Countries and Peoples of Malaysia
They are among the very smallest peoples in the world, the average height of the men being about 145 centimeters, or the height of an American boy of twelve years; the women are correspondingly smaller. They have such dark-brown skins that many people suppose them to be quite black; their hair is very wooly or kinky, and forms thick mats upon their heads. In spite of these peculiarities, they are not unattractive in appearance. Their eyes are large and of a fine brown color, their features are quite regular, and their little bodies often beautifully shaped.
The appearance of these little savages excited the attention of the first Spaniards, and there are many early accounts of them. Padre Chirino, who went as a missionary in 1592 to Panay, begins the narrative of his labors in that island as follows: “Among the Bisayas, there are also some Negroes. They are less black and ugly than those of Guinea, and they are much smaller and weaker, but their hair and beard are just the same. They are much more barbarous and wild than the Bisayas and other Filipinos, for they have neither houses nor any fixed sites for dwelling. They neither plant nor reap, but live like wild beasts, wandering with their wives and children through the mountains, almost naked. They hunt the deer and wild boar, and when they kill one they stop right there until all the flesh is consumed. Of property they have nothing except the bow and arrow.”[1]
Manners and Customs.—The Negritos still have this wild, timid character, and few have ever been truly civilized in spite of the efforts of some of the Spanish missionaries. They still roam through the mountains, seldom building houses, but making simply a little wall and roof of brush to keep off the wind and rain. They kill deer, wild pigs, monkeys, and birds, and in hunting they are very expert; but their principal food is wild roots and tubers, which they roast in ashes. Frequently in traveling through the mountains, although one may see nothing of these timid little folk, he will see many large, freshly dug holes from each of which they have taken out a root.
The Negritos ornament their bodies by making little rows of cuts on the breast, back, and arms, and leaving the scars in ornamental patterns; and some of them also file their front teeth to points. In their hair they wear bamboo combs with long plumes of hair or of the feathers of the mountain cock. They have curious dances, and ceremonies for marriage and for death.
Distribution.—The Negritos have retired from many places where they lived when the Spaniards first arrived, but there are still several thousand in Luzon, especially in the Cordillera Zambales, on the Pacific coast, and in the Sierra Madre range; and in the interior of Panay, Negros, Tablas, and in Surigao of Mindanao.
Relation of the Negritos to Other Dwarfs of the World.—Although the Negritos have had very little effect on the history of the Philippines, they are of much interest as a race to scientists, and we can not help asking, Whence came these curious little people, and what does their presence here signify? While science can not at present fully answer these questions, what we do actually know about these pygmies is full of interest.
Races and Tribes of the Philippines