academy of snENCEs] MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE 83 



of people from as far south as Lankilaan, and from as far north as Guadalupe, from Los Arcos on 

 the east and from Walo on the west, troop to the lake region in their boats. They bring with 

 them their entire families, a supply of salt, a little rice, if they have it, or the usual substitute (sago 

 and bananas), their earthen pots and pans, and their bolos. Upon arriving at a suitable place, 

 they erect a rude shack and start to work. Wading into the mud and water now half-boiling 

 under a torrid sun, they slash at every fish that by his hurried dash makes known his presence. 

 After the fish have been chased in this manner for some time, some of them bury themselves in the 

 mud, whence they are easily removed with the hand. In this manner a few men may secure hun- 

 dreds of fish in a few hours, but these are only of two species. 62 Other varieties of fish do not 

 remain in places that dry up to mere ponds. The hau-an are known to leave the torrid water by 

 wriggling up on land and making their way to other water. The fish after being caught are taken 

 to the temporary shack and placed in water 63 until such time as the owners are ready for the 

 cleaning and salting operations. 



The heads, except such few as are used for the family meals, are discarded, but the roe and 

 the intestines are carefully preserved as a delicacy. The body is so cut that it can be spread out 

 into one thin piece and then salted, usually in a rather stingy way, about 3.5 liters of salt being 

 used for as many as 90 fish. The fish are then set up on an elevated bamboo frame and left to dry 

 for a whole day or more, according to the strength of the sun. 



Though the fishing season is one of the merriest of the year, yet it is a time of work and of 

 stench. It is no unusual thing for the whole family to work till the late hours of the night in 

 order to prevent the fish from putrefying. The odor that prevails where thousands of fish 

 heads — that have not been consumed by the crocodiles that infest the main channels — are rotting 

 under a blazing sun is left to the reader's imagination. The season may last as much as one month 

 and one family may have thousands of dried fish. 64 Ordinarily the lack of salt makes it impossible 

 for any of the Manobos, except those of the better class, to remain long, unless they choose to 

 work for the Bisayas. 



FISHING WITH NETS, TRAPS, AND TORCHES 



Fishing with nets is not practiced except by a few Manobos on the seacoast or by the 

 Christianized Manobos who have learned the practice from Bis&yas, though I have seen cast 

 nets used on the upper Tago, upper Simulao, and upper Agusan. 



The bubo is a cigar-shaped trap made of slats of rattan, from }{ to 1 meter in length. The 

 swifter the current, the smaller the trap used. The large end has a cone with its apex pointing 

 inward. It is made of bamboo slats which are left unfastened at the apex of the cone so that the 

 fish may enter but not get out. This trap is set with its mouth facing either up or down stream. 



Another form of this trap 65 is cylindrical and not conical like the bubo. It is set in swamps 

 with an evil-smelling bait and quickly becomes filled with a very savory mudfish. 66 



The M-pon, u-ydp, and u-ydp td-na are varieties of small fish that at fixed intervals make 

 their way up the Agusan to a distance of from 20 to 30 miles in innumerable quantities. It 

 is said that they arrive at the expected date and hour. They are scooped into dugouts with 

 scoop nets in immense quantities and salted for sale. This method of fishing is confined 

 practically to Bisayas, but a goodly number of Christianized Manobos who five in the vicinity 

 of Butuan take part in it. 



A fairly common method of fishing among the Christianized Manobos, as also among the 

 pagan Manobos who do not live in too warlike a country, is by the use of a spear and torch. 

 Going along the banks of the stream, the fisherman lures the fish with the light and secures them 

 with a jab of his three-pronged spear. In this way he may secure enough for a meal or two. 

 Where the water is deep enough, this method of fishing is attended with great danger from 

 crocodiles, especially in the lake region where they abound in numbers beyond conception. 



M The is-da or hau-an and pu-yo'-pu-yo. 6S Bdg-yas. 



83 It is believed that the flesh of fish will harden if they are left in water after being caught. M Pan-tat. 



w Dd-ing. 



64858 O-41-l 



