XI, A, 5 Lednicky: The Palidavr-slide Mine 243 



right on the ground than any other inhabitant. It thus hap- 

 pens that the American partner has not realized anything from 

 the ground, but this year he has leased his share for 15 ounces 

 (466.5 grams) of gold, paid by contribution from all the workers. 

 This custom of common ownership is peculiar in that only 

 those Igorots from Suyoc or their relatives who are descend- 

 ants of the old miners may work in the mine. There are many 

 cases in which men or women living in Suyoc are not allowed 

 to work with the rest. Some of them are married into families 

 that work, but they themselves must stay out. 



The Palidan slide is situated in the southwest corner of Le- 

 panto subprovince, latitude 16° 50' north, longitude 120° 55' 

 east, about 102 kilometers north from Baguio, within 1 kilometer 

 of the Bontoc mountain road. It is an immense cavity, washed 

 out around the Palidan and Cadangan ravines, approximately 

 the shape of an inverted elliptical cone whose major axis bears 

 north 60° east. The opening is approximately 620 meters long 

 by 430 meters wide, and the vertex, or deepest point, is very 

 close to the central edge of the northwest quarter of the ellipse 

 at the point where the Candagan and Palidan ravines unite. 

 This point is about 200 meters below the average rim of the 

 slide. The sides dip very steeply from all directions, but in 

 general the slope from the east is more gentle than that from 

 the south or west. This is due, of course, to the greater distance 

 from the outlet. At places the angle of dip is 80° from the 

 horizontal, and in no place in the solid formation is it less 

 than 20°. 



The cavity is continually being enlarged by the heavy tropical 

 rainfall, which washes away the soft material very rapidly. The 

 Igorots aid nature in performing this work, as they make exca- 

 vations in the sides and divert channels of water in order to 

 wash off the surface material and to expose the rich stringers 

 of gold ore. 



The geologic formation of the slide is difficult to determine 

 exactly. The lower part is composed of the solid dioritic 

 base, which is found underlying all of the region.^ The diorite 

 shows rapid weathering on exposure, but is firm enough to form 

 steep walls for the swift-flowing streams which cut through it. 

 The rock of the upper portion seems to be the same diorite, very 

 badly decomposed. It is so much altered that it is impossible 

 to make any excepting megascopic examinations. It is porous 



*Bull. P. I. Min. Bur. (1905), No. 4, 37. 



