from
one of them, Senor Domingo Sanchez, information destined to become
of great importance in the development of the Philippines.

Senor Sanchez, who was an employee of the Spanish forestry bureau,
told me that in the highlands of Northern Luzon at an elevation
of about five thousand feet, there was a region of pines and oaks
blessed with a perpetually temperate climate and even with occasional
frosts. I confess that I did not believe all of his statements. I
was then experienced in climbing Philippine mountains, and at five
thousand feet had invariably found a hopeless tangle of the rankest
tropical vegetation, with humidity so high that trees were draped with
ferns, orchids, and thick moss, and dripping with moisture. However,
I knew that the mere presence of pine and oak trees would mean the
occurrence of special bird species feeding upon their seeds, and so
determined to investigate.

A severe attack of typhoid fever necessitated my leaving the islands
before I could carry out this plan, but upon my return with the first
Philippine Commission in 1899 I remembered Senor Sanchez's story. In
view of the probability that American occupation would continue
for a long period, the existence or non-existence near Manila of an
extensive highland region with a temperate climate became a question
of great practical importance. I therefore caused search to be made
in the Spanish archives to see what, if any, reliable information was
available, and to my great satisfaction unearthed a detailed report
made by a committee of three distinguished and competent Spanish
officers who had spent some weeks at Baguio in the _comandancia_ of
Benguet, during which period they had made six temperature observations
daily, had tramped over the neighbouring country very thoroughly,
had located a number of springs of potable water and determined their
approximate flow, and in short had gathered a large series of very
valuable data which more than bore out the statements of Senor Sanchez.

I found, furthermore, that Spanish engineers had made a survey for
a carriage road into this country, and had prepared a profile of it
with estimates of the amount and cost of the necessary excavation
and other work.

While in Washington during the winter of 1899-1900, I brought
this matter to the attention of Secretary Root. Just as the second
Philippine Commission was filing out of his office, after receiving
its instructions, he called out to us direct