t warriors, each gaining distinction among his people
according to the number of human lives he has taken. A number of them
dress in dark red suits and peculiar headbands which they are permitted
to wear only after they have taken six lives. Notwithstanding their
bravery in battle, these people fear and have great respect for the
numerous spirits who rule over their lives.

From a great fissure in the side of Mt. Apo, clouds of sulphur fumes
are constantly rising, and it is believed to be in this fissure that
Mandarangan and his wife Darago live--evil beings who look after the
fortunes of the warriors. These spirits are feared and great care
is taken to appease them with offerings, while once a year a human
sacrifice is made to them.

The following tales show something of the beliefs of these and the
neighboring tribes in Mindanao.

How the Moon and the Stars Came to Be

_Bukidnon_ (_Mindanao_)

One day in the times when the sky was close to the ground a spinster
went out to pound rice. [113] Before she began her work, she took
off the beads from around her neck and the comb from her hair, and
hung them on the sky, which at that time looked like coral rock.

Then she began working, and each time that she raised her pestle into
the air it struck the sky. For some time she pounded the rice, and
then she raised the pestle so high that it struck the sky very hard.

Immediately the sky began to rise, [114] and it went up so far that
she lost her ornaments. Never did they come down, for the comb became
the moon and the beads are the stars that are scattered about.

The Flood Story

_Bukidnon_ (_Mindanao_)

A long time ago there was a very big crab [115] which crawled into
the sea. And when he went in he crowded the water out so that it ran
all over the earth and covered all the land.

Now about one moon before this happened, a wise man had told the people
that they must build a large raft. [116] They did as he commanded and
cut many large trees, until they had enough to make three layers. These
they bound tightly together, and when it was done they fastened the
raft with a long rattan cord to a big pole in the earth.

Soon after this the floods came. White water poured out of the hills,
and the sea rose and covered even the highest mountains. The people
and animals on the raft were safe, but all the others drowned.

When the waters went down and the raft was again on the ground,
it was near their o