Note 14 — Mahometans and Southern Tribes

Before starting on my peregrination in Palaúan Island, I sought in vain for information respecting the habits and nature of the Tagbanúas, a half-caste Malay-Aeta tribe, disseminated over a little more than the southern half of the island.14 It was only on my arrival at Puerta Princesa that I was able to procure a vague insight into the peculiarities of the people whom I intended to visit. The Governor, Don Felipe Canga-Argüelles, was highly pleased to find a traveller who could sympathize with his efforts, and help to make known, if only to the rest of the Archipelago, this island almost unexplored in the interior. He constantly wrote articles to one of the leading journals of Manila, under the title of “Echoes from Parágua” (Palaúan), partly with the view of attracting the attention of the Government to the requirements of the Colony, but also to stimulate a spirit of enterprise in favour of this island, rich in hardwoods, etc.