gg The Philippine Journal of Science ww 



hoped that the discovery of these manuscripts will stimulate 

 further investigations. 



Among the pagan mountain peoples, with which this paper 

 will chiefly deal, there are no written myths except those which 

 have been recorded by Europeans in modern times. Some of 

 the myths are sung or chanted only, while others are repeated 

 in the form of stories. In nearly every case, the repeating of 

 the myths forms an important part of the religious ceremonies 

 of the people. Many different grades of culture are represented 

 among these mountain peoples, and we find a correspondingly 

 unequal development of their mythologies. All classes are rep- 

 resented: primitive, such as the beliefs of the Mangyans of 

 Mindoro, the Tagbanwas of Palawan, and the Ilongots of north- 

 ern Luzon; mediocre, as the beliefs of the pagan tribes of 

 Mindanao; and highly developed, such as the elaborate poly- 

 theisms of the Ifugaos, Igorots, Kalingas, and the other peoples 

 of the Mountain Province in Luzon. 



Most of the myths and legends recorded here were collected 

 by men well acquainted with the dialect of the people from 

 whom the myth or legend was obtained; they are, therefore, 

 of much greater value than if they had been secured through 

 interpreters. 



I shall next discuss a few myths from each of the classes 



just mentioned. 



PRIMITIVE BELIEFS 



Our knowledge of the more primitive tribes of the Philippines 

 is very limited and is chiefly confined to the material culture, 

 together with a few of the more obvious social traits. Nothing 

 like a complete study of any one of these tribes has ever been 

 made. Of the Ilongots, most of our knowledge ^ is contained in 

 the records of the early Spanish missionaries of the first part 

 of the 18th century, at which time an extensive exploration of 

 the Ilongot country was made.^ There are two modern sources 

 of information : a paper by Worcester,* which deals chiefly with 

 the material culture, and the notes of Dr. William Jones, who 

 was killed while studying the ethnology of this people. Dr. 

 Jones' notes are now in the possession of the Field Museum, 



' A complete bibliography cannot be given within the limits of this 

 paper, but a number of the most important printed titles and manu- 

 scripts have been cited. 



'Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands. Cleveland (1906), 37; 

 (1907), 48. 



* This Journal (1906), 1, 812-818. Many plates illustrating Ilongot types 

 and culture are given. 



