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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



FIGHTING FOR A SINGLE PIECE) OF THE CARABAO 



him loose, and insist that he shall be 

 killed with an axe. The Ifugaos agree 

 to make this concession to American 

 prejudice. He is knocked down and the 

 usual scrimmage follows. Meanwhile 

 the men wounded in the first melee have 

 come to have their cuts sewed up and 

 bandaged, for they have already learned 

 to have great confidence in the white 

 man's medicine and surgery. They are 

 sure that we must be good Ifugaos and 

 brothers, because we are willing to do 

 them this service. Before we have fin- 

 ished with the first lot of wounded, hun- 

 dreds of men and women are squatting 

 around us and showing their appreciation 

 by singing to us the Ifugao love song. 



One after another the carabaos meet 

 their fate, and one after another the dif- 

 ferent delegations go marching off to the 

 tune of gansa music, each taking with it 

 a goodly supply of meat for women and 

 children at home, who perhaps may 

 never before have tasted any. 



The next day we continue our jour- 

 ney, dropping down from the mountains 

 to the Christian town of Bagabag, in 

 Nueva Vizcaya, escorted all the way by 

 Silipan Ifugaos, who were the terror of 

 the Spaniards ; who annihilated an entire 



garrison at Payoan, on this very trail ; 

 who exacted a heavy annual toll of 

 heads from the people of Bagabag, and 

 who made the main trail from Nueva 

 Vizcaya to Isabella so dangerous that 

 three strong garrisons were constantly 

 maintained on it, and that people were 

 not allowed to travel over it except under 

 military escort, and even so were often 

 attacked and killed. 



At Bagabag we receive an enthusiastic 

 reception. The people of this town are 

 more than grateful, because the govern- 

 ment has made their lives and property 

 safe. They will tell you that the Ifugaos 

 believe the Secretary of the Interior, 

 Lieutenant Governor Gallman, and Lieu- 

 tenant Meimban to be genuine gods, 

 recently reincarnated. In no other way 

 can these Christian Filipinos explain the 

 fact that we have been able to cause 

 120,000 head-hunters to give up head- 

 hunting and to leave them in peace ! In 

 point of fact the Ifugaos believe nothing 

 of the sort, but they are convinced that 

 we are pretty good Ifugaos, and they 

 have the best of reasons for knowing 

 that we are their friends. 



We have been able to get results in 

 dealing with wild men by following the 



