The Philippine Islands

CHAPTER I. General Description of the Archipelago

General Description of the Archipelago

The Philippine Islands, with the Sulu Protectorate, extend a little over 16 degrees of latitude--from 4 deg. 45' to 21 deg. N., and longitude from 116 deg. 40' to 126 deg. 30' E.--and number some 600 islands, many of which are mere islets, besides several hundreds of rocks jutting out of the sea. The 11 islands of primary geographical importance are Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Panay, Negros, Palauan (Paragua), Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Masbate, and Bojol. Ancient maps show the islands and provinces under a different nomenclature. For example: (old names in parentheses) Albay (Ibalon); Batangas (Comintan); Basilan (Taguima); Bulacan (Meycauayan); Capis (Panay); Cavite (Cauit); Cebu (Sogbu); Leyte (Baybay); Mindoro (Mait); Negros (Buglas); Rizal (Tondo; later on Manila); Surigao (Caraga); Samar (Ibabao); Tayabas (Calilayan).

Luzon and Mindanao united would be larger in area than all the rest of the islands put together. Luzon is said to have over 40,000 square miles of land area. The northern half of Luzon is a mountainous region formed by ramifications of the great cordilleras, which run N. to S. All the islands are mountainous in the interior, the principal peaks being the following, viz.:--

Feet above sea level

Halcon (Mindoro) 8,868 Apo (Mindanao) 8,804 Mayon (Luzon) 8,283 San Cristobal (Luzon) 7,375 Isarog (Luzon) 6,443 Banajao (Luzon) 6,097 Labo (Luzon) 5,090 South Caraballo (Luzon) 4,720 Caraballo del Baler (Luzon) 3,933 Maquiling (Luzon) 3,720

Most of these mountains and subordinate ranges are thickly covered with forest and light undergrowth, whilst the stately trees are gaily festooned with clustering creepers and flowering parasites of the most brilliant hues. The Mayon, which is an active volcano, is comparatively bare, whilst also the Apo, although no longer in eruption, exhibits abundant traces of volcanic action in acres of lava and blackened scoriae. Between the numberless forest-clad ranges are luxuriant plains glowing in all the splendour of tropical vegetation. The valleys, generally of rich fertility, are about one-third under cultivation.

There are numerous rivers, few of which are navigable by sea-going ships. Vessels drawing up to 13 feet can enter the Pasig River, but this is due to the artificial means employed.

The principal Rivers are:--In Luzon Island the Rio Grande de Cagayan, which rises in the South Caraballo Mountain in the centre of the island, and runs in a tortuous stream to the northern coast. It has two chief affluents, the Rio Chico de Cagayan and the Rio Magat, besides a number of streams which find their way to its main course. Steamers of 11-feet draught have entered the Rio Grande, but the sand shoals at the mouth are very shifty, and frequently the entrance is closed to navigation. The river, which yearly overflows its banks, bathes the great Cagayan Valley,--the richest tobacco-growing district in the Colony. Immense trunks of trees are carried down in the torrent with great rapidity, rendering it impossible for even small craft--the barangayanes--to make their way up or down the river at that period.

The Rio Grande de la Pampanga rises in the same mountain and flows in the opposite direction--southwards,--through an extensive plain, until it empties itself by some 20 mouths into the Manila Bay. The whole of the Pampanga Valley and the course of the river present a beautiful panorama from the summit of Arayat Mountain, which has an elevation of 2,877 feet above the sea level.

The whole of this flat country is laid out into embanked rice fields and sugar-cane plantations. The towns and villages interspersed are numerous. All the primeval forest, at one time dense, has disappeared; for this being one of the first districts brought under European subjection, it supplied timber to the invaders from the earliest days of Spanish colonization.

The Rio Agno rises in a mountainous range towards the west coast about 50 miles N.N.W. of the South Caraballo--runs southwards as far as lat. 16 deg., where it takes a S.W. direction down to lat. 15 deg. 48'--thence a N.W. course up to lat. 16 deg., whence it empties itself by two mouths into the Gulf of Lingayen. At the highest tides there is a maximum depth of 11 feet of water on the sand bank at the E. mouth, on which is situated the port of Dagupan.

The Bicol River, which flows from the Bato Lake to the Bay of San Miguel, has sufficient depth of water to admit vessels of small draught a few miles up from its mouth.

In Mindanao Island the Butuan River or Rio Agusan rises at a distance of about 25 miles from the southern coast and empties itself on the northern coast, so that it nearly divides the island, and is navigable for a few miles from the mouth.

The Rio Grande de Mindanao rises in the centre of the island and empties itself on the west coast by two mouths, and is navigable for some miles by light-draught steamers. It has a great number of affluents of little importance.

The only river in Negros Island of any appreciable extent is the Danao, which rises in the mountain range running down the centre of the island, and finds its outlet on the east coast. At the mouth it is about a quarter of a mile wide, but too shallow to permit large vessels to enter, although past the mouth it has sufficient depth for any ship. I went up this river, six hours' journey in a boat, and saw some fine timber near its banks in many places. Here and there it opens out very wide, the sides becoming mangrove swamps.

The most important Lakes are:--In Luzon Island the Bay Lake or Laguna de Bay, supplied by numberless small streams coming from the mountainous district around it. Its greatest length from E. to W. is 25 miles, and its greatest breadth N. to S. 21 miles. In it there is a mountainous island--Talim,--of no agricultural importance, and several islets. Its overflow forms the Pasig River, which empties itself into the Manila Bay. Each wet season--in the middle of the year--the shores of this lake are flooded. These floods recede as the dry season approaches, but only partially so from the south coast, which is gradually being incorporated into the lake bed.

Bombon Lake, in the centre of which is a volcano in constant activity, has a width E. to W. of 11 miles, and its length from N. to S. is 14 miles. The origin of this lake is apparently volcanic. According to tradition it was formed by the terrific upheaval of a mountain 7,000 or 8,000 feet high, in the year 1700. It is not supplied by any streams emptying themselves into it (further than two insignificant rivulets), and it is connected with the sea by the Pansipit River, which flows into the Gulf of Balayan at lat. 13 deg. 52' N.

Cagayan Lake, in the extreme N.E. of the island, is about 7 miles long by 5 miles broad.

Lake Bato, 3 miles across each way, and Lake Buhi, 3 miles N. to S. and 2 1/2 miles wide, situated in the eastern extremity of Luzon Island, are very shallow.

In the centre of Luzon Island, in the large valley watered by the above-mentioned Pampanga and Agno Rivers, are three lakes, respectively Canarem, Mangabol, and Candava; the last two being lowland meres flooded and navigable by canoes in the rainy season only.

In Mindoro Island there is one lake called Naujan, 2 1/2 miles from the N.E. coast. Its greatest width is 3 miles, with 4 miles in length.

In Mindanao Island there are the Lakes Maguindanao or Boayan, in the centre of the island (20 miles E. to W. by 12 N. to S.); Lanao, 18 miles distant from the north coast; Liguasan and Buluan towards the south, connected with the Rio Grande de Mindanao, and a group of four small lakes on the Agusuan River.

The Lanao Lake has great historical associations with the struggles between Christians and Moslems during the period of the Spanish dominion, and is to this day a centre of strife with the Americans.

In some of the straits dividing the islands there are strong currents, rendering navigation of sailing vessels very difficult, notably in the San Bernadino Straits separating the Islands of Luzon and Samar, the roadstead of Yloilo between Panay and Guimarras Islands, and the passage between the south points of Cebu and Negros Islands.

Most of the islets, if not indeed the whole Archipelago, are of volcanic origin. There are many volcanoes, two of them in frequent intermittent activity, viz. the Mayon, in the extreme east of Luzon Island, and the Taal Volcano, in the centre of Bombon Lake, 34 miles due south of Manila. Also in Negros Island the Canlauan Volcano--N. lat. 10 deg. 24'--is occasionally in visible eruption. In 1886 a portion of its crater subsided, accompanied by a tremendous noise and a slight ejection of lava. In the picturesque Island of Camiguin a volcano mountain suddenly arose from the plain in 1872.

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