manned by many rowers, who were to serve him in his voyages in the
other world. The usual place of burial was the dead man's own house,
at least in the lower part--where a great pit was dug, in which the
coffin was placed. A small railing was constructed about the pit, and,
leaving it open, they placed inside the food which they brought. Others
buried their bodies in the open field, and for several days burned
fires beneath their houses and set guards, so that the dead man might
not return and carry away with him those whom he had left.

After the burial the mourning ceased, but not the feasting and
intoxication, which lasted more or less time according to the rank of
the deceased. The widow or widower, and the orphans and other relatives
who felt most keenly their grief, expressed their sorrow by fasting,
abstaining from meat, fish, and other viands--eating during this
period only vegetables, and those in very small quantities. Among
the Tagalos the color for mourning is black, and among the Bissayans
white. The latter also tear out their hair and eyebrows, which makes
them ugly indeed. Upon the death of a chief, silence must be observed
in the village during the period of mourning, until the interdict
was raised--a longer or shorter time, according to his rank; and
during that time no sound of a blow or other noise might be heard
in any house under penalty of some misfortune. In order to secure
this quiet, the villages on the coast placed a sign on the banks of
the river, giving notice that no one might travel on that stream,
or enter or leave it, under penalty of death--which they forcibly
inflicted, with the utmost cruelty, upon whomsoever should break
this silence. Those who died in war were extolled in their dirges,
and in the obsequies which were celebrated the sacrifices made to
or for them lasted for a long time, accompanied by much feasting and
intoxication. If the deceased had met death by violence, whether in