BY THE BEV. J. E. TEN I SON- WOODS. 



167 



circle while the band played, and played very nicely. It did not add 

 to my enjoyment to find myself close to the sultan, behind whom 

 stood a murderous-looking scoundrel in gorgeous livery, with a 

 loaded revolver resting on his shoulder and his tiuger on the trigger. 



The impressions I retain of Sulu are very scanty. In the 

 market and in the streets cock-fighting is much practised, and a 

 man would as soon be seen without decent clothing as to appear 

 in public without a game-cock under his arm. I remarked the 

 same feature at Kudat in Borneo, but no place comes up to the 

 Philippiues in the matter of cock-fighting. 



The island of Tataan, the principal of the group of Tawi-Tawi, 

 is almost as large as* Sulu. It lies about 30 miles south-east of 

 the peninsula Unsang of Borneo. It rises to a height of about 

 1,500 feet, and is very rugged. The flora ia rich, but the fauna 

 is |>oor ; and though the island is 40 miles long by 30 wide, it ifl 

 scarcely inhabited. 



The whole population are called Moors of Malay race. Those 

 who live on the coast are called Samaluans, and those who live in 

 the interior and are devoted to agriculture are called Guimbals. 

 Between these two there exists a feud which is the cause of much 

 strife and bloodshed. 



The language of Sulu is peculiar. It belongs certainly to the 

 Philippine dialects,and is also closely allied to the Malay. Like most 

 of the Mahometan Malays the islanders write in Arabic characters. 

 It may be said that they have two languages, one of which is pure 

 Malay, and the other a dialect of Visayan, or more properly a 

 language of the Philippine family, closely allied to the speech in 

 use on the coast and river banks in Mindanao. It is stated confi- 

 dently that the Sulu natives are Malays originally from Borneo, 

 belonging to the Moros tribe called also Laununs, But this 

 appears to be a corruption of the word Ilanon, a term at one time 

 applied exclusively to the Malay tribes of the interior of the 

 islands. The skulls that have been compared from Zamboanga 

 and Sulu, have almost equal proportions. The cephalic index 

 varies between 81 and 81 60. The skulls are decidedly brachy- 

 cephalic, and are distinguished by the constant prominence of the 



