one village of this people had been visited,[97] and since that time
only a few hasty trips have been made into their territory.

[97] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol. XLIII, pp. 242-3.

From our present information it seems probable that the Ata are
descendants of an early invading people who intermarried first with the
early Negrito inhabitants, and later with other tribes with which they
came in contact. They have been free borrowers from their neighbors in
all respects, and hence we find them occupying all the steps from the
nomad condition of the pygmy blacks to the highly specialized life of
the Guianga.

The following account of their beliefs was extracted from letters
written by Governor Bolton. He fails to designate the section from which
the information was gathered, but its similarity to Bagobo and Guianga
makes it probable that the account comes from the Ata dwelling near
those people. Considerable variation will doubtless be found in other
districts.

"The greatest of all the spirits is Manama[98] who made the first men
from blades of grass, weaving them together until they resembled a human
form. In this manner he made eight persons--male and female--who later
became the ancestors of the Ata and all the neighboring tribes. Long
after this the water covered the whole earth and all the Ata were
drowned except two men and a woman. The waters carried them far away and
they would have perished had not a large eagle come to their aid. This
bird offered to carry them to their homes on its back. One man refused,
but the other two accepted its help and returned to Mapula.