WARFARE
Mention has already been made of the use of pits and traps in warfare. In addition to these it is customary for a returning war party to conceal in the trail many saoñag, small stiletto-shaped bamboo sticks, which pierce the feet of those in pursuit. A night camp is effectively protected in the same manner against barefooted enemies.
The arms used are spears, fighting knives with wide bellied blades, daggers, narrow shields with which weapons are defected (Fig. 52), and in some sections bows and arrows. The fighting knives and daggers (Plates LXXV-LXXVI) deserve more than casual notice. The heavy bellied blades of the knives are highly tempered, and not infrequently are bored through and inlaid with silver, in which instances they are known as binuta,—blind (Plate LXXVa). The sheaths, with their sharply upturned ends, are made of light wood on which are carved decorations, attached or inlaid bands of silver, or stained designs. The handles of the weapons are also decorated with incised silver bands.
Much as the fighting knives are prized, the dagger, bayadau or bádau, is in even greater favor. It is worn on the front left-hand part of the body in ready reach of the right hand, and is never removed unless the owner is in the company of trusted relatives. A light thread, easily broken, holds the dagger in its sheath and the slightest disturbance is enough to cause the owner to draw his weapon.
The older warriors claim that it formerly was their custom to protect themselves with strips of hemp cloth, limbotung, which they wound many times around their bodies in order to ward off knife thrusts, but this method of protection seems to have fallen into disuse.[133]
[133] This type of protective armor is still used by the Bukidnon of Central Mindanao.
Individual warriors lie in ambush for their foes, but when a great raid is planned the party is under the command of a bagani. These attacks are arranged to take place during the full moon and the warriors usually assault a settlement which they think can be taken by surprise, and hence unprepared. It is very seldom that these people fight in the open, and invaders do not attempt a combat unless they feel sure of the outcome. If they find a house well protected they may attempt to fire it by attaching a torch to an arrow and shooting it into the grass roof, the occupants being slaughtered as they rush out. If one of the enemy puts up an especially good fight his body is opened and the warriors eat a portion of his heart and liver, thinking thus to gain in valor.
Mr. Maxey mentions the use of poisoned weapons in the neighborhood of Cateel, but the Mandaya of the south seem to be entirely ignorant of this custom, Maxey's account of the preparation of the poison is as follows:
"The poison is, according to the writer's informant, prepared as follows: A long bamboo is cut and carried to a tree called camandag.[134] The bamboo must be long enough to reach to the limit of the shadow cast by the tree to the trunk of the same, as the tree is so poisonous that it even affects those who stand beneath it. The bamboo has a sharp point which is stuck into the tree and receives the milk which exudes from the cut. After several days the bamboo is removed and the contents emptied into another bamboo which serves for a sheath or quiver for the arrows, these being placed in it point down. The slightest scratch will cause death. A peculiar thing about the tree from which the poison is extracted, is that the person extracting must not only not get under the tree, but must approach it from the windward, as the effects of even the odor are unpleasant and dangerous."
[134] Croton tiglium L.