PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS : II. 7 



sandstone occurs, but it is only ^rhere there' are bedded deposits that 

 distortion is readily distinguishable. 



Between Santa Ines and San Luis at an elevation of about 7 meters, 

 there is a raised beach consisting of pebbles and a limestone conglomerate 

 which also contains many volcanic pebbles. This beach is of so recent a 

 date that the streams from the plateau have not yet had time to cut 

 channels through it. From Natao Point, southward to Tangel Point, 

 there extends an unbroken coral reef of considerable width. At the 

 bay just north of Tangel is a flat, triangular stretch of marshy land 

 formed by the ponding back of a small stream by the beach. Here there 

 was a village until recent years, but because of its unhealthy situation 

 it was abandoned and the land given over to cultivation, being almost 

 the only piece of cultivated land on the west coast of Sabtan. 



The southern portion of Sabtan is extremely rugged. It consists of 

 sharp, irregular ridges of agglomerate ending in steep cliffs. The western 

 part is impassible by land and at the time of my visit tlie sea was too rough 

 to attempt the trip by boat. On the east coast I was able to travel as far 

 south as Point Ajao. Here, steeiJ cliffs of agglomerate, often "cut by 

 large dikes of hornblende and augite porphyry (f. n.) jut into the 

 sea. No raised beaches or limestone were seen, but for about 8 meters 

 above sea level the rocks were pitted as if by the borings of marine 

 animals. The ridges of agglomerate seem to run in a general south- 

 easterly direction, meeting the sliore en echelon and forming a series of 

 small points. The principal ridge, Ceskid Mountain, ending in Ajao 

 Point, shows a remarkably serrate skyline. 



Fig. 1. Ceskid Mountain and Ajao Point. 

 BATAiSr. 



Batan Island is about 20 kilometers long, lies in a northeasterly south- 

 westerly direction and varies from less than 2 kilometers to nearly 6 in 

 width. The topography of the island falls into two distinct parts — ^first, 

 the extreme northern end, northward from Santo Domingo, which is 

 dependent on Iraya Volcano, and second the southern and l)y far the 

 larger portion, which shows an independent topogra]3hy which in many 

 respects is similar to that of the Island of Sabtan. Aside from Mount 

 Iraya, the principal topographic feature is a range of hills extending 



