CHAPTER IV

RELIGIOUS IDEAS AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS IN GENERAL

A BRIEF SURVEY OF RELIGION

A study of Manóbo religion is difficult because of the natural secretiveness and suspiciousness of this primitive man, because of his dependence for his religious ideas on his priests, because of the variations and apparent contradictions that arise at every step, and, finally, because of his inability to expound in a satisfactory manner the beliefs of his religious system.

THE BASIS, INFLUENCE, AND MACHINERY OF RELIGION

The religious belief of the Manóbo is an essential part of his life. On his person he often carries religious objects. The site for his home is not selected till omens and oracles are consulted. In his method of cooking there are religious rules. He can not procure his meat from the forest nor his fish from the streams without making an appropriate offering. He sows and harvests his rice under the auspices of certain deities. His hunting dogs are under the protection of a special divinity. His bolo and his spear must answer a special magic test. He can not go forth to fight till divination and sacrifice have assured him success. All the great events of his life--his marriage, the pregnacy[sic] and parturition of his wife, death, burial, war--all are consecrated by formal, and often public, religious rites.

As far as I have been able to judge, fear of the deities of evil spirits, of the dead--of all that is unintelligible, unusual, somber--is the mainspring of the Manóbos religious observances and beliefs.

In order to detect the evils, natural and supernatural, to which he may be exposed, he has recourse to dreams, divination, auguries, and omens, and, in more serious cases he calls upon his priests to ascertain by invocation, oblation, and sacrifice, the source of the evil that has befallen him, or of the danger that he fears.

THE HIERARCHY OF MANÓBO DIVINITIES, BENEFICENT AND MALIGNANT

There is no supreme being in the Manóbo pantheon, though there are two principal classes of beneficent divinities. Little is known of one of these classes beyond its supposed existence. The other class is made up of humanlike deities called _diwáta_ that retain a fondness for this world and the good things thereof. They select mortals for their favorites, and through them keep themselves provided with such earthly delicacies as they may desire, even though they may have to plague their mortal votaries in order to secure them.

There is another category of spirits, of a slightly different character, whose desire is blood. These are the war divinities that select certain individuals for their champions and urge them on to deeds of valor, with the hope of procuring blood.

In contradistinction to the above divinities are others of a malignant or dangerous character. Chief among them are the _búsau_, black, hideous spirits that dwell in dark, desolate places, and who are for the most part implacable enemies of man. To counteract the machinations of these spirits, the beneficent dieties[sic] are called upon by Manóbo priests and feasted with song and dance and sacrifice. Pleased with these tokens of friendship, the good spirits pursue the evil ones, and even engage in battle with them.

The _tagbánua_ are a class of local spirits that reign over the forest tracts and mountains. They are not of an unkindly nature as long as a certain amount of respect is paid them. Hence the practice of making offerings during hunting and other forest occupations.

Among the other inimical spirits are: The rice pilferer, _Dágau_; _Anit_, the thunderbolt spirit; numerous epidemic demons; the goddess of consanguineous love and marriage; the spirit of sexual excess; the wielder of the lightning and the manipulator of the winds and storms; the cloud spirit; and various others.

Agricultural and hunting operations are all performed under the auspices of gods and goddesses. Thus _Hakiádan_ and _Taphágan_ take care of the rice during sowing and harvest time, respectively; _Tagamáling_ attends to other crops; _Libtákan_ is the god of sunshine and good weather; and _Sugújun_ is the god of the chase.

There are other gods: _Mandáit_, the birth deity; _Ibú_, the goddess of the afterworld; _Makalídung_, the founder of the world; _Manduyápit_, the ferryman; and _Yúmud_, the water wraith.

PRIESTS----THEIR FUNCTIONS, ATTRIBUTES, AND EQUIPMENT

The performance of nearly all the greater religious rites is left to the priests who are of two classes--_bailán_ or ordinary priests, and _bagáni_ or war priests. It is the prerogative of these priests to hold communication with their familiar spirits; to find out from them their desires; to learn the doings of the unfriendly spirits, and the means to be taken for a mitigation of the evil in question.

The ordinary priests are simple intermediaries, claiming no wondrous powers, making use of no deceptive nor mercenary methods, as far as my observation goes, with no particular dress and little paraphernalia, having no political influence, but possessing, in all that concerns religion, paramount authority. Their title to priesthood is derived from violent manifestations, such as trembling, perspiring, belching, semiunconsciousness, that are believed to be a result of communication with their familiars.

The war priests have blood spirits for their favorites, and accordingly perform their rites only in matters that concern war and wounds.

Ceremonial accessories consist of a few heirlooms, a small altar house, a wooden oblation tray, a one-legged stand, a sacrificial table, ceremonial decorations, sacred images, and sacrificial offerings.

The religious rites peculiar to the ordinary priests, consist of betel-nut offerings, the burning of incense, invocations, prophylactic fowl waving, omen taking, blood unction, the child ceremony, the death feast, the rice-planting ceremony, the hunting rite, and the sacrifice of pig or fowl.

The ceremonies peculiar to the warrior priests, besides the betel-nut tribute to the war spirits and invocation offered to them, are: Invocation and offerings to the spirit companions or "souls" of the living enemy, special forms of divination connected with war, a special invocation to the omen bird preparatory to the war raid, placation and propitiation of the tutelary war deities by invocation, by sacrifice, and ceremonial cannibalism; and, probably, in the remote districts, by human sacrifice.

THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF MANÓBO RELIGION

The main features, then, of the Manóbo religious system are:

(1) A firm traditional belief in the existence of anthropomorphic beneficent deities that will help the Manóbo if he supplies them with the offerings they desire, but, if not, that will allow and even cause evil to befall him.

(2) A belief in the existence of forest spirits and sky spirits, who on occasions may become hostile and must be propitiated.

(3) An absolute reliance on priests, who are the favorites of one or more of the friendly divinities, and through whose mediation he secures their good will and assistance.

(4) The fear of the dead who are thought to harbor an envious feeling toward the living.

(5) The frequent consultation or interpretation of omens, auguries, and oracles for ascertaining future events.

(6) A rigid adherence to a numerous set of taboos, some based on religious ideas, some founded on sympathetic magic.

(7) A frequent application of the principle of sympathetic magic by which one act is believed to be productive of a correlated result.

(8) A conscientious avoidance of everything disrespectful in word and act toward one of the brute creation.

(9) A belief in two spirit companions that accompany each mortal from birth till death.

(10) A belief in the possibility of capture of one of these spirit companions by malignant spirits.

(11) A universal and constant faith in the existence of an afterworld and of the eternal survival of at least one spirit companion therein.

(12) A belief in dreams as being often indicative of future evil.

(13) A belief in secret methods that may be productive of harm to others.

(14) The recourse to oaths and ordeals for the enforcement of promises and for the determination of truth.

(15) The unmistakable apotheosis of bravery as illustrated by the warlike character of one class of deities.

Such are the main characteristics of this form of primitive religion. The peculiar fear, entertained by its lowly votary, of lonely mountains, odd-shaped rocks, gloomy caves and holes, hot springs and similar formations of nature; his belief that planted things have "souls" and his peculiar respect for animals and insects--these and minor manifestations may point perhaps to a former nature and animal worship, but at present there is no indication of such. The Manóbo's conduct in the presence of such objects and phenomena is one of fear toward, and placation of, the agencies which he believes produce the phenomena or of the spirit owners of the objects that come across his path. It is to them alone that he pays his respect, and not to the material object or manifestation that has become the object of his perception.

Though one of the characteristics of Manóbo religion is the apotheosis of bravery, as is apparent from the warlike character of the divinities, and from the general desire to die the death of the slain, yet I find little trace of ancestor worship. The dead are feared, their burial place is shunned, their character is deemed perfidious, and relations with them are terminated by a farewell mortuary feast, after which it is expected that they will depart, to vex the living no more.

MENTAL AND OTHER ATTAINMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The Manóbo's intellectual attainments are very limited. He counts on his fingers and on his toes, or by means of material objects such as grains of maize. He has never had any system of writing and does not know how to read. His "letters" and his "contracts" are material objects in the shape of bolos and other things, sent from one person to another with a verbal message, or strips of rattan with knots. His method of counting is decimal, and comprehends all numbers up to a hundred, though I am inclined to think that this last number represents to him infinity.

The reckoning of time is equally simple. The day is divided into day and night, the hour being indicated by stretching out the arm and open hand in the direction of that part of the sky where the sun or the moon would be at the time it is desired to indicate.

The month is not divided into weeks but the lunar month itself is carefully followed, each phase of the moon having its distinct name, though it is only in the case of the extreme of each phase that they agree on its name.

Years are reckoned by the recurrence of the rice-harvesting season, which varies according to the climate and geographical position of different regions. It is seldom that one can count backwards more than four or five years unless he can help his memory by some event such as an earthquake, and extra heavy flood, the arrival of the Spanish missionaries, the Philippine insurrection, or the growth of trees, but as a rule no attempt is made to determine the number of years that have elapsed since any event. I have seldom met a Manóbo who had any idea as to his age, or any ability to judge approximately of the age of another.

Historical knowledge is confined almost entirely to events that have occured[sic] within one's lifetime. There are few traditions that have any historical value, and even in these there is an element of the wonderful that makes them unreliable as guides.

It is obvious that the pagan Manóbo has made no advance along academic lines, clue to the fact that he never has had an opportunity afforded him, but judging of his intellectual ability by that of the Christianized Manóbos, it is not inferior to that of the Bisáya. I had experience in organizing and conducting schools among the _conquistas_, and it has been my experience that _ceteris paribus_, they advance as rapidly as Bisáyas. If the _conquistas_ have not progressed as far intellectually, it is due to lack of facilities and not to any inherent inability to learn.

Knowledge of astronomy is limited among the Manóbos to the names of a few of the principal stars and constellations. The nature of the stars, moon, sun, eclipses, and kindred phenomena are all explained in mythological tales, from a belief in which no amount of reasoning can move them. The old story that the comet is the harbinger or bearer of disease is in vogue.

Esthetic arts, such as painting and architecture, are unknown, though Manóbos can carve rude and often fantastic wooden images, and can make crude tracings and incisions on lime tubes and baskets.

Notwithstanding their lack of scientific and esthetic knowledge, their observation of nature is marvelous. This is obviously due to long familiarity with the forest, the stream, and the mountains. From his boyhood years the Manóbo has lived the life of the forest. He has scanned the trees for birds and monkeys, the streams for fish. Living, as he generally has, within a definite district, and roaming over it in search of game and other things to eat, at the same time keeping a close watch for any variation that might indicate the presence of an outsider, he has come to possess those marvelous powers of sight and of observation that would astonish the average white man. Within his own district the position of every tree is known. Every stream and every part of it, every mountain, every part of the forest is known and has its appropriate name. The position of a place is explained in a few words to a fellow tribesman, and is understood by the latter.

Trees and plants are recognized, and their adaptation in a great many cases for certain economic uses is known, though I think that, in his knowledge of the latter, the Manóbo is inferior to both the Bisáya and the Mandáya, as he is undoubtedly of a more conservative and less enterprising disposition.

The Manóbo character has been so maligned by missionaries, and by all the Bisáyas who have dealings with them, that it deserves a clearance from the aspersions that have been cast upon it. In dealing with the Manóbo, as with all primitive peoples, the personal equation brings out more than anything else the good qualities that underlie his character. Several of the missionaries seem not to have distinguished between the pagan and the man. To them the pagan was the incarnation of all that is vile, a creature whose every act was dictated by the devil. The Bisáya regarded him somewhat in the same light, but went further. He looked upon him as his enemy because of the many acts of retribution, even though retribution was merited, that had been committed by the Manóbo or by his ancestors. He entertained a feeling of chagrin and disappointment that this primitive man was unwilling to become an absolute tool in his hands for thorough exploitation. Hence no name, however vile, was too bad for the poor forest dweller who refused to settle near his plantation and toil--man, woman, and child--for an utterly inadequate wage. His feeling toward the _conquistas_ is little, if at all, better.

Upon first acquaintance the Manóbo is timid and suspicious. This is due to the extreme cautiousness that teaches him to guard a life that among his own people has only a nominal value. When in the presence of strangers for the first time, he remembers that reprisals have been bandied from time immemorial between his people on the one hand, and Bisáyas, on the other, and he realizes that without proper care, reprisals might be made on him. Again, if the visitor has penetrated into his district, his suspicion may be aroused to its full force by calumnious reports or rumors that may have preceded the visitor's arrival. My own visits were frequently preceded by rumors to the effect that I had magic power to poison or to do other things equally wonderful, that I was a solider[sic] in disguise, or by other similar reports. But in these cases and in all others one may allay the timorousness and suspiciousness of these primitive people to a great extent by previous announcement of one's visit and intentions, and upon arrival in their settlement, by refraining from any act or word that might betray one's curiosity. Surprise must not be expressed at anything that takes place. The mere question as to what, for instance, is beyond such and such a mountain, or where is the headwaters of such and such a stream, may start up the full flame of suspicion. Hence prudence, a kind, quiet, but alert manner, a good reputation from the last visited locality and a distribution of trifling gifts, is always efficacious in removing that feeling of distrust that these primitive people feel toward a stranger.

Another charge is that they are revengeful. They certainly believe in "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Revenge for an unatoned wrong is a stern, fundamental, eternal law, sanctioned by Manóbo institutions, social, political, and religious; one that is consecrated by the breath of the dying, and passed on from generation to generation to be fulfilled; but it has one saving clause, _arbitration_. Hence a stranger must inform himself of such past happenings as might jeopardize him. The Manóbo has a very limited conception of the extent of the outside world and of the number of its inhabitants, and he is inclined to believe that one American, for instance, knows every other one and may be related by blood to any other. Hence any imprudent action on the part of one may draw down revenge on the head of another[1], relative or not, for even innocent third parties may, by Manóbo custom, be sacrificed to the unsatisfied spirit of revenge. The danger, however, in which a stranger might find himself from this cause, is easily eliminated by questioning the people as to who had wronged them on previous occasions; and should he learn that he is considered a party to the wrong through identity of blood or of race with the guilty one, he must gently suggest a plan for arbitration at some later date, and in other pacific ways avert the revenge from himself.

[1] It is not improbable that the death of Mr. H. M. Ickis, geologist of the Bureau of Science, Manila, was partly due to the capture and exile of one Gubat of the upper Umaíam some 15 or 20 years ago.

It is, moreover, affirmed that Manóbos are treacherous. If by treachery is meant a violation of faith and confidence, they can not be said to be treacherous. They kill when they feel that they are wronged. I know of few cases where they did not openly avow their feelings and demand reparation. Refusal to make the reparation demanded is equivalent to a declaration of war, and in war all is fair. It is every man's duty to safeguard himself as best he can. The Manóbo, Mandáya, Mañgguáñgan, and Debabáon houses erected in strategic positions throughout the interior of eastern Mindanáo, bear witness to the fact that these people recognize the principle that all is fair in war. The fact that they frequently carry their spears and shields when on the trail, and in time of trouble accompany their womenfolk to the farms and guard them there, is sufficient evidence of the fact that every means must be taken to safeguard one's self and interests from an enemy. But let a case be once arbitrated, and beeswax burned or other solemn manifestation of agreement be made, and it is my opinion that the pledge will not, as a rule, be broken.

Cowardice is a trait attributed to Manóbos and other people of Mindanáo. It is true that they do not take inordinate risks. The favorite hour for attack on an enemy's house is dawn. They prefer to thrust a spear through the floor rather than to call the enemy out to fight a hand-to-hand battle. In other cases they prefer to ambush him on the trail, 5 or 10 men against 1. Again, it may be more convenient to pick off a lone woman in a _camote_ patch. Such are recognized methods of warfare. Once aroused, however, the Manóbo will fight, and fight to a finish. Throughout the Jesuit letters we find mentioned various instances of really brave deeds on the part of Manóbos. In some cases the husband killed his family and then himself rather than fall into the hands of the Spanish troops. I have been informed of hundreds of instances in which the male members of the attacked party threw themselves against superior numbers in order that their wives might escape. Hand-to-hand encounters are not uncommon, if I may believe the endless stories that have been narrated to me by warriors throughout eastern Mindanáo.

Laziness and dilatoriness can certainly be predicated of Manóbo men, but such qualities are to be attributed to lack of incentive to work and to hurry. All the household duties fall, by custom, upon the shoulders of the women, so that there is little left for the man except to fish, hunt, trap, trade, and fight. When, however, the men set themselves to clearing the forest or to other manual tasks, it is surprising with what agility, skill, and perseverance they work, though such spells of labor are short lived.

No one has ever uttered or written a word against the Manóbo's sexual morality. It is true that sexual matters are discussed with the greatest freedom, but the most venial breaches of morality are punished. The greatest modesty is observed in regard to the exposure of the private parts. Gazing at an undressed woman, for instance, at the bathing place results in a fine. Unseemly insinuations to a woman are visited with a similar punishment, but should such overtures go further, even death may be the penalty.

As to temperance and sobriety, the rule is to eat and drink all one can, hence the amount of food and drink consumed depends upon the supply. Sobriety is not a virtue. To lose one's equilibrium and senses is to do honor to the host and justice to his generosity.

Honesty is certainly a trait of the Manóbo character. I do not mean to maintain that there are not occasional pilferings, especially in small things that are considered to be more or less communal in their nature, such as palm wine while still flowing from the tree, but other kinds of property are perfectly safe. The rare violations of the rule of honesty are punished more or less severely according to the amount of the property stolen and according to other considerations.

Though respect for another's property is decidedly the rule, yet it is surprising to note with what care everything is counted, tied up, or put away, and how marks of ownership are set up on all occasions. I think, however, that these precautions are due not so much to a fear of pilferers as to a feeling of the instability of conditions in a country that has always been subject to turmoil.

Honesty in the payment of debts is one of the most striking characteristics of these people. I have advanced merchandise on credit to people whom I had never met before and the whereabouts of whose houses I did not know except from their own information, and yet, six months or a year later, when I entered their region I had no difficulty in locating them nor in collecting from them. So high is their feeling of obligation to pay a debt that even children are sometimes parted with in settlement, but this occurs in extreme cases only. Though debts are satisfied conscientiously, yet a certain amount of consideration is expected as to the time and other details of payment, except in some very urgent cases.

Honesty in other matters, as in the performance of formal agreements, is equally noticeable though I must say that the performance may not be as prompt in point of time as we would expect. But it must be remembered, in connection with this last point, that in making an agreement one is presumed to make allowance for a great many impediments, such as evil omens, that do not figure in our system of contracts. Another difference, which applies also to the matter of debts, is that the man who owes a debt must be reminded of his obligation and urged in a gentle way to the performance of it. It occurs in some rare instances that a debtor is under a definite contract as to the exact time for meeting his obligation. In these cases the creditor may be more insistent upon payment. It is to the credit of the Manóbo that he never disowns a debt nor runs away to avoid the payment thereof.

It has been said that the Manóbo is ungrateful, but I do not think that his gratitude is so rare nor so transitory a virtue as is claimed by those who pretend to know him. It is true that he has no word to express thanks, but he expects the giver to make known his desires and ask for what he wants. This is the reason why he himself is such an inveterate beggar. He receives you into his house, feeds you, considers you his friend, and proceeds to make you reciprocate by asking for everything he sees. If he is under any obligation to you, he expects you to ask in a similar manner. If you do not do it, he considers you either apathetic or rich, and hence no reciprocation is forthcoming. Among Manóbos no presents are made except of such trifles as have no value.

The Manóbo feels that he is at perfect liberty to conceal his real thoughts and to give utterance to such distortions of truth as may not compromise him with others. The penalty for slander is so great that this is a fault that is seldom committed. Hence to get the truth from a Manóbo, it is useless, as a rule, to question him singly or even in the presence of his friends alone. He must be brought face to face with those who hold an adverse opinion or belong to an opposite faction. If this can be done, in a more formal way, as for example, by having a number of principal men attend, it will be so much the easier to obtain the desired information.

Queries as to trails or the dwelling places of neighboring Manóbos are hardly ever answered truthfully and do more harm than good, because they tend to arouse suspicions as to the questioner's motives. Such information is obtained more readily by cultivating the friendship of boys than by consulting the older folks. This tendency to disguise or to distort the truth, though it has its natural basis in a desire for self-protection, gives the Manóbos a reputation for lack of that straightforwardness and frankness that is so noticeable among the Mandáyas, even after very short acquaintance. This lack of frankness, coupled with a certain amount of natural shrewdness, makes the truth difficult to discover, unless the suggestion made before be carried out, or unless one is willing to wait till the truth leaks out in private conversation among the Manóbos themselves.

One trait of the Manóbo that seems hard to understand is his love for long discussions. No matter how trifling the matter may be, it always becomes the subject of an inordinately long conference even though there are no dissenting parties. Even in such trifles as getting a guide to take me, by well-known trails, to settlements of people with whom I was well acquainted, the inevitable discussion would always take place. A great number of people would assemble. The matter would be discussed at length by every one present without a single interruption, except such exclamations of assent as are continuously uttered whether the speaker's views are acceptable or not. It seems that these and more solemn discussions afford the speakers an opportunity to make themselves conspicuous or to display their judgment. I can divine no other reason for these conferences because, in many cases that I have known, the result of the discussion was a foregone conclusion from the beginning. Perhaps such discussions are for the purpose of "making no concessions" or if they must be made, of making them begrudgingly.

These conferences are as a rule rather noisy, for though one speaker at a time "has the floor," there are always a number of collateral discussions, that, joined to the invariable household sounds, produce somewhat of a din. Noise, in fact, is a general characteristic of Manóbo life, so much so that at times one is inclined to be alarmed at the loud yelling and other demonstrations of apparent excitement, even though the occasion for it all may be nothing more than the arrival in the settlement of a visitor with a dead monkey.

Harmony and domestic happiness are characteristic of the Manóbo family. The Manóbo is devoted to his wife, fond of his children, and attached to his relatives, more so than the Mañgguáñgan, but much less so than the Bisáya or the Mandáya. He is dearly fond of social gatherings for, besides the earthly comforts that he gets out of them, they afford him an opportunity to display such wealth, rank, and possessions as he may possess. His invitations to neighbors serve to keep him high in their estimation and thereby gather around him a number of friends who will be of service in the hour of trouble. Of the Manóbo, as of the other people of Mindanáo, too much can not be said of his hospitality. If he has once overcome his suspicions as to a stranger's motives, he takes him into his house and puts himself to infinite pains to feast him as best he knows how. In Manóboland one who travels carries no provisions. He drops into the first house and when the meal hour arrives he sits down upon the floor and helps himself without any invitation. It is practically his own house, because for the time being he becomes one of the family. If there happens to be a feast, he partakes without any special invitation, and when he is ready to go, he proceeds upon his journey, only to repeat the operation in the next house, for it is customary always to pay at least a short visit to every friendly house on or near the trail.

One of the mental traits that has perhaps done more than anything else to retard the Manóbo in his progress towards a higher plane of civilization is his firm adherence to traditional customs. All things must be done as his forefathers did them. Innovations of any kind may displease the deities, may disturb the present course of events, may produce future disturbances. "Let the river flow as it ever flowed--to the sea," is a refrain that I heard quoted on this subject by Manóbos. "Fish that live in the sea do not live in the mountains," is another, and there are many others, all illustrating that conservatism that tends to keep the Manóbo a Manóbo and nothing else. He is Christianized but, after going through the Christian ritual, he will probably invoke his pagan divinities. He takes on something new but does not relinquish the old. Hence the difficulty of inducing the Manóbo to leave the district of his forefathers, and take up his abode in a new place amid unfamiliar spirits.

This feature of their character explains the inconstancy and fickleness exhibited by the Christianized Manóbos at the beginning of their conversion. These were due to the call of the forest hailing them back to their old haunts. These characteristics will explain also a host of anomalies that are noticeable throughout the Manóbo's life.

The first visit of a stranger to a primitive settlement may produce upon him a very unfavorable impression. He may find that the women and children have fled, so that he finds himself surrounded by men, all armed. This should not discourage him, as it happens in many cases that the men were unable to keep the women from flight. The wearing of arms is as much a custom with Manóbos as the wearing of a watch is with us. The bolo is his life and his livelihood. Were he not to wear it he would be branded as insane, and he looks upon a defenseless person, stranger or otherwise, much in the same light, unless he attributes the absence of a weapon to the possession of secret powers of protection, in which case he is inclined to follow the example of the fugitive women and betake himself beyond the reach of harm.

Upon first acquaintance the Manóbo will ask a host of questions that will tax the patience of the visitor if he ventures to answer them personally. These questions spring from a desire to learn the motives of the visit. People from the neighboring houses drop in at intervals just as soon as word reaches them of the new arrival, and may continue to do so until the time of the visitor's departure, thereby keeping the house crowded. The assembling of these people arises from a desire to see the visitor and to find out the object of his visit. Hence the newcomers will proceed to ask him every imaginable question that may suggest itself and if any answer conveys information that has anything of the wonderful in it for them, it gives rise to a thousand and one other questions, the responses to which often tax a visitor's patience.

Another part of the visit is the frank demand on the part of the primitive people for any object of the visitor which they may take a fancy to. They always understand, however, a quiet refusal, if it is accompanied by an appropriate reason.

It happens sometimes that the chief of the settlement will claim a fee for transgression upon his territory, but he will usually accept a small present in lieu thereof, or will forego any gift, if the matter is argued, quietly and diplomatically. The Manóbo resents harsh words, especially when used toward him in the presence of those who are his nominal subjects. Personalities or threats in such a case often prove fatal.

It is not good etiquette to ask a Manóbo his name, especially if he is a chief, until one has acquired somewhat of an acquaintance with him. The information must be secured from a third party and in a quiet way. Moreover, it is customary to address chiefs and other persons of distinction by the names of their corresponding titles. Thus a warrior chief is addressed _bagáni_, and not by his proper name.

It is needless to say that no familiarity should be taken with the person of another until acquaintance has been cultivated far enough to permit it. Thus touching another on the arm to call his attention to something may be resented and may result in an attempt to collect a fine.

The handling of arms requires a word. The lance must be stuck in the ground, head up, at the foot of the house ladder; or, if it must be brought into the house, as at night, the owner must take care that it points at no one while being handled. If one desires to draw a bolo from its sheath, he must draw it slowly, and if it is to be presented to another, the blade must be kept facing the owner's body and the handle presented to the other man. The same rule holds for the dagger.

It will be noticed that as a general rule the men in a Manóbo settlement go armed and keep their hands on their weapons, especially during mealtime, at which time it is customary to eat with the left hand, the right hand being reserved for the use of the weapon in an emergency.

There are a number of other rules of intercourse that serve to safeguard life and to maintain proper respect on the part of each individual for the person of his neighbor. These will be found scattered throughout this paper.