September, 1913. Wild Tribes of Davao District — Cole. 193 



writer knows of several eases where young people openly lived together 

 without being considered married, and later the parents arranged 

 marriages between these girls and other suitors. 



According to several informants, incest is punished by the sacrifice 

 of the guilty parties. They are tied to a tree with their hands drawn 

 backward around the trunks and are then speared to death. This 

 seems to be the one and only occasion when human sacrifice is practiced 

 by members of this tribe. 



SICKNESS AND DEATH. 

 When a person is seriously ill a ballyan is summoned and she, after 

 securing prepared rice, betel-nuts, and a live chicken, enters into com- 

 munication with the spirits. First she converses with the dead father 

 or other deceased relative of the sick person and requests his aid in 

 effecting a cure, next she presents food to Diwata and implores his 

 aid, and finally calls upon the asuang to whom she offers the live fowl 

 on the condition that they will cease trying to injure the patient. 

 Having thus done all in her power to influence the spirits she may 

 administer some simple remedy, after which she begins to dance contra- 

 clockwise, around a bamboo pole on which leaves and betel-nut have 

 been hung. 1 



If this treatment proves to be of no avail and the patient dies his 

 body is placed in the center of the house and for two days and nights 

 is guarded by relatives and friends. During the time that the body 

 remains in the dwelling the family is required to fast and all the people 

 of the settlement are prohibited from playing on agongs, from singing 

 or indulging in other signs of merriment. Finally, the body is wrapped 

 in a mat and in buried in the forest. 2 



Returning from the burial all the people partake of a feast and then 

 set fire to the dwelling "because we do not like the asuang which killed 

 the man in that house." During the ensuing nine days the spouse of 



1 This ceremony usually takes place in the house, but if the man was taken ill 

 in the forest or in his field it may be conducted there. 



- Maxey gives the following account of burial near Cateel: "The dead person 

 is dressed in his best clothes, wrapped in a piece of abaca cloth, and placed in a coffin 

 of bamboo poles, or one hewn from a solid log, if the person was one of means, and 

 buried. If of the poorer class he is merely wrapped in a piece of matting, and either 

 buried or covered over with stones, sticks, and the like. If of high rank, the body 

 is not buried, but after preparation is taken into the forest and placed in a small 

 hut under a balete tree. Food, spears, bolos, hats, shields, and some articles of 

 furniture are placed on the graves to placate the spirits who might otherwise bring 

 harm to the surviving members of the clan or family. There is no fixed period of 

 mourning, but the members of the family must wear black for some time after the 

 death. The sick are never abandoned prior to death, but slaves nearing death are 

 sometimes killed to stop their sufferings. The owner, however, must first consult 

 with others of the clan." 



