51U GOODMAN. 



The course of the next day's travel was very much the same as the 

 preceding. A submerged basin was traversed which appears to be about 

 equally divided between low, swampy ground and lakes, the latter being 

 connected one with another by narrow and crooked channels which in- 

 tersect the swamp in all directions. The main stream of the Agusan 

 Eiver was reached about noon. At this point it is about 65 to 95 meters 

 wide. The banks are very low, and in places, during high water, only 

 the tops of the high grass indicate their position. This region is entirely 

 uninhabited. We arrived at Martires after nine in the evening, and dur- 

 ing the entire day did not meet a single individiial nor pass a single 

 habitation. 



Martires is a fair-sized town inhabited largely by conquistas, whose chief 

 occupation is the cultivation of abaca. It is but an hour's travel from Talacogon, 

 and so we arrived at the latter municipality early in the morning of February IS. 



According to a previously arranged plan Mr. Ickis and I separated at this 

 point, Mr. Ickis intending to go with Governor Johnson westward to Bukidnon 

 subprovince, and I to continue northward to the mouth of the Agusan River, and 

 then through the Surigao Peninsula to Placer and Cansuran to investigate the 

 reported gold oeevirrenees at those places. We both left Talacogon on the morning 

 of February 21, I following the river towards its mouth. 



An outcrop of argillaceous sandstone, highly fossiliferous, occurs at the 

 junction of the Maasan Eiver with the Agusan. CUose approach to the 

 outcrop is very difficult because of the force of the current at this point, 

 but nevertheless a good collection of fossils was made. The bedding was 

 observed to be nearly level, but the dip and strike could not be measured. 



Butuan, the capital of Agusan Province, was reached on the afternoon 

 of the following day. Near Butuan the river becomes quite wide. ISTo 

 measurements were taken, but at this point I estimated the velocity of 

 the stream to be about 6 kilometers per hour and the width about 140 

 meters. The banks, which are very largely cultivated in hemp, consist 

 for the most part of shales lying practically horizontal. 



