Rio Grande de Cagayan by one river, the Rio Chico de Cagayan; but the
Rio Sibbu, coursing more directly eastward, is a considerable stream.

To-day one main trail enters Bontoc Province. It was originally
built by the Spaniards, and enters Bontoc pueblo from the southwest,
leading up from Cervantes in Lepanto Province. From Cervantes there
are two trails to the coast. One passes southward through Baguio in
Benguet Province and then stretches westward, terminating on the
coast at San Fernando, in Union Province. The other, the one most
commonly traveled to Bontoc, passes to the northwest, terminating on
the coast at Candon, in the Province of Ilokos Sur. The main trail,
entering Bontoc from Cervantes, passes through the pueblo and extends
to the northeast, quite closely following the trend of the Chico
River. In Spanish times it was seldom traveled farther than Bassao,
but several parties of Americans have been over it as far as the
Rio Grande de Cagayan since November, 1902. A second trail, also of
Spanish origin, but now practically unused, enters the area from the
south and connects Bontoc pueblo, its northern terminus, with the
valley of the Magat River far south. It passes through the pueblos
of Bayambang, Quiangan, and Banawi, in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya.

The main trail is to-day passable for a horseman from the coast
terminus to Tinglayan, three days beyond Bontoc pueblo. Practically
all other trails in the area are simply wild footpaths of the
Igorot. Candon, the coast terminus of the main trail, lies in the
coastal plain area about 4 1/4 miles from the sea. From the coast to
the small pueblo of Concepcion at the western base of the Cordillera
Central is a half-day's journey. The first half of the trail passes
over flat land, with here and there small pueblos surrounded by rice
sementeras. There are almost no forests. The latter half is through
the coastal hill area, and the trail frequently passes through small
forests; it crosses several rivers, dangerous to ford in the rainy
season, and winds in and out among attractive hills bearing clumps
of graceful, plume-like bamboo.

From Concepcion the trail leads up the mountain to Tilud Pass, historic
since the insurrection because of the brave stand made there by the
young, ill-fated General del Pilar. The climb to Tilud Pass, from
either side of the mountain, is one of the longest and most tedious in
northern Luzon. The trail frequently turns short on itself, so that
the front and rear parts of a pack train are traveling face to face,
and one end is not more than eight or ten rods above the other on the
side of the mountain. The last view of the sea from the Candon-Bontoc
trail is obtained at Tilud Pass. From Concepcion to Angaki, at the
base of the mountain on the eastern side of the pass, the trail is
about half a day long. From the pass it is a ceaseless drop down
the steep mountain, but affords the most charming views of mountain
scenery in northern Luzon. The shifting direction of the turning trail
and the various altitudes of the traveler present constantly changing
scenes -- mountains and mountains ramble on before one. From Angaki
to Cervantes the trail passes over deforested rolling mountain land,
with safe drinking water in only one small spring. Many travelers
who pass that part of the journey in the middle of the day complain
loudly of the heat and thirst experienced there.

Cervantes, said to be 70 miles from Candon, is the capital of the dual
Province of Lepanto-Bontoc. Bontoc pueblo lies inland only about 35
miles farther, but the greater part of two days is usually required to
reach it. Twenty minutes will carry a horseman down the bluff from
Cervantes, across the swift Abra -- if the stream is fordable --
and start him on the eastward mountain climb.

The first pueblo beyond Cervantes is Cayan, the old Spanish capital of
the district. About twenty-five years ago the site was changed from
Cayan to Cervantes because there was not sufficient suitable land
at Cayan. Cayan is about four hours from Cervantes, and every foot
of the trail is up the mountain. A short distance beyond Cayan the
trail divides to rejoin only at the outskirts of Bontoc pueblo; but
the right-hand or "lower" trail is not often traveled by horsemen. Up
and up the mountain one climbs from about 1,800 feet at Cervantes to
about 6,000 feet among the pines, and then slowly descends, having
crossed the boundary line between Lepanto and Bontoc subprovinces to
the pueblo of Bagnen -- the last one before the Bontoc culture area
is entered. It is customary to spend the night on the trail, as one
goes into Bontoc, either at Bagnen or at Sagada, a pueblo about two
hours farther on.

Only along the top of the high mountain, before Bagnen is reached,
does the trail pass through a forest -- otherwise it is always
climbing up or winding about the mountains deforested probably by
fires. Practically all the immediate territory on the right hand of
the trail between Bagnen and Sagada is occupied by the beautifully
terraced rice sementeras of Balugan; the valley contains more than a
thousand acres so cultivated. At Sagada lime rocks -- some eroded into
gigantic, massive forms, others into fantastic spires and domes --
everywhere crop out from the grassy hills. Up and down the mountains
the trail leads, passing another small pine forest near Ankiling
and Titipan, about four hours from Bontoc, and then creeps on and
at last through the terraced entrance way into the mountain pocket
where Bontoc pueblo lies, about 100 miles from the western coast,
and, by Government aneroid barometer, about 2,800 feet above the sea.


Marks of Bontoc culture

It is difficult and often impossible to state the essential difference
in culture which distinguishes one group of people from another. It
is more difficult to draw lines of distinction, for the culture of
one group almost imperceptibly flows into that of another adjoining it.