The Inhabitants of the PhilippinesSawyer, Frederic H.
History
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
Sawyer, Frederic H.
Ethnology -- Philippines; Philippines -- Social life and customs
In the Exhibition of 1887 the Comandante Politico-Militar of
the Province of Benguet showed samples of auriferous quartz from
Antaniac and from Capunga, also quartz with visible threads of gold
from the latter place, also leaf gold from the veins, two specimens
of auriferous quartz from Pangutantan with gold extracted from it,
and gold-dust from the River Agno.
Other exhibits included specimens of gold-bearing rock from Lepanto
and Infantas, and compact auriferous quartz from the celebrated
gold-pits of Suyuc near Mancayan. All these quartz reefs are worked
by the Igorrotes.
Gold is also found near Atimonan in Tayabas, but the neighbourhood of
Paracale and Mambulao, and the slopes of Mount Labo are most famous
in Manila.
During the last century large quantities of gold were taken from
the surface-workings, which are now exhausted, or only afford a
miserable living to the natives who treat the auriferous earths in
a very primitive way.
The gold having been taken, the next thing was to use the reputation of
the mines to attract capital, and this was done to some considerable
extent, one company being founded on the ruins of another. One of the
later ones was the "Ancla de Oro," or Golden Anchor, but its capital
was expended without results. The late Don Antonio Enriquez, a Spanish
gentleman well-known to British and Americans in Manila, worked some
mining properties there for some years, and had faith in them.
He consulted me about them, and I forwarded some samples of the ores
to my agents in London, who had them analyzed by Messrs. Johnson &
Matthey, but the results were not encouraging, and did not confirm
the analysis made in Manila.
About 1890, Messrs. Peele, Hubbell & Co. got out an American mining
expert, whose name I forget, but I believe he was a mining engineer
of high standing. He spent some time at Mambulao and Paracale, and
made a careful examination of the country. It was understood that
his report did not encourage any further expenditure in prospecting
or development. But of late years further attempts have been made to
boom the place, and the Mambulao Gold Mining Syndicate, London, 1893,
has been formed. I am unaware on what new information the promoters
rely to justify their bringing this place again before the public.
Surigao, in the old kingdom of Caraga, is rich in gold which is very
widely disseminated. Father Llovera, a missionary who, in March, 1892,
made an excursion up the River Siga to visit some unbaptized Mamanúas
in the mountains, declares that the sands contain much gold, so much
so that particles were plainly visible. This river takes its rise in
the eastern Cordillera, between Cantilan and Jabonga, and runs in a
north-easterly direction into the southern part of Lake Mainit. The
missionary also declares that veins of gold were visible in some of
the pieces of rock lying in the bed of the river, which they broke
to examine. But he does not seem to have brought back any specimens,
as one would expect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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