118 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



When the magic greens, known as sagmo, were ready, the 

 priestess sat holding them all, while the people gathered for the 

 walk to the river. Presently Ido said, "Panoydun" (Let us go), 

 and Singan glanced swiftly at Datu Oleng, who at once gave her 

 a signal to make the start. Then, with Singan well in advance, 

 leading the way, we all set out. Singan was closely followed by 

 Saliman, pale and emaciated from his long illness, and by two of 

 the little children. At a short distance behind, Oleng led all the 

 other people who were to be partakers of the rite. I was directly 

 behind Oleng ; then came Buat ; then Sail, Oleng's elder brother, 

 a very aged man 5 then other members of the family : Ido, Inok 

 (Oleng's third son), Sigo with her girl-cousin Odik, Miyanda, and 

 a long line of Oleng's sons, nephews and grandchildren, with a 

 number of friends and guests. 



The people, for the most part, wore their every-day clothes ■ 

 Oleng, his customary blue cotton jacket and hemp trousers of a 

 dull claret color, his well-worn tankulu bound round his head ; the 

 women went down dressed just as on an ordinary working day ; 

 many of the men wore trousers only, and plain ones at that. Ido 

 alone had dressed for the occasion in a splendid pair of festival 

 trousers made by his Bila-an wife, who had decorated them richly 

 with embroidery of fine needle-work and applique, and with figures 

 done in small mother-of-pearl discs. 



After a climb of perhaps twenty minutes down a bank that, for 

 a part of the distance, was steep and slippery, we found ourselves 

 at the bottom of a sharply Y-shaped valley, where the grade of the 

 stream's bod was slight and the stream ran shallow and was not 

 over ten or twelve feet in width. As the bed of the river widened 

 out, it was full of great stones and boulders that told of the work 

 of a young and vigorous stream which, during violent storms, had 

 rolled the boulders down the steeper grades, but in this more 

 level place had become overloaded with stones and debris and was 

 reduced to a mere brook. Here and there, where the shallow 

 current had become blocked, there were little pools hedged in by 

 slippery white boulders, and in other places there were Hat stones 

 with their tops fairly above the surface of the water, and convenient 

 to stand on. 



They consulted together as to the exact spot for the ceremony, 

 whereupon Oleng seated himself on one of the stony resting-places, 

 while the hoys and younger men busied themselves in clearing a 



