Negritos

Negritos is the name given by the Spaniards to certain Negro-like tribes inhabiting the interior of some of the Philippine Islands, and differing both in features and manners from the Malay inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago. They seem to be more closely akin to the Andaman Islanders than to either Papuans or any other stock; and are also known as Aëtas or Itas (see PHILIPPINE ISLANDS). The name is also used in a wider sense for the Papuans and all the Melanesian peoples of Polynesia (q.v.). For certain negroid African peoples, see ETHNOLOGY.