Omaha daily bee., 1899-04-20

the world.
1t can only be explained upon the theory
that it Is the Mohammedan form OF the
older Malay custom OF running "amuck'' or
"amok." When a savage Malay runs "amok'
1t appears to be the result of some physical
and mental suffering or distress. He
throws off all his clothing and with a kriss
In his right hand or with one in each hand
he charges into a crowd of fellow savages,
killing or wounding until he himself is
dispatched or until he wearies Of bloodshed
and makes his escape. In the Mohammedau
form it Is much more cold -blooded and
devilish in character.
Trained TO Kill.
In Jolo, where the custom appears to be
the most active, the would-be manslayer re-
ports to a pundita and announces his deter
mination to take the oath Of destruction. He
is received by the priest with great affection
and is encouraged in his resolve. The priest
or several priests take him to their mosque
or to some bungalow where the laity are not
permitted to enter and there train him
until he is in excellent physical condition.
He is made to climb, jump, run, wrestle,
bite, strike, thrust and cut. He Is well fed,
his diet being especially adapted to the de-
velopment Of strength, endurance and blood
thirstiness. The Spaniards claim that the
novice is made to drink the blood of live
fowl and to eat the flesh of living birds and
small animals. But of this nothing authentic
is known. Each day the man is rubbed with
cloths, the human hand and with cocoanut
oil. This increases the suppleness of his
limbs and the quickness of his muscles. 1t
also makes him as smooth and slippery as
an eel. The physical training is accom-
noptol NTH ra1igionu inStrurtipp In ubiph
he is taught that his self-sacrifce will in
sure him a perpetual paradise, and that the
greater the destruction he inficts upon the
iniidels the higher will be his happiness in
the other world. 1t is said that the priests
give the pupil pills of hasheesh to increase
his determination and at the same time to
a~cquaint him with a poor imitation of the
joys to come.
On the appointed day he is rubbed in oil,
prayed over and blessed, armed with the
deadly kriss and sent upon his murderous
mission. Generally the juramentado goes
alone, but occasionally he will have one or
more companions like himself. When he ap.
prOaChes the Christian settlement or town
he defers his attack until he meets a group
or crowd. Then without warning he springs
at the nearest and thrusts his kriss into the
throat or bowels of the luckless victim. The
weapon has been prepared for the occasion,
the edge has been ground and the point
brought into a needle-llke condition. The
blade has been dipped in human or animal
blood and then dried, the dead corpuscles
forming an incurable poison. The second
blow is seldom struck. AS he withdraws
the knife from the first victim he springs at
a second and so keeps on until some one
has struck him down in turn. The stories
told by the Spaniards concerning the jura-
mentados are numberless and each as full of
death as an old-fashioned Bowery melo-
drama.
Tattooed Tribes.
Some of the Negrito tribes, who are found
in all the islands, keep up the practice Of
tattooing, in which they display as much skill
as the people of Borneo and New Guinea.
DR.. Rabe, who made a study of these tribes
in 1890 and 1891, found that the practice
was more general than had been supposed
by other travellers. At Kapouga not alone
were men tattooed, but boys, girls, m
and even little children. On the shoulder
Of the women the tattooing was the same IN
all of the cases, from which it might be in
ferred that at some time there was a totem
distinguishing one tribe from another. Other
Negrito clans tattoo the neck, some the
arms and some the hands.
The Negrito and some of the Visayas
tribes preserve an ancient custom in build
ing and maintaining a council house. A new
| one is dedicated with curious ceremonies, of
which dancing during two, three, four and
even five consecutive days Is the leading
feature. l found a general supply of meats,
vegetables and drinks at these affairs and
a wild orgy and excitement, in which all OF
the tribe join, from the Oldest to the young
est. When the house begins to grow old
or is burned or carried away by a storm a
new one is promptly built, with this same
The dancing Is very curious. II
is begun usually by an old man and an old
woman, the music being supplied by gongS
and tom toms. The movements are rather
graceful and intricate. The body Is swayed,
the arms waved and the feet moved in a
sort of fiat waltz style from the beginning
to the end Of the performance. Occasionally
the waist is contorted, and at times the
dancer makes a series Of awkward move
ments as If Stimulating the walk OF Il
wounded animal. When the first couple
tires the second takes its place, and as the
night wears on the numbers increase to two
and more, ranging as high as ten or twelve
at a single time. At intervals the perform
ers Groom various songs, of which the words
are not in the native language, but In dla-
lects which are said to have been spoken
many generations ago. The food Is largely
animal and is eaten in great chunks and
slices without knife or plate. To see young
and old gnawing the bones and tearing NOR
sells Of flesh from a larger piece held in the
two hands renders it easy to imagine thai
the observer is witnessing some hideous ban
quet Of wild cannibals.
Spanish Customs.
Many Spanish customs have been adopted
by the natives and carried 10 even greater
extremes than they are in Spain Itself. Thu,
on Judas Iscariot's day an effigy of the
faithless disciple is hanged from a bough Of
gallows and is stoned or beaten with sticKS
by the boys and young men of the neighbor
hood. AT twilight a bonfire is built beneath
the figure, which Is burned into a shapelesi
mass and then cut down and thrown into tn
street. Here it is torn by dogs urged on b!
their masters, or else tied to the end of
rope and dragged around the village or town
Another odd religious custom Is attached
to the funeral service. The corpse Is lai,
upon a frame or placed in a coffin and is eN
posed to view for a certain time and is the,
carried by the relatives ana friends, followet
by the mourners, to the parish church, stop
ping from point to point in order that tn
neighbors may have a last look at the bod,
and that strangers may enjoy the same priv
ilege. The natives believe that the dea.
mans spirit takes part in the procession an.