THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES 41 



for consumption by foreigners. It is by no means improbable, 

 however, that in some provinces, at any rate, they would thrive 

 well. There are but few goats. Of swine and poultry, on the 

 other hand, there is a surplus, the flesh of the former especially 

 forming a favorite article of diet with the natives. 



In addition to the small but very tough horses, resembling 

 those of Java, that most useful of domestic animals, the " cara- 

 bao," or black (gray) buffalo, thrives abundantly. The white 

 species is also occasionally to be found. The buffalo is em- 

 ployed for man}' purposes — for working the pumps on planta- 

 tions, for sugar presses, and for draught purposes. In the moun- 

 tains the buffalo is met with in the wild state. It is, however, 

 undoubtedly onty the domestic species that-has been neglected. 

 Nevertheless, in the course of years the degeneration has been 

 so great that there now exists a clear distinction between the 

 wild and the domestic buffalo. The wild animal has a more 

 compact head and short horns, while the domestic animal has 

 a long head Avith long, broad horns. Neither the horse nor the 

 buffalo is indigenous to the Philippines; both have been im- 

 ported by the Spaniards. 



MINERALS 



But the arable land does not form the only resource of the 

 country, little regarded as it has unfortunately hitherto been. 

 There is another and doubtless not less valuable property in the 

 mineral riches now slumbering beneath the ground. 



The islands yield pit-coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, etc., for 

 the most part of good quality ; and recently petroleum has been 

 struck. Careful and expert explorations have several times been 

 undertaken by engineers, yet never to the extent necessary to 

 start lucrative mining, nor yet over a sufficiently extensive area. 

 The former "inspector general de montes," Don Jose Centeno, 

 and Don Antonio Hernandez are deserving of special mention 

 for their work in this direction. 



Coal is probably spread over the whole archipelago. It was 

 first discovered in 1827, in the island of Cebu ; then in Negros 

 and Mindanao; on the island of Luzon, in Camarines and Albay, 

 and in many other islands. The wealth thus appears almost 

 inexhaustible. The coal in Cebu is of the best quality, numer- 

 ous experiments having shown it to be equal to Newcastle coal. 

 Hernandez found four seams running parallel from north to 

 south at a small depth and 95 miles long. In 1874 four further 



