and a miscellaneous assortment of 

 household goods. Under the houses 

 of wealthy Ifugaos huge carved 

 wooden resting-benches, called "ta- 

 gabi," are usually to be seen (see 

 picture, page 885). 



Although many portions of the 

 Ifugao territory are very thickly in- 

 habited, there is not a single large 

 town. The houses are grouped in 

 tiny villages, which usually occupy 

 strategic positions among the won- 

 derful rice terraces on the steep 

 mountain sides, so that access to 

 them in the face of opposition is 

 well nigh impossible unless the 

 would-be callers are well provided 

 with firearms and ammunition. 



HYDRAULIC 



ENGINEERING AMONG 



SAVAGES 



AN IFUGAO WOMAN 



The women wear excessively short skirts wrapped 

 about the body below the waist. A fold in the upper 

 part of the skirt serves as a pocket (see page 879). 



The Ifugao may be a barbarian, 

 but he is an excellent hydraulic en- 

 gineer. His irrigation ditches, run- 

 ning for miles along almost perpen- 

 dicular mountain sides, and his 

 marvelous rice terraces, which 

 sometimes extend upward on the 

 steep slopes for thousands of feet 

 and have dry stone retaining walls 

 10 to 40 feet in height, are the won- 

 der of all who have seen them. 

 Furthermore, the earth of those 

 terraces is fertilized, and the grow- 

 ing rice is thoroughly weeded and 

 well cultivated. The crop, which 

 is harvested by cutting the heads 

 one at a time, is often tremendous. 



Yams are also grown on the 

 steep mountain sides, but the Ifu- 

 gaos care little for sugar-cane and 

 seldom trouble to raise it. They 

 utilize rice in making an excellent 

 fermented drink known as huhnd. 

 They keep chickens, dogs, and pigs, 

 but no cattle. 



The Ifugaos make good lance- 

 heads and war-knives. They also 

 carve wood with some skill and 

 weave very serviceable wicker bas- 

 kets. The women make cloth. 



The Ifugaos, like the Kalingas, 

 have until very recently been in- 

 veterate head-hunters. When I 

 first entered their territory, in 1903, 

 many of their houses were orna- 

 mented with fresh human skulls, 



882 



