At Cabayan, Galiano, and Tublay, the schoolhouses built under Spanish régime still stand, and may be repaired, fitted up and used for school purposes, but at Daklan and La Trinidad they have been destroyed. It does not seem that the Igorrote children ever attended these schools in any considerable number, nor that they were encouraged to do so or given much attention when they did attend. In each town where schools were sustained may be found from one to a half dozen Igorrotes, called "nueva Cristianos," who have been converted to the Catholic faith, and it is among these almost exclusively that any trace of the work of the school is to be found among the Igorrote population.

The schools were taught by either Ilocano or Tagalo "maestros," generally graduates of either the Manila or Vigan normal school, and, as in other parts of the Islands, they were paid a small salary which they were expected to augment through contributions from patrons of the school. They seem to have followed the custom of teaching well such as contributed, and indoctrinating only such as did not, and as the Igorrotes could not contribute much to the maestro and cared nothing about being indoctrinated in the Catholic faith, it is not strange that they did not send their children to school and that there is now a very marked indifference among them on the subject of schools. When I speak of this indifference being marked I mean as compared with their Ilocano and Tagalog neighbors. I do not know that it is any more marked than among other peoples of their state, and certainly not so marked as among our Indian tribes of America. The hopeful feature is that it is only indifference born of ignorance and is not positive antagonism.

IGORROTE CHARACTERISTICS.

The Igorrotes of this province, so far as I am able to judge from my short acquaintance with them, can not be classed as pure savages, nor have they hardly yet reached a state of semicivilization. They seem to have none of the bloodthirsty characteristics, the tribal feuds, and the customs of raiding and robbing one another common to purely savage tribes. They dwell almost wholly in village communities, build substantial and not altogether inartistic houses of wood, and depend for a living on the products of the cultivated fields and their flocks and herds. The principal of these products are sweet potatoes, rice, coffee, cattle, hogs, and chickens. None of these except cattle and coffee have heretofore been raised in quantities much more than sufficient for home consumption, and these two, together with the free gold they have been able to wash out, constitute their principal articles of commerce. They can not be as yet said to be a nomadic people, though their superstitions sometimes cause them to desert whole villages. Like the Indians of America, the women perform most of the labor of the fields and also the household duties and are little better than beasts of burden. But, unlike the Indian, the men work some also, fashioning the rude tools and implements, and mining gold. They also perform the service of carriers, guides, and other like classes of labor for the Americans and Ilocanos whenever they care to work for wages. Each man has his own separate property, though in many instances the sweet potato and rice fields seem to be rather the common property of the community, and the village acts as a unit through some recognized head in most of their affairs.

The Igorrotes seem to have some idea of a future state after death, but, so far as I can learn, they have no well-defined god to worship, and trouble themselves about as little on these subjects as any people I have ever met. They are superstitious, but seem to have no horror of death, nor do they seem to sorrow for the departed. The dead are disposed of with a feast and frolic on the order of an Irish wake, minus the broken heads, in which the people of the community gather in and eat up a certain portion of the pigs and cattle which the departed dead possessed. The duration of these feasts is therefore directly proportional to the amount of live stock the deceased owned.

As to language, there are three quite distinct Igorrote dialects in the province. These dialects are so different that the people of one dialect are unable to understand those of the other two. The Ilocano dialect is, however, quite generally spoken, and has practically become the commercial language of the province.

The Igorrotes are disgustingly filthy, as a rule, in both person and clothing. The clothing of the men is but a long strip of cloth wound about the loins, and a blanket, always laid off when at work, but both of these are almost invariably so dirty as to be absolutely filthy, and so are the bare bodies of the men themselves. The women are dressed in much more civilized fashion than the men; their clothing is rarely found clean except when it is put on new. Their houses are not infrequently abso lutely noisome, the pigs, chickens, and dogs dwelling together with the family in harmony, and their villages many times become so vile and filthy that notwithstand

H

ing the godsend of mountain slope and rain torrents combining to keep them clean, they are frequently swept with disease. Their superstition comes to their rescue here, and when a death scourge strikes a village they regard the place as possessed of evil and all remove. Owing to the efforts of the present governor of the province, many of the Igorrotes of the province have adopted a shirt, coat, or some sort of an upper garment, and the presidentes and others even wear pantaloons and clean themselves up fairly well, so that I regard them with hope even in this matter, which seems to be their worst shortcoming.

For honesty and chastity the Igorrotes of this province I believe to be without superior among people of their class, and many much more highly civilized could learn of them in this regard. Marriage among them, it is true, is largely a business transaction where the woman is given for a price, but the simple ceremony must be religiously observed to the letter.

Such, in brief, is the people that we have seen fit to confront with

THE PROBLEM OF SCHOOLS.

With a view to awakening an interest in the subject so far as possible and ascertaining what could be done in each pueblo, I got together the present presidente and as many as possible of the consejales, or councilmen, in each, and after explaining to them the value and importance of schools and the intention of the American Government in this regard, I sounded them as far as possible on the practical questions relating thereto and tried to make them feel their own responsibility and duty in the matter and get their promise to help. In all of this I was greatly aided by the governor of the province, Mr. H. Phelps Whitmarsh, and the provincial secretary, Mr. Otto Scherer, who gave me letters of introduction explaining the purpose of my visit, and who had also already interested the people in the subject of schools. In every pueblo but one I succeeded in getting the presidente and council to say they wanted a school and would give all the aid they could in establishing and maintaining one. They also expressed an opinion that the Igorrotes would quite generally send their boys to school, and some of them thought the girls would attend to some extent, but the general opinion seemed to be that the girls would not generally attend on account of having to help their mothers work, and that it was quite unnecessary for them to be educated anyhow. In this connection it is well to note that thus far we have not been able to get a single Igorrote girl into school.

In one pueblo, Balakbak, the presidente assured me that his people wanted no schools, and in this he was seconded by his council. He also said that if a school were established his people would, many of them, take to the mountains and leave the pueblo. In the town of Capangan, also, the presidente, while assuring me that he was in favor of schools, expressed the fear that some of his people would leave the pueblo if one was established.

SCHOOL FURNITURE.

All of the pueblos except Balakbak gave assurance that they could and would manufacture their own benches and desks, and while this furniture will in many instances be rude, I am in favor of their doing so. In the pueblos of Cabayan, Tublay, and Galiano I found some of the old Spanish desks remaining that can be repaired and used.

SCHOOLHOUSES.

Six of the pueblos, viz., Cabayan, Tublay, La Trinidad, Galiano, and Baguio, have houses in which school can be held, but in two of these, La Trinidad and Capangan, new schoolhouses should be built, as the houses at present available can be regarded as temporary makeshifts only.

Four pueblos, Adaoay, Buguias, Palina, and La Trinidad, declared themselves as able to build schoolhouses without help from the insular government. Baguio has already built a house, and Tublay and Galiano have the schoolhouses built by the Spanish Government, so that but nine pueblos, namely, Ampusungan, Balabac, Bokod, Daklan, Itogon, Loo, Kibungan, Capangan, and Atok, have declared themselves as needing help from the insular government to build schoolhouses. This list should have added to it, I believe, the pueblo of Palina, which, though having declared itself as being able to build a house without help, will need aid if the house is to be completed at a reasonable time. If funds are available for these pueblos not later than the last of July, I have the promise of every pueblo in the province, except Balabac, Kibungan, and Buguias, that they will have schoolhouses ready to open school by the 1st of next January, and at Balabac, while they would prefer

not to ever build a schoolhouse, I think their objections can be and will be overcome. In this pueblo they said if we wished to open school it could be held in one room of the presidencia.

Fifty dollars Mexican currency will be sufficient aid for each of these pueblos, though many of them wanted more and none of them thought they could do with less. Thus, with aid from the insular fund to the extent of $250 gold, for the whole province, we can put schoolhouses in every pueblo, and have the promise of having these houses erected in all of them, except three, by the 1st of next October. Of course these pueblos will need some watching and urging, and some of them will no doubt fail to come up to their promise in point of time. But I believe that if the aid asked for them is given, the majority of them will have houses ready by October 1, and all of them by the 1st of January. I can not promise that these houses will all be filled with pupils immediately, but if English teachers are placed in each I believe we will have a fair attendance from the first. There are certainly more promising fields for immediate fruit than this one, but there is no doubt in my mind that we should attempt to educate the Igorrote sooner or later, and having commenced here, I certainly believe in vigorous prosecution of the work. Any halfhearted policy will in my opinion fail. I therefore recommend that this money be furnished and that a schoolhouse be built in each pueblo of the province. I hope even without this aid to be ready by the 1st of October to have schools opened in the pueblos of La Trinidad, Baguio, Galiano, Adaoay, Cabayan, Capangan, and Tublay, and a little later in Buguias also. I should be glad to give these pueblos at least the assurance that they will have English teachers to open schools at that time if they have their houses completed, as it will greatly stimulate them in their endeavors.

SCHOOL TERM.

The opinion is almost unanimous that the school term should open the 1st of October and close the 31st of May, or thereabouts, making a school year of eight months. This puts the vacation in the season of rains and rice harvest, and while it is rather long, am inclined to recommend it. The population of the pueblos is so distributed among numerous barrios distant from one another and in many instances separated by streams, that during much of the rainy season only the children from the barrios in which the schoolhouse might be located could possibly attend, and during much of this time the service of many of the children is required in the rice fields either to drive away the birds from the growing rice or help harvest the crop. The opinion that school should be held in the morning only, from 8 to 12, is quite general also. This seems to have been the practice at some points where the Spaniards had schools, and the plea is made that the children could be had to work at home half of the day, and that therefore the attendance would be better. I am not ready to recommend this yet for all parts of the province, but am rather inclined to recommend six hours a day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon. In the Ilocano pueblos I am confident it would be better to hold school both morning and evening and that both sessions would be attended, and from actual experience in Baguio I am inclined to believe that the attendance would be fair in the afternoon in the Igorrote pueblos also.

NATIVE TEACHERS.

Knowing it to be the policy of the department to use native teachers as far as possible, in which policy I most heartily concur, I have used every endeavor to find just what could be done in this province in that regard. I must say, however, that the outlook in that line is not very encouraging. Only three pueblos, Cagayan, La Trinidad, and Baguio, would express themselves as either able or willing to pay a native teacher anything. Cabayan has been paying $30 Mexican currency per month, and Baguio and La Trinidad can each pay $25. I believe that Baguias, Capangan, and Tublay are also able to pay a small salary, but they will promise nothing. All pueblos desire American teachers, but they could not be made to see that a native teacher was necessary. Even in Cabayan, where they have a native teacher, now that the American teacher has come they wish to discharge the native. The idea of putting a native teacher with an American and training him up to take the American teacher's place does not seem to appeal to them at all. The explanation for this attitude is largely due to want of funds with which to pay teachers. Then there are at present no Igorrotes who could teach, and the people generally fear and distrust Ilocano teachers, perhaps not without some cause.

In Baguio and La Trinidad I believe we shall be able to place native teachers along with the English teachers about the 1st of October. In Cabayan, we already

have a native teacher, but I can not be positive that he will be retained by the pueblo longer than till the 1st of August. He has made himself unpopular in the pueblo, and not only the people are in favor of his removal, but the governor as well, and everything seems to point to dispensing with a native teacher altogether. To supply native help in the schools I have succeeded in gathering into the three schools already established one or more pupils (Ilocanos) from six pueblos, in addition to the ones in which these schools are held, making nine pueblos that are reached to some extent by these three schools. We shall make special effort to prepare these boys so that they can assist the English teacher of their respective pueblos when schools are opened there.

Three of these pupils have been teachers, all have expressed a desire to become teachers, and I am encouraging them to that end. The list is as follows:

Of this list the last five are in the school of Cabayan and the others are attending at La Trinidad. In addition to these, there is a person at Baguio available for teacher there.

For native teachers, I am heartily in favor of training up Igorrote material as soon as possible. Both the governor and the provincial secretary concur in this, and are rather opposed to using Ilocano help in schools at all. The Ilocanos of the province seem to have been trained up to lording it over the Igorrotes, and to have the idea that people who are not Christians are little better than brutes, and should be treated as beasts of burden to serve them.

I do not desire to be on record as disparaging the Ilocanos generally. They are, in the main, a very intelligent, well-behaved, and well-meaning people, with quite as great capacity and as high a degree of civilizatian as the Tagalogs and others of the Islands. In fact, if the better class of Ilocanos could be brought into the province and taught to treat the Igorrotes with justice and generosity, I should favor it as a means of helping to bring the wide chasm yawning between the Igorrote and the American plane. But unfortunately the Ilocanos at present in the provinces are prone to deal with the Igorrotes after the old order of things. The governor has found some trouble in this regard, and I have no doubt there will be some friction if Ilocano help is used in the schools. But the Government has found it necessary to use Ilocanos for secretaries of the pueblos, and I can not see but that we will have to use them in the schools to some extent or else have no native teachers in the schools at all for some time to come. It will be seen that most of those whose names are given above are young, and I hope that by the side of the American teachers they will learn to treat the Igorrotes properly and win their respect and good will.

AMERICAN TEACHERS.

It should be definitely determined as soon as possible just how many American teachers can be sent to this province, so that the arrangements may be made accordingly. If recommendations are desired, I would advise that for the first year an American teacher be sent for each pueblo. I do not think it advisable to open any more schools until after the rainy season is over. I hope, however, to have at least ten additional teachers. They should be men who can put up with some of the hardships of pioneer life, and who can content themselves to be exiled, as it were, in some lonely mountain village, cut off almost absolutely from the world outside, with only Igorrote society. I sometimes doubt if we can get American teachers to stay in some of these isolated pueblos. In most of the towns not a house can be found in which an American teacher would care to live, and to secure board in any of them would be out of the question. I have discussed the house problem with the governor, and it is believed the pueblos can be induced to build a house for teachers and rent them at four or five pesos a month. But teachers will be obliged to board themselves and have the chief part of their provisions carried up to them

on the backs of carriers from the United States commissary at Baguio. Some of the boys now in school at La Trinidad, I think, will be glad to go out to other pueblos with American teachers in the dual capacity of muchacho and ayudente at home and in the school at a wage the teachers could well afford to pay. This, of course, on the condition that the teachers help them to continue their studies. But this problem of house and subsistence for the teacher is a serious one, and even at Baguio Mr. Patrick has had trouble in this matter. All things considered, I can not see that a teacher's living expenses will be much, if any, less than in Manila, and the accommodations will certainly not be so good.

REPORT OF SCHOOLS ALREADY ESTABLISHED.

The work in the three schools already established is very encouraging. The attendance for this season of the year has exceeded my expectations, being about 35 for Baguio, 32 for Cabayan, and 45 for La Trinidad. It should be remembered that this is the season of rain, when few children from barrios other than the one in which the school is located can attend.

The Igorrote children are bright, learn quickly, are easily interested, and like to go to school. The indifference as to the matter of schools is all on the part of the parents. For the children there is every hope.

Mr. Patrick, at Baguio, deserves great credit for the surprising work he has done in the short time he has been at it. I have not been up to visit the school at Cabayan since it was opened, but I hear good reports from it through parties that have come down from there, and from Mr. Palmer himself.

At La Trinidad the first class has already completed Baldwin's Primer and First Reader, and in default of the second-year book we will substitute Beginner's History and Mother Tongue. This class is also doing good work in geography and arithme tic, and I hope that we shall have them advanced to a point where they will be of much assistance to the American teachers by the 1st of October.

My plan is to do what I can to help here at Baguio and La Trinidad for the next few weeks, and go up to Cabayan and help Palmer out.

As the month of August and a part of September is conceded about the worst period of the rainy season, I am inclined to recommend a vacation of a month or six weeks, to begin about the middle of August and end the middle or last of September. I am not fully decided yet as to this vacation, and would be inclined to keep the schools going if conditions seem to justify it, but I believe that it would be better to have the schools closed with life and energy kept up to the last than to have them practically rained out. October 1, or thereabout, I would like to make the beginning of the school year here, and if these schools do not have any vacation before that, this term will be rather long, but I do not know that this should weigh if attendance and interest can be kept up. I only ask for permission to give such vacation if it shall appear to be best to do so. During the vacation period the teachers could greatly assist me in other pueblos, getting schoolhouses and school furniture ready to open as many schools as possible in October.

I have tried in this to give you a view of things as they are here, without any attempt at varnishing. On the whole, I am encouraged after looking over the field. We can not expect great things at once, but I shall try to make as much as can be made out of the stuff.

On separate sheets I give plan for schoolhouses in the pueblos needing aid, and also requisition for supplies.

I took snap shots in the various pueblos of the presidentes, school buildings, and sites selected for school buildings, etc., and when these are finished I will send them to you, together with a copy of my notes taken in relation to each pueblo, for your further information.

Respectfully submitted.

JESSE GEORGE,

Teacher in Charge of Schools for the Province of Benguet, P. I.

Lieut. William E. W. Mackinley, acting division superintendent for Ilocos Norte, Abra, and Bontoc provinces, makes the following report: Province Ilocos Norte. The province, which comprises some 1,100 square miles, is about one-half occupied by the civilized Ilocano race and one-half by the wild tribes known as Igorrotes. The latter are timid and few in number.

People.-The Ilocanos number some 125,000 and are settled in 15 municipalities, each with a pueblo or town for a center. The conditions at present are very good for school work. There is no disorder in the province, and rice transplanting for the