THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 271 



iards have not taken measures to prosecute the search for it, and 

 to apply modern scientific means to obtain profitable results. 

 This, however, may not appear so strange when we consider that 

 for centuries the gold deposits of California were in their posses- 

 sion without being utilized. 



Iron ore of excellent quality is abundant, but from lack of 

 means of transportation and machinery it has not been found 

 possible to manufacture iron as cheaply as it can be imported, 

 so that whenever works have been started they bave soon been 

 abandoned as unprofitable. 



Rich deposits of copper also- exist, and many of them have been 

 worked in a desultory manner by the natives, and more recently 

 some of them have been operated by a company organized in 

 Europe, but without any pronounced success. Galena and zinc 

 blends have also been found. Several very promising coal-fields 

 are known, and some of them have been utilized to a small ex- 

 tent, but the absence of roads and consequent expense and diffi- 

 culty of transportation have proved a bar to development of 

 this as well as of all other mineral resources. Sulphur is found 

 in the vicinity of many of the ancient volcanoes, in quantities 

 that would prove profitable if transportation facilities could be 

 obtained. ' ' ■ 



MANUFACTURES 



Shipbuilding is carried on to some extent, but the vessels built 

 are principally small and intended for the coasting trade among 

 the islands. 



Considering that the Philippines are essentially an agricult- 

 ural region, the manufacture of textile fabrics has attained con- 

 siderable development ; but it is not carried on in large establish- 

 ments, and little has been done to introduce modern machinery. 

 The looms are made of bamboo, and are of the simplest con- 

 struction. 



In some districts, particularly in the islands of Panay and 

 Luzon, there are communities where almost every family pos- 

 sesses a loom, and in the houses of some of the well-to-do natives 

 a number of looms may be found which are operated by hired 

 labor. The products are principally cotton cloths, sail cloths, 

 quilts, coverlets, etc. Coarse fabrics are also made from fibers 

 extracted from the leaves of the sago palm, manila hemp, and 

 other fibers. The most beautiful fabric produced on the islands 

 is that called pina, which is made from fiber obtained from 



