SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PHILIPPINES
The Guardian-Mother continued on her course without encountering either
typhoon or other tempest, and her passengers kept very comfortable under
the awnings. The ship was in about 10° of north latitude and 110° of
east longitude. She was sailing with the wind nearly dead ahead, and
therefore the breeze was good on deck, and even in the cabins.
At the appointed hour the passengers were in their chairs in Conference
Hall, two of them occupied by the siamangs, and the baby in the lap of
Miss Blanche, who had become very much attached to the little creature.
On the frame in front of the orang-outang was a complete map of the
Philippine Islands, covering seventeen degrees of latitude, and ten of
longitude, with enough of the seas around them to make their position
clear to the audience.
Professor Giroud was introduced for this occasion as the speaker; and he
was received with more than usual applause, for he had not occupied the
rostrum as much as formerly, General Noury having been kept busy since
his reappearance off Batavia. It may be said that after the rest of the
day before the party were in excellent condition to be instructed.
"We are sailing just now in comparatively shallow water; and just to the
south of us there are innumerable shoals, with only from four to ten
fathoms of water on them. If the water were entirely drained from the
China Sea, the bottom would be like a hilly region; for these numerous
shoals would be the tops of various elevations, and the same would be
true of a less extent north of us. The portion of the sea over which we
are now moving would appear to be a considerable valley. You all have
imagination enough to see what I have described.
"All around the Philippines on the east and south the water is from two
to four thousand fathoms deep; so that if the seas were dried up around
them, these islands would appear like a number of irregular chains of
mountains, and the highest peak would be over 10,000 feet above the
present surface of the water.
"From north to south these islands extend about a thousand miles, and
from east to west about half that distance, with the Sulu or Mindoro Sea
four hundred miles across it in either direction, nearly enclosed within
them; for the north-east coast of Borneo is part of its boundary on the
south. As the commander mentioned at dinner last evening, there are over
two thousand islands in the group; and leaving out those rocks and
shoals which are not big enough for a man to stand upon, there are
twelve hundred of them.
"On a map of the world, or even of Asia, the Philippine Islands occupy
but a small space, and in your school-days you have doubtless regarded
them as of but little importance; but several of the islands are larger
than any New England State, and two of them are as large as Virginia and
Ohio, and nearly as large as New York and Pennsylvania. Luzon and
Mindanao," and the professor pointed to them on the map, "the most
northerly and the most southerly, have each about 40,000 square miles,
and the area of all the islands is 116,000 miles. I think most of you
could have no idea from your study of maps of the extent of the
Philippines.
"Mindoro, the next island south of Luzon, has 9,000; and the others from
1,200 to 5,500. I shall not mention or describe them separately. We
shall visit only Manila and the country near it, and you would not
remember even the names of the islands over night. They are all
mountainous and volcanic. The highest mountain is Apo, in Mindanao,
which is 10,400 feet high, and there are others of 9,000 feet.
"The islands are volcanic, and therefore subject to earthquakes; and an
instrument in Manila which indicates vibrations of the earth is said to
be shaking about all the time. Several destructive ones are recorded in
the past. In 1863 Manila was nearly destroyed by one, and the great
southern island is especially liable to them.
"The mountain ranges mostly extend north and south; and there is space
between them for some considerable rivers, as the Rio Grande in Luzon
has a course of 220 miles. The Agusan in Mindanao is navigable for 60
miles. In this island are several lakes, with rivers flowing from them.
In addition to which are many lacustrine basins."
"Spare us, Professor!" exclaimed Uncle Moses.
"The word comes from _lacus_, Latin for lake, and applies here to such
lakes as send their overflow to the sea or other lakes by streams made
by the rush of water. But I don't use many such words, and I hardly
expected a classical scholar to object," replied the professor.
"But I objected in behalf of several here who never studied Latin; and
besides the overflow is entirely apart from the root of the word. But I
am satisfied, and the commander may invite you to proceed," chuckled
Brother Avoirdupois.
"On account of the high mountains and the abundant sea-breezes, though
hot and moist, this group is not so unhealthy as most tropical islands
and countries. The fevers of hot countries are here of the mild,
intermittent kind"--
"What is intermittent, Professor?" asked Felix. "Is it the kind they
don't have in Ireland?"
"I should say that it was."
"An intermittent fever, Felix, is one that comes and goes, like the old
woman's soap," interjected Mrs. Blossom, the nurse; and everybody
laughed to hear her say anything.
"The diseases most dreaded in these islands are consumption, dysentery,
and anæmia"--
"Mercy, Professor!" cried Mr. Woolridge.
"The reduction in the amount of blood in the system, and the condition
resulting from this loss, is anæmia. Dr. Hawkes can explain it more
fully," replied the professor.
"Not necessary," added the surgeon.
"As all over the Eastern Archipelago, there are two seasons, the wet and
the dry, produced by the monsoons; but the irregularity of the surface
variously modifies the result. For the southern and western sides of the
mountains the south-west monsoons give the wet season, and the
north-east the dry season, and _vice versa_. Manila is subjected by the
influence of the south-west winds to rains from June to November, with
dry weather the rest of the year.
"The temperature is about the same all the year round. The coolest month
is December, when the glass stays at about 77°; and in May, the hottest
month, at 86°. Of course there are days, and times of day, when the
temperature is lower than the one, and higher than the other. The
extremes where we are going vary only about 25°--from 66° to 91°; and we
have it hotter than the last in New York. The average rainfall is about
seventy inches, varying by months from one-third of an inch in March, to
twenty inches in August.
"The flora of the islands is just what you would expect in this climate.
Nearly or quite all the plants you have found in the other islands you
have visited are to be found here. Particularly plenteous here are the
fibrous plants, and abaca forms in its prepared state one of the most
important exports of the islands. This is a sort of plantain from which
comes the Manila hemp, as it is sometimes called, though it is a
misnomer; and with us it is called simply manila, the sailors tell me.
It is extensively cultivated here, and grows something like the banana.
"The stalks on which the leaves grow are split into long strips, are
threshed, combed, washed, and dried, and then they become manila, of
which many of the ropes of this ship are made, though hemp makes the
better article. The finest fibres are sometimes fifteen feet long, and
from such some very delicate manufactured goods are produced. The
coarser parts are used for cordage, which is very serviceable. When we
were at Nassau, in the Island of New Providence, last year, we saw
fields of _sisal_, which has in late years come into use as a substitute
for common hemp and manila, and is said to resist the action of
sea-water better than any other material.
"The fauna may seem to be quite limited to the Nimrods of our company,
for the large animals we have found in other islands do not exist in the
Philippines. The buffalo and the gibbon are the largest in the islands,
with a variety of monkeys. The elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, bear, and
orang-outang have no home here. The only dangerous animals are the
crocodile, serpents, and other reptiles. If the Nimrods wish to hunt
they will have to try their hand at the wild buffaloes, though they are
not to be found near Manila.
"Birds are numerous and various, and especially the gallinaceous bipeds,
such as barnyard fowls, grouse, and pheasants; but the most highly
valued here is the 'rooster,' if I may call him by his common American
name, for cock-fighting is one of the national amusements of Spain and
its dependencies. You will see plenty of it in Manila, if you are so
disposed; but it is not an elevating sport, any more than bull-fighting,
which may possibly prevail here. Coal and iron are the most common
minerals, with others; but mining is too severe work for the enterprise
of the people, and I believe most of the mines of Cuba are worked by
Americans.
"The original inhabitants of the Philippines were doubtless Negritos;
and I hasten to explain the name before I am 'picked up.' It was the
word used by the Spaniards to designate, not alone the negroes as we
find them in Africa, but those who are similar to them. People of this
race formerly inhabited all these islands, but there are scarcely any of
them left at the present time. Hindus, Malays, and other natives of the
adjacent countries and islands, came here, and the races mingled.
"The people found here at the present time have a variety of names,
beginning with the pure Spaniards, Creoles, Tagals, Chinese, and
Mestizoes. The Spaniards and the Tagals need no explanation, for the
latter are the pure natives of the islands. Creole, I believe, is
variously used in different locations; but it is a Spanish word, coming
from _criolla_, which means grown up. They are one thing in the Spanish
West Indies, another in Brazil.
"A more general definition is a person born in any country, but not of
native blood. In the Philippines, Creoles are the children of Spanish
fathers and native mothers. Mestizoes are children of Chinese parents on
one side and natives on the other. The last class are usually called
'métis' in Manila and elsewhere. You will doubtless see all of these
classes, and with a little practice will be able to identify them.
"The Spaniards of the islands are Catholics, often, I am sorry to say,
merely nominally such. Many of the natives are Mohammedan, though the
greater portion are Catholic. The Philippines were discovered by
Magellan, as we generally call him, though that was not his correct
name, in 1521. He was born in Portugal, and his name was Magalhães. He
served as a soldier in Malacca and Morocco, and was lamed for life in a
battle in the latter. He did not think his services were appreciated by
his king, and he offered them to Spain.
"He presented to Charles V. a plan for reaching the Moluccas by sailing
to the west; and, his scheme being approved, he was fitted out with a
fleet of five ships. He passed through the straits south of Patagonia,
which still bear his name, crossed the great ocean, to which he gave the
name of Pacific, though it was discovered by Balboa, who called it the
South Sea. Succeeding in his enterprise, he reached the Philippines,
after putting down a mutiny. He was killed in an expedition he led in
the islands. The Victoria, his ship, returned to Spain in charge of one
of his subordinates, thus completing the first voyage ever made around
the world.
"There were several governments in the islands, and most of them were
conquered or conciliated so that they came under Spanish rule; but the
Mohammedans of Sulu, the Archipelago north-east of Borneo, and Mindanao
retained their independence for a long period, and they still retain
their boundaries and government.
"Manila has a population of 270,000, and there are several other
considerable towns with 30,000 or more. There is a submarine cable to
Hong Kong, 720 miles of telegraph, and 16 miles of railroad out of
Manila. The army consists of 4,800 men, with 3,500 gendarmerie, or
police, such as ride in pairs all over Spain. It has a navy of two
corvettes, six _avisos_, or despatch vessels, sixteen gunboats, with
2,000 sailors and marines. I believe I have told you all that is
necessary to know about the Philippine Islands in a general way; and I
thank you for your attention through the long talk I have given you,"
the professor concluded, and retired from the rostrum in the midst of
the hearty applause bestowed upon him.
"I think we all know more about the Philippines than we ever knew
before, though I have been there; and to-morrow I shall have something
to say, very briefly, about the city of Manila," said the commander.
"When shall we get there, Captain?" asked Dr. Hawkes.
"Day after to-morrow morning; but I shall lay off so as not to get there
at three in the morning."[1]
FOOTNOTE:
[1] On board of a steamer from Colombo, Ceylon, to London, I met an
educated Scotch gentleman from Manila, who pronounced the name
Philippine, the last _i_ long. On the steamer from Liverpool to Boston,
I met a lady, also from Manila, and she pronounced it with a long _i_ in
the last syllable. I conclude this is the fashion among English-speaking
people in the Philippine Islands.--O. O.