2360 LEAFLETS Or PHILIPPINE BoTANY [Vor. VII, Arr. 112 
irregular in shape; Dinagat is to the north, rather long 
in shape and is the largest of the group of islets that be- 
long to Surigao Province. All of those islets seemed heavily for- 
ested, the range of mountains on Dinagat possibly extending up 
to 2000 feet above the sea. Ornamental orchids were frequently 
seen about dwellings and the spontaneous dapos or air plants 
on the trees right in the town of Surigao indicate prevailing 
humidity. The country to the interior is primarily composed 
of low ranges with hillocks. It is said that from one of 
these hills near the town, a portion of Lake Mainit can 
be seen. A fad of not a few Surigao residents is the col- 
lecting of sea shells. I know of no other province in this 
archipelago yielding such varied and beautiful conchological 
specimens. Again, the placer gold mining and forested districts 
promise rich results for Surigao Peninsula. 
In the stores at Surigao I noticed a several ply mat of soft 
straw. The natives on Dinagat make them, and to me they were 
rather curious and quite distinctive. I have only seen the regular 
sized rectangular kind. Its material seemed to me to be the same 
as that from which the characteristic Basay, Samar mats or rugs 
are made—namely ticog or Fimbristylis utilis Elm., a coarse marsh 
plant of the sedge family. The straws are a few layers thick, 
straight for the full width of the mat, with free ends and are 
doubly stitched about a rattan strand every two to three inches. 
Brick red portions alternating with similar widths of the natural 
straw or yellowish colors are the most commonly used colors and 
design. This sedge or grass-like rug weaving industry at Basay 
gives employment to hundreds of native women. The finished 
products are marketed at or shipped by way of Tacloban, Leyte, 
just across the channel separating the two islands. These rugs 
are variously named Samar, Tacloban or Pula-Jana. The 
weave is diagonal and one ply and in it different colors are used. 
They are a much finer rug than the Dinagat mat or rug, square or 
rectangular orevencircular, of all standard sizes and are colored in 
different ornamental designs or occasionally in solid colors*. There 
is a third distinctive mat made of ticog material by the natives on 
Bohol [sland and nearby places. It is put up in small rolls, a yard 
* Amzi B. Kelly, proprietor of HUB PHILIPPINES in Manila, 
handles them and can furnish circulars of information. 
