BY THE REV. J K. TENIS0N- WOODS. 



largest shoal of porpoises I ever saw. They were round the fillip 

 quite thickly as far as the eye could reach. We were passing 

 through this shoal for many hours. 



Sulu, or Suluk in Malay, is called by the Spaniards Jolo, the 

 *« j " being the Spanish guttural. The Sulu Archipelago extends 

 from Cape Unsang, the most easterly point of Borneo, to Zani- 

 boanga, the most wasterly port of Mindanao, or over 200 miles. 

 The islands are volcanic, over 130 in number, but the majority 

 too small to be inhabited. They are divided into seven groups— 

 Sulu orSug, which gives its name to the archipelago, Tawi-Tawi, 

 and some others to be mentioned presently. 



One peculiarity about the archipelago is that it is surrounded 

 by an enclosed sea-basin of extraordinary depth, while the edge 

 of this basin is a shallow sea of coral reefs. The different por- 

 tions were visited by me on several occasions, and I had an ample 

 opportunity for the examination of some of the least known 

 portions of the group. It enabled me to conclude that the sea- 

 bottom lias subsided during the period of volcanic activity and this 

 lias probably happened in the seas round ihe most of the Philippine 

 Archipelago. I believe I shall be able to show that the ancient 

 prolongation of the Asiatic continent was extended not only 

 through Borneo, but to some little distance north of the island 

 of Palawan. The proof of this I shall mention in connection with 

 the surveys of II. M.S. 1 Flying Fish ' 



In Crawf urd*s " Dictionary of the Indian Islands," there is a 

 full description of these islands, which was all that was known 

 about them in 1850. The great incorrectness of this account 

 shows us how little that was. Mr. Crawfurd's information was 

 mostly derived from Dalrymple.* Respecting its geology, he 

 says we have little or no information, but it will be probably 

 found to consist chiefly of sedimentary rocks, probably limestone 

 and sandstone. This is incorrect as far as the greater number of 



•Dalrymple, " Oriental Repertory," 2 voIb. 8vo, 1793-1 80S. The author 

 visited Sulu in 1759 and 1761. 



