THE TREE SNAILS OF THE GENUS COCHLOSTYLA OF 

 MINDORO PROVINCE, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



By Paul Bartsch 



INTRODUCTION 



In no other area in the entire Philippine Archipelago do we find a 

 greater confusion in our knowledge of its tree-snail fauna than in 

 Mindoro, the main island of this province. Though Mincloro has been 

 contributing specimens since the very early days of contact with 

 civilization, most of them came from the well-known ports on the 

 northeastern part of the island. The reason for this is voiced by Dr. 

 Dean C. Worcester, who states on page 362 of his book "The Philip- 

 pine Islands", published in 1899: 



Nowhere in the northern Philippines is there an island so little known, or one so 

 universally avoided by white men. The natives frequently refer to it significantly 

 as the "white man's grave." At the present time it is celebrated chiefly for the 

 unsavoury reputation of its people, the heaviness of its rainfall, and the deadliness 

 of the miasma in its fever-smitten lowlands. 



There was a time when Mindoro was famous for other things. So much rice 

 was formerly raised along the coast as to cause the island to be named "the 

 granary of the Philippines," and the population of the numerous coast villages 

 seems to have consisted chiefly of peaceable, law-abiding Tagalogs. All this 

 has long since been changed. The prosperity of the civilized natives served to 

 attract the attention of the Moros, who repeatedly raided their towns, rapidly 

 thinning the population. An epidemic attacked the buffaloes, nearly exterminat- 

 ing them, and leaving the natives without means of tilling their land; and cholera 

 did the rest. 



To-day the once rich fields have for the most part grown up to forest land, and 

 the island is a rendezvous for desperate criminals, who escape from the neigh- 

 bouring provinces and seek refuge in Mindoro, well knowing that if they once reach 

 the forest there they are safe from pursuit. 



The few poverty-stricken villages on the east coast are supposed to be under 

 Spanish protection and control. How much that protection amounts to I shall 

 attempt to show later. There are villages on the west coast also. White men 

 who value their lives do not often visit them. 



In the interior of the island are a number of lofty mountains, the highest peak 

 attaining an altitude of 8,865 feet. These mountains and the adjacent lowlands 

 are clothed in magnificent forest which the hand of man has never disturbed. 

 Under the shadows of its mighty trees dwell a race of primitive savages, the 

 Mangyans. They bear a very bad reputation, which is wholly undeserved. 



Between the mountains and the west coast are extensive plains, covered with 

 high grass. East of the mountains are heavily timbered lowlands, crossed by 



373 



