GEOGRAPHY--CLIMATE, ETC.
The generally accepted theory as to the formation of the Philippines
is, that they all formed part of a vast primitive continent, which was
broken up by some great convulsion of nature, and that these islands
are the scattered fragments of that continent. Buzeta supposes that
from Luzon the other islands were detached. [8]
The Indians have a tradition that the earth was borne on the shoulders
of a giant, who, getting tired of his heavy burden, tumbled it into
the ocean, leaving nothing above the waters but the mountains, which
became islands for the salvation of the human race.
I do not propose to give a detailed geographical description of
the Philippine Islands. Buzeta's two octavo volumes will furnish
the most accurate particulars with which I am acquainted as to the
various localities. The facts which I collected in the course of my
personal observation refer specially to the islands of Luzon, Panay,
and Mindanao. The more general information has been derived from
Spanish authorities on the spot, or has been found in Spanish books
which I have consulted. I cannot presume to consider the present
volume as complete or exhaustive, but it will contribute something
to augment that knowledge which is already possessed.
The extent of the Philippine Archipelago is about 300 leagues from
north to south, and 180 leagues from east to west. The islands of
which it is composed are innumerable, most of the larger ones having
some Spanish or mestizo population. A range of irregular mountains
runs through the centre of the whole. Those known by the name of the
Caraballos, in Luzon, are occupied by unsubdued races of idolatrous
Indians, and extend for nearly sixty leagues. Several large rivers
have their sources in the Caraballos. At the top of Mount Cabunian,
whose ascent is very difficult, there is a tomb worshipped by the
pagan Igorrotes. There are large lakes in several of the islands, and
during the rainy season some of them become enormously extended. These
inundations are naturally favourable to the vegetable productions by
fertilizing vast tracts of land. Mindanao, which means "Men of the
lake," has its Indian name from the abundance of its inward waters,
in the same way that La Laguna has been adopted by the Spaniards as
the designation of the province bordering on the Lake of Bay. In this
latter district are many mineral and thermal springs, which have given
to one of its pueblos the name of Los Baños (the baths). One of them
issues from the source at a temperature of 67° of Reaumur. They are
much visited by the inhabitants of Manila. There are boiling springs
in the pueblo of Mainit.
The climate of the Philippines is little distinguished from that
which characterizes many other tropical regions of the East. It is
described in a Spanish proverb as--
Seis meses de polvo,
Seis meses de lodo,
Seis meses de todo.
"Six months of dust, six months of mud, six months of
everything;"--though it may generally be stated that the rainy season
lasts one half, and the dry season the other half of the year. There
are, however, as the distich says, many months of uncertainty, in which
humidity invades the ordinary time of drought, and drought that of
humidity. But from June to November the country is inundated, the roads
are for the most part impassable, and travelling in the interior is
difficult and disagreeable. Even in the month of December, in several
districts of Luzon, we found, as before mentioned, places in which
carriages are necessarily abandoned, the palanquin bearers being up
to their thighs in mud; and other places in which we were compelled
to open a new way through the woods. The heat is too oppressive to
allow much active exertion in the middle of the day, and the siesta is
generally resorted to from 1 to 3 o'clock P.M., before and after which
time visits are paid and business transacted. The pleasant evening
time is, however, that of social enjoyment, and the principal people
have their tertulias, to which guests are welcomed from half-past 8
o'clock to about 11 o'clock P.M.
The variations of the thermometer rarely exceed 10° of Reaumur, the
maximum heat being from 28° to 29°, the minimum 18° to 19°. Winter
garments are scarcely ever required.
The difference between the longest and shortest day is 1h. 47m. 12s. On
the 20th June, in Manila, the sun rises at 5h. 33m. 12s., and sets
at 6h. 26m. 48s.; on the 20th December, it rises at 6h. 26m. 48s.,
and sets at 5h. 33m. 12s.
The minimum fall of rain in Manila is 84 inches, the maximum
114. Hailstorms are rare. There is no mountain sufficiently high to be
"snow-capped;" the highest, Banaho, is between 6,000 and 7,000 feet
above the level of the sea.
Like other tropical climates, the Philippines are visited by
the usual calamities gathered by the wild elements round that
line which is deemed the girdle of the world. Violent hurricanes
produce fearful devastations; typhoons cover the coasts with wrecks;
inundations of rivers and excessive rains destroy the earth's produce,
while long-continued droughts are equally fatal to the labours and
the hopes of husbandry. Earthquakes shake the land, overturn the
strongest edifices and sport destructively with the power of man;
volcanic mountains inundate the earth with their torrents of burning
lava. Clouds of locusts sometimes devour all that is green upon the
surface of the ground; and epidemic diseases carry away multitudes
of the human race. The ravages caused by accidental fires are often
most calamitous, as the greater part of the houses are constructed of
inflammable materials. When such a disaster occurs, it spreads with
wonderful rapidity, and, there being no adequate means of extinction,
a whole population is often rendered houseless.
During the change of the monsoons especially, the storms are often
terrific, accompanied by very violent rains, fierce lightning and
loud thunder. If in the night, the darkness thickens. Many lose their
lives by lightning strokes, and houses are frequently carried away
by the vehemence of the torrents.
Bagyo is the Indian name for hurricane. These violent outbreaks
are generally announced in the morning by a light smoky mist which
appears on the mountains; it gathers, and darkens, and thickens into
heavy clouds, and before day closes breaks out with its fearful and
destroying violence, raging from an hour and a half to two hours. M. de
Gentil says that in the torrid zone the clouds which bring the most
destructive tornadoes are at an elevation not exceeding 400 toises
of perpendicular height.
The largest of the volcanoes is that of Mayon in Luzon. It is in the
shape of a sugar-loaf, perfectly conical. Its base covers several
leagues in the provinces of Albay and Camarines, and it is one of
the most prominent objects and landmarks visible from the sea;
there is a constant smoke, sometimes accompanied by flames; its
subterranean sounds are often heard at a distance of many leagues. The
country in the neighbourhood is covered with sand and stone, which on
different occasions have been vomited forth from the crater. There is
a description by the Alcalde of an eruption in 1767, which lasted ten
days, during which a cone of flame, whose base was about forty feet
in diameter, ascended, and a river of lava was poured out for two
months, 120 feet in breadth. Great ruin was caused to the adjacent
villages. The lava torrent was followed about a month afterwards by
enormous outpourings of water, which either greatly widened the beds
of the existing rivers, or formed new channels in their rush towards
the sea. The town of Malinao was wholly destroyed, and a third part
of that of Casana. Many other villages suffered; forests were buried
in sand; which also overwhelmed houses and human beings. The ravages
extended over a space of six leagues.
From an eruption at Buhayan, sixty leagues from Zamboanga, in the
island of Mindanao, in 1640, large masses of stone were flung to
a distance of two leagues. The ashes fell in the Moluccas and in
Borneo. Dense darkness covered Zamboanga. Ships at sea lighted their
lamps at 8 A.M., but the light could not be seen through the clouds
of sand. The mountain whence the explosion originated disappeared,
and a lake was formed and still remains in the locality as a record of
the agitation. The waters of the lake were long white with ashes. The
noise of the eruption was heard in Manila.
About twenty leagues from Manila is the province of Batanga. In one
of the bays is an island called by the natives Binintiang Malagui,
remarkable for its beauty, for the variety of its vegetation, and
the number of animals which inhabit it. The eastern part of the
island is a mountain, whose extinct volcano is seen in the form of
a truncated cone of enormous extent, surrounded by desolation. The
flanks of the mountain have been torn by vast channels, down which the
lava-streams must have flowed. The sides are covered with ferruginous
and sulphurous pyrites and scoriæ, which make the ascent difficult. It
is most accessible on the southern side, by which we reach the mouth
of the crater, whose circumference exceeds three miles, and whose
deep and wild recesses exhibit astounding evidences of the throes
and agitations which in former times must have shaken and convulsed
this portion of the earth. A Spanish writer says it looked "like an
execrable blasphemy launched by Satan against God." There are still
some signs of its past history in the smoke which rises from the abyss;
but what characterizes the spot is the contrast between the gigantic
wrecks and ruins of nature on one side, and the extreme loveliness
and rich variety of other parts of the landscape. Descending into
the crater by the help of cords round the body, a grand platform is
reached at the depth of about 600 feet, in which are four smaller
craters, one constantly and the others occasionally emitting a white
smoke, but they cannot be approached on account of the softness and
heat of the soil. To the east is a lake from which a stream runs
round the craters over beds of sulphur, which assume the colour of
emeralds. Formerly this lake was in a state of boiling ebullition,
but is now scarcely above the natural temperature; it blackens silver
immediately. Frequent earthquakes change the character of the crater
and its neighbourhood, and every new detailed description differs from
that which preceded it. The Indians have magnificent notions of the
mineral riches buried in the bosom of the mountain, the sulphur mines
of which were advantageously worked a few years ago, when a well-known
naturalist (Lopez, now dead) offered to the Spanish government large
sums for the monopoly of the right of mining the district of Taal.
On the 21st of September, 1716, sounds like those of heavy
artillery proceeded from the Taal volcano, and the mountain seemed
to be in a state of ignition over a space of three leagues towards
Macolot. Gigantic towers of boiling water and ashes were thrown up,
the earth shook on all sides, the waters of the lake were agitated
and overran its banks: this lasted for three days. The water was
blackened, and its sulphurous smell infested the whole district. In
1754 a yet more violent eruption, lasting eight days, took place,
with terrible explosions, heavings of the earth, darkness, and such
clouds of dust and ashes that all the roofs of the houses at Manila,
at a distance of twenty leagues, were covered. Great masses of stones,
fire and smoke were thrown from the mountain. The lake boiled in
bubbles. Streams of bitumen and sulphur ran over the district of
Bong-bong. The alligators, sharks, tunnies, and all the large fish,
were destroyed in the river and flung upon the banks, impregnating
the air with stench. It is said that subterranean and atmospheric
thunders were heard at a distance of 300 leagues from the volcano,
and that the winds carried the ashes to incredible distances. In
Panay there was midday darkness. Many pueblos were wholly destroyed;
among them Sala, Janavan, Lipa, and Taal: others bearing the same
names have been since founded at a greater distance from the mountain.
Lopez gives a description of his descent into the crater. He employed
100 men for eight days to make a slope for his going down. He says
the crater is oval, two miles in diameter; that the lake within the
crater is surrounded by level and solid ground; that there was a deep
chasm which had been recently ignited: there was sulphur enough to load
many ships. He saw a cube of porphyry 20 to 25 feet square. The crater
wall is perpendicular on all sides; that on the north 1,200 feet high,
the lowest exceeding 900 feet. He says he believes the south sides to
be of porphyry. At night, midway of the descent, he saw "thousands of
millions" of jets, whose gas immediately inflamed on coming in contact
with the atmosphere, and he heard many small detonations. The waters
of the lake were impregnated with sulphuric acid, and 12 lbs. of the
water, when distilled, left a mineral residuum weighing 2 1/2 lbs.
There are many remarkable caves in the Philippines. I translate
a description of one in the province of Tondo. Two stony mountains
unite, and on their skirt is the road towards a branch of the main
river. On the left is a cave whose entrance fronts the south. The
mouth is almost covered with tangling vegetation, but it is arched,
and, being all of marble, is, particularly in the sunshine, strikingly
beautiful. You enter by a high, smooth, natural wall like the façade
of a church, over which is a cavity roofed as a chapel. The interior
pathway is flat, about four yards in breadth and six in height, though
in some places it is much loftier. The roof presents a multitude of
graceful figures, resembling pendent pineapples, which are formed
by the constant filtration and petrifaction of the water. Some
are nearly two yards in length, and seem sculptured into regular
grooves; others are in the shape of pyramids whose bases are against
the roof. Arches, which may be passed both from above and below,
are among these wonderful works. Not far from the door is a natural
staircase, mounting which you enter a large chamber, on whose right
hand is another road, which, being followed, conducts to a second
staircase, which opens on the principal communication. Suspended
on one wing are immense numbers of bats, who occupy the recesses of
the ceiling. Though there is mud in some of the paths, the ground is
generally of stone, which, on being struck, gives a hollow sound as if
there were passages below. Penetrating the cave for above 200 yards,
a loud noise is perceived coming from a clear bright river, by the
side of which the cave is continued under a semicircular roof. The
great cave has many smaller vaults and projections of a grotesque and
Gothic character. The course of the stream is from the north-west to
the south-east.
The destructive ravages and changes produced by earthquakes are
nowhere more remarkable than in the Philippines. They have overturned
mountains, they have filled up valleys, they have desolated extensive
plains; they have opened passages for the sea into the interior,
and from the lakes into the sea There are many traditional stories
of these territorial revolutions, but of late disasters the records
are trustworthy. That of 1796 was sadly calamitous. In 1824 many
churches in Manila were destroyed, together with the principal bridge,
the barracks, great numbers of private houses; and a chasm opened of
nearly four miles in length. The inhabitants all fled into the fields,
and the six vessels in the port were wrecked. The number of victims was
never ascertained. In 1828, during another earthquake, the vibration of
the lamps was found to describe an arch of four and a half feet; the
huge corner-stones of the principal gate of the city were displaced;
the great bells were set ringing. It lasted between two and three
minutes, rent the walls of several churches and other buildings,
but was not accompanied by subterranean noises, as is usually the case.
There are too few occasions on which scientific observations have been
made on the subject of earthquakes, which take men by surprise and
ordinarily create so much alarm as to prevent accurate and authentic
details. A gentleman who had established various pendulums in Manila
for the purpose of measuring the inclination of the angles and the
course of the agitation, states that, in the slight earthquakes
of 20th and 23rd June, 1857, the thermometer being at 88°, the
direction of the first shock was from N.N.E. to S.S.E., the duration
14 seconds, and the oscillation of the pendulum 1 1/2 degrees; time,
2h. 0m. 40s. P.M.: 20th June. Second shock from N.E. to S.W.; duration,
26 seconds; oscillation of pendulum, 2 degrees; time, 2h. 47m. P.M.:
20th June. Third shock S.W. to N.; duration of the shock, 15 seconds;
greatest oscillation, 6 degrees, but slight movements continued
for a minute, and the oscillations were observed from 2 degrees to
three-quarters of a degree; time, 5 P.M.: 23rd June.
Earthquakes have produced great changes in the geography of the
Philippines. In that of 1627, one of the most elevated of the mountains
of Cagayan disappeared. In 1675, in the island of Mindanao, a passage
was opened to the sea, and a vast plain was emerged. Successive
earthquakes have brought upon Luzon a series of calamities.
Endemic diseases are rare in the Philippines. Intermittent fevers
and chronic dysentery are among the most dangerous disorders. There
have been two invasions of cholera, in 1820 and 1842. Elephantiasis,
leprosy, and St. Anthony's fire are the scourges of the Indians; and
the wilder races of the interior suffer from a variety of cutaneous
complaints. The biri biri is common and fatal. Venereal diseases are
widely spread, but easily cured. Among the Indians, vegetables alone
are used as medicaments. Chinese quack-doctors have much influence. In
the removal of some of the tropical pests, no European can compete
with the natives. They cure the itch with great dexterity, and are
said to have remedies for pulmonary phthisis. Their plasters are very
efficacious in external applications. They never employ the lancet
or the leech. Surgical science is, of course, unknown.
There have been generally in the Philippines a few successful medical
practitioners from Europe. Foreigners are allowed to exercise their
profession, having previously obtained the authority of the Spanish
Government; but the natives seldom look beyond their own simple mode
of dealing with the common diseases of the islands; and in those
parts where there is little or no Spanish population, no one is to
be found to whom a surgical operation could safely be intrusted. The
vegetable world furnishes a great variety of medicinal herbs, which
the instinct or the experience of the Indian has turned to account,
and which are, probably, on the whole, as efficacious as the more
potent mineral remedies employed by European science. Quinine, opium,
mercury, and arsenic, are the wonder-workers in the field of Oriental
disease, and their early and proper application generally arrests
the progress of malady.
I found practising in the island of Panay Dr. Lefevre, whom I had
known in Egypt more than twenty years before, and who was one of the
courageous men who boldly grappled with the current superstitions
respecting the contagious character of the Oriental plague, and the
delusions as to the efficacy of quarantine regulations, so really
useless, costly, and vexatious. He placed in my hand some observations
which he had published at Bombay in 1840, where vessels from the Red
Sea were subjected to sanatory visitations. He asserts that plague is
only generated at particular seasons, in certain definable conditions
of the atmosphere, and when miasma is created by the decomposition of
decaying matter; that endemic plague is unknown in countries where
proper attention is paid to hygienic precautions; that severe cold
or intense heat equally arrests the progress of the plague; that the
epoch of its ravages is always one when damp and exposed animal and
vegetable substances emit the greatest amount of noxious gases; and
that plague has never been known to originate or to spread where the
air is in a state of purity. I was glad to rediscuss the matter with
him after so long an added experience, and to find he had been more
and more confirmed in his former conclusions by prolonged residence
in the tropics, where endemic and epidemic diseases partake of the
pestilential character, though they do not assume the forms, of the
Levant plague. Dr. Lefevre affirms that quarantines have done nothing
whatever to lessen the dangers or check the ravages of the plague,
but much to encourage its propagation. He complains of the deafness and
incredulity of those whom the examination of a "thousand indisputable
facts" will not convince, and he thus concludes:--"If I had not with
peculiar attention studied the plague in the midst of an epidemic,
and without any more precautions than if the danger was nothing--if,
subsequent to the terrible visitation of 1835 in Egypt, I had not
been frequently a witness to the scourge--if, finally, since that
epoch I had not given myself up, with all the warmth of passion,
to the constant study of this malady, to the perusal of histories
of the plagues which have ravaged the world, and to the examination
of all sorts of objections--I should not have dared to emit such a
decided opinion--an opinion respecting the soundness of which I do
not entertain the slightest doubt."
One cannot but be struck, in reference to the geographical character
of these islands, with the awful serenity and magnificent beauty of
their primeval forests, so seldom penetrated, and in their recesses
hitherto inaccessible to the foot of man. There is nothing to disturb
their silence but the hum of insects, the song of birds, the noises
of wild animals, the rustling of the leaves, or the fall of decayed
branches. It seems as if vegetation revelled in undisturbed and
uncontrolled luxuriance. Creeping plants wander from tree to tree;
lovely orchids hang themselves from trunks and boughs. One asks, why
is so much sweetness, so much glory, wasted? But is it wasted? To the
Creator the contemplation of his works, even where unmarked by human
eye, must be complacent; and these half-concealed, half-developed
treasures, are but reserved storehouses for man to explore; they will
furnish supplies to awaken the curiosity and gratify the inquiry
of successive ages. Rove where he may--explore as he will--tax his
intellect with research, his imagination with inventions--there is,
there will be, an infinite field around and above him, inexhaustible
through countless generations.