Chapter XV.
Forestal.
Value exaggerated—Difficulties of labour and transport—Special sawing machinery required—Market for timber in the islands—Teak not found—Jungle produce—Warning to investors in companies—Gutta percha.
During the three and a quarter centuries the Spaniards have held the Philippines, the forests of Luzon have supplied enormous quantities of the finest timber for building houses, churches, convents, bridges, warships, lighters and canoes. No care has ever been taken to replant, and the consequence is that at this day long logs of many kinds most wanted are not obtainable, all the large trees of valuable timber have long ago been cut, and only in the most distant and least accessible places are any worth having to be found.
The greatest nonsense is talked about the value of the Philippine forests, but in fact it is only in the fever-stricken Island of Mindoro, and in certain parts of Palawan and Mindanao, that any large and valuable trees can be found.
Labour is a great difficulty; wood-cutters are scarce, and they are a wild, unruly lot; only men inured to such a rough life can resist the malaria of the woods, and even they are occasionally down with fever.
Chinamen would not venture into the forests, and only the natives of each district are available, as they do not care to go far from their houses. In order to engage them it is necessary to make them advances of money which it will seldom be possible to recover. A good deal of tact is required in dealing with the cutters, they are very independent and will not put up with abuse. A considerable capital is required to give advances to, and feed these men, also for buying buffaloes, which die unless good care is taken of them.
If a cutter can be found who has buffaloes of his own, it is better to hire them with him, as then they are sure to be taken care of.
The dragging the large logs to a river or port can only be done by teams of buffaloes. The conditions prevailing prevent the employment of chutes, wire ropes and winding engines, or tram-lines.
The valuable trees do not grow together in numbers as in the forests of California and Oregon, but are found at considerable distances from each other. It is therefore only possible to commence the use of mechanical conveyance at the spot where the logs can be assembled by animal labour. Even so, the number of logs from any district will be so small that it will hardly pay to lay down a tramway.