Later still this sunken land began slowly to rise from the sea. In some places this change is still going on. New islands have come up out of the sea within the memory of people who are still alive, and there have been, within modern times, great changes on some of the Philippine Islands. The whole group is of volcanic origin, but there are now very few active volcanoes left in the country. Of these Mayon (mī ōn´), in the southern part of Luzon, is the largest. This is said to be the most beautiful volcano in the world. Its form is a perfect cone. Taal (tä´äl) volcano, which is on an island in Lake Bombon (bôm´bôn), is also a famous volcano. There are over 1,200 islands in the archipelago, but we do not know exactly how many there are. They have never been counted. Some of them are hardly more than bits of rock showing above the sea, while Luzon, the largest, is 480 miles long. On all of the islands there are large mountains. Great peaks rise, in some cases to a height of 7,000 or 8,000 feet, covered to the very top with forests of mighty trees. The finest building timber in the world will some day come from these islands. Teak, ebony, mahogany, and cedar trees grow here, besides rubber and camphor trees, and many others for which there is great demand in all the markets of the world. Fine fruit trees of many sorts are also found. When there are good roads in the islands over which to haul logs, and modern mills and machinery to make them into lumber, the timber trade of the Philippines will be a great industry. There are now about eight millions of people in the Philippines. How many were here when the Spanish came we do not know. The larger part of the people in the islands are of the Malay (mā´lā) race. These were not the first dwellers in the country, but came from the Malay Peninsula, and it is likely that they had not been here more than two or three hundred years when the Spanish came. They are the people whose lives and acts make up most of what we call the “history” of the islands, and they are the people usually meant by the term “Filipinos.” [Illustration: ABORIGINES OF MINDANAO. ] Up in the mountains, living in nearly as wild a state as when the Spanish came, we still find the aborigines. This is a word which means the first dwellers in a country. It is thought that the first people who lived in the northern islands were the Aetas, or Negritos. A race called the Indonesians (in dō nā´sē äns) are the aborigines of the great island of Mindanao. The Negritos are dying out. They are a small, timid people, with thick lips and flat noses. Their hair is like curly wool. They hunt and fight with bows and arrows, and are very quick and active. Their chief food is fish, and the brown mountain rice which they plant and harvest. Even if taken when children and brought up in a city, they do not grow to like civilized life, but run away and go back to the mountains as soon as they have the chance.