Town of San Jose. 



SOOLOO. 



Island of Mindanao. 

 Fort at Caldera. 



329 



was found to be of fine volcanic sand, composed 

 chiefly of oxide of iron, and comminuted shells; 

 there is here also a narrow shore reef of coral. 

 The plain bordering the sea is covered with a 

 dense growth of cocoa-nut trees. In the fine 

 season the bay is secure, but we were informed 

 that in westerly and south-westerly gales heavy 

 seas set in, and vessels are riot able to lie at 

 anchor. Several small vessels were lying in a 

 small river about one and a half mile to the 

 southward of the point on which the fort is situ- 

 ated. The entrance to this river is very narrow 

 and tortuous. 



Panay is one of the largest islands of the group. 

 We had an opportunity of measuring the height of 

 some of its western peaks or highlands, none of 

 which exceed three thousand feet. The interior 

 and eastern side have many lofty summits, which 

 are said to reach an altitude of seven thousand five 

 hundred feet ; but these, as we passed, were enve- 

 loped in clouds, or shut out from view by the 

 nearer highlands. The general features of the 

 island are like those of Luzon and Mindoro. The 

 higher land was bare of trees, and had it not been 

 for the numerous fertile valleys lying between the 

 sharp and rugged spurs, it would have had a sterile 

 appearance. 



The bay of Antique is in latitude 10 40' N., 

 longitude 121 50' 30" E. 



It was my intention to remain for two or three 

 days at a convenient anchorage to enable us to 

 make short excursions into the interior ; but the 

 vexatious mismanagement of the tender now made 

 it incumbent that I should make every possible 

 use of the time to complete the operations connected 

 with the hydrography of this sea ; for I perceived 

 that the duties which I intended should be per- 

 formed by her, would now devolve upon the boats, 

 and necessarily expose both officers and men to 

 the hazard of contracting disease. I regretted 

 giving up this design, not only on my own account 

 and that of the expedition, but because of the grati- 

 fication it would have afforded personally to the 

 naturalists. 



The town of San Jos has about thirty bamboo 

 houses, some of which are filled in with clay or 

 mortar, and plastered over, both inside and out. 

 Few of them are more than a single story in height. 

 That of the governor is of the same material, and 

 overtops the rest ; it is whitewashed, and has a 

 neat and cleanly appearance. In the vicinity of 

 the town are several beautiful valleys, which run 

 into the mountains from the plain that borders the 

 bay. The landing is on a bamboo bridge, which 

 has been erected over an extensive mud-flat, that 

 is exposed at low water, and prevents any nearer 

 approach of boats. This bridge is about seven 

 hundred feet in length ; and a novel plan has been 

 adopted to preserve it from being carried away. 

 The stems of bamboo not being sufficiently large 

 and heavy to maintain the superstructure in the 

 soft mud, a scaffold is constructed just under the 

 top, which is loaded with blocks of large stone, and 

 the outer piles are secured to anchors or rocks, 

 with grass rope. The roadway or top is ten feet 

 wide, covered with split bamboo, woven together, 

 and has rails on each side, to assist the passenger. 

 This is absolutely necessary for safety ; and even 

 with this aid, one unaccustomed to it must be pos- 

 sessed of no little bodily strength to pass over this 



smooth, slippery, and springy bridge, without acci- 

 dent. 



Two pirogues were at anchor in the bay, and on 

 the shore was the frame of a vessel which had 

 evidently been a long while on the stocks, for the 

 weeds and bushes near the keel were six or eight 

 feet high, and a portion of the timbers were de- 

 cayed. Carts and sleds drawn by buffaloes were 

 in use, and every thing gave it the appearance of 

 a thriving village. Although I have mentioned 

 the presence of soldiers, it was observed on landing 

 that no guard was stationed about or even at the 

 fort ; but shortly afterwards a soldier was seen 

 hurrying towards the latter, in the act of dressing 

 himself in his regimentals, and another running by 

 his side, with his cartridge-box and musket. In a 

 little while one was passing up and down on his 

 post, as though he was as permanent there as the 

 fort itself. 



After completing these duties, the light airs 

 detained us the remainder of the day under Panay, 

 in sight of the bay. On the 29th, at noon, we had 

 been wafted by it far enough in the offing to obtain 

 the easterly breeze, which soon became, strong, 

 with an overcast sky, and carried us rapidly on 

 our course; my time would not permit my heaving- 

 to. We kept on our course for Mindanao during 

 the whole night, and were constantly engaged in 

 sounding, with our patent lead, with from thirty to 

 forty fathoms cast, to prevent our passing over 

 this part of the sea entirely unexamined. 



At daylight on the 31st, we had the island of 

 Mandanao before us, but did not reach its western 

 cape until 5 P. M. This island is high and broken, 

 like those to the north of it, but, unlike them, its 

 mountains are covered with forests to their very 

 tops, and there were no distinct cones of minor 

 dimensions, as we had observed on the others. If 

 they do exist, they were hidden by the dense 

 forest. 



I had determined to anchor at Caldera, a small 

 port on the south-west side of Mindanao, about 

 ten miles distant from Samboangan, where the 

 governor resides. The latter is a considerable 

 place, but the anchorage in its roadstead is said to 

 be bad, and the currents that run through the 

 Straits of Basillan are represented to be strong. 

 Caldera, on the other hand, has a good, though 

 small anchorage, which is free from the currents 

 of the straits. It is therefore an excellent stop- 

 ping-place, in case of the tide proving unfavourable. 

 On one of its points stands a small fort, which, on 

 our arrival, hoisted Spanish colours. 



At six o'clock we came to anchor at Caldera, in 

 seven fathoms water. There were few indications 

 of inhabitants, except at and near the fort. An 

 officer was despatched to the fort, to report the 

 ship. It was found to be occupied by a few 

 soldiers under the command of a lieutenant. 



The fort is about seventy feet square, and is 

 built of large blocks of red coral, which evidently 

 have not been taken from the vicinity of the place, 

 as was stated by the officers of the fort ; for, 

 although our parties wandered along the alluvial 

 beach for two or three miles in each direction, no 

 signs of coral were observed. Many fragments of 

 red, gray, and purple basalt and porphyry were 

 met with along the beach ; talcose rock and slate, 

 syenite, hornblend, quartz, both compact and slaty, 

 with chalcedony, were found in pieces and large 



