vm, D, 2 Beyer: Myths Among Mountain Peoples 93 



In order that your most illustrious Lordship may know the cere- 

 monies that those people use in consecrating the swine, they first sound 

 those large gongs. Then three large dishes are brought in; two with 

 roses and with cakes of rice and millet, baked and wrapped in leaves, and 

 roast fish; the other with cloth of Cambaia and two standards made of 

 palm-tree cloth. One bit of cloth of Cambaia is spread on the ground. 

 Then two very old women come, each of whom has a bamboo trumpet in 

 her hand. When they have stepped upon the cloth they make obeisance to 

 the sun. Then they wrap the cloths about themselves. One of them puts 

 a kerchief with two horns on her forehead, and takes another kerchief in 

 her hands, and dancing and blowing upon her trumpet, she thereby calls 

 out to the sun. The other takes one of the standards and dances and 

 blows on her trumpet. They dance and call out thus for a little space, 

 saying many things between themselves to the sun. She with the kerchief 

 takes the other standard, and lets the kerchief drop, and both blowing on 

 their trumpets for a long time, dance about the bound hog. She with the 

 horns always speaks covertly to the sun, and the other answers her. A 

 cup of wine is presented to her of the horns, and she dancing and repeating 

 certain words, while the other answers her, and making pretense four or 

 five times of drinking the wine, sprinkles it upon the heart of the hog. 

 Then she immediately begins to dance again. A lance is given to the same 

 woman. She shaking it and repeating certain words, while both of them 

 continue to dance, and making motions four or five times of thrusting 

 the lance through the heart of the hog, with a sudden and quick stroke, 

 thrusts it through from one side to the other. The wound is quickly 

 stopped with grass. The one who has killed the hog, taking in her mouth 

 a lighted torch, which has been lighted throughout that ceremony, extin- 

 guishes it. The other one dipping the end of her trumpet in the blood of 

 the hog, goes around marking with blood with her finger first the fore- 

 heads of their husbands, and then the others; but they never came to us. 

 Then they divest themselves and go to eat the contents of those dishes, 

 and they invite only women (to eat with them). The hair is removed 

 from the hog by means of fire. Thus no one but old women consecrate 

 the flesh of the hog, and they do not eat it unless it is killed in this way. 



This ceremony, almost the same as described by Pigafetta, is 

 in use among the Ifugaos to-day, although it is performed by 

 men instead of by women and differs in a few minor details. 



I shall next discuss the religion and mythology of the Igorots, 

 Bontoks, and Ifugaos, treated separately and in more detail. 



THE IGOROTS 



These people occupy the subprovinces of Benguet, Lepanto, 

 and Amburayan in the Mountain Province. The region of their 

 purest culture is in northern Benguet and eastern Lepanto. Of 

 the religion of this region, we have considerable information 

 from the writings of Fr. Angel Perez, an Augustinian mis- 

 sionary; Sr. Sinforoso Bondad of Cervantes, Lepanto; and a 

 number of personal observations made by myself. 



