The father of the bride now drags the youth up a rude ladder to the floor of the elevated hut; the mother likewise leads up her daughter. They are then made to kneel down, when the old man throws a cocoanut-shell full of water over the pair. He then bumps their heads together, and they are adjudged man and wife. They spend their honeymoon in the mountains, where, in undisturbed and shelterless connubial bliss, they remain five days and nights. Then they return to the commonplace life of the village.
The Gaddanes.
In the northwestern part of Luzon is a fierce, unsubdued tribe known as the Gaddanes. They are very dark and strong, and present a fine appearance, armed with long, sharp spears and with bows and arrows. They wear their hair down to their shoulders, and, like the American Indians, take the scalps of their enemies slain in battle; these the young men present to the fathers of their intended as a proof of their valor.
This takes place when the fire-tree bursts into bloom; its fiery blossoms have, to their minds, a certain religious significance. It is then they collect all trophies of war, and perform the rude rites of their nature-worship. They subsist on fish, game, and fruit.
The Igorrotes.
A fine race are the Igorrotes, spread over the northern half of Luzon. They are copper-colored, and also wear their hair long. A few are bearded. Their shoulders are broad, and their limbs brawny and powerful. Because of their high cheek-bones, flat noses, and thick lips, they would not, however, by a European or an American, be considered good-looking.
They cultivate sugar-cane, rice, and sweet-potatoes, but have never been able to give up their savage customs for civilization. Their houses are not unlike the huts of the Esquimaux. Polygamy sometimes exists, but adultery is almost unknown. Murder is said to be frequent, and family feuds often take off great numbers.
Their depredations in the interior are often of great annoyance to the domesticated natives; for they carry off their cattle and their crops. Many expeditions have, from time to time, been made by the Spaniards against them; but all have signally failed. The Igorrotes obstinately refuse to be civilized. Spanish dominion holds for these liberty-loving people few advantages; Catholicism offers them little peace; while they maintain that the traditional heaven of the European would not at all suit them.