The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao - The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole
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page 9 of 211 (04%)
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terminate in abrupt cliffs overlooking the sea. From other peaks
extensive grass covered plains slope gently down nearly to the water's edge. Deep river canons cut between these mountains and across the plains, giving evidence of active erosion for a long period of time. If these mountain chains and river courses are followed back it is found that they all radiate from one stupendous mass, the center of which is Mt. Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines and reputed to be an active volcano. Near to its summit is a deep fissure from which, on clear mornings, columns of smoke or steam can be seen ascending, while the first rays of the rising sun turn into gold, or sheets of white, the fields of sulphur which surround the cone. Along the lower eastern and southern slopes of this mountain and its tributary peaks live the wilder branch of this tribe, whose traditions, religious observances, and daily life are closely related to the manifestations of latent energy in the old volcano. NUMBER. The exact number who fall under this classification is not known, Governor Bolton, who was intimately acquainted with the wild tribes of the District, estimated their number at sixty-five hundred, but this count did not include the sub-division here given as Obo. One enumeration, made by a Jesuit missionary, places the population at fifteen thousand, while the Government report of 1900 gives them eighteen thousand four hundred. The latter estimates are certainly excessive. It is probable that they were determined by compiling the population of villages reported to exist in the interior. The wilder members of this tribe are, to a certain extent, migratory, |
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