Idaho Springs siftings., 1902-08-30

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without counting the pigmy
48I negritos, dwell in the interior
of Mindanao, numbering prob
bly, not less than 100000 in all, and
government ethnologists have already
begun to make a study of them. In
Ismuch as nothing worth mentioning
as been known about them hitherto,
here is plenty to learn, but good
.nany facts have been collected, and
race map" of the great island has
cen drawn, to accompany report on
he subject which will be submitted
b Congress next December.
One of the most notable or the
ribes is that of the Bagobos, who
well, according to their own belief,
t the gates of hell. They offer hui
nan sacrifices to the devil, who lives
With his wives on the top of an active
olcano in their neighbornood. The
honster's name is Mandarangan, and
is necessary to appease him with
egular supplies of blood, which is his
nly drink. Inasmuch as each Bagobo
as two souls, one of which goes to
heaven and the other to the Internal
egions, he feels particularly anxious
o placate the arch-fiend.
The origin of these tribes is uncer-
ain Presumably they came origin
lily from the mainland OF Asia, al
hough some authorities are of the
opinion that they voyaged all the way
rom Madagascar, and they certainly
lrrived later than the negritos. They
bettled, in MindanAo, however, long
before the Moros, who in recent times
have preyed upon them, carrying on
heir women and enslaving the men.
rhey are tall, well developed, intelli-
gent, and rather light of skin, with
Aquiline noses. Some of them are
fierce and warlike.
The most numerous of these tribes
Are the Subanos. which number about
10000; the Tagadauas, which are esti-
mated at 10000; the Mandayas, who
hre reckoned at 10000; the Monteses,
who are put down at $4,000; the Man
bbos, who are 10000 strong; the Atlas,
who comprise $1,000 souls, and the
Bagobos, who number 1900. These
hre only guesses, however. The THRU
rays lin the neighborhood of Gotta
bato) are approaching extinction by
etarvation, and two or three OF the
bther tribes have been either ens1aved
by the stronger peoples or else wiped
put almost entirely in war.
The Bagobos are very strong and
herce, and one of their peculiarities is
hat the girls are as powerful, muscu-
arly, as the boys of this tribe, and
t is hard to tell the sexes apart.
they keep slaves chiefly for the pur-
pose of sacrificing them to the devil.
Equally ferocious are the Mandayas,
who offer human sacrifices with ex-
raordinary cruelty, cannibalism be-
ing sometimes incidental. They be-
ieve in two good divinities, a father
Ind son, and two evil ones, husband
Ind wife. Earthquakes they suppose
10 be caused by the restless move
nents of an immense crocodile in the
kenter of the earth. They bury their
cad in holes in the faces of cliffs.
The Manobos are ferocious and
n tree tops near the rivers, so as
10 be safe from their enemies. 1t is
he same way with the Baganis.
hough sometimes the latter place
heir dwelling on inaccessible crags
among the Baganis the costume
aries with the number of murders a
nan has committed. When man has
committed from five to ten murders,
lie indicates the fact by wearing a
Hesh-colored handkerchief on his head
scarlet handkerchief and shirt dec
brate the person of the warrior who
as murdered from ten to twenty peo-
Bile. while for more than twenty muir
Lers scarlet pantaloons may be added
k ~. sx,~