BENEDICT, BAGOBO CEBEMONIAL, MAGIC AX J) MYTH 133 



by the other seven men, leaped toward the structure from which 

 the agongs hung, and seized hold of its long rods, round which 

 ogbus vine had been twined at an earlier hour. The eight men, 

 close clasping vine and pole, raised the same war cry that we had 

 heard from afar. There was a long drawn out nasal, prolonged 

 by holding the tongue against the palate so as to produce a humming 

 sound on one note — n-n-n-n-n-n-n ! — followed by a continued 

 sonant — r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r ! — given with open throat and resonant 

 voice, while the bodies of the men swayed slightly back and forth. 

 When this behavior had lasted for several minutes, Ido sprang to 

 the agongs, grasped a tap-tap, and beat the instruments with short, 

 ringing strokes, his face expressing a jubilant ecstasy, as he darted 

 from Tarabun to Matia, and from Matia to Mabaffunff. -°' He 

 produced such a grand clash of percussion melody that one felt a 

 sense of trampling under foot all foes to the Bagobo. From the 

 first signal at dawn until now, the agongs had not been struck. 



Next followed the ceremonial decoration of the bamboos. The 

 two poles were of unequal length and girth, the longer one con- 

 sisting of nine internodes, and the shorter one of eight internodes. 

 The longer bamboo was perhaps fifteen or more feet in length (the 

 exact measurements I failed to secure). With one end resting on 

 the floor, and the other end on a cross-beam of the house, each 

 bamboo stood at a gradual slant during the time that the men were 

 working on their decoration. 



First, Ido scraped on each pole four lines running from one end 

 to the other, as an outline for the detailed work. On these lines, 

 the men shaved 20S off the skin of the bamboo in short lengths, 



207 Specific names of the instruments. 



203 The ceremonial use of shaved poles, and of bunches of shavings, among the Ainu 

 of Saghalin is discussed very fully by Sternberg. After mentioning the various hypotheses 

 in regard to the significance of this element, as put forth by Batchelor, Bird, Dobrot- 

 vorski and Aston, the writer states his own conclusions : namely, that the shaved sticks 

 to which the Ainu give the name of inao represent supernatural agents who carry the 

 prayers and offerings of the Ainu to God, and that the shavings themselves are the 

 tongues of the mediating-envoy. The Ainu place these inao at the door, in front of 

 the house, and at spots on the mountains, in the forest, and at the riverside. On special 

 occasions, as after recovery from an illness, or on returning from a journey, such shaved 

 sticks are set up. The bear to be offered in sacrifice is often decorated with bunches of 

 shavings. "To sum up," Dr. Sternberg says, "inao are shaved trees and pieces of wood, 

 commonly in the shape of human figures, which act as man's intercessors before deities. 

 Their power lies in their numerous tongues (shavings), which increase the suasive power 

 of their eloquence to an extraordinary degree." (p. 436) "This odd cult," he states, "has 



