academy or sconces WAR ITS ORIGIN, INCEPTION, ETC. 147 



dying behest of his father or other relative. One man, who had received this "teaching," on 

 being questioned as to whether he would like to make peace with his enemy, seemed shocked and 

 vehemently protested, saying, "It can't be done, it can't be done, it is tabooed;" he then went 

 on to upbraid me soundly for the suggestion. 



In some cases, the task of revenge is turned over to a third party, who has no personal interest 

 in the feud. As explained to me, such a person is in a better position to attack the enemy than 

 one whose duty it is. In case he succeeds in getting revenge, no blame, I was assured, is attached 

 to him, as he is regarded in the light of a paid warrior or mercenary. Such an institution as this 

 of the vendetta together with the system of private seizure render life in Man6boland very 

 hazardous, and serve to explain the extreme caution and forbearance exhibited by one Manobo 

 toward another in the most trivial concerns of life. 



PRIVATE SEIZURE 



The practice of private seizure is a very peculiar one, according to our way of thinking, yet it 

 is universal among the tribes of eastern Mindanao. As long as it is confined to material things, it 

 is not ordinarily a cause for war, but when practiced on a human being, it frequently results in 

 retaliation in kind. 



The practice consists in seizing the property of a third, frequently a neutral, party, as a "call" 

 on the debtor. For example, A owes B a slave and for one reason or another has been unable or 

 unwilling to pay his debt. B has exhibited a sufficient amount of patience, while at the same 

 time he has used every means to bring pressure to bear upon A. Finally, despairing of collect- 

 ing in an amicable way, and, most probably, suspecting that his debtor is playing with him, he 

 seizes a relative or a slave or a pig of C as a "call" to A. C thus pays A's debt and then takes 

 measures to collect from him, the understanding being that B is to take all responsibility for 

 the consequences. 



This system seldom gives rise to a blood feud except when blood has been shed. Thus in the 

 above instance, had B killed C, as a summons to A, a feud would almost infallibly have followed. 

 Yet C's relatives might have been willing to accept a money compensation from B, and might 

 have come to an agreement whereby they would jointly operate against A in order to avenge the 

 death of C. 



I witnessed a case in which the seizure of a pig was the origin of a bloody feud that had not 

 ended at the time of my departure from the upper Agusan. As the individuals involved in the 

 case are still living their names will be represented by letters. 



A had been fined 1*15 because his wife had made the statement that B had knowledge of a 

 secret or magic 6 poison. C who was a relative of A and already owed B to the amount of 3*15, 

 with the consent of all parties concerned, assumed the responsibility of paying A's debt, thereby 

 putting himself in debt to B to the amount of one slave (at 3*30). Now some of C's relatives 

 had certain little claims against some of B's relatives and thought it a good opportunity to collect 

 their own dues and to diminish their kinsman's debt by presenting their claims for payment. B 

 refused to pay on the ground that his kinsfolk and not himself were responsible for the settlement 

 of said claims, whereupon C refused to deliver his slave till the payment to his relatives was 

 forthcoming. 



The matter thus lingered for several months until B, who owed a slave to another party, 

 and was pressed for payment thought it time to force matters, and, in company with three 

 relatives, seized A's sow as a "call" on C. 



The result of this was that after a few weeks B's wife and another woman were speared to 

 death in a camote patch, and in revenge B took the lives of two of C's party. I made every pos- 

 sible effort to have the matter adjudicated in an informal way but neither party seemed to be 

 anxious to come to terms. 



Owing to this system of private seizure, a party of warriors returning from an unsuccessful 

 raid are considered dangerous, and settlements on their trail put themselves in a state of watch- 

 fulness, 9 for when returning without having secured a victim the party might be incited to make 

 a seizure in order to avoid thereby the derision of their enemies. 



1 Tau-a-gin. » Ko-me-tin. • Li^na. 



64858 0-41-11 



