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VENTURELLO] MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF TAGBANUAS 545 
the voices are heard by all. The chief will then ask them what 
they desire in these parts, to which they reply that they have come 
with merchandise with the object of selling it. This news the chief 
bears to his family, who, being hidden, make known what they want, 
and the chief will return to the trading place. If the old man and 
his family have no mistrust, they will invite the traders to come for- 
ward; if, however, they are mistrustful, the transaction takes place 
in the original place in the following manner. The trading is done 
in a loud voice and at quite a distance. The head of the family will 
name the articles he needs and requests that they be placed in a 
designated spot. He will then go there and take away the articles 
replacing them with almaciga, beeswax and bejuco in quantities 
according to their mode of thinking ; for they have no weights neither 
do they understand such operations. As can be imagined the traders 
have the best of the bargain. Being genuine mountain people, very 
few of them know the coasts of the sea, to which they come only to 
procure the salt. And even then they select a spot unfrequented by 
people. It is said by persons who have had occasion to observe this 
tribe that when the day arrives to go to the shore for water from 
which to procure salt, this being done annually, they first of all like 
thirsty beasts, drink to satiety, because in their homes salt is treas- 
ured as we value gold and for this reason is the most important 
article of trade between the Queneys and the Palawanos. This 
tribe is more cruel than the mountain Palawanos. They are most 
inhospitable, suspicious, and distrustful in the fullest meaning of the 
word. They are exceedingly dirty. They are charred from their 
breech cloths to the face, by their constant lying during the night 
close to the fire, and the dirt serves as a mantle to protect them 
from the cold and humidity. ‘The greater part of the tribe inhabits 
the caves of the mountain. 
Because of the nomadic condition of this tribe and the difficulty 
of acquiring exact information, little is known of their form of 
government, save that it is patriarchal. The information given by 
the Palawanos who have met the Queneys at close range, is more 
or less truthful, and according to their opinion, it is not venturesome 
to say that the Queneys not only have no idea of government, but 
that neither do they have a system of administering justice 
similar to that of the Tagbanuas and Palawanos. In the same 
manner we believe that the Queneys have no idea of Diwata nor of a 
life beyond the grave; for we have no knowledge that they practice 
any of the religious rites known to the Apurahuanos and Palawanos. 
