d before the poles, and
from then until near midnight, all the people may dance to the music of
the _agongs_ or may indulge in feasting and drinking. From the middle of
the night until daybreak they chant songs or poems, many words of which
are now obsolete so that they are not fully understood.[49]

[49] Mr. Gohn informs me that at midnight during the last _GinEm_ made
by Datu Ali in Santa Cruz, a gun was fired, and the _datu_ said that a
sacrifice should have taken place at that time.

The festival may last one or more days. The last held in Cibolan (1909)
extended through two days and nights. At that time no offerings were
made to the spirits on the second day, but the people feasted and drank
while the _datu_ gathered a little apart and held a council.

In Malilla the second day of this ceremony is called _EgbikbEgaybe_ and
is given over almost entirely to the women. Two _tambara_ are erected in
the house, and young betel nut buds and women's skirts are hung on them.
The women and some men form a line and dance in a circle around the
offerings, keeping time to music furnished by beating small gongs, or by
pounding on a board resting on a rice mortar.[50] Before each dance the
_mabalian_ informs a spirit that this dance is for him and it is
customary to add a gift of some kind to those already on the _tambara_.
Sixteen spirits are thus honored. Throughout the day there is much
feasting and drinking, and at some time before sunset the women are
baptized. Having filled an old agong with water, the _mabalian_ dips
certain leaves into it and sprinkles the heads of the women present
eight times, meanwhile bidding the spirits to grant to them a good mind
and habit.

[50] See p. 110, note. [Transcriber's note: back 3 pages, the footnote
beginning, "An instrument made by placing...."]

Mr. Gohn, a planter of Santa Cruz who has witnessed a number of these
ceremonies, says that with the Bagobo of that place it was customary for
the _datu_ to baptize the women prior to the day of _GinEm_. On the
second day, a _mabalian_ provided a long palm leaf, and a number of
betel nut buds which, she said, represented streams, rivers, tribes, and
individuals. Taking up a bud she swung the palm leaf above it, chanting
meanwhile, and, as she finished, handed it to the _datu_ who opened it
and read the signs sent by the spirits. At the conclusion of this act,
all the women went to the river to bathe.

In the writings of the early mission