GEOLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE OF MINDANAO AND SULU. 485 



I myself have seen some coral islands near Sulu, in the Pangutaran 

 group; some of these are atolls and others were formerlj' lagoons that 

 have dried vq) hecaiise of the elevation of the whole mass. 



AVhile nearh" all the elevations are extinct or dormant craters, there 

 are no sharp, jagged profiles, but instead, most graceful curves. There 

 are nearly fifty of these cones on the Island of Sulu, some still high 

 and symmetrical, others irregular and worn down to mere stumps. (See 

 PI. IV.) 



EUD DAJO. 



We first visited the now historic crater of Bud Dajo,^' the wooded 

 cone of which rises from the plain back of Jolo. One afternoon of 

 brisk riding on horseback is necessary to reach the point where the 

 very steep climb begins at 300 meters' altitude; from here to the ex- 

 tinct crater is a further elevation of 580 meters. The climb is a short 

 one, but it is the most strenuous I remember ever to have made. 



Formerly there existed a community on this movmtain having all the necessaries 

 of life about them; a complete village with dwellings and a mosque; springs, 

 gardens, and both sliade and friiit trees, all within an extinct crater. The Moros 

 added trenches and cottas to the natural walls of the village and long bamboos, 

 in the hollows of which were concealed lantakas (brass cannon) were placed along 

 them. (See Plate X.) 



Bud Dajo is formed of scoriaceous basalt and lapilli, but has not 

 l^een in eruption at least within the last three hundred years, or if it 

 has, there is no record of the event. Large basaltic bowlders from 

 this mountain are strewn over the slopes and the plain down to the 

 very edge of the town of Jolo. An excellent view of a large part of the 

 island can be had from the highest point on the walls of the crater. 

 Prom this point smaller craters are visible and it is not impossible that 

 renewed energy may at some future time be manifested at one or more 

 of the many foci and a considerable destruction of lives and property be 

 the result. The' fact that these craters appear extinct is no argument 

 against future activity. 



FUHTHER EECONNAISSANCE OF SULU. 



On Monday, October 14, Lieutenant CafEery and I, with an escort 

 of five men, began an expedition to Maymbung, on the opposite side 

 of the island. The trail led past Asturias, the former residence of the 

 Sultan of Sulu, but now the site of infantry barracks, and on over a low 

 divide of about 300 meters' altitude, between Bud Agad and Bud Pula. 

 The soil is of a rich red color, giving promise of unusual richness. 

 Large fields of tapioca, which is the main agricultural product of the 



= ' liud is the Sulu term for mountain. As it is generally used by the military 

 authorities, it is retained in this description. 



