Baylanas.  The natives of these islands have neither time nor place set apart for the offering of prayers and sacrifices to their gods.  It is only in case of sickness, and in times of seed-sowing or of war, that sacrifices are offered.  These sacrifices are called baylanes, and the priestesses, or the men who perform this office, are also called baylanes.  The priestesses dress very gaily, with garlands on their heads, and are resplendent with gold.  They bring to the place of sacrifice some pitarrillas (a kind of earthen jar) full of rice-wine, besides a live hog and a quantity of prepared food.  Then the priestess chants her songs and invokes the demon, who appears to her all glistening in gold.  Then he enters her body and hurls her to the ground, foaming at the mouth as one possessed.  In this state she declares whether the sick person is to recover or not.  In regard to other matters, she foretells the future.  All this takes place to the sound of bells and kettle-drums.  Then she rises and taking a spear, she pierces the heart of the hog.  They dress it and prepare a dish for the demons.  Upon an altar erected there, they place the dressed hog, rice, bananas, wine, and all the other articles of food that they have brought.  All this is done in behalf of sick persons, or to redeem those who are confined in the infernal regions.  When they go to war or on a plundering expedition, they offer prayers to Varangao, who is the rainbow, and to their gods, Ynaguinid and Macanduc.  For the redemption of souls detained in the inferno above mentioned, they invoke also their ancestors, and the dead, claiming to see them and receive answers to their questions.

Belief concerning the world.  The god Macaptan. They believe that the world has no end.  They say that Macaptan dwells highest in the sky.  They consider him a bad god, because he sends disease and death among them, saying that because he has not eaten anything of this world, or drunk any pitarrillas, he does not love them, and so kills them.

The god Lalahon.  It is said that the divinity Lalahon dwells in a volcano in Negros island, whence she hurls fire.  The volcano is about five leagues from the town of Arevalo.  They invoke Lalahon for their harvest; when she does not choose to grant them good harvests she sends the locusts to destroy and consume the crops.  This Lalahon is a woman.

Burials.  These natives bury their dead in certain wooden coffins, in their own houses.  They bury with the dead gold, cloth, and other valuable objects—­saying that if they depart rich they will be well received in the other world, but coldly if they go poor.

How they guard the dead.  When anyone dies, the people light many fires near his house; and at night armed men go to act as sentinels about his coffin, for fear that the sorcerers (who are in this country also) may come and touch the coffin; for then the coffin would immediately burst open and a great stench issue from the corpse, which could not any longer remain in the coffin.  For this reason they keep watch for several nights.