NAMES OF COASTWISE FEATURES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Upon the acquisition of the Pliilippine Islands V)y the LTnited States 

 in 18118, the Hydrog-raphic Office was promptly called upon for charts, 

 sailing directions, etc., of these new possessions. To meet this demand 

 it at once began their preparation. At the outset it met much diffi- 

 culty with the names. Existing charts, books, maps, and publications 

 disagreed, both as to names and their spelling. Spanish charts con- 

 tained either all Spanish names or Spanish names and also Malay names 

 written according to Spanish methods. On English charts the spelling 

 of some of the Malay names had been altered to conform to English and 

 American methods of writing native names. In doing this, errors and 

 confusion had arisen. 



In this confusion the Hydrographic Office appealed to the Board on 

 Geographic Names and asked for advice. The Board considered the 

 general question at some length, and then recommended that the names 

 in current use and their spoiling, as shown on the best Spanish official 

 maps and charts, should be followed. The Hydrographic Office fol- 

 lowed this advice, and under the direction of Capt. C. C. Todd, hydrog- 

 rapher, U. S. N., prepared, chiefly from Spanish official charts, the fol- 

 lowing list of about 4,000 coastwise names. 



Meanwhile another list of about 6,000 Philippine geographic names 

 had been prepared in Manila, and in Washington, D. C, under the 

 direction of Rev. Jose Algue, S. J., director of the Jesuit Observatory 

 at Manila. Those names, arranged in three groups and accompanied 

 by 30 maps, were submitted to the United States Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, and have recently been printed by that Survey as an intro- 

 duction to its Special PuMicatlon M). J, Atlas of the Plullpplne Inlands. 

 While this Coast Survey publication was going through tllSJ press, 

 Father Algue was in Washington and read the proof. Sevei'al hun- 

 dred of the names contained in it are also contained in this list. On 

 the other hand, this list is much fuller for coastwise names, containing 

 about 2,600 names not found in the Coast Survey atlas. After Father 

 Algue had read and corrected the proofs of the names in the Coast Survey 

 atlas, he kindly undertook to revise the manuscript of this list, and thus 

 to bring the two into harmony. In such revision, only 33 differences 

 of spelling were detected, and these for the most part trifling. In this 

 list the spelling of those 33 names has been made to agree with the 

 Coast Survey atlas, and accordingly the spelling of names in that atlas 

 and in this list are, errors excepted, the same. 



Pronunciation is not considered in this report, which was prepared 

 as a reference list for spelling onl3\ Therefore all accents and diacrit- 

 ical marks, since the}'^ relate to pronunciation only, are here omitted. 



