CLOTHING.
The ordinary man of the tribe wears a loosely fitting shirt and wide trousers made of white or blue cotton cloth. (Plate LXIX-LXX). These garments are frequently decorated with embroidered designs and are finished at the shoulders and knees with a cotton fringe. The trousers are supported at the waist by means of a belt, and below reach nearly to the ankles.[100] An incised silver disk is attached to the front of the jacket, while ornaments of beads, seeds, and alligators' teeth encircle the neck.
[100] Along the coast this type of garment is now seldom seen, for the men are adopting the close-fitting dress of the Moro.
When on the trail the man covers his head with a little palm bark hat (Fig. 47). This is sometimes conical, but more frequently is narrow and turned up at the front and back. Painted designs, betel wings, and chicken feathers make the hat a striking decoration which compensates for its lack of utility.
A class of warriors known as bagam[101] dress in red and wear turbans of the same hue, while women mediums, ballyan,[102] may also make use of red cloth.
[101] See p. 180. [Transcriber's note: This is page 167.]
[102] See p. 174.
Other women wear blue cotton jackets, in the fronts and back of which are many artistic embroidered designs. Their hemp cloth skirts, like those of the Bagobo, are made tube-like and are held at the waist by means of belts. They are very careless about the hang of these garments and one side may be above the calf of the leg while the other drags on the ground (Plate LXVII). No head coverings are worn, but quite elaborate combs (Fig. 48) are thrust into the knots of hair at the back of the head. Wooden ear plugs (Fig. 49) ornamented with incised silver plates and with bead and silver pendants fit into openings in the lobes of the ears. Like the men they wear necklaces of beads, sweet smelling herbs, and seeds. Many of the latter are considered to have medicinal value and are eaten to cure pains in the stomach. One or more silver disks are worn on the chest or over the breasts, while anklets, such as are used by the women of the other tribes, are frequently seen. Both sexes are fond of bracelets of brass, shell, or vines, as well as of finger rings of tortoise shell and silver (Plate LXXI).
None of the garments contain pockets, and in order to make up for this deficiency the men carry bags (Plate LXX) suspended on their backs by means of bands which pass over the shoulders. In these they carry their betel-nut outfits, tobacco, and the like. Small covered waterproof baskets (Plate LXVIII) serve the same purpose for the women and are carried at the back or at the side.