1 9() MERRir.L. 



Maiiiryans do iidt possess the usual supcrst it ions rcii-aiMlinii- uiDUutains 

 wliicli arc found aiMoii^i- most luitixcs of the IMiilippines, or at least not 

 to such a (Iciii'cc as to prevent tlicui from ascendintr tlie h\^^]\ i-idues. 

 Just before dark llie lieavv storn'i set in a^ain. continuing' all niglit and 

 throughout the following day. In spit(! of it, we left camp on the 

 morning of Xovemher 22 with the oiiject of reaching the highest point 

 on llalcon. In passing from the point where we sto])pe(l trail cutting a 

 few days before, to the sinnmit of the mountain, we encountered the 

 densest thickets seen on the entire trip, and imme(liate|y helow the ])oak it 

 took two men three and one-half hours of constant and heavy work with 

 holos to ojH'u a very narrow trail, for a distance of less than one-half a mile. 

 .\t 1 o'clock in the afternoon of Xovemher 22, twenty-one days from the 

 coast, the party reached the highest point on Halcon. The summit heing 

 shrouded in clouds, no view was obtained and as all the members of the 

 party where suffering severely from the cold and rain, we stopped oidy 

 long enough to take aneroid readings and to dejjosit a record of the tri)), 

 which was placed in a sealed bottle and secured to the largest tree on 

 the summit, there being no bowlders available of which to build a cairn. 

 The top of Halcon is a somewhat flattened ridge about one-eighth of a 

 mile long, sloping gradually to the southeast: the |)eak is covered 

 with a dense growth of stunted trees, none of them more than 10 feet 

 in height, the ground and the trunks, branches and even smaller branchlets 

 of the li'ees being thinkly covered with from 5 to l,") inches of moss. 



No marks of a trail were observed and no signs were seen anywhere in 

 the vicinity of the ])eak which would indicate that the summit had evei' 

 been visite(l l)y human beings, and it would be |)hysically impossible lor any 

 ])ei-son to reach it thi'ough the dense forest growth. without leaving signs 

 of trail cutting. Late in the afternoon the party arrived at Cam)) NTum- 

 ber Seven and spent a most disagreeable night in wet clothes and blankets, 

 as it was im[)ossible to start a fire because of the continuous wind and 

 rain and conse(piently no warm food could be ])repared. On the morn- 

 ing (d' \ovend)er 2'.\ we i-eturned to Camp Nund)er Six and during the 

 two following days we were obliged to remain there because of the storm. 

 On the morning of \ovend)er 2(1, our carriers who had remained at the 

 base cam|> at the junction of the Alag and Bolton T?ivers, came back 

 reporting the Alag J»iver very high and unfordabU'. and for that reason 

 the carriers who had been sent to Suhaan had been unable to return; 

 moreover, the food sup|)l\ at the base camp was very low. As we had 

 net further object in i-eniaining at the higher altitudes we broke Camp 

 \ iMuber Six on the morning of NovendnM" 2() with the intention of sleeping 

 that night at the large Mangyan house described on page IS2. .\s we 

 had but few carriers, every member- of tln' party was obliged to |)ack a 

 heavy lo;id. The topographer and hos|)ital corps man left Camp Num- 

 ber Six alxiut half an hour before the I'emainder of the party, but on 



