90 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



Basilan has been longest in the possession of the 

 Spaniards, the sparseness of its population rendering its 

 reduction easier than Sulu Island. It is thirty miles 

 long by twenty broad, and is the largest island in the 

 group. The capital is Isabela, on the north coast, a good 

 harbour, which was considerably improved by the French 

 during their occupation in 1845. A few plantations 

 exist, and the natives have a good deal of intercourse 

 with the Spaniards, but it is still hardly safe to travel 

 alone in the interior. There is an arsenal here, where 

 good foundry work is done by native workmen. 



Sulu Island has been for more than three centuries 

 the scene of oft-recurring struggles between the Spanish 

 and the natives. In 1628, 1637, 1731, and 1871 the 

 former despatched large expeditions against it, but it was 

 not until 1876 that they fairly established themselves 

 on the island. Jolo was then completely destroyed, and 

 the town rebuilt and surrounded with fortifications. 

 The Sultan now lives at Maimbun, on the south side. 

 The other settlements of the group are mere outposts 

 guarded by a handful of soldiers. The network of reefs 

 and mangrove islands round Tawi-tawi gave shelter to 

 swarms of pirates, but these are gradually being driven 

 out by the Spanish gunboats. This island, or at all 

 events the southern part of it, is inhabited chiefly by 

 the Bajaus or sea-gipsies, a people quite distinct from the 

 Sulus, and of a much lower type. 



Sulu, which is about thirty miles in length, is vol- 

 canic, well cultivated, and very fertile. There are no 

 active volcanoes, and the last eruption occurred in 1641, 

 but the ground is in many places covered with scoriae 

 and pumice, upon which nothing but the coarse lalang 

 grass flourishes. The teak tree grows well, as in Min- 

 danao, and the durian and mangosteen are found. Deer 



