THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 
81 
Zebu. 
Zebu or Cebu is a long and narrow island, lying im¬ 
mediately to the east of Negros, from which it is separated 
by a strait from 5 to 15 miles wide, and over 100 
miles in length. Zebu is 130 miles long, and not more 
than 20 broad in its widest part, and contains 2275 
square miles, or rather less than half the area of Negros. 
Several chains of mountains of no great height traverse 
it from north to south, but little is known of its geology 
except that it produces gold, silver, and lead, and has no 
active volcanoes. Coal occurs abundantly, and is of 
fairly good quality, but the complete neglect of all 
mineral wealth by the Spaniards is exhibited here as else¬ 
where. The inhabitants are almost exclusively Bisayans, 
but there are said to be a few Negritos. The population 
has greatly increased of late years owing to the great de¬ 
velopment of the sugar and abaca cultivation, and now 
numbers 518,000, but locusts and low prices have 
recently dealt as heavy a blow to Zebu as to Panay. In 
all these islands sugar-growing will probably give place 
to hemp or some more paying crop. In 1890 only 3000 
tons were exported as against 11,000 tons in 1889, and 
while in the latter year thirty-four vessels—almost all of 
which were British—entered the port, the number in 
1890 only amounted to 14. 
The capital, Zebu, dignified by the title of city, is the 
oldest settlement in the Philippines, and was the seat of 
government until the founding of Manila. It was the 
first place of any importance visited by Magellan on his 
discovery of the group, and it was upon the little island 
of Mactan which forms the harbour of Zebu that he met 
with his death on the 27th April, 1521. Pifty years 
