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The National Geographic Magazine 



peninsula Fpf Zamboanga a range of 

 mountains which terminates above the 

 town of Zamboanga at the end of the 

 peninsula. 



These in brief are the leading topo- 

 graphic features of the larger islands. 

 Summarizing, it may be said that the 

 islands are almost everywhere mountain- 

 ous and densely clothed in tropical vege- 

 tation. They are probably as beautiful 

 islands as exist upon the globe, and 



Photo by Gannett 



An Igorrote 



their possibilities under civilization and 

 careful and intelligent cultivation are 

 almost infinite. 



THE CLIMATE 



The temperature in the archipelago is 

 at all times high, the mean annual tem- 

 perature being throughout not far from 

 8o° F., but, at least in the coast regions, 

 is never excessive and is without anv 



great variation during the year or during 

 the day. It rises a few degrees only above 

 the mean of the year in the spring and 

 early summer months, and falls a few 

 degrees lower than that average in the 

 winter months. The annual succession 

 of the temperature is pretty well shown 

 by the thermometric record at Manda, 

 where there is a range in the monthly 

 mean temperatures of the year of only 

 7° — i. e., from 77 ° in January to 84 in 

 May. There is no extreme of heat. 

 Temperatures of ioo° are almost un- 

 known, having occurred only twice in 

 sixteen years, but for months the max- 

 imum temperature of the day may be 

 above 90 . The lowest temperature on 

 record is 6o°, showing an extreme 

 range in sixteen years of but 40 . 



Now, to show what these figures 

 mean, compare them with similar fig- 

 ures for the city of Washington. The 

 highest temperature on record there is 

 104 , which is 4 above the highest in 

 Manila. The lowest temperature ever 

 suffered in Washington is — 14 , not 

 less than 74 ° lower than the lowest at 

 Manila. The extreme range of tem- 

 perature in Washington is 11 8° and in 

 Manila 40 . The range of monthly 

 mean temperatures in Washington is 

 46 — i. <?., the mean temperature of 

 July is 46 higher than that of January, 

 while in Manila the monthly mean 

 range is only 7 . 



There is no part of the year when 

 clothing need be worn for protection 

 against cold. White cotton suits are at 

 all times in season, for the temperature 

 is always above the perspiration point. 



The diurnal range of temperature at 

 points near the seacoast is slight, rarely 

 exceeding 15 , while the average for the 

 year is only ii°. The uniformity of 

 temperature in the archipelago is, of 

 course, due to its insular character, 

 giving it a sea climate. 



The relative humidity of the atmos- 

 phere is everywhere and at all times 

 great, being commonly at least 75 per 



