THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 85 



to west are about oOO iniles, ami it may therefore be 

 considered to be about ecjual in size to England, the 

 shape of which, if the orientation be changed, it very 

 much resembles. It is generally mountainous, with ex- 

 tensive plains and valleys and numerous lakes. Three 

 separate volcanic ranges traverse it from south to north. 

 That from the western extremity, proceeding from the 

 Sulu range, curves and passes north by Siquihor Island 

 to the Bisayas. The middle chain is a continuation 

 north of the volcanoes of Celebes and the Sangir islands, 

 and is connected by the active crater of Camiguin 

 Island with the ranges in the islands to the north. The 

 third chain closely borders the east coast, and reappears 

 in Leyte. The middle range exhibits the greatest alti- 

 tudes, which culminate in Mount Apo, near the Gulf of 

 Davao. This mountain, which is the highest in the whole 

 archipelago, was ascended in 1880 by M. Montano, who 

 assigns to it an altitude of 10,280 feet. It is in a state 

 of semi-activity, its sides rent by a huge crevasse which 

 emits dense sulphurous fumes. The summit is nearly 

 Imre, but dotted here and there with stunted junipers, 

 and is succeeded below by a zone of melastomas and 

 rhododendrons. At the base of the mountain is a forest 

 of huge tree ferns. Another active volcano is known to 

 exist near the centre of the island, and there are boiling 

 springs in the Surigao district. Of the recent elevation 

 which has taken place Mindanao affords an excellent 

 example in the valley of the Agusan river at the north- 

 east, where huge coral masses are to be seen blocking 

 the river bed at an altitude of some hundreds of feet 

 above the sea-level. 



Mindanao, with high mountains, extensive plains, and 

 exposed to a superabundant rainfall, is watered by many 

 rivers, some of which are navigable. Of these the two 



