which will account for champagne and other articles of luxury being
found in the shops of the very poor villagers.

Malaguit and Matango, during the dry season, are said to be connected
by an extremely good road; but, when we passed, the two places were
separated by a quagmire into which the horses sank up to their middle.

[Labo.] In Labo, a little village on the right bank of the river Labo
(which rises in the mountain of the same name), the conditions to
which we have adverted are repeated--vestiges of the works of former
mining companies fast disappearing, and, in the midst, little pits
being worked by the natives. Red lead has not been found here, but
gold has been, and especially "platinum," which some experiments
have proved to be lead-glance. The mountain Labo appears from its
bell-shape and the strata exposed in the river bed to consist of
trachytic hornblende. Half a league W.S.W., after wading through mud
a foot deep, we reached the mountain Dallas where lead-glance and
gold were formerly obtained by a mining company; and to the present
day gold is obtained by a few natives in the usual mode.

[Wild Cat Mining.] Neither in the latter province, nor in Manila, could
I acquire more precise information respecting the histories of the
numerous unfortunate mining enterprises. Thus much, however, appears
certain, that they were originated only by speculators, and never
properly worked with sufficient means. They therefore, of necessity,
collapsed so soon as the speculators ceased from their operations.

[Small output.] North Camarines yields no metal with the exception
of the little gold obtained by the natives in so unprofitable a
manner. The king of Spain at first received a fifth, and then a