37 



more uniform ip these qualities than is the case in some other districts, 

 but varying little from the general average. 



PONTE\EDRA-LA CARLOTA. 



This district, the second largest in the island, which includes all 

 the territory lying around and between the above-named municipalities 

 and extending south and east up to and including the barrio of La 

 Castellana, is situated just south of Bago and separated from it along 

 the coast by the municipalit}' of Yalladolid, further inland by a section 

 of low rice land along the San Enrique Eiver. La Carlota itself, the 

 principal town in the district, is 10 kilometers inland and lies to the 

 north of most of the haciendas. Transportation for passengers and 

 mail from Iloilo is effected by way of Pulupandan, with which town 

 a steamship service thrice a week is maintained, the voyage requiring 

 only four or five hours. From Pulupandan south along the coast 

 through Yalladolid to San Enrique a fairly good road is encountered, 

 but from there inland to La Carlota it can hardly be called a road, 

 except in the dry season. ■* The whole journey by quilez, drawn by a 

 bull, from Pulupandan to La Carlota, a distance of about 25 Idlo- 

 meters, consumes from five to six hours, and costs, according to the 

 nationality of the passenger, from 5 to 10 pesos. 



The sugar from this district is shipped by lorcha to Iloilo, either 

 from the landing in the San Enrique Eiver or from that of Pontevedra, 

 4 kilometers south, at the mouth of the Candaguit Eiver. From the 

 latter point an animal-power tramway runs directly inland for a distance 

 of 8 kilometers to the haciendas Carmen and Carmen Chica. receiving 

 sugar not only from these two but from many others in the southern 

 part of the district as far as La Castellana. A similai" tramway, from 

 the landing at San Enrique through the haciendas Caridad, Candaguit, 

 and Fe to the town of La Carlota, transports sugar and freight for 

 the populations lying more to the northward. 



Topographically, the district of Pontevedra-La Carlota is somewhat 

 similar to that of Bago, being quite narrow near the coast and gradually 

 spreading out into a triangular-shaped section extending 20 kilometers 

 inland to the foothills, where it is about as broad as it is long. How- 

 ever, there is here no navigable river as in Bago. Xo cane is grown 

 at the present time directly along the coast. A strip of from 3 to 4 kilo- 

 meters here, which is now chiefly marsh land, was formerly planted much 

 nearer to the sea, but cultivation has gradually been driven back by the 

 increasing inroads of salt water. It is quite possible that much of this 

 abandoned land might be reclaimed by an efficient system of drainage. 



* Such was the condition in 1908-9. Since that time much work has been done 

 on the roads of this district, and they have been so improved that it is stated 

 that a regular automobile service has been inaugurated between Pulupandan and 

 La Carlota. 



