[Illustration: PHILIPPINE NEGRITO (MEYER).] The negritos, or old population, are a little people much like the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands. They are short, black skinned, and crinkly haired. They do not live to be old, but a person of thirty or forty looks as if much older. They build no true houses; in bad weather they put up rude shelters. They are wanderers and have no agriculture; they make no pottery; they wear but little clothing; some scar or tattoo; they are fond of ornaments. Their chief weapon is the bow and arrow, though they also have spears. They are skilful in throwing stones. They make fire by friction, sawing one sharp piece of bamboo across another. If a negrito dies, his fellows believe he was bewitched by some Tagal or other Malay, and will not be satisfied until one has been killed in revenge. When two negritos wish to swear friendship, they cut their arms and each sucks blood from the other; they thus become of one blood and are like brothers. They used to send messages by knotting grass which either had a meaning itself or helped the person who carried it to remember what he had been told. There are now perhaps twenty thousand negritos and they live mostly on the larger islands—Luzon, Mindanao, and Negros. Many tribes in the Philippines represent the first Malay invasion. They are much alike in life and character; all are bold and cruel; most of them are head-hunters. They depend, in part, on agriculture, and have settled villages which are usually in the mountains or forests. The Igorrotes are a good example of them. They live in North Luzon. Both men and women tattoo; they gild their teeth and are fond of ornaments. The men go armed with spears, bows and arrows, and knives. Their peculiar weapon, however, is a hatchet-knife called _ligua_; the thin broad blade, set like that of a hatchet, has a concave cutting edge which runs into a long point above. The houses of the Igorrotes are large, rectangular, and raised on piles. These people are good agriculturists, tending their fields—which they irrigate—with care. The girls of the village are in charge of an old woman, and they all live and sleep together in one special house; this is unlike the other houses of the village and is not set up on posts. The Igorrotes have much respect for the souls of their ancestors. In each village there is a sacred tree in which they believe these souls abide. Though industrious and settled the Igorrotes are dreadful head-hunters. They organize war-parties to attack neighboring tribes for victims. The party shown in the picture were on such an errand. Only a few days after the photograph was taken they fell upon a Tingian village, killed thirty-nine persons, and carried away twenty-five heads as trophies. [Illustration: HOUSES OF IGORROTES (MEYER).]