rich became the richer at the
expense of the poor. This condition is suggested by recent RECLAMOS
made by poor people. Again, since the American heard the RECLAMOS
of all classes of people, the poor who, according to Igorot custom,
forfeited sementeras to those richer as a penalty for stealing palay,
have come to dispute the ownership of certain real property.

Personal property of individual

Most articles of personal property are individual. Such property
consists of clothing, ornaments, implements, and utensils of
out-of-door labor, the weapons of warfare, and such chickens, dogs,
hogs, carabaos, food stuffs, and money as the person may have at the
time of marriage or may inherit later.

Four of the richest men of Bontoc own fifty carabaos each, and one of
them owns thirty hogs. Two other men and a woman, all called equally
rich, own ten head of carabaos each. Others have fewer, while two of
the ten richest men in the pueblo, have no carabaos. Some of these men
have eight granaries, holding from two to three hundred cargoes each,
now full of palay. Carabaos are at present valued in Bontoc at about
50 pesos, and hogs average about 8 pesos. All rich people own one or
more gold earrings valued at from one to two carabaos each.

The so-called richest man in Bontoc, Lak-ay'-eng, has the following
visible personal property:

Articles
Value in peso

Fifty carabaos, at 50 pesos each
2,500

Thirty hogs, at 8 pesos each
240

Eight full granaries, with 250 1-peso cargoes
2,000

Eight earrings, at 75 pesos each
600

Coin from sale of palay, hogs, etc.
1,000

Total
6,340

The above figures are estimates; it is impossible to make them
exact, but they were obtained with much care and are believed to be
sufficiently accurate to be of value.

Personal property of group

All household implements and utensils and all money, food stuffs,
chickens, dogs, hogs, and carabaos accumulated by a married couple
are the joint property of the two.

Such personal property as hogs and carabaos are frequently owned by
individuals of different families. It is common for three or four
persons to buy a carabao, and even ten have become joint owners of
one animal through purchase. Through inheritance two or more people
become joint owners of single carabao, and of small herds which they
prefer to own in common, pending such an increase that the herd may
be divided equally without slaughtering an animal. Until recent