114 . ROBINSON. 
r 
Hats made from tlie leafy tissue are usually very cheap, even on the 
Manila market they sell as low as 15 eentavos and rarely for over 40 
centavos each. The preparation is various^ even as simple as the mere 
removal of the midribs, followed by sun-drying, but it is often more 
elaborate. This material can be recognized with ease by the fine trans- 
verse nerves^ and these are important in the preparation, as they neces- 
sitate a special guide on the knife with which the leaflets are divided into 
strips. In a very few localities, hats of good quality and attractive 
appearance are made from buri-leaf, those known to me being Lucban 
and Tayabas, in the Province of the latter name, the Island of Sibuyan, 
and Danao, Cebu. These hats sell for mucli higher prices than the usual 
ones of this material, in some cases up to 15 pesos each, but are hardly 
as yet a commercial product. The most striking common divergence 
from the ordinary cheap kinds is that which imitates pith-helmets. 
Tliese were originally called Sehastopol, and the full name is still some- 
times heard, but more often it is corrupted to hastapol, histapol, vistapol, 
etc., in addition to the general names of the palm, huri, huJi, or, from 
i*angasinan north, silag, or in Pampanga, ebus. 
The ordinary buri-leaf hats are more commonly used in these Islands 
than all others combined, and they have a certain share in the export 
trade. More often, they are nearly white or a pale yellow or green, but 
they are also dyed, in the latter case, white and colored material being 
usually combined. Los Baiios hats, with a temporary popularity a couple 
of years ago, were made of braided buri. Buri-leaf has an equal use 
for sleeping mats, called petates or hanig, as well as for large bags, called 
hay ones, and for baskets. Most of the hats on the market are from 
two regions, southeastern Pampanga, especially the town of Apalit, and 
the buntal district of Laguna and Tayabas. 
BUNTAL HATS. 
To obtain hnntaJ, the mature leaves of buri trees of 10 years of age or 
more are taken, the blade and spines cut away, and the petiole halved 
in length. One end of these halves is then cut or bruised, until the 
fibro-vascular bundles can be grasped, when they are pulled out by force. 
They are not strong enough to be pulled through the entire length of 
the petiole, which is the reason for the halving. Thus obtained, they 
are of about equal length, somewhat over 1 meter,, but of different dia- 
meter, this fact when the uniformity in material and excellence of 
weaving is taken into consideration, accounting for the different grades of 
the hats. The further preparation varies, probably most often consisting 
in steeping the huntal in vinegar for a few hours, ' boiling in water for 
an hour, and flattening or smoothing. Until the beginning of 1909, all 
huntal hats were made in one weave, that of Lucban, Tayabas: about 
that time, dealers from Baliuag began buying prepared huntal, which they 
