But throughout such studies the student should remember that his town or locality is of less importance, from a patriotic standpoint, than his country as a whole; that the interests of one section should never be placed above those of the Archipelago; and that, while his first and foremost duty is to his town and to his people, among whom he was born and nurtured, he owes a greater obligation to his whole country and people, embracing many different islands and different tongues, and to the great Government which holds and protects the Philippine Islands, and which is making possible the free development of its inhabitants.
Copy of the Koran from Mindanao.
Chapter II.
The Peoples of the Philippines.
The Study of Ethnology.—The study of races and peoples forms a separate science from history, and is known as ethnology, or the science of races. Ethnology informs us how and where the different races of mankind originated. It explains the relationships between the races as well as the differences of mind, of body, and of mode of living which different people exhibit.
All such knowledge is of great assistance to the statesman as he deals with the affairs of his own people and of other peoples, and it helps private individuals of different races to understand one another and to treat each other with due respect, kindness, and sympathy. Inasmuch, too, as the modern history which we are studying deals with many different peoples of different origin and race, and as much of our history turns upon these differences, we must look for a little at the ethnology of the Philippines.
The Negritos.—Physical Characteristics.—The great majority of the natives of our islands belong to what is usually called the Malayan race, or the Oceanic Mongols. There is, however, one interesting little race scattered over the Philippines, which certainly has no relationship at all with Malayans. These little people are called by the Tagálog, “Aeta” or “Ita.” The Spaniards, when they arrived, called them “Negritos,” or “little negroes,” the name by which they are best known. Since they were without question the first inhabitants of these islands of whom we have any knowledge, we shall speak of them at once.