168 
PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
The same writers who have dwelled on the bow as the 
Negrito weapon, have sometimes regarded the blowgun 
as typically Malayan. This may be partly true, but is 
certainly not wholly so, since in Palawan the brown- 
skinned Tagbanua and Negrito Batak both use the 
weapon. Itis known also to the Bagobo and the Yakan 
Fig. 32. Roof- 
Shaped Northern 
Type of Rectangu- 
lar Shield with Ex- 
aggerated Prongs. 
Kalinga. 

Moro; and at the period of discovery 
seems to have been used more or less 
generally by the Mindanao tribes, the 
Bisaya, and perhaps the Tagalog; often 
with poisoned darts. It is therefore by 
no means clear to which culture stratum 
the weapon is to be attributed. It does 
not seem to be found in northern Luzon. 
Shields. The principal defensive 
weapon is the shield, which is made in 
three forms that appear to represent as 
many culture types. 
The simplest and presumably earliest 
of these types, which is also the most 
common in Borneo, is a rectangular 
board sloping somewhat from its middle 
line toward both the long edges. Seen 
from the end the shape is therefore that 
of alow gabled roof. A boss is either 
absent or is a mere thickening of the 
ridge down the middle. At the present 
time this type of shield is known only 
from northern Luzon, where its most 
extreme form is attained among the 
Tinggian and Kalinga. With these 
tribes it is fashioned into three long 
prongs above and two below. The solid portion is 
comparatively small, and the weapon is obviously one 
for parrying rather than receiving missiles. It has even 
