THE ASCENT OF ISlOirNT IIALCON. 185 



obtained, and, aficr two days' niaroli under continiious licavy lain. Mr. Whitehead 

 and Iiis men camped at an altitude of 4,500 feet on Mount Dulanj^ran, in the main 

 range of Mindoro. This ranj^c of mountains is somewhat horseslioe shaped. Mr. 

 \\1iiteliead eontinuous: "To cut a Icmjr story short, it rained all November, all 

 December and all .Tainiaiy: one delufre began on the 11th of December, and was 

 perhaps second only to that which floated Noah and his great zoological collection, 

 for it continued until the 6th of January, 18J)(i. But for all this I was in good 

 health the climate being cool, seldom over 00° F., and sonu' nights only 52° F. ; 

 the mountain of the east side is perhaps over 8,000 feet, but the ranges are mostly 

 from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. I was guided by the natives to a part that attained 

 neai-ly 6,000 feet, hut we could not reach the crest of the mountain from this 

 position. The undergrowth is very dense and. without cutting paths, impossible to 

 get through." 



In April, 1!>()4, Liciilenjuit Filzliuf/k Lee, Jr., ^rwdftli ITnitod States 

 Cavalry, accomj.aiiied by throe otluT officers, Mr. //. D. Mrf'askei/. Chief 

 of the Philippine Mining Bureau, ten Americans soldiers and tliirtv 

 native carriers, left C^amp i\rcrjratli, Batangas, Luzon, with the ohject 

 of crossing northern Mindoro and if possible, of making tlie ascent of 

 Halcon. They landed at the mouth of the Baco Eiver and on April :; 

 ])r()ceeded up tliat river to the junction of the Alag, following that 

 stream in boats to the head of navigation, an estimated distance of 51- 

 miles. The Alag was chosen as the most feasible route because its 

 direction is more westerly and because the natives insisted that its source 

 was somewhere in the vicinity of Alag, the local name of Mount Halcon. 

 On April 4 the boats were abandoned, the river having become verv shallow 

 and swift. The expedition then followed a narrow trail along the bank, 

 the carriers being assigned about SO pounds each. The stream was very 

 tortuons, averaging from 50 to GO yards in width and the party was 

 compelled to ford five or six times during the morning's march. On 

 April 5 the advance was continned np the bed of the river but the loads 

 for the carriers had to be reduced in weight, progress being exceedingly 

 slow and hard, as the rocks in the river bed bruised tlie carriers' feet. 

 On this day the distance covered was but 3 miles and on the day following 

 but 'U miles. On the ^th of A[)ril progress was reported to be very 

 difficult and dangerous because of the large bowlders in the stream bed. 

 the swift current and the stcc]) clitfs on both sides, and on this day they 

 went bnt 3| miles. Lieutenant Lee continues: 



"It seems to be more difficult than we had anticipated to locate Mount Halcon. 

 Our field of vision is very limited, confined as we are in tlie bottom of a deep 

 canon with lofty perpendicular Malls and a wilderness of vegetation growing out 

 from either side overhead. Just at this time we are particularly aJixious to get a 

 bearing on the mountain tliat we may locate the easiest course for an ascent." 



On this days' nuirch several of the party cauie in contact with some 

 poisonous plant, spoken of a species of "poison ivy," ^ which on the 

 following days caused theui much suffering and inconvenience, eruptions 



^Probably t^icnievarpus perroltelii March {Amicardiaccae) . — E. D. j\l. 



