THE PHILIPPINE 



Journal of Science 



D. Ethnology, Anthropology, and 

 General Biology 



Vol. V AUGUST, 1910 No. 



THE PEARL FISHERY OF BANTAYAN.' 



By Lawrence E. Gbiffin.^ 



The Island of Bantayan lies between the northern ends of jSTegros 

 and Cebii, at the head of the Tan on Channel. It is abont 11 kilometers 

 wide and' 18 kilometers long. A string of islets, sometimes called the 

 Don Islands, stretches 13 or 14 kilometers from its southwestern corner 

 toward jSTegros. A single islet is located abont 13 kilometers north of 

 the outermost of the Dons. These islands, Bantayan on the east, the 

 Dons on the south, and the last islet to the northwest, bound a shoal 

 about 260 square kilometers in area. On the east and south of Bantayan, 

 and south of the Dons, the shallow water extends for from 1 to 3 kilo- 

 meters and then gTadrrally deepens. At only one point, Santa Fe, on 

 the southeast corner of Bantayan, does the water deepen suddenly. This 

 is the only place where large boats can come to- within half a kilo- 

 meter of the main island. Almost all the small islands are inhaljited, 

 but their total population being is not much more than 1,000; that of 

 Bantayan Island is over 37,000. 



The isljinds are formed entirely of coral, all except Bantayan being 

 flat, with an elevation not exceeding 5 meters. Curiously enough, the 

 outermost of the Dons, Lipayran, is densely covered with virgin forest 

 of first-groui> woods ; the other islands have few trees except the coconut. 



The passages between the Don Islands are all shallow, except between 



'■ Contribution from the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I. 

 ' Associate professor of zoology, Philippine Medical School, Manila, P. I. 

 97121 149 



