364 SMITH. 



Seeing no hope of finding a good water bearing stratum, suck as a sandstone, I 

 expressed the opinion then ( 1907 ) , and I still think, that it would be much more 

 feasible to construct a dam at the gorge of the Tumaga River and obtain a supply 

 of water as is done for Manila. 



Economic. — rnder this heading I shall discuss two deposits in this 

 district which apj^ear to give some promise of becoming important. 

 One is the gold prospect on the Tnmaga Eiver about forty kilometers 

 north of Zamboanga. The metal is encountered in a sticky clay, the 

 upper weathered portion of the schist formation which I have already 

 alluded to as forming the core of the peninsula. The gold comes from 

 quartz stringers wliich occur in the planes of schistosity. No veins 

 large enough to work as lodes have b^en located. The only apparently 

 profitable method of working such placer ground would be hydraulic, 

 and as the city of Zamboanga is intending to dam the Tumaga Eiver 

 to obtain a supply of water, there may be some objection to this method. 

 Three or four Zamboanga prospectors sluiced very industriously in 

 this region for over a year in 1905 to 1906. One was killed by the 

 hill people and the others abandoned the work. It is reported that 

 they obtained fair returns. Prospecting for the main lode should be 

 continued, but I should recommend strongly that placer ground near 

 the coast be examined, as dredging in the lower reaches of these rivers 

 would undoubtedly pay more than the work in the central part of the 

 peninsula, where all transportation facilities are lacking, and all expenses 

 would be exceedingly large. Wlaen I examined the Tumaga prospect 

 in 1907, I found that a canal about 300 meters in length had been ex- 

 tended from the Tumaga Eiver to conduct water into a large, circular 

 excavation, Avhich in turn was drained by a long sluice 10 to 12 meters 

 in length. I tried panning the stiff clay at this locality but found it 

 exceedingly tedious work, due to the toughness of the material, but 

 was rewarded by a few colors. The occurrence of the gold here seems 

 to be very much the same as it is in the Surigao Peninsula. 



Some prospecting is being done near Kuruon, but I have been unable 

 to learn the result. As the prospector is working in the lower reaches 

 of the river, I believe he is more likely to obtain results than the men 

 who are located in the cordillera. Eeports of the finding of gold are 

 continually being brought in from all the small streams along this coast. 



The second prospect of probable commercial importance is the coal on 

 the Siay Eiver near the head of Sibuguey Bay. I visited this deposit 

 in December, 1907, and again in 1911. It is about nineteen kilometers 

 from the mouth of the river, in low country, with a few, small, heavily 

 forested hills. This deposit was partially developed in the first years of 

 the American occupation, but a miner was killed and work abandoned. ■ 



The coal in the outcrop has a very encouraging appearance, being 

 miTch the same as the coals of Cebu and Polillo Islands. I can not state 

 the condition in places farther under cover, because all the tunnels were 



