unsheathed
their knives and then they called upon the spirits Dwata, MElu and Lamot
ta Mangayo to look and see that they were killing the man because of his
great fault; if this were not true they surely would not kill him.[70]
At this point Saligon, the victim, told the men that he was not afraid
to die, that if they killed him, their fault would be great, but that if
they would release him, he would return at once to his home in Bilawan
and would not cause them any trouble because of what they had proposed
to do. When he stopped talking, Karan struck him from in front just
below the ribs with his fighting knife, and Umook struck him from in
back. The other men present who were willing to pay for the privilege
then struck at the body with their knives. The body was then cut down
and buried in a shallow grave already prepared for it. No parts were
carried away, although in some cases the women take the long hairs of
the victim and sew them in the designs on the men's trousers in place of
black thread."[71]

[70] The informant here added that if the man had not been guilty, Karan
and Umook would surely have been punished with sickness; but since they
were not ill, it is certain that he was bad, and that Dwata had taken
his body up and would not punish his murderers.

[71] The informant further volunteered, that the Bila-an make a
sacrifice every two years, and that several years ago his uncle named KE
was the victim. At that time he was too young to remember the details.

Datu Baklay who now lives near the Padada river, but was formerly a
resident of the Malalag cogon plains, claims that the ceremony is not a
yearly event, as is the case with the Bagobo, neither does it follow
each death; but if the deceased has been a person of great importance or
a member of the ruler's family it should take place in eight days,
regardless of the phase of the moon or the position of the stars. He
further insists that neither _Balatik_ nor any other constellation
governs the time of an offering, nor does such a ceremony insure better
crops or success in war. He describes the sacrifice following the death
of Datu Kalayan, his father, as follows:

"A Bila-an slave was purchased for one agong and preparations made for a
sacrifice. A small house without floor or sides was built in the forest
some distance from the town, and in this were two upright poles which
supported a crossbeam at a height of about seven feet. Near them and
inside t