536 W.D.SMITH GEOLOGIC INFLUENCES IN THE PHILIPPINES 



than other tribes. The density of population of Malay islands may par- 

 tially be explained, as Semple^^ says, by two facts : ^'The attraction of the 

 coast for the seafaring Malay race" and "the mathematical law of in- 

 crease of shoreline with decrease of insnlar area." This does not always 

 hold;, since Mindoro is far smaller than Ceba and has less people, even 

 proportionately, but in the main is an explanation which will hold. 



The island of Panay offers another instance of physiographic control. 

 The Negritos, a backward and vanishing tribe, are located in the most 

 inaccessible parts of the cordillera. A second group, known as the Mon- 

 tescas, live in the rugged and unproductive intermediate uplands, while 

 the more progressive Visayans inhabit the plains. But even in the case 

 of the last named there is a difference in dialect between those living on 

 the Iloilo plain and those north of the upland barrier, which connects the 

 cordillera with the low mountains in the eastern part of the island. 



In the Philippines there seems to be found at least a partial confirma- 

 tion of the dictum laid down some years ago by a student of history to 

 the effect that land-masses more often have been a barrier to migration 

 than have the oceans. Very often there are found people more alike on 

 opposite sides of a stretch of sea than those living in different parts of the 

 same island or land body. There is more homogeneity in the peoples of 

 the Visayan Islands than among those living on Luzon. This is what 

 would be expected, however, in the Malay region, where the people live 

 largely on and by the sea. The inhabitants of the Sulu Archipelago are 

 more closely related to those of northeast Borneo than they are to the 

 Visayans or the Tagalogs of the Philippines. 



The stronghold of the Moros in Mindanao today is in the Lake Lanao 

 country, while there is a flourishing settlement of theirs about Liguasan 

 Lake. As they spread inland, or are driven there, as the case may be, 

 they congregate in those places where they can live as nearly as possible 

 according to their old habits. They are found on the lakes, with the fish 

 traps and gaudily colored sail-boats ("vintas") as if they still were on 

 the sea. 



The location of highways in the Philippine Islands probably is the best 

 instance of the influence of topography on the affairs of white men, a 

 notable example being furnished by the famous Benguet Eoad. Here 

 was a project which seemed feasible and satisfactory from every point of 

 view, but the factors of topography, precipitation, character, and struc- 

 ture of the rocks controlled absolutely. The nature of the rock, badly 

 weathered andesite, in the canyon walls alone was enough to condemn the 

 undertaking. As originally laid out the road is a failure, and we now 



Influence of geographical environment, p. 452. 



