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COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
12. The Islands. 
Luzon. 
Luzon is the largest island of the Philippines, is as 
fertile as almost any island in Australasia, and is nearly 
as populous as Java and Madura. It lies between north 
latitudes 12° 35' and 18° 43', and has a length of about 
420 miles in a straight line, but owing to its irregular 
shape, its actual length is not less than 550 miles. In 
breadth it varies from about 140 miles in its northern 
part to less than five at the isthmus of Tayabas. Its total 
area is about twice as great as that of Ireland. Through¬ 
out its whole length it is traversed by mountain ranges, 
all of which are of moderate, but none of very great height. 
In the northern peninsula there are two parallel ranges. 
The highest mountain in Luzon is the May on volcano in 
the province of Albay, which has been lately measured 
and found to be 8970 feet. This height is exceeded by 
the mountains of Mindanao, and possibly by others, but 
accurate information upon the subject is wanting. The 
mountains are generally loftier towards the eastern coast 
of the island, where they form a bold and inaccessible 
shore exposed to heavy seas and bad weather during the 
prevalence of the N.E. monsoon. The soil here is poor 
and the population scanty, and the interinsular steamers 
do not ply north of the Catanduanes Islands. 
The island affords very different conditions of climate, 
agriculture, and race: the rainfall everywhere abundant, 
but very variable; in the north the great tobacco district 
of Cagayan, and the Ilocanos, with numerous Negritos 
in the less known mountain fastnesses; in the central 
provinces around Manila a careful but mixed agriculture 
