398 FERGUSON. 



in 1901 that the island was visited by geologists. However, the earlier 

 writers had noticed the significant form of the island in relation to the 

 principal structural lines of the Philippines. Von Drasche ^ first called 

 attention to this junction of the two principal trends of the Visayan 

 Islands. Koto - suggested a similarity to the divergence of the moun- 

 tain system of the Eastern Alps. Suess ^ noted a possibility of similarity 

 of structure to that of Porto Eico. Becker * speaks of two main, curved 

 fissure-systems parallel to the two arms of Masbate. 



Mr. A. J. Eveland, at that time geologist in the Mining Bureau, made a 

 short visit to Aroroy in 1904 and noted in his report ° the topographic 

 youth of the district and the limestone benches on the west side of Port 

 Barrera. Mr. H. D. McCaskey and Mr. H. M. Ickis made a more ex- 

 tended visit in 1906. Mr. McCaskey in his report ^ was the first to 

 call attention to the fact that the great majority of the mineral veins 

 strike in a northwesterly direction, parallel to the principal axis of the 

 island. 



The writer published in 1908 a short resume of the mining conditions 

 and geology of the Aroroy district/ and the results of the first season's 

 field work were made the basis of a more extensive paper on the physio- 

 graphy of western Masbate.* 



Notes on the mining developments of the year are published in the 

 annual bulletin. The Mineral Eesources of the Philippine Islands for 

 1908.'' A more detailed statement of the ecomonic geology and mining 

 occur in the same bulletin for 1909.^" 



THE ISLAND OF MASBATE. 



Climate. — The rainfall on Masbate is well below the average for the 

 Philippines (2,800 millimeters) ; observations at Port Palanog (Masbate) 

 for the years 1904, 1905, and 1906 give an average annual rainfall of 

 only 1,446 millimeters. The records show a smaller rainfall at only four 

 out of the sixty-four stations in the Islands. The dry season extends 

 from February to May, inclusive, only 17 per cent of the total precipita- 

 tion occurring during these four months. Throughout the remainder of 



^ Fragmente zu einer Geologie der Insel Luzon. Vienna (1878). 

 ^ On the geologic structure of the Malayan Archipelago. Journ. Coll. Sci., 

 Tokyo (1899), II, 11, 117. 



'The face of the earth (English translation). Oxford (1906), 2, 173. 



* Report on the geology of the Philippine Islands. 21st Ann. Rep. V. 8. Oeol. 



Surv. ( 1901 ) , 546. 



^Manuscript in Bureau of Science, Manila. 



° Manuscript in Bureau of Science. 



'Far East. Rev. (1908), 5, 56. 



'This Journal, Sec. A (1909), 4, 1-16. 



° Ferguson, H. G., Metallic Mineral Resources. Min. Resources P. I. Bur. 

 Sci., Div. Min. (1909), 20-21. 



'"Ibid (1910), 18-25. 



