THE MINERALS.
Gold: Dampier--Pigafetta--De Comyn--Placers in
Luzon--Gapan--River Agno--The Igorrotes--Auriferous
quartz from Antaniae--Capunga--Pangutantan--Goldpits at
Suyuc--Atimonan--Paracale--Mambulao--Mount Labo--Surigao--River
Siga--Gigaquil, Caninon-Binutong, and Cansostral
Mountains--Misamis--Pighoulugan--Iponan--Pigtao--Dendritic gold
from Misamis--Placer gold traded away surreptitiously--Cannot
be taxed--Spanish mining laws--Pettifogging lawyers--Prospects
for gold seekers. Copper: Native copper at Surigao and
Torrijos (Mindoro)--Copper deposits at Mancayan worked by
the Igorrotes--Spanish company--Insufficient data--Caution
required. Iron: Rich ores found in the Cordillera of Luzon--Worked
by natives--Some Europeans have attempted but failed--Red
hematite in Cebu--Brown hematite in Paracale--Both red and
brown in Capiz--Oxydized iron in Misamis--Magnetic iron
in San Miguel de Mayumo--Possibilities. Coal (so called):
Beds of lignite upheaved--Vertical seams at Sugud--Reason
of failure--Analysis of Masbate lignite. Various Minerals:
Galena--Red lead--Graphite--Quicksilver--Sulphur Asbestos--Yellow
ochre--Kaolin, Marble--Plastic clays--Mineral waters.
It is a great mistake to suppose that nothing is known of the geology
and mineralogy of the Philippines, or that no attempts have been made
to exploit them.
The maps of the Archipelago are marked in dozens or hundreds of places,
coal, copper, lead, iron, gold, and a number of works treating of
the subject have been published. Amongst the authors are the mining
engineers, Don Enrique Abella and Don Jose Centeno. But some of their
most important reports are still in manuscript, for the revenues of
the Philippines were almost entirely absorbed in paying the salaries
of the officials, and there was a great disinclination to spend money
in any other way.
At the Philippine Exhibition, held at Madrid in 1887, more than
seven hundred specimens of auriferous earths or sand, gold quartz,
and ores of various metals were shown, and in this branch alone there
were 109 exhibitors from all parts of the Archipelago.
Besides ores there were the tools and utensils used by the miners,
and models of the furnaces and forges in which the metals were reduced
and worked, with the metals in different stages of concentration or
manufacture, and a complete show of the finished products.
A great many Mining Companies have been formed in Spain or in Manila
at different times which have all failed from a variety of causes,
want of skill, bad management, costly administration, or because the
richness of the vein or seam had been exaggerated.
The difficulty of getting labour is considerable, as mining is a work
the generality of natives do not care to take up, although in some
provinces they are used to it, for example, in Camarines Norte and
in Surigao.
Employers seem to forget that the ordinary food of a native, rice
and fish, is not sufficiently nourishing to enable him to do hard
and continuous work, such as is required in mining. A higher rate of
pay than the current wage is essential, to allow the miner to supply
himself with an ample ration of beef or pork, coffee and sugar,
and provision should be made for him to be comfortably housed.
In this complaint of want of labour it is not always the native who
is to blame, and if a mine cannot afford to pay a reasonable price
for labour, it had better stand idle.
Probably the one great reason why mines have not prospered in the
Philippines is that there has never been slavery there, as in Cuba,
Peru, Mexico, Brazil, ancient Egypt, and other great mining countries,
where whole populations have been used up to minister to the avarice
of their fellow-men.
Names of some Metals in Tagal.
Gold Guinto.
Silver Pilac.
Copper Tangso.
Lead Tinga.
Tin Tinga puti.
Iron Bacal.
Steel Patalim.
Forged Steel Binalon.
Coal Uling.
Gold.
From my remarks upon the other minerals it will be seen that I have
no illusions on the immediate prospects of working them.
With gold, however, it is different. For centuries large quantities
have been collected or extracted, mostly, no doubt, from placers,
still some rich veins are known to exist.
The early writers agree that gold is plentiful. Dampier says: "Most,
if not all, the Philippine Islands are rich in gold."
Speaking of the Batanes Islanders, he says:--
"They have no sort of coin, but they have small crumbs of the metal
before described" (he seemed at first to doubt whether it was gold),
which they bind up very safe in plantain leaves or the like. This
metal they exchange for what they want, giving a small quantity of
it--about two or three grains--for a jar of drink that would hold
five or six gallons. They have no scales, but give it by guess."
In the 'Relacion de las Islas Filipinas,' 1595(?), the author remarks
that the Tagals "like to put on many ornaments of gold, which they
have in great abundance."
Farther on, he says of Luzon:--
"The people of this island are very clever in knowing" (valuing)
"gold, and they weigh it with the greatest subtleness and delicacy
which has ever been seen; the first thing they teach their children
is to know gold and the weights used for it, for amongst them there
is no other money."
Farther on, he says:--
"Ilocos ... has much gold, for the principal mines of these islands
are in the mountain ranges of this province, of which they get the
advantage, for they trade with the miners more than any people. The
Spaniards have many times endeavoured to people the mines so as to
work them, but it has not been possible up to the present, although
the Governor, Gonzalo Ronquillo, took the greatest pains, and it cost
him many men, the country being so rough and destitute of provisions."
In Pigafetta's 'Voyage Round the World' (Pinkerton), Vol. ii., p. 333,
we read that at Caraga (Mindanao) a man offered an ingot of massive
gold for six strings of glass beads.
On p. 331, he says:--
"The king who accompanied us informed us that gold was found in his
island in lumps as large as walnuts, and even as an egg, mingled with
earth; that they used a sieve for sifting it, and that all his vessels,
and even many of the ornaments of his house were of this metal."
On p. 348, he says that he saw many utensils of gold in the house of
the Raja or King of Butuan.
On p. 349, we find the following remarks:--
"What most abounds is gold. Valleys were pointed out to me in which
by signs they made me comprehend there were more lumps of gold than
we had hair on our heads, but that, for the want of iron, the mines
exact greater labour to work them than they feel inclined to bestow."
Coming down to later days, Thomas de Comyn, 1810, writes:--
"Gold abounds in Luzon and in many of these islands; but as the
mountains which contain it are in the power of pagan Indians, the veins
are not worked, nor even the mines known. These savages collect it
from placers or streams, and bring it as dust to the Christians who
inhabit the plains, in exchange for coarse cloth or fire-arms, and
at times they have brought it in grains of one or two ounces' weight.
"It is the general opinion that this class of mines abound in the
province of Caraga, situated on the east of the great island of
Mindanao, and that there, as well as at various other points, gold
is found of 22 carat fine."
He states that the Royal Fifth, or rather Tenth (for it was found the
mines could not pay a fifth, and it was reduced by half), in the year
1809 amounted to $1144. This would represent an extraction of gold
equal to only $11,440; but this was probably but a small part of the
whole, as from the circumstances of the case the gold dust from the
washings would be surreptitiously disposed of, and only the few mines
that were worked, paid the tax. I had occasion, about twelve years
ago, to make inquiry how much gold was raised in Camarines Norte,
and a person well-informed on the subject estimated it at a value of
$30,000 gold dollars.
Gold is certainly very widely distributed in the islands. I have
seen women washing the sands of the River San Jose del Puray in the
province of Manila, and noted what small specks they collected. I
was informed that their average earnings were about 25 cents per
day. Whether these sands could be dredged and washed mechanically on
a large scale with profit I cannot say.
In 1890, I ascended the Puray River and went up the Arroyo Macaburabod
to where it bifurcates. There, close to the boundary of the province
of Manila and district of Moron, I found a face of disintegrated
quartz glittering with large crystals of iron pyrites.
This was near a geological frontier where the igneous and sedimentary
rocks joined, and the neighbourhood was highly mineralized, there being
iron, coal, and gold within a short distance. I took a large number
of samples, and the analyst Anacleto del Rosario declared that one
of them gave an assay of 17 dwts. of gold to the ton. But of course
such assays prove nothing, for the accidental presence of a grain of
gold in the sample would make all the difference in the results.
Near Gapan in Nueva Ecija more profitable washings are situated,
and at times large numbers of men and women are to be seen at work,
especially after a sudden flood has come down. The sands of the River
Agno also yield gold, and the washing for it is quite an industry
amongst the Pangasinan women about Rosales, but the return is said
to be small. But after a north-westerly gale has heaped up the black
sand at the mouth of this river in the Bay of Lingayen, the people
turn out in numbers to wash it, and sometimes have better luck. But
although these washings are poor, a considerable quantity of gold
is obtained from the Igorrotes, and there is no doubt that these
people have for centuries worked quartz veins or pockets, and that
they only extract sufficient for their modest requirements in the way
of purchasing cattle, cloth, and tools. They do not hoard any gold,
for they say that it is safer in the mine than in their houses. When
one of them requires a few ounces he goes to his mine, gets it out,
and immediately proceeds to purchase what he wants. Possibly they
do not consider the supply inexhaustible, and they have thought for
to-morrow, or for those who will come after them. It is not their
object to exhaust the bounties of nature in the shortest possible time.
When they have found a rich pocket they build a house over the pit,
and when not at work they cover the hole with roughly-hewn planks or
logs ; they take precautions in disposing of the detritus, so that
it does not call attention from a distance.
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 Mamanuas
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.
His declaration is confirmed by Dr. Montano, a French traveller and
skilled explorer, who however does not say that he saw the gold dust
amongst the sand.
From Surigao to Gigaquil the people are engaged in washing the sands
for gold.
Foreman states that for many months remittances of four or five
pounds weight of gold were sent from Mindanao to a firm in Manila,
and that it was alluvial gold from Surigao extracted by the natives.
Don Jose Centeno, Inspector of Mines, says in a report: "The most
important workings effected in Surigao are in the Caninon-Binutong
and Cansostral mountains, a day's journey from the town.
"These mountains consist of slaty talc much metamorphosed, and of
serpentine. In the first are found veins of calcite and quartz from
half-an-inch to three inches thick, in which especially in the calcite
the gold is visible mixed with iron and copper pyrites, galena and
blende. It is a remarkable circumstance that the most mineralized
veins run always in an east and west direction, whilst the poor
and sterile veins always follow another direction. The workings are
entirely on the surface, as the abundance of water which flows to
them prevents sinking shafts, and nothing is known of the richness
at depth. Rich and sterile parts alternate, the gold being mostly in
pockets. From one of the veins in Caninoro in a length of eighteen
inches one hundred ounces of gold were taken."
Some time after this find, Messrs. Aldecoa & Co., a Manila firm,
erected stamps at Surigao, and a certain amount of gold was sent up by
every steamer to Manila, but in spite of the apparently favourable
circumstances, the enterprise was ultimately abandoned and the
machinery removed.
I do not know the reason, but people in Manila are so used to the
collapse of mining companies that it is regarded as their natural
and inevitable end, and no explanations are required.
Nieto (p. 75) mentions the northern parts of the province of Surigao
and Misamis as the richest in gold. In Misamis there is both alluvial
gold and rich quartz reefs, the richest known spots being Pighoulugan
on the River Cagayan, Iponan and Pigtao. The ore at the latter place
is auriferous iron pyrites, called by the natives Inga.
Nuggets weighing from two and a half to four ounces have been found in
these places, so that Pigafetta's stories are not without foundation.
On March 20th, 1888, a clerk of Don Louis Genu, a merchant in Manila,
called upon me on business and exhibited a large pickle bottle full
of gold which he had just received from Cagayan de Misamis. There
were several pounds weight of it, and I carefully examined it with
a lens. I found it in pieces, many of them half an inch or more in
length, slightly flattened, and having minute particles of white
quartz adhering to them, and a few loose particles of quartz. The
pieces were not water-worn, and had evidently formed part of a seam
of dendritic or lace gold, such as I had seen exhibited by a vendor
of mining properties in Denver, Col., just a year before.
This exhibit opened my eyes to the possibilities of gold mining in
Mindanao, but I did not leave my business to go prospecting.
The natives of this part of Mindanao look upon washing for gold as
their chief resource. A certain quantity of what they collect is used
to make ornaments, and passes from hand to hand instead of coin in
payment of gambling debts, and stakes lost at cockfights. The Mestizos
and Chinamen get hold of the rest and send it away surreptitiously,
so that no statistics can be collected. It is impossible to tax gold
collected in this way, but the Government might derive a profit by
establishing posts in each district where gold would be purchased
at a fixed price and so get, say, ten or twenty per cent. out of it
instead of allowing the Chinese and Mestizos to make perhaps forty
or fifty per cent. according to the ignorance of the vendor.
Foreman is probably quite right in saying that the influence of the
friars has always been exerted against any mining company, whether
Spanish or foreign. They did not want a rush of miners and Jews to
the Philippines. But now, under the American Government, their power
must decline, and new undertakings will, in a measure, be free from
this hindrance.
The Spanish mining laws and regulations are excellent and a perfect
model for legislation on the subject. They are based on the principle
that the ownership of the surface gives no title to the minerals
underneath, which belong to the State. The owner can, however, obtain
a title by developing a mine.
The ingenuity and unscrupulousness of that vile breed, the native
Pica-Pleito or pettifogging lawyer, has greatly contributed to stop
Europeans from proceeding with mining enterprises, as success would
bring down these blackmailers in swarms.
It is to be hoped that the new government will lay a heavy hand on
these birds of prey. Rightly considered, they are only a species of
vermin, and should have verminous treatment.
Now that the fortune of war has handed over the sovereignty of the
Philippines to an enterprising and energetic race, I cannot doubt
that the mystery of centuries will be dispelled.
Amongst the Californian, Colorado, or Nevada volunteers, there
should be men having the courage, the knowledge of prospecting,
and the physical strength necessary for success in this quest, if
they can obtain permission from their superiors to attempt it. The
prospects are so good that they should not have any difficulty in
getting capitalists to finance them.
They will require to go in a strong party to prevent being cut off
by the savages, and to escort their supplies of provisions.
As deer and wild pig abound they will be able to supply themselves in a
great measure with meat by sending out a couple of good shots to hunt.
For such as these gold mining ought to be most remunerative, and
enable those who survive the many perils to retire with a fortune
after a few years of hard work. But so far as I know there is not at
present sufficient information about any mines in the Philippines,
whether of gold or any other metal, to warrant the establishment of
companies for purchasing and working them.
Mining claims can be staked out and registered under the present
laws by natives or foreigners, but in limited areas, and placers or
river beds can be worked by all without leave or license, and cannot
be monopolised.
I wish to avoid prophesy, but I shall be much surprised if the
Philippines, in American hands, do not turn out in a few years an
important gold-producing country.
Copper.
Native copper has been found in several places in the islands,
amongst them are Surigao and Torrijos in Mindoro.
In the article on the Igorrotes, I have spoken of the copper mines
of Mancayan, and related how, when worked by the savages they were
successful to the extent of supplying themselves with cooking-pots,
trays and ornaments, besides leaving an annual surplus of about
nineteen tons of copper, which was sold.
A Spanish company obtained the concession about 1864, and drove out
the natives.
The title was the Sociedad Minera de Mancayan, and they experienced
considerable difficulties in getting a merchantable product, their
science being at a disadvantage compared to the practical knowledge
of the Igorrotes. They, however, persevered, and got up to a make of
about 180 tons in one year--nearly ten times the production obtained
by the Igorrotes. But the usual fate of Philippine mining companies
overtook them, and the works were closed in 1875, it was said from
scarcity of labour.
Several kinds of ores are found at Mancayan, almost on the surface,
red, black and grey copper, also sulphates and carbonates of copper.
About Mambulao cupro-ferruginous quartz and copper pyrites are found,
but are not worked.
I am quite unable to venture any opinion on the prospects of
copper-mining and smelting in the Philippines, but no doubt experts
will shortly obtain the necessary data to decide what can be done,
but capital should be laid out with great caution, and the many
difficulties of climate, carriage and labour taken into consideration.
Iron.
There is plenty of iron ore in the Philippines. In Luzon it occurs
plentifully in the western spurs of the Cordillera all the way from
Bosoboso to San Miguel de Mayumo, and it is now worked near the latter
place in a primitive way. Plough-shares, cooking-pots and bolos are the
principal productions; the fuel used in all cases is charcoal. I sent
to the Philippine Exhibition of 1887 at Madrid a dozen bolos made from
native iron. The ore is very rich, giving 70 to 80 per cent. of iron;
when polished it is of a beautiful silvery white colour, very tough,
and of the finest quality. Attempts have been made by Europeans to
work the iron ores of Luzon, but they have invariably ended in the
bankruptcy of the adventurers, and in one case even in suicide.
When deer-shooting at the Hacienda de San Ysidro above Bosoboso many
years ago, I learned from the natives there that in the next valley,
not far from the hamlet of Santa Ines, there existed the remains
of some old iron-works, abandoned years ago. They said there were
unfinished forgings still lying about, amongst them two anchors. I
did not, however, go to examine them, being intent on shooting.
Red hematite is found in Cebu, brown hematite in Paracale and other
parts of Camarines Norte, and both red and brown in Capiz. In Misamis
oxydized iron is found. Some of the iron about San Miguel de Mayumo
is magnetic.
I do not believe that at present, and for many years to come, it is
possible to work these ores and make iron and steel to compete with
American or British imported iron.
But the time may come when, under different conditions, these
remarkable ores may be turned to account; in fact, it is asserted a
scarcity of high class iron ore will soon occur, in which case the
Philippine ores of such extraordinary richness will come into use.
Coal.
It is common to see coal mentioned amongst the mineral resources of
the Philippines, but so far as I have been able to learn, no true
coal has been found there, nor in any of the adjacent islands. There
are beds of lignite of varying quality, and when enthusiastic finders
are told of the poor quality of their samples, they reply at once,
"It will be better at depth."
The Philippine formations seem to greatly resemble those of Borneo,
and there it was found that the lignite got poorer at depth, so that
mines were abandoned from this cause alone.
The Philippine beds of lignite have been violently upheaved by the
cataclysms of former ages, and are often turned up vertically,
as at the mines of Sugud in Albay. I was consulted about these
mines after a considerable sum had been thrown away. The Spanish
engineer employed commenced by building himself a commodious house;
he then laid a tramway from the port to where the mine was to be,
and bought a winding engine. The available capital was expended,
and nothing more was done.
The position of the seams at Sugud very much resembles the occurrence
of the seams at the Pengaron mine in Borneo, which stopped work 18th
October, 1884, after a precarious existence of thirty-six years, on
account of the poor quality of the coal and the relatively high cost
of extraction. This is on the authority of Dr. Theodor Posewitz in
'Borneo: its Geology and Mineral Resources,' 1892, and what follows
so exactly applies to all the so-called coal in the Philippines,
that I shall quote the paragraph:--
P. 480.--"A number of analyses were carried out, and practical tests
were applied on board various ships. The result was always ore or
less favourable, yet nobody would have the coal."
The coal mine in the British Colony of Labuan was given up after
several years' working.
People blame the Spanish Government, the priests, the natives,
the roads, but the reason of failure in the Philippines is very
simple. "Nobody would have the coal," that is to say on board ship. The
lignite could be used on land, but there is little demand for it,
except for navigation. Some of it is liable to spontaneous combustion
in the bunkers, some is so charged with sulphur as to be bad for the
furnaces, or else it will not keep steam. I doubt if there is any good
coal between Japan and Australia, and as long as coal from there can
be delivered at present prices in Manila, I don't advise anybody to put
money into Philippine coal unless they know more about it than I do.
It has often been said that the Philippines have never been
explored. This is, however, only true of certain regions, and as
regards beds of the so-called coal you will find them marked on the
maps all over the principal islands.
If you proceed to the village nearest the spot, you will find, very
probably, that the seam has been known for a century, and that pits or
adits have been made and a lot of money spent to no purpose. Nobody
ever made any money out of Philippine lignite that I know of, but I
don't prophesy whether anybody ever will.
I append an analysis of some so-called coal that was brought me from
Masbate in 1889.
Analysis of Masbate Lignite.
Laboratory of A. del Rosario y Sales.
No. 1367. 16th April, 1889.
Lignite from Masbate.
Colour, black.
Physical condition, fragile.
Fracture, splintery.
Colour, when reduced to powder, blackish brown.
Burns with difficulty, giving a short flame; not very smoky, and
leaves a brick-red ash.
Coke not very spongy, pulverulent and lightly agglutinated.
Density at 33 deg. C., 1.3082.
Analysis.
Hygroscopic water 3.73
Volatile constituents 45.49
Coke Fixed carbon 48.20
Ash Silica 12
Aluminic 2.46
Ferric, calcic
Magnesic
Chloric
Sulphuric acids, etc.
100.00
Coke = 50.79. Equivalent calories 5203.44
Ash = 2.58. Absolute calorific effect, centesimal 64.41
Sulphur per 100 of lignite 0.1633
Iron calculated in metallic state 1.2173
Lead reduced by 1 gramme of combustible (mean) by
Berthier's assay grammes 21.90
Various Minerals.
Lead.--Galena is found in Tayabas and in Camarines Norte; in the
latter province there is found chromate of lead with ferruginous
quartz. This ore is often found mixed with iron or copper pyrites,
and sometimes with blende.
I have seen samples of galena from Cebu which was said to be
auriferous, but I have never heard that any of these ores have been
worked anywhere in the islands.
If it should be found profitable to smelt the gold-bearing ores, as
is so splendidly done at Denver, Col., the galena will be necessary
to the success of the process.
Red Lead is found in Camarines Norte and other places.
Graphite.--In 1891 some pieces of this valuable mineral were shown
to me by a native, who said he had found the ore in Mindoro, but he
would not say from what locality.
Quicksilver.--I have seen small bottles of this handed round by
native disciples of Ananias. But I have never seen a bit of cinnabar
or other ore of mercury, and I shall not believe there is any of this
metal in the Philippines until I see the ore in situ, or have good
testimony to that effect.
Sulphur abounds; there are several places where it can be obtained
in large quantities near the volcanoes.
Asbestos.--This curious mineral would not strike a native as being
of value.
All I can say about it is that at the Madrid Exhibition of 1887 a
specimen of this substance was shown by the Civil Governor of Ilocos
Norte as having been found in that province.
Yellow Ochre is found in Batangas, Camarines, Albay, Leyte and Antique,
amongst other places.
Kaolin is found in Manila, Batangas and Camarines Sur, and probably
in many other places.
Marble of a yellowish colour has been quarried at Montalban. I
have used some of it, but found it full of faults, and not very
satisfactory.
Plastic Clays for pottery and for making bricks and tiles abound.
Mineral Waters.--As might be expected in a volcanic region, hot
springs and mineral waters of very varied constituents abound.
I do not think that the analyses of these would interest the general
reader.
I may say that I have derived great benefit from the hot-springs of
Los Banos on the lake, and greatly regretted that I could not remain
at the extraordinary vapour baths of Tibi near Tabaco.