PHYSIOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES ON NATIVES 535 



directly referable to the natural topography is clear. Not only must 

 these people work very hard, but they must work practically all the time 

 to wrest a bare subsistence, there being little game in the country, which 

 is another important reason why the various communities do not mingle 

 more than they do. Therefore the policy of the Government in affording 

 communication by means of trails and roads is of paramount importance 

 in the bringing together of these isolated groups. 



In passing through the country lying east of Bontoc and south of the 

 Cagayan Valley — the "No man's land" referred to by Worcester — the 

 writer was struck by the generally impoverished condition of the people 

 to be found there. They live in extremely small and scattered communi- 

 ties, in squalid surroundings, with both mongrel customs and mongrel 

 dialect — the so-called "Gaddong.'' If the character of the country is 

 noted the explanation is apparent. The underlying formation, sandstone, 

 is not such as to yield the most fertile soil, even though it is a soil made 

 up of triturated fragments of volcanic formations. In the second place, 

 the country is characterized by swales and hummocky hills, with little 

 forest. This section is not inaccessible and consequently there is some 

 mingling with the lowlanders, though this does not appear to have 

 wrought any improvement in the inhabitants. This apparent contradic- 

 tion to foregoing remarks may be explained by the fact that the means of 

 intercommunication are just difficult enough to bar any from going back- 

 ward and forward except the most adventurous and unscrupulous, and so 

 the hill man often is exploited without being materially benefited by con- 

 tact with outsiders. This region well may be the rendezvous of the in- 

 ferior and vicious elements driven out of the surrounding sections. 



The island of Cebu and its people furnish still another fine example of 

 physiographic influence. Here is to be found the most congested popu- 

 lation in the archipelago. It practically is confined to a narrow and in- 

 terrupted coastal plain which has no productive hinterland — only a 

 rugged mountainous interior. 



It was on this island that the Philippine Government caused to be con- 

 structed what at the time was a wholly unnecessary railroad. Fortunately 

 for the company which built the road, the Government guaranteed 4 per 

 cent on the investment; but even a superficial knowledge of the physical 

 geography of the island should have warned against the venture. The 

 population, a poor one, lives close to the sea, the cheapest highway in the 

 world. Parallel to this is a macadam road, and there was no call, as there 

 seems to be none today, for a railroad which runs for most of its length 

 parallel to and within a few feet of the two highways already existing. 



The reason for the excessive population of Cebu in proportion to its 

 area of arable land is not known. Perhaps the Visayan is more fecund 



