266 



AUSTRALASIA. 



two miles from each otlier. Below Lake Batu, where it becomes navigable, the 

 Vicol flows by Nabua and Naga or Nueva-Caceres, capital of the province of 

 Camarines-Sur, beyond which it falls into San-Miguel Bay opposite the fortress 

 of Cabusao, and not far from Daet, capital of the province of North Camarines. 



Albaij and its neighbour 

 Fig. 116.— Samae and Leyte. Baraga occupy a charming 



Scale 1 : 2,500,000. , . i n ^ p i 



position at the loot ot the 

 verdant lower slopes of the 

 Mayon volcano. Daraga, 

 officially designated Cag- 

 saua, replaces an older town 

 of this name which stood 

 higher up on the flanks of 

 the mountain, but which 

 was destroyed by the erup- 

 tion of 1814. The port of 

 both towns is Legaspi, which 

 is exposed to the full fury 

 of the north-east monsoons, 

 and consequently inacces- 

 sible during the winter 

 months ; at this season all 

 the traffic is transferred to 

 Sorsogon on the west side of 

 Luzon. Other ports in this 

 region are Tibi and Tabaco, 

 north of Albay, and Biilumn 

 at the east foot of Mayon. 



In the island of Samar, 

 which forms a south-eastern 

 extension of the Camarines 

 peninsula, there are no large 

 towns. The most important 

 centres of population are 

 Guinan near the southern 

 extremity ; Bovongan on the 

 east coast, like Guinan sur- 

 rounded by vast forests of 

 cocoa-nut palms ; and the 

 capital Catbalogan on the west coast, on an almost inaccessible roadstead. 



Of the adjacent island of Leyte the capital and chief seaport is Taclobau, at the 

 southern entrance of the channel separating the two islands. This channel, some 

 twenty-four miles long, contracts in some places to a narrow defile, expands in 

 others to a broad lake, and at certain points is only a few hundred yards wide. 



0to50 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



50 to 100 

 Fathoms. 



100 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



. 60 Miles. 



