_Which treats of the belief held by the natives of the Pintados
islands concerning the creation_
There are two kinds of people in this land, who, although of the
same race, differ somewhat in their customs and are almost always on
mutually unfriendly terms. One class includes those who live along the
coast, the other class those who live in the mountains; and if peace
seems to reign among them, it is because they depend upon each other
for the necessities of life. The inhabitants of the mountains cannot
live without the fish, salt, and other articles of food, and the jars
and dishes, of other districts; nor, on the other hand, can those of
the coast live without the rice and cotton of the mountaineers. In
like manner they have two different beliefs concerning the beginning of
the world; and since these natives are not acquainted with the art of
writing, they preserve their ancient lore through songs, which they
sing in a very pleasing manner--commonly while plying their oars,
as they are island-dwellers.
Also, during their revelries, the singers who have good voices
recite the exploits of olden times; thus they always possess a
knowledge of past events. The people of the coast, who are called the
Yligueynes, believe that heaven and earth had no beginning, and that
there were two gods, one called Captan and the other Maguayen. [14]
They believe that the land breeze and the sea breeze were married;
and that the land breeze brought forth a reed, which was planted
by the god Captan. When the reed grew, it broke into two sections,
which became a man and a woman. To the man they gave the name of
Sicalac, and that is the reason why men from that time on have been
called _lalac_; the woman they called Sicavay, and thenceforth women
have been called _babayes_. One day the man asked the woman to marry
him, for there were no other people in the world; but she refused,
saying that they were brother and sister, born of the same reed,
with only one knot between them; and that she would not marry him,
since he was her brother. Finally they agreed to ask advice from the
tunnies of the sea, and from the doves of the air; they also went to
the earthquake, who said that it was necessary for them to marry,
so that the world might be peopled. They married, and called their
first son Sibo; then a daughter was born to them, and they gave
her the name of Samar. This brother and sister also had a daughter,
called Lupluban. She married Pandaguan, a son of the first pair, and
had a son called Anoranor. Pandaguan was the first to invent a net
for fishing at sea; and, the first time when he used it, he caught
a shark and brought it on shore, thinking that it would not die. But
the shark died when brought ashore; and Pandaguan, when he saw this,
began to mourn and weep over it--complaining against the gods for
having allowed the shark to die, when no one had died before that
time. It is said that the god Captan, on hearing this, sent the flies
to ascertain who the dead one was; but, as the flies did not dare to
go, Captan sent the weevil, who brought back the news of the shark's
death. The god Captan was displeased at these obsequies to a fish. He
and Maguayen made a thunderbolt, with which they killed Pandaguan; he
remained thirty days in the infernal regions, at the end of which time
the gods took pity upon him, brought him back to life, and returned
him to the world. While Pandaguan was dead, his wife Lubluban became
the concubine of a man called Maracoyrun; and these people say that
at that time concubinage began in the world. When Pandaguan returned,
he did not find his wife at home, because she had been invited by her
friend to feast upon a pig that he had stolen; and the natives say
that this was the first theft committed in the world. Pandaguan sent
his son for Lubluban, but she refused to go home, saying that the dead
do not return to the world. At this answer Pandaguan became angry,
and returned to the infernal regions. The people believe that, if his
wife had obeyed his summons, and he had not gone back at that time,
all the dead would return to life. [_Blank space in MS_.] Inheritances,
and their inventor. Their ceremonies. The omentum [15].
_Another belief, that of the mountaineers, who are called Tinguianes_
The Tinguianes believe that in the beginning were only the sea and
the sky; and that one day a kite, having no place where to alight,
determined to set the sea against the sky. Accordingly, the sea
declared war against the sky, and threw her waters upward. The sky,
seeing this, made a treaty of peace with the sea. Afterward, to
avenge himself upon her for having dared to assert herself, they say
that he showered upon the sea all the islands of this archipelago,
in order to subdue her; and that the sea ran to and fro without being
able to rise again. They say that from this event arose the custom
of _mavaris_--that is, taking vengeance for an insult received, a
very common practice in this land; and they consider it a point of
honor to take revenge. Then they relate also the story of the reed;
but they say that the kite pecked the reed, and the aforesaid man and
woman came out. They add that the first time when Cavahi gave birth to
children, she brought forth a great number at once. One day the father
went home, very angry, and threatened the children. The latter were
frightened and fled; some into the most hidden rooms of the house;
some hid in other places nearer the open air; some hid themselves
within the _dindines_, or walls of the houses, which are constructed
of reeds; some in the fireplace; and some fled to the sea through
the same door by which the father had entered. It is said that those
who fled to the most hidden rooms are the chiefs of these islands;
those who remained nearer the outside are the timaguas; those who hid
themselves within the walls are the slaves; those who hid themselves
in the fireplace are the blacks; and those who fled out to the sea
through the open door, are the Spaniards, and that they had no news
of us until they beheld us return through the sea.