

SOCIETY 161 
themselves into larger units. Among the tribes of the 
interior, even communities often failed to act as groups in 
a conflict, and many of the combats were restricted to 
families. This was particularly the case among groups 
like the Ifugao who recognize no head men, and who, 
when peaceable adjustment fails; have no recourse but 
to take up arms. In such event, the contest is likely 
to be confined to the kinsmen or immediate adherents 
of those who have received or inflicted the original 
injury. In the strict sense of the term, then, warfare can 
scarcely be said to be practised by the modern pagans, 
who rather alternate between living in a state of peace 
and one of vendetta. To a tonsiderable extent this was 
also the condition of the Christian tribes at the time of 
discovery. 
Head=Hunting andthe Debtof Life. Themost 
striking feature of this side of native life was the practice 
of head-hunting, in which the less settled Filipinos en- 
gaged with the same ardor as the tribes of Borneo and 
the other East Indies. All through Malaysia it appears 
to have been an immemorial custom to decapitate the 
fallen foe and bring his head home for triumphal dis- 
play. A ritual celebration followed. Often, in fact, the 
feeling was strong that an important ceremony could 
not be successfully conducted without at least one 
fresh head, and a party would be organized to provide 
this requisite for the proper carrying out of what religion 
ordained. Many tribes kept either the head or the skull 
permanently hanging inside the house or on its front. 
The Bontok buried the skull, but used the jaw as a gong 
handle. The more heads a warrior brought home, the 
greater was his renown, and the more influential his 
standing in the community. As civilization gradually 
advanced in Malaysia, and Indian and Arabic points 
of view came more and more to be adopted, the crudity 
