A REVIEW OF DR. A. B. MEYER'S NEGRITOS. 35 



A Review of Dr. A. B. Meyer's 

 " Negritos. " 



By R. N. Bland. 



A pamphlet with the above title has recently been presented 

 to the Library of the S. B. R. A. S. by the author. It is a 

 translation from the German of two chapters of a larger work, 

 published in 1893, dealing with the Negritos of the Philippines. 

 and is confined to a consideration of the distribution of the 

 Negritos within the Philippines and beyond. 



The author, who is the Director of the Royal Zoological, 

 Anthropological and Ethnographical Museum at Dresden, is a 

 scientific traveller of established reputation. He has since 1875 

 published over 20 volumes on Anthropological and Ethnographi- 

 cal subjects connected with the far eastern Archipelago. The 

 subject is one that possesses a particular interest in this " corner 

 of Asia," as amongst the natives of the Peninsula we have tribes 

 representing the ancient race of Pigmy negroes, small black men 

 with frizzy hair concerning whom science has speculated since 

 the time of Herodotus. 



Jakuns, Sakai, Semang, Orang Raiat, Orang Bukit, Orang 

 Panggang, Belenda. Bidnanda are some of the names by which 

 these people are known in different parts of the Peninsula. Pos- 

 sibly the Orang Laut. who to this day inhabit the villages at the 

 mouth of the Rochor River, in the harbour of Singapore, and 

 even the curly-headed " have-a-dive" boys of New Harbour are 

 also related to this ancient people, but this is still an open ques- 

 tion. 



The author concerns himself only with the distribution of 

 the Negritos in the Far East — that is. where these people are to 

 be met with and where not. In support of his arguments he 

 quotes over 200 different authorities, and more often than not. 

 differs from them. 



