60 THE MAN0BOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN tMEUOI [vo£xxm; 



piece of wood, or if he has no paddle he uses the handle of his coconut. A coconut shell is used 

 for a water cup, though, if he has an imported glass, he will offer it to visitors. 



No rags are employed in the cleaning of plates and other dishes. At times a few leaves are 

 required to clean out the iron pan, but for plates and bowls and other utensils a little cold water 

 and a little rubbing with the hand are sufficient. 



The Manobo uses no tablecloth nor has he any of the appurtenances that equip a modem 

 table, except plates, bowls, and, perhaps, a glass. 



Of plates he frequently has too few for his family. Bowls are still scarcer. Many and many 

 are the houses which I have visited that could not boast of a single bowl ; the same may be said 

 of glasses. This is due to the exorbitant prices charged for them. 



As a substitute for plates, the Manobo uses platters of bark from the sago 6 and other palm 

 trees. It may happen on the occasion of some big festivity that he still finds himself short of 

 plates and platters, so he utilizes his low panlike weaving baskets by fining them with banana 

 or other leaves and putting them on the table loaded with rice. Should all these not be sufficient 

 for the number of his guests', he spreads out a few banana leaves in the center of the table, or on 

 the floor, and lays the rice upon them. 



A piece of bamboo serves for cup and glass as auxiliary to, or a substitute for, the coconut- 

 shell cup mentioned above. 



VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD 



The great staple of Manoboland is the camote. 7 During harvest time and for several weeks 

 ensuing rice may constitute the bulk of his daily food, but after that he reserves for feasts, for 

 friends, and for the sick what he does not sell, or part with in payment of debts. Should his 

 camote crop fail he falls back upon the sago 8 that abounds in the central Agusan; or, when sago is 

 not available, he seeks the wild fishtail palm, 9 that affords him as pleasant and nutritious a food as 

 any sago palm that ever grew. In the upper Agiisan the Manobo plants a fair quantity of taro, 

 and in the middle Agiisan, a small amount of maize in season, or even some beans, 10 so that it is 

 seldom he has to have recourse to the forest for his maintenance. But the mountain Manobo is 

 occasionally compelled to draw his sustenance from the various palm trees and vines that are found 

 in such luxuriance throughout his forest domain. I have seen poisonous tubers gathered in time 

 of famine by the Manobos of the upper Wa-wa region and eaten, after they had been scraped on 

 a prickly rattan branch, and the poison had been removed by a series of washings and dryings. 



He nearly always has a little sugar cane on the farm but, when it is not intended for making 

 an inebriating drink, it is planted only in sufficient quantity to furnish occasionally a few pieces 

 to the members of the household. 



Besides the above-mentioned plants, he has probably only a few banana plants, a few ginger 

 plants, some semiwild tomatoes, a little mint u and, perchance, a few other plants intended for 

 seasoning. He is not accustomed to plant more than will supply the bare necessities of life. 



As a concomitant of his rice or camotes, he must have his is-da 12 which he procures from the 

 forest 13 or from the river. 14 



It is not essential that the meat or fish should be fresh. I have seen pig meat eaten after 

 three days' decomposition. Neither is the rawness an impediment, for it is customary in certain 

 localities to eat pork absolutely raw, for ceremonial reasons. Besides pork, venison, and fish, an 



6 Lum-bia. 



' Ipomoea batatas Poir. 



» Lum-bia. 



' Bd-hi' (Caryota sp.) 



10 Called bA4ung. 



" Called labwena probably from the Spanish verba burna. 



" This word in its present usage corresponds to the Spanish manda, to the Bisaya Sudan, and the Tagalog ulam. Note that the generic word for 

 fa-do, "fish," has received a still more general application among the Mandbos and Bisayas of the middle Agusan. Originally, no doubt it meant 

 simply"fish,"butas the hau-an is almost the only fish in the middle Agusan that is caught with frequency and in numbers, the generic term for fish 

 was narrowed down to this one particular flsh. Thence the application of the word expanded and it now corresponds to the Tagalog ulam and tha 

 Cebu-Bis&ya su-dan. 



» See under "Hunting." 



h See under " Fishing." 



