concludes the festival proper, but many guests will remain for two or
three days to enjoy the hospitality of their host.

[27] Copper gongs.

On the third morning after the festival the family and some friends will
celebrate _BagkEs_ "the tying together." The dishes in which food was
offered are tied together and are carried to the rice field where, with
great solemnity, the little dish in the _parobanian_ is removed and
placed among the others, while the people tell it that the other plates
have come to take it away, but that it will be returned to its home the
following year. The family goes back to the village in silence and after
tying all the dishes together place them in the rice granary.

In the Bagobo settlement at Digos, the women hold still another festival
following the cutting of the rice. This is known as _Gomeng ka
taragomi_, or _bitinbagaybe_. In the main it resembles the ceremony of
similar name, which the women of Malilla hold on the second day of
_GinEm_ (See page 111). A bamboo pole decked with leaves and green fruit
of the _areca_ palm is placed in the center of a room and is surrounded
with cooked food. After this has been offered to the spirits, it is
eaten by the guests who then indulge in dancing about the decorated
pole. This generally lasts eight days, but in one instance the
festivities continued for sixteen days and nights. The explanation given
is that "the women wish to show Taragomi and the _Nitos_ (anitos) how
happy they are because of the good harvest, for when they see this they
will be pleased and will help again next year."

TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE.