190 EDITORIAL. 



these districts^ is made of brass and is imj^orted from Singapore. Agongs 

 cost from 20 to 50 pesos Philippine currency each and are the measure 

 of a man's wealth. Tongkaling had forty of these hanging about in liis 

 house at the time I visited him. In addition to the agong, the Bagobos 

 have a rude drum, not essentially different from any other drum, a 

 bamboo fiddle and a reed flute. The music is exceedingly simple and 

 monotonous. 



The entire system of living among the Bagobos is feudal, and slavery 

 is practiced among them. The man shown in the extreme left in Plate I 

 is a Bilan, and judging from the treatment received by him at the hands 

 of the Bagobos, it is not hard to believe that he is a slave. These people 

 do most of their traveling on horseback, riding very sturdy little ponies, 

 usually adorned with bells which they buy from the Chinese and which 

 they also use to decorate their clothing and pouches. The Bagobos 

 have been aptly termed "horse Indians." 



It is not my intention to present here a complete account of this 

 interesting people, as I have had neither the time to study them nor 

 the necessary training as an ethnologist to enable me to do so. However, 

 I wish to give some interesting information which I obtained from 

 Governor Allen Walker, of the district of Davao, relating to a most 

 interesting tribal religious custom. The special event which I am about 

 to relate took place the week before we arrived in the town of Digos, but 

 before presenting this account it may be well to give a few extracts from 

 the Jesuit letters bearing on tliis religious custom. 



Mr. Christie, of the division of etlinology of this Bureau, in searching 

 through the letters written by the Jesuit missionaries in Mindanao, found 

 references to human sacrifices. These references are in letters dated in 

 the years 1885 and 1886. They have not been copied verbatim, but 

 synopses are given. The first letter, that of Father Gisbert to the Father 

 Superior, dated Davao, April 2, 1885, says, in substance: 



The Bagobos have been making more human sacrifices, uotwitlistanding their 

 promises to the contrarj' and the vigilance of the writer. A slave girl from Cauit 

 mission, named Padal, was sold and sacrificed; also a pagan named Jlaguana. 

 "C^aptain Atas" also made a sacrifice a short time ago. 



The second letter from the same father to the fathers and brothers at 

 Vemela, dated Davao, January 4, 1886, contains the following interesting 

 information : 



The Bagobos have two feasts a year, one before planting and the other after 

 harvesting. The latter is innocent enough, and is known as the "women's feast." 

 All gather in the house of the headman late in the afternoon, where they eat the 

 best to be had and drink a beverage of fermented sugar-cane juice. They also 

 have instrumental music, singing and dancing, and the party usually breaks up 

 about morning 



The other feast is quite different, and though comic in some of its details, 

 is in its principal part, tragic, criminal and disgusting. The tragic part comes 



