nging loose; and a garment as
wide above as below, in which they envelope the body from the waist
down, fastening one of the ends in the girdle in order to secure
it. This garment is called a tapis. The mestizo women wear skirts
with plaits and seams, with the opening at one side. The tapis is the
unchangeable costume of the Indian women of this archipelago, and this,
at the most, is generally of silk, but of a modest hue, and of only
one color. Upon their festival occasions the women--some for gala
attire, or others, because they are more modest--wear white Spanish
petticoats. Some wear an underskirt, especially within doors. But when
they go abroad, the tapis is [preferred] above all. Some of them wear
garments resembling black mantillas, which they call cobijas, with
which they cover the whole body from the head down, in the manner of
the mantillas of Espana. With this and the bits of gold that they
wear on the body--in the ears, at the throat, on the wrists and
fingers (and she who does not possess these ornaments must be very
poor indeed)--they appear as Indian women in their wealth of gold,
and are Indian women in their being and clothing. Now when the Indian
women go abroad, they wear slippers embroidered with silk and gold;
few and far between are those who wear shoes. Formerly, they wore a
ribbon, of wrought gold which covered their foreheads and temples. Now,
at the most, they usually wear a chased silver or gold nail, thrust
through the knot of their hair. Women of a somewhat more advanced age
and respect wear the long baro, which is made in the same manner as
that of the men above described. It is certain that an Indian woman
appears well in this manner, for there is no more modest dress for
women that one can imagine.

431. The chief bodily adornments of the Visayans were the tattooing
and designs which gave them the name of Pintados. They did this in the
same manner as the Moro men and women, and it was the olden custom of
the Huns, Gelones, and Agathyrsos; but the kind of the designs was
according to the deeds and merit of each person. But that barbarous
method of adornment was lost long ago, and has not been seen among them
for many years. Perhaps they have erased those pictures with the water
of holy baptism, since they embraced the true Catholic ceremonies.

CHAPTER XLIII

Of the false religion which these Indians held in their
heathendom; and of their superstitions and omens.

432