HIKING IN RIZAL. 
CHAS. H. STONE. 
I recently took a trip into the province 
of Rizal, and although I did not shoot any 
game I saw plenty of evidence that it was 
there in abundance. 
I took the boat from Manila up the Pasig 
river into the Laguna de Bay, a lake 70 
miles long and 35 wide, and about 10 miles 
from Manila. I had the good fortune to 
meet a friend on the boat who lives at 
Tonay, and who insisted on my accompany- 
ing him home. 
While going along the shores of the La- 
guna de Bay we saw numerous snipe and 
large white cranes. The latter are some- 
times called caraboa cranes, on account of 
their often being seen in company with the 
caraboa, or water buffalo. The natives 
never molest these birds, though their eggs 
are gathered and sold in the markets as’ 
duck eggs, which they resemble, but are 
somewhat stronger in taste. We also saw 
thousands of ducks, which are little hunted 
as yet, the natives having no guns, while 
few shot guns are owned in the islands by 
Americans and Europeans. 
After reaching Tonay we endeavored to 
secure the services of several natives as 
packers for our provisions and camp outfit, 
and after considerable trouble we managed 
to hire 5. Generally we have no trouble in 
securing natives, but as the fiesta of the 
pueblo (holiday of the town) would com- 
mence in about 5 days, they did not want to 
risk the chance of missing it. The only 
way we managed to get them was by prom- 
ising we would be back the day before the 
fiesta. 
This particular town celebrates 217 fies- 
tas in a year, besides Sundays. The civil 
government has enacted laws regulating 
holidays, and most of the fiestas formerly 
observed have been discontinued in Manila; 
but in the provinces the old order still con- 
tinues. Each town is controlled by a presi- 
dente, corresponding to a mayor in the 
United States, and as they live an easy life 
and draw a good salary, they do not inter- 
fere with the pleasures of the people; and 
unless these mayors harbor ladrones the 
government does not interfere with them. 
We started on foot the next morning, 
each native carrying about 150 pounds, di- 
vided in 2 packs, which were slung one at 
each end of a short pole. They carry these 
loads without apparent effort, taking a kind 
of dog trot and keeping it up half a day ata 
time. We made 10 miles in 3 hours, going 
over a range of foothills about 500 feet 
high, and finally arrived at our destinatio 
in a deep valley at the foot of the main 
range of mountains. 
29 
On the way we flushed many quails and 
a wild chicken. The quails are no larger 
than robins, while the chickens are a little 
larger than bantams. The chicken we saw 
was a male, and as he flew across the trail 
he presented a most beautiful appearance, 
with his red plumage and long*tail. The 
hens are dull brown and smaller than the 
males. Every night and morning after we 
got in camp we heard these wild roosters 
crowing, and it seemed as if there must be 
a farm house not far away. 
In our trips in the mountains we saw 
many tracks of deer and wild hogs, and 
even saw roiled water that they had passed 
through only a few minutes before, but did 
not catch a glimpse of any of the animals. 
They are trailed with dogs, and where 
Americans or Europeans are hunting, are 
shot as they come out into the open; but 
as the natives have no guns, they either 
spear their game or drive it into nets. 
We saw several deer traps that the na- 
lives had set, and had to keep close watch 
that we did not get into them. They were 
generally on a trail between 2 close setting 
trees where a 2 inch sapling could be bent 
down for a spring. A stick lying across 
the path serves as a trigger, releasing the 
sapling, which drives a sharp stick through 
the deer’s body. 
Wildcats are numerous in the woods 
along the streams, but are seldom seen. 
Along the streams is found an animal 
closely resembling the alligator, except that 
it has a small head. Its diet is principally 
fish, though it is not averse to fruit, climb- 
ing good sized trees to get it. It frequently 
attains a length of ro feet, with a breadth 
of 12 inches across the back.* The streams 
contain some good fishes, but not an exten- 
sive variety. I saw numerous gars swim- 
ming near the top of the water, but they 
are not good to eat. 
Troops of monkeys are frequently seen, 
but they have been shot at so often that 
they soon make themselves scarce at sight 
of a man. Snakes are sometimes seen, 
though in our 5 days’ tramp we saw but 
one, and that was only a foot long. Boa 
constrictors are found in these islands, and 
sometimes measure more than 20 feet in 
length. 
About a year ago, as one of our ware- 
*This animal is undoubtedly a big monitor liz- 
ard, similar to the kabra goya of Ceylon. It be- 
longs to the genus Varanus. lives mostly on the 
ground, feeds on eggs, small mammals, birds and 
flesh of all kinds that it can catch and swallow. 
Ten feet is a great length for these creatures, but 
a particularly large and long tailed animal might 
attain it. This animal is active and strong and 
fierce in disposition.—W. T. H. 
