The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-03-25
sAvAGEs OF PHILIPPINES.
Various Tribes of Natives Who Are
Blood-Thirssy and Difficult
to Cope With.

T.. NJ Murphy, OF Company c, Six
teenth infantry. who has had an in
feresting experience with them. When
he came in sight Of their village, ne
says. his appearance frightened the
natives, who Immediately ran fer the
thick brush that eircled the clearing.
There they remained, watching him
furtively, and wondering what sort 81
a creature he might be
Night came on and hunger forced
the unwelcome guest to look about
for food. His unwilling hosts resented
this and approached cautiously. The
chief came closer than the rest and
accepted Murphy signs of friendship.
He donned their garb and remained
IN their country some time, gathering
curios and taking pictures. These peo-
pie have associated with neighborins
tribes enough TO have learned some
thing about the value Of mney Muir
ply relates how he at first did nor
understand to what extent their
knowledge went. If he was bargain
ing for a fine specimen OF q head
knife full Of noteI2es, which indicate
how many heads its owner has hung
under his matched roof, he would
offer several pieces of coin. Later he
learned better. 70 these saEages a
coin is coin, and one Of considera-
able value is worth no more TO them
than a smaller piece After that his
trophies cost him less.
While many OF these t-ibes have IN
doubted courage, they do battle in
singuIarly cowardly manner. A war
rior will lie in wait at the side OF
trail, hiding in the thick bushes, Tor
days. When the rival tribasnan ap-
pears, he hurIs long spear or lance
at him If his aim is good the dead
mans head is promptly deposited il
the head basket and carried 10 hla
rattan hut in triumph
These constant wars beween neigh
boring t9ibesmen have had their effect
on the population. The ''Long-aaiFed
Negritos, . which was formerly a nu-
merous. people on LuzoH. now number
less than 300 The feuds are largely
the result, strangely enough, of a So
cial custom When a young man
wishes to marry some young maiden Of
the tribe he first has 10 gain tie con-
sent of the parents. It he is not es-
tab1ished as a warrior, he is told to go
and secure a mead. This OF course
keeps the feuds alive, because he will
certainly not present himself to the
parents Of his chosen one till he has
CORY head IN his head basket. The
skulls of victims are placed ai2ove the
entrance Of the warriors hut. II the
successful warrior belongs to the
Elongote tribe a feast follows his VIC
tory. An interesting item which Mur-
ply stated as actually true is that the
victim is devoured entirely There Is
nothing left uneaten but the bones.
Tie most savare and barbnrous
tribe on the island is, Murphy says,
the Ifugoas. on Luzon. AT tho same
time. it is the most Industrious. It is
this tribe which cuitiEates the Won
derfuI Ifugoa rice field, which is ter
raced out Of mountain to the height
Of 5000 feet. The fiat, step-like areas
being sown with rice In this tribe, II
a girl is suspected of inaElor2l5ty she
is Immediately beheaded. If SIZE runs
away and marries a warrior without
the consent Of her parents. thu guilty
man is heaeaded 80" said Murplly
you see. even with their savagery
they have some definite ideas Of moral
ity.''
The marriage ceremony is simplicity
itself. Unaccustomed clothes are worn
for the occasion. The bride ant groom
stand beside each other while tom
toms beat They keep step to the
measure and parade through the
streets of the village to show that they
are now husband and wife If the
next collection of huts is near by
they march through that place as
WELL That is their newspaper notice,
and constitutes all the ceremony
there is.
The E1ongote burial service is equal
ly simple. The corpse is. deposited out
side Of the family hut, ii q tomb above
ground. which is then sealed When
another death occurs in the same fam
lily the tomb is raopened. If sufficient
time has elapsed to make the plan
feasible, the remains Of the prior ten
ant are placed in 6 sack and hung on
the walls Of the hat.
A most interesting people which
Murphy also visited were those OF
the Isabella tribe, as they are called.
They formerly lived in huts made in
the branches of trees. AS there were
no firearms among their rival tribes,
this people had safe retreat in their
arboreal homes At night they would
climb into their "home-tree" by means
Of a notched pole; then they would
draw a pole up. During the first
yea. of the instruction, Aguina1do
gave their neighboring foes, the Asa
/ dos, a number Of guns. The Isabs11a
people were then attacked and imme-
diately climbed to their tree refugees
| and prepared to hurl upon the ap-
preaching Alssdes the huge rocks
which they kept On hand Tor such
emergencies. But rocks could not pre-.
vail against modern guns. and there
was a great Strengthening Of the Isa-
bella folk that day Murphy says
since then there are no more huts
built between the branches of the
trees.