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H. Wilfrid Walker - Wanderings Among South Sea Savages
or climbing palm, and the thorns or barbs placed (pointing inwards) in such a way that the fish could get
in easily but not out.
These Negritos were splendid marksmen with their bows and arrows, and during my stay amongst them I
became quite an adept in that art; their old chief used to take a great delight in teaching me, and my first
efforts were met with hearty roars of laughter. They were certainly the merriest and yet the dirtiest people
I have ever met. Whenever I met them they were always smiling. When, as happened on more than one
occasion, I lost my way in the forest and had at length stumbled upon one of their dwellings, I made
signs to let them understand that I wanted them to show me the way back. This they cheerfully did, and
led the way singing in their peculiar manner; it was a most wild and abandoned and barbaric kind of
music, if it could really be called music at all. It consisted chiefly of shouting and yelling in different
scales, as if the singers were overflowing with joy at the mere idea of being alive. I would often hear
them singing, or yelling like children, in the deep recesses of the forest. In fact the contentment and
happiness of these little people was quite extraordinary, and I had a great affection for them. They would
do almost anything for me, and their chief and I soon became great friends. He was a most amusing old
fellow, and nearly always seemed to be laughing. Yet they were also the dirtiest people I had ever seen,
and never washed themselves: consequently they were thick with dirt, which even their dark skins could
not hide. They grew a little rice and tobacco, and the old chief always kept me well supplied with rice,
which seemed of very fair quality. He also kept a few chickens and would often send me a present of
some eggs, which were very acceptable. In return I would give him an old shirt or two, which he was
very proud of. By the time I left, these shirts were almost the colour of his skin, and he evidently did not
wish to follow my advice as to washing them. His house was a very large one for a Negrito's, and far
better built than any others that I saw. When the maize which grew round my hut was ripe, the Filipino
owner got several men and women up from Florida Blanca to help him to harvest it, and many of them
slept underneath my hut. At nights I would generally have quite a crowd round me watching me skin my
birds, and although I did not understand a word of their Pampanga dialect, their exclamations of surprise
and delight when a bird was finished were quite complimentary. Poor Vic had to endure a running fire of
questions as to what I was going to do with my birds and butterflies, but to judge by the way he lectured
on me, he no doubt enjoyed it, and possibly told them some wonderful yarns about "My English," as he
called me. One day a man at work in the maize had a bad attack of "calenturas" (malarial fever). I gave
him some quinine and Epsom salts and this treatment evidently had a good effect, as the next day I was,
besieged by a regular crowd of Filipinos of both sexes, who wished to consult me as to their various ills,
and Vic was called in to act as interpreter. A good many of them, both men and women, took off nearly
all their clothes to show me bruises and sores that they had, and I was in despair as to what treatment to
recommend. At last when one old woman had parted with most of her little clothing to show me some
sores, I told Vic to tell her that she had better get a good wash in the river (as she was the reverse of
clean). This prescription raised a laugh, but the old lady was furious, and my medical advice was not
again asked for. After the maize was cut, the owner started to sow a fresh crop without even taking out
the old stalks, which had been cut off a few inches from the ground. This was the way he did it. He made
holes in the ground with a hoe in one hand, and in the other hand he held a roasted cob of corn, which he
kept chewing from time to time. His wife followed him, dropping a grain into each hole and filling in the
soil with her feet. It would have made a good picture under the heading of "Agriculture in the Tropics"!
Vic told me that they got four crops a year, so one can hardly wonder at their taking things easily. A
rough bamboo fence separated the maize from a copse of bamboo jungle and forest, in which I was one
day collecting with Vic, when I attempted to jump over a very low part of the fence. Vic, however, called
out to me to stop, and it was lucky he did so, as otherwise the consequences would have been terrible for
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