Evening star., 1900-07-07

spear or bow and poisoned arrows and
waits for human game. When he has killed
man or woman he cuts off an ear or fin
ger and brings 1t in and shows it. II he has
an enemy in his own tribe he may kill him,
and II he has killed a number he is selected
by the datto or chief. a professional and
given an appointment at court. Those who
have killed ten or more men are called
mataderos.
The Bagabos are very revengeful They
have the vendetta and carry their enmity
to the families or slaves of the men they
hate. and spear or lance them on sight.
They are adopts in the use Of the lance
and the spear One stabbed Visayan here
the other day, driving his spear clear
through the body of his victim. The Wis.,
ayan was armed with bolo, and with the
spear still in him he turned and chopped Off
the head OF the Bagoba. The Visayan was
brought into the town. left for several days
without treatment, and then handed over
to the care of Capt. A. L. Haines. the sur
geon Capt. Haines put him under ether
his life I called upon the sick man the
other day and found him almost recovered
He is very grateful to the DOCTOR and has
given him the holo with which he killed the
Bagoba as a reward for saving his life.
How the BaRobas Live.
The Bagobas are not entirely savage in
their way of living. They have small
farms and cultivate rice and sweet pota-
toes in the intervals of their hunting ex-
poles high above the ground They raise
some hemp and weave the most of their
clothes from it. choosing the best of the
fiber.
The Bagoba women better looking
than the other female Savages of Minda-
nao They are almost white. They are
straight and well formed Their dress is a
skirt, reaching from the waist to the knee,
ana very short jacket. Both skirt and
Jacket are heavily embroidered with beads.
They are fond of jewelry and wear little
earrings of much the same shape as those
nave described as worn by the men. They
wear strings of bells above the knees at
about the place where the American girl
wears garter. and have heavy brass rings
about the ankles. They have a sort Of
headdress which covers their hair, which
is otten SO long that it hangs almost to the
Knees: When fully dressed they adorn
'neir hair with fancy feathers and hemp.
me Bagoba women do the most of the
nara work They do the weaving of the
weeds o0' '-4e
Sun quoting the words of the vice presi-
uehte, these people very hospitable
and universally treat guests we'll whan
they come to see them Their hosnitaI;tr
however ends after he has left the viIIaee
at which time he had better keep his eves
open Tor one of the young men who Is after
mead. finger or an ear to establish his
reputation ii'
Ihe vice presidente says that they marry
very young and that the groom always has
~ P"S j Seltd price tOF the bride
amount Is regulated by the beauty of the
girl and her standing in the tribal society.
III she Is good looking and the daughter
OF warrior she may be estimated at $50
althoush the sum will not be given in
money, but in vegetables. chickens or
nehp. one way of estimating such things
Is at the price of brass gong Such a
gong Is worth thirty silver dollars, and It
two brass gongs.
Other Queer Savages
The vice presidente has given me the
names of - different tribes who live in this
vicinity. They are as follows: The Raeo-
bas, the Guyangas the Aetas the Ninda-
yas' the Malobas, the Samales, the Gala
games, the Belanes. the Moros, the Taea-
cauies and the Sangals and TIrurayes. He
says that the MonteseS, whom Dean Wor-
cester seems to consider a separate race
are OF direrent kinds. the word being used
as as general term for mountain peop,e."
ne 1lrurayes live near and in Cottah,to
Ihey are not SO savage as the Bagobas
go almost naked and live chiefly by hunt,
ing and fishing. Their women wear short
sklrls tk Iess than foot long and adorn
tneir ankles and wrists with brass rings.
Inc Iagacaules. who live on the east
coast OF Mindanao, about thirty miles from
mere, are hill worshipers. They are said
10 De the poorest, weakest and most cowL
ardly OF the savages. They live in settle
ments. cultivating small farms and being
governed by a Datto or chief
Inc Mindayas show traces of Malay ori-
gin. Ihey live in the branches of trees
or upon houses built upon posts from fif-
teen to eighteen feet from the ground.
Ihey crawl into their houses by means of
noiched sticks which they pull up at night.
only rev days ago Lieut.. Lowry made
trip up the Kin Kin river which flows
into the Bay of Davao. not far from here.
he took five natives and fifteen men with
MN and explored the river to it's source.
n ttn ht,to
nave been those of Mlndayas. He tells me
that the houses were twelve to fifteen feet
square. They consisted of a framework of
bamboo poles covered with a nipa thatch
built high up in tho air on trees. that had
Deen cut on with bolos for the PURPOSE
In many cases there were three, four and
hve houses in one bunch. a common pole
with cross pieces serving as q ladder for
the Whoie. The floors of the houses were
or heavy timber. each about eight inches
thick. put together so tightly that 1t would
be impossible to shoot an arrow through
them. The Inhabitants of these villages
were almost naked savages. They were
armed with lances. bolos and bows and ar
rows, the latter being. 1t Is said, poisoned.
The sayages looked at the soldiers from Il
distance, but did not venture to attack
them.
Room for the EthnoIoRist,
These are only a few of the strange
things which I hear of the wild people of
hard to believe, but the authorities are good.
There is almost nothing known about the
people of the mountains and there is a
great chance for the cthnologist to make
original Investigations. SO far the sayages
have not been described in the books, nor
have the white men lived enough among
tfem to know about them. The Spaniards
did not go beyond the limits of their army
posts and the field is practically one of
virgin soil for the explorer. AS to how
many savages there are in Mindanao there
ls no accurate means Of judging. The Ba-
gobas are said to number about seven thou
sand. and the total number of people in all
the tribes must be large.
Surprises for the Moros.
The Moros themselves are almost saw
ages although. as l have said, they be-
lieve in the Mohammedan religion, and in
some cases own Korans. Very few of
them, however. can read and write and
none have any idea of modern civiliza-
ton.
Many Of the Moros who have visited the
posts where the soldiers are have express