THE MODERN INHABITANTS. 123 



PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



DRESS. The natives dress very much after the manner of the 

 people of Manila. The men wear cotton trousers, and shirts outside of 

 the trousers, either white or of some striped material. Some of them 

 wear white jackets which fit closely about the neck, fastened with 

 buttons or silver studs. They wear either imported hats of straw or 

 felt, or hats of pandanus woven on the island. When fishing on the 

 reef or when at work on their ranchos many of them content themselves 

 with a breechcloth and a straw hat. They wear shoes, slippers, or 

 sandals, or, if engaged in work which does not require the feet to 

 be protected, go barefooted. As is the case in Japan and at Manila it 

 is the custom while sitting in the house to slip off the shoes. At 

 church the women usually take them off and kneel upon them. 



The ordinary dress of the women is an ample skirt of print or 

 bright-colored gingham with a short chemisette of thin white material, 

 cut low in the neck and provided with wide flowing sleeves. Stockings 

 are worn by few except on feast days and Sundays. Women of the 

 better class follow the Manila fashions and wear garments of more 

 costly materials. Some of them have begun to wear corsets. A few 

 wear European hats; the remainder go bareheaded or content them- 

 selves with handkerchiefs tied over the head. Nearly all of them 

 wear kerchiefs across the bosom and a rosary about the neck. Some 

 of the native costumes are very prettily ornamented with lace or 

 embroidery, and the handkerchiefs are often of fine texture, with a 

 colored border. It is considered unseemly for the older women to 

 wear bright colors or fancy laces. Flowers are scarcely at all worn 

 by the natives, but that they have a love for beauty is shown by the 

 decorated altars in their houses and the bright-colored foliage plants 

 and flowers in their gardens. 



DWELLINGS. With the exception of a few families living in ran- 

 cherias, the natives live in villages and go to their fincas, or country 

 places, for the purpose of feeding and watering their stock or for cul- 

 tivating their fields. The town houses are well constructed. They 

 are raised from the ground on substantial, durable posts (PI. XX), 

 or built of masonry with a basement or "bodega" which is used as a 

 storeroom or cellar (PL XIX). Some of them are surrounded by bal- 

 conies, inclosed by shutters or by windows with translucent Placuna 

 shells for panes. The roofs are either of thatch or tile, the best thatch 

 being that made of the leaflets of the nipa palm. Many of the houses 

 are provided with vegetable gardens in which dome-shaped ovens may 

 be seen. Under the eaves, so as to catch the drippings from the roof, 

 are rows of bright-colored Phyllaurea and variegated Acanthaceae. 

 Ornamental Araliaceae are also planted, some with finely divided leaves 

 (NotJiopanax fruticoswn), others with leaves shaped like saucers (N. 



