160 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN [memo^n ationu. 



When the rice-sowing season is at hand, the Man6bo goes over the clan district and selects 

 any piece of vacant land that, because of its fertility and closeness to water, may have recom- 

 mended itself to him after a due consultation of the omens. Having made the selection, he 

 formally takes possession of the land by slashing down a few small trees in a conspicuous place 

 and by parting the top of a small tree stem and inserting into it at right angles a piece of wood. 

 He then returns to his settlement and announces his selection. He has become now the owner 

 of the land. Anyone who might attempt to claim the land would become clejt, so it is believed, 

 like the parted stem that was left as a proof of the occupation of the land. In a few cases I 

 saw a broken earthen pot left on an upright stick. It was explained to me that this, too, was a 

 symbol of what would befall the one who would dare to dispute the right to the property. 

 This is another evidence of the widespread belief in sympathetic magic. 



In my travels throughout eastern Mindanao I never heard of a single instance of a land 

 dispute among the non-Christian peoples. There is no reason for dispute because the whole 

 of the interior is an immense and very sparsely populated forest that could support millions 

 instead of the scant population which is now scattered through it. Moreover, the religious 

 element in the selection, the consultation of omens, and the approval by the unseen world seem 

 to prevent disputes. 



From the moment of occupation, then, till the abandonment of the site the occupant is the 

 sole lawful owner of the land and has full rights to proprietorship of all that it produces. When 

 he abandons the land he still retains the ownership of such crops or plants as may be growing 

 on it. Hence betel-nut palms, betel plants, bananas, and other plants, belong to him and to 

 his descendants after him. Even such fugitive crops as camotes are his until they die off or 

 are destroyed by wild boars. 



Fruit trees, such as durian, jack-fruit, and others growing in the forest, are, in theory, the 

 collective property of a clan or of a family, but in practice anyone may help himself. However, 

 the finder becomes sole and exclusive owner of a bee's nest as soon as he sets up an indication 

 of his ownership in the form of a split stick with a small crosspiece, and announces his possessive 

 rights on his return to the settlement. The parted trunk has a form and significance similar 

 to that which it has in connection with the selection of a new site. As far as I know a bee's 

 nest once located by one individual is seldom appropriated by another, but the theft of palm 

 wine is common enough, especially if the palm tree be at a considerable distance from the 

 owner's settlement. 



All other property that is the result of one's own labor, or that has been acquired by pur- 

 chase or in any other customary way, belongs to the individual, unless he is a slave. Even 

 slaves, captured during war raids, become the property of their captors, unless stipulation to 

 the contrary has been made before the raid. In one expedition that took place in 1907 a certain 

 warrior chief was delegated to punish a Mangguafigan. As an advance payment he received 

 a few bolos and lances, but it was expressly agreed that after the attack he and his party were 

 to receive all the slaves captured. 



With regard to the loss of, or damage to, property belonging to another, the customary 

 law is rigid; the damage or the loss must be made good, no matter how unfortunate may have 

 been the circumstances of the loss. This will explain the great care that carriers exercise in 

 transporting the property of others through the mountains, for if by any mischance the things 

 were to get lost or wet or broken, or damaged in any other way, they would be required to make 

 good the loss. This custom, as applied in some cases, may seem somewhat harsh, but it must 

 be remembered that Manoboland is a land where the law of vengeance prevails, and that no 

 opportunity to wreak vengeance must be given. Such opportunities would occur if anyone 

 were permitted to attribute a loss or other accident to involuntary causes. 



This rigid law will explain also the peculiar liability under which one is sometimes placed 

 for an absolutely unintentional and unforeseen act. Thus, on a certain occasion, one of my 

 carriers died a few days after my arrival in a settlement. Shortly after the occurrence of the 

 death I was confronted by a band of the relatives of the deceased in full panoply and requested 

 to pay the commercial equivalent of a slave. 



