3]

Now our Government in the Philippines, by and through and because
of Mr. Worcester, had made repeated efforts to reach these Ilongots,
to bring them in, as it were, and only recently had these efforts met
with any success. For one thing, it is a very serious matter to seek
them out in the depths of their fastnesses if only because of the
difficulty of reaching them; many of them even now have never seen a
white man, and would escape, if I recollect aright, on the approach of
our people. But in 1908 some fifty of them did "come in," and, gaining
confidence, this number grew to one hundred and fifty in 1909. They,
or some of them at least, now sent an invitation to Mr. Worcester
to come and see them, and he accepted on condition of their making
a trail, saying that they could not expect a man of his stature to
creep through their country on his hands and knees. This trail they
had built, and they had assembled at Campote, four hours from Dupax,
for this first formal visit; It was the desire of Mr. Worcester
that this visit should be happy in all respects; for, if not, the
difficulties of intercourse with this people, already great, would
be so seriously increased as to delay the civilizing intentions of
the Government for many years to come.

We rode off at about two o'clock, passing under numberless
bamboo arches, on an astonishingly good road, built by Padre Juan
Villaverde. About two miles out we left the road, turning off east
across rice-paddies, and then followed a stream, which we crossed
near the foot of a large bare mountain facing south. Up this we
zigzagged four miles, a tiresome stretch with the sun shining full
upon us. But at the top we had our reward: to the south reached a
beautiful open valley, its floor a mass of green undulations, its
walls purple mountains blazing in the full glory of the afternoon
sun. At the extreme south, miles away, we could make out Las Salinas,
Salt Springs, [14] whose deposits sparkled and shone and scintillated
and danced in the heated air. Grateful as it would have been to rest
at the top and enjoy the scene, we nevertheless had to turn our backs
upon it, for we had yet far to go over an unknown trail, and it was
most desirable to get in before dark. So we turned and now plunged
into a forest of tall trees so thick overhead and so deeply buried in
vines, and creepers and underbrush generally, that just as no light
got in from above, so one could not see ten yards in any