called by our mariners the Straits of Mindoro, while the Spaniards give this no me to
Panav d i X t ^ dor0^ ^ of it lies'the fine island of
TabUs. 7 ’ and t0 the east of ** Marindnque and Isla de
18 a ,molintain mass composed of a triple range running from north to
that tklTedGakv^ °f, Wfhich a,r,e of considerable but unascertained elevation, especially
f ro nW Luzon f no[ tb-weste/ n extremity, with another on its northern coast,
southward until +* ®agaes. b'°™ tbe coast- Tile ranges decline in height
BurocTn or ¿SEL “ th\ s,outhern extremity of the island called
length1 r n n ^ l I t narrow belt of low land> of about thirty leagues in
to Sbont « L t * gi nort.hern and eastern shores. The whole coast-line, extending
weMern « X i 6? ”68^ 18 unbroken by bays or inlets of any extent; but on the
harbour BOutbern extremity, there is one small and safe
northern nol^t f ^ lslands Arubolon northern coast fronting Luzon there is another affording saafne da nYchlionr,a gaen df oro ns mtahlel
aXfterr pniirraatteess. TThh e i• nfla nTd v’ a0ll°e“ys ÍatrSe bneaÍrDrgo wtb, eb ustta toionen foofr tthheem g alcloeyntaa itnhsa t ac rluaiksee
thTl™w 12 leaglf s -m, efcomference, and distant about two leagues from
it seems tSo W t® ge°lof . f 1 formation of Mindoro has not been described, but
to Luzon w t^ h ’ T ^ • it contains no volcanos, notwithstanding its proximity
to Luzon, which abounds in them. The most remarkable geological phenomena
intereslhlT “ 'e those produced by the action of water on its coasts. A very
h t r K T f 18 S1,Vea, m a description of the island contained in the
“ The ™ iw “ ’ Z i t 7’ a ud °f Whi0h Mr‘ Logan baB Published a translation.
Abra d i TW to pyf Sp^isb writer, “ which crosses from north to west, from
wÍaÜ. g i Paluan ?“ d Mamburao, is passable during the dry months; but that
winch crosses from north to east, from Calapan to Bongabon is not to be traversed at
any time except by the wild inhabitants of the interior. In the centre of this last
w ® d Laf ! yi hbetW68? the. to? “ s Naujan aud Pola. and at a distance of two
th ^ a t e r a whfrl * n f in & • ,S1X or seven leagues in circumference, fed by
mirsnfih8 .whlcb fal1 the principal mountain chain. Those rivers which do not
thTuv until they collect in this lake, or the water which overflows from
15 mA tbe ra“ 7 seaaon> fl°°d the entire valley, depositing in the lower
grounds so abundant a sediment, that when the waters retire, and the ground dries
Sin °r ¡ÉSS inches more debated. The church of the old town
W m the immediate neighbourhood of the lake, has, in the course of
1 IT™’ b? ried in tbe mud> as far as the key-stone of the
a n d t b e ' nhabltants ave found themselves obliged to remove to the
sea-side. Nor is this the only change that the surface of the island of Mindoro has
undergone. Every year the embankments of the small rivers which run into the
T h eW Af p w P“8í 10n’ overcome by the combined action of the wind and sea.
Pola,(at the extreme eastern point of the island) is formed by the sub-
” °D 1 ? Pertmn of the coast, m 1695, according to the chronicles of the religious
t h f r t n of Balalacao in the southern part of the island, was founded less
nbfr. S i a6h ? a? ° iUP^ . ? a perfectly conical form m the middle of a green
f ^ £ v T now an isolated mount, and the plain has become
pMago Vol iff S6a T e J 8 VeS86lS Clm anchor-”—Joui-nal of the Indian Archi-
^ bot aad moist, but in general equal in salubrity to the
into., i ^P*116®- Some of the close valleys, however, are pregnant with
intense malaria, producing their usual effects on the human constitution. “ The deen
We baVe described,” says the writer above quoted, “ covered with
wwhhiicchh prove preju^d icial to heaa,ltihe.r p™ThUea lw binTd fiodilflcoyw’ sa trhe ec doinrsetcatniotlny oefx thhael ivnagl lmeviass manad,
empoisons the air of the narrow gullies, through which it makes its exit. At Abra
his foot'rlown 18 uat<Td aí tbe mouth of one of these valleys, a stranger cannot set
or tlrn ln f esPa?lall7 d^ g tbe south-west monsoon, without catching a putrid
churdh to Puerto n il lnhabltante. taught by experience, have removed their parish
ra Xsindgele mnTgXht tthheprreI. wWne ffWre quenÍtleyy rhea1*r Athbarat dthee I locgre- wth eoyf sac avrceesslye ld warhei ctoh phaasss
Tnfected wfrhfrle ? three. hourB in tbis dangerous spot, has become thoroughly
is ™ t b i J t ¡ T T f t * Part ha® dled in the course of three or four days. It
g?oo ^too tthhee ccooas^tso off MMam ido rol afobro uanreyr sa mofo tuhnet noefi gwhabgoesu.r”i ngI bpirdo.vinces of Luzon will not
Nearly the whole island is covered with a dense forest, among which are found
ebony and sapan wood, with many timber-trees affording wood suited to house and
shin buildinv The soil of the interior would seem to be generally stubborn or
sterile and the alluvial lands of the valleys and sea-coast intractable from rankness
of vegetation and malaria. The products of the soil are the usual ones of the climate.
The culture of rice is carried on but to a small extent, and generally not by irriga-
tion but bv the rude and laborious one which consists in snatching an occasional
cron from the forest lands, by felling and burning the trees, and dibbling the seed, a
oractiee everywhere a sure indication of rudeness and poverty. Yams and manioc
/Jatropha) are cultivated on the mountain Bides, and the principal palms in culture
are the coco aud gomuti. From the last, and not from the true sago-palm, a sago is
extracted which forms a main part of the subsistence of the people. Mindoro does
not appear to produce any of the metals for economic use, and the only large wild
animals ascertained to exist in the forests are hogs.
The inhabitants of Mindoro consist of two classes,—those of the coasts, and those
of the interior. The first, now constituting the greater part of the population of the
island, are the descendants of vagabonds and fugitives from the neighbouring
provinces of Luzon, their language, which is the Tagala, being sufficient evidence 01
their origin. The most numerous people of the interior, of the same Malayan race
with the other nations and tribes of the Philippines, are most probably the aboriginal
inhabitants of the island. By the natives of the coast they go under the common
name of Manguianos, but they are divided into many tribes, and speak at least one
language (probably several), differing from any other language of the Philippines.
They are almost naked, and wholly miserable, yet inoffensive savages. The Spanish
writer already quoted gives the following lively account of their manners : ‘ The
appearance they present is, in general, filthy and repugnant. Almost all are disfigured
by the cutaneous disorder from which they constantly suffer. Those who are
affected in a lesser degree are covered with a kind of white scurf, formed by the
constant excitation of the skin, and the absence of cleanliness. Many of them suffer
from chronic ulcers ; others from large excrescences ; some have a foot or a hand
enormously swollen, while the leg or arm appertaining to it is withered or shrunken.
. . . . They have no fixed domicile. They plant, here and there, tobacco, buyo
(areca), sweet potatoes, and several other descriptions of edible roots ; and pass the
night under trees or in the hollows of rocks. For the infirm or sickly they have
couches formed of trunks of small trees, parallel to one another, with one laid across
to serve as a pillow. If they scatter a few dried leaves over the trunks, they consider
this as constituting a very desirable bed. They have villages which contain two or
three houses, if a shed with one side resting on the ground, or at best on a floor of
bamboo, and the other elevated by means of two stakes or poles, deserve the name of
house. In these hovels, which are only twelve or fourteen feet square, fifteen or
twenty of these people shelter themselves, huddled together, without distinction of
sex, age, or relationship. It is to this custom of sleeping pressed close together, and
to squatting all day on their hams, that their peculiar mode of walking may be attributed.
They advance very timidly, especially the women, with the body stooping
forwards, precisely like an ape whose hands have been tied behind him, and who is
consequently obliged to walk on his hind feet.”—Ibid. p. 759. Besides these people
of brown complexion and lank hair, there seems also to exist a race of negritos, or
small negros, of whom, however, no description has been given.
The total number of the Manguianos or wild inhabitants of Mindoro has been
estimated at 6000. By the census of 1850, the inhabitants of the coasts, distributed
in six small towns amounted to 8921 souls, the greater number on the northern and
eastern coasts opposite to Luzon. Calapan, the chief town, contained 2878 inhabitants,
and Naujan, 3191. The number contributing to the poll-tax was 1910, and
the amount of the tax 19,105 reals of plate. The total population, including the
wild tribes, would be about 15,000, giving 5 inhabitants to the square mile, a miserable
rate for a country so extensive and so favourably situated, and which proclaims
its poverty and essential sterility.
Mindoro was discovered and taken possession of by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the
conqueror of the Philippines, who deputed his nephew Juan de Salcedo to conduct the
enterprise, which he accomplished with 30 Spaniards and a crowd of natives. This
transaction must refer to the pirates of Mindano and Sulu, who had immemorially
infested the Philippines, and formed their stations on the coast of Mindoro, and not
to the native inhabitants of the island, who have never been subdued, because never
thought worth while subduing. In 1570, Legaspi himself touched on this shore