ess. With unmarried girls this strip
may be wound under the arms and so cover the breast. Rarely a short
camisa is worn, but seldom do the camisa and the saya, or skirt,
join. Sometimes, owing to the scarcity of cloth, a narrow strip will
be worn over the breast, leaving a broad expanse of dark skin between
it and the saya. (Pls. XXIX et seq.)

If given their choice among a variety of colors the Negritos always
select black for their breechcloth and saya, because, they explain,
the black will not show dirt as will other colors. Gaudy colors seem
to attract and will be readily accepted as gifts if nothing else is at
hand; yet I had some difficulty in disposing of a bolt of red cloth I
had taken among them, and finally had to take the greater part of it
back to the pueblo and exchange it for black. So far as I could learn
the breechcloth and saya are never washed, and any cloth other than
black would soon lose its original color. The cloth used by Negritos
is procured in trade from the Christian towns.

In the less easily accessible regions where the wilder Negritos live
the breechcloth and saya are made of the inner bark of certain trees
which is flayed until it becomes soft and pliable.

The Negrito takes little pride in his personal appearance, and hence is
not given to elaborate ornamentation. The women wear seed necklaces,
called "col-in'-ta," of black, white, and brown seeds, sometimes of a
single solid color and sometimes with the colors alternating. I have
also seen necklaces of small stones, hard berries of some sort, pieces
of button or bone, and little round pieces of wood. Some women possess
glass beads secured in trade from the Christianized natives. Often two
or three white or black beads are used for ear ornaments, though it is
not a very common practice to puncture the ears for this purpose as in
Bataan, where leaves and flowers are often worn stuck in a hole through
the lobe of the ear. What appears to be a necklace and really answers
the purpose of such is a string of dried berries, called "a-mu-yong',"
which are said to be efficacious for the pangs of indigestion. (See
Pl. XXXV.) When the Negrito feels a pain within him he pulls off
a berry and eats it. One may see a string with just a few berries,
and again a complete necklace of them, evidently just put on. These
are worn by both sexes and are so worn for the sake of convenience
as much as with the idea of ornamentation, for the Negrito has no
pock