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"He would come to Papeete every two or three months, when he wanted paints or tobacco or money, and then he would wander about like a lost dog. I was sorry for him. I had a girl here then called Ata to do the rooms; she was some sort of a relation of mine, and her father and mother were dead, so I had her to live with me.
I saw Strickland was thinking of it, so I said to him: 'I've given her good wages and she's saved them, and the captains and the first mates she's known have given her a little something now and then. She's saved several hundred francs. "He pulled his great red beard and smiled. "'Well, Ata, he said, 'do you fancy me for a husband. "She did not say anything, but just giggled.
They began schools there, which were well attended, while Mr Thomas opened one at Hihifo, at which, in spite of the opposition of the chief Ata, some twenty boys attended. In two years Mr Thomas could preach fluently in the language of the people, and congregations for public worship were formed and well attended.
The summarized description of the Bagobo given on page 56 would, with only, slight modification, apply to all the other tribes, with the exception of certain groups of the Ata in which the Negrito element is very pronounced. In brief, the various influences that have been at work on one group have influenced all the others, since their arrival on the island of Mindanao.
'My poor Strickland, I said to him, 'they've all got a wife somewhere; that is generally why they come to the islands. Ata is a sensible girl, and she doesn't expect any ceremony before the Mayor. She's a Protestant, and you know they don't look upon these things like the Catholics. "Then he said: 'But what does Ata say to it? 'It appears that she has a <i beguin> for you, I said.
This story came to the Bagobo from a young man of the Ata tribe, whose habitat is the mountainous country in the interior, to the northwest of the Gulf of Davao. "Alelu'k" and "Alebu'tud" are Ata names, for which the Bagobo forms are respectively Bungen and Batol.
More than two years passed before I went to Taravao again, and then it was once more to see the old chiefess. I asked them whether they had heard anything of Strickland. By now it was known everywhere that he had leprosy. First Tane, the boy, had left the house, and then, a little time afterwards, the old woman and her grandchild. Strickland and Ata were left alone with their babies.
"<i Mon Dieu>, I hope the sun hasn't affected me," he muttered. A slight movement attracted his attention, and he saw that Ata was lying on the floor, sobbing quietly. "Ata," he called. "Ata." She took no notice. Again the beastly stench almost made him faint, and he lit a cheroot.
"The greatest of all the spirits is Manama who made the first men from blades of grass, weaving them together until they resembled a human form. In this manner he made eight persons male and female who later became the ancestors of the Ata and all the neighboring tribes. Long after this the water covered the whole earth and all the Ata were drowned except two men and a woman.
About twenty miles up the Tuganay river Governor Bolton encountered a similar group of Ata whom he describes as being very wild. From the headwaters of this river he crossed over near to the source of the river Libagawan where he discovered a hitherto unknown people the Tugauanum. These he believed were mixed Malay and Negrito, with crispy or curly hair and sharp features. See p. 128.
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