The Mandáya's cranial conformation differs, according to Montano, from that of the Manóbo only in one particular, namely, in the straightness of the middle part of the antero-posterior curve of the cranium. In other respects his cranium is similar to that of the Manóbo. The face is oval rather than lozenge-shaped and has a pleasant, sympathetic look, due no doubt to the greater width of the palpebral opening, the largeness of the eye, and the length, darkness, and prominence of the eyelashes.
The nose is straight and prominent, occasionally quite European, and the nostrils are not depressed nor flattened. Their lower edges, instead of being horizontal, slant slightly upward from the tip. The nasal apertures are of medium size.
The superciliary ridges are prominent, but as the hair of the eyebrows is constantly kept shaved, there is not such an impression of prominence as in the Christianized Mandáyas of the southeastern seaboard of Mindanáo.
As to the abundance of beard, it is hard to form a judgment because from youth it is constantly and conscientiously eradicated. The hair of the head is long, black, and abundant, often somewhat wavy and not as coarse, I think, as that of Manóbos.
The most striking characteristic of the Mandáya is his fair color. It is not my intention to give the impression that he is one of a "lost white tribe" or that he is entitled to be called white in the sense in which we use the term when speaking of Europeans. But for a native of the Philippine Islands he certainly may be denominated white, though his skin is not tawny white like that of the Japanese or Chinese but has a peculiar ashy tint. I have seen a few individuals that were very nearly as white as the average American, but who otherwise were not of a pronounced Caucasian type.
It is very difficult to explain the prevailing fairness of this tribe except by presupposing an admixture of some other blood. The Manóbo lives in as dark forests and on as lofty mountains as those occupied by Mandáyas. His manner of life is practically the same, and yet the average tint of his skin is far darker, so much so that the Mandáya, in speaking not only of him but of Mañgguáñgan and even of Bisáya, spurns them all as being "black."
THE DEBABÁONS
As to the Debabáons, I have not come in touch with a sufficient number of them to enable me to make any general statements. The groups that I met in Moncayo, on the Sálug where the Baglásan River empties into it, and in the country extending some 10 kilometers to the west of it, closely resemble the Mandáyas in physical characters, and yet in language, general culture, and religious belief, and by genealogy, they belong to the Manóbo tribe. It is probable that they are the result of intermarriage of Manóbo men of Baóbo and Ihawán origin with Mandáya women of the lower Sálug and Tágum Rivers.