CHAPTER VII 



PERSONAL ADORNMENT 

 GENERAL REMARKS 



The adornment of the person is confined almost exclusively to women so that the following 

 observations apply principally to them. In the discussion of bodily mutilations reference 

 will be made to such permanent adornment as tattooing, perforation and elongation of the ear 

 lobes, superciliary and axillary depilation, grinding of the teeth, and the blackening of the 

 teeth and lips — all of which, with the exception of the elongation of the ear lobes, are common 

 to both men and women. 



The finger nails of both sexes are sedulously clipped, not even thumb-nails being allowed 

 to grow long. This may be due to the fact that these latter are not required for playing the 

 guitar, nor for gambling with cards, in which occupations they prove a valuable aid to the 

 Bisaya of the Agiisan Valley. 



HAIR AND HEAD ADORNMENT 



CARE AND ORNAMENTATION OF THE HEAD 



With the exception of the Manobos of the far upper reaches of the Argawan, Umaiam, and 

 Sabud Rivers, whom I did not visit, and of Man6bos who live in settlements and may have 

 adopted the hairdressing methods of Bisayas, one mode of dressing the hair is almost invariably 

 in use by both men and women. The hair is parted in a straight line over the cranium from ear to 

 ear. The front division is then combed forward over the forehead where it is banged square from 

 ear to ear in the plane of and parallel to the superciliary ridges. The back division is combed 

 back, and after being twisted into a compact mass, is tied in a chignon upon the crown of the head. 

 The knot is a single bow, which from our standpoint is not very prepossessing. 



In men the chignon is usually lower, being about half way between the crown and the nape of 

 the neck. 



One occasionally sees two locks of hah left hanging down in front of the ears to the level of the 

 jaws. This fashion is not very prevalent even on the upper Agiisan, and is probably adopted from 

 the Mandayas. 



No fillets, flowers, garlands nor any other ornamentation are ever used on the hair. Coconut 

 oil, if obtainable, is used, but the meat of the coconut, rasped or chopped into small particles, is 

 preferred, whenever it can be obtained. As a wash for the hair, wild lemons, the seed of an uncom- 

 mon tree whose name has escaped my memory, and the bark of a tree, are used sporadically. I 

 can not laud the condition of the hair. Notwithstanding the fact that a crude bamboo comb with 

 close-set teeth is made use of, the vermin are never eliminated. 



On occasions the hair of children is cut for the purpose of promoting its growth, and the hair 

 of female slaves is often cut as a punishment. With these exceptions, the hair is never cut, being 

 left with all the profusion which nature gives it. 



COMBS 



An ornamental comb is always worn by women. It consists of a segment of bamboo, 7 or 8 

 centimeters long and 5 centimeters high, curved while still green and made to retain its shape by a 

 slip of bamboo fastened into two holes on the concave side. The teeth are whittled out and the 

 upper part and sides are cut into the characteristic shape seen in Plate 9. On the front or convex 

 side of the comb are ornamental incisions the style and variety of which depend upon the caprice 

 and adeptness of the fashioner. Skeat and Blagden 1 quote an authority who asserts that the 



' Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula. 



51 



64S58 O - 41 - 5 



