THE RECENT ASCENT OF ITAMBE 183 



archipelago comprises an area of 355,000 square kilometers, without in- 

 cluding the Jolo (Sulu) group. It then specifies about thirty of the prin- 

 cipal islands, and their areas aggregate 298,485 square kilometers. That, 

 of course, leaves a multitude of the smaller islands not specified in the 

 guide, but covered by the larger area. As the number of square kilo- 

 meters multiplied by .386052 will give the number of square miles, the 

 area of the islands specified amounts to 115,238 square miles, and the area 

 of all the islands, less the Jolo group, amounts to 137,057 square miles. 

 Further, the statement is generally made that the Archipelago of the 

 Philippines contains from 1,000 to 2,000 islands, and the " Guia Oficial" 

 says the number is more than 1,200. But in examining the "Derrotero 

 del Archipielago Filipino, Madrid, 1879" — that is, the Coast Pilot of the 

 Philippines, covering more than 1,200 pages — we find that the Islas, 

 Islitas, Isletas, Islotes, Islotillas, and Farallones therein described amount 

 to 583. Of course, this does not include reefs, rocks, or hidden dangers. 

 I submit that these figures of the areas and of the number of islands and 

 islets be accepted until replaced by government surveys. 



THE RECENT ASCENT OF ITAMBE 



In his letter referring to the ascent of Itambe, Lieutenant Ship- 

 ton states (this magazine, November, 1898, p. 476) that " we are 

 supposed to have been the first men ever on the summit of this 

 peak." Itambe was ascended and measured by Spix and Mar- 

 tius in 1818. Those authors say of it : " The peak of Itamb£, 

 the highest one ascended and measured by us in all our travels 

 through Brazil, has an elevation of 5,590 Parisian feet."* This 

 measurement was made with a mercurial barometer, and, so far 

 as 1 know, it has never been repeated. 



The fact that Itambe has not been ascended is due to its being 

 in a thinly populated, untraveled county, rather than to any 

 particular difficulty in getting up the peak itself. It dominates 

 almost the entire diamond district of Minas, and in my own 

 travels through that region I was constantly reminded of what 

 Dr Santos says — that this peak served the old gold and diamond 

 hunters instead of a compass, for they never got lost so long as 

 it was in sight. " It was a granite light-house to travelers — the 

 center of a circle, seventy leagues in diameter, in which they 

 could revolve without fear of getting lost."t 



J. C. Branner. 



Stanford I nim-si/i/. 



* Ili-i.-jo in Brasilion von Or .1. B. von Spix nnil Dr C. F. P. von Martins, ii, 45G, Mi'm- 

 chen, L828; also Beitrage zur Gebirgskunde Brasiliens von \V. L. von Esch'wege, 334, 

 Berlin, L832. 

 f Memorias do Disfcricto Diamantino, por ■! . K. doa Santos, p. 8, Rio de Janeiro, 1868. 



