Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

'268 AUSTRALASIA.populous member of the whole group. Here are several more or less importantplaces, such as Cajoiz on the north coast ; San Joae de Baenavistn and Antique onthe west side ; Sihalon farther inland in the same district ; Concepcion in the northeast,and in the south-east Ilo-Ilo, on the well-sheltered channel separating Panayfrom the islet of Guimaras. Next to Manilla, Ilo-Ilo is the most frequentedseaport in the Philipjjines. Since it has been thrown open to foreign trade, it hasrapidly attracted to itself a large share of the export trade in sugar and othercolonial produce, as well as of the import trade in European and Chinese wares.A little to the north of Ilo-Ilo lies the episcopal suburb of Jaro.Although Ilo-Ilo is the central emporium for the whole of the YisayasIslands, Ccbu or Zebu, the chief place in the island of like name, ranks as thecapital of the group, probably owing to the priority of its foundation. Its firstbuildings were erected by the conqueror Legaspi in 1571, just fifty years afterMagellan had met his death on the islet of Mactan close to this spot. Cebu,which like Ilo-Ilo was thrown open to international trade in 1863, exports the riceof Panay, the abaca of Leyte, the wax, ratans, and mother-of-pearl ofMindanao,the sugar and tobacco forwarded from Taghilaran and Maribojoc, capital of theneighbouring island of Bohol. In the Cebu district are some carboniferous beds,which yield a coal of good qualitj'.The large island of Mindanao, stiU almost entirely occupied by independenttribes, has no Spanish stations except a few here and there on the seaboard. Oneof the most promising of these stations is Misamis, in an auriferous district on thenorth coast. Bufitan has the ad\-antage of being situated on the estuary of thegreat river Agusan ; Suriijao, at the northern extremity of the island, commandsthe chief channel opening eastwards In the direction of the Pacific ; BisUg, towardsthe middle of the east coast, possesses an excellent harbour on a seaboard exposedto fierce gales during half the year. Here is the only safe anchorage on theeast side of the island south of Suragao. West of Vcrgara, recently founded onthe spacious Gulf of Davao or Tagloc, the only settlements are Cottubafo andFolloc, in the fertile plain watered by the Rio Grande, and Zamboanga, an oldstation at the extremity of the south-western headland dating from the year 1635.This place, which exports the best coffee in the archipelago, is remarkablysalubrious, notwithstanding its jDosition on a low-lying j)lain broken by brackishlagoons or swamps at the foot of wooded hills. Its inhabitants, nearly all halfbreeds,are none the less proud oftheir Spanish descent, and speak Castilian withgreat purity. In the last centmy Zamboanga temporarily disa^jpeared under ashower of ashes from a neighbouring volcano.In the Sulu (Jolo) archipelago, since 1876 formally annexed to the Spanishcolonial possessions, each of the larger islands has its military or naval station tokeep the unruly inhabitants in awe, and guard the neighbouring seas from theirpiratical excursions. At Basilan, against which the French had sent an expeditionin 1845 to avenge the murder of some sailors, the Manilla government fearing apermanent French occupation, has founded the town of Isabella, which, thanks toits excellent harbour facing Zamboanga, seems destined one day to acquire some