Italones (13).
These people live in the south-west corner of Nueva Vizcaya, about the head-waters of the River Magat. They are numerous, and occupy many towns and villages, amongst them Bayombong, Dupax, Bambang, and Aritas. They were formerly warlike head-hunters, and are said to have devoured the hearts and brains of their slain enemies in order to inherit their courage and wisdom. This is a Chinese idea, and is even now practised in Canton, where pieces of the heart and liver of a particularly hardened and desperate criminal are retailed by the executioner at a high price for the above purpose. They wear their hair long like the Ilongotes. Their weapons were the lance, shield, or wood-knife, and in their customs and religion they resembled the Igorrotes. They were said to ornament the hilts of their swords with the teeth of their slain enemies. All these detestable customs have now disappeared; they have been converted to Christianity, and now are peaceful agriculturists and hunters. Game and fish abound; a telegraph line runs through their territory with a station at Bayombong. This is part of the line from Manila to Aparri.