Chapter 39

ALIMENTATION FIRE AND ITS PRODUCTION

The Manóbo is unable to explain the nature of fire, but he has two very primitive but effective ways of producing it, namely, the fire-saw, and the flint and steel. Owing to the sale of Manila and Japanese matches to such of the Manóbos as come in contact with traders or with trading posts, the ancient methods of making fire are falling into disuse.

THE FIRE-SAW[1]

[1] _Gut-gút-an_.

This might be more properly called the friction method, for the fire is obtained by rubbing edgewise one piece of bamboo at right angles to, and over the back of, another.

The "saw," as it is usually called, or upper piece, must be long enough, say 30 centimeters, to enable one to hold it firmly with both hands. The breadth is immaterial, provided it be broad enough to resist the pressure. One edge must be cut sharp.

The "horse," or lower piece, ought to be at least 10 centimeters broad and of any length. It is essential that the under surface be sufficiently convex to admit the free passage of air when the bamboo is placed upon a solid resting place. In the center of this bamboo is made a hole at least 1 millimeter in diameter. All is now ready for the operation.

The "horse" is set down upon some clean solid piece of wood or stone with its inner or concave side downwards, in such a way that it can not move. The "saw" is placed transversely across the "horse," the sharp edge being right over the hole. Holding it firmly with a hand at each end, it is worked steadily, rapidly and with great pressure across the "horse," precisely as if it were desired to saw it in two. After some 15 strokes, there appears a little smoke, and the operator increases the rapidity of his movement, until he thinks that there is sufficient fire underneath the bamboo. Then he blows down through the hole in order to separate any such bamboo dust as may still remain in or around it. He removes the "horse" applying at once a little lint or other tinder to the glowing particles of bamboo. He then transfers his fire to a piece of good dry wood, preferably to an old firebrand, and in a few seconds has a permanent fire.

For the process it is essential that the bamboo selected be dry and well seasoned, for otherwise the dust produced by the rubbing will not ignite. There are a few varieties of wood that answer the same purpose, but I am unable to give the names though I have seen them used.

THE STEEL AND FLINT PROCESS[2]

[2] _Ti'-ti_.

The Manóbo method of making fire with flint and steel differs in no wise from that used by our own forbears. The tinder used is a fluff obtained from the sugar palm.[3] It is found around the frond bases and after being thoroughly dried, is kept with the flint and steel in a special bamboo or rattan receptacle.

[3] _Arenga saccharifera_. It is called _hi-juíp_ or _hi-diúp_ in Manóbo.

CONTINUATION OF THE FIRE

Once lighted, the fire in the house is kept up, ordinarily not for any ceremonial reason, as far as I have been able to ascertain, but because it is the custom. It is commonly used to furnish light and is kept burning during the night for that purpose. In the mountainous districts, where there is always the possibility of an attack, the fire is sedulously maintained both for light and heat. On occasions fraught with danger from malignant spirits, fire is kept burning for ceremonial reasons as a safeguard against the stealthy approach of the spirits.

Should the fire become extinguished, a fire brand is borrowed from another house, if there is one in the vicinity, but, if there are no neighbors recourse is had to one of the above-described methods.

LIGHTING

Fire is ordinarily the principal, and not infrequently the only source of light. It is only in districts in close proximity to the settlements of Christianized Manóbos that the luxury of coal oil is enjoyed.

The only source of light in the house, other than that from the fire, is a species of resin which is collected from a tree that is found in great abundance in eastern Mindanáo.[4] The method of obtaining the resin is to make a good cut in the tree about 1 millimeter above the ground and to catch the resin in a bark or leaf receptacle. This is usually done overnight. Broken pieces of the resin are then placed in a conical receptacle, made of green leaves, usually of the rattan, bound with rattan strips or other vegetable fastening. When needed, the larger end of this bundle of resin is lighted at the fire and the torch is set upon the floor supported in a tilted position by the most convenient object at hand, frequently the whetstone.

[4] Called _sai'-gung_ or _saung_. (_Oanarium villosum_).

This torch is a good and economical illuminant. It has, however, two defects: First, the ugly habit of spitting out occasional sparks, which cause a somewhat painful sore if they happen to hit the flesh; and, second, a tendency to extinguish itself at intervals on account of the burnt residue that gradually covers the resin. The ash may be easily removed with a stick and then the light blazes out at once, casting a bright glare on the brown and naked figures of the inmates.

When a light is needed for outdoor purposes, a piece of seasoned bamboo, split at one end, or a firebrand of wood, is carried in lieu of the resin. It is an invariable custom to carry a firebrand, while outdoors at night, not only for the purpose of lighting the way but for daunting the evil spirits that are thought to roam about in the gloom of night.

CULINARY AND TABLE EQUIPMENT

The Manóbo is particularly poor in cooking utensils. With the exception of a very occasional iron pot, and a much less frequent pan, he has none of the kitchen apparatus of more civilized peoples.

The earthen pot of his own manufacture is his mainstay. It resembles the _ollas_ or earthen pots used so universally throughout the Philippines. In addition to this there is used, though very rarely among the remote Manóbos, an imported cast-iron pan.[5] It is from 5 centimeters to 10 centimeters in depth and from 25 centimeters to 40 centimeters in diameter, concave, and of the poorest material. It is used for general cooking, for dyeing, and for making a sugar-cane beverage. As it is not provided with a cover, the leaves of the bamboo are used to keep the soot and dirt out and to keep the heat in, especially in steaming _camotes_ and taro.

[5] Called _ki-ú-ja_.

When there are not enough pots for the cooking, as on some exceptional occasion, green bamboo internodes with one end open are brought into requisition. Bamboo of the variety known as _bo_ or _bóho_, is preferred, for it gives an extra delicate savor to the contents, as I can testify. Even upon ordinary occasions, fish or meat is sometimes cooked in bamboo for the same reason. The pieces of bamboo are put into the fire in a slanting position, the open end being stopped with leaves. They are turned around occasionally till they are burnt nearly through. The contents are removed by splitting the charred joint into strips. These strips are usually given to the expectant children who scrape and lick them clean.

I once saw the bark of a tree used for cooking rice, but without success. I was assured that for cooking meat or fish it would answer admirably.

A ladle, with a handle of wood or bamboo and a head of coconut shell, is about the only article that the Manóbo ordinarily has to serve the purpose of spoons and forks. In the absence of the coconut ladle, he employs the bottom of a bamboo internode to which has been left attached a strip that serves as a handle. For stirring the rice he uses a little paddle made out of a flat piece of wood, or if he has no paddle he uses the handle of his coconut. A coconut shell is used for a water cup, though, if he has an imported glass, he will offer it to visitors.

No rags are employed in the cleaning of plates and other dishes. At times a few leaves are required to clean out the iron pan, but for plates and bowls and other utensils a little cold water and a little rubbing with the hand are sufficient.

The Manóbo uses no tablecloth nor has he any of the appurtenances that equip a modern table, except plates, bowls, and, perhaps, a glass.

Of plates he frequently has too few for his family. Bowls are still scarcer. Many and many are the houses which I have visited that could not boast of a single bowl; the same may be said of glasses. This is due to the exorbitant prices charged for them.

As a substitute for plates, the Manóbo uses platters of bark from the sago[6] and other palm trees. It may happen on the occasion of some big festivity that he still finds himself short of plates and platters, so he utilizes his low panlike weaving baskets by lining them with banana or other leaves and putting them on the table loaded with rice. Should all these not be sufficient for the number of his guests, he spreads out a few banana leaves in the center of the table, or on the floor, and lays the rice upon them.

[6] _Lúm-bia_.

A piece of bamboo serves for cup and glass as auxiliary to, or a substitute for, the coconut-shell cup mentioned above.

VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD

The great staple of Manóboland is the _camote_.[7] During harvest time and for several weeks ensuing rice may constitute the bulk of his daily food, but after that he reserves for feasts, for friends, and for the sick what he does not sell, or part with in payment of debts. Should his _camote_ crop fail he falls back upon the sago[8] that abounds in the central Agúsan; or, when sago is not available, he seeks the wild fishtail palm,[9] that affords him as pleasant and nutritious a food as any sago palm that ever grew. In the upper Agúsan the Manóbo plants a fair quantity of taro, and in the middle Agúsan, a small amount of maize in season, or even some beans,[10] so that it is seldom he has to have recourse to the forest for his maintenance. But the mountain Manóbo is occasionally compelled to draw his sustenance from the various palm trees and vines that are found in such luxuriance throughout his forest domain. I have seen poisonous tubers gathered in time of famine by the Manóbos of the upper Wá-wa region and eaten, after they had been scraped on a prickly rattan branch, and the poison had been removed by a series of washings and dryings.

[7] _Ipomoea batatas_ Poir.

[8] _Lúm-bia_.

[9] _Bá-hi'_ (_Caryota_ sp.)

[10] Called _bá-tung_.

He nearly always has a little sugar cane on the farm but, when it is not intended for making an inebriating drink, it is planted only in sufficient quantity to furnish occasionally a few pieces to the members of the household.

Besides the above-mentioned plants, he has probably only a few banana plants, a few ginger plants, some semiwild tomatoes, a little mint[11] and, perchance, a few other plants intended for seasoning. He is not accustomed to plant more than will supply the bare necessities of life.

[11] Called _labwéna_ probably from the Spanish _yerba buena_.

As a concomitant of his rice or _camotes_, he must have his _is-da_[12] which he procures from the forest[13] or from the river.[14]

[12] This word in its present usage corresponds to the Spanish _vianda_, to the Bisáya _súdan_, and the Tagalog _úlam_. Note that the generic word for _is-da_, "fish," has received a still more general application among the Manóbos and Bisáyas of the middle Agúsan. Originally, no doubt, it meant simply "fish," but as the _háu-an_ is almost the only fish in the middle Agúsan that is caught with frequency and in numbers, the generic term for fish was narrowed down to this one particular fish. Thence the application of the word expanded and it now corresponds to the Tagalog _úlam_ and the Cebu-Bisáya _sú-dan_.

[13] See under "Hunting."

[14] See under "Fishing."

It is not essential that the meat or fish should be fresh. I have seen pig meat eaten after three days' decomposition. Neither is the rawness an impediment, for it is customary in certain localities to eat pork absolutely raw, for ceremonial reasons. Besides pork, venison, and fish, an occasional wild chicken or other bird snared in the forest, or a hornbill killed with an arrow, helps to keep his larder supplied.

When no fish or meat has been procured, and this is more often the rule than the exception, he may have found on his rambles some mushroomlike fungi,[15] or even mushrooms,[16] or he may have taken a notion to cut down some palm tree, and get a fine palm [17] or rattan core [18] or even young bamboo shoots.[19] While straying along the river bank he may pick some fern tops of an edible variety.[20] Any of these things affords as fair supplement to his rice, as butter does to bread. The palm-tree cores are full of big luscious larvae.[21] He may have a chance to kill an iguana[22] or monarch lizard.[23] The killing of a monkey with his bow and arrow, or in his traps, affords him a choice piece of meat. And when he has the good fortune to kill a python, he has enough _ís-da_ for himself, his relatives, and his neighbors for at least one meal. Occasionally, during the proper season, he locates a bees' nest and therefrom procures an amount of honey, larvae, and beebread that proves an uncommon treat for himself and his family. Again, on the river at certain periods he has nothing else to do except to scoop into his dugout (if he has one) the exhausted "water-skimmers,"[24] or while passing near some sand bank to spy the spot where the water lizard buried her delicious eggs. In the little side streams he may catch a few frogs and go on his way rejoicing.

[15] _Ta-líng-a bá-tang_.

[16] _Líg-bus, sa-gíng-sá-ging_.

[17] _Ó-bud_.

[18] _Pá-san_.

[19] _Da-búng_.

[20] _Pá-ko'_ (_Asplenium esculentum_)

[21] _A-bá-tud_.

[22] _Gí-bang_.

[23] _Ibíd_.

[24] These are a variety of insect called _dá-li_, of a whitish color about 2 centimeters long, and having two threadlike appendages extending from the posterior part. They are eaten raw, usually with vinegar and salt. This insect is said to be, probably, one of the Neuroptera or Pseudoneuroptera.

With these random finds, with wild boar and deer that come from an occasional chase, with such salted and dried fish, including jerked crocodile, as he may purchase directly or indirectly from Bisáya traders or from Christianized Manóbos, and with a casual pig or fowl killed on ceremonial or festival occasions, he manages to keep his family fairly well supplied with an accompaniment for the mess of rice or other staple food.

Salt, the native red pepper,[25] and at times ginger constitute a very important part of the meal, if they are obtainable. The first mentioned article is far from being abundant, especially in certain localities, such as the Baóbo River and the upper parts of the Ihawán, Umaíam, and Bahaían Rivers. In such places as these the writer found such an intense craving for it that it was eaten ravenously and declared to be "sweet."

There is such an inordinate desire for salt, especially the rock salt made out of salt water and ash lye, that the Manóbo will submit sometimes to tyranny and to the most exorbitant rates in order to obtain it. This craving for salt will explain the general preference that is felt for salted food as against fresh meat. The small salted fish, peddled in such quantities by Bisáya traders, are prized above the choicest pieces of venison and jerked crocodile, presumably for the salt that they contain. It may be wondered why the Manóbo does not salt his own meat and fish, but this is explained by the fact that such an operation is strictly tabooed.

Red pepper is a _sine qua non_. It is eaten much as we eat salt, and is said to impart courage. In the regions near the Mandáyas it is put up in a special form,[26] this being nothing more than the dried pepper pounded, mixed with salt, and preserved in bamboo joints in a dry place, usually in the smoke above the hearth. In this condition it acquires an extraordinary strength that makes the plain red pepper taste mild. This is explained, perhaps, by the fact that in the pounding the seeds of the pepper are triturated.

[25] _Ka-tum-bä_ (_Capsicum_ sp.).

[26] _Dú-mang_.

THE PREPARATION AND COOKING OF FOOD

PREPARING THE FOOD

The remote preparation consists in getting a supply of sweet potatoes or rice from the farm. This may be a mile or more from the house, so that once a day at least the women, with baskets on their heads and paddles in their hands, if they live on navigable water, leave for the farm. In localities where an ambush is a possible contingency, a few men with lance and shield, and hunting dogs accompany the women as a guard, for the _camote_ field is a favorite spot for the enemy to wreak his vengeance, according to the recognized laws of Manóboland. The women and girls dig up the _camotes_ with a bolo or with a small pointed stick, and get a little rice from the granary.[27] After performing any necessary work such as weeding and planting, they return and prepare the meal, the men taking no part except to clean and quarter the game or other meat that may have been selected for it.

[27] _Tam-bó-bung_.

The preparation of pigs and fowls is such a frequent occurrence in Manóboland, as also among Bisáyas, Mañgguáñgans, Debabáons, and Mandáyas of the Agúsan Valley, that it merits a detailed description.

In preparing a pig, wild boar, or deer, a rough support, consisting of four vertical pieces of wood and a few horizontal parallel pieces, is erected outside the house, if the weather permits. A fire is built beneath the frame and the whole animal, minus the entrails, is laid upon it. Two men or more then set to work with pieces of wood, sharpened lengthwise, and scrape off the hair as fast as it becomes well singed. The operation lasts only about 15 minutes in the case of a large animal. When the hair has been removed the carcass is given a washing more or less thorough, according to the amount of water conveniently available, and the quartering begins.

The game is laid upon leaves; the four legs are removed in order; the head is chopped off; the ribs and remaining parts are hacked crossbone. During this operation the family dogs usually cause an infinite amount of trouble by their incessant attempts to secure a piece of the meat.

If the meat is for distribution, as it always is, except on occasions of festivity or of sacrifice, it is scrupulously divided at this moment. If it is for a feast, it is hacked up into small pieces and loaded into earthen pots, iron pans, and bamboo joints. The dogs are then allowed to lick the blood-stained leaves and to clean the floor.

The preparation of a domestic fowl is also left to the men and deserves a few words. When the fowl is not killed sacrificially, it is burnt to death. Catching the chicken firmly by the feet and wings with one hand and by the head and neck with the other, the owner singes it over the fire till it shows no more signs of life. It may be thought that this is a cruel way of killing an animal, for it kicks and twists and flutters unless firmly held, but the Manóbo is not allowed by his tribal institutions to kill the fowl as other peoples do. To cut off the head is strictly tabooed, a cruel and unbecoming procedure, for there is no one "to revenge the deed," he will tell you. So he chokes and burns it to death. All signs of life being extinct, he pulls out a few of the tail and wing feathers. I can give no reason for this procedure, but as the custom is so universal, I think it has a peculiar significance of its own.

As the singeing proceeds, the feather ends are plucked out and a. cursory washing given the fowl. The entrails, even the intestines with the exception of the gall bladder, are removed and utilized. Finally the head, the ends of the wings, and the lower parts of the legs are cut off, and ordinarily are given to the children who have been anxiously awaiting such delicacies.

The pounding and winnowing of the rice is such a common and important operation in the whole of eastern Mindanáo that it deserves special mention.

As the rice used by the mountain Manóbos is exclusively of their own harvesting, it must be hulled, a process that is performed just before every meal wherein it is used. The implements are a wooden mortar and a few heavy wooden pestles. The mortar is a piece of wood of varying dimensions, in the center of which is hollowed out, by burning and cutting, a conical hole, whose depth averages 24 centimeters in height and whose diameter is about 20 centimeters. One sees from time to time a mortar with two holes, or one on which there is evidence of an attempt at artistic effect by means of primitive carving, but, in the main, the mortar is a rough-hewn log with a conical hole in it and with the upper surface so cut that the paddy or rice will have a tendency to fall back into the hole.

The pestle is a pole, preferably and usually of heavy hardwood, about 1.5 meters long and 20 centimeters in circumference. It is a marked exception to find pestles decorated in any way. On the Umaíam River I saw one the end of which had been carved in open fretwork with a round loose piece of wood within the fretwork, a device that was as useful as it was ornamental, for the wooden ball by its rattling within the fretwork cage served to animate the holder and her companions to vigorous and constant strokes.

The following is the process of hulling: The mortar is more than half filled with unhulled rice. One or more women or girls grasp the pestles in the middle with one hand. One begins by driving down her pestle with force upon the paddy. Then another, and still another, if there be three. It stands to reason that, since the hole in the mortar is small, the most exact time must be kept, otherwise the pestles would interfere with one another. The sound made by the falling pestles often resembles that general but strange beat so prevalent in Manóbo drum rhythm. A visitor who has once seen three Manóbo women dressed in gala attire, with coils of beads and necklets, ply their pestles in response to the animated tattoo on the drum will never forget the scene. The pestles are tossed from one hand to the other to afford an instant's rest. They bob up and down with indescribable rapidity and in perfect rhythm as if they were being plied on some imaginary drum.

In a few minutes, from 5 to 15, the hull is shattered from the rice and one of the women bends down and with her hands removes the contents of the mortar to the winnowing tray. After winnowing, they repeat the process till all the husk has been separated from the grain. They then pound a new supply until there is enough rice for the purpose in view. The husk has been shattered from the grain as perfectly, though not as quickly, as if it had been done by a machine.

The winnowing tray is a round shallow tray, 40 centimeters in diameter and usually of plaited rattan strips with a rim of thicker rattan. It is held in both hands and by a series of shuffling motions, which are better seen than described, accompained[sic] by a peculiar movement of the thumb of the left hand, the chaff and the little broken fragments of rice are thrown off into another receptacle for the family pigs.

COOKING THE FOOD

Rice is not usually washed before cooking. It is put into a homemade earthen pot,[28] which is often lined with sugarcane leaves, not only to prevent the rice from burning, but to impart to it a finer flavor. It is covered with water, the rice being about 5 centimeters below the surface of the water. The pot is set on a hot fire until the water evaporates to the level of the surface of the rice, whereupon the greater part of the fire is removed and the rice is allowed to steam dry. These remarks also apply to the cooking of a variety of millet,[29] which is sown sparingly with the rice.

[28] _Kó-don_.

[29] _Daú-wa_.

Another method of cooking rice, especially when on the trail, is in green bamboo. Joints of green bamboo are filled with rice and water, or rice is wrapped in rattan leaves and then packages are put into the water. Rice cooked in this latter way will keep for three days.

There are two orthodox methods of cooking fish and meat and no other is admissible, under penalty of infringing a very important taboo. One method consists of boiling them in water, with a little seasoning of red pepper, ginger, and possibly lemon grass and one or two other ingredients. The second method consists of broiling the pieces of meat and fish in or over the fire. Meat and fish already cooked are thrown into the fire in order to heat them. The fact that they may be burnt and covered with ashes does not detract from the flavor. The most usual method of broiling, however, is to put the meat on skewers of wood or bamboo a few inches above the fire.

When large game has been secured at such a distance from the house that it must be cooked in the forest, it is cut into quarters, and broiled over a heaping fire. This is the invariable method of cooking the heads even of domestic pigs. Chicken heads, legs, and wing ends are invariably broiled, while the intestines are wrapped up in leaves and cooked better than might be supposed, though the flavor, to my taste, is not the most delicate. They seem, however, to be a choice morsel to the majority of my Manóbo friends. Monkeys, frogs, and the forest carrion lizard are always broiled.

_Camotes_ and taro are usually cooked unpeeled in the common earthen pot. About a half a liter of water is used in an ordinary pot, so that the process is practically one of steaming. If the pot has no cover, or if the imported pan be used, leaves are employed to confine the heat.

A favorite dish of the Manóbo and an indispensable one of the Mandáya is the famous _á-pai_.[30] This consists of taro tops (stem and leaves) cut up fine and cooked with water, red pepper, mint, semiwild tomatoes, and any other vegetable seasoning which may be on hand. This makes a very palatable and wholesome dish.

[30] Mandáya, _ug-bús_.

FOOD RESTRICTIONS AND TABOOS

Certain birds such as the hornbill, wild chicken, varieties of wild pigeons, and a few others, must not be divided and given to anyone else before eating. They must be cooked by the broiling method [31] and not in water. After cooking, these birds can not be partaken of by anyone who is not a relative or a member of the household. Neither should a part of a bird belonging to a stranger be accepted or partaken of. The whole bird or nothing must be offered. An infringement of these restrictions would lead, it is believed, to serious results,[32] such as ill luck to the hunting dogs, tangling of the snares, and other misfortunes.[33]

[31] _Dáng-dang_.

[32] _Ma-ko-lí-hi_.

[33] In the upper Agúsan the partition of such small birds would lead, I was told, to a dismemberment of the family.

An unmarried man who has ever made indecent suggestions to a woman is prohibited from eating wild-boar meat. The guilty one must free himself from this restriction by making a small present to a priestess. A violation of this taboo would be prejudicial to the success of the hunting dogs.

The use of lard in cooking is interdicted, but it may be eaten raw, even when its smell is not the most wholesome.

On a few occasions, I noticed that some individuals abstained from rice or from chicken. I was unable to elicit any other reason for the abstinence than the good pleasure of the persons concerned. As they admitted that they had been accustomed to use these foods and would use them again after certain periods, I suspect religious motives for the abstinence.

MEALS

ORDINARY MEALS

Though it may be said that three meals a day are not the rule among the Manóbos, yet they eat the equivalent of three or more, for between pieces of sugarcane and munchings of wild fruit,[34] they keep replenishing the inner man pretty constantly. They eat breakfast at about 9 o'clock in the morning, dinner about 1 p. m., and supper at any hour between 6 and 9 p. m.

[34] There are many wild fruits in the Agúsan Valley, the most common of which are: The famous durian (_Durio zibethinus_), the jackfruit, _lanka_ (_Artocarpus integrifolia_ l. f.), _lanzones_ (_Lansium domesticum_ Jack.), _makópa_ (_Eugenia javanica_ Lam.), _mámbug_, _támbis_, _kandíis_, _kátom_ (_Dillenia_ sp.), and the fruit of the rattan (_kápi_). Most of these are of a sour acid nature but for this reason seem to be relished all the more.

All being ready for the meal, the inmates of the house squat down upon the floor, the husband with his wife and children apart, male visitors and the unmarried portion of the house eating together. Slaves eat when all have finished, and get what is left in the pots.

Just before beginning to eat, the host and, in fact, everybody except the women, tenders to visitors and others who have come in an invitation to join in the meal and nobody will begin to eat till everybody else has squatted down and is ready. Once the meal is begun, no one leaves, nor is it good etiquette to call anyone from his meal.

The hands are washed by pouring a little water upon them from a bowl, tumbler, coconut shell, or piece of bamboo; the mouth is rinsed, the water being ejected, frequently with force, through the interstices of the floor. Then all begin to eat. It is the invariable rule for men to eat with the left hand, and where others than relatives are present, to wear a weapon of defense, the right hand resting upon it in anticipation of a possible attack.

The various articles of food have already been set on the floor in the various receptacles heretofore described. Each one falls to with an appetite that can hardly be described. One or more of the womenfolk keep the wants of the diners supplied. The method of eating rice among the mountain Manóbos differs from that prevalent among the Christian tribes. A good-sized mass of rice is pressed together between the five fingers of the left hand and pushed up into the palm where it is made into a ball. Thence it is conveyed to the mouth. At intervals the rice (or _camote_) is flavored with a little accompaniment of meat or fish, and all is washed down with the soup of the meat or fish.

The custom of sipping, with a sucking sound, the scalding soup from a plate or bowl and of then passing it on to one's neighbor is almost universal. Great predilection is shown for this soup, even though it be, as happens in a great many instances, practically nothing but hot water. In the upper Agúsan, the taro-top soup previously mentioned is the ordinary soup and substitute for meat and fish.

Another peculiar feature in eating is the method of cutting meat from the bone. The carver, who is in a squatting position with his feet close to the body, holds the bolo with the handle between the big first toe in a vertical position, the back of it being toward him. He draws the meat over the edge, thereby doing the carving in a quicker, more convenient, and more effective manner than do a great many more civilized men.

No one may retire from the meal without giving notice to his neighbors. A violation of this custom constitutes a gross breach of Manóbo etiquette. The reason for this custom is that the chances for a sudden attack are thereby lessened.

It is not polite to remain seated in the same place after a meal. If the place can not be changed, it is necessary to rise and then sit down again. I can give no explanation for the practice, unless it be a precaution against treachery.

FESTIVE MEALS

Festive meals are indulged in more especially on the occurrence of the great religious and social celebrations that recur with such frequency in the Manóbo world. The arrival of a visitor, or even an unusual catch of fish, is also an occasion for such enjoyments. I have had ample opportunities of witnessing them, because during a trading expedition I was frequently honored with invitations, the reason for which was, of course, to secure from me good bargains, or credit.

Before the meal the house is a scene of indescribable animation. The guests, together with the members of the household, rarely number less than 20 and may reach 100 or more. The pig is cooked in bamboo joints, earthern[sic] pots and iron pans, both in the host's house and, if necessary, in neighboring houses. The same may be said of the rice and _camotes_. If the host has enough drink, and if there is a little meat or fish to serve as a lunch, he has the food brought out and orders a part of the drink to be distributed to the guests according to their importance. Joyous laughter and loud conversation, together with chewing of tobacco and betel nut, fill up the interval before the meal.

When all is ready, the available number of plates, bowls, glasses, bark platters, and leaves are set out and the boiled meat is apportioned in small pieces, with great exactitude as to size and quality, to the several plates. The same thing is done for the broiled meat after it has been hacked into suitable sizes. No one is forgotten, not even the children of the guests, nor the slaves. The rice is then brought along in bamboo joints, in pots, and even in baskets lined with leaves, and to each person is assigned a heaping portion. When all has been impartially and equally distributed, the guests are bidden to take their places on the floor, each one at his appointed plate, for where visitors other than relatives are present, no precaution is omitted to safeguard the guests against trouble. Experience has proved that the festive board may be tinged with blood before the end. This even distribution of the food and the collocation of the guests often occupies the better part of an hour. If these duties are not properly performed envious feelings and a quarrel might ensue before the end of the meal. The guest of honor is always given preference and the host may also especially favor others whom he may have reason to honor but he always makes public the reason for his partiality.

All being seated the meal begins with a goodly quaff of homemade brew. Then all begin to eat. As the feasters warm under the kindling influence of the drink, they express their good will by giving material tokens, each one to his friend or to one whose friendship he desires to gain. These tokens consist of handfuls of meat--lean, fat, bone, gristle, or anything--smeared with salt and pepper, and bestowed by one friend into the mouth of another without any consideration of the proportion existing between the size of the mouth and the size of the gift. It is not good etiquette to refuse this gift or to remove it from the mouth. This offering is followed probably by a bamboo jointful of beverage which must be received in the same friendly spirit and is gulped down with a mumbled expression corresponding to our "Here goes." The recipient of these favors returns the courtesy in kind, and so the meal goes on in mutual goodfellowship[sic] and congeniality till the food has completely disappeared, for it is against the conventionalities of Manóbodom to leave a scrap on the plate. Indeed the Manóbo loves a good eater and drinker. It is an honor to gorge and a glory to get drunk. Now it happens at times at a Manóbo banquet, as it does in all drinking bouts the world over, that a quarrel ensues and recourse is had to the ever present bolo to settle an argument that wild shouts and frantic gestures can not decide. For this reason the Manóbo eats with his left hand and rolls his eyes from side to side in constant vigilance.

These remarks do not apply to the women and children, who sit apart in little groups of their own, and, while feasting one another in their own gentle way, attend to the shouts for more food when they are heard above the din of the revellers.

During the course of a feast of this kind an observer is struck with the hearty appetite exhibited by these primitive people. Man vies with man in holding out. Friend honors friend with plenteous bestowals of food and drink and the host strives to induce his guests to eat to their utmost capacity. Rarely does one see a Manóbo troubled with nausea but, if he is, he returns later to the feast, to finish his appointed portion. I have seen this happen on occasions.