THE IFUGAOS OF QUINGAN AND VICINITY. 243 



and await impatiently the tirst blow b.y the owner on the head of the 

 victim. When this has been given^ they all riTsh up like eavniverous 

 animals in order to cut off good pieces, which they carry to their houses. 

 (Plate XII.) In the wink of an eye they cut to pieces the carabao, 

 which, kicking and bellowing passes instantly into the hands of his 

 v.oracious enemies in tli* midst of horrible confusion and tremendous 

 outcry. They get very angry when they can not obtain any meat. Some 

 of them take away from others, if they can, what the latter have obtained. 

 (Plate XIII.) The most audacious threaten the more timid with the 

 knife in order to make them abandon the prize, and almost always some 

 of them get wounded in order to eat a little meat. But it is the custom 

 that he who is wounded shall bear it, because the action is considered 

 involuntary. They carry away even the contents of the intestines as a 

 thing which pleases them greatly. The nobility acquired and preserved 

 in this manner endures only while the riches last. These for the most 

 part are not handed down to the descendants, although the latter are 

 called always "sons of nobles," a fact which they appreciate highly. 



TENEKATION FOE THE OLD, CONSIDEEATION FOR WOMEN, AND RESPECT OR 

 LACK OF CONFIDENCE AMONG THEMSELVES. 



They have great respect for the aged, even regarding them with 

 superstitious fear, the reason being that they are their priests and 

 diviners, and the interpreters of their idolatrous customs to which they 

 are very closely wedded. This is the circle by which is limited the 

 authority of these old j^eople without its reaching even indirectly in- 

 dividual liberty, and the usages of life. In case of invasion by enemies, 

 they exert a moral influence, the Ifugaos following the bravest and those 

 of the strongest character; guided in this rather by the spirit of self- 

 preservation than by respect and veneration. For the rest, if one did 

 not wish to do his share for fear or other motives, nothing would happen 

 to him except blushes and shame, of which they make much account. 



Women are held in high respect, so much so that in case of a war 

 between family and famil)^, settlement and settlement, or those inhabiting 

 contiguous territories, the Ifugaos of Quiangan do not attack women or 

 children, avenging themselves only on the men of adult age." The women 

 and children can go where they like without an}' fear. 



° The Ifugaos of Quiangan have no more respect for women and children than 

 do those of other regions. They Avill all kill women and children of their enemies 

 and take their heads whenever they get the opportunity. All through the Quian- 

 gan Valley the people of the different rancherfas are intermarried. The Ifugao 

 does not hesitate, in a spirit of revenge, to kill a male relative, but 1 have never 

 known him to kill a female relative. This fact possibly accounts for the theory 

 that the Quiangan Ifugaos do not molest women and cliildren. (L. E. Case.) 



