72 THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



He landed, of course, at the capital, Mindanao ; and the 

 Spaniards — civil, military, even ecclesiastic — received him 

 cordially. Any visitor was no less than a phenomenon to 

 them. It is a gay and pleasant little town, for these people, 

 having neither means nor opportunity, as a rule, to revisit 

 Europe, make their home in the East. And Roebelin found 

 plenty of good things round the glorious bay of Illana. But 

 he learned with surprise that the Spaniards did not even 

 profess to have authority beyond a narrow strip here and 

 there upon the coast. The interior is occupied by savages, 

 numerous and warlike, Papuan by race, or crossed with the 

 Philippine Malay. Though they are not systematically 

 hostile to white men, Roebelin saw no chance of exploring 

 the country. 



Then he heard of a 'red Phalaenopsis,' on the north 

 coast, a legendary wonder, which must have its own chronicle 

 by and by. Seduced especially by this report, Roebelin sailed 

 in a native craft to Surigao, a small but very thriving settle- 

 ment, which ranks next to the capital. People there were 

 well acquainted with Phalaenopsis, but they knew nothing of 

 a red one ; some of them, however, talked in vague ecstasy 

 of an orchid with flowers as big as a dinner-plate to be found 

 on the banks of Lake Magindanao, a vast sheet of water in 

 the middle of the island. They did not agree about the 

 shape, or colour, or anything else relating to it ; but such a 

 plant must be well worth collecting anyhow. It was not 

 dangerous to ascend the river, under due precautions, nor to 

 land at certain points of the lake. Such points are inhabited 

 by the Subano tribe, who live in hourly peril from their 

 neighbours the Bagabos, against whom they beg Spanish 

 protection. Accordingly white men are received with 

 enthusiasm. 



The expedition, therefore, would be comparatively safe, 

 if a guide and interpreter could be found. And here Roe- 



