﻿THE ASCENT OF MOUNT HALCON. 185 



obtained, and, after two days' march under continuous heavy rain, Mr. Whitehead 

 and his men camped at an altitude of 4,500 feet on Mount Dulangan, in the main 

 range of Mindoro. This range of mountains is somewhat horseshoe shaped. Mr. 

 Whitehead continuous: "To cut a long story short, it rained all November, all 

 December and all January; one deluge began on the 11th of December, and was 

 perhaps second only to that which floated Noah and his great zoological collection, 

 for it continued until the 6th of January, 189(5. But for all this I was in good 

 health the climate being cool, seldom over 60° F., and some nights only 52° F. ; 

 the mountain of the east side is perhaps over 8,000 feet, but the ranges are mostly 

 from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. I was guided by the natives to a part that attained 

 nearly 6,000 feet, but we could not reach the crest of the mountain from this 

 position. The undergrowth is very dense and, without cutting paths, impossible to 

 get through." 



In April, 1904, Lieutenant Filzhugh Lee, Jr., Twelfth United States 

 Cavalry, accompanied by three other officers, Mr. II. D. McCaskey, Chief 

 of the Philippine Mining Bureau, ten x\mericans soldiers and thirty 

 native carriers, left Camp McOrath, Batangas, Luzon, with the object 

 of crossing northern Mindoro and if possible, of making the ascent of 

 Halcon. They landed at the mouth of the Baco Biver and on April 3 

 proceeded up that river to the junction of the Alag, following that 

 stream in boats to the head of navigation, an estimated distance of 5| 

 miles. The Alag was chosen as the most feasible route because its 

 direction is more westerly and because the natives insisted that its source 

 was somewhere in the vicinity of Alag, the local name of Mount Halcon. 

 On April 4 the boats were abandoned, the river having become very shallow 

 and swift. The expedition then followed a narrow trail along the bank, 

 the carriers being assigned about 80 pounds each. The stream was very 

 tortuous, averaging from 50 to 60 yards in width and the party was 

 compelled to ford five or six times during the morning's march. On 

 April 5 the advance was continued up the bed of the river but the loads 

 for the carriers had to be reduced in weight, progress being exceedingly 

 slow and hard, as the rocks in the river bed bruised the carriers' feet. 

 On this day the distance covered was but 3 miles and on the day following 

 but 3-| miles. On the 7th of April progress was reported to be very 

 difficult and dangerous because of the large bowlders in the stream bed, 

 the swift current and the steep cliffs on both sides, and on this day they 

 went but 1\ miles. Lieutenant Lee continues: 



"It seems to be more difficult than we had anticipated to locate Mount Halcon. 

 Our field of vision is very limited, confined as we are in the bottom of a deep 

 canon with lofty perpendicular walls and a wilderness of vegetation growing out 

 from either side overhead. Just at this time we are particularly anxious to get a 

 bearing on the mountain that we may locate the easiest course for an ascent." 



On this days' march several of the party came in contact with some 

 poisonous plant, spoken of a species of "poison ivy," 8 which on the 

 following days caused them much suffering and inconvenience, eruptions 



s Probably Hcmecarpus perrottetii March (Anacardiaceae) . — E. D. M. 



