280 The Tinguian 



a part of the marriage ceremony, but the present writer did not wit- 

 ness anything of the sort, nor could he learn of any such action. 



The groom carries with him a small part of the marriage payment 

 and a valuable jar; these he presents to his parents-in-law, and from 

 that time on he may never call them or their near relatives by name. 

 Should he do so, "he will have boils and the first child will be insane." 



The bride's people have provided a coconut shell filled with water 

 and a wooden dish 1 containing cooked rice. These are placed between 

 the couple, as they sit in the center of the room (Plate XIV). The 

 boy's mother drops two beads into the shell cup, and bids them drink ; 

 for, "as the two beads always go together at the bottom, so you will 

 go together and will not part. The cool water will keep you from be- 

 coming angry." 



Great care must be exercised in handling the cup; for should the 

 contents be shaken the couple will become dizzy, and in old age their 

 heads and hands will shake. After they have drunk, each takes a hand- 

 ful of rice, and squeezes it into a ball. The girl drops hers through 

 the slits in the bamboo floor as an offering to the spirits, but the boy 

 tosses his into the air. If it breaks or rolls, it is a bad sign, and the 

 couple is apt to part, or their children die. In such a circumstance, 

 the marriage is usually deferred, and tried again at a later date; but 

 repeated scattering of the rice generally results in the annulling of 

 the agreement. 2 Should anything in the dwelling fall or be broken 

 during the ceremony, it is halted at once ; to proceed further that night 

 would be to court misfortune. However, it may be undertaken again 

 a few days later. 



The guests depart immediately after the rice ceremony. No food 

 or drink is offered to them, nor is there any kind of celebration. 3 



1 It is necessary to use a shallow dish with a high pedestal known as dias 

 (Fig. 5, No. 5). 



' In Ba-ak the breaking and scattering of the rice ball is considered a good 

 omen, as it presages many children. In San Juan the youth throws a rice ball 

 at the ridge pole of the house, and the girl's mother does the same. In this 

 instance, each grain of rice which adheres to the pole represents a child to be 

 born. 



8 The similarity of the Tinguian rice ceremony to that of many other 

 Philippine tribes is so great that it cannot be due to mere chance. Customs 

 of a like nature were observed by the writer among the Bukidnon, Bagobo, 

 Bila-an, Kulaman, and Mandaya of Mindanao, and the Batak of Palawan ; 

 they are also described by Reed and Worcester for the Negrito of Zambales 

 and Bataan ; while Loarca, writing late in the sixteenth century, records a 

 very like ceremony practised by a coast group, probably the Pintados. At 

 the same time it is worthy of note that Jenks found among the Bontoc Igorot 

 a great divergence both in courtship and marriage. Among the Dusun of 

 British North Borneo the marriage of children of the well-to-do is consummated 



