I20 The National Geographic Magazine 



The swords are of different shapes. 

 They are all sharpened to the nicet}^ of 

 a razor. The bolo is the prevailing 

 weapon. It is verj^ short, for accord- 

 ing to an old edict of the Spanish regime 

 the blade could only extend from the 

 wrist to the elbow in length. It is 

 enough to give one an inspiration of 

 fear. It is used also in cutting sugar- 

 cane, etc. The case is of wood and 

 very often merely bound with twine, so 

 that the wielder can strike through if 

 he has not the time to unsheath the 

 sword. The common bolo has a blade 

 of steel, a wooden handle and an iron 

 ferrule, though some have handles of 

 silver and are far richer in appearance 

 and design. One very formidable and 

 beautiful weapon is the Kriss sword. 

 This has a wavy-shaped blade of steel, 

 the handle being of wood wound with 

 native twine. 



Passing to articles of more practical 

 use, one of the first to attract attention 

 is the "lyUzon," a mortar used by the 

 Tagals as a receptacle in which to loosen 

 the husk from rice grain by pounding 

 with a wooden pestle. It was the uni- 

 versal use of this article that caused the 

 Spaniards to give the island of Luzon 

 its name. 



Then there are looms and other native 

 contrivances, showing the manner of 

 making their different cloths — luisi,jusi, 

 pina, cinamay, etc. These cloths are 

 found in many beautiful colors — pink, 

 violet, orange, yellow, blue, and black — 

 and some are richly embroidered. Every 

 article of domestic use is to be seen — 

 laundry tubs and boards, scrubbing 

 brushes made of half of a cocoanut in 

 the husk, and brooms made of rice straw, 

 and that necessary household article, the 

 back-scratcher, formed of a small piece 

 of cocoanut shell with serrated edge, 

 laced with cotton thread to a long bam- 

 boo handle. Very suggestive of the 

 popular song of the day are some sam- 

 ples of goo-goo soap bark. This bark is 

 especially adapted for washing the hair. 



leaving it soft and glossy, and produces 

 thick suds the same as soap. Extreme 

 care must be taken not to let it get into 

 the eyes. 



The native hearth is merely a rectan- 

 gular frame of wood raised on four up- 

 rights of squared bamboo ; the bottom 

 is formed by a mat of woven splints of 

 bamboo, the whole forming a box-like 

 construction in which has been laid a 

 quantity of hardened earth composition, 

 on which the fire is built. Pieces of this 

 substance in the shape of small elon- 

 gated cones serve for supporting pots. 

 At the back of the hearth and fastened 

 to the two rear uprights is a piece of 

 bamboo with two long slots and two 

 holes cut entirely through, in which 

 spoons and other utensils are placed 

 when not in use. The three cooking 

 pots with this exhibit are of red earthen- 

 ware and unique in design. The spoons 

 are each made of cocoanut shell laced 

 to a handle by strips of rattan. 



Making the fire on cold mornings 

 is the unpleasant lot of many Ameri- 

 cans. However, they ought not to 

 grumble after they have seen the set of 

 fire-making instruments used by the 

 Filipinos and have had explained to 

 them the laborious task of merely mak- 

 ing a light. A piece of bamboo with a 

 slit through the middle is placed on 

 an}^ convenient spot, with some bamboo 

 shavings beneath. Another piece of 

 bamboo is then rubbed through the slit 

 at right angles until the shavings smoke, 

 when the shavings are fanned into a 

 flame. 



A model of a native cocoanut-oil fac- 

 tory forms one of the most interesting 

 exhibits of the industrial section. The 

 operator sits on a cross-beam and with 

 his feet revolves, b}' means of two ped- 

 als, a little metal shredder, which cuts 

 up the cocoanut. The meat of the 

 cocoanut then moves to a second worker, 

 who crushes it by means of a roller 

 which he rolls back and forth with one 

 hand. The meat thus crushed enters a 



