None of the garments contain pockets, and in order to make up for this deficiency the men carry bags (Plate LXX) suspended on their backs by means of bands which pass over the shoulders. In these they carry their betel-nut outfits, tobacco, and the like. Small covered waterproof baskets (Plate LXVIII) serve the same purpose for the women and are carried at the back or at the side.
HISTORY.
Probably no wild tribe in Mindanao has received so much mention in histories, reports, and books of travel as have the Mandaya, but these references have been, in the main, so vague and often so misleading that they are of little value for our purposes. Quite in contrast with this mass of material are the excellent reports of the late Governor Bolton, and Mr. Melbourne A. Maxey,[103] who for a number of years has been closely associated with the members of the tribe residing in the vicinity of Cateel. In the preparation of this paper frequent use has been made of the notes gathered by these two gentlemen.
[103] Published in the Mindanao Herald.
When the first white men visited the tribe they found that the neighboring Moro were making frequent raids on their villages and were carrying away women and children whom they sold to the Bagobo and other tribes of the Gulf.[104] At the same time it was learned that they, in turn, were slave holders and were eager to purchase captives from the Mohammedan raiders. The great distances traveled by the Moro in their raids make it possible that slaves from distant islands may thus have been introduced into the tribe. Later we shall see that it was difficult for a slave or a descendant of a slave to become a freeman, yet it was by no means impossible, and it is likely that a considerable part of the tribe are descendants of people brought to the district through purchase and capture. Another possible source of outside blood is suggested by well verified stories of castaways on the east coast of Mindanao and adjacent islands.[105] While working with the Mandaya in the region of Mayo bay the writer was frequently told that three times, in the memory of the present inhabitants, strange boats filled with strange people had been driven to their coasts by storms. The informants insisted that these newcomers were not put to death but that such of them as survived were taken into the tribe. These stories are given strong substantiation by the fact that only a few months prior to my visit a boat load of people from the Carolines was driven to the shores of Mayo bay and that their boat, as well as one survivor, was then at the village of Mali. (Plate LXXII). I am indebted to Mr. Henry Hubbel for the following explicit account of these castaways: "One native banca of castaways arrived at Lucatan, N. E. corner of Mayo Bay, Mindanao, on January 2nd, 1909. The banca left the Island of Uluthi for the Island of Yap, two days' journey, on December 10th, 1908. They were blown out of their course and never sighted land until January 2nd, twenty-two days after setting sail. There were nine persons aboard, six men, two boys, and one woman, all natives of Yap except one man who was a Visayan from Capiz, Panay, P. I., who settled on the Island of Yap in 1889. These people were nineteen days without food or water except what water could be caught during rain storms. The Visayan, Victor Valenamo, died soon after his arrival, as a result of starvation. The natives recovered at once and all traces of their starvation disappeared within two weeks. The men were powerfully built, nearly six feet high. Their bodies were all covered with tattoo work. The woman was decorated even more than the men. Fever soon took hold of these castaways and in a year's time all died except one small boy who seems to have become acclimated and will become identified with the natives in Mati. I took care of these people until they died.
[104] BLAIR and ROBERTSON. The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLIII, p. 203.
[105] FOREMAN. The Philippine Islands, pp. 257-9. JAGOR. Travels in the Philippines, Ch. XX.
"The clothing worn by the men and woman was nothing but the 'lavalava,' a scarf of sea-grass fiber about 18 inches wide and five feet long. This was worn around the loins.