of the dead--and it may be that we have here a remembrance of customs
which long ago fell into disuse.

In a previous paper [83] the writer showed that there have been many
migrations into Abra from the north, south, and west. A part of the
emigrants have become thoroughly amalgamated with the Tinguian people
and have doubtless introduced some part of their material culture
and beliefs. This helps us to understand such conflicts as we have
already noted in regard to the place held by thunder and lightning
in the spirit world, as to the future abode of the spirits of the
departed, as well as other discrepancies which the limits of this
paper have prevented us from discussing.

It is not impossible that those customs of "the first times," which
are at variance with those of to-day, may represent older ideas which
have been swamped, or, on the other hand, the memory of the strange
customs once practiced by the emigrants may have caused them to be
attributed to the people of the tales.

Finally, we believe that a study of Tinguian mythology has shown us
that we can gain a real knowledge of the past of a people through
their folklore; that we can secure an insight into their mental life;
and can learn something of the valuation they attach to certain of
their activities and beliefs, which to us may seem at the surface
trite and trivial.



Tales of the Mythical Period