Both
men and women were all over the place, and much vigorous dancing was
going on. Using the same _gansa_ as the Ifugao, the Igorot beats
it on the convex side with a regular padded drumstick, whereas
the Ifugao uses any casual stick on the concave side. Moreover,
the Bontok dancers went around their circle, beating their _gansas_
the while, in a sort of lope, the step being vigorous, long, easy,
and high; as in all the other dances seen, the motion was against
the sun. The _gansa_ beat seemed to be at uniform intervals, all full
notes. While our friends the Ifugaos were, on the whole, a quiet lot,
these Bontok people seemed to be fond of making a noise, of shouting,
of loud laughter. They appeared to be continually moving about, back
and forth, restlessly and rapidly as though excited. On the whole, the
impression produced by these people was not particularly agreeable;
you felt that, while you might like the Banawe, you would always be
on your guard against the Bontok. But it must be recollected that we
had no such opportunity to see these people as we enjoyed in the case
of Banawe and Andangle. The occasion was more exciting; they were
more on show. It is not maintained that these are characteristics,
simply that they appeared to be this afternoon and, indeed, during
the remainder of our stay.

Individuals appeared to be friendly enough, though these were
chiefly the older men. One of them, a total stranger to me, came up
and intimated very clearly that he would like the transfer of the
cigar I was smoking from my lips to his. In a case like this, it is
certainly more blessed to give than to receive, but in spite of this
Scriptural view of the matter, I nevertheless naturally hesitated to
be the party of even the second part in a liberty of such magnitude,
and on such short acquaintance, too. However I gave him the cigar;
he received it with graciousness. I found now that I must give cigars
to all the rest standing about, and, after emptying my pockets, sent
for two boxes. An expectant crowd had in the meantime collected below,
for we were standing on the upper veranda of Government House, and,
on the two hundred cigars being thrown out to them all at one time,
came together at the point of fall in the mightiest rush and crush
of human beings I ever saw in my life. A foot-ball scrimmage under
the old rules was nothing to it. Very few cigars came out unscathed,
but the scramble was perfectly good-humored.

Of weap