164 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN [MEM To*xxn£ 



goes, and when such contracts are made they are usually of a usurious nature, due, as I have 

 noticed on several occasions, not so much to the desire for material gain, as to that of satisfying 

 an old grudge against the borrower. In settlements that have had experience with the usurious 

 methods of Christian natives, one finds here and there an individual who tries to follow the ex- 

 ample set him by people that he looks up to. This practice is universally discountenanced, and, 

 though it is submitted to under necessity in commercial dealings with Bisayas, it gives rise to no 

 inconsiderable ill feeling, a fact that explains, to my mind, the difficulties that Bisayas experience 

 in collecting from Christianized Manobos, as also the killing of many a Bisaya in pre-American 

 days. During my trading tour of 1908 there was universal complaint made to me by Manobos 

 of the upper Agiisan, upper Umaiam, and upper Argawan Rivers against the system of usury 

 employed by Bisaya traders, and many a time I heard this remark made concerning certain 

 individuals: "We would kill him if we were not afraid of the Americans." 



LOANS AND PLEDGES 



With the exception of articles borrowed on condition that they are to be returned, loans are 

 very rare in Manoboland. The most usual loan is that of paddy. Articles borrowed must be 

 returned in as good a condition as that in which they were received. 



I know of no leases among non-Christian Man6bos. Land is too plentiful to lease; other 

 property is either sold or borrowed. 



I have never known a material pledge to be given, but the custom of going bond seems to be 

 very generally understood though not much practiced, as such a custom insinuates a distrust that 

 does not seem to be pleasing to the Manobo. A notable feature of the practice is the principle 

 that the bondsman becomes the payer. I am inclined to think that this principle was taught to 

 their mountain compeers by Bisaya and Christianized Manobos who found in it a convenient 

 expedient whereby to make the collection of debts easier and sure. On the strength of it, a chief 

 or a more well-to-do member of the tribe becomes responsible for the debt of one whose surety 

 he became. 



LAWS OF LIABILITY 



LIABILITY ARISING FROM NATURAL CAUSES 



The liability here referred to is the general responsibility that a person acquires for con- 

 sequences that are imputed to an act of his, whether voluntary or involuntary. Instances of 

 this strange law arise on many occasions in Manoboland. The reader is referred to the case of 

 the loss of the beads, the attempt to collect from me for the natural death of one of my carriers, 

 for the death of a child that I had frightened, and other instances mentioned previously, all of 

 which show the idea of responsibility for consequences following an act. A few more instances 

 will make the principle involved clearer. On the upper Agiisan, a Man6bo of Nabuk River 

 went over to Moncayo to collect a debt. According to custom he carried his shield and spear. 

 Now it happened that there were two women walking along the river bank, one of whom was the 

 wife of an enemy of this Nabuk warrior. Upon seeing him she became frightened, fell into the 

 river, and was drowned. The result of this was that the Nabuk man was condemned to pay a 

 slave or its equivalent. As a near relative of his enemy owed him " thirty " (f*30) he transferred 

 the fine to him but the transference was not accepted on the ground that the Nabuk man ought 

 to pay his fine first. A few days' discussion of the matter resulted in the departure of the Nabuk 

 man, who upon his arrival in a near settlement killed, in his rage, one of his slaves. The outcome 

 of the whole affair was a feud between-Moncayo and Nabuk. 



LIABILITY ARISING FROM RELIGIOUS CAUSES 



The violation of the numerous taboos is believed to bring about evil consequences that are 

 chargeable to the account of the infringer. For example, a man in Biiai was charged 30 pesos 

 for the breaking of a certain birth taboo, a violation which was supposed to have been responsible 

 for the stillbirth of a child. I was warned on many occasions to desist from making disrespectful 

 remarks about animals, such as monkeys or frogs, because, if Anitan were to hurl her thunder- 



