They occupied the hut of my late neighbour, and
before many days had gone they were all bad with fever. It was easy
to see that the woman hated me, and imagined I was the cause of her
having to come and live in these lonely and unhealthy mountains. Vic
told me that there had been so much sickness in Florida Blanca that
there was no quinine left in the place. My own stock was getting low,
and Vic and his family, as well as myself, used it daily. I had cured
the old Negrito chief with it, and he was very grateful to me, and
presented me with some very fine arrows in return.
For some time past I had heard rumours of an extraordinary tribe of
Negritos who lived further back in the mountains, and were named
Buquils, and whose women were reported to have beards. Vic, whom
I always found to be most truthful in everything, and who rarely
exaggerated, declared it was true, and furthermore told me that
these Buquils had long smooth hair, which proved that they could not
have been Negritos. Besides, I learnt that they were quite a tall
people. Nowhere in the whole world is there such a diversity of races
as in the Philippines, and so it would be quite impossible even to
guess what they were. Vic had once seen some of them himself when they
came on a visit to the lower mountains.
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