Mention has already been made of some of the daily occupations of the people.  We have found the women caring for the home and preparing the rice and other foods which are served in the house.  At no time did the writer see a man, other than a slave, take any part in such household duties; but when on the trail each would do his share in preparing the meals.  In the village we found the women and children carrying the water and wood and, at rare intervals, doing laundry work.  Instead of soaping and rubbing soiled clothing, they soak the garments in water, then place them on stones and beat them with wooden paddles or clubs.  The articles are alternately soaked and beaten until at least a part of the dirt has been removed.  It is also the privilege of any woman to engage in the manufacture of basketry, or to act as a potter.

In the manufacture of baskets the woman makes use chiefly of bamboo and rattan, though other materials, such as pandanus are sometimes brought into service.  Three weaves or their variants are employed.  The first is the common diagonal or twilled weave, in which each element of the weft passes over two or more of the warp elements.  In this way most of the rice winnowers, transportation baskets, knife sheaths, and the like are made.  In the second weave (Fig. 22), the foundation of the basket is made up of parallel horizontal rods, or strips of bamboo.  These are laced together by warp strips which pass alternately under one and over one of the foundation rods, crossing each other at an angle, one above the other below the rod.  The trinket baskets carried by the women, the larger waterproof receptacles known as binota, and the covers for wild chicken snares are in this technic.  A variant of this weave is found in the rattan carrying frames and in some fish traps (Fig. 23).  Here the warp strips cross one another at an angle, at each meeting place enclosing the horizontal foundation strips.  Unlike the second weave described, the warp strips do not pass alternately above and below the horizontal foundation, but retain the same relation to it throughout the entire length of each strip.  A coiled weave (Fig. 24) is used in the manufacture of tobacco boxes (Plate XIX) and in the rims of women’s baskets.  In this type the foundation consists of a series of horizontal rattan strips or rods which are sewed together in the following manner.  A narrow strip A passes over two of these parallel rods 2 and 3 in a left handed spiral.  At the top of the loop the strip passes under a similar strip B which binds rod 2 to the one above.  Passing downward inside the basket, the strip A goes beneath the strip C which binds rods 3 and 4 together.  These are drawn tightly while damp, thus forcing the foundation rods so closely together as to make the basket practically water-tight.  Pitch from the tabon-tabon nuts may also be rubbed over the outside surface, thus making the receptacle impervious to water.