90 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
Basilan has been longest in the possession of the 
Spaniards, the sparseness of its population rendering its 
reduction easier than Sulu Island. It is thirty miles 
long by twenty broad, and is the largest island in the 
group. The capital is Isabela, on the north coast, a good 
harbour, which was considerably improved by the French 
during their occupation in 1845. A few plantations 
exist, and the natives have a good deal of intercourse 
with the Spaniards, but it is still hardly safe to travel 
alone in the interior. There is an arsenal here, where 
good foundry work is done by native workmen. 
Sulu Island has been for more than three centuries 
the scene of oft-recurring struggles between the Spanish 
and the natives. In 1628, 1637, 1731, and 1871 the 
former despatched large expeditions against it, but it was 
not until 1876 that they fairly established themselves 
on the island. Jolo was then completely destroyed, and 
the town rebuilt and surrounded with fortifications. 
The Sultan now lives at Maimbun, on the south side. 
The other settlements of the group are mere outposts 
guarded by a handful of soldiers. The network of reefs 
and mangrove islands round Tawi-tawi gave shelter to 
swarms of pirates, but these are gradually being driven 
out by the Spanish gunboats. This island, or at all 
events the southern part of it, is inhabited chiefly by 
the Bajaus or sea-gipsies, a people quite distinct from the 
Sulus, and of a much lower type. 
Sulu, which is about thirty miles in length, is vol¬ 
canic, well cultivated, and very fertile. There are no 
active volcanoes, and the last eruption occurred in 1641, 
but the ground is in many places covered with scoriae 
and pumice, upon which nothing but the coarse lalang 
grass flourishes. The teak tree grows well, as in Min¬ 
danao, and the durian and mangosteen are found. Deer 
