this time
can be used by their former owners but as they are now the property of
the spirits they must not be sold or traded. The writer was very anxious
to secure an excellent weapon which had been thus offered. The user
finally agreed to part with it but first he placed it beside another of
equal value, and taking a piece of betel nut he rubbed each weapon with
it a number of times, then dipping his fingers in the water he touched
both the old and the new blades, all the time asking the spirit to
accept and enter the new weapon. The child is removed by the _mabalian_
who, in cutting the umbilical cord, makes use of the kind of knife used
by the members of the child's sex, otherwise the wound would never heal.
The child is placed on a piece of soft betel bark, "for its bones are
soft and our hands are hard and are apt to break the soft bones," then
water is poured over it and its body is rubbed with _pogonok_.[35] The
afterbirth is placed in a bamboo tube, is covered with ashes and a leaf,
and the whole is hung against the side of the dwelling where it remains
until it falls of its own accord or the house is destroyed. In Cibolan
the midwife applies a mixture of clay and herbs called _karamir_ to the
eyes of all who have witnessed the birth "so that they will not become
blind." Having done this she gives the child its name, usually that of a
relative, and her duties are over. As payment she will receive a large
and a small knife, a plate, some cloth, and a needle.[36]

[34] In Cibolan the midwife is called _taratEk-Ekn_, and need not be a
_mabalian_.

[35] A medicine made of bark and rattan.

[36] The payment given at the birth of a boy is somewhat greater than
that for a girl.

In Malilla the naming does not take place until three clays after the
birth, and the eyes are not always anointed, although the old people
agree that it is an ancient custom and "a good thing to do." At that
time the mat containing the gifts is spread on the floor and the
offerings are again called to the attention of the spirits, who are
urged to look to the welfare of the child. Should the infant be ailing,
or cry a great deal, it is a sign that the spirits are displeased with
the name given to it and another will be substituted; however, this does
not seem to be done with an idea of fooling the spirits, as is the case
with some other tribes. The child is nursed until two or three years of
age, or until another takes its place. There is n