4Bá-is or bi-aí-lis.
SUGAR-PALM WINE
Sugar-palm wine is obtained by tapping the fruit stem of the cabo negro palm. The process is very simple. At the time of efflorescence the spadix is cut off and the pithy stem is tapped. This operation lasts from 15 to 30 minutes each day and is continued for from 7 to 14 days. After the tapping the stem must be bent into a downward position. This is effected by inclining it downward every day, a piece of rattan or vine being used to retain it in position. The gentlest of force must be used in this operation, as a forcible strain will prevent the sap from flowing. Once the sap begins to flow from the stem, it is caught in a bamboo receptacle, the mouth of which must be carefully covered to prevent the entrance of the myriads of insects that are attracted by the odor and sweetness of the liquid. Day after day the end of the stem must be pared as otherwise the sap would cease to exude. A tree will produce daily anywhere from 10 to 30 liters according to the fertility of the soil and the humidity of the atmosphere. The humidity determines the duration of time that the tree produces toddy. This time varies from one to three months.
The sap has the color and transparency of water to which a little milk has been added. When fresh, it is a sweet, refreshing laxative, but the fermentation is so rapid that after a few hours it acquires the inebriating qualities of ordinary coconut toddy. In order to promote fermentation and to eliminate the laxative quality of the sap, the bark5 of a tree is added. On the third day acetification begins to take place, unless a handful of the ordinary native red pepper is thrown into the beverage, in which case the further fermentation is withheld for a period of about four more days.
5Called la-gúd.
The palm from which this sap is obtained is found in great abundance on the eastern6 side of the lower and middle Agúsan Valley and is universally tapped in this region. On the western side, however, it is not found with such frequency. The Manóbo is therefore obliged to seek other means of satisfying the craving which he, like a good many of his fellowmen the world over, feels for a stimulant.
6In the vicinity of Tudela, Simúlau River, there are groves of sugar-palm. I estimated that they contained 5,000 trees.