September, 19 13. Wild Tribes of Davao District — Cole. 173 



A great lake exists in the sky and it is the spray from its waves which 

 fall to the earth as rain. When angered the spirits sometimes break 

 the banks of this lake and allow torrents of water to fall on the earth 

 below. 



According to Mr. Maxey, the Mandaya of Cateel believe that many 

 generations ago a great flood occurred which caused the death of all 

 the inhabitants of the world except one pregnant woman. She prayed 

 that her child might be a boy. Her prayer was answered and she 

 gave birth to a son whose name was Uacatan. He, when he had grown 

 up, took his mother for his wife and from this union have sprung all the 

 Mandaya. 



Quite a different account is current among the people of Mayo. 

 From them we learn that formerly the Mmokon, 1 although a bird, could 

 talk like a man. At one time it laid two eggs, one at the mouth and 

 one at the source of the Mayo river. These hatched and from the one 

 at the headwaters of the river came a woman named Mag, 2 while a 

 man named BEgenday" emerged from the one near the sea. For 

 many years the man dwelt alone on the bank of the river, but one day, 

 being lonely and dissatisfied with his location, he started to cross the 

 stream. While he was in deep water a long hair was swept against his 

 legs and held him so tightly that he narrowly escaped drowning. When 

 he succeeded in reaching the shore he examined the hair and at once 

 determined to find its owner. After wandering many days he met the 

 woman and induced her to be his wife. From this union came all the 

 Mandaya. 



A variant of this tale says that both eggs were laid up stream and 

 that one hatched a woman, the other a snake. The snake went down 

 the current until it arrived at the place where the sea and the river 

 meet. There it blew up and a man emerged from its carcass. The 

 balance of the tale is as just related. This close relationship of the 

 limokon to the Mandaya is given as the reason why its calls are given 

 such heed. A traveler on the trail hearing the cooing of this bird at 

 once doubles his fist and points it in the direction from whence the 

 sound came. If this causes the hand to point to the right side it is a 

 sign that success will attend the journey. 3 If, however, it points to 

 the left, in front., or in back, the Mandaya knows that the omen bird 

 is warning him of danger or failure, and he delays or gives up his mission. 

 The writer was once watching some Mandaya as they were clearing a 



1 See p. 63 note. 



2 Also known as Manway and Samay. 



3 Maxey states exactly the opposite, for the Mandaya of Cateel, i. e., the right 

 side is bad, the left good. 



