34 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
The active craters are numerous, the extinct innumerable, 
and there is scarcely an island which does not give 
evidence of volcanic action. Although hot springs are 
less frequently met with than in Japan, they are by no 
means rare, and fumaroles and solfataras join with the 
frequent earthquakes to remind the traveller that he can 
scarcely consider himself upon terra hrma. Throughout 
the archipelago raised sea-beaches and coralline lime¬ 
stones testify to the general upheaval that has taken 
place in recent years. 
But though volcanic action has had so much to do with 
the creation of the archipelago, it must not be supposed 
that the islands are all basalts, tuffs, and upheaved coral¬ 
line rock. The greater part of them is now known to 
comprise gneiss and schists and other metamorphic rocks, 
and granites, stratified sandstone, and conglomerates in the 
north of Luzon and other places. Gold seems to exist 
over a wide area, though not in any great quantities, and 
the beds of many rivers show “ colour/’ That the metal 
has been known for some centuries is evident from Piga- 
fetta’s diary of Magellan’s voyage, where the natives are 
described as wearing gold ornaments, and offering to pre¬ 
sent the Captain-General with a bar of the metal. Mines 
are worked after a fashion in several places, the richest 
quartz being in the provinces of Benguet and Camarines 
Norte. At Misamis and other places in Mindanao a fair 
amount of the metal is produced. Copper is also abun¬ 
dant, especially in Lepanto, and the ore has been dug and 
smelted by some of the native tribes for as long as the 
islands have been known to Europeans, their vessels, 
ornaments, and weapons being commonly made of the 
metal. At Camillas, near Mount Data in north Luzon, 
are copper mines which should pay well, but for the 
expenses of transport and fuel. Lead occurs in Zebu, and 
