[64] D-ing.

FISHING WITH NETS, TRAPS, AND TORCHES

Fishing with nets is not practiced except by a few Manbos on the seacoast or by the Christianized Manbos who have learned the practice from Bisyas, though I have seen cast nets used on the upper Tgo, upper Simlao, and upper Agsan.

The bbo is a cigar-shaped trap made of slats of rattan, from 0.5 to 1 meter in length. The swifter the current, the smaller the trap used. The large end has a cone with its apex pointing inward. It is made of bamboo slats which are left unfastened at the apex of the cone so that the fish may enter but not get out. This trap is set with its mouth facing either up or down stream.

Another form of this trap[65] is cylindrical and not conical like the bbo. It is set in swamps with an evil-smelling bait and quickly becomes filled with a very savory mudfish.[66]

[65] Bg-yas.

[66] Pn-tat.

The h-pon, u-yp, and u-yp t-na are varieties of small fish that at fixed intervals make their way up the Agsan to a distance of from 20 to 30 miles in innumerable quantities. It is said that they arrive at the expected date and hour. They are scooped into dugouts with scoop nets in immense quantities and salted for sale. This method of fishing is confined practically to Bisyas, but a goodly number of Christianized Manbos who live in the vicinity of Butun take part in it.

A fairly common method of fishing among the Christianized Manbos, as also among the pagan Manbos who do not live in too warlike a country, is by the use of a spear and torch. Going along the banks of the stream, the fisherman lures the fish with the light and secures them with a jab of his three-pronged spear. In this way he may secure enough for a meal or two. Where the water is deep enough, this method of fishing is attended with great danger from crocodiles, especially in the lake region where they abound in numbers beyond conception.

CHAPTER XI

WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

There is no knowledge of a former use of stone implements in Manboland. During my peregrinations throughout eastern Mindano I saw no stone implements except the ordinary whetstone, so universally used for sharpening steel weapons and knives, the cooking stones upon which the pots are placed, and the flint used in the production of fire. It is true that there is a common rumor as to the existence of stone missiles hurled in wrath by Antan[1] at irreverent mortals, but I have never seen these tokens of divine anger.

[1] One of the powerful spirits of the sky world.

Weapons and implements will be subdivided, the former into offensive and defensive weapons, and the latter into agricultural, hunting, and fishing implements.

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS

THE BOW AND ARROW

As the use of the bow and arrow in the Philippines is generally considered by ethnologists to indicate Negrito influence, the subject requires more than passing notice, especially as the geographical distribution of this primitive weapon extends to not only every non-Christian tribe and group east of the central Cordillera of Mindano, except perhaps the Banuons,[2] but, according to various rumors, to the Manbos occupying the central portion of Mindano in the subprovince of Bukdnon.

[2] I am very much inclined to think that it exists among them as well.

The bow is a piece of palma brava,[3] or less frequently of bamboo[4] varying in length between 1.2 and 2 meters and in thickness between 7 and 12 millimeters. In the center it is about 30 millimeters broad and gradually tapers to a breadth of about 12 millimeters at each end. Except on the upper Agsan[5] no means are taken to strengthen this stock by winding rattan around it, unless the bamboo or wood shows indications of splitting, in which case a girdle of plaited rattan obviates the danger. No attempt at ornamentation is made except the smoothing and polishing of the wood. In the case of bamboo stocks, the projecting pieces of the joints are not removed on the proximal side of the bow. At about 2 or 3 centimeters from the extremities, two notches are made to hold the string. At the extremity, which we will call the upper one, from its being held up during use, one often sees a few concentric incised circles in one of which is set a little ring of steel, iron, or brass wire. The object of this is to increase the twang of the bow upon the release of the arrow.

[3] An—hau.

[4] Of the species called pa-tng.

[5] Mandya and Maggugan bows are smaller and neater than Manbo bows. They are made commonly of a piece of betel-nut palm and have graceful lashings of rattan strips on the stock for the purpose of imparting strength thereto.

The bowstring is nearly always a strip of rattan about 3 millimeters broad. This is attached to the lower end of the stock by a simple series of loops. To the upper extremity it is attached by a loop that slips along the stock into the upper notch when the bow is strung for shooting. It is needless to remark that the bowstring is about 2 or 3 centimeters shorter than the stock, which in the moment of stringing must be bent to enable the upper extremity of the string to reach the upper notch and thereby acquire a sufficient tension to propel the arrow.

Arrows are of several kinds according to the purpose for which they are used, such as hunting, fishing, and fighting. Those intended for hunting and fishing will be described in their proper places. The following description applies exclusively to the offensive arrow used in fighting.

The shaft of this arrow consists of a reed of bamboo[6] about 8 millimeters in diameter and somewhat over a meter long, with a bamboo head. The head is a sliver of bamboo[7] varying in length from 20 to 36 centimeters. On the upper Agsan, where the Manbos seem to have assimilated much from the Mandyas, both the head and the shaft of the arrow are much shorter, much neater, and, in general, much handier. The arrowhead is broadest at about two-thirds of its distance from the point. From this broad part, or shoulder, as we might call it, the head tapers to a sharp point at one end and to such a size at the other that it can be inserted into the natural socket of the shaft. In this socket it is retained by a lashing of fine rattan, which serves at once to retain it in place and to prevent the frail bamboo shaft from splitting. A coating of tabon-tbon[8] seed pulp over the lashing prevents it from loosening or slipping and at the same time preserves it from atmospheric action. Occasionally one sees arrowheads with square shoulders that act as barbs. I have never seen steel arrowheads in use among Manbos, though it is certain that they are used by Maggugans between the Agsan and the Slug.[9] It is not unlikely, moreover, that they are used by the people of the Ihawn and Babo Rivers.

[6] Of the species known as la-h'.

[7] Da-mu-n species.

[8] Parinarium mindanaense (Rosaceae).

[9] I purchased for the Bureau of Science Museum a unique specimen which, besides having a steel head, is provided with an ugly spur. The owner claimed that it was one of the arrows that had been shot at him and the party that accompanied him by the people of a Maggugan settlement. I was one of his party.

A very important feature from an ethnological standpoint is the feathering of the arrow. The object of this is to steady the arrow in its flight and thereby prevent windage. The method of feathering is as follows: The quills of the wing feathers of a hornbill, or sometimes of a fish eagle, are parted down the middle. Then three, or sometimes only two, of these parted quills with their adhering vanes are placed longitudinally at equal distances along the arrow shaft so that their extremities are about 6 centimeters from the butt of the shaft and their webs stand straight out from the surface of the reed, forming equal obtuse angles to one another. These vanes are retained in this position by windings of very light, flexible rattan at their extremities. As a security against slipping or change of relative position, a coating of the above-mentioned fruit pulp, often mixed with pot black, is applied. The final preparation of the arrow consists in chopping off with a bolo or small knife the outer edges of the vanes. This is done in a slightly slanting direction within about 1 centimeter of the butt end of the vanes, at which point they are cut in a direction transverse to the length of the arrow shaft.

The feathering of the arrow is always done with precision, as the accuracy of its flight, the uniformity of its rotation, the length of its trajectory, and the consequent penetrative power are known to depend upon proper care in this respect.

Unlike other bowmen, the Manbo makes a notch in the butt end of his arrow, but as far as my observations go, there are never any decorative incisions and tracings on Manbo arrows.[10]

[10] Among the Mandyas arrow shafts frequently have ornamental wavy lines and concentric circles incised along the length of the shaft, but this decoration has been observed among no other tribe that I know of in eastern Mindano.

There seem to be no special arrow makers. Nearly every adult Manbo, who has not relinquished the use of the bow and arrow, with no other tool than his bolo and perhaps a small knife, can complete a bow and a bunch of arrows in a relatively short time.

In stringing the bow it is grasped by the center of the stock with the left hand and the top, where the loose loop of the bowstring is placed, is held with the right hand. The bottom of the bow rests upon the ground and is supported by the right foot. The right hand then, by a movement toward the person, bends the stock sufficiently to allow the loop of the bowstring to reach and slip into its notch, the left hand and foot retaining the bow in a bent position. The bowman then grasps the central part of the stock between the thumb and the four fingers of the left hand and seizing the feathered part of the arrow between the first and middle fingers of the right, he places the end of it at right angles to, and in contact with, the center, or thereabouts, of the string. The part of the arrow in front of the feathering rests upon the thumb and middle finger and under the index finger of the left hand. Raising up the bow and holding it inclined at an angle of about 20 from the vertical, the top being toward the right, the string, with the arrow butt always pressed against it, is drawn back sufficiently (about 30 centimeters) to give the requisite tension. The string is then allowed to fly back, while at the same time the bowman releases his hold upon the arrow butt, and thus the arrow speeds on its way. When ready to be released the end of the arrow points to the bowman's right shoulder.

The greatest range of a good arrow is about 75 meters. Its effective range, however, is only about one-third of that.

I can not laud the expertness of the Manbo as a bowman. Here and there one meets a really good shot, but the average man can not score 50 per cent at close range.

No quivers worthy of the name are used. When a war raid is undertaken, the arrows are placed in a bamboo internode, which is carried in a horizontal position at the bowman's side. Arrows are never poisoned. The bamboo of which the spearhead is made seems to have a somewhat poisonous effect as a wound caused by it is very painful and hard to cure.

THE BOLO AND ITS SHEATH

The next important offensive weapon used by the Manbo is the bolo. It is his inseparable companion by day and, in regions where the influence of civil or military authority is not strongly felt, also by night.

As there are but two Manbo blacksmiths that I know of, all bolos used are imported, either from the Mandyas or from the Banuons, though one sees from time to time a weapon that has made its way from the Bagbos. The prevailing bolo is of Mandya workmanship and merits a more detailed description.

It is a substantial steel blade varying in length from 30 to 45 centimeters. At its juncture with the handle it is about as broad as the handle but narrows gradually on top, and less so on the lower edge, to a breadth of 25 millimeters[11] at a point one-sixth of the length of the blade from the handle. At this point the back of the bolo changes its direction, running off at an angle to its previous direction of 15. The lower part or edge of the weapon gradually bellies out until the blade, at a point one-fourth of its entire length from the tip attains its maximum breadth (7 to 10 centimeters) whence it curves like the segment of a circle to the point of the weapon.

[11] Figures given are approximate only. They vary in different bolos.

The type of bolo that is considered more pretentious, and that is more common on the upper Agsan, has a thin straight back[12] up to within 6 or 7 centimeters from the handle, at which point the direction of the back is slightly changed. In other respects this bolo is similar to the one described above.

[12] Hence it is called li-kd-li-kud.

At the narrowest part of the bolo and on the underside there is occasionally a serrated decoration in the steel, the significance of which I do not know.

The handle is occasionally of ebony, but more commonly of some other wood. The grasp for the hand is cylindrical. The handle is often bound with a braid of rattan, or a band or two of steel or of brass, to prevent splitting, or less commonly with silver bands for ornament's sake. Curving downward beyond the grasp is a carved ornamentation that suggests remotely the head of a bird with an upturned curving bill. This is one continuous piece with the grasp. It is rare to find brass ferrules and hand guards at the juncture of the blade with the handle.

The sheath, which is of Manbo production, consists of two pieces of thin light wood a little broader than the bolo. It is almost rectangular in form for a distance equal to the length of the blade, and then the edges become gradually narrower up to a point that is about 3 centimeters from the end; at this point they expand into a small square with incurving sides.

The two pieces are held together closely by bands of rattan coiled around them at equal intervals. A coating of beeswax serves to preserve the wood and at the same time to impart a finished appearance to the sheath. Frequently pot black is mixed with the beeswax, and on the upper and central parts, and on the ends and edges, symmetrical bands of this black paint are applied according to the fancy of the wearer. Other decorations of beads, cotton tassels, and strips of a yellow parasitic plant, are not at all infrequent.

The girdle, which is nearly always of braided abak fiber, frequently multicolored, and which holds the weapon to the left side of the wearer, passes through a hole on the outer side of the sheath. This hole is made through the central embossed part of the outer piece of the sheath.

A noteworthy feature of the sheath is that it is so made that by pushing the handle to the lower side of the aperture of the sheath, the weapon remains locked and can not fall out or be withdrawn until the handle is pushed back to the upper side of the aperture.

A MAGIC TEST FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF A BOLO

It is very interesting to observe the method pursued in determining the value of the bolo. A piece of rattan the length of the weapon is cut into small pieces, each one, excepting perhaps the last, exactly as long as the maximum width of the bolo. These pieces are then placed in the following positions and in the order indicated by the number. (See fig. 1.) It is obvious that, as a rule, there is one piece of rattan that is not as long as the others. This piece is always set down last, and its position is the determining factor of the test.

[FIGURE 1]

In Figure 1 a all the pieces of rattan happen to be equal, there being no short piece. Moreover, there are enough pieces to complete the figure. This combination is not inauspicious in so far as it does not augur evil, but it is thought to be a sure indication of a failure to kill.[13]

[13] This combination is called l-mut.

In Figure 1 b all the pieces are of equal length, but there are not enough to complete the figure as in figure 1 a. This is a doubtful con-figuration. On the one hand the weapon may or may not kill, on the other it will prove efficient to the owner in matters not connected with fighting.

In Figure 1 c we have only four pieces of rattan, three of which are equal to the maximum width of the bolo and one of which is short. This is a good combination. It indicates that in a fight the enemy will suffer loss.[14]

[14] This formation is called s-kab.

In Figure 1 d we have the best conformation possible. The fact that the short section falls, as it were, inside, indicates that a short fight and speedy death may be expected. The owner of a weapon that passes this test is reluctant to part with it unless very advantageous offers are made to him.

A form of divination in which a suspended bolo, especially a consecrated one, takes the part of the deus ex machina is described in the chapter on divination.

THE LANCE

The lance, like the bolo, is imported. It is of two kinds: (1) The Mandya lance, which is found everywhere except on the lower Agsan and on the upper reaches of the Umaam, Argwan, and Kasilaan, and in the eastern Cordillera; (2) a lance, probably of Moro production, which is said to come from the Pulngi River, and which is used in the regions just mentioned where the Mandya lance is not considered lucky or effective. In general, lances consist of a steel head and a long shaft, usually of palma brava, but rarely of some other species.[15] The head is firmly attached to the shaft with a viscous substance.

[15] Wood of the tree ku-li-p-pa is used occasionally.

The lance is the inseparable companion of the Manbo in his travels through dangerous places, of which there are not a few in remote regions. When he arrives at a house he sticks the lance in the ground, head up, near the ladder. In traveling he carries it upon his right shoulder, head forward, in a horizontal position and is ever ready to throw it if he fears an ambush. I have frequently startled my Manbo friends while they were engaged in some occupation, such as fishing, just to study their demeanor. The result was always the same—a quick turn and an attitude of offense, with lance poised and defiant eye.

The lance is held during the poise in the upturned right hand under the thumb and over the first and second fingers. The arm is extended in a slight curve just in front of the line of the shoulders. In making a thrust, the lance is darted parallel to the line of the shoulders and on a level with them, the left side of the person being presented to the adversary. The lance is not thrown, but is nearly always retained in the hand.

The Mandya lance merits most attention, as it is more generally used, and is usually of better mechanical and ornamental workmanship. The shaft is a piece of either palma brava or of kulippa palm, varying from 1.8 to 2.4 meters in length. It has a uniform diameter of about 16 millimeters for a distance equal to one-half of its length from, the head; the other half tapers very gradually to about one-half of its original thickness, ending in a fairly sharp point, which may be capped with a conical piece of tin or of steel to protect the wood against injury from stones.

The head is a long, slender, pointed blade. From the shoulders, which are from 4 to 7 centimeters apart, it may taper uniformly to a point; much more commonly, however, it tapers gradually to within about 25 millimeters of the extremity. Here its width is about 25 millimeters. At this point the edges converge at an angle of 45 to the axis, until they meet, forming the point of the lance. From the shoulders of the blade the edges likewise slant inward to the neck at an angle of 45. The neck is a solid cylindrical piece, about 3 centimeters in length, nearly always ornamented with embossed work, and ends in a rod or in a conical socket about 7 centimeters long. It is very common to see ornamental chisel work along the axis near the neck. The general outline of the engraving is that of the spearhead in miniature, within which there are often little leaflike puncturings.

When the lance head has a socket it is attached to the shaft with a resinous substance similar to that used for bolos. When the lance head ends in a solid cylindrical piece and must be inserted in the hollow shaft, the end of the shaft is reinforced with a Moro brass ferrule, if the possessor of the lance has been so lucky as to have acquired one, or with coils of abak fiber over which has been wound abak cloth stuck with the above mentioned resin.

Lances of the better style have ornamental rings of beaten silver, sometimes amounting to as many as 15, placed at equal distances along the shaft for a distance of as much as 30 centimeters from the juncture of the head and the shaft.

A lance of another style is common among the highland Manbos of the central Cordillera, and is not infrequently found among the Manbos of Kantlan and Tgo. Though not so striking in dimensions and in general appearance, it is preferred by the Manbo, because it is said to cause a more severe wound and because it is less liable to have the head detached when driven through the floor or wall of a house. Its head is much narrower at its broadest part than the one just described, is not so long, and nearly always tapers to a point. It is without any shoulders. It never has the conical steel socket that the Mandya lance sometimes has, is always straight edged, and is set into the shaft in identically the same manner as the socketless Mandya weapon. Another point of distinction is the decorative scallop that runs parallel to the edges of the head on each side. There is very seldom any decorative work within the periphery of these scallops.

THE DAGGER AND ITS SHEATH

A weapon, whose distribution among Manbos is limited almost exclusively to Manbos south of the 8 of latitude, is the Mandya dagger, of Mandya workmanship, and indicative of Mandya influence.[16]

[16] It is the Mandya tribal weapon that never leaves its wearer's side by night or by day, on the trail or in the house, whenever there is apprehension of danger.

Its component parts are a thin laminated piece of steel from 15 to 25 centimeters long with a thin, tapering rod somewhat shorter, projecting in the line of the axis, and a hilt of banti through which the projection of the blade passes. It is carried in a sheath which is held at the wearer's right side by a girdle.

The blade is two-edged, widening from a sharp point to two shoulders from 3 to 4 centimeters apart, whence the edges incurve gradually and finally end in two projecting spurs 3 or 4 centimeters apart. The rod for the reception of the hilt extends from this point along the line of the axis for a distance of from 6 to 8 centimeters.

From time to time one finds a blade that is inlaid with tiny pieces of brass or silver, but there is never any other kind of ornamentation.

The handle is of a type that is unique, as far as I know, in the Philippine Islands. In using the dagger the body of the hilt is seized in the right hand, the index finger is inserted between one horn of the crescent and the central steel tang, and the thumb between the latter and the other point of the crescent, while the other three fingers hold the weapon within the palm. This method seems clumsy, but nevertheless it is the orthodox way of holding it. Fastened to the right side of the wearer in a more or less horizontal position and with the handle projecting forward, it is always at the owner's disposal for prompt and deadly action, especially so as only a mere thread or two of abak fiber running from the handle to the under part of the sheath retains the weapon in its sheath.

The handle is usually strengthened at the neck with plaited rings of nito fiber and may have ornamental silver work, both at that point and on the horns, or even at times on the whole outer surface of it.

The sheath consists of two pieces of wood of an elongated rectangular shape, spreading out at the extremity. Strips of rattan wound at intervals hold the two pieces together and a paint of blended beeswax and pot black is ordinarily employed to give a finish to it. But occasionally one sees bands of beaten silver at the head of the sheath, and, less frequently, a profusion of beautiful, artistic silverwork set over the whole sheath.[17]

[17] The steelwork and silverwork are nearly always the production of Mandya smiths living in and beyond the southeastern Cordillera, though on the Agsan there are a few silversmiths.

Manbos in general, with the exception of those who live on the upper Agsan, take but little care of their weapons, except to sharpen them. In this respect they are very unlike the Mandyas and the Debabons, who are most conscientious and incessant in the care of their bolos, lances, and daggers. They keep these weapons burnished by rubbing them on a board that has been covered with the dust from a pulverized plate, or if they have rusted, by filing them with an imported file. A final touch is given to them by rubbing them with the leaves of what we might call the sandpaper plant.[18] Once burnished they are protected from rust by applications of hog fat, a little piece of which is suspended from the roof whenever a pig is killed. Another point of difference between the Manbos, not including those of the upper Agsan, and the above-mentioned peoples is the infrequency with which the former make use of racks for their fighting weapons. The Mandyas and the Debabons very commonly have ornamental racks in which they keep their weapons.

[18] Ficus fiskei and Ficus fiskei adorata (moracae).

DEFENSIVE WEAPONS

THE SHIELD

Two varieties of shield are in use, the Mandya and the Manbo. The diffusion of the former is limited to the district south of the 8 latitude, not including the Ihawn and Babo River district; the latter, to the rest of the Agsan Valley with the exception of the portion where Banuon influence is prevalent,[19] such as the upper Agsan and rivers to the north of it, which are the western tributaries of the Agsan. In general, shields are made of kalntas[20] wood, varying from 90 to 100 centimeters in length. In the center is a projecting knob resembling a low truncated cone about 4 centimeters high and varying in width at the base from 8 to 15 centimeters, and at the truncation from 7 to 8.5 centimeters. The inside of this knob is hollowed out in such a way that a longitudinal piece is left on the inside of it for holding the shield. The upper end has a transverse piece of the same material as the rest of the shield dovetailed into the main body, the object being to prevent the body of the shield, whose grain runs longitudinally, from splitting as a result of a blow.

[19] The Banuon types of shield seen by the writer were circular in form, concave on the proximal side, and made of plaited rattan painted with tabon-tbon pulp.

[20] La-np-ga.

As a further protection against splitting, two strips of palma brava or of bamboo in upper Agsan types, and in other types three strips as wide as the shield itself are set horizontally on each side, facing each other, and are held in position by sewings of rattan slips passing through perforations in the wood.

The ornamentation of all shields consists of a coating of beeswax, and of thin scallops painted with beeswax and pot black, passing in a single series around the shield and near its edge, and in a double series longitudinally down the center.

The operculum,[21] of a seashell, or very occasionally some bright object, may set off the knob. Not infrequently tufts of human hair secured in some war raid are stuck into holes at distances of about 3 centimeters on both sides of the shield, and are considered highly ornamental and indicative of the valor of the owner of the shield. One might be inclined to think that the employment of human hair is a relic of head-hunting, but I was unable to find a single tradition of its practice in eastern Mindano and I doubt if such ever existed.

[21] Called pas-l-tan.

The typical Manbo shield has a straight top about 35 centimeters broad. From the corners the sides gradually curve inward for a distance (measured upon the central longitudinal line of the shield) of about 25 centimeters, at which point they curve out to the original width at a distance of about 10 centimeters farther on, where the strengthening strips are fastened on both the inner and outer surfaces. Thence the sides curve in to form the second segment, in the center of which is situated the knob, and at the end of which are placed two more sustaining crosspieces. Beyond this section, the sides gently curve to the bottom of the shield, which is about 25 centimeters broad and practically straight.

The Mandya type, as adopted from the Mandyas by the Agusnon Manbos[22] differs from the Manbo shield in being generally narrower—about 17 centimeters at the top and about 22 centimeters in the central section. From the top, where the transverse protective piece is placed the sides slope out gently to the first sustaining crosspiece placed at a distance from the end of about one-fourth of the entire length of the shield; thence they run parallel for a distance equal to one-half of the shield length, forming to the eye an elongated rectangle, in the center of which is the knob. The remaining quarter of the shield is hyperbolic in form with a small lozenge-shaped protrusion at the focus. The upper edge of the shield is not quite straight, an ornamental effect being produced by slight curves. In the center of the upper edge is a very small projection or sometimes a round incision, that might serve as an eyehole.

[22] Also by the Maggugans and by the Debabon and Manska groups. The Manbos and other peoples of the upper Agsan call themselves Agusnon.

Another difference in this type of shield is the addition of ornamental toothlike tracings. These serrations are done with beeswax and pot black, and are ordinarily set in groups of four at right angles to and along the central and the lateral scallops.

The last distinction is the more noticeable longitudinal bend which the Mandya type has as compared with the Manbo style, the top and the bottom being inflected uniformly inward at an angle of about 15 to the vertical.

Among the Mandyas it is interesting to note that a broad shield is looked down upon as indicative of cowardice, and that a narrow shield is considered evidence of valor in its owner.

In using the shield it is held in the left hand by the grasp that is located in the inner part of the hollow knob in the center. It is always held in an upright position, the transverse piece being on top, at the left side of the warrior, who never presents the front of his person to the enemy. To protect the feet and legs he must crouch down.

I was a constant witness of mimic encounters, and occasionally of what appeared to be the preliminaries to more serious affairs, and can bear witness to the skill displayed in the manipulation of the shield. The rapidity with which the warrior can move about, now advancing, now retreating, now thrusting, now parrying, and all the time concealing the whole of his person except a part of the head and one eye, is a marvel.

ARMOR

Another article used for defensive purposes is the abak armor.[23] Whenever the warrior has been able to procure a piece of Mandya skirt fabric, he sews it into an ordinary coat with sleeves and, in lieu of imported buttons, uses little slivers of bamboo or wood to keep it closed. When, however, the Mandya cloth is not to be had, his female relatives braid for him a number of multicolored cords of abak fiber, 6 millimeters broad, which are sewn together in the form of an American or European coat and answer the purpose perhaps better than the Mandya cloth.

[23] Lim botung.

This armor is intended to resist arrows, and is said to be efficient when the wearer is at long range. At short range, however, it helps only to lessen the penetration, as I had occasion to observe after an attack on the upper Agsan, in which one of my warrior friends was wounded on the shoulder by an arrow. A band of Debabons went to make a demonstration at the house of one of their enemies on the River Nbuk. The particular warrior chief referred to, desiring to initiate his young son into the art of warfare, carried him on his back to the scene of the demonstration. After surrounding the house, the attacking party broke out into the war cry and challenged their foes to a hand-to-hand combat. The surrounded party replied with a shower of arrows, one of which struck the chief on the shoulder. As he explained to me, he was so solicitous about guarding his child that he exposed his person and received the arrow in his shoulder. The point, he said penetrated to a depth of about 3 centimeters.

I once saw another form of protective clothing on the River Argwan. It was a very long strip of cotton cloth which, it was said, was used for wrapping around and around the body before an attack. This article, as I later ascertained, was of Banuon manufacture and use.[24]

[24] As a further protection in war there is used, it is said, a conical piece of wood on which the hair is bound up. I never saw this device in use and doubt if it is employed commonly by Manbos. It was reported to me as also being of Banuon origin and make.

TRAPS AND CALTROPS

The dwellings of Manbos who live in actual fear of attack are always surrounded by traps and by bamboo caltrops of one or two varieties. These form an efficient and common means of defense.

The trap is of the type described in the chapter on hunting. When this trap is used as a means of defense, the spear is set at such a height that it will wound a human being between the shoulders and the thigh. The traps are set in varying numbers in the immediate vicinity of the house, though if an attack is considered imminent they are set on the trails leading to the house and some distance away. They may be so set that they will not strike the one who releases them but the first or second person following him. It is always prudent for a white man in a hostile country to so safeguard himself and his men that no one will be injured by these traps.

The bamboo caltrops referred to are slivers of sharpened bamboo, about 60 centimeters long, set in the ground at an angle of 45, and at some point where the enemy has to descend to a lower level. A favorite spot is behind a log or at the descent to a stream. They are carefully concealed and, to a white man not aware of the use of such traps, a dangerous device.

Another form of caltrops very common indeed, and very treacherous in its character, consists of small spikes made of slivers of bamboo, about 18 centimeters long, or of pointed pieces of hardwood. These are set in goodly numbers in the trails that lead from the adjoining forest to the house. The peculiar danger of these is that they protrude only about 2 or 3 centimeters above the ground, the soil being loosened around them so that the pressure of the wayfarer's foot presses down the loose soil, thereby giving the treacherous spike an opportunity to pierce the foot to a considerable depth.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS

Implements of husbandry are few and far between. As there are no draft animals in Manboland, no plows, harrows, or other implements which require animals are made use of.

THE AX

For felling the larger trees a simple steel ax is used. It is set in a hole in a hardwood handle, usually of guava wood, and is retained in place by a couple of plaits of rattan. The edge of the ax is only 6 or 7 centimeters long and yet it is surprising what the average Manbo man can accomplish with this insignificant-looking implement. Mounted upon his frail scaffold he attacks the mighty trees of his forest home and with unerring blow brings them down in a surprisingly short time.

THE BOLO

For cutting off the branches, the bolo, which may be at the same time his weapon for attack or defense, is used. The work bolo is in no wise distinguished from the fighting weapon except that the former has a broad straight back. It is more usual to find a bolo of Bisya manufacture in use by Manbos of the lower Agsan. These bolos come from Bohol or from Cebu and, being comparatively cheap and answering the purpose equally well, are readily purchased.

THE RICE HEADER

During the harvest time the rice heads are cut with a header made of a small piece of rattan or wood about 1.5 centimeters in diameter and between 4 and 6 centimeters long. In the center of this and at right angles to it is lashed a piece of tin or one of the valves of a common shellfish.[25]

[25] Bi-bi.

FISHING IMPLEMENTS

THE FISHING BOW AND ARROW

The bow and arrow are used for fishing, wherever the Agsan peoples, Christian and non-Christian, have access to the lakes and pools that abound in the central Agsan.

The bow used in fishing and its accessories in nowise differs from the more serious article intended for warfare, except that, due to its more frequent use, it may be more dilapidated in appearance.

Fishing arrows, however, are different from those used in fighting. The shaft of the former is a piece of bamboo,[26] varying in length from 1.2 to 1.5 meters and in maximum diameter from 7 to 12.5 millimeters.

[26] Of the variety called l-hi or da-ga-s'.

The head is a 2-pronged piece of iron or steel about 17 centimeters long, with barbs on the inner side of each prong, equidistant from the extremity and facing each other. These two prongs unite to form a solid neck that runs into the natural hole in the shaft, a ferrule of brass, or more frequently a winding of rattan coated with tabon-tbon seed pulp, serving to prevent the splitting of the frail bamboo tube. The head is attached to the shaft by a substantial string of abak fiber, about 1.5 meters long, which is wound about the shaft, but which is unwound by the fish in its frantic efforts to escape, leaving him with the arrowhead in his body, and with the shaft breaking the water and indicating to the fisherman the whereabouts of his victim. On the far upper Agsan the arrowhead is not of the 2-pronged type but is a thin, laminated steel point that expands gradually to form the two lateral barbs. It is of Mandya manufacture and origin.

THE FISH SPEAR

The fish spear,[27] except on the far upper Agsan, consists of a long bamboo shaft from 1.5 to 2.25 meters in length with a heavy 3-pronged barbed head set into a node at its larger end and with strengthening girdles of rattan strips serving to reinforce it. The iron head is of Bisya or of Christian Manbo workmanship. On the upper Agsan the head is 2-pronged and the shaft is frequently somewhat longer than that of the spear used on the lower river. In other respects it is identical.

[27] S-pang.

FISHHOOKS

Large hooks are much more commonly used than small ones. Both are made out of either brass wire or of iron, the latter often from the handle of a kerosene can, and in general they resemble ordinary fishhooks such as are made in civilized countries. The method of using the hook has been described already under "Fishing."

For crocodiles a peculiar hook is used. It consists of a piece of palma brava, sharpened at one end, and provided with a spur projecting backward at an angle of about 30. To this piece of wood is attached a stout rope of abak fiber, which in its turn is tied to a piece of stout bamboo about 1.8 meters long. The bamboo is then set firmly in the ground, and the bait is allowed to hang within about 60 centimeters of the water. The hungry crocodile, lured by the odor, springs at the bait, and gets the hook between his jaws. It is seldom that by dint of frantic pulling and wriggling he does not free the bamboo and rush off to one of his favorite haunts, where, by the presence of the bamboo float above him, he is discovered and dispatched.

HUNTING IMPLEMENTS

THE SPEAR

The chief weapon used in the chase is the spear. It consists of a stout, wooden shaft between 2.1 and 2.4 meters long, which is set into the hollow conical socket of a spearhead. The blade in general appearance resembles the more serious weapon of war, but it is only about 10 or 12 centimeters long and makes no pretense to beauty, being fashioned solely for utilitarian purposes. As a necessary accessory to the spear the inseparable bolo is carried.

THE BOW AND ARROW

In the chapter on hunting reference has been made already to the hunting bow and arrow. It is an ordinary bow, but the arrow differs in not being feathered and finished like the arrow intended for human game.

A very effective and easily made arrow consists of a piece of bamboo about 85 centimeters long and 3 to 4 millimeters in diameter, with a sharp tapering point. In lieu of feathering, four or five tufts near one extremity, set at a distance of about 2.5 centimeters from each other, are made by scraping the surface so as to form little tufts of shavings. This style of dart arrow is used principally for monkeys, but a supply is always on hand for warlike purposes, when the more finished and efficient arrows become exhausted.

Another difference in the hunting arrow is the 2-pronged bamboo head formed either by splitting a regular bamboo arrow or, more commonly, by lashing together two arrows. I saw on a few occasions palma brava spike heads used by the Manbos of the far upper Agsan. These latter forms are used exclusively for hornbills whose tough hide and abundant plumage require something stronger than the ordinary arrow.

THE BLOWGUN

The blowgun[28] is used sporadically and perfunctorily on the far upper Agsan, but I have never seen it anywhere else among Manbos.[29] It is used for shooting small birds, chickens, and mice. It is made of an internode of a variety of bamboo[30] about 1.2 meters long and 12.5 millimeters in diameter, to which is joined another internode about 20 centimeters long and of slightly larger diameter. This forms the mouthpiece. I have never seen any decorative work on a blowpipe. The dart is a thin tapering piece of bamboo about 35 centimeters long and 1.5 millimeters in diameter at the butt. Enough cotton to fill the bore of the gun is fastened at the butt end of the dart. It is discharged by the breath. The point is never poisoned, nor is there any tradition as to the former use of poison on these darts.

[28] Sum-p-tan.

[29] Its use by the Mandyas of the Kati'il, Manorgau, and Karga Rivers is very common, but so far as I know it is neither a defensive nor an offensive weapon.

[30] La-hi'.

The blowgun, when in use, is held to the mouth with the right hand. The maximum range is about 20 meters. I have seen very small birds killed at a distance of about 8 meters.

CHAPTER XII

INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES

DIVISION OF LABOR

It is to be expected that among a people whose women have been obtained practically by purchase the burden of work will fall on the woman. The Manbo man, however, at times performs an amount of heavy, hard work that makes the division somewhat equitable.

MALE ACTIVITIES

House building, hunting, fishing, and trapping fall to the lot of the man. When the rice-planting season is at hand, he fells the trees and does the heavier work of clearing. An occasional war raid or an occasional visit to some distant settlement for trading purposes may impose upon him a few days of hard travel. Outside of these occupations his work is comparatively light. He attends to his weapons, makes such objects of wood or of bamboo as may be needed, and decorates them after his style. He splits the rattan and does nearly all the plait work in basket making. All the necessary implements for fishing, hunting, and trapping are made by him, with the exception of steel weapons. He strips the abak for the family clothes and procures the dye plants. In certain districts he is the miner and in others he is the boat builder, and in all districts he conducts trading transactions.

FEMALE ACTIVITIES

The Manbo woman certainly has her share of work. She does all the dyeing, weaving, and tailoring, besides attending to the various household duties of providing fuel, food, and water. These latter occupations impose upon her at least one trip daily to the camote field, and several to the watering place, which in the mountainous districts is ordinarily at a considerable distance down steep and rugged trails. She attends to the children and cares for the sick, and day after day dries, pounds, winnows and cooks the rice. When her helpmate has felled the trees for the new farm, she does the looping, lighter clearing, burning, sowing, weeding, tilling, and harvesting. In her spare moments she makes mats, rice bags, and earthen vessels, braids an occasional armlet, does the beadwork, and a thousand and one little things according to the exigency of the moment or the requirements of her spouse.

MALE INDUSTRIES IN DETAIL

The various operations of fishing, hunting, trapping, house building, agriculture, and trading have been already described so that there remain to be considered only boat building, mining, and plait work.

BOAT BUILDING

The art of boat building is known only to Manbos who have been in contact with Banuons, so that one would be led to think that the art is of Banuon origin. It is confined practically to the Kasilaan, Lbang, Masam, hut, and W-wa Rivers, though one finds a boat builder here and there on the Hbung River and on the Simlau River, but only an occasional one, if any, on the Argwan, Umaam, Ihawn, and upper Agsan.

The boat is a dugout usually made of magasin', kalntas, or some light durable wood. The tree is selected, hewed down with the simple ax, and by dint of hard chopping hollowed out and shaped. In this way are made nearly all the skiffs, canoes, and boats that ply up the network of rivers in the Agsan Valley. It is not uncommon to see a banca, or large boat, 10 meters long by 1 meter beam.

MINING

Mining is confined to the Hbung River and its tributaries, to the W-wa River, and to the Taligamn district, a few hours' walk to the southeast of Butun. It is a desultory occupation followed more at the request of Bisya traders, or in fulfillment of a contract, than out of any desire for gold.

The time selected is usually after a flood. The gold is washed out with a circular, hollow, wooden pan.[1] The operation has an established religious procedure which, must be followed if one wishes to be successful in the acquisition of the gold. The theory is as follows: The gold is the property of a gold spirit, whose place in the Manbo pantheon I can not state. To enter upon his domains and to remove the ore which is his without feasting him and making him a present of a living victim for a future repast would provoke his wrath and result in failure to obtain the object of the search. Hence the leader of the miners upon arrival at the mining ground turns loose a white fowl and kills a white pig in honor of the gold spirit. He also presents to the spirit leaf packages of boiled native rice. The mining operations then begin, but the peculiar feature of the whole procedure is that the rice packages are purchased from the leader at the rate of 1 ku-len-ts-on[2] for two packages. Noise and merriment are interdicted during the mining operations as being displeasing to the gold spirit, but if, upon infringement of this taboo, further oblations of rice are made to him he resumes his good humor and permits the gold to be found.

[1] Bi-ling-n.

[2] Ku-len-ts-on are said to weigh one-half of the gold piece that was in circulation in the Philippine Islands, in pre-American days, and which was valued at 12.5 cents United States currency.

I found these beliefs to be held as far over as the upper Tgo River, on the eastern side of the Pacific Cordillera.

PLAITING AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

The plaiting and braiding of such objects as arm and leg ligatures out of nito or other vegetable fiber nearly always falls to the lot of the women. The plaiting of baskets out of rattan, as well as the making of fish traps and pack baskets, is generally a male occupation.

The process of basket making is fairly simple. A more or less cylindrical, solid piece of wood with flat bottom and top forms the mold upon which the strips of rattan are interlaced. A circular band of bamboo strengthens the upper rim, a coating of the pulp of the seed of the tabon-tbon fills up the crevices and makes the basket almost perfectly water-tight.

Pack baskets that are used for carrying game and for general utility on long voyages are of the open wickerwork description.

I know of only two Manbo blacksmiths in the whole of Manboland. They learned the trade from Bisyas and produce bolos much like the Bisya or Bohol type seen in the Agsan Valley. Here and there one meets a Manbo who understands how to beat out a fish spear or a fishhook, or to make a crude pipe, but, with these exceptions, the Manbo knows nothing of steel or iron work.

As to the decoration, it is manifest from what has been said that he can do simple but creditable work. The ornaments on bamboo tubes, combs, baskets, and certain other things are evidences of his skill. So are the tattoo and embroidery designs described in a previous chapter.

FEMALE INDUSTRIES IN DETAIL

WEAVING AND ITS ACCESSORY PROCESSES

Abak fiber is stripped by men and delivered to the womenfolk. The women pound it for a long time in a wooden mortar to soften it, then patiently tie strand to strand, placing it carefully in small hollow baskets, where it is free from danger of entangling. Sand is often sprinkled on it as a further means of preventing tangling.

Cotton yarn is prepared from the native plant by means of a very primitive spindle, which consists of a small rod of wood at the end of which is a top-shaped piece of the same material which serves to sustain the necessary rotation. A tuft of cotton is attached to the end of this bar, and, as the top rotates the thread is twisted. When the thread is sufficiently long it is wound around the handle and the operation is. repeated. By this slow and tedious process a sufficient amount of yarn is spun for the requirements of the spinner.

The dyeing process consists in boiling the abak yarn with finely chopped pieces of various woods.[3] In order to produce a permanent dye, the process of boiling must be repeated more than once with new dyeing material. As the boiling apparatus consists nearly always of small earthen pots and the boiling is continually interrupted by culinary operations, it is obvious that the process is an inordinately slow and unsatisfactory one. I am of the opinion that to produce a fast red dye on sufficient yarn for about seven skirts, the boiling occupies the better part of two wrecks.

[3] Si-k-lig root for red effects, pieces of kanai-yum tree for black and pieces of du-au for yellow effects.

Cotton yarn is never dyed. Whenever colors are desired, imported cotton must be obtained through Christian or Christianized intermediaries.

The weaving is performed on a simple, portable loom, consisting of two internodes of bamboo, one at the back part and one at the front part. The warp threads pass serially around these two pieces of bamboo and between the slits of a primitive comb situated within arm reach of the posterior bamboo internode. The comb consists of an oblong rectangle about 80 by 5 centimeters, having a series of little reeds set parallel at a distance of 1.5 millimeters from each other. Through these interstices pass the warp threads. Just beyond this comb and farther away from the weaver is a hardwood rood[sic], as wide as the weft, around which are single loops of abak or other fiber. Through these loops pass alternately the warp threads in such a way that when the batten is inserted the upper and lower alternate warp threads are reversed, thereby holding the weft threads in the position to which they have been driven by the batten.

The weft thread is wound upon a bobbin made out of a slender piece of rattan which has two slits at each end, through which the weft thread passes. The bobbin is driven through by the hand from side to side and between the upper and the lower warp threads. The heavy, hardwood, flat, polished batten is then worked by the hand, driving the weft thread into juxtaposition with the part of the fabric finished already. The weaver then inserts the batten between the warp threads at the point where they alternately pass up and down through the previously mentioned loops on the distal side of the comb, and between it and the rod that holds the loops. By pulling the comb back to the finished part of the fabric, the warp threads are reversed and the last weft thread is securely held in place. Thus the process is repeated over and over again until the fabric is finished.

The setting up of a piece of skirt cloth would occupy some two whole days of uninterrupted work and the weaving some three days, but as multitudinous household duties call the woman away constantly, she spends the better part of at least two weeks on one piece, this period not including the preparation of the yarn by tying and dyeing.

In weaving the woman sits upon the floor and keeps the warp threads stretched by a rope that passes round her back from each extremity of the yarn beam. When not in use, the web and the finished fabric are folded up around the beam.

The products of the Manbo loom are not as numerous and artistic as those of the Mandyas. The cloth produced is of four kinds: (1) The ordinary skirt or mosquito-bar cloth made out of abak fiber and having white and black longitudinal warp stripes, alternating with the stripes of the red background; (2) a closely woven but thin cloth of abak having sometimes, as in the case of men's jackets, straight weft stripes of imported blue cotton; (3) a cloth of the same material, but so thin as to be diaphanous, and not adorned with any stripes; (4) a cloth for trousers made out of an abak warp and a native cotton woof.

In the chapter on dress reference has been made to the elaborate and beautiful effects produced by the Mandyas on abak cloth. The Manbo woman has no knowledge of the process by which such effects are obtained.

It is interesting to note that the two yarn beams are cut in such a manner as to emit a booming sound at each stroke of the batten. I have seen an additional internode attached to the end yarn beam in a vertical position, with a view to increasing the resonance. The object of these sounders is to call attention to the industry and assiduity of the weaver.

POTTERY

The whole pottery industry consists in the making of rude earthen pots out of clay. It is confined to places near which the proper clay is found. A piece of clay is kneaded and mixed with fine sand till it attains the proper consistency. A piece is then laid over a round stone and beaten gently till it becomes sufficiently dry and rigid to serve for a bottom to which clay is added strip by strip, at first thick but gradually thinned with the fingers, until the pot is completed. It is in the union of these strips that defects are liable to occur. Hence the best workers patiently sit for hours beating their pots with a little wooden mallet. The pots are then put into a hot fire and burnt several times till they become sufficiently brittle to resist the fire, but the manufacturers seem to lack a proper test, because the cracking of a new pot is an ordinary occurrence.

The pot is spherical in shape with a wide mouth and a neck which, by its incurving, makes it possible to hang it up by means of a piece of rattan when it is not in use. There may be a few indentations running around the neck for the purpose of decoration. It is customary to provide the pot with a crude cover, also made of sand and clay.

TAILORING AND MAT MAKING

Tailoring is such a simple affair in Manboland that it hardly deserves mention. Whenever an imported needle of European or American make is not to be had, a piece of brass wire is filed down and an eye made in it. With the simple utensil and with a thread of abak fiber, the garment is sewn with a kind of a transverse cross-stitch. When imported cotton is on hand, nearly all seams are covered with either a continuous fringe of cotton in alternate colors or with neat wavy stitches, all of which serve both to conceal the seams and to embellish the garment.

In making a garment the piece of cloth is folded into a rectangle which forms the body of the garment. A piece large enough to make the sleeves remains. No piece is thrown away, there being no superfluous clippings. All cutting is done with a bolo.[4]

[4] In the chapter on dress reference has been made to the method of embroidery and to the various designs in common use.

Mats and bags are made out of pandanus. The same methods so commonly used throughout the Philippine Islands are employed by the Manbos.

PART III. GENERAL SOCIOLOGICAL CULTURE

CHAPTER XIII

DOMESTIC LIFE AND MARITAL RELATIONS

ARRANGING THE MARRIAGE

Manbo marriages, in general, may be said to be unions of convenience sought with a view to extending the circle of relatives in such directions as may result in an increase of power, prestige, protection, and sundry other material advantages. An instance passed under my notice in 1909 in which the daughter of a Maggugan warrior chief was captured in marriage for the purpose of securing his aid against the captor's enemies. The captor was a Manbo-Maggugan of the upper Agsan.

SELECTION OF THE BRIDE

In the selection of his future wife, the Manbo consults his own tastes as far as he can, but he is influenced to a great extent by the opinion of his parents and near relatives, all of whom ordinarily look to the advantages to be derived from connection with powerful members of the tribe. Hence rank and birth are nearly always a determining factor, and where the wishes of the man's elders are in opposition to his own natural choice, he yields and is contented to take the helpmate chosen for him.

COURTSHIP AND ANTENUPTIAL RELATIONS

Sometimes the young man is bidden to take up his residence in the girl's house, observe her general character and especially her diligence, find out if she has been bespoken, gain the good will of her father and relatives, and report to his people.

No communication of any kind takes place between him and his prospective wife. When the subject is broached to the girl, she simply bids him see her relatives. I have known of cases among the upper Agsan Manbos where improper suggestions to the girl were at once reported by her to her parents, and the author of them was at once brought to order with a fine, the equivalent of P15 or P30. One white man is reported to have met his death at the hand of a Manbo for a mistake of this kind many years ago. In deepest Manboland, when the offense passes, however slightly, the boundaries of suggestion, it becomes the source of many a deadly feud. Happily, however, such cases are extremely rare.

BEGGING FOR THE HAND OF THE GIRL

Three, four, or five of the nearest male relatives of the man, after procuring a little beverage, repair early some evening to the house of the nearest relative of the girl. After they have partaken of the inevitable betel-nut quid, and have offered a drink of sugarcane brew or other beverage to the household, and have discussed a few topics of daily life—it may be about the last wild boar killed, or the capture of a polecat in the snares[1]—the prologue begins. This lasts from one to two days, including often the better part of the nights. Each of the visitors comes in his turn and rattles off, with many a significant haw and cough, in good Manbo style a series of periphrastic platitudes and examples that apparently give no clue to the object of their visit. The owner of the house and father, let us say, of the girl quickly understands the situation and then assumes a most indifferent air. The visitor who has taken up the discourse continues, with never a care for the various household sounds, such as the chopping of wood, or the yelping of dogs; and not even the announcement of supper, and the partaking thereof, can stay his eloquence. The householder at times emits a sleepy grunt of approval, relapses apparently into a drowse, and after several hours, rolls into his mat and feigns sleep. At this juncture one of the visitors hastens down the notched pole and gets the silver-ferruled lance or silver-sheathed knife that has been left concealed near the house. The spokesman of the visitors then offers it to the father of the hoped-for bride on condition that he rise and listen, for they have come with an object in view—to beg for the hand of his daughter. It is then his turn to begin a painfully drawn-out discourse, to which the visitors assent periodically with many an humble and submissive "ho" and "ha," "bai da man" (yes, indeed), and so forth. He strains and racks his brains to think of every imaginable reason against the marriage, and finally, after he has exhausted every resource, he bids his visitors go home and come back on such a day, because he has to consult his relatives; but he can not get them to stir until he gives them a counterpresent, which he claims is of much more value than their present to him.

[1] Ltag.

On the appointed day the young man's relatives again proceed to the same house, but in this case reinforced by all the relatives within reach, each one carrying his present.

Upon the arrival the same performance is repeated and the same tactics pursued as before, except that this time the visitors kill their fatted pig and set it out, inviting the householder and all his relatives to partake, but, lo and behold! no one will eat. No amount of persuasion will induce them—they have eaten already—they are all sick—they do not like to be invited to eat by their visitors, it being against all the rules of hospitality, etc. To all of these objections the visitors by turn answer, offsetting one reason by another and all the while trying to put the other people into good humor and soften their hearts. But no, the owner of the house and his party refuse, and all this while the fatted pig lies in big black chunks on the floor, surrounded by rice in platters, baskets, and leaves. At this point a few of the visitors again hasten down the notched pole, and gather up out of the grass or underbrush in the adjacent jungle the concealed presents. The arrival of the presents is a grand moment for the father and relatives of the young man. Even the future bride, who up to this time has coyly hidden away in a corner, can not help stealing a few peeps at the display of spears, bolos, daggers, plates, and jars.

Picking them up one by one the owner descants on their beauty, their value (naming an outrageous sum), and his relatives express their sorrow at parting with them. "But," he goes on to say, "it matters not, provided that you see our good will and will join us in this banquet." Whereupon he distributes among his guests according to the order of their standing the array of presents, after which all squat down and begin to eat, the visitors giving an extra dose of wassail to their friends in order that under its warming influence they may soften and yield.

During the course of the meal, the discussion is continued and every appeal made to motives of friendship and self-interest, but in vain—the other side shows no signs of yielding; they say that they can not yet make a fixed contract, that the girl is too young, or that she does not want the suitor; and so the hosts are bade to have patience and to go their way. But now that they have spent an amount varying from P30 to P50 they are not minded to lose it, but will persist in their suit for years. I have heard of marriage transactions that covered 10 years and have personal knowledge of numerous cases that have extended over 6.

The case of a Manbo in Pilar, upper Agsan, will illustrate the point. His father, during the interregnum of 1898, first made the proposal for the hand of the girl. It was refused until toward the end of 1904 the parents finally yielded, but on condition that 10 slaves be paid. A few months subsequently, after a course of hard haggling and cunning bargaining, the contract was modified to four slaves plus the equivalent of the value of six. Three slaves were delivered after a raid on a Maggugan settlement on the middle Slug (about April, 1905). The 6 "thirties,"[2] or P180, were paid in lances, knives, and other things before the demise of the father toward the latter part of 1905, so that one slave still remained to be delivered. On my last visit to Pilar (February, 1910) the poor fianc was still doing chores around his mother-in-law's house, and the slave was still unpaid. If he can not procure that slave it will probably cost him, in other effects, several times the value of the slave.

[2] Kat-lo-n, meaning 30, is a monetary unit, representing the value of a good slave.

Proceedings of the kind described before are repeated at frequent intervals for a number of years, but with this exception, that on the ensuing visits presents of no great value are bestowed on the father of the expected bride—a bunch of bananas, a piece of venison, or a few chickens, or some such offering are made, with a reiteration of the petition. A capacious porker with a bounteous supply of sugar-cane brew in big bamboo internodes is brought along occasionally to break down the obdurateness of the householder's heart, until one fine day, under the benign influence of "the cup that cheers," he yields, but intimating that his petitioners can never afford the marriage payments.[3] He will then probably recount the purchase price of this own wife, always with exaggerations; descant on the qualities of his daughter, her strength, her beauty, her diligence, her probable fecundity; and deplore the grievous loss to be sustained by her departure from her parents' side. Whereupon the visitors respond that they are willing to substitute a number of slaves to make up for the loss of the daughter, but that in any case she will not leave the paternal home and that the bridegroom will take up his residence there and help his father-in-law in all things; and so the matter is discussed and the payment of a certain number of slaves is determined in the following manner:

DETERMINATION OF THE MARRIAGE PAYMENT

Determination of the marriage payment is the very soul of the whole marriage proceeding. Years and years of service on the part of the would-be husband, presents innumerable on the part of his relatives, and feigned indifference or opposition on the other side have led up to this moment. For the sake of clearness, let us call the father or nearest male relative of the future bride A and the father or nearest male relative of the bridegroom, B.

A, aided by all the cunning of his relatives, lays down as a condition, let us say, seven slaves and one female relative of B, who is to be a substitute for his daughter. To this B rejoins that it is a high price and impossible of fulfillment, that he is not a warrior chief, nor a datu, nor such a wealthy person as A, and that he can never satisfy such a demand, giving a thousand and one reasons, such as sickness or debt. A responds and belittles him for being so deficient in resources, asks if B wants to get a wife for his son gratuitously, and tells him to go home and buy a slave girl for him. He yells indignation at the top of his voice, probably with his hand on his bolo, in a very menacing way.

B and his party, seeing that it is unavailing, go home, consult over the matter, and during the course of a year or two take every possible means to procure the necessary slaves. They may be successful in securing one or more, let us say two, and at the same time may manage to get together, say, 5 lances, 6 bolos, 2 jars, 30 plates, and 5 pigs; and so one fine day they start off to A's for another trial.

B proceeds to make A feel merry before he reports his failure to comply with the demand. This report is usually a tissue of the most atrocious "oriental diplomacies" that the human mind can concoct. A listens to this prologue, interlarded as it always is with ejaculations of corroboration from B's party. Then A begins: It is an outrage, he will have none of the pigs; the idea of selling his daughter for a bunch of pigs! He gets up and says he will first kill the pigs and then the owner, but his relatives make a pretense at restraining him. After a few hours of this simulation, by which he has induced B to make many gifts, he softens, but as the demand was not complied with to the letter, the payment must be increased, he says, by 4 more pigs, a piece of Chinese cloth, 8 Mandya skirts, and 2 jars. At this point his relatives interfere. His sister wants three pigs and four skirts. She was midwife at the birth of the girl in question and, due to her contact with the unclean blood, was approached by a foul spirit and fell sick. Surely she deserves a big payment—1 female slave, 2 pigs, 2 shell bracelets, and a piece of turkey red cloth. And the third cousin claims that she nursed the child, the future bride, two months during the illness of its mother, and demands two Mandya skirts. And so the haggling is continued, A and his party doling out the marriage effects as sparingly as possible, taking care to make presents to the more vehement and unyielding parties on the other side.

[3] bat.

This operation always lasts a few days, during which B keeps his prospective relatives in high glee with pork and potations, until A consents.

THE MARRIAGE FEAST AND PAYMENT

The marriage feast almost invariably takes place during the harvest, for the simple reason that food is more abundant and also because the harvest days are the gladdest of all the year. When the time for the marriage is close at hand the father-in-law makes an announcement to friends and neighbors, sending out messengers and leaving at each house a rattan strip[4] to indicate the number of days to elapse before the marriage. If his own house is not sufficiently large for the expected attendance, he changes to another and awaits the eventful day.

[4] Ba-ln-tus.

The whole country flocks to the house at the appointed time, the relatives of the bridegroom being loaded down with the marriage presents, which are all carefully concealed in baskets, leaf wraps, etc., and are deposited secretly in the woods adjoining the house. Of course the omen bird must be consulted. On this occasion above all others it is essential that the omens be favorable, as there are no means, so I have been informed, to counteract an inauspicious marriage omen. While preparations are being made for the banquet by the bridegroom's party, the interminable parley[5] is continued. The bride's father and relatives make their last efforts for securing all they can in worldly effects. They almost repent of the bargain—it was too cheap—think of the price paid for the bride's mother—the expenses incurred during a long illness of the bride in her infancy—and compare the modicum demanded for her marriage; it is outrageous! no, the marriage can not go on, the girl is not in good health, and the ordeal might increase her ailment. Every sort of trick is resorted to in order that the other side may be more generous in the bestowal of gifts. The discussion is thus one big tissue of simulation, and is carried on in succession by the elders on each side. The bridegroom's father keeps offering betel nut and brew to his new "cofather-in-law"[6] and selects a favorable moment to make him a big present, possibly of an old heirloom, a jar, or a venerable old spear, the value of which he estimates at P50, although it may be worth only P8.

[5] Bi-s.

[6] B'-i.

The meal is finally spread out on the floor. The roasted part of the pig has been hacked into small chunks and is piled up on plates, leaves, bark platters, and shallow baskets. The boiled portion remains in charred bamboo internodes placed close at hand. The rice is loaded on plates, or placed in large baskets lined with leaves, and the beverage is put in the ancient family jars, or is left in long bamboos: The host, in this case the bridegroom's father or nearest male relative, assisted by a few others, distributes the meat, carefully selecting the pieces according to weight, size, and quality, so that no one can complain of not having had as good a share as his neighbor. Such toothsome parts as the brains, heart, and liver are divided among the relatives who enjoy greater prestige, the tougher and more gizzly[sic] pieces falling to the lot of the people of lesser importance. This operation takes up the better part of an hour. It is needless to say that a hubbub of voices helps to give animation to the occasion. The Manbo speaks in no angelic whisper on ordinary occasions, but at a solemn time like this his vocal chords twang with all the intensity of which they are capable.

Finally all squat down on the floor, armed with the inseparable bolo if suspicious visitors are present. Hands are washed by pouring a little water out of a bowl, tumbler, or bamboo joint; the mouth is rinsed, and the meal is begun. With their right hands on their bolos, if they have not ungirded[sic] them, they lay their left hands over their portions of rice, knead handfuls of it into a compact mass, and raising their hands to their mouths ram it in with the palms.

The two "cofathers-in-law" pay special attention to each other, each trying to get the other intoxicated, and each feeding the other with chunks of fat and other things. This custom is called daiypan and is universal among the non-Christian tribes of the Agsan Valley. It is a mark of esteem and the highest token of hospitality. A few pieces of fat and bone are scooped up, dipped in a mixture of red pepper, salt, and water and thrust, nolens volens, into the mouth of the good fellow whom it is desired to honor. And it is not good etiquette to remove it. It must be gorged at once and the fortunate man must proceed to reciprocate in the same way. The brew is distributed in tumblerfuls or in bamboo joints holding about a tumblerful each. To refuse the allotted portion would degrade one in the eyes of everyone, for here it is a sin to be sober and a virtue to get drunk. Gluttony finds no place in a Manbo dictionary—one is merely full,[7] but always ready to go on; friend divides his rice with friend, when he sees that the latter's supply is getting low, and his own is immediately replenished by one of the womenfolk, or slaves that attend to the culinary work. Nor must one finish before anybody else. It is not polite. Nothing must be left on the plate, a fact that each one makes clear by washing the plate clean with water.

[7] Mahntoi.

The pandemonium increases in direct proportion as the brew diminishes. One's neighbor may be yelling to somebody else at the other end of the house while the latter is trying at the top of his voice to reach the fellow that sits far away from him. Goodnatured, though rather inelegant, jokes and jests are howled at the bride, who coyly conceals herself behind a neighbor, and at the bridegroom, who does not seem at all abashed. The women, who eat all together near the hearth, carry on the same operations but in their own more gentle way, never falling under the influence of the liquor. The meal is usually finished in about three hours, when the pig and rice are exhausted.

After a chew of betel nut, comes the supreme moment for payment,[8] ushered in by many a "ho" and "ha" with another discussion. The tenor of this is that the father of the bridegroom is not as well provided with goods[9] as he had desired to be, owing, let us say, to a failure to obtain certain effects he had ordered from so-and-so, together with numerous other pretexts and excuses that on the face of them are untrue. Pointing out his slaves, he descants on them; and goes on to explain how much trouble he had to get them; he could not value them for less than P80 apiece. Or, if they are captives, he describes the fatigues of his march and the imminent danger to which he was exposed during the attack, together with such other reasons, mostly fictitious, as would tend to enhance their value and thereby avoid subsequent haggling. He then delivers the other goods demanded.[10] Where two slaves had been asked he gives two kinds of goods,[11] say a lance and a bolo, whereupon there is invariably a howl of dissatisfaction, according to custom. But things are settled nicely either by granting a few plates or some such thing for a solace, or by playing on the good will or simplicity of the person who objected. The distribution is not completed in one day. Usually about one-third of the entire amount of goods is held over with a view to observing if there is anyone who is not quite pleased with his portion, and also for the purpose of keeping up their hopes.

[8] -bat.

[9] Mng-gad.

[10] By his cofather-in-law and relatives.

[11] Da-d-a no bayo no mng-gad.

THE RECIPROCATORY PAYMENT AND BANQUET

The following day, or whenever the payment has been completed, begins the reciprocatory payment[12] in which the bride's relatives return to those of the bridegroom a certain amount of goods varying in value, but approximately one-half of what has been paid as the marriage portion. As a soother, they also kill a pig and right earnestly set about putting their new circle of relatives in good humor. It may be noted that the duration of these feasts depends on the rapidity with which the pig is dispatched. I have known a marriage feast to cover a period of seven days, though it may be said that it is generally terminated the second day, at least in the case of less well-to-do Manbos.

[12] S-bak.

The reciprocatory payment being successfully carried through, it now remains for the bridegroom's relatives to give the farewell feast and carry off the bride. But it often happens that the girl's relatives have ascertained that there are still a number of goods in the possession of their new relatives and it is considered proper to secure them.

A few hours before departure the bride is decked out with all available ornaments. Bead necklaces, with pendants of crocodile teeth and strips of mother-of-pearl; bracelets of seashell,[13] large, white and heavy; bracelets of vegetable fiber and of sea wood; a comb inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and adorned with beads and tassels of cotton; leglets of plaited jungle fiber—all these constitute her finery. During the process of dressing, the bride's female relatives usually weep, while the more distant ones set up a howl, often, I think, of ficticious[sic] grief, in which the children, babies, and dogs may join. At this juncture the female relatives of the bridegroom intercede and endeavor to assuage their grief. It is only after numerous presents have been given them that they become resigned, but at the last moment, when the bride is about to be led away, they surround her and hold her and perhaps repeat the wail till they receive more material consolation. This necessitates another supply of presents. Then the children have to be appeased. Finally the girl is led down the pole, but as her father may have espied, let us say, a fine dagger, or a lance that struck his fancy, nothing will satisfy him except to order them all back and tell his cofather-in-law that he must needs have the lance or dagger, giving some sly reason, as, for instance, that his wife had an ominous dream last night. In one marriage feast that I witnessed, after all the bridegroom's people had left the house, the bride's father told his son to beat the dog. Whereupon he ordered the party back and told his cofather-in-law that it was passing strange that the dog should have howled just as they left the house and that he should leave his lance and bolo as an offering to one of the family deities. It was done accordingly and in all good nature. Then they started off again, but were recalled because the old fox happened to remember that his cofather-in-law had on several occasions during the early marriage proceedings displeased him, and so it became necessary to atone for the sin[14] by another gift. Finally they got a start, filched of all they had. It happens frequently that the marriage suitors are deprived even of their personal weapons and of part of their clothes. It may be remarked that the bestowal of a person's upper garment is considered an act of deep friendship, and is of fairly frequent occurrence.

[13] Tak-l-bo (Tridacna gigas).

[14] Hgad to sa-ya. This is another instance of that peculiar belief in an atonement rite of which I can give no details.

The above is a description of the upper class marriage feast, but that of the poorer class is carried on in much the same style, except that the proceedings are much briefer. The bride's father and people on the one hand strive by might and main to get the highest payment obtainable, while the bridegroom's folk exert themselves to hold the price down. Whatever is given in payment is overvalued—it is a keepsake, an heirloom, would never be given away under any other circumstances—in fact, may result in evil to the giver. On the other hand everything that is received is depreciated—it is old, or of no use to the receiver. An old trick is to return it, whereupon a little additional gift is made for a consolation. But even then it is never admitted that the gift is received for its intrinsic value, but rather out of good will.

MARRIAGE AND MARRIAGE CONTRACTS

THE MARRIAGE RITE

We will now follow the bride to her father-in-law's house and witness the religious ceremony by which the hymeneal tie is indissolubly knitted. It is essential that the omen bird should be favorable on the trip to the bridegroom's house, otherwise the party must return. Usually the parting injunction of the bride's father to his cofather-in-law warns him to watch for the omen bird.

A pig is killed as soon as possible and set out in the usual style at the house of the bridegroom. The bride and bridegroom sit side by side on an ordinary grass mat. No special decorations have been made; no bridal chamber has been prepared, except sometimes a rude stall of slatted bamboo or of bark.

When the meal is ready, the bridegroom takes a handful of rice from his plate and offers it to the bride while she also gives a similar portion to him. Then he passes his rice from hand to hand behind his back seven times, after which he says in a loud voice: "We are now married; let our fame ascend."[15] The bride imitates him. Whereupon loud howls of assent proclaim the consummation of the marriage contract.

[15] Kanmi no mio nakalbto ang bntug nmi.

The meal goes on in the same riotous style as described before. I seldom witnessed a marriage during which the bridegroom did not become rather hilarious toward the end of the meal, but never displayed anything but feelings of delicacy and respect toward the bride. Instructions of a kind that would be considered highly indecent, according to our standards of morality, are howled out in the most candid way, so that this ordeal proves embarrassing for the bride. She eats hastily and retires to her female friends in the cooking portion of the house. I have seen several cases where the girl, being a mere child, continued to weep during the whole proceeding.

The feast being concluded a female priest takes the betel-nut omen. Seven quids of betel nuts are placed by one of the family priestesses upon a sacred dish.[16] She then sets it upon the head of the bridegroom and falls into an ecstatic condition, steadying the plate with her hand. Should one of the betel-nut slices become separated from its betel leaf, the omen is considered unpropitious and is followed immediately by the prophylactic rite—the fowl-waving ceremony.

[16] A-pg'-an.

The matter of overcoming the delicacy of the newly married maiden is not infrequently attended with considerable difficulty. It is accomplished, however, by means of an elderly relative of the girl, who occupies night after night the mat between the newly married couple, until such time as she thinks that her ward has become well enough acquainted with her husband so that she will not run away. The go-between returns the following day and claims her guerdon. Several cases passed under my observation, in which the husband was unable to use his marital rights for weeks owing to the timorousness and bashfulness of his youthful spouse. In no case was anything but patience and gentleness displayed by the husband.

MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE

The custom of wife capture is fairly frequent, especially in the upper Agsan where the Manbo is within the Mandya culture area. During my last visit to the upper Agsan (September, 1909, to February, 1910) three cases occurred, and I had the pleasure of taking part in the settlement of one of them.

The capture is effected by a band of some four to eight friends of the party interested. They repair to the vicinity of the camote patch, which is almost invariably situated at some distance from the house of its owner. Here a watch is kept until the intended captive, in company probably with a few of her own tribe, appears upon the scene. Probably it has been already ascertained that the male relatives have gone on a hunting or fishing expedition, but to make assurance doubly sure one or two of the party advance toward the women unarmed and make inquiries hi an offhand way. If the absence of the male relatives is confirmed, they thereupon seize the girl, and their companions rush out in full panoply from their hiding places and carry off the fair prize. By the time the girl's relatives become aware of the occurrence, the captors have eluded all chance of discovery and the captive has probably resigned herself to her fate, if she had not already consented by connivance.

With regard to wife capture it may be remarked that it is generally resorted to under the advice and protection of some more powerful and affluent personage. If undertaken on one's own initiative it might be risky, and certainly always is a highly expensive affair. Even when carried out with the connivance of a datu or a warrior chief, it has on occasions proved fatal, so I was assured.

The case referred to was that of the son of an influential Manbo of the Nbuk River, in the upper Agsan Valley. His son had a few months before my arrival lost his first wife in a raid made by a neighboring settlement. He determined to avoid the prolixities and delay of the ordinary matrimonial course, and, accordingly, captured the daughter of a Maggugan warrior chief who lived near Pilar. I was in Compostela at the time and on hearing that an expedition[17] to recapture the girl or to collect the marriage payment would take place, I asked that I might be allowed to accompany the party.

[17] Duk-i-s. (Mandya, dk-lus).

We arrived at the house of the datu and found everything and everybody prepared for war. This datu informed me that he anticipated trouble, as the Maggugan was of a different breed, being at times altogether unamenable to reason. During the rest of that day nothing occurred, but no one ventured out of the clearing without a strong guard, and during the night the strictest watch was maintained. The datu said that among Manbos and Mandyas a wife capture was easy of arrangement and was never attended with any trouble, provided they had the wherewithal to pay the marriage price, but that the Maggugan was an unruly character and in a fit of rage or drunkenness was liable to commit acts of atrocity even against his nearest relatives. He cited the case of a Maggugan from Slug who discovered the whereabouts of his son-in-law and of the captured bride and killed them without further ado.

About 2 a. m. we were disturbed from our slumbers by one of the watchers who had heard a distinct crackling in the adjoining forest. This report brought everybody to his feet and provoked a chorus of yells of intimidation, that never ceased till sunrise.

About 6 a. m. we espied forms in the forest, approaching from all sides. When they, some 60 altogether, had taken up their positions on the edge of the clearing wherein stood the house, they sounded their weird and wild war whoop,[18] and four warriors, headed by the warrior chief referred to, and armed with all the accouterments of war, rushed forward toward the house, yelling, prancing around, defying, challenging, and cursing. The warrior chief speared one of the two large pigs under the house and proceeded, aided by his three companions to cut down the house posts, never ceasing to yell in the most stentorian voice I ever heard. At this juncture the datu let down with a long strip of rattan a silver-banded lance, a silver-sheathed war knife, and a silver-sheathed Mandya dagger. As everybody was howling, it was difficult to follow the tenor of conversation, but I observed that the warrior chief accepted the gift though he did not apparently relax his fury. He jumped around, menacing, and animating his companions to fire the house. The datu kept letting down presents of lances, Mandya cloth, pigs, and other things until everyone of the assailants had received a token of his good will. Their fury very visibly diminished, and the datu was finally able to hold a colloquy with his new cofather-in-law, in which he persuaded him to come up into the house and hold a conference[19] over the matter. The latter, after numerous reiterations that he would never enter the house except to chop heads off, finally ascended the notched pole, followed by his braves. We of the house retired to the further half, all armed, while the newcomers squatted in that portion of the house near the ladder. Then began the conference which lasted till breakfast was ready. It resembled in all respects the usual marriage haggling, except that the warrior chief asseverated persistently that the act of the datu's son was deception and robbery, and that only blood would atone for it. His companions howled assent and clutching their bolos, half rose as if to begin a massacre. They were invited to sit down and regale themselves, but that only made them howl all the more. Finally the datu ordered out a stack of weapons and other presents, and made another allotment to the visitors, in due proportion to relationship. This had a soothing effect and induced them to drink copious draughts of sugarcane brew, which kept on soothing them more and more as the end of the meal approached. During all this time special attention was paid to the warrior chief, so that before long he was feeling so happy that he ordered his followers to remove all weapons from their persons, and began to feed huge chunks of half-raw hog meat into the mouth of the datu according to the immemorial custom.

[18] Pa-nad-ju-an.

[19] Bisa.

After the feast I returned to the Agsan but learned later that everything had been settled amicably, the datu having provided a superabundance of wordly[sic] effects, in payment for the captured woman. Among them were two slaves valued at P30 apiece.

PRENATAL MARRIAGE CONTRACTS AND CHILD MARRIAGE

Prenatal marriage contracts have been made in the upper Agsan, especially when it was desired to secure the friendship of some more powerful chieftain. I was informed by a bagni of the upper Slug that it is not an uncommon thing for two warrior chiefs or other powerful men to make such contracts in order to cement the friendship between themselves and between their respective clans. He cited several instances, in some of which the sex of the child proved an impediment to the carrying out of the prenatal marriage contract. Child marriages, however, are not uncommon. I know of two cases in Compostela, in one of which the boy husband was minor, the girl having already attained the age of puberty at the time of the marriage. In the other case both were mere children. It is needless to say that cohabitation was not permitted in the latter case. The marriage payment had been made in the usual way and the bride delivered over to her father-in-law.

According to my observation, the young man is married somewhere between the ages of 17 and 20, and the woman from 13 to 16. The effect of these early marriages is very apparent in the physical appearance of the wife after a few years of married life. On account of the onerous duties that fall to the lot of the woman, only a staunch constitution can maintain unblemished the bloom of youthful beauty. I am of the opinion that the average woman reaches her prime at about 25 years of age.

POLYGAMY AND KINDRED INSTITUTIONS

It may be said that the Manbo is in practice a monogamist, but polygamy is permitted with the consent of the first wife and, in cases that I have known, by her direction and even according to her selection. She finds her work too burdensome and directs her husband to get another helpmate. As a rule, however, it is only a warrior chief who has more than one wife, as he is in a better position to procure the wherewithal to pay the purchase price, namely, slaves. I am acquainted with a number of warrior chiefs, both Manbo and Mandya, who have as many as four wives, all dwelling in the same house, each having her little stall[20] and living in perfect peace and happiness with her sister wives. There appear to be no jealousy and no family broils, the wish of the first wife being paramount in all things.

[20] Sin—bung.

I found the abhorrence to polyandry so great and so universal that all tribes that I came in contact with throughout eastern Mindano branded the practice as swinish.

Concubinage is unknown. In a country where a woman is worth a small fortune to her relatives, and where she can not offer her love according to her own choice, but must follow her relatives' desires,[21] it is not likely that she would be delivered over temporarily to even a warrior chief, nor is she likely to be repudiated except for strong reasons. Hence divorce is never allowed, as far as my observation and knowledge go, being considered an infringement of tribal customs that would provoke divine wrath and bring disaster on the settlement.

[21] I heard of a case in Guadalupe in which the girl, not being allowed to marry the man of her choice, took tuble poison and ended her life.

Among the non-Christianized Manbos I never heard of a case of prostitution. The mere suggestion of it would probably result in a fine. Fornication, however, probably takes place, but only very rarely and under very abnormal circumstances, as when the sexual temperament of the girl and a very favorable opportunity encourage the transgression. I know of cases where Manbo maidens actually recounted to their relatives improper suggestions on the part of Bisyas, and in every case these relatives, with wild yells, and with menacing movements of bolo and spear, collected a sufficient compensation to atone for the imprudence. In one instance I paid the fine imposed upon a half-blind paddler of mine for a very innocent joke that was not appreciated by the relatives of a certain woman.

When, however, the Manbo is removed from the stern influences of his pagan institutions he goes the way of all flesh, as may be observed by a study of conditions in conquista towns.

I heard of a few cases of adultery among Christianized Manbos but, though the guilty wife was reported to have received a heavy punishment in the form of a good beating, she was not divorced.

ENDOGAMY AND CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES

I found no vestige of endogamy nor of the totem system that is such a remarkable and widespread feature of Polynesian, Melanesian, and cognate peoples in Oceania. Neither is there any theoretical endogamic institution which obliges a Manbo to marry within his tribe, but, in practice, such is his custom.

The only impediment to marriage is consanguinity. Consanguineous marriages are everywhere regarded as baneful. It is a universal belief that unless such marriages are consummated under the special auspices of the goddesses Inyao and Tagabyao, they result in physical evil to both the parents and the children.

The following are the persons between whom marriage is forbidden:

(1) All carnal relatives closer than first cousin.

(2) First, second, and third cousins, unless the proper ceremonies to Tagabyao and Inyao have been performed, various omens very carefully taken, and, after marriage, the yearly offering of a pig or chicken made in order to avoid the ill effects that might follow the marriage.

(3) Stepmothers and stepfathers.

(4) Mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law.

(5) Daughters-in-law and sons-in-law.

(6) Captives and their captors. This marriage is believed to bar the way to warriorship and to otherwise result in evil.[22] Captives may, however, be married by others than those who captured them.