756 
THE ISLAND OF MINDORO. 
[This description of the Island of Mindoro, one of the Philippines, 
is extracted from the Diario de Manila of August and September last. 
The name of the author is not given, but it is evident that his local 
knowledge must have been great, and several remarks that he lets fall 
in the course of his interesting description would lead to the supposition 
that he was one of the intelligent Spanish Missionaries who have been 
so zealous in spreading Christianity among the wilder islands of the 
Philippines. His details respecting the aborigines are of striking 
interest; and no less so are the accounts that he gives of the ravages 
committed by the Mahomedan pirates from Mindano and Sulu ,—Moros 
or M oors, as they are called by the Spaniards, probably from their profes¬ 
sing the same religion as their former invaders in Europe. These are the 
identical Illanuns whose name has become so notorious in the Indian 
Archipelago, and the account given by the author of the effects of their 
ruthless ravages in the Philippines will enable us better to appreciate 
the services of those of our countrymen who have been so actively 
employed in ridding the coasts of Borneo, and thus the southwestern 
seas ot the Indian Archipelago, of their presence; and which, if 
continued for a few years longer will render the mode of life of a pirate 
so precarious, that we may expect to see these people, who are by no 
means fond of facing danger for danger’s sake, settle down as quiet 
cultivators of the soil instead of the ruthless destroyers which the apathy 
of Europeans has allowed them to become.—Tr.] 
Only a few years since the Island of Mindoro was a colony of 
pirates. About the middle of the last century an army of them 
swarmed upon its coasts, exterminating or making slaves of the 
inhabitants. Subsequently they established themselves at various 
points, and its ports, rivers and creeks served as places of rendezvous 
during their audacious expeditions. Previous to this terrible 
invasion the island was well peopled and cultivated. The vestiges 
of their former prosperity are still to be met with. They have 
lost several species of rice that they were in the habit of cultivating, 
but they still retain more than twenty, some of which are of the 
best quality known in the Archipelago, for example that which 
the natives call u Calibo,” celebrated for its whiteness, softness and 
good flavour ; and also the u Quinauayan.” All descriptions of 
fresh rice, when undergoing the process of being deprived of its 
outer cuticle, exhales an agreeable odour, but that which arises 
from this kind of rice is as sweet as the smell of new-baked bread. 
These circumstances prove that agriculture, or, at least, the cultiva¬ 
tion of rice, had once attained great perfection, and justify an 
assertion contained in one of the histories of this country, that 
Mindoro was the “ The Granary of the Islands.” 
On a narrow plain called “ Punta de Sto. Thomas” situated on 
the north coast between Abra de Ilog and Calavite Point, are 
found the mins of what was once a well-constructed church. Its 
X 24 
