ng man does not live in the
house of his loved one, for the cura does not permit it. The friars
have done their utmost to destroy this custom.

"They scarify new-born infants in order to draw blood from them;
and then apply lighted matches to various parts of the body, which
cause them burns, and serve the place of caustics.

"Women in childbirth they suspend by the hair in order to stop the
flow; and, after parturition, they compress the abdomen, and press
down with great force on both thighs at once, in order to make the
organs return to their former position; and they perform other things
of like nature, which we consider as injurious and nonsensical. But
they hold one of their old women higher than the best Paris physician.

"They consider the balete tree as sacred. At marriage, they carry it
dishes of food as an offering; and it is very difficult, or impossible,
to make them cut one of them. It has happened that they have begged
incense from the cura on various pretexts in order to go immediately
and burn it under a balete tree.

"They are very fond of telling tales of love adventures, of witches,
and enchantment, and everything else that is rare and marvelous,
even though it be nonsense and against common sense.

"They believe that all diseases are cured by drawing out the air that
has been introduced into the body; and, consequently, their favorite
remedy is to supply a kind of cupping-glass of Chinese origin, which
they drag over two palmos on any part of the body, and which leaves
a great red streak.

"They respect their fathers and mothers greatly, and even the younger
brothers the older. I have seen a married woman, on entering her house,
kiss the hand of a sister older than herself.

"In order that a young man may marry, he must give the bride the money
or other things up to her value; and that price is often kept by the
parents. The parents would rather have their daughter remain single,
even though she be with child, than to give her without a dowry. It
is not seldom that one can hear a mother say that she will not give
her daughter for less than one hundred pesos, or fifty, etc.

"In order to strike fire they take a bit of bamboo, and slit it down
the middle lengthwise. In the hollow or inner part, they dig out one
portion near the center, which leaves the bamboo much thinner. Then on
the outside they open a chink, lengthwise. Then they take the knife,
and scraping the upper part of the other hal