The Inhabitants of the Philippines

by Frederic H. Sawyer

Rice, sugar, cocoa-nuts, bamboos, timber, and fruits are the principal products of the province of La Laguna. The inhabitants supply the Manila markets with poultry. The Pasig and the lake are navigated by light draught steamers which ply daily to Biñan, Calamba, and Santa Cruz. There are also numerous native small craft, which bring down the produce. To the south of Manila the province of Cavite slopes gently up from the shores of the bay and from the lake to the high cliffs at the northern end of the volcanic lake of Taal. The valley is intersected by numerous streams all of which run into the bay. Part of this province, near Manila, is a stony and sandy desert, but other parts of it are extremely fertile, and large crops of rice, with some coffee, and cacao, and fruits, are raised. The Augustinians and Dominicans have large estates here, and have expended considerable sums on dams to retain water for irrigation.

The Lake of Bombon, or Taal, has in its centre an island containing the remains of the volcano. From the nature of the surrounding country it is conjectured that on the spot now occupied by the lake a volcanic mountain, some 8000 feet high, formerly stood. The great bed of volcanic tuff already mentioned, extending from thence up to Meycauayan more than sixty miles distant, is thought to have been ejected from that lofty volcano, leaving a vast hollow cone, which ultimately collapsed, causing a convulsion in the surrounding country that must have rivalled the famous cataclysm of Krakatoa. This is the opinion of D. José Centeno, a mining engineer employed by the Spanish Government, and was fully confirmed by my learned friend, the late Rev. J. E. Tenison-Wood, who carefully examined the locality, and studied all the records.

The province of Batangas is very rich and fertile; it has some mountains, but also a considerable extension of sloping or flat land. In beauty it will compare with the best parts of Surrey, such as the view from Leith Hill, looking south. Sugar and coffee are the principal products, and the towns of Taal, Baúang, Batangas, and Lipa are amongst the wealthiest of Luzon. The fields are well cultivated, and oxen are much used, both for ploughing and for drawing carts. The beef in this province is excellent.

Opposite to this beautiful and wealthy province lies the huge island of Mindoro. Ever black and gloomy does it look, its lofty mountains almost perpetually shrouded in rain-clouds. When I lived in Balayan I had a good view of this island from my windows, and can scarcely remember its looking otherwise than dark and forbidding. Nothing comes from it but timber and jungle produce. There are known to be some beds of lignite. Only the coast is known, and the jungle fever prevents exploration. The island of Marinduque is healthier and more advanced. It produces hemp of fine quality.

The province of Tayabas is very mountainous, and is still mostly covered with forest; there are no wide valleys of alluvial soil. Some rice is grown, also large quantities of cocoa-nuts, and some coffee and cacao. Timber and jungle produce form the principal exports. I have seen many specimens of minerals from this province and think it would be well worth prospecting. But the climate is unhealthy, and dangerous fevers prevail. This circumstance has been useful to the Spanish Government, for when a governor or official had made himself disliked he could be appointed to Tayabas with a fair prospect of getting rid of him either by death or by invaliding in two or three years at most.

Camarines Norte is also mountainous, and there is not much cultivation, only a little rice and hemp. The population is very sparse, and the inhabitants are mostly employed (when they do anything) in washing for gold at Mambulao, Paracale, and other places on the Pacific coast. If they strike a pocket, or get a nugget, they go on the spree till they have spent it all and can get no more credit, and then unwillingly return to work. Camarines Sur possesses a wide expanse of fertile soil in the valley of the River Bicol, in which are the Lakes of Buhi and Bato, and the Pinag of Baao. The Bicol rises in the province of Albay and runs through the whole length of Camarines Sur, generally in a north-westerly direction, running into the great Bay of San Miguel. It is navigable for small vessels up to the town of Nueva Cáceres. Alligators abound here. A gap in the coast range gives access to this valley from the port of Pasacao. The ground is level for leagues around, yet from this plain two extinct volcanoes rear their vast bulk, the Ysarog, 6500 feet high, and the Yriga, nearly 4000 feet high. Camarines Sur contains more than five times as many inhabitants as Camarines Norte, although not very different in area. Their principal occupation is the cultivation of the extensive rice lands. They also produce some hemp and a little sugar. Large quantities of rice are exported to Manila, to Albay, and to Bisayas. Cattle are raised in the island of Buriás, which belongs to this province; it also produces some palm sugar. This province is much richer than either Tayabas or Camarines Norte.

The province of Albay is the southernmost and easternmost part of Luzon, and is one of the richest and most beautiful regions of that splendid island. The northern part, which commences at Punta Gorda on the Bay of Lagonoy, is similar to the neighbouring Camarines Sur, as is also the western part, about the shores of Lake Bato. A little to the southward, however, the gigantic Mayon rears its peak 8000 feet into the sky. The symmetry of this wondrous cone is but feebly rendered by the photograph. Some of the most violent eruptions of this remarkable volcano are mentioned under another heading in the Appendix.

On this volcanic soil, with the life-giving heat of the sun tempered by frequent rains, the vegetable kingdom flourishes in the utmost luxuriance. Tree-ferns, lianas, orchids, palms grow vigorously. On the mountain slopes the Musa textilis, or abacá plant, finds its most congenial habitat. Little rice is grown, the inhabitants being mostly engaged in the more remunerative occupation of planting and preparing this fibre.

A description of the manner of its preparation, with photographs of the growing plants and of the apparatus for cleaning the fibre, will be found under the description of the Vicols.

The island of Catanduanes belongs to Albay province, and its characteristics and productions are the same. The configuration of the province of Albay is most favourable to the production of this fibre. The plant seems to require a light volcanic soil, a certain height above the sea, and exposure to the Pacific breezes in order to flourish.