236 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN IM, "To£x3S£ 



I have seen Mandayas of the Kati'il River, men of influence and of renown, travel over to 

 the Mawab— a wearisome journey of some four days— loaded down with lances, bolos, daggers, 

 slaves, and other chattels, with which to purchase a Maghahdya. I saw them return, too, happy 

 in the possession of their newly acquired spirits but worse off in a worldly way. 



But the religious traffic was not confined to the sale of Magbdbdya alone. Wooden images 

 and sacred handkerchiefs, supposed to proceed from Meskinan, were sold at very profitable rates, 

 as were also religious shields, and various other objects. Thus on one occasion I made a present 

 to a high priest of several yards of cloth. My astonishment may be imagined when I discovered 

 that he had cut it up into handkerchiefs which he had disposed of far down the Kati'il River for 

 the equivalent of 5 pesos apiece, assuring the purchasers that they had been made and consecrated 

 by the great Magbabdya of Libaganon, and that they were of the utmost efficacy in case of sick- 

 ness, and above all on the day of dissolution. I asked my friend, the high priest, why he dared to 

 perpetrate such a fraud on his fellow tribesmen. He said that the Mawab and Tagum people 

 had fooled him out of all his possessions and that he was taking this means to get back the 

 equivalent. 



A chief from the upper Salug sold a wooden religious image for the value of 1*15 on the 

 Bahaian River. He asserted that it was presented to him by Meskinan as a marvelous cure 

 for all the ills of life. I was present in the house of this selfsame chief and high priest while 

 he was whittling out similar ones. 



During my recent trip to the Manorigao River I was shown kerchiefs of khald that had been 

 sold by a high priest of Compostela about two years before. The indignation and threats of 

 the owners were terrible when I explained to them that I had traded the khaki for some Man- 

 daya skirt cloth. One cunning individual made a feint at throwing the responsibility on me, 

 but happily I was able to evade the liability. 



RELIGIOUS TOURS 



In order that the pious fraud might be carried out more effectively and with less risk to 

 the missionaries of it, it was proclaimed at the beginning that all feuds should cease and that 

 all quarrels were tabooed. This permitted intercourse between former enemies and enabled 

 the priests and their assistants to travel unmolested from settlement to settlement. Together 

 with an injunction that prohibited any controversy as to the truth of the movement or of any 

 of its tenets, under penalty of failing to participate in its ultimate advantages, the proscription 

 of feuds and quarrels insured personal safety to all who might desire to visit other settlements. 



To provide a lodging for the great number of priests and others who would presumably 

 visit settlements outside of their own, the originators of the fraud decided and proclaimed 

 that religious structures should be erected in every settlement. It was thought, probably, that 

 the erection of these would give greater eclat to the affair and thereby tend to bring about a 

 general and more ready adherence to the movement. 



As a safeguard against the discovery of the fraud, it was taboo to dispute or to express 

 doubts about any detail of the doctrines, even the most minute. As a further precaution 

 against the suspicions of doubting Thomases, great care was exerted in the selection of priests 

 and of their assistants. In nearly every case the persons selected were active, popular, and, 

 apparently at least, guileless young men. I myself was shocked on discovering to what length 

 these young fellows, in all other respects attractive and popular, went in their propagation of 

 the fraud and of their insidious utilization of its benefits. 



They traveled from settlement to settlement, bearing the latest reports about Meskinan; 

 how he had failed to come to an agreement with the ancient deities, how he was wandering 

 around in the starry regions ; how he had assistants who were forging chains of steel with which 

 to pull up the religious building in the hour of the earth's doom. After convincing their listeners 

 of the gravity of the situation and of the necessity for renewed efforts, they would dance, chant, 

 tremble, prophesy, shake their sacred kerchief at or over some desired object, receive a harvest 

 of donations, and go on their way rejoicing with the sacred booty in their possession. 



