Economic Life 411 



The only intoxicating drink made and used by this people is the 

 fermented juice of the sugar-cane, known as bast. The juice when 

 extracted from the cane is boiled with water for four or five hours. It 

 is placed in a large jar together with cinnamon bark, and is tightly 

 covered over with leaves. Fermentation begins almost at once, but for 

 a month the drink is raw and little prized. In three or four months, 

 it becomes quite mellow and pleasant to the taste. Jars are sometimes 

 stored away to be opened only for some important event, such as a mar- 

 riage festival or the celebration of a great ceremony. At such a 

 time a very definite procedure is followed. The most honored guest 

 is invited to do the serving. He removes the covering, dips into the 

 liquor, pours a little on the sides of the jar, and then a few drops on 

 the ground as an offering to the spirits. A coconut shell cup is then 

 dipped out, and is carried to the lakay or some other old man. Before 

 he drinks, he raises the cup to the level of his face, and, beginning at 

 his right, offers it to each person in the circle. The one saluted makes 

 a gesture away from his body with his right hand, the palm upturned. 

 When all have refused the cup, the man drinks, often he stops to sing 

 the daleng, an improvised song in which he compliments his host, 

 bespeaks the welfare of his family, or praises the other members of the 

 gathering. One after another the guests are served, but always accord- 

 ing to age and importance, the women and young people being left to 

 the last. The liquor is quite intoxicating, two or three drinks being 

 sufficient to put the company in a jovial mood. It often happens that 

 one or more will become gloriously drunk, but, as a rule, they are not 

 quarrelsome, and there seems to be no unpleasant after-effects. 1 



Domestic Animals. — Dogs, pigs, chickens, and carabao appear to 

 have been long in the possession of this tribe. Horses, goats, and cattle 

 are now owned by some of the people, but only the former are of 

 sufficient number to be considered important. 



The dogs (aso) are surly, ill-kept creatures of mongrel breed. They 

 are seldom treated as pets, but are kept for hunting. Well-fed dogs are 

 considered lazy, and hence they are fed only with a rice gruel, which 

 seems to be neither fattening nor satisfactory. When in the village, 

 the miserable creatures wander about under the houses, there to pick 

 up and fight over morsels which may drop from above, or they lie in 

 the ashes of the bonfires, the better to protect themselves from fleas 



*A similar drink was used ceremonially in Pangasinan in 1640. See 

 Aduarte, Historia; Blair and Robertson, Vol. XXX, p. 186. It is still found 

 in many portions of the archipelago. 



