i 1 6 The National Geographic Magazine 



rine hydrography have found indica- 

 tions of reefs and even islands. One of 

 the last of them is De Graves's Island 

 of 1859. Almost anywhere in this area, 

 itself larger than some of the smaller 

 planets of the solar system, the bones of 

 the Leva?it may lie. In this region, as 

 the map on page 479 of the National 

 Geographic Magazine shows, five 

 degrees of longitude and two of latitude 

 have now been searched in vain. 



Mr Hague, however, is kind enough 

 to assure me that if my fictitious char- 

 acter, Philip Nolan, ever had some sub- 

 liminal form he or his spirit, if they 

 were on the Levant, may still haunt the 

 reef or atoll under the shadow of cocoa- 

 nuts or bananas or bread-fruit trees. 

 Nolan would have been twenty-five 

 years old in the year 1805. Thus his 

 one hundred and twenty-fifth birthday 



would be found in this year. If the cli- 

 mate is healthy for subliminal people, Dr 

 Hague assures me that if I will land 

 with him on that reef I may meet for 

 the first time in the flesh and blood the 

 somewhat bended form of my old hero. 

 He will forgive me that I placed him 

 on the Andes, where men do not live so 

 long. dD 



It may be well to repeat Mr Hague's 

 summary : 



' ' The cruise of the Tacoma has there- 

 fore negatively and conclusively dis- 

 posed of half a dozen or more reported 

 islands as charted in certain defined po- 

 sitions, and it has definitely eliminated 

 from further consideration of doubtful 

 reports an area of about 10,000 square 

 miles, leaving a still questionable region 

 of twice or three times that area open 

 to further search." 



Edward E. Hale. 



PROGRESS IN THE PHILIPPINES 



U-NDOUBTEDEY that part of the 

 Report of the Philippine Com- 

 mission for 1904 which will most 

 strongly appeal to us is the account given 

 of what is being done to develop the re- 

 sources and capability of the people. 

 Scientific agriculture, which is doing so 

 much for the United States, will soon, 

 at small expense, increase many times 

 the return of every farmer in the islands. 

 The government experts are introduc- 

 ing American machinery, improved va- 

 rieties of plants, and new animals and 

 new crops. The natives seem to appre- 

 ciate very quickly that greater intelli- 

 gence in their work means not only 

 greater returns in money, but also 

 shorter hours of work. 



Filipino labor is abundant and satis- 

 factory. The chief of the Bureau of 

 Agriculture was at first ridiculed when 

 he insisted that Filipinos must drive the 

 teams and do the plowing on the gov- 



ernment farms, but they are now doing 

 it on every farm controlled by the bu- 

 reau. Furthermore, they are doing it 

 as well as Americans ever did and at 

 prices amounting to but 6 to 10 per cent 

 of what it formerly cost to get Ameri- 

 cans to perform the same work. 



A steam thresher, introduced by the 

 bureau, got so much more rice from the 

 stalks than the natives had been accus- 

 tomed to obtain by tramping it out 

 under foot after it had stood for weeks 

 and been subject to the depredations of 

 thieves and rats that they at first con- 

 ceived the idea that rice hidden inside 

 the separator was allowed to flow from 

 the spout of the machine, thus aug- 

 menting the real output. 



A period of three months is ordinarily 

 consumed in threshing rice by native 

 methods, and 25 per cent of the crop is 

 often lost. Native methods of hulling 

 and cleaning are very crude and the 



