The first and last concern of the Filipinos in cases of sickness was, as we have stated, to offer some sacrifice to their anitos, or divatas, which were their gods. These sacrifices were offered, as we have said, with dancing to the sound of a bell; and it would happen, as I have sometimes heard, that in the most furious part of the dance and the bell-ringing, when the catolona or bailana was exerting most force, all at once she stopped at the death of the sick person. After the death there followed new music, the dirges and lamentations, which were also sung, accompanied by weeping, not only by the mourners but by others--the former on account of their sorrow and grief; the latter for their wages and profit, for they were hired for this purpose, as is and has been the custom among other nations of greater reputation. To the sound of this sad music they washed the body of the dead person, perfuming it with the gum of the storax-tree and other aromatics which they are wont to use, and clothing it in the best garments which the dead man possessed; then, after having kept and mourned over it for three days, they buried it. Others anointed the body with aromatic balsams which prevent corruption, especially with the juice of a sort of ivy which grows there abundantly, and is truly a very valuable drug, which they call _buyo_. [92] It is very pungent, and for the living is a notable stimulant, also strengthening the teeth, hardening the gums, and sweetening the breath. Consequently both Spaniards and Indians make much use of it, and always carry it in their mouth, as they use the coca in Piru. With the juice of this plant, then, they anointed the dead body, and so injected it through the mouth that it penetrated the whole body. Thus prepared, many bodies have been found uncorrupted after a lapse of many years; but they did not place the corpses in the earth, but in their dwellings, enclosed in coffins of the hardest wood, incorruptible, and with the cover so fitted that it was impossible for the air to enter. Moreover, they placed gold in the mouths of the corpses, and laid with them many articles of value; and thus they buried them, under the house, richly adorned, and with the corpse another chest, containing garments. Besides this, they usually were careful to carry to the burial various viands, which they left there for the dead person. In former times, they would not let them depart to the other world alone, but gave male and female slaves to accompany the dead. These slaves, having first eaten a hearty meal, were then immediately killed, that they might go with the dead man. It once happened that they buried with a chief a vessel manned by many rowers, who were to serve him in his voyages in the other world. The usual place of burial was the dead man's own house, at least in the lower part--where a great pit was dug, in which the coffin was placed. A small railing was constructed about the pit, and,