The Tagals, one of the tribes of the second invasion, are the most important of the Philippine peoples. They industriously work their fields and raise rice, yams, maize, and several fleshy-root plants. Of fruits they cultivate mangoes, bananas, pineapples, cocoanuts, and others. Of industrial plants they produce manila hemp, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. Many of these plants they have only had since the coming of the Spaniards. They have long had domestic animals, among them the buffalo, pig, dog, hens, and ducks. The Tagals have towns of considerable size, with well-built houses perched on posts. They are well dressed in good cloth woven by the women. They are fond of gain and good traders. They are active in body and mind. They delight in poetry, and it is said “boys on the street will improvise by the yard.” The Tagals write their language with an alphabet which was probably brought from India _long_ ago. They formerly wrote on bamboo or on the bark of certain trees. The Tagals are passionately fond of cock-fighting. Every one chews betel nut. [Illustration: HEAD-HUNTING PARTY: IGORROTES (MEYER).] As to the third migration, it failed to reach the great island of Luzon. The immigrants were Mohammedan Malays from Borneo. They were sea-rovers and pirates. They gained possession of the Sulu Islands, the farthest to the southwest of the Philippines, and had landed on Mindanao when the arrival of the Spaniards put an end to their movements. They are usually called _Moros_ or Moors, from their religion. They are polygamous and keep slaves. Their ruler is called the Sultan of Sulu. Such are the people of the Philippines: at least fifty-one tribes, speaking as many different languages. But there are also many foreigners there: thousands of Japanese and Chinese; descendants of American Indians, brought by the old Spaniards from Mexico and Peru; Spaniards and other whites. And lastly there are all sorts of _mestizos_, or mixed persons, produced by the intermarriage of all these so many different stocks—native and foreign. XXIX. MELANESIANS.