426 The Tinguian 



in, but the common method is to employ blackened bamboo, both in 

 warp and weft. 



The top of the basket is strengthened by two hoops of rattan or 

 bamboo. One is placed outside, the other inside ; on them is laid a 

 small strip of the same material, and all three are sewed down by 

 passing a thin strip of rattan through two holes punched in margin. 

 This strip doubles on itself, encircles the rim, and after an interval 

 again passes through two more holes, and so on around the entire 

 basket. A square base, attached in the same manner as the rim, gen- 

 erally completes the basket. In the mountain districts near to Apayao, 

 the bases of the smaller eating dishes are drawn in toward the center 

 at four points, giving the effect of a four-pointed star. 



Mats (ikamin). — Mats are used as beds, never as floor coverings. 

 They are rectangular in form, usually about six feet long and three 

 wide, and are undecorated. They are made from strips of pandanus 

 in the laga weave (cf. p. 423). 



Dyes. — In recent years analine dyes have come into favor in some 

 villages, and a variety of colors appears in the articles made by their 

 weavers, but the vegetable dyes used by the ancestors are still employed 

 by most of the women. The commonest colors are blue, pink — "black 

 red" — , red, and yellow. 



Blue is ordinarily produced by placing the leaves and branches of 

 the indigo plant, tayum (Indigofera tinctoria) in water for a few 

 days ; then to boil them, together with a little lime. The thread is 

 dipped in the liquid. 



Pink is secured by crushing lynga (Sesamum indicum L.) seeds 

 and boiling them in water. Threads are placed in this for five nights, 

 while during the day they are dried in the sun. The root of the 

 apatot (Morinda citrifolia or umbellata) is next crushed, and water 

 is added. The threads are now transferred to this liquid, and for ten 

 days and nights are alternately soaked and sunned. A copper color 

 results, but this soon changes to pink. It is said that the apatot alone 

 produces a red dye. It is also claimed that the seeds of the apang 

 (Bixa Orellana L.) and of a variety of rattan, when boiled, give a 

 permanent red. 1 



A yellow dye is produced by boiling the leaves of the Tamarindus 

 indica L. in water until a strong liquor is obtained. 



Bark head-bands are stained a purplish-red by applying a liquid 



1 This is the Arnatto dye, an American plant. Watt, Dictionary, Vol. I, 

 P- 454- 



