296 NOTES ON SOME PRIMITIVE PHILIPPINE TRIBES 



TAGBANTJA MEN — PALAWAN 



I may say that the river in front of our house at Iwahig was 

 full of children half the time, in spite of the crocodiles, while 

 an afternoon stroll along the bank of a small stream near the 

 village was quite sufficient to have convinced the most skeptical 

 observer that men, and women also, bathe upon occasion. While 

 I am not prepared to say that Foreman did not see them eat 

 their fish and flesh raw, it is certainly true that during my so- 

 journ among them I never knew them to touch uncooked ani- 

 mal food. 



The men are of medium height and are often fairly well de- 

 veloped physically, although skin diseases, digestive troubles, 

 fevers, and starvation keep many of them in wretched condition. 

 Young girls are frequently possessed of considerable comeliness, 

 but they often marry in childhood, and they mature and age 

 rapidly. 



The Tagbanuas, are a dark-skinned people. With many of 

 them the hair shows a decided tendency to curl. It seems 

 probable that they are a hybrid Aeta-Malay race. 



Their dress is a rather unsafe subject for generalization. Many 

 of the men wear clout alone. In the south, where they have 



