366 SMITH. 



Should a tliieker seam be discovered here, mining wotild not be difficult, 

 as the other features are all favorable. This deposit is located within 6 

 or 7 kilometers of tide water. 



Before leaving the Zamboanga district, I desire to call attention to 

 the heavy, red soil which is to be found covering a large part of the Island 

 of Basilan, as well as many other portions of Mindanao and Sulu. This 

 material seems to be in spots more in the nature of an iron formation 

 than a soil. In some places it is hard and carries a considerable per- 

 centage of iron, in others it is simply a highly ferruginous clay. Laterite 

 appears to me to be the best name for this deposit, as it seems to correspond 

 in many ways to a similar formation or formations so named in India. 

 It is characteristic of the Tropics where weathering extends to a con- 

 siderable depth and where the surface rocks are rich in iron minerals, 

 as is the case over a large part of western Mindanao and the Sulu 

 Archipelago. The origin of laterite has been a matter of heated dis- 

 cussion, and hundreds of pages have been written defending first one 

 theory and then another. The formation in the Philippines, which I 

 shall call laterite seems to me in general to be a product of weathering. 



5oi7.— The soils of BasUan Island are excellently adapted to the 

 growing of rubber and hemp and here are located several thriving young 

 plantations. Eubber trees and hemp plants are now growing on Doctor 

 Strong'"s plantation. 



The Zamboanga plain is much better adapted to coconuts, as it has 

 a more or less sandy soil and is more exposed to the sea. The hill country 

 of the peninsula has little cultivated land; camote-s are practically all 

 that is raised by the natives. The hot and moist swales between the 

 ridges are excellent locations for hemp growing. 



THE MAUXDAXG DISTRICT. 



Very little definite information is to be obtained regarding the Malin- 

 dang district. I have touched it at Dapitan on the north coast, and 

 at Pangil Bay. Prom the latter point I made short trips up the sides of 

 Mount Malindang. Major Edgar A. Meams, United States Army, 

 ascended Mount Malindang in 1906 but has left practically no record 

 of the geology encountered. An exploring expedition from Misamis to 

 DxmianquiHs Bay was undertaken in 1904 by a detachment of Troop 

 G, 14th Cavalry, under Captain C. C. Smith. A route map was made 

 and the report submitted to the Adjutant General of the Philippines; 

 however, this gives no geologic information. The chief value of the map 

 to those outside of the Army is the fairly accurate location and sketch 

 of Lake Leonard TVood near the rancheria Payan. 



In December, 1907, I visited the town of Misamis on the west coast 

 of Pangil Bay, and in company with Lieutenant Lattamore, Philippine 

 Constabulary, went to several points around Pangil Bay. I found every- 



