whole is brought to a white heat in the charcoal fire.  Removing it to the anvil the smith gives the blade one or two light blows and returns it to the fire.  This is repeated many times before he begins to add the heavy strokes which finally weld the iron and steel together.  The blade having been given its final shape is again heated and is held above a tube of water until the glowing metal begins to turn a yellowish green, when it is plunged into the cold water.  This process, repeated many times, gives a fair temper to the whole weapon.  Charcoal for the fire is secured by burning logs and chilling them suddenly with cold water.

Brass wire, secured in trade, is made into bracelets in the following manner.  In order to soften it and make it more easily worked the roll of wire is heated until it begins to turn grey, when it is allowed to cool and is scraped, so as to restore the yellow color.  One end is laid on an anvil made of an iron strip on a wooden block (Plate XXVII), and is cut into various designs by means of metal dies.  A wooden cone is used as a form, about which the wire is placed in order to shape and measure it.

Hemp[1] grows wild in the Davao District and the Bagobo have, for generations, used it in the manufacture of their clothing.  In recent years the demand for fiber has shown the people an easy way to secure the trade articles which they desire and, as a result, rather extensive plantings are found even in the more remote districts.  The women strip a large part of the fiber in local use, but all that prepared for trade is produced by the men.  When the ever-present cogon grass begins to invade a clearing, the young hemp is planted.  In about eighteen months it has grown to a height of some sixteen feet and is ready to be cut.  The man goes to the fields, cuts down some stalks and, having removed the leaves, splits off the outer fiber layers from the cellular matter of the interior, using a bone knife for this purpose.  When he has accumulated a sufficient number of strips he carries them to the hemp machine (Fig. 27).  This consists of a knife which rests on a wooden block.  The handle turns on a pivot and the end is drawn upwards by means of a bent twig, or sapling, which acts as a spring.  This spring is lowered and the knife blade raised by means of a foot treadle; a strip of hemp is laid on the block; the foot pressure is removed, and the knife descends.  Taking a firm hold of one end of the strip, the operator draws it toward him under the blade, thus removing the pulp and leaving the free hemp threads.  These are hung in the sun until dry, when they are tied in bundles ready to be carried to the coast.  The work is hard and, unless necessity forces him to greater effort, a man seldom engages in it for more than three or four days in a month.  He thinks his duty ceases with this expenditure of energy and, unless he is fortunate enough to possess animals or slaves, is quite content to allow his wife, or wives, to carry the product to the coast trader.