An accompanying illustration represents this wild and curious scene. In the foreground are the dancers, each with his torch in his hand, and indulging in the grotesque movements of the dance. To the left are seen the musicians, one playing on the bamboo pipe, and the other beating the drum which has before been mentioned. One of these drums is lying in the foreground. It is a hollow cylinder of palm wood, about two feet in length and four inches in diameter. One end is covered with lizard-skin, and along the side there run longitudinal slits. The native name for this drum is “baiatú.” The funeral ceremonies appear to differ according to the locality. Among the Dory people, when a man dies, the body is rolled in white calico, and laid on its side in a grave, its head resting on an earthenware dish. The weapons and ornaments of the dead man are laid in the grave, which is then filled up, and a thatched roof erected over it. Should the deceased be a head of a family, the Karwar is brought to perform its last duties. When the man is buried, the Karwar is placed near the grave, and violently execrated by all the mourners for allowing its charge to die. The thatched roof being finished, the idol is laid upon it, and idol and roof are left to decay together. As is usual with savage tribes, funeral feasts are held at the time of burial and for some days afterward, those which celebrate the deaths of chiefs being kept up for a whole month. CHAPTER XCII. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. THE AJITAS, OR AHITAS. POSITION AND DIMENSIONS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS -- THE MALAYS AND THE NEGRITOS, OR AJITAS -- RESEMBLANCE TO THE BOSJESMAN -- THE BOW AND POISONED ARROWS -- SKILL IN ARCHERY -- THE SAVAGE INSTINCT -- MEETING A PARTY OF AJITAS -- THEIR APPEARANCE, AND CHIRPING SOUND OF THEIR LANGUAGE -- CONCILIATING THE ABORIGINES -- GOVERNMENT OF THE AJITAS -- THEIR ACTIVITY IN HUNTING -- NOMADIC PROPENSITIES OF THE AJITAS -- REVERENCE FOR THE DEAD -- A QUARREL, AND ITS CAUSE. To the north-west of New Guinea lie several islands, which are grouped together under the general name of Philippines. They consist of a considerable number of islands, of which the northern island, called Luza, and the southern island, called Magindano, are by far the largest. The inhabitants of the Philippines are of two kinds; namely, the Malays and the Negritos. The former are evidently not the aboriginal inhabitants, but have voyaged to the islands in their canoes and formed a number of settlements. As in the course of the work we shall see much of the Malay race, we will pass them by for the present, and only notice the Negritos, or little negroes, so called by the Spanish on account of their dark skins and small size.