The Inhabitants of the PhilippinesSawyer, Frederic H.
History
The Inhabitants of the Philippines
Sawyer, Frederic H.
Ethnology -- Philippines; Philippines -- Social life and customs
It will be seen that the temperature is not excessive, and that
the distribution of the rainfall is favourable to agriculture and
planting. The force of the monsoon is much spent when it arrives
on the coast of Paragua, and the typhoons only touch the northern
extremity of the island.
Volcanic phenomena are unknown, and there is no record of earthquakes.
From the lay of the island there is always one coast with calm water,
whichever way the monsoon is blowing.
The troops and civil population of Puerto Princesa suffer to some
extent from intermittent fevers; but the reports of the military,
naval, and civil infirmaries, state that the disease is not very
severe, and that it yields to treatment, and this assertion is
confirmed by the reports of the French travellers, Drs. Montano and
Rey and M. Alfred Marche.
The northern part of the island has been colonised from the other
Philippines, and the Christian inhabitants number about 10,000
distributed amongst several small villages. The southern coasts are
occupied by Mahometan Malays, who number about 6000, and the rest
of this large island, except Puerta Princesa, is only populated by
savages, the principal tribes being the--
Tagbuanas, estimated to number 6,000
Tandulanos, estimated to number 1,500
Negritos, estimated to number 500
Manguianes, estimated to number 4,000
--------
12,000
This gives a grand total of 28,000 inhabitants, or 5.6 to the
square mile. In the island of Luzon, in which extensive districts
are uncultivated and unexplored, the mean density of the population
in 1875, was 76.5 per square mile, and in the provinces of Batangan
and Pasgasinan, which are, perhaps, the best cultivated, the density
was 272 inhabitants to the square mile.
The fauna has been studied to some extent, a French collector having
resided for a considerable period on the island. It comprises monkeys,
pigs, civets, porcupines, flying squirrels, pheasants, and a small
leopard, this latter not found in any other of the Philippines,
and showing a connection with Borneo.
The island is covered with dense forests, which have been little
explored.
The Inspeccion de Montes (Department of Woods and Forests) gives a
list of 104 different kinds of forest-trees known to be growing there,
and states that ebony abounds there more than in any other province
of the Philippines. According to Wallace, the camphor-tree is found
in the island.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account