THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS * 
83 
lies Leyte, an irregularly shaped island, whose southern 
arms approach within a few miles of Mindanao. It is 
about 110 miles long, has an area of 3075 square miles, 
and, like almost all the islands of the group, is moun¬ 
tainous, although the chain which traverses it from north 
to south is of no great elevation. Mount Sacripante, one 
of the highest peaks, is under 4000 feet. The formation 
is volcanic; there are hot siliceous springs, and many ex¬ 
tinct craters which produce sulphur in abundance. Gold 
mines are worked, but in a desultory fashion. The east 
coast is said to be rising, while the west is being de¬ 
stroyed by the sea, which at Orinog has advanced fifty 
yards in six years. The rivers are all small and not 
navigable. There are two lakes, Jarnaran in the north¬ 
west, and Bito near the centre of the island, but both 
are of insignificant size. The former is an old crater and 
has acid water. The inhabitants of Leyte are Bisayans, 
who are said by Jagor to be more idle and dirty than the 
Tagals, although friendly and tractable, crime being 
almost unknown. The whole of the interior is forest, the 
settlements being on or near the coast. The capital town 
is Tacloban, at the southern entrance to the San Juanico 
Strait. It has direct communication with Manila, and is 
a free port, but there is no large trade as yet. A recent 
calculation gives the population of the island as 278,452. 
Bohol. 
Bohol lies between Zebu and Leyte, and at no distant 
period probably formed a part of the latter island, to 
which it is joined by a submarine bank of coral reefs and 
rocks covered by very shallow water. It has an area of 
1250 square miles, and is of remarkably compact shape, 
its length being about 60 miles and its breadth 30. It 
