THE MATERIAL SIDES OF LIFE Tt} 
fact all the islands other than Mindanao, the character- 
istic shapes as well as quality of Moro steel work are 
lacking. 
There are several types of these beautiful blades: the 
kris, which comes both straight and wavy; the kampilan, 
a long straight sword; a bent blade of about the same 
length which is often called a beheading knife; and the 
barong, a heavy and rather short sword or knife with 
slightly curved edge. The handles are of wood, horn, 
ivory, or brass, usually carved, and often exquisitely 
designed and executed. These types of weapons belong 
to the later stratum of East Indian culture of pre- 
dominant Hindu and Arabic influence. They are in no 
sense peculiar to the Philippines; in fact, characteristic 
rather of Malacca and Java and Borneo, and unknown 
in the greater part of our archipelago. 
The central and northern tribes chiefly use the bolo, 
a combination of weapon and tool, very similar to the 
machete, unornamented, long for a knife and somewhat 
short for a sword. 
Copper, Bronze, and Gold. Brass and bronze 
represent a second set of trade materials whose import in- 
to the Philippines has been going on foralongtime. All 
the tribes once used gongs manufactured in China, or 
at least made of Chinese bronze. These are still em- 
ployed as the chief musical instrument by the Moham- 
medan as well as pagan tribes; in fact, form the charac- 
teristic accompaniment to dances. As might be 
expected in view of their remote source, their value in 
native estimation is usually quite disproportionately 
high. It is customary to treasure them almost as heir- 
looms, and they frequently form part of the purchase 
price in transactions where dignity is an essential factor, 
especially weddings and the payment of blood money. 
Naturally, they were traded from tribe to tribe, so that 
