Pink is secured by crushing lynga (Sesamum indicum L.) seeds and boiling them in water. Threads are placed in this for five nights, while during the day they are dried in the sun. The root of the apatot (Morinda citrifolia or umbellata) is next crushed, and water is added. The threads are now transferred to this liquid, and for ten days and nights are alternately soaked and sunned. A copper color results, but this soon changes to pink. It is said that the apatot alone produces a red dye. It is also claimed that the seeds of the apang (Bixa Orellana L.) and of a variety of rattan, when boiled, give a permanent red.[17]
A yellow dye is produced by boiling the leaves of the Tamarindus indica L. in water until a strong liquor is obtained.
Bark head-bands are stained a purplish-red by applying a liquid Page 425secured through boiling kᴇlyan (Diospyros cunalon D.C.?) bark. For ceremonial purposes they are also colored yellow by applying the juice of the konig (Curcuma longa), but as this has a disagreeable odor, and the color is not permanent, it is not much used in every-day garments. Lemon juice is also applied to bark to give it a yellow hue.
Fish nets are colored brown by dipping them into a dye made by crushing the katakot vine in water, or by staining with the juice of the taotawa (Jatropha curcas L,).
The bamboo strips used in decorating basketry are blackened by holding them in the smoke of burning rice-straw. Black designs, such as appear in the ornamentation of lime holders and the like, are secured by rubbing oil and soot into incised lines, and then holding the object in the smoke of burning rice-straw.
Net Making.—Nets are used in fishing, in catching wild chickens and grasshoppers, and in hunting deer and pigs. The first three types are made of twine, but the fourth is of strong rope.
All net work is done by the man who, for this purpose, employs a mesh stick and a needle of bamboo or carabao horn ([Fig. 20]). The needle (No. 1) also serves as a shuttle, since it carries a considerable amount of thread between the tongue and notch. The size of the loop is determined by the width of the mesh stick or spreader (No. 2). The operator generally sits on a rice winnower or squats on the ground with a net suspended above him (Plate [LXX]). He forms the mesh by running the needle over and around the spreader, and up and through the loop above, thus forming a loop on the mesh stick. This is drawn tightly, the needle is again passed through, but without encircling the stick, and thus a knot is tied. This is repeated until a row of loops has been completed, when another series is started.
Figure 20.
Net Needle and Mesh Stick.