u8 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. XII. 



in the hands of Moesta Barraro and Ola, after which the body was cut 

 down and chopped into bits by the people present, each of whom was 

 allowed to take a small portion as a momento of the occasion, the 

 re mainder of the body being buried in a hole prepared for it. 



"It is said the child w r as deaf and almost blind and that it did not 

 realize what was to happen to it until the moment it was tied up when 

 it began to cry; further, that death was almost instantaneous, the only 

 cry being one uttered when the spear first entered the child's body. 



"Datto Ansig, a man about sixty years of age, says that in his life 

 he has attended or officiated at fifty human sacrifices, more or less, 

 both among the Bagobos and the Bilanes, and that human sacrifice is 

 also practiced among the Tagacolos, although he has never been present 

 at one held by that tribe. 



"The Bagobos do not sacrifice any but old and decrepit or useless 

 slaves captured from other tribes, but the Bilanes sacrifice even their 

 own people. 



"Being asked if it was customary to eat any portion of the body 

 sacrificed, Ansig replied that it was not customary nor did he know 

 of any case where such had occurred. 



"The last sacrifice before this was held at Talun during the year 

 of the drought (about 1905) when a Bilan slave, an old man who was 

 paralyzed in one arm, was sacrificed by Datto Oling, his master. 



"Asked if the sacrifice of an animal would not do as well as that of 

 a human being, they said, 'No, better to have no sacrifice at all.' 



"They appeared utterly unconscious of having committed any 

 crime, told their story with frankness, said it was a matter not talked 

 about among their own people but that if we wanted to know the facts 

 they would give them to the authorities. They claimed the offering of 

 human sacrifices by their tribe to be an old custom and, as far as they 

 knew the only way to appease the wrath of the evil spirits, but said 

 if they were ordered to give the custom up they would do so even if 

 the devil got them all." 



Then follows the statement of an eye witness to the ceremony : 

 "My name is Modesta Barrera; I live in the town of Santa Cruz, my 

 father being a Visayan, my mother a Bagobo. I cannot read or write, 

 and I think that I am about twenty-three years old, although I am 

 not certain on that point. 



"On the 8th instant myself, Baon, Otoy, and Oton left Santa Cruz 

 early in the morning to go to Talun, a day's march from Santa Cruz, 

 for the purpose of trading with the natives of Talun, and also to collect 

 some debts which they owed Baon. We remained that night at 



