BENEDICT, BAGOBO CEBEMONIAL, MAGIC AND MYTH 247 



augury vary somewhat, though the postponing of a journey or the 

 abandoning of* the expedition is usually involved. A Bagobo told 

 me that if the limokun were heard to whistle the journey must 

 be abandoned for that day. Either a return home, or a mere wait 

 on the road, will avert the threatened disaster. Certain other in- 

 vestigators 37 ° have recorded that the advance or retreat of the party 

 must be determined by the direction whence the limokun's voice 

 comes — whether from the right hand or the left hand side of 

 the path. 377 



Omens of life and of death, of wealth and of poverty, are read 

 in the lines on the palm of the hand by Bagobos skilled in such 

 matters. 



Among my acquaintances were two young men and one old chief- 

 tain who understood a little of palmistry. The long curved line 

 that follows the direction of the attachment of the thumb is called 

 the laiva, which, when it ends proximally in many fine roots, means 

 that the person will have a long life. The well-defined line 

 running across the hand below the fingers is the kulili, which, if 

 strong and deeply-marked, signifies that the individual will grow 

 rich and possess many things. The line running transversely be- 

 tween the kulili and the lawa is named the tidalan, but I am un- 

 able to state its meaning, as my note on this line is broken off. 

 A faint line passing lengthwise over the middle of the palm, and 

 crossing the tidalan and the kulili, is to be seen in the hands of 

 some persons; this is the bera kamati, and its presence indicates 

 that one is the last of the family, that all of the other members 

 are dead. The short line near the wrist, running obliquely from 



3 ' G Father Gisbert wrote, in 1886, as follows concerning the limokun augur among 

 the Bagobo: "The song of the limocon is for them the message from God. It is of good 

 or evil augury according to circumstances. Accordingly, when the limocon sings every 

 Bagobo stops and looks about him. If he sees, for instance, a fallen tree, the limocon 

 advises him not to advance farther, for the fate of that tree awaits him, aud he turns 

 back. If he sees no particular thing which indicates or prognosticates any ill, he con- 

 tinues, for then the song of the limocon is good." Blair and Robertson: op. ciL, vol. 

 43, p. 238. 1906. 



3 7 7 Bishop Aduarte, writing in 1640 of the inhabitants of Nueva Segovia, probably 

 refers to the limokun in this passage. "If they heard the singing of a certain bird 

 which they regarded as a bad omen, they did not go on at all with what they had 

 undertaken, even though they had traveled for many days, and even in the case of an 

 entire army in war. They acted in the same manner if the bird came or flew toward 

 their left hand, or if it turned its bill in such or such a direction." See his "Hi9toria. . ." 

 Blaik and Robertson, vol. 30, p. 287. 1905. 



