Basilan.
The sixth district of Mindanao is formed of the Basilan group of some forty islands lying opposite to Zamboanga, having a total area of 170,000 acres. The only important one of the group is Basilan Island, which has an irregular outline, an oval with two projections opposite each other, east and west, the latter resembles a turtle’s head and the former a turtle’s tail, so that the shape of the island on the map is that of a turtle with his head to the west. The total length from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail is about thirty-two geographical miles, and the width across the body about twenty-one miles. The port of Isabela is sheltered by the Island of Malamaui, on which there is a Moro rancheria called Lucbalan, and a Christian visita, Sta. Barbara. The capital, Isabela, is situated about the centre of the channel, and to the east of the mouth of the Pasahan (now called Isabela) River.
To the south of the town, which is situated on a stony slope at a short distance, the fort is placed at an elevation of about sixty feet above the sea. It commands both entrances of the channel.
There is a barrack near the fort, a prison, military infirmary, school, town hall. The naval station consists of store-houses and workshops, marine-barracks, hospital, and magazine.
There is a church, and missionaries’ residence. The island is hilly but fertile in places. Some twenty to thirty acres are under cultivation near Isabela, and the Moros who form the principal population make their slaves work on the lands about their hamlets. There are no manufactures worth mentioning.
The Christian population is as follows:—
| Inhabitants. | ||
| Town of Isabela | 921 | |
| Hamlet of San Pedro de Guihanan | 130 | |
| Hamlet of Santa Barbara | 50 | |
| Reduccion of Panigayan | 25 | |
| Reduccion of Tabuc | 12 | |
| Scattered Christians | 12 | |
| Members of the Naval Station | 86 | variable. |
| Garrison of the Fort | 40 | |
| 1276 |
The Moro population is distributed in about fifty villages or hamlets. They can turn out about 4400 fighting-men, and are considered valiant and hardy.
The Moros of Basilan, according to Father Foradada, have not the sanguinary instincts of those of Lake Lanao or of Joló, and any outrages they commit are, he thinks, due to the instigations of the Moros of Joló, who unfortunately keep up a communication with them and corrupt them.
Amongst the most influential Dattos of Basilan is Pedro Cuevas, a Tagal. He was formerly a convict, but escaped, and, by force of character and desperate courage, he became a leading man amongst the Moros. Having rendered some services to Spain, he received a pardon, and now has extensive plantations, a sugar-mill, and herds of cattle. He is, in fact, about the richest and most influential man in the island, and has become reconciled to the Church, and was much trusted both by the military and naval authorities and by the missionaries.
The map of the island is from a report of Father Cavalleria who went by sea right round it in 1893.