THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 
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to west are about 300 miles, and it may therefore be 
considered to be about equal in size to England, the 
shape of which, if the orientation be changed, it very 
much resembles. It is generally mountainous, with ex¬ 
tensive plains and valleys and numerous lakes. Three 
separate volcanic ranges traverse it from south to north. 
That from the western extremity, proceeding from the 
Sulu range, curves and passes north by Siquihor Island 
to the Bisayas. The middle chain is a continuation 
north of the volcanoes of Celebes and the Sangir islands, 
and is connected by the active crater of Camiguin 
Island with the ranges in the islands to the north. The 
third chain closely borders the east coast, and reappears 
in Leyte. The middle range exhibits the greatest alti¬ 
tudes, which culminate in Mount Apo, near the Gulf of 
Davao. This mountain, which is the highest in the whole 
archipelago, was ascended in 1880 by M. Montano, who 
assigns to it an altitude of 10,280 feet. It is in a state 
of semi-activity, its sides rent by a huge crevasse which 
emits dense sulphurous fumes. The summit is nearly 
bare, but dotted here and there with stunted junipers, 
and is succeeded below by a zone of melastomas and 
rhododendrons. At the base of the mountain is a forest 
of huge tree ferns. Another active volcano is known to 
exist near the centre of the island, and there are boiling 
springs in the Surigao district. Of the recent elevation 
which has taken place Mindanao affords an excellent 
example in the valley of the Agusan river at the north¬ 
east, where huge coral masses are to be seen blocking 
the river bed at an altitude of some hundreds of feet 
above the sea-level. 
Mindanao, with high mountains, extensive plains, and 
exposed to a superabundant rainfall, is watered by many 
rivers, some of which are navigable. Of these the two 
