During the dry season but little rain falls in these islands, and as there are few streams or springs, every means is employed to catch the least drop. Even the trees in the yards have pieces of rattan twisted around their trunks and larger branches, to make the water drop off into earthen jars. [Illustration: WOMAN OF THE BATAN ISLANDS WITH GRASS HOOD.] During the autumn migration of hawks and eagles from the north, men are stationed on the thatched roofs of the high dwellings to seize the birds by the feet as soon as they alight. Great numbers are caught in this manner every year and form quite an element of the food supply. Many of the islands are excellent places for the production of cattle. Itbayat Island, unique because its shores are higher than the interior, has many thousand head of excellent cattle. The coast is so precipitous that when they are exported they have to be lowered to the water's edge by means of a block and tackle, as at Tangier. They then have to swim out to the waiting ship, where they are hoisted by their horns to the deck. Another of the cattle islands is called Dalupiri. This beautiful spot was given in its entirety to Aldecoa and Company of Manila by the Spanish government. In fact, when the United States first took possession of the Philippines, this company claimed sovereignty over the island, but this, of course, was not recognized by the United States Government. The cattle that are pastured here are a cross between the black Spanish bulls of fighting lineage and the humped cattle of India. Great care is taken that the stock be well kept up, and for this purpose there is a constant weeding out of undesirables. The method in which this is done is both interesting and very exciting. The cattle roam at will and are very wild and hard to approach; as a result they have to be hunted with great care. About twenty men are employed in their capture, all of whom are mounted on hardy little horses. Four of them are lassoers and the rest huntsmen. The lassos are nooses attached to the ends of bamboo poles about twelve feet long. The rope from the noose, to the length of about twenty-five feet, is coiled around the bamboo pole and tied to it four feet from the lower end. When the lasso is thrown over an animal's head the pole is dropped by the rider, the rope unwinds and drags the pole along the ground, until it catches on a rock or a bush and stops the mad career of the animal.