The site is an extremely pretty little bay on the north of the island, formed by the points Dangapic and Candea, and exactly in front, about four or five miles off, there are several low-lying islets, well wooded, with a hill abruptly jutting out here and there, the whole forming a picturesque miniature archipelago. Looking from the sea, in the centre stands the modern Spanish town of Sulu (Jolo), built on the shore, rising about a couple of yards above sea-level, around which there is a short stone and brick sea-wall, with several bends pleasantly relieving the monotony of a straight line. Forming a background to the European town, there are three thickly wooded hillocks almost identical in appearance, and at each extremity of the picture, lying farther back inland, there is a hill sloping down gradually towards the coast. The slope on the eastern extremity has been cleared of undergrowth to the extent of about 50 acres, giving it the appearance of a vast lawn. At the eastern and western extremities are the native suburbs, with huts of light material built a few yards into the sea. On the east side there is a big Moro bungalow, erected on small tree-trunks, quite a hundred yards from the beach seawards. To the west, one sees a long shanty-built structure running out to sea like a jetty; it is the shore market. The panorama could not be more charming and curious. Still farther west, towering above every other, stands the _Bad Tumantangas_ peak (Mount of Tears), the last point discernible by the westward-journeying Joloano, who is said to sigh with patriotic anguish at its loss to view, with all the feeling of a Moorish Boabdil bidding adieu to his beloved Granada. The town is uniformly planned, with well-drained streets, running parallel, crossed at rectangles by lovely avenues of shading trees. Here and there are squares, pretty gardens, and a clean and orderly market-place. There is a simple edifice for a church, splendid barracks equal to those in Manila when these were built, many houses of brick and stone, others of wood, and all roofed with corrugated iron. The neighbourhood is well provided with water from natural streams. The town is supplied with drinking-water conducted in pipes, laid for the purpose from a spring about a mile and a quarter distant, whilst other piping carries water to the end of the pier for the requirements of shipping. This improvement, the present salubrity of the town (once a fever focus), and its latest Spanish embellishments, are mainly due to the intelligent activity of its late Governors, Colonel (now General) Gonzalez Parrado, and the late General Juan Arolas. The town is encircled on the land side by a brick loop-holed wall. The outside (Spanish) defences consisted of two forts, viz:--The "_Princesa de Asturias_" and "_Torre de la Reina_" and within the town those of the "_Puerta Blockaus_", "_Puerta Espana_" and the redoubt "_Alfonso XII._"--this last had a Nordenfeldt gun.