THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 33 



the hands of the English for ten months, and was then 

 restored by the Treaty of Paris. 



Much of the archipelago yet remains not only to be 

 subdued by the Spanish, but to be explored. In spite of 

 their three centuries of occupation many of the islands 

 are very little known — some, indeed, such as Palawan 

 and Mindanao, hardly at all. The coasts have been very 

 imperfectly surveyed, and the hydrography leaves much 

 to be desired. 



3. Geology. 



In few parts of the world are the great subterranean 

 forces of the globe more in evidence than in the Philip- 

 pine Archipelago. The islands form links in the volcanic 

 chain which runs from Kamschatka southwards to join 

 the even more important range which traverses the Sunda 

 Islands. This chain is for the most part single, but in 

 the Philippines it becomes wider. For, though in central 

 Luzon the Caraballos ridge stands alone, as we progress 

 southward we find it branching to form three main 

 divisions. The eastern passes through Samar, Leyte, and 

 eastern Mindanao to the Talautse Islands and Celebes, 

 and is really the mam chaiiL The other two, curving 

 off to the west by the Calamianes, Palawan, and Banguey 

 in the one case, and Negros, western Mindanao, and Sulu 

 in the other, come to an abrupt end, for Borneo, as already 

 stated, is non-volcanic. The volcanoes will be separately 

 considered in dealmg with the islands in which they 

 occur. It is only necessary here to say that Mount Apo, 

 with a height of 10,280 feet, according to Mr. Montano's 

 observations, and ]\Iayon, which has been variously 

 measured, and is probably not far short of 9000 feet, are 

 the two most important volcanoes of the archipelago. 



D 



