GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 515 



Ihe Philippine Islands and their People. A Record of Personal Observation 

 and Experience, with a, Short Summary of the More Important Facts in the 

 History of the Archipelago. By Dean C. Worcester, Assistant Professor 

 of Zoology, University of Michigan. New York : The Macmillan 

 Company. 1898. Pp. xix + 529, with 2 maps and many illustra- 

 tions in text. 

 This is primarily a book of travel — incidentally one of adventure. It 

 is enriched by an introductory chapter in which the history of the Philip- 

 pines is summarized, and by an appendix of eighteen pages in which the 

 natural resources of the islands are described in such detail as to render 

 this part of the book a standard source of information, more comprehen- 

 sive than any other now available. Professor Worcester first 

 visited the Philippines in September, 1887, as an amateur naturalist at- 

 tached to a scientific expedition ; he remained eleven months, reaching 

 fifteen of the principal islands. His second visit began in July, 1890, and 

 extended over more than two years, during which period he remained on 

 each of nineteen islands " long enough to get a fairly representative col- 

 lection of its birds and mammals " (.page x). The scientific results of his 

 work and that of his companions (especially Dr Frank S. Bourns) have 

 been turned over to various scientific institutions, notably the U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, which now has in press an elaborate report on the orni- 

 thology of the island prepared by these naturalists. The narrative of the 

 journeys and experiences, and the observations on people and things in 

 general, are incorporated in the book under notice. The graphic para- 

 graphs present a succession of living pictures combining to create realistic 

 impressions concerning the islands and their people; and, while the story 

 is told in the first person, the unaffected language and contagious good 

 humor of the author combine to render it attractive and easy of assimila- 

 tion. Passing over fields previously untrodden by the Caucasian, 

 as he did in different places, Professor Worcester was able to make sub- 

 stantial contributions to different branches of science. New water-ways 

 were discovered and mapped, important details of topography were noted, 

 and the distribution of plants and insects, as well as of birds, was ascer- 

 tained ; he was apparently the first white man to visit certain native 

 tribes, and one of the first to see the curious and ferocious little wood 

 buffalo, the timarau — the mythic unicorn cyclops of the Mindoro jungles ; 

 his descriptions of the Mangyan and Tagbanua tribes are noteworthy 

 contributions to ethnology ; while his visit to the Taal volcano of Luzon 

 cannot fail to convey useful impressions to the geologist. The 

 chief value of the book to serious students lies in the description of civil 

 misrule under the so-called government, and in his accounts of the charac- 

 teristics of the Filipinos. The reflections on civil affairs are evidently tem- 

 perate and carefully guarded — indeed no serious criticism is uttered with- 

 out reference to Foreman, whose sympathies were with the established 

 church and state. For example, Worcester remarks of the Spanish offi- 

 cials, "They are expected to steal more or less. That is what they are 

 there for, and they do not hesitate to admit it. Time and again I have 

 heard them say of themselves, when discussing the matter, ' We are a 

 nation of thieves' ; and if I may judge from what I myself saw, much 



