2io The National Geographic Magazine 



resort for the Americans in the islands. 

 At present it is reached only by horse 

 trail, but a wagon road is being built 

 by the insular government and a rail- 

 way has been surveyed and will be 

 constructed before many years. 



Forests of pine and cedar cover the 

 higher slopes of the mountains, while 

 lower down in the valleys gigantic ferns 

 are seen. 



It maj' well be doubted if any region 

 in the world offers such unexcelled ad- 

 vantages for experimental work with 

 plants as are presented by the climate 

 and soil of Benguet. The climate ad- 

 mits of the growing of a great variety 

 of tropical, subtropical, and temperate 

 zone plants. In the gardens of the gov- 

 ernor one may see coffee bushes bearing 

 heavily, fine tea plants, hot-house gar- 

 denias, caladiums, dracaenas, frangi- 

 pani, and mango trees, all characteristic 

 of the tropics ; alsophila tree ferns, 

 scarlet hibiscus, passion fruit, begonias, 

 hydrangeas, and many other plants of 

 the subtropical regions, and side by side 

 with these potatoes, tomatoes, peas, 

 beans, celery, and other garden vege- 

 tables and monthly roses, all strictly 

 temperate zone products, while the 

 neighboring hillsides are covered with 

 pine trees and produce raspberries and 

 huckleberries in considerable abun- 

 dance. 



A red volcanic soil covers large areas 

 in the province. This soil seems ex- 

 traordinarily fertile. At the beginning 

 of the rainy season last year, the most 



unfavorable time, cabbage, tomatoes, 

 onions, leeks, carrots, turnips, pars- 

 nips, beans, peas, cucumbers, marrow, 

 squashes, pumpkins, salsify, Irish pota- 

 toes, white oats, wheat, millet, and 

 alfalfa were sown, and the results would 

 have done justice to California. 



On the elevated plateau are vast 

 stretches of well-watered grazing land, 

 where thousands of horned cattle can 

 find rich pasturage. 



About 15,000 people live in Benguet, 

 nearl}- all of whom are Igorrotes. The 

 Igorrotesof this province are intelligent, 

 and pronounced vastly superior to the 

 average Filipino. They are willing 

 workers, cheerful, trustworthy, and 

 skillful laborers. The illustrations Nos. 

 15 and 16 show that they possess con- 

 siderable natural talent in construction. 

 They are non- Christianized, having 

 always resisted the attempts of the 

 Spanish to convert them.* 



* References. — The following list of offi- 

 cial works relating to the Philippines, published 

 by the government, may be of service. The re- 

 ports may be purchased from the Superintend- 

 ent of Public Documents, Washington, D. C. : 



Report of the Shurman Commission, 4 

 vols., $2.3.5. 



First Report of the Taft Commission, No- 

 vember 30, 1900, 1 vol., $0.50. 



Second Report of the Taft Commission, June 

 30, 1901, 2 vols., $0.95. 



Third Report of the Taft Commission, No- 

 vember 1, 1902, 2 vols., $165. 



Atlas of the Philippines, $3.15. 



Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geographical 

 Dictionary of the Philippines, $2. 10. 



The Coal Measures of the Philippines, $0.40. 



The People of the Philippines, $0.05. 



THE BRITISH SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION 



THE Antarctic expedition sent 

 out by the Royal Geographi- 

 cal Society and Royal Society 

 of England in 1901 has done very good 

 work during its first year in the far 

 south. Captain Scott, the leader, with 

 a sledging part}', succeeded in getting 



100 miles nearer the South Pole than 

 any predecessor, reaching 8o° 17' ; the 

 expedition wintered 400 miles further 

 south than any other expedition had 

 ever done before, which makes their 

 meteorological and other scientific ob 1 

 servations specially valuable ; in their 



