Some believe the origin of these Negritos to be that they came from the negros of Angola, [33] and the reason why they are not so black as their ancestors consists, they say, in the climate of these Indias which is more moderate. That might be so, for it is as easy for him who changes his climate to decrease in blackness during a long series of generations as it is for him to increase it by living in an inclement climate. But the flat nose and the use of the dialect of the same language which the Indians of these islands use, proves sufficiently that their origin is one and the same with them. The fact that they are blacker than the Indians, depends only on their having lived many centuries in the water by night and day, in wind and sun, and exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather. That and their lack of government has transferred them to their almost wild condition in which we see them.
The Indians whom the Spaniards found here were of average stature, olive color, or the color of boiled quinces, large eyes, flat noses, and straight hair. All had some form of government more or less civilized. They were distinguished by different names, but their features and customs prove that the origin of all these people is one and the same, and that they did not compose different races. They had their own petty rulers, who were generally the most valiant, or those who had inherited the kingdom from their fathers, if they could conserve it. Their dominion extended over one or two rude settlements, or at most was according to the valor of him who ruled. They were continually at war with the neighboring settlements, and made one another slaves. From those wars there resulted three classes of people among them: namely, the chiefs who were the masters of the settlement; the slaves; and the freemen, who consisted of slaves or their descendants to whom their masters had given freedom. The last class are called Timavas even yet, which properly signifies "freed-man." In some districts Indians are found who are whiter than others--descendants doubtless of some Chinese or Japanese, who were shipwrecked on these coasts, and whom the Indians naturally hospitably received and with whom they mingled. That is commonly believed in regard to the Ygorrotes of Ylocos. [34] Their eyes, similar to those of the Chinese, prove that they mingled with the companions of Limahon who fled to those mountains when Juan de Salcedo had besieged them in Pangasinan.