so similar that it is certain the separation has not been for any great
period of time.

Upon the establishment of American rule a number of hemp planters
settled along the coast and soon their inducements to laborers began to
scatter the people, until today members of this tribe can be found as
far north as Santa Cruz. The power and influence of the _datu_ has waned
until he now has a following of less than two hundred people. Only that
portion of the tribe which retired to the hills still maintains any
semblance of their old prowess and even those groups are growing smaller
year by year.

At the height of their power the men of the tribe were noted as
boat-builders[73] and fishermen. Fighting also took up a considerable
portion of their time, for added to their desire for loot and slaves was
a demand for victims imposed by the warrior deity. The women cultivated
little patches of corn, camotes, and some cocoanuts, and at certain
seasons all the members of the tribe went to the forest to gather sago,
but aside from this the sea furnished most of their food supply.
According to their own stories they did not cultivate rice until recent
years, and Datu Bongkalasan insists that none of the people planted rice
when he was a boy. It is his belief that all the ceremonies connected
with the rice culture were learned from the Tagakaolo and Bila-an.

[73] This art is now practically lost and their boats are secured from
the Moro.

From the Spanish writers[74] we hear little but evil of this people.
They are spoken of as warlike, superstitious, treacherous, and vengeful
as head-hunters "who expose the heads of their enemies on poles," and as