286 The Tinguian 



large white blanket, which she wears until after the burial. 1 Likewise 

 all the relatives don old garments, and are barred from all work. The 

 immediate family is under still stricter rules. Corn is their only food ; 

 they may not touch anything bloody, neither can they swing their 

 arms as they walk. They are prohibited from mounting a horse, and 

 under no circumstances are they allowed to leave the village or join 

 in merry-making. Failure to obey these rules is followed by swift 

 punishment, generally meted out by the spirit of the dead. 2 Except 

 for the wife, these restrictions are raised after the blood and oil cer- 

 emony (described in a later paragraph), but the widow continues in 

 mourning until the Layog is celebrated, at the end of a year. 



According to many informants among the older men, it was for- 

 merly necessary, following the death of an adult, for the men to put 

 on white head-bands and go out on a head-hunt. Until their return 

 it was impossible to hold the ceremony which released the relatives 

 from the taboo. 3 During the first two days that the body is in the 

 house, the friends and relatives gather to do honor to the dead and to 

 partake of the food and drink, which are always freely given at such 

 a time ; but there is neither music, singing, or dancing. 4 



On the morning of the third day, the male guests assemble in the 

 yard, and after drinking basi they select one of their number and pro- 

 ceed to beat him across the wrist or thigh, with a light rod 

 (Plate XVII). Two hundred blows are required, but since the stick 

 is split at one end only, one hundred strokes are given. This whipping 

 is not severe, but the repeated blows are sufficient to cause the flesh 

 to swell. As soon as the first man is beaten, he takes the rod and 

 then proceeds to apply one hundred and fifty strokes 5 to each man 



1 In Manabo the wife is covered at night with a white blanket, but during 

 the day she wears it bandoleer fashion over one shoulder. In Ba-ak a white 

 blanket with black border is used in a similar way. If the wife has neglected 

 her husband during his illness, his relatives may demand that she be punished 

 by having a second blanket placed over her, unless she pays them a small amount. 

 It sometimes occurs that the Lakay or old men impose both fine and punishment. 

 In Likuan the blanket is placed over the corpse and the wife. 



2 See Traditions of the Tinguian, this volume, No. I, p. 180. 



3 This is still the case among the Apayao who live to the north of the 

 Tinguian (Cole, Am. Anthropologist, Vol. ii, No. 3, 1009, p. 340). The custom 

 is reflected in the folk-tales (Traditions of the Tinguian, this volume, No. 1, 

 p. 190; cf. also p. 372). 



* The writer has known of instances, where towns were deserted following 

 an epidemic of smallpox, and the dead were left unburied in the houses. Such 

 instances are unusual even for this dread disease, and the funeral observances 

 usually expose large numbers of the people to infection. 



5 In San Juan only thirty strokes are given. 



