/ 



Introduction 21 



importance, but could scarcely have been more prized or more used than 

 at present. Unless she be in mourning, the hair and neck of each woman 

 are now ornamented with strings of beads, many of them of evident an- 

 tiquity, while strands above strands cover the arms from the wrist to 

 the elbow or even reach to the shoulder. 1 



The wealth of a person seems to have been, to a large extent, deter- 

 mined by the number of old jars in his possession. As at the present 

 time, they formed the basis of settlement for feuds, as payment for a 

 bride, and even figured in the marriage ceremony itself. The jars, as 

 judged from their names, were evidently of ancient Chinese manufacture, 

 and possessed power of speech and motion similar to that of human 

 beings; but in a lesser measure the same type of jars have similar powers 

 to-day. 2 



The use of gold and jewels seems to have been common in the old 

 times; the latter are seldom seen in the district to-day, but the use of 

 bits of gold in the various ceremonies is still common, while earrings of 

 gold or copper are among the most prized possessions of the women. 8 

 Placer mining is well known to the Igorot of the south, who melt and 

 cast the metal into various ornaments. So far as I am aware, this is not 

 practiced by the present Tinguian, but may point back to a time when 

 the industry was known in this region, or when trade relations with the 

 south were much freer than in recent years. 



The weapons of the warriors, which we are specifically told were of 

 metal, are identical with those seen at the present time, while the meth- 

 ods of warfare agree with the accounts still told by the old men of their 

 youthful exploits. 



A survey of the tales brings out boldly the fact that a headhunt was 

 one of the most important events in Tinguian life. To-day stress of 

 circumstances has caused the custom to suffer a rapid decline, but even 

 now heads are occasionally taken, while most of the old men have vivid 

 recollections of the days when they fought "in the towns of their 

 enemies." A spirited account of a head celebration seen in the village of 

 Lagangilang — from which ten of these tales were collected — will be 



1 Paul P. de La Gironiere, who visited the Tinguian in the early part of the nine- 

 teenth century, describes these ornaments as follows: "Their heads were ornamented 

 with pearls, coral beads, and pieces of gold twisted among their hair; the upper parts 

 of the hands were painted blue; wrists adorned with interwoven bracelets, spangled 

 with glass beads; these bracelets reached the elbow and formed a kind of half -plaited 

 sleeve. La Gironiere, Twenty Years in the Philippines, pp. 108 ff. 



1 See Cole and Laufer, Chinese Pottery in the Philippines (Pub. Field Museum 

 of Natural History, Vol. XII, No. 1). 



1 This is entirely in agreement with Chinese records. The Islands always 

 appeared to the Chinese as an Eldorado desirable for its gold and pearls. 



