Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-04-24
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE RECORDER sSpa0-
IAL CORRESPONDENT, WHO is
MAKING A TOUR OF THE EAST
ERIN COUNTRIES.
Especial to Recorder.)

ferent tongues spoken as IL the
Philippines. A recent classical
ton gives eighty four different
tribal languages, and thirty seven
dialects. When it is reinem bered
that native who speaks one OF
these dialects or languages under.
stands no other, the condition is
amazing. With the exception of
dwarf blacks, the Negritos, who
inhabit the forests ina great num-
Der OF localities, all OF the tribes of
the islands are of the Malayan type
Perhaps the greatest departure
from the Malayn type is to be
found, except in the case OF the
Negritos before mentioned, in the
Inaeuesians are people of mixed
Caucasian blood. who, in primative
tinres, were distributed acros, the
Malay archipelago and we mud
their purest living type in the Pol
ynesians.
Generally speaking the inhabi-
tants of the Philippines may be
classified as Negritos, lndonesians,
whites, Chinese, Half-bloods- and
Malayans. The Negritos, number.
ing aboutf $4,000 souls, are con-
sidered the aboriaines of the is-
lands. They are a Ncowardly race
of half starved pSgmv blacks,
subsisting of the precarious fruits
of the chase in ths forests. They
are grouped under no less than
twenty one tribal names and have
as many dialects.
The so-called Indonesians, num-
bering 100000 souls, distributed
among sixteen tribes, make up a
considerable portion Of the wild
pagan tribes of Mindanao. Their
predominant characteristics are
their very considerable height,
great muscular Development, high
forehead, aquilipe nose, wavy hair,
abundant beard and light color.
Of stalwart frame they are readily
tractible and become most efficient
workers under Intelligent superTi-
sion.
By far the most important class
next to the whites are the Mestl-
EOS, or llalf-bloods. In this class
ifcation are to be found much of
the most intelligent and progress
sive population in the archipelago.
This population is largely CONNER
cially bent and inclined to the larg-
,er cities and towns which have
been reached by the commerce of
Europe. An important CONNER
cial element is found in the Chi
nese Mestizos who are actively en-
gagged in mercantile and shipping
enterprises throughout the islands.
la parts of the islands the re-
sem blance Of the native to the Jap
anese type is most marked. Among
the Igorrotes many tribes show
markedly japanese traits, which is
believed to be due to japanese pi-
ratical invasions in the early times.
It is an interesting fact that the
Filipinos have an intense dislike
for the japanese, believing them
to be the most barbarous people.
This idea grew out of the efforts of
the Filipino priests who went to
Japan in early days and whos were
tortured and put to death. They
were afterwards canonized and the
story of their martyrdom was de.
picted in the ecclesiastical schools.
The circumstance thus became
known throughout the archipela-
20, resulting in deep rooted aver
sion, which time and closer associa.
ton has not obliterated.
Like the japanese the Filipinos
are homogeneous race, aLle to
trace their descent from n common
stock Their principal character
istic are pronounced, and once rec
ogniz ID are unmisIakeable. Save
for their difference in dress it
would be impossible to tell a pagan
lrrogote from the mountainous
heart of Luzon apart from q Cltis-
tan Tagalog from the lower parts