The times., 1898-11-20
DwARFs OF THE PHILIPPINES.
strange Creature. who May Become

Citizens of the United States.
The missing link" may belong to the
United States. Prof Otis Mason. of the
->auohai museum. says that by our ac-
QUESTION of the Philippines we will gath
er within the shadow of Old Glory the
strangest chronological curiosity of the
age This creature is the Aeta man a
biack dwarf. whom the learned etbnoIo-
gist says is closely akin to the ape form
IN the professors opinion, the missing
hnk' more scientifically known as the
pithecanthropue erectus-or erect mon
Key man-whose remains were recently
Jug up In Java, was one of. or at most a
uirect ancestor of. this same type.
Inc Aeta has been neglected in popular
literature apropos of the recent war. He
mas never yet been studied thoroughly
ne Is very shy, and there are only a few
OF MS species living. 1t is s.imated that
these peculiar men will become extinct
IN few generations, for they are s.ckly
and wretched- Their birth rate is fast
falling off. They are extremely short
lived, growing old at forty.
They have apelike faces. deeply lined.
noses broad and fiat, with nostriIs dia-
iated. broad at base and depressed at
root; woody hair, under lips thick and
hanging down. sunken eyes: arms long,
ike those of the monkey: slender legs.
with no calves; feet turned inward. with
small chests and slender bodies. The
bones of their lower legs are defoImed,
due to their habit of crouching on their
haunches about their fires. which they
do even in hottest Summer. They are
very black. and average four feet nine
or ten inches in height. Other ape char
acteristics are their protruding Jaws and
wonderful ability to pick up the smallest
OBJECT, even needle with their feet
Inc Aeta man considers himself Iuxu-
rlously dressed II he has on a girdle The
most intelligent cannot count above five.
Ihey have never progressed so far as TO
invent musical instruments The chief
weapon is the bow. which they handle in
primitive fashion, releasing the cord WITH
thumb and forefinger. They are very
skiliful at throwing stones. and
hunt birds in that way They make
their fires by rubbing pieces OF
dry bamboo together. Some file
their teeth into points until the upper
and lower sets look like two saws coming
together. a few of them dsfo-m the
shape of their skulls by pressure. When
food is scarce they drink hot water. and
tie fiber around their waists to prevent
hunger. They live mostly upon the wild
tropical fruits OF the forest and wild
honey. The women do all the work
After the Spaniards had conquered the
Philippines the Aetas in the wild parts
of the islands used to come down from
the mountains IN hordes and attack tie
natives converted by the missionaries.
Later they became more peaceful a d
brought down wax and pitch, and learned
to trade them for rice and tobacco. This
commerce they still keep UP.
The Aetas have never learned to till the
soil or to make pottery. Some. OF tn; n
make rude combs and roughly ornament
these. as well as their bows. Some have
learned from the Aalays to hunt with
the blowpipe
Spanish missionaries. upon endeavo1ins
to convert some Aetas OF northeast Lu-
zon. were told that one OF the'r creeds
forbade them worrying about the future
and bade them trust entirely TO their
gods to provide for them Their princi-
pal deity is believed to be the moon.
When il is full they build great fire and
jump about it all night. waiiing hideols
chant. They have a great dread OF what
they appear to consider evil spirits in tn
forest. Some old-time travellers report
ed that they sacrificed a pig 10 pac.fy the
gods when il thundered.
The Aetas are monosamists. The fathe
Of each family is the head. his wife,
well as his children, being his inferior.
They have no general ruler. but travel N
hordes, each of which recognizes the
most courageous as its chief. They were
accused of cannibaiism by some OF the
early explorers Of the Philippines