﻿ASBESTOS AND MANGANESE DEPOSITS. 149 



amply repaid upon arrival by encountering game in abundance. These 

 plateaus are quite different from the upland country of Cebu, but they 

 remind one strongly of the region just around Baguio, Benguet Province. 



The change from one class of country to the other is quite marked 

 and sudden; by crossing a line which is distincly seen to separate them, 

 one goes from a typical, rolling prairie very similar to that of Iowa and 

 Wisconsin in the United States, to a region which, as far as the immediate 

 surroundings are concerned, seems like some of the barren, treeless Coast 

 Range country of California. Great, white patches of magnesite are 

 frequent and the whole landscape appears desiccated and abandoned. 

 These plateau-like uplands may indicate a period of peneplanation prior 

 to the great Miocene uplift which gave the cordillera its present height. 

 (PL IV, fig. 4.) 



There appears to be little or no regularity in the orientation of the 

 drainage in this lower country, for the basal rocks are igneous and are 

 jointed and faulted according to no regular system. 



HYDROLOGY. 



The principal rivers of this region are the Laoag and the Bacarra, 

 flowing west into the China Sea, and the Bamban northward into Formosa 

 Straits near Bangui. None of these rivers are navigable for large craft, 

 and the Laoag is the only one sufficiently large even for virays, the 

 small native canoes. In the rainy season the two rivers first mentioned 

 become torrents and at times they can be crossed only with considerable 

 danger. 



In all ordinary weather good anchorage may be found in Bangui Bay 

 during the southwest monsoon. In the season of the northwest monsoon 

 the north coast is out of the question. There are only three of the 

 harbors on the west coast which are used, Dirique, Currimao and Sala- 

 mague, the last named being the best; all of these are reef -bound and 

 must be entered with great caution. Vessels in skirting Cape Bojeador, 

 usually keep well out to sea, as this is one of the most dangerous points 

 with which the inter-island mariner has to deal. 



CLIMATOLOGY. 



The climate of Ilocos Norte is considered to be very healthful ; it is 

 much cooler than that of most of the coast provinces and its seasons 

 are quite regular. In the time of the northeast monsoon the north coast 

 is very windy and it even may be said to be cold. During this season 

 the town of Laoag, which is the capital of the province, is very pleasant. 

 The word "Laoag" in the llocano dialect means "blue skies." 



The record of the nearest meteorological station, which is at Vigan, 

 showed the following for the year from January, 1905, to January, 1906 : 



