2366 LEAFLETS oF PHILIPPINE BOTANY [Vor. VII, Arr. 112 
The kitchen room has a small square filled with clay or earth 
and provided with stones. Their cooking utensils, such as clay 
pots and. iron vats are set upon the. stones, while iron 
kettles with handles are suspended by wires or rattan. 
Most of the staple foods of the Manobos are camotes or sweet 
potatoes, corn, squash or gourds, forest fruits, a diverse lot of 
greens, and lumbia. They have no rice except as a luxury 
at a feast or fiesta. In their fields [ have not seen a single 
banana tussock nor a coconut tree. Between August and Sep- 
tember they had an enormous crop of lansones in the low 
mountain range between Tubay River and the coast. Every 
day for a week or two we hid bushels of fine fruit of this 
Melinceous tree to eat. A striking example of greens are young 
camote leaves, and as an uncooked vegetable are the stem 
buds of wild pim trees. Salt fish they d» not seem to use, 
though they eat most ravenously all wild animals. They 
have a few chickens and razor backed hogs, but no other domes- 
ticated animals except the numerous dogs and one or two cats. | 
One day an old man captured a monstrous lizard, a yard e 
long. Just as he was ready to plunge it into the boiling water | 
for cooking, he held it up by its tail and asked me what 
portion I would care to have. The animal was not dressed 
in the least, otherwise I certainly would not have objected. 
I thanked him for his hospitality, with an explanation 
that it was the custom of the Moros not to eat hogs, that 
the Igorots eat dogs and that it was the American habit 
not to eat lizards. 
On another day one of their good dogs chased a wild hog and 
the Manobos captured it with their spears. This animal was 
properly dressed for cooking and the natives servel me with a 
liberal quantity. This same old man came up to me, and, I could 
see that he was anxious about something. After a long talk, 
trying to understand each other, this peculiar thing was revealed. 
I usually used vinegar on my canged meats. Now it was his 
firm belief that in case I used vinegar on the hog meat they 
gave me, their dog that chased the animal in the woods would die. 
Of course, I conceded to his wishes. 
During this time of the year things were dry, and along 
the ereek beds among large bowlders were stagnant pools of 
water. These usually contained eels a yard long and three 
