452 CLIMATE. [1842 



are either indigenous or have been introduced and cultivated 

 with Mice ss. Sago, of a very fine quality, is produced in 

 abundance on Luzon, but is not exported to any great extent, 

 Sapan-wood and bamboo are the principal timber tre< The 

 former is a species of Csesalpinia; it is highly valu I as 

 a dye-wood, and in its color and properties resembles Brazil- 

 wood. The bamboo grows to an extraordinary size, the bolls 

 of the trees often being as thick as a man's thigh. 



There are no beasts of prey on the islands, but caymans 

 are plentiful in the rivers and lakes. Wild fowl, and the do- 

 mestic kinds, are quite numerous. There are also great 

 quantities of swallows, whose nests are esteemed edible by the 

 Chinese and Malays, and form an important article of traffic. 

 The buffalo is a native of the islands, and was once used as a 

 beast of burden, and in the cultivation of the soil; but latterly 

 oxen have been introduced, as the former was found to be too 

 sluggish in his movements, by the industrious Malays, who are 

 the principal tillers of the ground. Horses, of a small but hardy 

 breed, goats, sheep, and pigs, are raised in considerable num- 

 bers. All kinds of edible fish, the pearl oyster, and the biche 

 de me?', abound in the vicinity of the islands, and the land 

 tortoise is also very abundant. 



On account of the great extent of these islands, the climate 

 is quite variable, notwithstanding they lie so near the Equator. 

 At Manilla, the mean temperature of the hot season, from 

 August to October, is about 82°, though the heat is some- 

 times exceedingly oppressive to those unaccustomed to a tropi- 

 cal climate ; and for the remaining part of the year, the ther- 

 mometer ranges but little above or below 70°. The south- 

 western monsoon always brings an abundance of rain, and the 

 savannas and valleys along the rivers are then inundated with 

 water ; to which circumstance the great prevalence of agues 

 and dysentery, especially in the marshy districts, is attributed. 

 While the north-eastern monsoon continues, it is usually quite 

 dry. From May till December, Luzon is subject to be vis- 

 ited by the destructive typhoons of the Chinese Seas. Ma- 

 nilla has several times suffered from earthquakes, though 



