Note 2 — Products of Industry
Reading edition
Long before the arrival of the Spanish in the Philippines, the Chinese had built up such a lively trade in iron bars and caldrons that it was no longer necessary for the natives to smelt their own iron ore; Page 412if indeed they ever did so.2 This trade metal was widely distributed, and then reworked by the local smiths. Even to-day the people of Balbalasang make the long journey to Bangued, or even to Vigan, to secure Chinese iron, which they carry back to their mountain forges.