298 NOTES ON SOME PRIMITIVE PHILIPPINE TRIBES 



come more or less in contact with the Moros, the}^ have in some 

 instances adopted the trousers, tight jacket, and turban of the 

 latter tribe, while near Puerto Princesa a few of the men are the 

 proud possessors, of cast-off articles of European dress. In ap- 

 proaching the Spanish town they cany their fine clothing under 

 their arms until at its outskirts, and then dress beside the road. 

 Women, when at work, wear a strip of cloth wound around the 

 body and reaching from waist to knee. Most of them possess 

 in addition a longer skirt and a semi-transparent shirt for state 

 occasions. 



Agriculture is more commonly practiced than among the 

 Mangyans, but many of the men live for the most part in the 

 forest, where they hunt, trap, and search for dam ar, wild honey, 

 and wax. The structures in which they make their abode at 

 such times hardly deserve the name of houses. They consist of 

 leaf roofs, with a platform of poles underneath, and are usually 

 large enough to accommodate an entire family. Under the sleep- 

 ing platform a smudge is maintained to drive away insect pests, 

 and it is common to see a whole family squatting contentedly in 

 smoke that would asphyxiate a white man. A few empty cocoa- 

 nut shells, some baskets for burden-bearing, and two or three 

 earthen pots complete the list of household effects. Unlike the 

 Mangyans, they work iron to some extent, constructing rude 

 forges, with piston bellows made from large bamboo stems. 



Although much of the Tagbanua's time is necessarily spent 

 in the forest, he is naturally social, and especially during the 

 long rainy season he seeks the society of hi* fellows, returning 

 to his hut in some one of the numerous large villages. 



The village houses are built of bamboo, nipa palm, and rat- 

 tan, and differ from those of the civilized natives only in their 

 smaller size, and in being perched at a much greater elevation 

 above the ground. One often sees a young couple working 

 away contentedly at their future home with no other tools than 

 their fingers and a rude knife. 



In the villages near Puerto Princesa there exists a travesty of 

 the form of local government found among the civilized tribes, 

 each village being presided over by a gobemadnrcillo or petty 

 governor, assisted by a ''justice of the peace," and other more 

 or less useless officials. No taxes are collected, however, and 

 few burdens are imposed on these partiall}^ civilized Tagbanuas 

 by the Spanish, who are trying to gradually accustom them to 

 the yoke, in the hope of eventually bringing them to the full 



