reclining in a
sort of bag hanging from a bamboo borne on the shoulders of some of
her followers. She had an umbrella, and, if I recollect aright, was
smoking a cigar. On emerging from her bag, a circle formed about her,
and she was graciously pleased to dance for us, no one venturing to
join her. As she was fat and scant o' breath, [26] her performance,
was characterized by portentous deliberation, precision, and dignity,
and was as palpably agreeable to her as it was curious to us.

The great performance of the morning, however, was a head-hunter dance,
arranged by Barton; that is, he had gone out a day or two before
and told a neighboring _rancheria_, that they must furnish a show
of the sort for the _apos_ whose visit was imminent. But, according
to the old women of the village, he had made a great mistake in that
he said it was not necessary to hold a _canao_ in advance. A _canao_
(_buni_ in Ifugao), as already explained, is a ceremonious occasion,
celebrated by dancing, much drinking of _bubud_, the killing of a
pig, speeches. Whenever an affair of moment is in hand, such as a
funeral or a head-hunting expedition, a _canao_ is held. Our entire
stay at Kiangan might be called a _canao_, or, rather, it was made up
of _canaos_. Now when Barton, two or three days before, refused to
_canao_, the old women shook their heads, declaring that something
would happen, and the killings of the morning were at once summoned
as proof that they were right and he was wrong. However this may be,
not long after the _Princesa's_ dance we heard below us a cadenced
sound and saw a long column in file slowly approaching. Its head was
formed of warriors armed with spears and shields stained black with
white zig-zags across; the leading warrior walked backward, continually
making thrusts at the next man with his spear. A pig had immediately
preceded, trussed by his feet to a bamboo, and interfering mightily
with the music that followed. This was percussive in character, and
was produced by twenty-five or thirty men beating curved instruments,
made of very hard, resonant wood, with sticks. These musicians marched
along almost doubled over, and would lean in unison first to the right
and then to the left, striking first one end, then the other of their
instruments, which they held in the middle by a _bejuco_ string from
a hole made for the purpose. The note was not unmusical. Many of the
men had their head-baskets on their backs, and one or