Negritos of Zambales | Page 5

the province contiguous
to that part of Albay inhabited by Negritos. In neither province is the
type pure. In the northern part of the province a few Negritos, called
"Dumagat," are reported near Sipocot and Ragay. The towns of San
Vicente, Labo, Paracale, Mambulao, and Capalonga along the north
coast also have Negritos, generally called "Aeta." These are probably
of purer blood than those around Mount Isarog. More than a hundred
families of "Dumagat" are reported on the Islands of Caringo, Caluat,
and Jomalic.
Farther to the north the Island of Alabat was first stated by Blumentritt
to be inhabited by Dumagat, and in his map of 1882 he places them
here but omits them in the map of 1890. Meyer deems their occurrence
there to be beyond all doubt, as per Steen Bille's reports (Reise der
Galathea, German ed., 1852). Reports of The Ethnological Survey
place Aeta, Baluga, and Dumagat on Alabat--the former running wild
in the mountains, the latter living in the barrios of Camagon and
Silangan, respectively. On the mainland of the Province of Tayabas the
Negritos are generally known as Aeta and may be regarded as being to
a large degree of pure blood. They are scattered pretty well over the
northern part of the province, but do not, so far as is known, extend
down into the peninsula below Pitogo and Macalelon. Only at Mauban
are they known as Baluga, which name seems to indicate a mixed breed.
The Island of Polillo and the districts of Infanta and Principe, now part
of the Province of Tayabas, have large numbers of Negritos probably
more nearly approaching a pure physical type than those south of them.
The Negritos of Binangonan and Baler have received attention in short
papers from Blumentritt, but it yet remains for someone to make a
study of them on the spot.
Meyer noted in 1872 that Negritos frequently came from the mountains
to Santa Cruz, Laguna Province. These probably came from across the

Tayabas line, as none are reported in Laguna except from Santa Maria,
in the extreme northern part. Even these are probably very near the
boundary line into Rizal Province; perhaps they are over the line.
Tanay, Rizal Province, on the shore of Laguna de Bay, reports some
300 Negritos as living in the mountains north of that town. From
descriptions given by natives of Tanay they do not appear to be pure
types. There is also a small group near Montalbán, in Rizal Province,
not more than 20 miles from Manila.
Going northward into Bulacan we are in possession of more definite
information regarding the whereabouts of these forest dwellers. Zúñiga
in 1803 spoke of the Negritos of Angat--in those days head-hunters
who were accustomed to send messages by means of knotted grass
stalks. [10]
This region, the upper reaches of the Angat River, was visited by Mr. E.
J. Simons on a collecting trip for The Ethnological Survey in February,
1903. Mr. Simons saw twenty-two little rancherias of the Dumagat,
having a total population of 176 people. Some of them had striking
Negroid characteristics, but nearly all bore evidence of a mixture of
blood. In some cases full-blooded Filipinos have married into the tribe
and adopted Negrito customs entirely. Their social state is about the
same as that of the Negritos of Zambales, though some of their
habits--for instance, betel chewing--approach more nearly those of
lower-class Filipinos. A short vocabulary of their dialect is given in
Appendix B.
Negritos are also found in northern Bulacan and throughout the
continuous mountain region extending through Nueva Ecija into
Isabela and the old Province of Principe. They are reported from
Peñaranda, Bongabong, and Pantabangan, in Nueva Ecija, to the
number of 500. This region is yet to be fully explored; the same may be
said also of that vast range of mountains, the Sierra Madre, of Isabela
and Cagayan. In the Province of Isabela Negritos are reported from all
the towns, especially Palanan, on the coast, and Carig, Echague,
Angadanan, Cauayan, and Cabagan Nuevo, on the upper reaches of the
Rio Grande de Cagayan, but as there is a vast unknown country

between, future exploration will have to determine the numerical
importance of the Negritos. It has been thought heretofore that this
region contained a large number of people of pure blood. This was the
opinion set forth by Blumentritt. He says:
This coast is the only spot in the Philippines in which the original
masters of the Archipelago, the Negritos, hold unrestricted possession
of their native land. The eastern side of the Cordillera which slopes
toward this coast is also their undisputed possession. However, the
western slopes they have been compelled to share with branches of
Malay descendants. Here they retain the greatest purity of original
physique and character.
These statements stand much