ons there was almost none visible, no shields or spears,
but here and there a head-ax. The usual fashion in clothes prevailed;
gee-string for the men, and short sarong-like skirt for the women. Hair
was worn long, many men gathering it up into a tiny brimless hat, for
all the world like Tommy Atkins's pill-box, only worn squarely on the
apex of the skull, and held on by a string passed through the hair in
front. In this hat the pipe and tobacco are frequently carried. Many
of these hats are beautifully made, and decorated; straw, dyed of
various colors, being combined in geometrical patterns. Ordinary ones
can be easily got; but, if ornamented with beads or shell, they command
very high prices, one hundred and fifty pesos or more. Many men were
elaborately tattooed, the pattern starting well down the chest on each
side and running up around the front of the shoulder and part way down
the arm. If, as is said, this elaborate tattoo indicates that its owner
has killed a human being, then Bontok during our stay was full of men
that had proved their valor in this particular way. Earrings were very
common in both sexes; frequently the lobe was distended by a plug of
wood, with no appreciable effect of ornament, and sometimes even torn
open. In that case the earring would be held on by a string over the
ear. One man came by with three earrings in the upper cartilage of
each ear, one above the other. Still another had actually succeeded in
persuading nature to form a socket of gristle just in front of each
ear, the socket being in relief and carrying a bunch of feathers. A
few men had even painted their faces scarlet or yellow. No one seemed
to know the significance of this habit (commoner farther north than at
Bontok), but the paint was put on much after the fashion prevailing
in Manchuria, and, if possibly for the same reason, certainly with
the same result. The pigment or color comes from a wild berry.

CHAPTER XVIII

Importance of Bontok.--Head-taking.--Atonement for
bloodshed.--Sports.--Slapping game.

Bontok is a place of importance, as becomes the capital of the
Mountain Province. Here are schools, both secular and religious; two
churches in building (1910), one of stone (Protestant Episcopal), the
other of brick (Roman Catholic), each with its priest in residence;
a Constabulary headquarters; a brick-kiln, worked by Bontoks; a
two-storied brick house, serving temporarily as Government House,
club and as