414 BEAN. 



the terminus of one of the most remarkable highways of the world. 

 The latter is to a large extent carved out of solid rock and in many places 

 the deep canon of the Bued Eiver is crossed by suspension bridges. 

 The plateau on which Bagnio is located rises northward along the west 

 of the province in the form of a group of rugged mountains intersected 

 by small streams that cut their way through narrow gorges to Lingayen 

 Gulf and the China Sea, passing through Pangasinan as well as Union 

 Provinces, the latter inhabited by Uocanos, one of the most thrifty and 

 energetic people of the Philippines, and great colonizers. The Uocanos 

 form the littoral population of the west coast of northern Luzon and 

 have penetrated the mountains to some extent. The eastern part of 

 the province from its extreme northern end to its southern limit is 

 drained by the tributaries of the Agno Eiver, beyond which are moun- 

 tains separating it from the Province of ISTueva Viscaya. The Province 

 of Benguet is thus divided into mountain and valley, or highland and 

 lowland. The entire province is practically inaccessible, except over the 

 Benguet Eoad, over the Naguilan trail from San Fernando, Union, or 

 the trail from Aringay, Province of Union. The rivers that pass out 

 of the province are filled with water during part of the j'ear; their beds 

 are rough, the sides precipitovis and the mountains steep and rugged, 

 so that both mountains and rivers form very difficult ways of entry. The 

 present governor is rapidly constructing trails in the mountains with a 

 grade of from 3 to 5 per cent, the most audacious of these is nearing 

 completion and will connect Benguet with the Province of Lepanto- 

 Bontoc. 



The inhabitants of this isolated region could have arrived only by 

 crossing high and rugged mountains, or by picking their way along the 

 beds of the rivers during the dry season. Wlrether they came of their 

 own accord or were forced from the lowlands by other peoples may 

 never be known. I believe the Igorots pushed into the moimtains as 

 bold pioneers in much the same way that the Puritan, the Scotch-Irish 

 and the Cavalier crossed the Appalachians and settled the western part 

 of the United States. They probably exterminated or absorbed any pre- 

 vious inhabitants and have built for themselves enduring monuments in 

 their rock-ribbed and terraced rice paddies, and in the rock shelters for 

 their dead. Their muscular development is phenomeual(19. "0,) and 

 would put to shame the best American athletes. Their laws and customs 

 are founded on justice and equity, and "an eye for an eye and a tooth 

 for a tooth"' is often carried out to the letter. Civilization has not yet- 

 greatly affected the Igorots and they are being protected from its evil 

 influences as carefully as sedulous officials can protect them. They are 

 one of the few uncivilized communities that civilization has touched yet 

 not defiled. 



The people of Atoc, in the western part of the province are a rep- 

 resentative group of Igorots. Atoc is a bold point that juts out from 



