Although at the present moment the aboriginal population of the Philippines may be studied in detail, such detail will be avoided; and no more than four leading points will be noticed. 1. _The Blacks of the Philippine group._--The existence of tribes darker coloured than the generality, is one of the earliest of the observations on these parts; and its confirmation one of the latest facts in modern ethnology. Beginning at the island of Mindanao, we find, in Mallat,[59] the names of the following tribes--Dumagas, Malanaos, Manabos, and Tagabaloys. These are not described in detail, but are said to belong to the same type with the Negroes of the Bissayan Archipelago and Luçonia. They constitute the still savage tribes of the forests and mountains. In the Archipelago our knowledge becomes more distinct, though still imperfect. The Blacks of Lasso were visited by Lafond Lurcy. They were nearly naked, with hair like cotton, very slim, and very undersized. Dr. Prichard makes these Negritos members of a group which he calls the _puny Negroes of the Archipelago_. What Lafond Lurcy writes coincides with the statements of Mallat; who speaks of the Blacks of the type in question as being very Negro in feature, with the nose _peu épaté_, and with the hair _crépu_. The _Isola de Negros_ takes its name from the greater proportion of the population being of this character, _i.e._ black, after the manner of the African. In Luçonia, however, a second type appears. IGOROTS. Taller than the southern Blacks; more copper-coloured than black; eyes oblique; frontal sinuses much developed; hair harsh, hard, lank, and bright-black. Painted; tattooed on their hands with a figure like the sun. BUSIKS. More agricultural than the Igorots. Tattooed. BUSAOS. Milder in temper than the Igorots; tattooed on the arms only; pierced and enlarged ears. ITETEPANES. Small, and short; black; flat-nosed; eyes less oblique than those of the Igorots; hair straight. All this verifies the statement of the Abbate Bernardo del Fuente,[60] according to which there are two varieties of Philippine Blacks, one with long, fine, and glossy, and one with crisped hair. 2. _The Philippine languages._--Of these the most important are the Tagala, the Bissayan, the Pampango, the Iloco, and the Abac. Of the Bissayan there are several dialects: the Mindanao, the Samar, the Iolo, the Bohol. The structure of the Tagala has been particularly studied by Humboldt. It represents the Malay in its most complex form; and is essentially agglutinate in respect to its inflection. All the numerous Philippine dialects and languages are fundamentally Malay. Those of the Blacks are but little known. Still, as far as our knowledge extends, the philological phenomenon is the same as with the Samang of the Malayan Peninsula. The difference in language is less than the difference of form and colour.