Gold is found in every stream of the islands. In small bottles I saw many little nuggets which the natives had picked up. Whether it would pay to use good machinery to extract he gold I cannot tell; but certain it is that they use a great deal of gold in the curiously wrought articles of jewelry of which they are all passionately fond.

A man who was greatly interested in the mines of Klondike said that there were better chances of getting gold in the Philippines and that he had given up all his northern claims and was now using his energies to secure leases in the new territory. Other minerals, too, he said, are abundant and valuable.

I had a small brass dagger which I used to carry for defense and, upon showing it to some of my friends, since my return, I was asked if I saw this dagger made, because if I knew the secret of its annealing it would be worth a fortune to me.

I had missed a golden chance for I had often visited a rude foundry where they made bolos and other articles, but it did not occur to me that there could be anything of value to expert workmen at home in these crude hand processes.

The soldiers that accompanied me, as well as I myself, went into convulsions of laughter over the shape of their bellows and the working of their forge. Everything they do seemed to us to be done in the most awkward manner; it is done backward if possible. The first time I saw a carriage hitched before the animal I wondered how they could ever manage it.

Bolos are of all sizes and shapes and are made of steel or iron to suit the fancy of the person. Some are of the size and pattern of an old-fashioned corn cutter, handles of carved wood or carabao horn; sometimes made with a fork-like tip and waved with saw teeth edge. It is an indispensable tool in war and peace. There were none so poor as not to have a bolo. They made cannon, too, and guns patterned after our American ones. And sometimes cannon were made out of bamboo, bound around with bands of iron. These were formidable and could shoot with as much noise as a brass one, if not with as much accuracy.

They must get a great deal of silver, as they have so many silver articles; they insert bits of silver in the handles of bolos. These bolos are used for everything. One day I found that the little tin oven which I brought from home was all worn out on the inside. I was in despair for there was no way of getting it repaired, My native cook watched me as I looked at it sorrowfully. Without saying a word he went to work and with only a bolo took my old tin coal oil can and constructed a lining with the metal cleats to hold the shelves up. The only thing he had in the way of a tool to work with was his bolo, about two feet long. When I hired him I noticed that he had great long finger nails; I told him that he would have to cut them off. He said, “Why I don’t too. I wouldn’t have anything to scratch myself with.” But, upon my insisting, he took his huge bolo, placed his fingers on a block of wood, and severed his useful finger nails. They use these bolos for cutting grass, cutting meat,—they use them for haggling our soldiers, as we learned to our grief and wrath.

There are vast quantities of coal, but the mines so far have been but little developed. The coal is so full of sulphur that its quality is spoiled. There are possibilities of finding it in good paying quantities on several of the islands. It makes a quick blaze and soon burns out. The natives sell it in tiny chunks, by the handful, or in little woven baskets that hold just about a quart.