22 THE SUBANU. 
alike enter the house from the ladders facing inward; they come out 
backward and descend the notched pole in the same position; but 
where the house has a ladder with treads they come out and descend 
forward. 
The Subanu seldom build their houses in trees, except in the case of 
small watch towers used by guards for protecting the crops from wild 
animals and birds. 
The materials for thatching are the leaves of the nipa palm, the 
coconut palm, and cogon grass. For the walls, bagaki rattan is used 
when available and in its absence any of the thatch materials are 
employed. The floor is always open; that is, composed of strips of 
palma brava, split bamboo, or small tangal poles, laid about an inch 
apart and bound to the stringers or joists with split bezuco rattan. 
The open floor permits of the free circulation of air and of the passing of 
all refuse to the ground below. ‘This open floor is of great economic 
importance to the Subanu and is generally used by all classes of Moros 
and Pagans and by many Filipinos. The ground underneath the house 
becomes a refuse heap where the domestic animals of the owner search 
for food and find a place of refuge from the sun and rain. When in the 
course of time this pile of waste rises near the floor, the Subanu owner 
may abandon his house and erect another or, if not already at a consider- 
able height, decide to raise the building some 5 feet or more. It never 
occurs to this child of the forest and hills that the refuse can be removed 
from time to time and destroyed by fire, as an economic and sanitary 
project of the first importance. Houses are built near fresh water if 
possible, provided isolation and security can be obtained. 
The Subanu are a peace-loving people. ‘They love the solitude 
and quiet of undisturbed natural surroundings. So long and persist- 
ently have they been hunted by the raiding Moros and Filipinos that 
they seek seclusion and usually establish their houses where it is most 
difficult to gain an approach to them—for example, near the bottom of 
a deep gulch or upon the projecting point of some hill or on some moun- 
tain peak. From a nearby elevation one may catch a glimpse of the 
shack through the swaying foliage and then search for hours to find the 
blind trail leading to it. 
The safe placing of the home is of prime importance and after 
that comes the location of the kaingin farm. ‘They are not often near 
together, since fertile land does not always coincide with a favorable 
spot for the protection of the house. In the event of a wide distance 
between the house and the farm the Subanu usually makes a small 
planting about the former; about the more or less permanent home 
he may erect small shacks for the storage of harvested crops, although 
in most instances some portion of the house is used for that purpose. 
If the granary is placed under the house that section is protected from 
the receipt of waste material passed through the open floor. 
