The Portland daily press., 1899-01-03
THE ATLAS.
A Very Queer Folk OF "our, Phil
ipptnes.

fpptnes.
(John Il. Il. Watkins, jr., in st. Louis
Globe Dmocrat.)
Prof. Otis Mason, of the National
Museu m, the governments noted author
ity ON races and race characteristics, told
me day or two since that by our &C.
QUESTION of the Philippines we will
gather within the shadow of Old Glory
the strangest chronological curiosity OF this
age. This creature Is the Aets man, q
black dwarf, whom the learned ethnolo-
eist says IL as closely akin TO the ape form
as any specimen of human kind. In the
Professors opinion, the missing link,
more scientifically known rs the Pithe-
canthropus erectus-or erect monkey man
whose remains were recently dug mp In
Java. was one Of, or at most a direct an
cestor Of, this same type, soon to become
subjects Of the United States
There is q well established theory that
the real garden Of Eden was originally
located In the midst Of a continent which
thousands of years ago existed in the vast
area now called the Indian Ocean. Some
learned evolutionists opine that mans
transition from the ape form occurred In
this forgotten land. This alleged Eden
sank into the sea. 1t Is said, and the ape
men scattered east and west Those who
went vast became the ancestors OF the
present negroes of Africa. Those who
went east were the forefathers OF this
Aeta man, who has rot developed 50
much above the ape % his African cousin.
Java where tbs supposed missing link"
WAS exhumed, was, according to the
theory, one of the first regions visited by
those fleeing east. On reaching here the
ape-man was furry, with a woolly under
and sleek outer coat In the warm, vol
oanic surroundings Of Java he shed his
process as seen today in European sheep.
which change their wool for hair In tropi-
cal lands. The brethren of this wild
man Of Java wandered across to Borneo
and the small islands intervening 60 the
Philippines. Hence the Aeta. the aborig-
Inc of these islands, and who ruled them
until the arrival, many centuries ago, of
other people of the Malay archipelago and
Melanesia.
Probably you have never heard of the
Aeta. He has bsen neglected in popular
literature apropos of the recent war. He
has never yet been studied thoroughly.
He Is very shy and OF his kind there
are only few more left" as the fakir
would say. 1t is estimated that
they will become extinct in but a few
generations II 70 impossible TO count
them because they live much like apes
wandering through the forests, eating
what they can pick from trees or dig out
of the ground. They sleep upon the
ground wherever night may happen to
catch them. Jew Americans In the
Philippines have had u glimpse OF them,
because they live In the higher mountain
ranges, principally in Lu2on and Nogros
There are few In Panay and Mindauao.
They are sickly and wretched. Their
birth rate Is fast falling of. They are
extremely shor5 lived, growing old at
forty.
They have ape.like faces. deeply lined.
noses broad and fiat, with nostrils oilated
broad at base and depressed at root, woody
hair, underlips thick and hanging down,
sunken eyes, arms long like those of the
monkey. slender legsiwith no calves, feet
turned inward, small chests and slender
bodies The bones OF their lower legs are
deformed. due to their habit OF crouching
on their launches about their fires, which
they do even in hottest summer. They
are very black and average about feet
or 10 inches in height. Other ape char
acterlstics are their protruding jaws and
wonderful ability to pick up the sma lest
object, even needle, with their feet.
When anything Is dropped, hand or foot
is used with equal ease to pick 1t up
They climb head-downward rs easily as
head upward, holding on with their feet
almost exactly as monkeys do. Some
who have gotten aboard ships coasting on
the Philippines have startled the sailors
by their ape-like method OF climbing the
rigging This ability is due to peculiar
separation of the toes, the great toe being
much further from the others than in
other races. Their sense OF smell Is said
to be as acute as that Of the horse.
The Aeta man or woman considers
himself luxurianily dressed II he has on
a girdle The most intelligent cannot
count above five. They have never pro-
crossed so far as to invent musical In
struments. The chief weapon is the bow,
which they handle In primitive fashion.
releasing the cord with thumb and fore
finger They are very ssillful at throw
ing stones, and hunt birds in that way.
They make their fires by rubbing pieces
of dry bamboo togethe Some file their
teeth into points until the upper and
lower sets look like two saws coming to-
gether. A few OF them deform the shape
of their skulls by pressure. When food
Is scarce they drink hot water and tie
aber around their waists to prevent hun
ger. They live mostly upon the wild
tropical fruits of the forest and wild
honey. The women do all the work, such
as gathering honey and wax They
smoke the bees from the trees by bonfire
built below and then climb up and collect
the comb in palm leaves folded in conioal
form, much as the country confectioner
folds his brown p per. After the Spaniaid DIS
following Magellan had conquered the
Philippines the Aetas in the wild parts of
the islands used to come down from the
mountains in hordes and attack the
natives converted by the missionaries
Later they became more peaceful and
brought down wax and pitch and learned
to trade them for rice and tobacco. This
commerce they still keep up, and Prof
Mason says 1t Is carried on after the fash
ion Of the old moonshiner's mode of bar
ter. The pitch or wax is hidden or buried
in some appointed place. the articles
exchanging being deposited in their places
by the other party to the transaction
Tins the most primitive peOple appear to