academy of sciences) THE great RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT OF 1908-1910 237 



An idea of the magnitude of the pious offerings sometimes made may be gained from the 

 following list of articles received by a high priest from the upper Salug during a religious tour 

 from the Agusan to the Manorigao, Karaga, Manai, and Kasauman districts. 



3 old English muzzle-loaders. 



100 ornamental silver breastplates. 



300 old Spanish and Mexican pesos. 



60 pieces of Mandaya skirt cloth. 



9 pigs (not including those that had been sacrificed in the course of the tour). 



30 various other objects, such as suits of clothes. 



I estimate the cash value of the above to be, more or less, 1,000 pesos, an amount with 

 which the priest could have purchased 33 slaves or 5 of the most costly maids in his tribe. 



The case of a high priest who was under old financial obligations to me is another instance 

 of the extent of the sacred traffic. Upon my arrival I advised him of my purpose and told him 

 to get ready to settle his debt. Though he had absolutely no property at the time, he assured 

 me that he could pay as much as a thousand pesos, so he started out for a trip among the Man- 

 dayas of Manorigao and within a few weeks received enough pious offerings wherewith to pay 

 his debt. 



THE WHISTLING SCHEME 



The greatest deception of all was the whistling scheme. This was carried on usually at 

 night, because it was distinctly against the spirit of the movement to call upon one's Magbabdya 

 for an answer except at nighttime and in the absence of a bright light, unless the Magbabdya 

 of the priest or priests present first intimated his desire to speak. 



The method of audible communication between the priest and his familiar deity was very 

 simple. The priest called out in his ordinary voice, "Magbabdya." If the deity was present, 

 and had not gone off on some errand of his own, or had not run away, he answered by a long, 

 low whistle. The interrogating priest then went on to consult the deity about the matter 

 which he had in view, whether the end of the world was nigh, whether the prospective trip 

 would be dangerous, or whether a boar hunt would be successful. The deity answered by a 

 number of whistles, intelligible to the priest only, and long or short according to the amount of 

 information supposed to be conveyed. 



That this procedure was fraud I need not say. I investigated the matter personally and 

 found that the whistling was done either by the priest himself or by a colleague of the priest. 

 Thus in Kati'il, where I first heard it, I slyly looked into the alcove whence the sound proceeded 

 and descried one of my companions, an assistant of the priest, squeezed into one corner with 

 his hand over his mouth for the purpose of disguising the direction of the sound. 



Upon the first favorable opportunity I quietly upbraided my companion, the high priest, 

 for his complicity, but he merely conjured me not to reveal it to anyone else lest he and his 

 companions be killed. 



On another occasion I heard a high priest question his divinity as to the amount of a fine 

 to be imposed and distinctly heard 15 low chirps proceeding from the supposed Magbabdya 

 in answer. The priest interpreted this to signify 15 pesos. As the priest continued to consult 

 his familiar on various subjects, I proceeded to investigate and saw a young friend of mine 

 seated in a hammock, his head bent down and his hand placed at his mouth in an effort to divert 

 the direction of the sound. I was within a few feet of this young fellow and could plainly see 

 by the light of the kitchen fire the attitude of the impersonator and distinctly hear his whistling. 

 The seance continued for some 10 minutes, the impersonator chirping out answers to the ques- 

 tioning priest. The listeners were fully convinced that the sounds were of divine origin and 

 expressed that conviction by uttering some such expressions as, "Oh what a beautiful voice 

 the Magbabaya has," " Tungud, Tungud," "Oh, he is up on the roof now!" As it is often 

 difficult to determine the direction whence a sound comes, the people would sometimes dispute 

 as to where the god was, one maintaining, for example, that he was above the house, while 

 another maintained that he was below it. Of course such matters were referred to the priest, 

 who always knew the exact location of the imaginary god. 



