Geographic Notes 



M 



THE FORESTS OF THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



THE Philippine Bureau of Forestry 

 has submitted its first report on 

 the forest wealth of the Philip- 

 pine Islands. 



The Bureau was organized by order 

 of the Military Governor, April 14, 1900, 

 to ascertain the condition of the forests 

 and the regulations adopted by the Span- 

 iards for their preservation. 



It is estimated that from one-fourth to 

 one-half the area of the Philippine Isl- 

 ands, or from twenty to forty million 

 acres, are public forest lands. In the isl- 

 ands of Mindoro and Paragua at least 

 5,000,000 acres of virgin forests are 

 owned by the State. 



The island of Mindanao with an area 

 of 20,000,000 acres, is almost entirely cov- 

 ered with timber. Even in the province 

 of Cagayan, Luzon, there are more than 

 two million acres of forests. In some of 

 the southern islands magnificent tracts 

 are standing with from 10,000 to 20,000 

 cubic feet an acre of splendid timber. 

 The trees tower to a height of one hun- 

 dred and fifty feet, often shooting up 

 sixty feet without a single branch and of 

 a diameter of four feet. 



Captain Ahern, Director of the Bureau, 

 believes that there are as many as five 

 hundred species of trees in the archipel- 

 ago. No pure forest of any one species 

 exists. Rarely do more than three or four 

 trees of one variety grow together. Many 

 varieties of valuable gum, rubber, and 

 gutta-percha trees are found ; also seven- 

 teen dyewoods and the ylang ylang from 

 whose blossoms so many perfumes are 

 made. 



It is stated the regulations adopted by 

 the Spanish for the preservation of the 

 forests of the Philippines were in line 

 with the most advanced forestry legisla- 

 tion of Europe. But these rules were not 

 enforced. The men licensed to cut, hewed 

 indiscriminately ; with the result that the 

 most valuable rubber, gutta-percha, and 

 ylang ylang trees were used for firewood. 



The old regulations have been revised by 

 Captain Ahern. Lumbermen are now 

 licensed to cut only certain species. 



SOUTH POLAR EXPLORA- 

 TION. 



THE arrangements for the British 

 and German South Polar Expe- 

 ditions which sail from Europe 

 in August, 1 90 1, are nearly completed. It 

 is expected that the English boat, the 

 Discovery, will be launched in March at 

 Dundee, She is a good strong boat, built 

 on different lines from the Frani, for the 

 latter was planned to resist, or rather es- 

 cape, tremendous ice-pressure, while the 

 Discovery was modelled to withstand the 

 attacks of a boisterous sea. The German 

 boat, building at Kiel, is smaller and 

 lighter than the Discovery and follows 

 somewhat the lines of the Fram. 



The two ships sail from Europe to- 

 gether. The official statement of their 

 plan of co-operation is as follows : 



" When they reach the far South they 

 will separate with a carefully arranged 

 plan of work for each. The Antarctic 

 regions have been divided into four quad- 

 rants. First, the Victoria quadrant, 

 which extends from 90 degrees east to 

 180 degrees, and includes Victoria Land; 

 second, the Ross quadrant, from 180 de- 

 grees to 90 degrees west, south of the 

 Pacific Ocean ; third, the Weddell quad- 

 rant, from 90 degrees west to o degree 

 (Greenwich meridian), the Weddell Sea; 

 and fourth, the Enderby quadrant, from 

 o degree to 90 degrees east, which 

 includes Enderby Land. Two quadrants 

 have been assigned for exploration and 

 research to each expedition, the British 

 taking the Victoria and Ross, and the Ger- 

 man the Weddell and Enderby." 



Both expeditions hope to be able to 

 spend three years in the work. Captain 

 Drygalski, the famed explorer of Green- 

 land, leads the German party, while Cap- 

 tain Scott of the British Navy, young, 

 hardy, and level-headed, directs the Eng- 

 lish. 



