salt, but a little sand
is placed in her food as a substitute. No outsider may enter the
dwelling during this preliminary cutting. So strictly is this rule
observed that the writer has been absolutely excluded from homes where,
on other occasions, he was a welcome guest. In Lumaba and vicinity
it is the custom to sacrifice a chicken two days before the harvest
begins, and to cook its neck and intestines without salt. These are
then divided into nine parts, are placed in dishes, and are carried
to the spirit house in the field. At the end of the second day,
the feathers of the fowl are stuck into the sides of the structure,
and the spirits are entreated to grant a good harvest and health for
the workers. The dishes are then returned to the village, and on the
following morning the women may begin cutting.

When the rice is ready to be stored, the _Palpalaem_ [218] ceremony
is held in honor of the spirit of the granary. Vines and shrubs [219]
are tied to each supporting post of the granary and above the door,
while a bit of _sikag_ is also hidden inside a bundle of rice, which
has been placed at each corner pole. Near one post is a small pig with
its head toward the east, and over it the medium recites a _diam_. As
usual, the animal is killed, and its blood mixed with rice is offered
to the spirits. A part of the flesh is wrapped in banana leaves, and
a bundle is buried at the foot of each post. The skull is cooked,
and after being cleaned, is hung up inside the roof. The rest of
the meat is cooked, and is served with rice to the little company of
friends who have gathered. Each guest is also given a few stalks of
the rice from the bundles at the corner posts.

Just before the new rice is placed in the granary, a jar of _basi_
is placed in the center of the structure, and beside it a dish filled
with oil and the dung of worms. Five bundles of _palay_ are piled
over these, and the whole is presented to the spirit, who will now
allow the rice to multiply until it is as plentiful as the dung.

In Buneg and nearby villages, all of which are strongly influenced
by immigrants from the Cagayan valley, a small clay house known as
_lablabon_ or _adug_ is placed with the rice, and from time to time
offerings are put in them for the spirit who multiplies the rice
(Plate XXIX).

Certain restrictions always apply to the granary. It may never be
opened after dark, for evil spirits are certain to enter, and the crop
will vanish qui