The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon

Thus with two exceptions our Negritos are decidedly round headed or brachycephalic. The exceptions are two women (indices 78 and 79), who in other respects are typical. The first had the lowest stature recorded (1266 mm.) and her arm-reach exceeded her stature by 57 mm. Her nose was very broad and flat (index 98), hair kinky, color and other characters those of the pure Negrito. The second woman was without obvious indication of mixed blood, but her nasal index was only 79 or mesorhinian, and this even more than her head form would suggest the probability of some Malay blood. I think we must conclude, then, that the head form of the Negrito, while usually decidedly round, has considerable variation and approaches mesaticephaly.

Topinard's nomenclature for nasal index is, for the living:

Broad and flat noses (platyrhinian) 108 to 87.9 Medium noses (mesorhinian) 81.4 to 69.3 Thin, high noses (leptorhinian) 69.4 to 63

Those familiar with Topinard's monumental work will recall the particular importance he gives to the nasal index, and how he shows that it is perhaps the most exact character for classifying races; all white races being leptorhinian, the yellow mesorhinian, and the black or negro races platyrhinian. Indeed the presence of a markedly platyrhinian type of nose may almost be taken as clear proof of negro derivation. The nasal index of Negritos, as would be expected in a race whose outward characters are so obviously negroid, is exceptionally high or platyrhinian. Again the figures for men and women are arranged serially so as to show the mean and variation.

All of these nasal indices, with the sole exception of the woman mentioned above, are below mesorhinian or pronouncedly platyrhinian and negroid.

The shape of the Negrito nose is peculiar and after it has once been carefully observed can be easily recognized. The root is deeply depressed from a smooth and rounding forehead, the bridge is short and low, and the end rounding and bulbous. Sometimes, but not usually, the nostrils are horizontally visible. The apertures of the nostrils are very flat and their direction almost parallel with the plane of the face.

It has been repeatedly asserted that the body color of the Negrito is black, but this is a gross exaggeration. It is a dark brown, several shades darker than the Malay, with a yellowish or saffron "undertone" showing on the less exposed parts of the body. As compared with the lighter colored peoples about him his color is pronounced enough to warrant the appellation of negro which is applied to him, but this term must not be considered as other than a popular description.

The hair of the Negrito is typically African. It is kinky and grows in the little clusters or "peppercorn" bunches peculiar to negro races. The Negrito man and woman usually wear the hair short, cutting it more or less closely so that it resembles a thick pad over the head. Sometimes a tonsure on the back is cut away, and among still other Negritos a considerable part of the hair is removed from the head. In persons of mixed Negrito-Malayan blood the hair, if left uncut, grows into a great wavy or frizzly mop standing up well from the head.

The Negrito is seldom prognathous, nor is the lower part of his face excessively developed. His profile and features on the whole are comely and pleasing, especially in the pure type, which is less "scrawny" than in mixed individuals. The body, too, is shapely and the proportions good, except that the head appears a little large, the legs too short, and the arms, as above noted, excessively long.

The muscular development is slender rather than stocky, seldom obese, legs a little thin and deficient in the calf.

The Negrito eye is distinctly pretty. It is dark brown and well opened. It has no suggestion of doubled lid and in all these respects differs from the eye of the Malayan.

The lips are full, the chin slightly retreating, the ear well shaped and "attached."

Such are, I believe, the normal characters of the Negrito of the Philippines. He is a scattered survivor of the pygmy negro race, at one time undoubtedly far more important and numerous; brachycephalic, platyrhinian, woolly headed, and, when unaffected by the higher culture of the surrounding peoples, a pure forest-dwelling savage.

The only other undisputed members of the Negrito race, besides those found in the Philippines, are the Andaman islanders and the Semang of the Malay peninsula. De Quatrefages' diligent and hopeful search through the literature of Malaysia for traces of the Negrito led him to the belief in their existence in a good many other places from Sumatra to Formosa, but Meyer in a subsequent essay assailed De Quatrefages' evidence except for the three areas mentioned above. If by Negrito we mean compact, independent communities of relatively pure type, I think we must agree with Meyer, but if on the other hand we mean by the presence of the Negrito the occurrence of his typical characters in numerous individuals of reputed Malayan race, then we must, I think, admit the presence of the Negrito in a great proportion of the peoples and localities of Malaysia. And in this sense there is much evidence that the Negrito still exists from the Andamans to Formosa and even to Japan, absorbed in the stronger populations that have overrun these regions.

Meyer's Distribution of the Negritos in the Philippines and Elsewhere is a very valuable sifting of the evidence, but it is not final, as was quickly apparent eight years ago when we came to locate Negritos on the ground. There are none for instance in Cebu, where Meyer was led to place them, and it is certain that they live in Guimaras and on Palawan. Those of the last island are a very curious people, locally called "Batak." They were first described in a brief note with photographs by Lieutenant E. Y. Miller published by the Philippine Ethnological Survey in volume II of its Publications. Doubt has been cast on the Negrito character of these people, some supposing them to be predominantly Malayan, but there is no doubt about their being Negrito, although in places they have perhaps received Malayan blood.

In June, 1909, I measured a few Batak who had a small settlement called Laksun near the village of Bintuan, thirty miles up the coast from Puerto Princesa. The individuals of this group were typical Negritos, in color, character of hair, and general appearance. Four men who were measured were 1433, 1475, 1497, and 1590 respectively in stature. Their arm-reach in every case exceeded the height, in one the excess being 152 mm. The head indices were 80 to 81, the nasal indices 85, 98, 102, and 102. These are all true Negrito characters and, while there may be in some communities of Batak a considerable amount of Malayan blood, the predominant type is Negrito.

It appears also that the other pagan element in Palawan, known as "Tagbanwa," while predominantly Malayan and exhibiting the general appearance and manner of life of the Malayan, is in part Negrito, as is revealed by the following measurements of five "Tagbanwa" men taken at Eraan, thirty miles south of Puerto Princesa. These men include the chief, "Masekampo Kosa" and four of his retainers. Their stature varied from 1521 to 1595, less than the usual stature of a group of Malayan men. The arm-reach was notably greater than the height. All were brachycephalic, the indices being 79, 81, 81, 82, and 83. All were platyrhinian, except one who was mesorhinian, the indices being 79, 88, 95, 100, and 105. In spite of these pronouncedly Negrito results, these men had the appearance of Malays, not Negritos. Their skin color was light brown, hair wavy not curly; their habits, bearing, and speech indicated the temperament of the Malay.

The "Mamanua" of Surigao peninsula, Mindanao, have long been recognized as of Negrito race. They were seen and described by Montano in 1880. At the present time they are very few in number, and are found in the forest about Lake Mainit and in the hill country southward. They are fast being absorbed by the Manobo, who join their communities and intermarry with them. In a little village called Kicharao in the forest near Lake Mainit are Mamanua men married to Manobo women and Manobo men married to Mamanua women, the children of these unions sometimes presenting Negroid and sometimes Malayan characters. The opportunity to observe the immediate results of mixture between two different races is very unusual. Naturally this group is of mixed race, some individuals looking like pure Negritos and from this type varying all the way to primitive Malayan. Three men whom I measured had a stature exceeding the Negrito but in other respects were Negritic. The statures were 1583, 1594, and 1612; the cephalic indices, 80, 85, and 86; the nasal indices, 97, 102, and 111.