482 SMITH. 



The initial reconnaissance which I undertook was to Boalon, some 10 

 or 12 kilometers northeast of Zamboanga. Here the transportation by 

 wagou Avas left and a trail taken which led up an abrupt hill a little 

 beyond which point we entered the forest. Between Boalon and this 

 hill I found some float limestone with fragments of Orhitoides, which 

 probably are identical with the material Eichthofen ^^ encountered so 

 many years before. This is practically all he contributed to the geology 

 of this region, but this is not suprising when the attitude of the natives 

 at that time is considered. 



We continued in the forest for about three days, obtaining absolutely 

 no view of the country farther than 50 yards from the trail, until we 

 reached a log cabin about 30 miles north of Zamboanga on the Tumaga 

 Elver." 



The country rock in this region is a much decomposed schist, with a 

 considerable thickness of stiff, yellow, clay overburden. (Plate III.) 

 Quartz pebbles and bowlders are plentiful in the clay; the pebbles come 

 from quartz stringers in the schist. The large bowlders clearly indicate 

 large veins, but we were not so fortunate as to encounter any of the latter. 

 The clay contains a small amount of gold which the prospectors had 

 recovered by sluicing. Pew people were encountered in this forest. 



On our return aftej- three days' stay we followed the river for per- 

 haps 25 kilometers. At times we came upon box caiions (some of which 

 we might have swum through), but usually we took the high trail which 

 went along the steep side of the cliff, at times 30 meters above the 

 water and rocks. The way was extremely difficult; the sharp river 

 rocks, the sharp-edged schists and the leeches began to tell on our 

 carriers, so that we finally took a trail which led out of the river and 

 after a climb up the side of the gorge we regained the old path which 

 we followed to a hemp plantation at the edge of the timber and by 

 mid-day arrived in Zamboanga. 



VICINITY OF SAN EAMON. 



My next reconnaissance was in the vicinity of the San Eamon Farm, 

 controlled by the Moro Province. This excursion was for the purpose 

 of an examination of the mountains which rise abruptly back of the 

 narrow coastal plain. The formation in this place is entirely volcanic, 

 the rich, disintegrated debris spreading out upon the coastal plain and 

 producing a very fertile soil. Some of the rock is highly pyritized and 

 may carry more or less gold. 



In the streams I saw bowlders of andesite which sometimes contained 

 large fragments of schist, torn off and caught up in the molten rock as it 



" Richthofen, F. von: Vorkommen der Nummulitenformation in den Philippinen, 

 Ztschr. d. deutsch. geol. Ges. (1862), 14, 357. 



"A sketch map of the trail was made, but it shows little beyond the path. 



