er touch them. Not infrequently
the runners in the brush emerge carrying wild pigs which they have
seared up and killed, and if, by chance, a big snake is encountered,
that ends the hunt, for the capture of a python is an event. The snake
is killed and carried in triumph to the village, where it furnishes
a feast to all the inhabitants.

This sketch of hunting would not be complete without mention of
a necessary feature of every successful hunt--the division of the
spoils. When the hunt is ended the game is carried back to the village
before the division is made, provided the hunters are all from the
same place. If two or more villages have hunted together the game
is divided in the field. A bed of green rushes or cane is made on
which the animal is placed and skinned. This done, the bead man of
the party, or the most important man present, takes a small part
of the entrails or heart, cuts it into fine bits and scatters the
pieces in all directions, at the same time chanting in a monotone
a few words which mean "Spirits, we thank you for this successful
hunt. Here is your share of the spoils." This is done to feed and
appease the spirits which the Negritos believe inhabit all places,
and the ceremony is never neglected. Then the cutting up and division
of the body of the animal takes place. The head and breast go to the
man who first wounded the deer, and, if the shot was fatal, he also
receives the backbone--this always goes to the man who fired the fatal
shot. One hind quarter goes to the owner of the dog which seared up
the deer, and the rest is divided as evenly as possible among the
other hunters. Every part is utilized. The Negritos waste nothing
that could possibly serve as food. The two hunts I accompanied were
conducted in the manner I have related, and I was assured that this
was the invariable procedure.

The mountain streams of the Negrito's habitat do not furnish many
fish, but the Negrito labors assiduously to catch what he can. In
the larger streams he principally employs, after the manner of the
Christianized natives, the bamboo weir through which the water can
pass but the fish can not. In the small streams he builds dams of
stones which he covers with banana leaves. Then with bow and arrow
he shoots the fish in the clear pool thus formed. Not infrequently
the entire course of a creek will be changed. A dam is first made
below in order to stop the passage of the fish, and after a time the
stream is d