19I was informed on one occasion that the medicine used was pulverized coconut shell, but this point needs further inquiry.
20Paí-ad.
I desire to call special attention here to the fact that should the mother be in such a condition that she is unable to nourish her babe, it is not given to another woman for nurture, but is sustained temporarily on soup, rice water, and sugarcane juice. I have heard of several cases in which the child succumbed for want of natural nourishment. One case that occurred in San Luis on the middle Agúsan, I verified beyond a doubt. Father Pastells, S. J.,21 states that if the child can not be suckled, it is buried alive, its mouth being sometimes filled with ashes. I, however, have never heard of such a practice.
21Cartas de los PP. de la Compañia de Jesus, 8, 1879.
The reason for allowing no woman other than the mother to nourish the child is that, if the child were nourished by another woman, it would die. In this connection it may be well to state that infant mortality is high. I do not hesitate to say that it is not less than 25 per cent and may be 33.5 per cent.
The afterbirth, together with the umbilical cord, is nearly always buried under the house. I was told that it is sometimes wrapped up and hung from the beams that are just under the hearth. No reason is given for the selection of this particular place, except that "no one passes there."
POSTNATAL CUSTOMS
As a rule parturition is not attended with much weakness nor with any danger. In fact, the mother usually can move around the house on the day following the birth or even on the same day. After two or three days she purifies herself by an informal bath, which is taken more for sanitary than for ceremonial reasons, as far as I have been able to ascertain.