Insects are too numerous for the comfort of other than naturalists, but fewer than one is led to expect. The number of species is said to be great, but the amount of insect life is surprisingly small. Common house flies are comparatively few and mosquitoes, while always present, are scarcely anywhere such pests as in certain sections of the United States. In the large cities they have been almost exterminated by the modern crusade against the carriers of fever bacilli. Ants of various kinds and locusts are numerous, the former eating everything but the corrugated iron roofs of the wooden houses and the latter often desolating the fields.

Cockroaches furnish material for some hysteria among the ladies and not a little profanity from the men. They are of stupendous size according to the ordinary home standard for cockroaches. Three inches in length with an expanse of wing sufficient to suggest a bat is about the average. They are a very great nuisance, as they eat everything from boots to bookbinding.

The general features of the flora are Malayan, resembling that of Java, Borneo and the Celebes. In northern Luzon the plants resemble those of China. But the differences are such as to give the flora of the Philippines marked individuality. In 769 instances there are differences sufficient to make distinct species.

On Mount Apo in Mindanao there are birds which are said to be found nowhere else in the world. The number of species is about the same as in the United States, but birds are not so common. Of 286 species found in Luzon fifty-one do not exist on any other island. The avifauna of Samar and Leyte contain twenty-two species not found elsewhere, and seventeen are peculiar to Mindora and Palawan. Cebu, a near neighbor of Negros, on one side and Bohol on the other, contains nine species of land birds not found elsewhere. The islands contain three hundred species of land birds, more than are found in Java. Snipe, plover, pigeons, ducks and geese abound. But there are many important genera found in other Malay islands which are not found in the Philippines. Flocks of white parrots give a touch of color to the somber forests of Mindanao.

Flowers are common, although not as a rule very striking. The Philippines have been described as a land where the birds have no song and the flowers are without perfume, but this is a libel on both birds and flowers. The night air is heavy with the fragrance of the dama de noche and the flower of the famous ilang-ilang. Orchids in great variety are common. At certain seasons the entire foliage of large trees turns to flaming red, purple or violet. Long avenues in Manila are lined with the so-called fire trees which during the month of July blaze with their gorgeous foliage.

The mountains are shot with minerals, but for reasons mainly economic mining has never been very profitable. Gold has always been produced and marketed. The mountain people bring gold dust to the towns for exchange and sale. Coal is found in good quantities, but the quality is poor, as the islands are not yet old enough to produce a very good grade. The operator who holds on to his claim until the proper geological period arrives will undoubtedly gain great wealth. There is also copper on the upper waters of the River Abra which has been crudely mined by Spaniards and natives in the past. Marble exists on the island of Romblon, but inconsiderate earthquakes have wrenched and twisted the deposits and made it difficult to find large unbroken slabs. There is also some iron, and the prospects for petroleum are said to be good.

The coast waters teem with fish, which form an important element in the food of the Filipino people. Trout and bass do well in the mountain streams, although the torrential rains are liable to wash them down into the valleys, where they perish in the warm waters. After the streams near Baguio were stocked with bass, the Igorots developed remarkable skill in catching them with their hands. The warm waters of the tropical sea are filled with curiously shaped and vividly colored fish. I have seen Moros frying goldfish for supper. I am not an ichthyologist and can not speak with authority, but venture the assertion that there is not a fish in the Naples, Honolulu or other aquaria which is not found in Philippine waters. The aquarium at Manila is

a unique structure built into the ancient city walls and can easily be made the most complete in the world.

Until very recently it was asserted that no game fish lives in Philippine waters. But the difficulty was in the absence of game fishermen. It is commonly said that the fish are too lazy to bite, but this, like similar statements with reference to the people, is a perverted, exaggerated statement of the facts. It is the fishermen who are generally too languid to undergo the necessary exertion. There are no finer fishing grounds in the world. Barracuda, tanguingui (Spanish mackerel), pompano, bonito, lapulapu (groupers), snappers, Sargent fish, tuna, tarpon (probably) and many others abound and furnish satisfactory sport for the most seasoned and experienced sportsman.

The various characterizations of the climate of the Philippines, ranging from "delightful" to "deadly" are all correct when proper consideration is given time, place and personality. It varies in different islands and localities, depending upon latitude, altitude, the relative distribution of land and water, the size and configuration of the island, the proximity of mountain ranges, the composition of the soil, the vegetation, the ocean currents and various other matters.

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According to the thermometer the heat is seldom excessive, but individuals measure by other standards. So great is the humidity that a reasonable degree of heat is trying to the temper and the linen. But while a "wet heat" is uncomfortable it is seldom deadly. The situation is saved by the fact that the extremes of heat and humidity never coincide. During May the thermometer will often register ninety degrees Fahrenheit, but the humidity is low and the nights, with few exceptions, cool and refreshing.

The highest recorded temperature at Manila is 103 degrees Fahrenheit in May, 1871, and 101 degrees Fahrenheit in May, 1912. The average temperature during the years from 1885 to 1912 was: January, 76.8; February, 77.5; March, 79.9; April,

3 "Climate," by Rev. Jose Algué, Census of the Phil. (1906), p. 87 et seq.

82.8; May, 83.3; June, 82.2; July, 80.8; August, 80.8; September, 80.4; October, 80.2; November, 78.6; December, 77.4.

April and May are the hottest, August and September the most humid months. On the west coast the rains begin in June and continue through November. From December to June there is little rain, and by March the country is dry and parched. On the west coast these conditions are reversed and in the southern islands it rains at all times of the year.

By ascending the mountains one can always find relief from the heat of the plains. Pine trees grow at Baguio and a fire is always comfortable in the evenings. But it never freezes although the thermometer occasionally drops to the line of a gentle frost. Personality and temperament play an important part in the health and comfort of individuals. There is truth in the statement that "it is your human environment that makes climate." Irritable, fidgety persons who insist that things should be exactly as they were at home, are seldom happy in the tropics. The well-balanced, equable and reasonable adjust their habits to the conditions, learn from the natives, recognize the limitations in their activities and live happily and comfortably ever after, or at least until time for the long vacation in some land of frost. and snow. When that energetic uplift worker, Mrs. Jellyby, was asked about the climate of Borrioboola Gha, she replied: "The finest in the world.”

"Indeed, ma'am?"

"Certainly. With precautions."

Science, sanitation, and knowledge of the laws of health have rendered life almost, if not quite, as safe and comfortable in the tropics as elsewhere-with precautions.

CHAPTER III

The Native Peoples

I

NON-CHRISTIANS AND FILIPINOS

Varieties of Peoples-“East Is East and West Is West"-Extent to Which This Statement Is True-Classification of the Inhabitants-Aborigines and Malays and Subdivisions of Each-The Negritos-Various Tribes of Wild Men-Head-Hunting-The Beginnings of Civilization-The Filipinos-The Seven Groups-Various Opinions as to Their Characteristics.

The great variety of peoples, with their different languages, customs, habits, religions and degrees of culture, have made the Philippine Archipelago a sort of happy hunting-ground for students of ethnology. It has now become almost as interesting to students of social and political conditions.

It has been assumed very generally that the people of the East are incompetent racially to develop on Western lines or to acquire Western civilization; that there are inherent differences, mental and physical, which require the white man and yellow man to be educated and governed on different principles and to develop on distinct lines.

The colonial policy of the United States is based on the assumption that the Filipinos, so far as desires and inherent capacities are concerned, do not differ materially from white men and that they are capable of being educated and trained to govern themselves. It assumes that the principles of good government will be recognized and accepted by all men and that an Eastern people with a fair degree of development may successfully conduct a popular form of government and that such a government is the best for them.

The fact that the attempt is being made to apply this theory

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