

SOCIETY 157 
shorter period. A poor family running short of food 
may borrow rice a month before the harvest; they re- 
pay double the quantity a few weeks later. The debt 
doubles each succeeding year. Naturally, if the bor- 
rower does not soon pay off, he can liquidate only by 
handing over a field or some other article of considerable 
value. Frequently the patang is exacted—a partial 
advance payment of interest—almost a discount. 
Every agent receives a fee whether his services be 
rendered in a commercial transaction, the adjustment of 
a fine, or involve outright labor. 
Rice fields are rented on a basis of one-half of the crop 
to the landlord; he usually furnishes also one-half of 
the seed, but this is repaid to him doubly from the 
tenant’s share. The latter performs all labor and 
provides the animals for the sacrifices needed to ensure 
a successful yield. 
Rich men, not only among the Ifugao, but among 
other mountain tribes, are expected at intervals to give 
great festivals of a semi-religious character. Besides 
being an occasion for feasting and merriment, these are 
believed to contribute to the general welfare of the 
community. Men of substance who failed to make 
these ceremonies—at which great quantities of animals 
are sacrificed and eaten—would lose caste. The Ifugao 
call such ceremonies honga and uyauwe; the Kankanai, 
bumayas, mandit, and begnas; the Nabaloi, pachit. 
Rice fields constitute the greatest single item of Ifugao 
wealth and on the average make up probably nearly one- 
half of the property owned. Their value runs from 250 
to 800 pesos per acre, according to locality. The hold- 
ings however are small. At Kiangan about one family 
out of twelve possesses no rice land whatever; only one- 
fifth own two acres or more; and the total holdings of 
the wealthiest individual are twelve acres. When a 
