300 NOTES ON SOME PRIMITIVE PHILIPPINE TRIBES 



the truth. Theft is punished by the infliction of a fine equiva- 

 lent to twice the value of the stolen article. If the culprit be 

 too poor to pay the fine, he is whipped. A murderer is killed 

 by the relatives-and friends of his victim. In a case of adultery 

 an injured husband may kill both his wife and her paramour, 

 but may not kill the one and not the other. If not murderously 

 inclined, he can collect a heavy fine. 



A father with marriageable daughters sets a price upon each. 

 Whoever wishes to marry one of them must pay the price de- 

 manded. Should a father object on personal grounds to a suitor 

 willing to pay the prescribed price, he must himself pay a fine 

 to the suitor by way of balm to his injured feelings. 



Child marriage seems to be the rule. Women are apparently 

 less numerous than men, and their hands are much in demand. 

 A curious reversal of this state of affairs exists in the island of 

 Cuyo, where it is said that more than ninety per cent of the pop- 

 ulation are women. This remarkable result is not due to any 

 abnormality in the birth rate, but rather to the fact that the men 

 all run away as soon as they get large enough. The Tagbanua 

 women are well treated and are allowed a considerable amount 

 of personal liberty, but are expected to do their full share of 

 hard work. It is not unusual for a woman to bathe and go about 

 her customary duties the day after bearing a child. The Tag- 

 banuas have a secret medicine for use at the time of childbirth, 

 the nature of which they guard with the most jealous care. 



When a death occurs the relatives set a time for the funeral. 

 At the appointed hour the house of the deceased is torn down 

 and his body is carried to the woods and buried in the earth. 

 Dishes and earthen pots belonging to him are broken over the 

 grave to mark it. 



The Tagbanuas have a simple syllabic alphabet, which is in 

 common use. The characters are scratched on smooth joints 

 of bamboo in vertical columns. 



Much might be added in regard to each of the people dis- 

 cussed, but enough has been said to give some idea of the 

 methods of life and of the general characteristics of two fairly 

 typical savage Philippine tribes. What holds true of them will 

 hold in a general way, mutatis mutandis, of the other wild peoples. 

 They are as a rule extremely ignorant, but harmless and inof- 

 fensive so long as they are well treated. 



They will afford an interesting problem in civilization to the 

 nation whose flag is in future to float over their islands. They 



