ACADEMY Olf SCIENCES] DRESS 47 



the garment with embroidery, the back of the jacket from shoulder to shoulder, the space along 

 the shoulder seams and the back and front of the sleeves are selected for this prupose. Bands 

 5 to 7 centimeters in breadth of more or less intricate pattern are embroidered in these places, 

 with much patient labor and no little skill. It is needless to say that the ordinary colors, with a 

 predominance of red, are used. 



THE LOWER GARMENT 



The lower garment is of two kinds, one being a short, close-fitting garment made out of 

 either undyed abakd fiber with a woof of native cotton or of imported blue cloth. This garment 

 resembles closely the ordinary bathing tights. It is the working breeches of the Man6bo and 

 makes no pretense of being ornamental. The white or undyed form is the more common. 



The other kind of lower garment worn by the men may be called trousers, though they 

 reach only about halfway between the knees and the ankles. They are square-legged and baggy, 

 made of undyed abakd fiber or of abated fiber with a woof of cotton, both undyed. Whenever it 

 is obtainable, imported blue cloth is used. The two legs of the trousers are each about 65 centi- 

 meters long by 24 centimeters broad and are joined together by a triangular piece of cloth. These 

 trousers are worn on festive and other occasions that require a display of personal dignity. 



The decoration of the trousers consists usually of fringes of imported cotton attached to all 

 the seams except those around the waist. When it is considered desirable to make a more showy 

 garment, embroidery of cotton yarn is added to the ends of the legs and to the part that covers 

 the sides of the calves. The designs used depend on whether the wearer is of the central or of 

 the upper Agusan group. 



THE GIRDLE 



Around the waist of the garment is a hem through which passes a drawstring or girdle usually 

 of braided abakd fiber dyed in the usual colors, with dependent extremities and tassels of imported 

 cotton, also in the preferential colors. On the upper Agusan one finds at times beads and even 

 small bells added to the tassels. These are allowed to hang down in front. 



The method of fastening the girdle is by the ordinary method of tieing, or by another simple 

 method, which consists in attaching near one end of the drawstring the operculum of a shell 

 said to be found in the forests. At the other end of the girdle is a loop large enough to admit 

 the operculum, which on being slipped into this loop retains the garment in position. 



The knapsack is such an omnipresent, indispensable object that it may be considered a part 

 of Manobo raiment. It is a rectangular bag, on an average approximately 30 by 25 centimeters, 

 with a drawstring for closing it. This string is nearly always of multicolored braided abakd 

 fiber, and is a continuation of the strings by which the knapsack is suspended on the back from 

 the shoulders, so that when it is carried in that position the mouth of it is always closed. The 

 cloth of which it is made is the usual undyed abakd cloth, though among the upper Agusan group 

 one finds in use blue imported cloth or, perhaps more frequently, Mandaya cloth, 13 imported 

 especially for knapsacks. 



The decoration consists of embroidery, more or less extensive, of the type that is characteris- 

 tic of the wearer's group and which corresponds to that of his dress, if the dress is decorated. 

 Tassels of imported cotton at the extremities of the drawstrings, and perhaps pendants of small 

 seeds, or beads, usually white, together with cotton fringes in proper colors, enhance the beauty 

 of the knapsack. As a rule, however, among the Man6bos of regions remote from Christian 

 settlements, one finds little attempt at decoration, either of the dress or of the knapsack. A few 

 fringes of cotton yarn and a little ornamental stitchwork are about the only display attempted. 

 This lack of decoration is due not only to the fact that they have little cotton yarn, but also to 

 lack of ability on the part of the women. The latter fact might lead the observer to conclude that 

 the art of embroidery and cloth decoration originated outside the tribe. 



ii Ph-y6. ii Called gu-au. 



