AN ETHNOLOGICAL CURIOSITY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7620, 18 December 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN ETHNOLOGICAL CURIOSITY.

A remarkable examp'e of tho mixed character of the population in some ■parts of the United States is furnished by the Kew Orleans correspondent of the New York Sun, writing about the action which. Senor Artino Baldaßano, the Spanish Consul in New -Orleans, was about to- take, with the assistance of his Government, for the preservation of the Spanish language and the improvement and advanco of the Spanish colonists in St. Bernard parish, in that State. The correspondent- says:— St. Bernard is the parish lying next to New Orleans, and is the oldest in the State. It has been settled something like two centuries, end has received little immigration of lute years, yot a great majority of the inhabitants of th 6 parish to-day, : both white and black, speak Castilian. It is tho only relic left of the Spanish dominion in Louisiana, extending from 1766 to 1802, and a very peculiar relic too. The population of St. Bernard's parish is uniquo in the United States, and almost in the world, for its people, while of Spanish origin, are decendants, nofc of Europeans, but Asiatic and African Spaniards. The bulk of tho white people of St. Bernard aro of a lace called Islingueo in Louisiana, a Creole corruption of islenos, or 'islnnders.' They are tho remnant of a large colony of Canary Islanders brought to Louisiana more than a hundred years ago by Gov. (Mvez. Their swarthy complexion—darker than that of the -averngo Spaniard— is due, not to mixture wiih Moorish blood, tut to the commingling of the Spanish colonists of the Canaries with the aboriginal Guanchee, representatives of the primeval African, but non-n^gro, raco that disappeared 400 years ago; The Islingues predominate in St. Bernard; and aro to be found in New Orleans and elsewhere in the State, and are rocog» nised as industrious and intelligent citizens, having, filled many high offices in the State. Coming to fhe 'colored' population of St. Bernard- not the negroes, but the colored people — it is found that no inconsiderable portion of them are what arc locally known in Louisiana as ' Manila men,' either born on tho Thillipino Islands or descendants of colonists from those islands. Some of them speak the original Tagslog, the dialect of the Tagala of Luzon, but Spanish is mainly. spoken. The Tagal is a fine specimen, of a Malay, with round head, .high cheek bones, and thickish lips. The Manila men havo intermingled with Creoles, negroes, and others, producing a great variety of mixed races. About two years ago a correspondent of Harpers Weekly visited one of tho Malay colonies at St. Malo bayou, and described tho visit with pen and pencil in such a manner as to attract attention to one cf the most curious settlements in tbo United States, where fish and other food are eaten Taw, where the people are outside the law, and choose tne oldest Malay as chief, to administer punishment according to the Tagal Code. These circumstances explain tho apparent anomaly that whilo there, are but thirty-five persons of Spanish birth ) at St. Bernard, and nine-tenths of the [ population of the parish nre. of Amerii can birth and descent through several generations, Spanish is still the dominant tongue there, and shows as much vitality a 9 does the French .language in the Creole parishes of tho State. The attention of Consul Baldasano was callod to this, and 'by 'him the Spanish Government was informed. Steps will bo taken to improve and adyance tho condition of the tpaniah-epoak-ing colonists of Louisiana, many of whom aro scattered along the coasts and island pi Lake Borgnc, far away from schools and the advantages of civilisation. Con sul Baldasano will visit St; Bernard ii a few days and confer with tho varioui local societies there. A general gather of the Spanish-speaking -population o Louisiana is proposed, and a great dis play on October 14, the anniversary of tbi discovery of America, and ah effort wil be made to keep alive tlio Spanish lan gungo in Louisiana.