BENEDICT, BAGOBO CEREMONIAL, MAGIC AND MYTH 135 



ribbon-like strips, which were fastened on by piercing them with 

 the stiff, wiry stems of the baris branches, so that an effect of 

 waving green pennants was, perhaps unconsciously, secured. Finally, 

 the symbolic flowers of the Bagobo warrior — red kalimping and 

 blossoms from the scarlet and gold darudu — were tied to the 

 projecting tips of the baris stems, and also to the bulla-leaves. The 

 last flowers and leaf-strips were added, and the final touches given, 

 after the raising of the poles. 



At the same time with the processes just described, other Bagobo 

 were thrusting into the upper end of the hollow poles bouquets 

 composed of leaves and flowers of different kinds, with white clusters 

 of tender young leaf-buds and undeveloped fruit from the areca- 

 palm. These clusters are called ubus, and form one of the characteristic 

 decorations of the ceremonial bamboos. Sprays of ubus may be worn 

 at the throat, or stuck in the leglets, or tied to the spears of brave 

 men who have killed other men. A large part of these clusters of 

 leaves and flowers were concealed within the bamboo trunks, but 

 they protruded for a short distance from the openings. 



The next proceeding was to raise the poles into place, so that 

 they should stand upright beneath the steepest part of the roof, 

 and directly in front of the altar called balekcit. The shorter bamboo 

 was easily lifted to a vertical position, so that its upper end rested 

 against a joist of the slanting roof; but when the long bamboo had 

 been raised to an angle of some fifteen degrees from the vertical 

 it was found to be too long, by several inches, for the extreme 

 height of the roof, and it could not be forced to stand up straight, 

 so as to touch the ridge-pole as custom demanded. This check to 

 the performances proved a serious matter; for to let the bamboo 

 stand at a slant would be contrary to custom and hence unlucky ; 

 while to cut it shorter would be a sacrilege, certain to be followed 

 by the sickness or the death of somebody. The old men and women 

 talked over the matter, and everybody wore a grave and anxious 

 face. My crass suggestion that they break the roof was dismissed 

 as if unthinkable, and a long delay ensued, followed by a fresh 

 attack on the pole, a new adjustment, a pressure from the upper 

 end of the bamboo against the yielding joists and the thatch of 

 grass, and a tacit consent of all concerned to allow the ceremonial 

 bamboo to stand at a slant removed by an extremely small angle 

 from the vertical. 



Just as the decoration of the poles was finished, there were brought 



