lipinos and Negritos and a Journey in Search of
Bearded Women.

CHAPTER V

At Home Among Filipinos and Negritos.

Arrival at Florida Blanca--The Schoolmaster's House Kept by
Pupils in their Master's Absence--Everyday Scenes at Florida
Blanca--A Filipino Sunday--A Visit to the Cock-fighting
Ring--A Strange Church Clock and Chimes--Pugnacious Scene at a
Funeral--Strained Relations between Filipinos and Americans--My
New Servant--Victoriano, an Ex-officer of Aguinaldo's Army,
and his Six Wives--I Start for the Mountains--"Free and easy"
Progress of my Buffalo-cart--Ascent into the Mountains--Arrival at
my Future Abode--Description of my Hut and Food--Our Botanical
Surroundings--Meetings with the Negritos--Friendliness and
Mirth of the Little People--Negritos may properly be called
Pigmies--Their Appearance, Dress, Ornaments and Weapons--An
Ingenious Pig-arrow--Extraordinary Fish-traps--Their Rude Barbaric
Chanting--Their Chief and His House--Cure of a Malarial Fever
and its Embarrassing Results--"Agriculture in the Tropics"--A
Hairbreadth Escape--Filipino Blowpipes--A Pigmy Hawk in
Pigmyland--The Elusive _Pitta_--Names of the Birds--A Moth as
Scent Producer--Flying Lizards and other kinds--A "Tigre" Scare
by Night--Enforced Seclusion of Female Hornbill.

When collecting in the Philippines, I put in most of my time in
the Florida Blanca Mountains, in the province of Pampanga, Northern
Luzon. I arrived one evening after dark at the good-sized village of
Florida Blanca, which is situated a few miles from the foot of the
mountain, whose name it shares. I carried a letter to the American
schoolmaster, who was the only white man in the district, and had
been a soldier in the late war. It seemed to me a curious policy
on the part of the American government to turn their soldiers into
schoolmasters, especially as in most cases they are very ignorant
themselves. I believe, however, the chief object is to teach the young
Filipinos English, and so turn them into live American citizens. The
Americans are far from popular in the Philippines, and when in Manila
I was strongly advised not to wear _khaki_ in the jungle for fear of
being taken for an American soldier.

The American's house was dark and still when I arrived at Florida
Blanca, but whilst I was wondering what to do, I was surprised
to hear a small voice, coming out of a small adjoining hous