FERGUSON. 



1897, to December, 1899, tlie islands were under the control of the revo- 

 lutionary government.^ 



The present name Bataiicx has been used on Sijanish maps since the 

 Spanish occupation, but aintil a few years ago the original name of Bashi 

 Islands was iised on American maps, as it is on the English and German 

 of to-day. Professor Scbeerer ^ considers two groups ; the Bashi Group 

 which consists of Isliayat and the small northern islands, and the Batanes 

 which are composed of Batan, Sabtan, Ibujos, and Desquey. Professor 

 Koto, in his articles on the Malayan Archipelago and the dependent isles 

 of Taiwan, makes the same division." 



CLIMATE.' 



Rainfall. — The records of the Weather Bureau covering Santo Domingo 

 de Basco for the years 1903-1906 are given in Table 1. These show a 

 very heavy annual rainfall, the tenth heaviest recorded and no very 

 marked rainy season such as is found on the west coast of Luzon, where 

 the records of Vigan (Ilocoa Sur) show that 92.9 per cent of an average 

 annual rainfall of 2,134.1 millimeters occurs during the rainy season 

 from June to October. The seasons in the Batanes- may best be defined 

 as a short, dry season from February to May and a long, rainy one. 

 Extreme differences of monthly rainfall such as those between May, 1905 

 and 1906, are due to typhoons. In May, 1906, two typhoons passed near 

 the islands causing a precipitation of 1.53.8 millimeters on the 18th and 

 19th of the month and 390.8 on the 28th, 29th and 30th. 



Table I. — Monthly rainfall at Santo Domingo de Basco for the years 1903 to 1906, 



inclusive. 



Month. 



January 



February 



March 



.\pril 



May 



June 



July -. 



August 



September. 



October 



November _ 

 December . 



MilUmeters of rainfall in— 



1903. 



1904. 



1905. 



1906. 



Mean. 



270.1 



306.8 



150.2 



327.6 



163.7 = 



27.2 



66.7 



85.5 



12.5 



48.0 



51.8 



20.0 



154.8 



119.9 



86.6 



141.0 



10.2 



89.0 



207.5 



111.9 



201.1 



110.3 



21.0 



677.0 



252.4 



163.6 



262. 7 



151.0 



90.1 



166.8 



340.7 



406. 5 



267.6 



202.0 



304.2 



910.7 



377.0 



207.6 



127.4 



405.7 



186.9 



168.6 



186.1 



424.1 



241.4 



734,1 



151.3 



370.8 



618.6 



468.7 



310.8 



121.2 



123.0 



190.8 



186.4 



344.3 



363.5 



227.6 



361.9 



324.3 



3,682.3 



2,364.8 



2,034.2 



3,359.4 



2, 860. 1 



• From historical note contributed by William Edmonds to Philippine History, 

 vol. 44. 



" hoc. cit. 



"KotS, B.: Jour. Colt. 8c-i. Tokyo (1S99), 11, II, 118 and (1900), 13, I. 46. 



' Statistics from Monthly Bulletins of the Weather Bureau for 1904, 1905, 

 1906, and Maso, Rev. M. Saderra, S. J.: The Rainfall in the Philippines, Manila 

 (1907), Weather Bureau. 



