658 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1917. 



and map the region and make collections of its natural products. 

 This expedition, originally consisting of 21 white and 28 native 

 carriers, left the old fort at Misamis, on May 9, and experienced 

 many difficulties, ascending one spur of the mountain after another, 

 only to discover that an impassable gorge several thousand feet 

 deep separated it from the main peak. By May 25 the party had 

 become reduced to half its original number, through the departure of 

 various members to the coast. The remainder pushed on, and at 

 11.30 o'clock on the morning of June 4 reached the top of Grand 

 Malindang, the second highest point in the Philippines, and pre- 

 viously unvisited by civilized man. It was foggy and cold, but 

 Doctor Mearns remained on the summit three days and nights to 

 secure a good series of animal life of that altitude. The return to 

 the coast was comparatively uneventful and occupied only a few 

 days. A good map of the region was prepared, and a number of 

 new animals and plants were discovered, including Malindang'm^ a 

 nev/ genus of birds. 



One achievement among Mearns's Philippine experiences stands 

 out more prominently than any other, namely, his ascent of Mount 

 Halcon, which was undertaken at the worst season of the year. 

 This notable expedition, headed by Doctor Mearns, was organized 

 " under the direction and with the support of Major General Leonard 

 Wood," its object being to " determine some feasible route to the 

 mountain, to ascend the highest peak, to secure as much data as 

 possible, and to collect objects of natural history." Elmer D. 

 Merrill, botanist of the expedition, has fortunately given an account 

 of this trip, and the extracts here quoted are from his paper. 



Halcon, tbe thiixl highest peak in the Philippines, is situated in the north- 

 central part of Mindoro. With no known trails leading to it, surrounded by 

 dense forests, cut off from the coast by difficult ridges and large rivers subject 

 to enormous and appalling floods, it stood seemingly inaccessible. Its location 

 is perhaps in the most humid part of the Philippines, where the rains continue 

 for nine months in the year, in a region geographically quite unknown and 

 inhabited by a sparse population of entirely wild and very timid people, and on 

 an island regarding which there is a widespread and generally accepted belief 

 as to its unhealthfulness. Although within 100 miles of RIanila and not more 

 than 15 from Calapan, the capital of Mindoro, so far as I have been able to 

 determine it remained xmconquered up to the year 1006. 



John Whitehead, an English collector, who reached one of the out- 

 lying spurs of Halcon in the winter of 1895, wrote of this region : 



I have seen a good deal of the Tropics, but I never encountered such deluges, 

 such incessant rain, or such thousands of leeches. 



The Mearns party, consisting of 11 whites and 22 natives, left Cala- 

 pan on November 1 for Subaan, where it began its journey inland. 

 The expedition discovered several uncharted rivers, which had to be 

 forded or crossed on rude bridges constructed by the party, and prog- 



