or Luzon, the largest of the Philippine Islands, in the Eastern Archipelago, lies between N. Lat. 12° 10' and 18° 43', E. Long. 119° 45' and 124° 10'. In form it is very irregular, resembling in some measure a bent arm, and the coast is deeply indented with gulfs and bays. It consists of two peninsulas,—the northern called Luzonia, embracing four-fifths of the whole; and the southern, or Ca-

marines, running nearly at right angles with the other. These peninsulas are joined by the Isthmus of Tayabas, about 50 miles long, and varying in breadth from 10 to 20 miles. The length of the entire island is about 550 miles, and its breadth varies from 30 to 135 miles, excluding the isthmus; its area has been estimated at 52,328 square miles. The most remarkable bays on the western coast are those of Lingayen, Manilla, Balayen, and Batangas; on the eastern, those of Difum, Lamor, St Miguel, Lagoney, and Albay. Like the other islands of the same group, it is of igneous formation, its basis chiefly granite; and like them it is traversed in its whole length from N. to S. by a range of mountains, the Caraballos, inclining chiefly to the eastern coast, to which they impart a bold and precipitous character; and branching in the northern peninsula towards the eastern and western extremities, Engaño and Bojeador. The branch which terminates in the promontory of Engaño is the highest in the island, and is called the Gran Cordillera, or Sierra Madre. The loftiest summit, however, in this range, called Banjiao or Mujayaj, N. Lat. 14° 2', E. Long. 121° 14', is only 6214 feet above the sea, not more than half the height of the mountains of Sumatra and Java. These mountains are all of volcanic formation; and in the peninsula of Camarines some are still active volcanoes. From that of Mayon, in the province of Albay, N. Lat. 13° 14', E. Long. 123° 34', eruptions took place in 1766 and 1814,—the town of Albay being entirely destroyed by the latter; and from the volcano in Lake Taal, about 1667 feet high, an eruption took place in 1754, which destroyed the town of Taal. These eruptions were accompanied by extensive earthquakes. The volcano of Balusan, in the S., serves as a kind of beacon, and is on that account well known to mariners. Lofty and extensive plains and valleys are enclosed by these ranges, the largest being those of Cagayan, Abra, and Agno in Luzonia. The island has numerous rivers and streams, the largest of which is the Cagayan, passing through the plain of that name, and known also as the Tajo (Tagus) and the Apari, navigable to a considerable distance for small vessels, and falling into the sea, after a course of about 200 miles, in the northern region at the town of Apari. Passing through the same plain, and falling into the sea farther W., is the Abulug. Into the Bay of Manilla fall the united waters of the Chico and the Grande, the former issuing from the Lake of Camaren. The united stream passes through the fertile province of Pampanga, and has a course of about 23 leagues. Two considerable rivers derive their names from the plains of Agno and Abra; the former rises in the Central Caraballos and falls into the Gulf of Lingayen; the latter rises in the Western Caraballos, Lat. 16° 47', and falls into the sea by three branches near the headland of Namapucan. It is navigable for small vessels.

The most extensive lake in the Philippines is the Laguna de Bay, so called from the town of Bay at its S. extremity. It has an area of about 350 square miles, and an average depth of about 15 fathoms. Into this lake flow fifteen different rivers, and its surplus waters are carried off by the River Pasig, which falls into the Bay of Manilla near the city of that name, after a course of about 21 miles. This lake contains several islands, the largest of them, Talim, being 3 leagues in length by 1 in breadth. Its waters are everywhere potable, and it has valuable fisheries. The Pasig is navigable for vessels of 500 tons, and though not one of the largest, is the most important river of Luzon. After the Lago de Bay is the deep Lake Taal already mentioned, between Lat. 13° 52' and 14° 6', and which has a circumference of 15 leagues; then Lake Cagayan in the province of Cagayan, about 12 leagues in circumference; lastly, Lake Camaren, Lat. 15° 40', about 6 miles long and 5 broad in the dry season. There are also temporary lakes, called by the natives Pinog, caused by the rains, and which either entirely disappear or are much reduced in the dry season. The Pinag of Candava, in the province of Bulacan, 8 leagues broad sometimes during the rains, affords in the dry season rich and extensive pastures.

On the western side of the island the fall of rain is very great, the rainy season lasting from the middle of June to the middle of September; on the eastern, the rainy season sets in with the N.E. monsoon, which prevails from November to March; this difference is owing to the chain of the Caraballoos. The N.W. monsoon prevails from April to October, the summer or dry season. The annual fall or rain at Manila ranges between 84 and 114 inches. It sometimes rains without intermission for a fortnight. During this season the rivers overflow their banks; lakes are formed; and, owing to the paucity of stone bridges and the frequent loss of the wooden ones, whose places are supplied with cane-rafts, inland communication is rendered extremely difficult. The heat at Manila at no time exceeds that of a Madrid summer, as those allege who have experienced both. The range of temperature in the former city is from 19° to 29° Reaumur.

The forests, with which the island is extensively covered, afford excellent timber for house and ship building; the dongon and molave are considered by the Spaniards superior to the teak. The rice crops afford not only the principal food of the population, but a surplus for the Chinese market; maize and wheat have been introduced by the Spaniards. The yam (ubi) and the batata are the farinaceous roots cultivated. The banana, mango, pine-apple, orange, and musk melon, are abundant; the mango is said to be of peculiar excellence. The sugar-cane is grown; oil is procured from the sesame and cocoa-nut; and spirits from the buri and the nipa palm. Indigo, coffee, and cocoa are of comparatively recent introduction. Cotton and the piña, and abaca banana, afford materials for textile fabrics; the fibres of the latter, mixed with Chinese silk, form the cloth for which the island is famous. Tobacco is grown to some extent. The husbandry of Luzon, and the system of irrigation, notwithstanding the abundance of water, is by no means so perfect as in Java and some other islands of the Archipelago; but such is the productivity of the soil that it ranks next to Java in point of fertility and population. Land is very valuable in Luzon, ranging from L.22 to L.125 per English acre—about ten times the usual value of land in tropical Asia; irrigated land being highest in price. The greatest portion of the cultivated land is divided among small proprietors; the larger holdings are farmed on the métairie system, half the produce being paid to the proprietor. The crown holds the uncultivated lands, and receives from pious foundations and the European settlers a nominal tithe, or quit-rent. Besides the lands under wood and cultivation, there are extensive plains, furnishing pasture for herds of horses, oxen, and buffaloes, none of which are indigenous, but nevertheless exist wild to an extent unknown in the rest of the Archipelago. Of the other wild animals the most remarkable are the mountain cat (Gato de Montes), the only animal of the feline tribe; the hog, the only pachyderm in the island; and the civet cat. The adjutant crane, the swallow which furnishes the edible nest, great numbers of the pigeon and parrot kind, and the common fowl in a wild state, are found. Serpents, alligators, and tortoises abound. The rivers, lakes, and surrounding ocean swarm with excellent fish, furnishing employment to a great part, and, with rice, the chief food of the whole of the population. Of fresh-water fish, the sabalo, taken in Lake Taal, whither it ascends from the sea for the purpose of spawning, and the dalag, are most esteemed. The tripang, a sea fish taken in the shallow bays, is cured, and forms an important item of export to China. The usual tropical insects infest the island; mosquitoes and ants are the special plagues; but the hurricanes to which it is exposed are an excellent protection against the locust.

Besides the civilized and savage Malayan races (the former inhabiting and cultivating the valleys, the latter subsisting by the chase among the mountains), the island contains tribes of Aetas, a race better known by the Spanish name Negritos, applied to them from their resemblance to the negro, without being so tall or so black. The Aetas, who are found only in the five larger Philippines, exist in the rudest possible manner, and are in a state of incessant hostility with the other islanders. The number of those in Luzon at all under control amounts to about 8300. The population of Luzon, which is very unequally distributed, was in 1850 computed at 2,534,613, having nearly tripled itself in the course of half a century.

The most considerable branch of industry is the weaving of cotton and the other fabrics already mentioned, for home use and exportation. This manufacture is most largely carried on in the provinces of Ilocos, Camarines, and Tondo. Some of the piña cloth made is extremely delicate and beautiful; and it is rendered more valuable by the exquisite embroidery of the native women. Their matting from the buri palm, and cordage from the coarser abaca, are much esteemed. The art of dyeing cloth is extremely imperfect; that of printing it quite unknown. The women are remarkably skilful in gold filigree work. Salt is made from sea water by boiling and by exposure to the sun, and from some plants by burning them. This manufacture is carried on in the province of Pangasinan, which also provides the neighbouring provinces with oil and sugar.

The coasting and inland trade of Luzon are attended with difficulties,—the former from the equinoctial hurricanes, and the monsoons themselves rendering only one voyage practicable to the native trawlers in six months; the latter from the rains and the condition in which they leave the roads. Manila is the central point; but there is a good deal of trade between the various provinces,—in rice from the more productive, in cotton from Ilocos, indigo from Bulacan and Laguna, piña and abaca fabrics from Camarines. Timber and canes are floated down the rivers in rafts. The foreign trade of the Philippines is confined by law to Manila,—the staple exports being rice, sugar, tobacco, coffee, indigo, hides, ebony, tortoise-shell, tripang, abaca hemp and cloth, hats, and gold dust. Wine is imported from Spain; cotton and woollen fabrics, iron and copper, from Great Britain; and silk from China. (See MANILA.) For the China trade Luzon has peculiar facilities, the number of voyages not being restricted by the monsoons.

The name of the island is probably derived from that of the western promontory of the Bay of Manila, and that from its supposed resemblance to the mortar (lozong) used by the natives in husking rice. The Philippines were discovered by Magellan in 1521; but it was not till fifty years after that Legaspi landed in Manilla Bay, where he found a thriving Mohammedan town. He found no great difficulty in subjugating the island. The people were little advanced in civilization, the use of fire-arms being almost unknown; and they were divided among themselves. Except some piratical expeditions from China and Japan, and some abortive attempts on the part of the Portuguese and Dutch, the Spaniards were left in undisputed possession of the island till the invasion by British troops from Madras in 1762. The armament consisted of thirteen men of war and a force of 2300 men. Manilla was stormed and sacked, but restored by the treaty of Paris after ten months' occupation. (See PHILIPPINES.)