﻿COMPOSTELA-DANAO COAL FIELD. 385 



and observation will show how durable for the mines are the many, little known 

 timbers of the Islands. Some of these will undoubtedly prove to be very 

 satisfactory. 



It is probable that in time it will be practicable and advisable to treat mine 

 timbers with preservatives, in this way using the most abundant and cheaper 

 kinds. Painting timber with the preservative or giving the timber an open bath 

 treatment will be found the cheapest methods. In this connection, attention is 

 called to Press Bulletin No. 141, November 27, 1906. United States Forest Serv- 

 ice. ''Prolonging the Life of Mine Props." 



POPULATION MARCH 1. 1907. 



The Filipinos inhabiting this island are called Visayans and are, save 

 for minor differences in dialect, the same as the people of Leyte, Negros 

 and Panay. 



As I have pointed out in my previous paper, 3 the greater part of 

 the population and also that portion which belongs to the better educated 

 class, is confined to the narrow coastal tract in the towns of Carmen, 

 Danao and Liloan, and others and to their outlying barrios. The 

 dwellers in the hill country "are extremely poor, when their state is 

 compared with our manner of living or even the mode of life of the 

 people of the coastal plain. Corn is their chief staple. I believe this 

 dominant corn diet is peculiar to the Cebuanos. The ilustrados largely 

 control the fertile cove areas in the intermontane tracts. 



The peasant of Cebu is very superstitious. As an instance of his 

 ignorance and credulity I may cite one rather remarkable case, which, 

 however, at one time came very near to not having an amusing aspect. 

 In our trips here and there over the field we were obliged to pass by many 

 native houses and near the end of the work we were surprised to 

 find the children all running away from us, or their mothers would 

 quickly hide them as soon as we came in sight, a thing which had never 

 been done in this district on previous visits. This continued for some 

 time, with also an increasing surliness on the part of the men. Finally, 

 an engineer of one of the coal development companies was stopped late in 

 the evening when he was some distance from camp. The natives proved 

 themselves to be in a hostile mood and as they had bolos (long knives) 

 and one or two spears he felt warranted in drawing his side arm to protect 

 himself and not until the teniente of the local bavvio appeared and 

 explained in Spanish, did he learn the cause of their attitude. It seems 

 that some malicious person or persons had played upon the credulity of 

 the people, making them believe that the Americans were stealing the 

 children in order to kill them and let their blood drop on the ground, 

 this being a supposed means of ascertaining where the coal was. It 

 took some days to eradicate this belief from the minds of the peasants and 



'"Contributions to the Physiography of the Philippine Islands: I. Cebu Is- 

 lands." This Journal (1900). 1, 1043. 



