Mga Hiwaga ng Kasaysayan: Unang Baul

Kabanata 24

24

Nabanggit ni Monroy kay Propesor Antonio na tatlong araw ng hindi pumapasok si Lily simula ng umakyat sa bundok Banahaw ang Akyat Kalikasan. Siniguro naman ni Antonio, ang tagapayo ng AK, na beterano na si Lily. Nagpaalam din ang propesor sa klase ng Kasaysayan na mawawala ito ng isang linggo upang siyasatin ang lugar kung saan may natagpuang artifact ang mga tagapamahala ng Pambansang Museo. Nag-iwan ang guro ng gagawin. Ang opisina ng AK ay tahimik dahil na din sa kawalan ng miyembro tulad ni Lily, Jay at ng iba pang seniors. Wala ding bagong balita si Jeff tungkol sa pagliban ng katipan. Patuloy si Kim sa pagtatala sa Log book ng club ng mga pangyayari.

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April 29, 1906 - afternoon

I have given up finding chocolate bar wrappers in the river. Albeit to say, Romano, could not understand why I took him to the river. The temperature today is worse than yesterday. I have received a telegraph from Cole. He and Lewis are now in Siam. How I wished that they would no longer stop by at Nam Viet to scout for potteries,instead come straight here. Hundreds of weaving produce would be great for the exhibit. These Sagwan tribe weave outstanding crafts made of rattan, pineapple and banana fiber and other local indigenous materials. The banana fiber is called "jusi" and its fabric is superb!It puts to shame the quality of Siamese and Chinese silk. I once saw texttiles like these in Mexico.

May 3, 1906

Romano took me to a cave. The entrance is so small,only 1 person can fit in at a time. The interior of the cave is pitch black. I could not see anything. Romano instructed me to not leave the area and wait for him to fetch me. I waited for him to leave,so I could get out and find out what is going on with the Sagwan tribe. I left the cave and locate their whereabouts by following the noise they created. I reached my destination and saw the natives. They formed an enormous assembly. Each member must be present in this some kind of a festival. A group of at least a hundred able bodied men called datukhans took off their clothes and got naked. I noticed some kind of jewelry attached to their belly buttons and penises. Cheering younger male members took time in completely painting the bodies of the datukhans with a red pigment. The female members and their children were chanting a happy song nearby. They could not get near the males. After the body painting, Tadakan called the datukhans and had them line up. The singing stopped. He then blew a unique-looking trumpet made up of an animal horn. The instrument is a collection of three horns around 3 feet in length each accessorized with colourful feathers. It produced a sound similar to an angry elephant. Upon hearing the loud sound, the males jumped into a pit. One by one, datukhans emerged and climbed up the pit. The younger ones approached the datukhans and hugged them.The females cheered in tears nearby. I was so engrossed by what is happening, I did not realize an angry Romano coming my way. He immediately opened a huge crumpled leaf. There is green paste inside. He took some and applied it to my face and neck. It smelled disgustingly. After an hour, no more datukhans came out of the pit. I could see some women crying desperately. Some even fainted. Then every one returned to the village. When the area was cleared, I peeked to the pit only to see a complete darkness. It seemed bottomless. I dropped to my knees shaking. I crawled away from the hole and returned to the village.

May 4, 1906

With ointment on my face and body, Romano had no choice but to take me to the venue again. It is near the rouge river. The event is not a festival but a sort of tests for the senior male members of the tribe called datukhans. It is being carried out by the chieftain Wakwak Tadakan and his 2 right hand men. Upon the signal of Tadakan using the trumpet, the datukhans jumped into the deep river and they all seemed to be looking for something. The bloody water is in chaos. One by one, each male emerged from the river with a crocodile. There is a noticeable characteristic evident in this specie. Their tails are short but wide, the feet are longer than usual and the skin is coloured dark green and is full of sharp gravel-like scaled protruding at their backs. Their big eyes are all bloodshot. They all brought the savage animals to land. I saw two or three datukhan who never made it alive. Their bodies were being devoured by the beasts. Once again, Tadakan gave a signal, then the datukhans fought the animals with their bare hands. The men snapped the head of the beast into two. Most contenders were successful. I could not believe what I just witnessed. Courage and ....