1240 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



I have ever witnessed have been at their 

 feasts. Like the Benguet Igorots, they 

 have an inordinate fondness for dog, 

 and on several occasions I have avoided 

 by a very narrow margin the necessity 

 for sharing with them this dubious dish. 

 Considerable progress is now being made 

 in establishing friendly relations with 

 them, and I hope and expect that within 

 two years we shall be on as good terms 

 with them as we now are with the Ifu- 

 gaos, Kalingas, and Igorots. 



the: tirurayi:s (see picture, page 

 1 184) 



The Tirurayes are a rapidly disappear- 

 ing tribe inhabiting a region extending 

 from the lower branch of the Cotabato 

 River south to a point a little below the 

 Trampadidu in southern Mindanao (see 

 page 1 184). They ha've been raided and 

 enslaved by the Moros until they are 

 completely cowed, and have become al- 

 most incapable of supporting themselves. 

 In 1900 they were said by the Jesuits to 

 number some 10,000 individuals, but they 

 are believed to be rapidly dying off and 

 will probably soon disappear. I have 

 seen them only once. 



OUR EARI,Y EXPI^ORATIONS 



In previous articles written for the 

 National Geographic Magazine I have 

 given some account of several of the wild 

 tribes inhabiting the Philippine Islands, 

 more especially the head-hunting tribes ; 

 have briefly outlined the origin and na- 

 ture of legislation enacted for their bene- 

 fit, and have mentioned a few of the 

 things which have been done since the 

 American occupation to better their con- 

 dition.* Within the limits of the present 

 article I shall attempt to give a more com- 

 prehensive view of the results actually 

 obtained. 



Obviously it was useless to attempt to 

 improve existing conditions until we at 

 least knew what those conditions were, 

 and during the period from 1901 to 1907 

 a large amount of exploration work was 

 therefore necessary. Of this a consider- 

 able part had to be done on foot, as the 



* See National Geographic Magazine for 

 March, 1911, and September, 1912. 



so-called ''trails" were in most cases 

 mere foot-tracks made by the wild men, 

 over which the tough and sure-footed 

 Philippine ponies could not even be led 

 (see pages 1203 and 1210). 



Our usual method in penetrating the 

 great unknown region west of the Caga- 

 yan River in northern Luzon was to start 

 on the China Sea coast, climb the Cor- 

 dillera at some feasible point, and de- 

 scend on its eastern side. This meant 

 traveling with very light baggage, so that 

 we were ill-prepared for the marked 

 changes in temperature experienced as 

 we ascended and descended. 



The fatigue involved vvas so extreme 

 that we were usually more or less reck- 

 less by the time we had followed the 

 streams on the Cagayan side of the Cor- 

 dillera until they were sizeable enough to 

 float bamboo rafts on which we could 

 load ourselves and our belongings and 

 then to intrust them to the tender mercies 

 of the current (see page 1195). A la- 

 borious passage through some long, deep 

 lagoon, where we had to pole our rafts 

 or paddle them with bits of bamboo, 

 would be followed by a shoot down a 

 foaming rapid or a drop over a fall. 



A bamboo raft 25 feet by 6 is unman- 

 ageable when once in the grip of the cur- 

 rent, and we could seldorn learn in ad- 

 vance what lay ahead of us. A sullen 

 roar around a bend in the river might 

 mean a swift and exciting rush down a 

 foaming rapid to another deep pool, or 

 it might mean sudden and prolonged 

 immersion after a perpendicular drop. 



Fortunately, a bamboo raft always 

 comes to the top again, and if one hangs 

 on he cannot drown. Unfortunately, 

 such a raft goes to pieces if it hits a rock 

 hard enough. Even then its component 

 elements float; but there are drawbacks 

 about being thumped against rocks by a 

 raging current, although supported by a 

 good, thick bamboo ! 



On one of my early trips iour different 

 rafts were dashed to pieces under me in 

 two days, but I suffered no serious in- 

 jury. 



During 18 years of fairly continuous 

 travel in the Philippines, in the course of 

 which I have penetrated the territory of 



