Fish nets are colored brown by dipping them into a dye made by crushing the katakot vine in water, or by staining with the juice of the taotawa (Jatropha curcas L,).

The bamboo strips used in decorating basketry are blackened by holding them in the smoke of burning rice-straw.  Black designs, such as appear in the ornamentation of lime holders and the like, are secured by rubbing oil and soot into incised lines, and then holding the object in the smoke of burning rice-straw.

Net Making.—­Nets are used in fishing, in catching wild chickens and grasshoppers, and in hunting deer and pigs.  The first three types are made of twine, but the fourth is of strong rope.

All net work is done by the man who, for this purpose, employs a mesh stick and a needle of bamboo or carabao horn (Fig. 20).  The needle (No. 1) also serves as a shuttle, since it carries a considerable amount of thread between the tongue and notch.  The size of the loop is determined by the width of the mesh stick or spreader (No. 2).  The operator generally sits on a rice winnower or squats on the ground with a net suspended above him (Plate LXX).  He forms the mesh by running the needle over and around the spreader, and up and through the loop above, thus forming a loop on the mesh stick.  This is drawn tightly, the needle is again passed through, but without encircling the stick, and thus a knot is tied.  This is repeated until a row of loops has been completed, when another series is started.

Manufacture of Pottery.—­In nearly every village there are two or three women who make jars and dishes, but the potters of Abang and Lakub are the only ones whose wares have a wide distribution.

The clay is dampened, and is carefully kneaded with the hands to remove lumps and gravel, and to reduce it to the proper consistency.  A handful is taken from the mass, and is roughly modeled with the fingers to form the base of the pot.  This is set on a wooden plate which, in turn, is placed in a rice winnower (Plate XXXVI).  The plate takes the place of a potter’s wheel, for it is turned with the right hand while with the left the woman shapes the clay, and smoothes it off with a dampened cloth.  From time to time, she rolls out a coil of clay between the palms of her hands, lays it along the top of the vessel, and works and pinches it in.  Further shaping and thinning is done with a wooden paddle and the dampened hand, and then the jar is allowed to dry slightly.  Before the drying has progressed far enough to render the sides rigid, a smooth stone is placed inside, and the sides are tapped gently with a paddle until properly thinned and shaped.

After allowing a couple of days for drying, the potter rubs the jar inside and out with smooth stones or lipi seeds, so as to give it an even surface.

When several jars or dishes have been prepared, they are placed in carabao dung or other slow burning material and fired.  This generally takes place at night, and the jars are left undisturbed until morning, when they are ready for service.  Occasionally resin is rubbed over a jar while it is hot, thus giving it a glazed surface; this, however, is not common, as the resin quickly melts off the cooking utensils, while porous jars are preferred as water containers, since the seepage lowers the temperature of the contents.