PHYSIOGEAPHIC INFLUENCES ON NATIVES 533 



be seen on the surface is that the material in it is fragmentary. Lake 

 Lanao is noteworthy as being the principal stronghold of the Moros in 

 Mindanao. The lake is surrounded by high mountains some distance 

 back from its shores, but there is much fine agricultural and grazing land 

 near its margin. 



Human Eesponse to physiogeaphic Conditions 



Some of the more prominent illustrations of physiographic influences 

 on humanity in the case of the Philippines are : 



The principal and most advanced population is found on the great 

 central plain of Luzon. At the lower end of this plain, where the Pasig 

 Eiver enters Manila Bay, is located Manila, the largest city of the archi- 

 pelago. The location of the metropolis is controlled absolutely by the 

 juxtaposition of sea, plain, lake, and river — a combination such as is 

 found nowhere else in the archipelago. The Tagalogs happened to be 

 living at this place when the Spaniards came, and to this accident must 

 be attributed their present political ascendency over the other tribes 

 rather than to any inherent qualities possessed by them. 



Although the outside world hears most about the Tagalogs, it is the 

 Ilocanos of northwest Luzon who have impressed the writer as being 

 in many ways the most energetic and thrifty of all the tribes of the 

 islands, and it is this tribe which, according to the census figures, is ex- 

 panding at the greatest rate. Here seems to be an especially fine illus- 

 tration of the influence of geographic position. The Ilocanos live on the 

 narrow coastal plain in that part of Luzon nearest to Cliina. Historical 

 records show that the Chinese trader and sea rover touched at Ilocano 

 points first, and wherever the Chinese came in contact with the Filipinos 

 the latter was improved thereby. The basic agricultural practice in the 

 islands today is of Chinese origin, but the best improvement wrought is 

 in the advancement of the race through intermarriage. Of all the 

 mestizos (mixed bloods) the writer considers the Chinese mestizo as by 

 far the best. As we are not engaged here in an ethnological discussion, 

 we must leave this assertion for some one else to affirm or refute, as the 

 truth of the case demands. The writer believes that the geographical 

 point can not be questioned. 



The present condition of civilization of the tribes of north-central 

 Luzon is to be attributed primarily to the nature of the country which 

 they inhabit, this having served to break them up into isolated groups 

 and to keep them so. The political and cultural unit in this region is 

 the village, and the size of the village is dependent on the amount of 

 irrigable land in any one locality. The general inimical feeling which 



