There are several reasons for this state of affairs: The gold mines are mostly in remote provinces of the colony, and there are no practical roads. The natives that are employed--because they live in the vicinity of the mines--are half-subjected, totally uncivilized, and frequently nomadic. They accordingly resent interference with property that they deem their inalienable rights. And in this they are supported by the friars: they also dislike change. Since 1894 the agents of the Philippines' Mineral Syndicate--an English concern--have been vigorously exploring for gold and the other metals, and in time American capital and intelligence will probably do what Spanish ignorance and inertness have failed to accomplish. Where the Precious Metal is Found. Till now, much of the gold found has been near the coast, and accessible. The principal districts are Mambulao, in Luzon, the islands of Cion, Mindoro, Mindanao, and Panaon, a small island north of Mindanao. It is a well-known fact that the natives in the interior of Luzon, a district only partly explored, traffic in gold. And it is believed that the mountains in the centre of the island are the sources of the alluvial deposits so freely gathered. In the districts mentioned there is not a stream--however small--that does not bear in its sands some evidence of the presence of gold; and heavy nuggets are occasionally brought in from the interior. For the present, however, only the edges of the gold districts can be worked. The absence of roads must long prove an insuperable obstacle even to English and American capital and inventiveness. To the Indians this is no obstacle at all. They march along contentedly, in single file, cutting their way with bowie-knives through dense and almost impenetrable forests, their burden the primitive instruments of their ancestors; their power lying in numbers, and in the invincible strength of the naked hand. But modern methods require machinery, and machinery requires roads for its transportation and for bridges, and for all the costly engineering staff and outfit. The proper development of the gold districts of the islands will therefore, necessarily, be a thing of the future. English or American enterprise, if devoted to this purpose, must find its reward near the coast, and in the vicinity of harbors and navigable rivers. So far, gold is known only in placer-deposits, and these not very rich, as compared with the golden sands of California or the gravel pits of Alaska. Personally, I know but little about these gold gravels, having seen only some of their results. They are so widely distributed, and are worked in so desultory a manner, that their actual richness is a matter of guess-work.