Chap, xvi.] 



PILE DAVELLINGS. 



343 



when young; many of them are very light-coloured in com- 

 plexion ; their eyes, like the men's, being extremely bright. 

 They are fond of bright yellows and reds in their dress, and are 

 very fully clad. The men are armed with circular shields and 

 spears, and formerly at least they used suits of armour made of 

 plates of buffalo horn, linked together with wire, which are verv 

 rare objects in Ethnological Museums. 



At Basilan Island, at Port Isabella, the Moros' houses are 

 constructed on piles in a small lagoon-like offset of the channel 

 between this island and the small outlying island of Malamaui 

 Ihe houses are entirely isolated by the water. They stand 



PILE-DWELLINGS OF LUTAOS AT ZAMBOANGA. 



together, and a wide rickety platform connects many of them 

 with one another.* At Zamboanga, the Moros' houses are also 

 built in a group. The main house in each case is usually sup- 

 ported on three rows of piles ; but various additions and out- 

 buildings are supported on irregularly added piles. There is 

 always a platform before the entrance, and sometimes one for 

 canoes behind. It was odd to see ahorse left tied by his Moro 

 owner to the door-post, standing up to his belly in the water, 

 through the rising of the tide. 



The houses of the other native inhabitants throughout the 



* For an account of the inhabitants of the Suhi Islands, the same race 

 as the Moros, with descriptions and figures of their houses, see Wilkes's 

 "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition," Vol. V., Ch. IX, New 

 York, 1856. 



