1(50 



EASTERN GEOGRAPHY, 



immwood, cedar, sapan, teak, mid many other valuable specie*, clothing nil 

 tile sloped to a li tight of some thousand feet 111 gemral the IVgeUliim 

 from ftortQ feet upwards is identical or closely analogous to that, of Borneo 

 at ilia sir a*' altitude. I'atispLciious amount the" calimited jitaiit* an> the 

 supar-eanc, of which over twenty varieties an* enumerated, tobacco, rit e, 

 hemp, collee, all of ejccetlotit quality and great economic: value. Tho 

 bamboo, cspecialiv the >*o-called CnMyani m Hat<x> variety, in also of great 

 importance for the endless sodal and industrial uses to which ilj i-t 

 indispensable graminaceous plant is put. 



Fauna. — The Philippine fauna ifl remarkable especially for the 

 total absence of rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, tapir, and all the larger 

 an i male common to other parte of the Indo- Malayan world. On the 

 cither hand, nmaug.«t ihe smaller form* special type- are met in con- 

 stantly increasing number*. Theae indigenous varieties are in fact 

 numerous enough to impart n peculiar stamp to the local fauna 

 (Jor<iana y Moreru). Tims the presence of many mammals akin to 

 those of the adjacent lands Bhnvra that the isolation of the Archi- 

 pelago cannot date from extremely remote geological times, while 

 the absence of others of the some group may he due to the devasta- 

 tion* caused by the tremendous volcanic and aeismatie convuLsionB, 

 as veil as by the subsidence and upheavals, of which these island* 

 have always been n chief centre. 



Characteristic animals are tho viatactts cjfmmofgm, a species of apo 

 up read over tho whole group, a small pint her, confine I to Palawan, a wild 

 oat a mouse-doer, and frying mammahV which are exceptionally numerous, 

 including a squirrel, a lemur, and over twenty species of hats. Many kinds 

 of birds common to other part* of Mahiya ;im alsn wanting, and partly 

 replaced by a largo variety of uarroU and' pilous, besides cockatoos and 

 mound-builders. The reptile class includes crocodiles, lizards, an enormous 

 python over 40 feet En length, and many olh*.T IrUMi "Some of the 

 butterflies are remarkable fur their intense and variable metallic gloss, and 

 the Philippines are celebrated above all other eastern countries for the 

 Tariety and beauty of their land-shells, of whieh tlwre are about Jiuj .Lis 

 tinet species, of varied form, and often of exquisitely delicate colouration * 

 (IFntfoo!). 



Inhabitants. — Excluding the already described few surviving 

 A*Uw t or Negrito aborigines (gee p. ISO), the whole of the native 

 population belongs fundamentally to the Malay stuck, which, how- 

 ever, here presents a far greater variety of type and speech than in 

 any other Malay region proper. Besides the larger nations, such as 

 the Tagalm of Luzon ami Mindoroj. tho lihayatis widely diffused 

 throughout the central inlands, the Bicoh of South Luzon and 

 Masbate, the Mandayut and M&wbcs of Mindanao, there are many 



