30 PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
figure today are certain areas in the interior of Min- 
danao and two wild mountain ranges in Luzon. Even 
Mindoro and Palawan, the most sparsely settled islands, 
contain populations of thirteen and eight to the mile 
when considered as a whole, or more than many of our 
western states; while Luzon, with an area equal to that 
of Pennsylvania, but without immigration, manufac- 
tures, or industries other than agriculture, supports 
half as many inhabitants. 
It cannot be assumed, because the population today, 
after more than three centuries of Spanish rule, has 
become so dense, that it would have arrived at the same 
high total had the natives been left to themselves. But 
it is interesting that what the Spaniard accomplished 
was to do away with the social causes that had been 
restraining the natural impulse to increase which had 
long been latent in the Filipino. He did not increase 
his power of drawing subsistence from the soil. He 
introduced order, limited piracy, abolished human 
sacrifice, suppressed war, head-hunting, all the endless 
feuds that not only claimed thousands annually but 
destroyed homes and plantations and rendered life 
forever unsettled. As soon as these checks began to be 
removed, the population increased of itself; once they 
were definitely eliminated, it grew fast and steadily. 
New land of course was reclaimed, and where conditions 
permitted, as in the irrigated districts, kept under 
permanent cultivation. 
But the available soil was utilized only in small part 
after all, and its yield per acre or mile remained nearly 
constant. .The plow was introduced, and the buffalo 
yoked to it, where wooden spades and the hands had 
sufficed before. This change reduced the labor which 
the Filipino spent on his subsistence; it did not greatly 
increase his food supply. Had the Filipino been able to 
