The following stories were obtained from the Bagobo people, one of the groups of pagan Malays in southeastern Mindanao, Philippine Islands.  Their habitat is on the eastern folds of the Cabadangan mountain-range, in the vicinity of Mount Apo, the highest peak, and on the foothills thence sloping down to the west coast of the Gulf of Davao.  They practise a primitive agriculture—­raising corn, rice, camotes, and several vegetables—­in fields and little gardens at the edge of the forests.  Their garments are of home-grown hemp; and their artistic interests centre largely around the decorative designs produced in dyeing, weaving, and embroidery.

In spite of physical barriers interposed by mountain-spurs, frequent swift-flowing rivers, and dense undergrowth in the forests, there is considerable intercourse between the small villages, each of which contains from two to twenty or more houses.  The people take long journeys on horse and on foot over the trails to assemble at ceremonial festivals and for purposes of trade, as well as for social visiting.  On such occasions, stories and songs are repeated.

That the component parts of the stories have been drawn from numerous and widely separated sources, is apparent, even at a cursory glance.  Among these sources, the folk-lore material of Sanscrit writers seems to have left a distinctive impress upon the Bagobo mythical romance.  Against a Malay background, and blended with native pagan elements, are presented chains of episodes, characteristic personalities, methods for securing a magical control of the situation, that suggest vividly parallel literary forms in the Sanscrit saga.  Still more, one is conscious of a prevailing Indian atmosphere, that may sometimes elude analysis, yet none the less fails not to make itself felt.  But as to the line of ethnic contacts which has transfused this peculiar literary quality into Malay myth,—­whether it is to be traced solely to the influence exerted by Hindoo religion and Hindoo literature during ages of domination in the Malay archipelago, or whether we must reconsider the hypothesis of an Indonesian migration,—­this is a problem of great complexity, for which no satisfactory solution has yet been offered.

Modern foreign increments that have filtered into the stories from the folk-lore of neighboring wild tribes—­notably that of the Bilan, the Tagacolo, and, to a less extent, the Culaman and Ata—­will have to be sifted out eventually.  In illustration of this point, one tale known to be outside of Bagobo sources is here introduced.  The story of “Alelu’k and Alebu’tud” was told by an Ata boy to a Bagobo at the coast, who immediately related it to me.  It was unquestionably passed on in Bagobo circles, and has become a permanent accession.  Yet this was the sole case that came under my observation of a social visit made by an Ata in a Bagobo house; for the Ata live far to the northwest of the Bagobo, and are extremely timid, and “wild” in the popular sense.  Recent ethnic influences from higher peoples, pre-eminently the Moro and the Spaniard, will have to be reckoned with.  The story of “The Monkey and the Turtle” is clearly modified from a Spanish source.