228 CHRISTIE. 



who understand in a rude way the working of the local stone are 

 present in fairly respectable numbers, but do not give more than 

 a small fraction of their time to stone working. The San Es- 

 teban paving stone probably has been more in demand formerly 

 than at present. Whether the demand will revive is a matter 

 of conjecture.^ The stone rice-mortars seem to have a wide- 

 spread field of possible use in the Archipelago. The greatest 

 impediments at present to the grovd:h of the industry would 

 seem to be the lack of facilities for distribution, such as some 

 responsible person or firm through whom merchants at a dis- 

 tance could order articles, and the absence of any considerable 

 stock of ready-made articles which could be drawn upon at 

 any time. 



- San Esteban stone of the kind used for mills, paving stones, and rice 

 mortars is an impure limestone of a hardness of about 3.5. It is, therefore, 

 too soft for use as paving material in places subject to heavy traffic. 



