PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



117 



of all sizes, from mere rocks ami reefs to the great 

 lands of Luzon and Mindanao. The total area is 

 about 114,300 so. m. ; the areas of the chief islands 

 are about as follows : Luzon, 44,400 sq. m. ; Min- 

 danao, 34,000; Palawan (Paragua), 2315; and in 

 the Visayas group, Mindoro, 3087; Samar, 5000; 

 Leyte, 3087 ; Panay, 4540 ; Negros, 3500 ; Cebu, 

 2000 ; Bohol, 1617 ; and Masbate, 1332. The popu- 

 lation is variously estimated at from 7,500,000 to 

 9,500,000. 



l' The archipelago is disposed nearly due north 

 and south, and is essentially mountainous and 



1 volcanic, lying in the direct line of the vast igneous 

 chain which sweeps round from Sumatra and .Java 

 through the Lesser Sunda groups and the Moluccas 

 northwards to Formosa and Japan. In the Philip- 

 pines the first link in this system going southwards 

 is the volcanic islet of Balmyan on the north coast 

 of Luzon ; but beyond the remarkable active volcano 

 of Taal ( 768 feet ), near Manila Bay, the chain rami- 

 fies into an eastern and a western branch, which 

 traverse the whole of tin- archipelago, and which 

 are continued seawards by the insular chains of 

 Sulu and Sangiiir. The eastern branch develops 

 the lofty cones of Mayon (9000 feet) and Bultisan 

 at the south-eastern extremity of Luzon, while the 

 western branch gives rise to those of Malaspina 

 and Bacon in Negros and Camiguin near the north 

 coast of Mindanao; in this island the two rh;iins 

 converge at the head of the Gulf of Davao, where 

 they culminate in Apo (10,400 feet), highest point 

 in the Philippines. These various ranges, which 

 cover nearly tlie whole surface of the archipelago, 

 leaving room for scarcely any plains except al*out 

 the lower courses of the rivers, consist mainly of 

 very old eruptive rocks, in many places covered by 

 later tertiary, quaternary, and modern scoria- and 

 lavas. The underground forces are still active, and 

 reveal themselves by tremendous eruptions, such 

 as those of Mayon in 1760 and of Daraga in 1814, 

 and especially by earthquakes, which are almost 

 continuous, keeping the seismographs of the obser- 

 vatory at Manila in a constant stilt* of vibration. 

 Manila itself was nearly destroyed bv the earth- 

 quake of 1863, which was followed by the disastrous 

 convulsions of 1872 and 18HO at Surigao and in 

 many parts of Mindanao. The navigation of the 

 inland waters is endangered not only by these dis- 

 turbances, Inn also by the conflicting currents 

 caused by opposing tidal waves, and by the 

 cyclones, here called typhoons, which range as far 

 south as about 10 N. fat. (see Map at ASIA). 



< iu in- to i In- parallel disposition of the mountain- 

 ranges, space is afforded for the development of 

 several large rivers, such as the Cagayan (Kio 

 Grande), which drains alnmt one-fourth of Luzon, 

 flowing for 220 miles northwards Iwtween the Sierra 

 Mini re and the North Cordillera east and west ; 

 the Agno and Pampanga on the west side of the 

 -;uii'- island : and in Mindanao the Agusan 

 i Itutuan), navigable by large VI'SM-U for over 60 

 milea, and the Kio Grande de Mindanao, which 

 flows from Lake Magindanao in the centre of the 

 island first south-west then north-east to Illana 

 Bay in the Celebes Sea. This river is joined by 

 tl miHsaries of several other lakes, and a charac- 

 teristic feature of the landscape in most of the 

 islands is the large nnmber of lacustrine basins, 

 which send their overflow through short coast- 

 streams to all the surrounding waters. The most 

 important and best known of these emissaries in 

 Luzon are the Pansipit, which drains Lake Bom- 

 lion, ami the Pasig, which flows from the Laguna 

 de Bay to Manila. Several of the basins appear 

 to be flooded craters, while others are of marine 

 origin, bays and inlets cut off from the sea by the 

 ruptive matter ejected from the neighbouring 

 volcanoes in former geological epochs. 



Thanks to the general elevation of the land, and 

 the prevailing sea-breezes, the climate, although 

 moist and hot, is less insalubrious than that of 

 most tropical lands. The fevers are generally of a 

 somewhat mild, intermittent type, and the most 

 dreaded maladies are consumption, dysentery, and 

 anirmia ; leprosy exists in Luzon, but its ravages 

 are confined to small areas. As elsewhere in the 

 Eastern Archipelago, there are two seasons, a wet 

 and a dry, wliich are determined by the trade- 

 winds, but which, owing to the peculiar configura- 

 tion of the land, may lie said to go on simultane- 

 ously. Thus, for all the southern and western 

 slopes, the south-west monsoon is the wet, the 

 north-east the dry season, the recurrence of these 

 periods being reversed on the opposite slopes of the 

 same ranges. At Manila, which is exposed to the 

 south-west winds, the rains last from June to 

 November, dry weather for the rest of the year; 

 but this succession is elsewhere constantly modified, 

 especially by the trend and altitude of the moun- 

 tain-chains. On the other hand, the temperature 

 varies little throughout the year, ranging from 

 al KIII t 77 F. in December (the coldest month) to 

 86 F. in May (the hottest month), while the 

 greatest extremes recorded at the Manila Observa- 

 tory are not more than 40 degrees ( 60 100 ). But 

 the rainfall varies enormously, averaging from 75 

 to I L'I i inches per annum at Manila, while m parts of 

 Mindanao the average per annum is 142 inches. 



The indigenous flora, wliich is. nowhere surpassed 

 in variety and exulierance, indicates a long con- 

 nection of the Philippines with I ndo- Malaysia, and 

 more transitory relations with Austro-Malaysia, 

 through Celel>e8. Thus all the local genera are 

 represented in the Great Sunda Islands and Malay 

 Peninsula, but only very few in the Australasian 

 world ; absolutely independent forms are extremely 

 rare, and generally represented only by a single 

 type. Vast spaces are still covered with magnifi- 

 cent primeval forests containing a great number of 

 dyewoods, fine, hard-grained, medicinal and other 

 useful plants, such as ebony, saiian, tamarind, 

 giiinguma, the incorruptible magkono (a myrta- 

 cean ), banyan, cocoa-nut, pandanus, nipa, and many 

 other palms, bamlioo, tree-ferns. Specially numer- 

 ous are the fibrous plants, such as the gigantic 

 bejtico, the buri, canonegro, and abaca ( Manilla 

 hemp). On the plantations are grown several 

 varieties of rice, maize, sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, 

 iind tobacco, the last mentioned second only to that 

 of Cuba. Above 6000 feet the forest and alpine 

 floras are almost exclusively Malaysian, and nearly 

 identical with those of Borneo and Sumatra. 



The native fauna is remarkable for the total 

 absence of many large mammals, such as the tiger, 

 elephant, rhinoceros, bear, tapir, orang-outang, 

 which nevertheless occur in the Sunda Islands. 

 Hence the only dangerous animals are the croco- 

 dile, snakes, and some other reptiles. The largest 

 wild mammal is the buffalo, and next to it the 

 gibbon, besides which there are several other 

 species of apes and lemurs, three or four varieties 

 of antelope, and a small deer resembling the 

 Javanese mimtjac. The carnivora are chiefly 

 represented by several species of civet, the in- 

 sectivora by the porcupine, and bats and squirrels 

 iiliiiiinil in all the woodland*. Birds are very 

 numerous, and the gallinacean family especially 

 presents some remarkable forms, such as the 

 laburgo (Gallus bankina) and the bulicsigay, noted 

 for its size, courage, and beautiful plumage. An 

 endless variety of forms is also offered by the insect 

 world, while the fresh and marine waters abound 

 in fishes, turtles, molluscs (including both the pearl 

 and mother-of-pearl oyster), sponges (euplectella 

 and other exquisite varieties). 



Of minerals the most widely diffused are coal 



