Note 6 — The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon

Kagadyangan, on the Cagayan, Isabela. July, about the 12, 1908. I am compelled by force of circumstances to continue in this field for three or four months more; at least that much time must pass before I can observe a full cycle of the various activities of these people. Furthermore, the rainy season sets in about September and it is difficult ascending in this region where the rapids are numerous and swift.... I have come upon Ilongote habitations in cliff and rock shelters. Why might their ancestors or those of others not have lived in such in ages past and left evidences of an earlier culture? Many Ifugao burials are in sepulchres on mountain sides and the practise is no doubt very old. Places like these and those of rock shelters in other lands have given fruitful results and might they not in these islands?6 I am having a pleasant time with these people. They are the wildest of any people that I have yet come across in Luzon. But like all wild people, they are cordial and hospitable. I live in their houses and so have their presence day and night. I hunt, fish and hike with them, see them on and off their guard, observe them in all their varying moods—in short, I’m very close to them all the time. Some time I will tell you a thing or two about them.