﻿190 MERRILL. 



two nearly equal branches ; one, flowing from the direction of the Halcon 

 Range was considered to represent the main stream and the other, being 

 unknown to any of our party, was named Whitehead River in honor of 

 the late John Whitehead, an English naturalist who made the first serious 

 attempt to ascend Halcon. 



From the entrance of the Egbert River to that of the Whitehead, the 

 Alag flows through a rather wide valley lying between two low, densely 

 forested ridges, the river in this interval being from 50 to 100 yards 

 wide. Our trail followed the margin of the stream, sometimes on one 

 side, sometimes on the other. However, after passing the entrance of 

 the Whitehead River the banks of the stream became very irregular, its bed 

 being much narrower, so that because of the corresponding increasing dif- 

 ficulties in fording it was found advantageous to travel through the 

 underbrush along a bench about 25 feet above the level of the stream. 

 This necessitated slow progress as we were obliged to cut a trail 

 through the dense vegetation. Continuing on up the Alag for a short 

 distance above the junction of the Whitehead River, Gamp Number Two 

 was established late in the afternoon. On November 6 and 7 the carriers 

 were sent back to Subaan for further supplies and the remainder of the 

 party reconnoitered up the Alag. The river canon was found to be very 

 narrow, with perpendicular cliffs sometimes several hundred feet in 

 height and covered with dense vegetation, which often rose abruptly 

 from the bed of the stream. In searching for the most feasible route 

 for our carriers the banks were climbed at intervals, but in no case 

 could a view be secured because of the dense thickets. It was decided 

 that the only practicable course, for the present at least, was along the 

 bed of the stream. The advance was rendered very difficult because of the 

 narrowness of the canon and the swiftness of the water which made 

 fording impossible in most places; moreover, we were aware of the fact 

 that the river was subject to sudden and enormous floods and that in 

 case of heavy rains we were almost certain to be cut off from our base 

 of supplies. The tremendous force of the water in times of floods was 

 much in evidence as we traveled upstream; great water-worn bowlders, 

 6 to 15 feet in diameter, were everywhere encountered and in places 

 large caverns had been cut in the solid cliffs by the action of the water. 

 At a distance of about a mile above Camp Number Two and at an 

 altitude of 900 feet, another smaller river joins the Alag from the east, 

 this we named the Bolton, in memory of the late Lieut. Edward C. 

 Bolton, former Governor of the District of Davao, Mindanao. This was 

 undoubtedly the stream which Lieutenant Lee's party followed in cross- 

 ing the divide between the Alag and Bagbaujan Rivers in April, 1904. 

 A beautiful cascade about 15 feet in height exists just below the junc- 

 tion of this with the Alag, here the whole volume of the river is forced 

 through a narrow passage between two large bowlders, falling into a pool 

 surrounded by high cliffs. 



