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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



racially distinct from all the other peo- 

 ples inhabiting the Archipelago which 

 have not intermarried with them. It is 

 probable that they originally occupied 

 every island of any size in the group; 

 but at present they occur only in north- 

 east Mindanao, Samar, central Negros, 

 central Panay, a few small islands north 

 of Panay, north central Palawan, a few 

 isolated points in southern Luzon, the 

 mountains of Bataan, and Zambales, 

 where they are relatively numerous ; 

 Abra, where there remain but a few in- 

 dividuals of mixed descent; Apayao, 

 Cagayan, Isabela, and Tayabas. 



The great forested and almost unex- 

 plored area extending from the north- 

 ernmost point of Luzon to the vicinity 

 of Casiguran and Baler is today the one 

 remaining Negrito stronghold, and in 

 many parts of this region it is still quite 

 impossible to get into touch with them, 

 for they flee at the approach of strangers. 



They are of low stature; their skins 

 are dark brown to black; their hair is 

 woolly and closely curling; their bodies, 

 arms, and legs are more or less thickly 

 covered with "pepper-corn" hairs (see 

 page 1 1 80). Many of the men are abun- 

 dantly bearded. It is a common custom 

 with both men and women to shave the 

 crown of the head, as they say "to let the 

 heat out." 



The Negritos are known in different 

 parts of the Archipelago under different 

 names, such as Abunlon, Aetas, Balugas, 

 Buquiles, Dumagats, and Bataks, and 

 after further study it may prove neces- 

 sary to separate them into a number of 

 tribes. This is, in my opinion, especially 

 likely to result in the case of the woolly 

 headed blacks of Palawan ; but our pres- 

 ent knowledge reveals such resemblances 

 between the several groups of Negritos, 

 and there are such radical differences be- 

 tween them and the Malay tribes that 

 one is prone to regard them as a people. 

 Not only are they characterized by low 

 stature, dark skins, woolly hair, and flat- 

 tened noses, but they all have the cus- 

 tom of sharpening their front teeth, and 

 ornament their bodies with scar patterns 

 instead of with the tattoo-marks so uni- 

 versally employed by the people of other 



tribes. There is a striking similarity be- 

 tween some of the Negrito scar patterns 

 and those of the central African dwarfs. 



INCAPABLE OF CIVIIvIZATlON 



The Negritos are bow and arrow peo- 

 ple in the strictest sense of the word. 

 They make and use an arrow poison of 

 deadly effectiveness and are sufficiently 

 skilled occasionally to bring down birds 

 on the wing. Many groups of Negritos 

 live exclusively by hunting and fishing 

 and build the flimsiest of temporary 

 shelters in lieu of houses. Others occa- 

 sionally practice agriculture in a very 

 primitive way and build rather more sub- 

 stantial "houses," but as often as not 

 forsake their planted clearings before 

 harvest time. 



Negritos most certainly lead the simple 

 life and their wants are few indeed. 

 Their only domesticated animals are dogs 

 and an occasional tame jungle fowl. 



Unless able to purchase cotton cloth 

 from Filipinos, they clothe themselves in 

 the bark of trees. They make practi- 

 cally nothing but bows, arrows, fish- 

 lines, fish-hooks, and a few baskets. 



As to their numbers, one man's guess 

 is about as good as another's. There 

 may be 25,000 of them left. 



Mentally, they are about on a par with 

 the blacks of Australia or the bushmen 

 of South Africa. Their birth rate is be- 

 lieved to be far below their death rate. 

 Within a comparatively short time they 

 have disappeared from Cebu, Masbate, 

 Sibuyan, and probably also from Min- 

 doro, where none can now be found. 

 Only a few individuals remain in Tablas, 

 Tayabas and Samar. 



As I have elsewhere stated, it is not 

 too much to say that they are a link 

 which is not missing, but soon will he! 

 In my opinion they are absolutely inca- 

 pable of civilization. Those who inhabit 

 the northeast coast of Luzon hunt heads 

 among themselves, but the only really 

 grave problem which the people of this 

 race present is that involved in seeing to 

 it that they are not oppressed by their 

 Filipino neighbors, on the one hand, and 

 in preventing them from taking bloody 

 revenge for past wrongs, on the other. 



