Sorsogon occupies the southernmost tip of the Bicol Peninsula. The largest indenture in its irregular coast is the gulf of Sorsogon, a land-locked body of water and one of the finest harbors in the Philippines. The land is mountainous and covered with excellent lumber suitable for ship-building and furniture making. In the forests rattan grows in abundance and is exported to all the provinces. The chief products are abaca and coconuts.
The Sorsogon Provincial Government building and the Sorsogon Jail
Sorsogon, the capital, located on the gulf, is an important commercial town. Pilar is noted for her shipyards; ships, lorchas, and boats are built here from the fine timber grown nearby.
Sceneries Among the sceneries are the Guinulajon waterfalls, near the capital, the wild vegetation and the cataracts along the Irosin River, the medicinal hot springs of Mombon, Bujan, and Mapaso, together with the beautiful panorama from the Bulusan Volcano are especially striking. Like Mount Vesuvius, Mount Bulusan has an old crater, and a new cone that has appeared on the slopes. Inside the crater, about 500 feet deep, are two pools of hot water which form the basin from which the Irosin River rises.
A great event in the history of Sorsogon was the invention of a hemp-stripping machine by a priest named Espellargas, about 1669. The invention was made in Bacon, where it seems hemp then abounded. The contrivance was ingeniously constructed and was quite well adapted to local conditions.
Historical Incidents Many of the galleons that the Spanish Government used in the Manila-Acapulco trade were built in Sorsogon, especially on the Island of Bagatao, at the entrance of Sorsogon Bay. Many of these ships were wrecked while navigating the waters of Sorsogon, because they laid their course for Mexico via the San Bernardino Strait, a passage which abounds in dangerous currents, shoals, and rocks. The galleon San Cristobal was wrecked in 1733 near the Calantas Rock. In 1793, the galleon Magallanes also ran aground at this place. Other vessels went down in this neighborhood from time to time, as the Santo Cristo de Burgos, in 1726, near Ticao, and the San Andres, in 1798, near Naranja Island.
Mayon Volcano, Albay Province