THE PHILIPPINES
449
mountainous parts of the islands there are still tribes of unsubdued savages, but their number is comparatively small and the authority of the Government is being rapidly extended over them. In the last census returns the number of natives not subject to the civil government and paying no tribute is given as 602,853, while the number of natives paying tribute is returned as 5,501,356. There is a considerable number of mestizos or half-castes, some of whom are the children of European fathers by native mothers and some the children of Chinese fathers. At the time of the outbreak of the last rebellion the military forces of all arms numbered some 13,000 men, of whom only about 1,500 were Europeans, but it was then decided to permanently raise the European force to 8,000 and the greater portion of that number have already arrived. A fleet, chiefly of small gunboats, aids in the preservation of order.
The public revenue is about $15,000,000, of which the larger part is raised from direct taxes, Customs, monopolies, and lotteries.
The chief articles of produce are sugar, hemp, tobacco, and coffee, the export of which in 1893 and 1894 was as follows:-
1893
1894
Quantity
Value
Quantity
Value
Sugar
261,521,901 kilograms $16,914,980 | 210,646,386 kilograms $10,975,185
Hemp
Tobacco, Manu-
93,742,824 1,285,093
12,556,548
""
96,497,799
14,516,717
1,581,486
1,144,365
""
1,750,006
...
2,388,014
7,019,117
"
1,408,662
291,479
168,742
603,156
""
"
factured Tobacco, Raw 10,744,608
Coffee
355,890
The foreign trade is confined to the ports of Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, and Zamboanga. In 1894 the value of the imports was $28,558,552 and the duty collected thereon $3,695,446. The value of the exports was $33,149,98 and the export duties $630,439.
occur,
occurrence.
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The
The climate of the Philippines varies little from that of other places in the same latitude. The range of the thermometer during the year is from a little over sixty degrees to about ninety. The year may be divided into three seasons, the first, cold and dry, commences in November; the second, warm but still dry, commences in March, the greatest heat being experienced from April to the end of May, and the third, which is excessively wet, continues from June to the middle of November. During the rainy season inundations of rivers are frequent and travelling in the interior almost impossible. Long-continued droughts, however, sometimes when the ground becomes parched and the crops are utterly destroyed. Husbandry also suffers from the ravages of locusts, which will sometimes almost entirely denude a whole province of herbage. The principal part of the group comes within the range of the typhoons, and terrific storms are of frequent
The islands are also the centre of great volcanic action. destructive ravages and changes produced by earthquakes," says Sir John Bowring, writing in 1859, are nowhere more remarkable than in the Philippines. They have overturned mountains, they have filled up valleys, they have desolated extensive plains; they have opened passages from
sea into the interior, and from the lake into the sea. There are many traditional stories of these territorial revolutions, but of late disasters the records are trustworthy. That of 1796 was sadly calamitous. In 1824 many churches in Manila were destroyed, together with the principal bridge, the barracks, great numbers of private houses; and a chasin opened of nearly four miles in length. The inhabitants all fled into the fields, and six vessels in the port were wrecked. The number of victims was never ascertained. In 1828, during another earthquake, the vibration of the lamps was found to describe an are of four and a half feet; the huge corner stones of the principal gate of the city were displaced; the great bells were set ringing. It lasted between two and three minutes, rent the walls of several churches and other buildings, but was not accompanied by subterranean noises, as is usually the case. In 1832, 1852, 1863, 1869, and 1880 there were terrible shocks of earthquake and, finally, in 1891, in the Province of Pangasinan earthquakes were continually repeated during a month, shaking down buildings, crushing their inmates, and creating a panic among the inhabitants.
""
the
The local storms that come in the months of May and June, the period of the greatest heat, are at times very severe. On the 29th May, 1873, there was one of sufficient force to destroy within the walls of Manila alone forty-one dwellings. Typhoons also sweep over the islands in great fury and the one of the 20th October, 1882, left thousands without shelter, the wind in its fury tearing down many of the native huts as well as more solid structures in brick and stone; floods were caused by the heavy rain, and great loss of life and property resulted.
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