THE PHILIPPINES 75 



There are several ways of quenching one's thirst in the Philip- 

 pines and one need never go thirsty even in the driest seasons. 

 In the first place if a coconut grove is nearby there is no finer 

 drink than the milk of a fresh green cononut. 



Next to this, water sufficient for an emergency can be secured 

 from the rattan (bejuco) which trails and climbs everywhere in the 

 jungle. The climbing bamboo also sometimes contains water between 

 its joints and lastly the pitcher plants (Nepenthes) have in the 

 unopened leaves a somewhat tasteless sap, which will suffice in 

 extreme cases. Of course many dry beds of streams afford water 

 if one dig down a few feet. 



Bottled, aerated waters are generally available in the provincial 

 towns. 



8. FIRE. 



The natives of the Philippines have several ways of making fire 

 without matches. The flint and steel is used by some of them (notably 

 the Negritos) but perhaps the most interesting method is that which 

 consists of splitting a section of very dry bamboo into halves. On 

 the convex surface of one of these a v-shaped notch is made with 

 a bolo, cutting thru the wood ; this notched section of bamboo is 

 then placed flat on some stable surface convex side up, with a 

 little dry tinder scraped out of the inside of the bamboo into a 

 little pile just beneath the notch. With a sawing motion the 

 edge of the other section is rasped back and forth in this notch. 

 If the motion be rapid enough and the tinder very dry, fire will 

 soon be forthcoming. The writer has made fire by this method, but 

 only with great exertion, while the native accomplished it with ease. 



The Mangyans of Mindoro use a small bamboo tube with a 

 plunger in it, by which they produce the necessary heat on the 

 principle of the heating up of a bicycle pump. The writer has 

 never seen the natives use the method of rapidly revolving one 

 piece of wood in a hole in another, as is done in some countries. 



Owing to the very generally wet condition of all firewood at 

 certain seasons of the year it is a wise precaution for the traveller 

 to provide himself with some kind of patent fire-lighter and a liberal 

 supply of solid alcohol which comes in small tins, but if bulky 

 supplies cannot be carried, be at least sure to have matches in a 

 waterproof container. 



9. SHELTER. 



The native home, made of bamboo, nipa palm and cogon or lalang 

 grass (Imberata) is, for permanent camp, the cheapest and most 



