Mineral Resources

We learned that the northern peninsula1 of Luzon was composed of granite and recent volcanic rocks, together with secondary and tertiary deposits, while the southern peninsula is almost wholly volcanic.

The northern contains many valuable mines of gold, lead, copper, and iron, besides coal. A number of specimens of these, and the rocks which contain them, were presented to the Expedition by Señores Araria and Roxas of Manila.

In some of the islands in the Philippines, the volcanic rock prevails, while in others coal and the metalliferous deposits predominate.

On some of them the coal-beds form part of the cliffs along the shore; on others, copper is found in a chlorite and talcose slate. The latter is more particularly the case with Luzon, and the same formation extends to Mindoro. Much iron occurs on the mountains.

Thus among the (Upland) natives, who are yet unsubdued by the Spaniards, and who inhabit these mountains, it is found by them of so pure a quality that it is manufactured into swords and cleavers. These are, occasionally, obtained by the Spaniards in their excursions into the interior against these bands.

Tufa

The country around Manila is composed of tufa of a light gray color, which being soft and easily worked, is employed as the common building material in the city. It contains, sometimes, scoria and pumice, in pieces of various sizes, besides, occasionally, impressions of plants, with petrified woods. These are confined to recent species, and include palms, etc.

This tufa forms one of the remarkable features of the volcanoes of the Philippine Islands, showing a strong contrast between them and those of the Pacific isles, which have ejected little else than lava and scoria.

Few portions of the globe seem to be so much the seat of internal fires, or to exhibit the effects of volcanic action so strongly as the Philippines.

During our visit, it was not known that any of the volcanoes were in action; but many of them were smoking, particularly that in the district of Albay, called Isaroc. Its latest eruption was in the year 1839; but this did little damage compared with that of 1814, which covered several villages, and the country for a great distance around, with ashes. This mountain is situated to the south-east of Manila one hundred and fifty miles, and is said to be a perfect cone, with a crater at its apex.

It does not appear that the islands are much affected by earth-quakes, although some have occasionally occurred that have done damage to the churches at Manila.

Their coal is deemed of value. It has a strong resemblance to the bituminous coal of our own country, possesses a bright lustre, and appears very free from all woody texture when fractured.

It is found associated with sandstone, which contains many fossils.

Lead and copper are reported as being very abundant; gypsum and limestone occur in some districts. From this, it will be seen that these islands have everything in the mineral way to constitute them desirable possessions.

With such mineral resources, and a soil capable of producing the most varied vegetation of the tropics, a liberal policy is all that the country lacks.

The products of the Philippine Islands consist of sugar, coffee, hemp, indigo, rice, tortoise-shell, hides, ebony, saffron-wood, [466]sulphur, cotton, cordage, silk, pepper, cocoa, wax, and many other articles. In their agricultural operations the people are industrious, although much labor is lost by the use of defective implements.

A very simple plough has been adopted from the Chinese. It has no coulter. The share is flat, and being turned partly to one side, answers, in a certain degree, the purpose of a mould-board.

This rude implement is sufficient for the rich soils, where the tillage depends chiefly upon the harrow, in constructing which a thorny species of bamboo is used.

The harrow is formed of five or six pieces of this material, on which the thorns are left, firmly fastened together. It answers its purpose well, and is seldom out of order. A wrought-iron harrow, that was introduced by the Jesuits, is used for clearing the ground more effectually, and more particularly for the purpose of extirpating a troublesome grass, that is known by the name of cogon (a species of Andropogon), of which it is very difficult to rid the fields. The bolo or long-knife, a basket, and hoe, complete the list of implements, and answer all the purposes of our spades, etc.

Draft animals

The buffalo was used until within a few years exclusively in their agricultural operations, and they have lately taken to the use of the ox.

But horses are never used.

The buffalo, from the slowness of his motions, and his exceeding restlessness under the heat of the climate, is ill adapted to agricultural labor; but the natives are very partial to them, notwithstanding they occasion them much labor and trouble in bathing them during the great heat. This is absolutely necessary, or the animal becomes so fretful as to be unfit for use.

If it were not for this, the buffalo would, notwithstanding his slow pace, be most effective in agricultural operations; he requires little food, and that of the coarsest kind; his strength surpasses that of the stoutest ox, and he is admirably adapted for the rice or paddy fields.

They are very docile when used by the natives, and even children can manage them; but it is said they have a great antipathy to the whites, and all strangers. The usual mode of guiding them is by a small cord attached to the cartilage of the nose.

The yoke rests on the neck before the shoulders, and is of simple construction. To this is attached whatever it may be necessary to draw, either by traces, shafts, or other fastenings. Frequently this animal may be seen with large bundles of bamboo lashed to them on each side. Buffaloes are to be met with on the lake with no more than their noses and eyes out of the water, and are not visible until they are approached within a few feet, when they cause alarm to the passengers by raising their large forms close to the boat.

They resort to the lake to feed on a favorite grass that grows on its bottom in shallow water, and which they dive for. Their flesh is not eaten, except that of the young ones, for it is tough and tasteless. The milk is nutritious, and of a character between that of the goat and cow.

The general appearance of the buffalo is that of a hybrid of the bull and rhinoceros.

Its horns do not rise upwards, are very close at the root, bent backwards, and of a triangular form, with a flat side above. One of the peculiarities of the buffalo is its voice, which is quite low, and in the minor key, resembling that of a young colt.

It is as fond of mire as swine, and shows the consequence of recent wallowing, in being crusted over with mud. The skin is visible, being but thinly covered with hair; its color is usually that of a mouse; in some individuals darker.

Rice.Rice is, perhaps, of their agricultural products, the article upon which the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands most depend for food and profit; of this they have several different varieties; which the natives distinguish by their size and the shape of the grain: the birnambang, lamuyo, malagequit, bontot-cabayo, dumali, quinanda, bolohan, and tangi. The three first are aquatic; the five latter upland varieties. They each have their peculiar uses. The dumali is the early variety; it ripens in three months from planting, from which circumstance it derives its name: it is raised exclusively on the uplands. Although much esteemed, it is not extensively cultivated, as the birds and insects destroy a large part of the crop.

The malagequit is very much prized, and used for making sweet and fancy dishes; it becomes exceedingly glutinous, for which reason it is used in making whitewash, which it is said to cause to become of a brilliant white, and to withstand the weather. This variety is not, however, believed to be wholesome. There is also a variety of this last species which is used as food for horses, and supposed to be a remedy and preventive against worms.

The rice grounds or fields are laid out in squares, and surrounded by embankments, to retain the water of the rains or streams. After the rains have fallen in sufficient quantities to saturate the ground, a seed-bed is generally planted in one corner of the field, in which the rice is sown broadcast, about the month of June. The heavy rains take place in August, when the fields are ploughed, and are soon filled with water. The young plants are about this time taken from the seed-bed, their tops and roots trimmed, and then planted in the field by making holes in the ground with the fingers and placing four or five sprouts in each of them; in this tedious labor the poor women are employed, whilst the males are lounging in their houses or in the shade of the trees.

The harvest for the aquatic rice begins in December. It is reaped with small sickles, peculiar to the country, called yatap; to the back of these a small stick is fastened, by which they are held, and the stalk is forced upon it and cut. The spikes of rice are cut with this implement, one by one. In this operation, men, women, and children all take part.

The upland rice requires much more care and labor in its cultivation. The land must be ploughed three or four times, and all the turf and lumps well broken up by the harrow.

During its growth it requires to be weeded two or three times, to keep the weeds from choking the crop. The seed is sown broadcast in May. This kind of rice is harvested in November, and to collect the crop is still more tedious than in the other case, for it is always gathered earlier, and never reaped, in consequence of the grain not adhering to the ear. If it were gathered in any other way, the loss by transportation on the backs of buffaloes and horses, without any covering to the sheaf, would be so great as to dissipate a great portion of the crop.

[468]It appears almost incredible that any people can remain in ignorance of a way of preventing so extravagant and wasteful a mode of harvesting. The government has been requested to prohibit it on account of the great expense it gives rise to; but whether any steps have ever been taken in the matter, I did not learn. It is said that not unfrequently a third part of the crop is lost, in consequence of the scarcity of laborers; while those who are disengaged will refuse to work, unless they receive one-third, and even one-half of the crop, to be delivered free of expense at their houses. This the planters are often obliged to give, or lose the whole crop. Nay, unless the harvest is a good one, reapers are very unwilling to engage to take it even on these terms, and the entire crop is lost. The laborers, during the time of harvest, are supported by the planter, who is during that time exposed to great vexation, if not losses. The reapers are for the most part composed of the idle and vicious part of the population, who go abroad over the country to engage themselves in this employment, which affords a livelihood to the poorer classes; for the different periods at which the varieties of rice are planted and harvested, gives them work during a large portion of the year.

After the rice is harvested, there are different modes of treating it. Some of the proprietors take it home, where it is thrown into heaps, and left until it is desirable to separate it from the straw, when it is trodden out by men and women with their bare feet. For this operation, they usually receive another fifth of the rice.

Others stack it in a wet and green state, which subjects it to heat, from which cause the grain contracts a dark color, and an unpleasant taste and smell. The natives, however, impute these defects to the wetness of the season.

The crop of both the low and upland rice, is usually from thirty to fifty for one: this is on old land; but on that which is newly cleared or which has never been cultivated, the yield is far beyond this. In some soils of the latter description, it is said that for a chupa (seven cubic inches) planted, the yield has been a caban. The former is the two-hundred-and-eighth part of the latter. This is not the only advantage gained in planting rich lands, but the saving of labor is equally great; for all that is required is to make a hole with the fingers, and place three or four grains in it. The upland rice requires but little water, and is never irrigated.

The cultivator in the Philippine Islands is always enabled to secure plenty of manure; for vegetation is so luxuriant that by pulling the weeds and laying them with earth, a good stock is quickly obtained with which to cover his fields. Thus, although the growth is so rank as to cause him labor, yet in this hot climate its decay is equally rapid, which tends to make his labors more successful.

The rice-stacks form a picturesque object on the field; they are generally placed around or near a growth of bamboo, whose tall, graceful, and feathery outline is of itself a beautiful object, but connected as it is often seen with the returns of the harvest, it furnishes an additional source of gratification.

The different kinds of rice, and especially the upland, would no doubt be an acquisition to our country.

We did not think it feasible to pack it, for it had just been reaped. It was so green that it would not have kept.2

Rice is a very prolific crop. Yet it is subject to many casualties:

• locusts and other insects that devour it
• drought that affects the aquatic varieties.

There is a use to which the rice is applied here, which was new to us, namely, as a substitute for razors; by using two grains of it between the fingers, they nip the beard, or extract it from the chin and face.