﻿188 MERRILL. 



equipment, and in endeavoring to obtain information regarding Mount 

 Halcon. As we expected, but very little which was definite regarding it 

 could be secured in Calapan. Fortunately, we met an American who had 

 a placer claim on the Binabay River and who bad been as far inland as 

 the junction of the Binabay with the Alag. He in formed as that a good 

 trail existed from Subaan to the Alag River and although he had- no 

 information regarding the country beyond the Alag, he was of the 

 opinion that Halcon could be reached and ascended by this route. Topo- 

 graphically, this seemed to us to be the more direct way, although 

 Lieutenant Jennings had reported his belief that a more feasible route 

 could be found from the south, either b} r way of the Catuyran River, a 

 tributary of the Baco, from Lake Naujan, or from the west coast. We 

 were already acquainted with Mr. Whitehead's experiences on the Du- 

 langan spur of Halcon and also aware of the fact that Lieutenant Jen- 

 nings had been unable to reach the highest peak of Halcon by following 

 Whitehead's course, and as a selection of any of the routes suggested by 

 Lieutenant Jennings would have necessitated much more overland travel 

 than by way of the trail leading inland from Subaan to the Alag River, 

 the latter was chosen. Accordingly, two large native boats were secured 

 to take the party and equipment up the coast to Subaan, a small village 

 about 10 miles northwest of Calapan; November 1 was entirely occupied 

 in making this trip, and in securing the native carriers for the journey 

 inland. On the morning of November 2 the party left Subaan for the 

 Binabay River, two scouts remaining behind to guard the food supply 

 and equipment which was not immediately taken forward. As rations 

 for forty clays had been brought and as the equipment and supplies for 

 field work were bulky and difficult to transport, it was found quite im- 

 possible to secure the necessary carriers to take all at one trip, so that 

 plans were made to establish camps from time to time and have the 

 material brought in by relays. The trail for about 2 miles led through 

 an open, flat, semicultivated region and shortly after leaving the coast 

 we were obliged to ford the Subaan River, a stream of considerable size. 

 At the end of 2 miles the trail left the level land and crossed a broad, 

 interrupted ridge, densely forested with magnificent trees and broken by 

 ravines containing small streams, some tributary to the Subaan River, 

 others to the Binabay. The highest altitude reached on this ridge was 

 about 1,000 feet. We established our first camp where the trail crossed 

 the Binabay River at a distance of about 6 miles from Subaan and at 

 an altitude of 700 feet, making it with some American miners who had 

 located a placer claim in the stream bed as coarse gold to a limited extent 

 is found in the sand. 



On November 3 the carriers were sent back to Subaan for more sup- 

 plies and the other members of the party reconnoitered for trails in the 

 vicinity leading towards Halcon, climbing to the top of the ridge to the 



