324 The Tinguian 



the spirits, who are killing people, to tell them to return. Dapeg leaves 

 the first town. He goes to another, and the dogs bark so that the 

 people cannot sleep. A man opens the door, to learn the cause of 

 the barking, and he sees a man, fat and tall, with nine heads, and 

 he carries many kinds of cakes. The man says, 'Now take these cakes, 

 and if you do not make Sangdsang for my mistress, at the river, you 

 shall die. You must find a rooster with long tail and spurs ; you must 

 mix its blood with rice, and put it in the river at dawn when no one 

 can see you.' The man makes Sangdsang the next night, and puts the 

 blood, mixed with rice, in a well dug by the river, so that the spirits 

 may take it to their mistress. Kideng also arrives and says, 'you must 

 come with me now, for she awaits you who are bearing this offering.' 

 They go and arrive. Their mistress eats and says, 'I did not think that 

 the blood of people tasted so badly, now I shall not send you again, for 

 you have already killed many people.' " 



When this chant is completed, the chicken is killed, as directed in 

 the song ; and at night the blood and rice are offered beside the stream. 1 

 The chicken is eaten by the family, and its feathers are tied to a string, 

 stretched across the room. Leaves are attached to the house-ladder 

 as a warning that all visitors are barred, and for three days the family 

 remains quietly indoors. 



Sagobay. 2 — This is one of the most widespread of the ceremonies, 

 for it not only covers the entire Tinguian belt, but extends into the 

 Igorot villages of the Upit river region and Ilocos Sur, as well as into 

 the Kalinga villages of the Malokbot valley. 



Its occurrence in connection with the rice-culture is fully described 

 elsewhere (cf. p. 400), so that at this place only its second function, 

 that of keeping illness from the town, is described. 



When an epidemic appears in a nearby settlement, the lakay sum- 

 mons the old men in council, and they decide on the number of pigs, 

 and the amount of rice, basi, and other articles required, after which 

 the necessary funds are secured by levying a tax on all the people 

 of the village. 



To keep the evil spirits, who bear the sickness, out of the town, a 

 cord of bamboo or rattan is stretched around the whole settlement, 

 while at the gate a high fence is erected. Through the uprights of 

 this fence are stuck bamboo spikes with the sharpened ends facing 



1 In Patok this offering is placed in a saloko, which is planted close to 

 the stream. 



1 Known in Ba-ak and Langiden as Daya, in Patok and vicinity as Komon 

 or Ubaiya. 



