at Assit in the island of Masbate; and it is known that copper ores exist in the provinces of Tayabas and Camarines Sur (Luzon), Antique (Panay), and the island of Capul. Gold is very generally distributed throughout the archipelago, but mostly in insignificant quantities. From the deposits in Camarines Norte (in Paracale, Mambulao, Labo), where it occurs in placers and in quartz and other rocks, about 30 oz. per month are obtained. Much more important are the gold-washings of Misamis and Surigao in Mindanao, the former of which yield about 150 oz. per month. Neither the mercury nor lead veins discovered at different times have proved of economic value.[1]
Climate.—As the north part of Luzon is as far from the south of the Sulu Islands as the north of England from the south of Italy, and as the archipelago is divided by the line of the ecliptic, the climate of one region differs considerably from that of another, though the general characteristics are everywhere tropical. The northern islands lie in the region of the typhoons. Three seasons are usually recognized,—a cold, a hot, and a wet. The first extends from November to February or March; the winds are northerly, and, though there is no need for fire, woollen garments can be worn with comfort in the mornings; the sky is for the most part clear and the atmosphere bracing; and Europeans look forward to this period as the most enjoyable of the year. The hot season lasts from March to June, and the heat becomes very oppressive before the beginning of the southerly monsoon. Thunderstorms, often of terrific violence, are of frequent occurrence in May and June. The wet season is usually ushered in by the heavy rains locally known as “collas.” During July, August, September, and October the rain comes down in torrents and large tracts of the lower country are flooded. According to the observations of the Jesuits at Manila during the eight years 1870 to 1877 the total rain fall (distributed over 113 days) amounted to 66.6 inches.
| Cold. | Hot. | Wet. | |||||
|
72°.32 | 87°.26 | 84°.56 | ||||
| 8.65 | 10.47 | 36.01 | |||||
|
75°.02 | 86°.23 | 75°.86 | ||||
| 12.54 | 9.29 | 26.90 | |||||
|
86°.90 | 88°.70 | 87°.11 | ||||
| 16.53 | 39.27 | 32.15 | |||||
|
81°.98 | 82°.97 | 83°.03 | ||||
| 15.74 | 33.85 | 35.43 |
Fauna.—The mammals of the Philippines are strikingly few, especially when contrasted with those of such an island as Java; but their number may yet be slightly increased, and nine-tenths of them are peculiar species. Since Cynopithecus niger was struck out of the list, the only monkey known to science is Macacus cynomolgus (chongo of the Tagals), found in all the islands; but there are also pure white monkeys (not albinos) in Mindanao, and specimens are occasionally sold at Manila. The lemuroids are repre sented by the strange little Tarsius spectrum, the insectivora proper by Galeopithecus philippensis and a “tupaia,” or squirrel-shrew. Of carnivora there are three species, two civets and a wild cat, as well as the ordinary domestic animal. The rodents comprise only a few squirrels, Sciurus philippensis, &c., a porcupine, and two or three rats. Of bats there are between twenty and thirty species. The wild boar is regularly hunted in all the islands; the natives throughout the archipelago keep large numbers of black pigs; and the Babuyanes group take their name from babuy, “a pig.” Of deer there are three species, Cervus mariannus, C. philippensis, and C. Alfredi; and a chevrotain or mouse-deer (Tragulus) is found, more especially in Bataan. Tapa, or sun-dried deer s flesh, is a favourite food with the natives. The statement that the horse has become wild in the interior of several islands is founded on a mistake. The ordinary domestic variety, probably of Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese origin, is “generally small, but well-shaped and hardy, the largest and best breeds coming from Batangas, Albay, and Camarines, the smallest and probably the hardiest from Ilocos” (D. M. Forbes). For all kinds of field work the buffalo (“carabao”) is employed; ordinary cattle and goats are common enough, and some of the former are of great excellence. As there is a Tagalog name for it, it has been supposed that the elephant was at one time to be met with in the Philippines; and in the Sulu Islands, at least, it is said to have existed in the 17th century.
The birds of the Philippines proper show the isolated character of the group by the absence of a large number of ordinary Malayan forms, and at the same time there is a considerable proportion of genera from Australia, India, and China. Viscount Walden (Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. ix., 1877) found the known species numbered 219, and R. B. Sharpe, by the assistance of Professor Steere's collections, brought the total up to 287 species, of which 151 were peculiar to the Philippines. To these must be added several species hitherto only found in the Sulu Islands. Palawan has a strong Bornean element. It is enough here to mention a number of peculiar woodpeckers, beautiful little parakeets (Loriculus), a number of pigeons (including at least one peculiar genus, Phapitreron), cockatoos, mound-builders, and a peculiar hornbill, Penelopides, known from its note as “calao” to the natives, who frequently tame it. The principal game bird is the jungle-fowl (Gallus bankiva).[2]
Alligators abound in some of the lakes and rivers; and turtles, tortoises, and various kinds of lizards are familiar enough forms; one of the last, the “chacon,” is believed by the natives to be a defence against earthquakes. The beauty and variety of the butterflies and the destructiveness of the termites are obtrusive features of the insect life; the land-shells are peculiar, numerous, and remarkable for delicacy of form and colour. Some of the molluscs attain gigantic dimensions; the “taclobo” shell sometimes weighs 200 ℔, and is used for baptismal fonts. One of the most valuable kinds of fish is the “dalag” (Ophiocephalus vagus), and one of the most peculiar the Hemiramphus vivipara.
Flora.—The flora of the Philippines is essentially Malayan, intermixed with a Chinese element, but with sufficient individuality to constitute a sub-region. According to Llanos's edition of Manuel Blanco's Flora de Filipinas,[3] 4479 species are known belonging to 1223 genera and 155 orders. Among the dicotyledons the orders most abundantly represented are: Leguminosæ (77 genera), Rubiaceæ and Compositæ (each 41), Euphorbiaceæ (32), Urticaceæ (25), Acanthaceæ (28), Apocynaceæ (22), Asclepiadaceæ (20), Sapindaceæ (20); and among the monocotyledons Orchidaceæ (80), Palmæ (28), Araceæ, (27), Graminaceæ (7?). Of ferns there are 50 genera. The forests contain more than 200 kinds of wood thought worthy of trial in the arsenal at Manila. Among them may be mentioned the teak-like molave (Vitex altissima and geniculata) the dongon (Sterculia cymbiformis); the ipel (Eperua decandra), greatly prized for its hardness; the lauan or lawaan (Dipterocarpus thurifer a light stringy wood, often used by the Malays for their canoes; the bolongaeta (Diospyros pilosanthera), employed for fine kinds of furniture.
- ↑ The best résumé of geological facts in regard to the Philippines is J. Roth, “Ueber die geologische Beschaffenheit der Philippinen,” published as an appendix to Jagor's Reisen, but, like the other appendices, left out in the untrustworthy English translation. Drasche gives a good deal of fresh material in Fragmente zu einer Geologie der Insel Luzon, reproduced in Boletin de la Comision del Mapa Geologico de España, vol. viii., 1881. Perrey has collected information about the Philippine earthquakes in Mém. de l'Acad. de Dijon, 1860, &c.
- ↑ See Wallace, Geogr. Distr. of Animals, and Island Life.
- ↑ First ed., Manila, 1837; second ed., 1845; Llanos's ed., 4 vols., 1877-80 (summary in vol. ii. ).
