noose of bejuco so placed in the run that the deer's head
would go through it and it would close on his neck like a lasso. But
this was not very effective. In the first place it was necessary
that the run be of the right width with underbrush on either side,
because if the noose were too large the deer might jump through it
and if too small he might brush it to one side.

The results of this method were so uncertain that the practice has
fallen into disuse. Recourse is now had to the deadly "belatic." I
do not believe that this trap, which is common nearly all over the
Philippines, is original with the Negrito. It is probably the product
of the Malayan brain. A trap almost identical with this and called
"belantay" is described by Mr. Abraham Hale [18] as belonging to the
Sakai of the Malay Peninsula, whom the Philippine Negrito resembles
in many ways. The similarity between the two words "belatic" and
"belantay" is apparent. In Ilokano and Pampanga this trap is called
"balantic," accented, like the Sakai term, on the last syllable. In
Tagalog and Bisayan the letter "n" is dropped and the word is
pronounced "be-lat'-ic." Mr. Hale does not state whether the word is
Sakai or is borrowed from the Malay. But according to Clifford and
Swettenham's Malay Dictionary the pure Malay term is "belante," which,
as it is even more similar to the terms in use in the Philippines,
puts an end to the doubt concerning the origin of the word.

The belatic consists of a long arrow or spear, which is driven,
with all the force of a drawn bough or other piece of springy wood,
across the path of the animal which strikes the cord, releasing the
spring. (See fig. 1.)

When the string C is struck it pulls the movable ring G, releasing K,
which immediately flies up, releasing the string I and hence the spring
F. The spear, which is usually tied to the end of the spring, though it
may simply rest against it, immediately bounds forward, impaling the
animal. The spring is either driven into the ground or is firmly held
between the two uprights L. This trap is almost invariably successful.

Wild chickens and birds are caught with simple spring traps. The
hungry bird tugging at an innocent-appearing piece of food releases a
spring which chokes him to death. The noose snare for catching wild
chickens invented by the Christianized natives is also used to some
extent by the Negritos. This trap consists of a lot of small nooses
of rattan or bejuco so a