About fifty families commonly live together, and their villages of rude, thatched huts, raised on bamboo poles high from the ground, present a curious appearance. They were the original lords of the islands, and when the first Malays settled here, they, with unfailing regularity, exacted tribute from the newcomers. The latter, however, soon became too powerful, and the Negritos are now either employed by the Tagalogs as servants, or they have fled to their retreats in the mountains. But they are fast disappearing, and, hence, before many generations, will have perished before the destructive blast of progress.
Their principal food is fish, roots, fruits, and rice. They are notorious cattle-thieves, swooping down upon the valley and carrying their prey to their fastnesses in the mountains. Their agricultural skill consists in scratching the soil with a stick and throwing in the seed. They rarely ever spend more than one season in one locality, thus constantly moving from place to place.
Their religion seems to consist in a deification of the supernatural and of the mysterious. When the railroad was first constructed from Manila to Dagupan, these Negritos constantly appeared along the track, which they regarded with feelings of awe.
When the trial journey of the first locomotive took place, and that huge iron salamander appeared thundering down the track, it is related that they all fell upon their knees in abject terror, worshiping the strange monster as some new and powerful deity.
Unlike most savages, they care tenderly for their aged, and are full of reverence for their dead.
As a rule, too, they are independent of Spanish domination, and neither pay taxes nor submit to enumeration for the census.
A few years ago the Government started a mission in Pampanga; a great many Negritos were herded together, and were given a year’s provisions and tools to work with. Teachers were also provided, and all went well as long as the provisions lasted. They refused to work, however, and were averse to all restraint, and the second year they returned to their native haunts.
They have a curious marriage custom. After a young man has shown his passion for a girl, and his advances have been well received by the parents of his intended, he catches her in his arms. She breaks loose, however, and runs. He follows hard behind. Again he catches her. She resists, and once more frees herself, running away from the eager arms of her ardent lover. After this play of struggle and chase have been kept up a little while, she finally yields, and he leads her triumphantly back to her home.
Volcano of Albay, a Near View.