Soon after the water is turned into the fields, shells and fish begin to appear even in the higher terraces. Doubtless a considerable part of these come in through the ditches, but the natives insist that most of the fish bury themselves deep in the mud at the approach of the dry season and hibernate until water again appears in the fields. [194] These intruders are prized as food, and to secure them, short baited lines are placed along the edges of the terraces, while each woman has, attached to her belt, a small basket into which she places shells discovered during her work. The men likewise secure fish by means of hooks and lines, and also pierce them with short spears fitted with detachable points, but more commonly they shoot them with a small bow and peculiar arrows, the heads of which resemble flattened spoons cut into four or five teeth. [195] As the grain begins to ripen, the land is allowed to dry, and when all is ready for the cutting, the people put on their best garments and go to the fields. Each stalk is cut separately by means of a crescent-shaped blade (_lakom_ or _lakem_) attached to a small wooden cylinder (Fig. 14, Nos. 3-3a). This handle is held between the thumb, first and fifth fingers, while the stalk is caught by the second and third fingers, and is pulled inward against the steel blade. [196] Many workers grasp the stalk near the head with the left hand, while the cutting blade is used with the right. Both men and women may engage in cutting the rice, but as the latter are much the more dexterous workers, this task is generally assigned to them (Plate LIV). The grain is cut so as to leave stalks about ten inches in length; these are laid in the free hand until a bunch of considerable size has accumulated, when they are bound together with strips of bark. [197] At the end of the day these bundles are carried to the drying yards, where they remain until the whole crop is harvested. A drying yard is a plot of ground surrounded by a bamboo fence of such a height that it is impossible for fowls and the like to gain entrance. When all the bundles are thoroughly dried, they are placed in the granary, and from that time on the handling of the rice is given over to the women.