PRIMITIVE WEAPONS AND ATJMOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 51 



country, the usual method is to insert a metal tang into the wooden 

 shaft. The place of junction is usually strengthened by an iron or 

 braided rattan ferrule. An iron ferrule, spud, or cap is placed over 

 the base end or butt of shaft for its protection, as it is customary 

 for the individual owner of such spears to use them as a support 

 staif in climbing the steep hills and mountains, and also for him to 

 insert the spear butt end into the ground when resting or v/hen 

 engaged in some undertaking where the spear is not needed. Among 

 the tribal groups of the southern islands where the knowledge of 

 metal working is more advanced, the customary method of fasten- 

 ing the spear head to the shaft is by socketing. The spear or lance 

 head has usually an iron ferrule attached to the neck constriction 

 Into this opening the sharpened shaft end is inserted. 



As a spear once throAvn at an enemy can with difficulty be recov- 

 ered it is sometimes customary to carry the spears in pairs — one for 

 throwing at the adversar}^ early in the fight while the other is re- 

 tained for hand-to-hand fighting. This practice exists among the 

 Jacanes of the interior of Basilan Island. Although tribal usage 

 varies, it is generally understood that the fighting or war spears 

 <liffer in their workmanship from spears for hunting and fishing, the 

 latter being usually lighter m weight and longer shafted, while the 

 shafts of the war spears, especially in the Bagobc country Avnere 

 they are not barbed, are elaborately ornamented v^'ith figured brass, 

 silver, and braided rattan. 



Among the Bontoc Igorot 



the spear shafts are made by the owner of tlie weapon, it not being customary 

 for anyone to produce them for sale. In some pueblos of the Bontoc area, as 

 at Mayinit, spear shafts* are worked down and eventually smoothed and finished 

 by a flexible, bamboo knife-blade machine. It consists of about a dozen blades 

 8 or 10 inches in length, fastened together side by side with a string. The 

 blades lie one overlapping the other like the slats of an American window 

 shutter. Each projecting blade is sharpened to a chisel edge. The machine 

 is grasped in the hand and is slid up and down the shaft with a slight twisting 

 movement obtained by bending the wrist. The machine becomes a flexible, 

 many-bladed plane.** 



Spears of the Dyaks of Borneo, like those of the Philippine na- 

 tionalities, are used for war and for hunting primarily, although 

 ceremonial types occur. A difference lies in the barbing. The 

 Dyaks, like the southern island tribes, place barbs on their hunting- 

 spears, while the tribes of northern Luzon prefer to place barbs also 

 on their war spears. Occurrence of multiple barbs in the iron spear- 

 heads of the Bontok Igorot insure protection gainst "anitos" or evil 

 spirits. Knight figures a series of old palmwood spearheads from the 

 Philippines and Borneo which resemble the multiple barbed wood 



'Ethnological Survey, Philippine Ishnids. vol. 1, p. 12S. 



