352 THE THTLIPPINE ISLANDS. 



all along their length, the points of the hooks being directed 

 towards the angle of the machine. 



The whole is very ingeniously strengthened by well-planned 

 cross pieces, and is weighted with stones. It is dragged on the 

 bottom by means of a light Manila hemp cord, not more than 

 gth of an inch in diameter of section, which is attached to the 

 angle. A stone attached to a stick is fastened just in front of 

 the angle to keep the point down on the bottom. The hooks 

 creeping over the bottom and sweeping an area nearly 14 feet 

 wide, catch in the upright sponges and drag their bases out 

 from the mud. These sponges, once so rare and expensive, 

 were a drug in the market at the time of our visit to Cebu. 

 They were brought off to the ship in washing-baskets full, and 

 sold at two shillings a dozen. 



Mactan Island consists of an old coral reef raised a few feet 

 (eight or ten at most) above the present sea level. At one 



MACHINE USED AT CEBU TO DREDGE UP EUPLECTELLA ASPERGILLUHI. 



part of the island, where a convent stands, a low cliff fringes 

 the shore, being the edge of an upper stratum of the upheaved 

 reef, of which the island is composed. This raised reef is here 

 preserved, but has been removed by denudation, over the 

 portion of the island immediately fronting Cebu, with the 

 exception of a few isolated pillar-like blocks, which remain, 

 and are conspicuous from the anchorage. These show that 

 the whole island was once of the same height as the distant 

 cliff. 



Opposite the town of Cebu, the island of Mactan is bordered 

 by a wide belt of denuded coral flat, partly covered at high 

 tide. The surface is scooped out into irregular basins and 

 sharp projecting pinnacles, and covered in all directions with 

 mud, resulting from the denudation. Very few living corals 

 are to be found on these flats, but they are fringed at their 

 seaward margin by small beds of living corals. 



