tered through the forest, but under 

 American rule have been persuaded, in the 

 Agusan River valley, to gather into vil- 

 lages along that stream and its tributaries. 



Until compelled to give them up, they 

 kept slaves and occasionally indulged in 

 human sacrifices ; in fact, it was by no 

 means unheard of for a wealthy Manobo 

 to tie up a slave, give his small boy a 

 lance, and have the boy experimentally 

 test different ways of killing and maim- 

 ing by thrusting the lance into the quiv- 

 ering flesh of the unhappy victim. 



The Manobos practice agriculture in a 

 more or less haphazard way, raising corn, 

 rice, and yams, but often losing their 

 crops as a result of floods. Their houses 

 were wretched structures, but under 

 American tutelage they have readilv 

 learned to construct much better ones 

 (see pages 1234 and 1235). Many of 

 them, however, still live in the tree-tops. 



