Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-05
ISLE OF MlNDANA0
Far the Richest of Our Possessions in
the Philippines.
A LAND OF RIVERS And LAKES
Almost Unlimited Quantities of the
Very Finest Timber.
GREAT MINERAL WEALTH
Copyrighted, 1900 by Frank G. Carpenter.
pecial Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Copyrighted, 1860, by Frank G. Carpenter.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
ZAMBOANGA, March 10, 1900
It looks like a leg of mutton with a fat
shank, well-trmmed stem and the bone
sticking out like handle, and it is, in fact.
| the richest and juiciest piece Of meat in
Uncle Sans Philippine larder.
I refer to the Island of Mindanao. I am
at Zamboanga, just on the tip of the little
end of the bone. but l have gone about the
coasts. and from what I have heard and
seen can tell you something about it I
cannot tell you much, for but little is
known. The greater part Of the island has
not been explored, and it has many regions
which have never been trod by the foot of
a white man. The Spaniards had their set
Elements only close to the coast, and their
wars with the Moros such that they
did not dare to go among the more savage
tribes of the interior. The only men, in
fact. who have been inland are the Jesuit
missionaries They have made maps of the
island, and it is from their notes that my
best information comes. These maps have
been sent through Gen. Bates to Washing
ton. and Congress will have an opportunity
to publish them
Our Richest Island.
have learned enough, however. TO make
me believe that Mindanao is the richest and
best of all our possessions in the far east.
1t has the advantage of belonging almost
altogether to the government, and can be
opened up just Uncle Sam pleases. 1t
will be of the subjects of gressionai
legislation when the war ends, and it will
for years have an important place in the
news from this part of the world.
Before l describe its resources and people
I would like to show you just where it is.
1t is very far out of the world, and is the
nearest to the equator of our American pos
sessions. Here at Zamboanga l am far
south from Manila in a straight line as
New York city is distant from PIttsburg,
and as far away from APART, at the north
ern end of Luzon the distance between
the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
The whole of Mndanao is more than 800
miles nearer the equator than the Isthmus
OF Panama, and Zamboanga is a little more
than 300 miles from that So-called hottest
line of the globe.
Still, Mindanao has not a bad climate.
Everywhere the troops are stationed on the
island the surgeons tell me that the condi-
lions are remarkably comfortable There is
little no sickness among the soldiers.
and, considering that we are in the tropics.
remarkably little among the natives. Here
at Zamboanga, on the coast, l do not find
it more hot than Washington city in June,
and in the mountainous regions in the in
terror the air should be better.
Is rs Big as Ohio.
The Island of Mindanao is about as big
as the state of Ohio. 1t may be few square
miles more or less. but no one will know
until our geological survey professors have
been over the ground. 1t is more than 300
miles from here to Matt, on the east coast,
where have just stationed a company
of the 31st Regiment. and about goo miles
from north to south, where the island is
widest. As you will see from the map, Min
danao has an enormous coast line. Its
shores in places run in and out like the
teeth of a saw. 1t has numerous bays and
many good harbors. 1t is, with the excep-
ton of the northeastern portion, outside of
the region of typhoons and in that of equa-
torial currents, and although the rainfall
is heavy, it is said to have a better climate
than Luzon: The topography of the
is aSd is rolling. Three separate volcanic
ranges cross it from north to south, the
middle range being the highest, and Gull
minating in Mt. Apo. near the Gulf of
Davao. The top of Mt. Apo is more than
seen by our troops at the town of Davao.
1t is an active volcano, with vapor and fire
coming from its southern side. The most
of this mountain is wooded, only the sum-
nit being bare. The other mountains of the
island are covered with a rich growth of
timber, trees 200 feet high and twenty feet
thick being here and there found.
Land of Rivers and Lakes.
Mindanao is we'll watered. 1t is so cut up
with rivers and lakes that 1t is said that
there are few places where you cannot
reach a navigable stream within ten miles
travel. 1t has about two hundred rivers d
large number of which are navigable for
small boats. The Rio Grande. which flows
into the bay of Illana. in the southern part
of the island, is about two hundred and
ninety miles long, of which one hundred
miles are navigable. The Butuan river
almost bisects the eastern end of the
country, rising near the Gulf of Davao,
n flowing narthwaY3 into the Raw of Rll-
tuan 1t has two large lakes. and there
are other lakes scattered through the
island. The word Mindanao means the man
of the lake. Ii probably comes from the
large lake in the center. This is known as
Linao. 1t has an area of 100 square miles,
Another lake, known as Lake Manit, has
about thirty square miles, and 1t lies in an
extinct crater. Just south of the town of
nligan, and connected with it by the River
Illigan. is the Lake of Malanao. This is
the only one of the lakes which the Span
iards attempted to control. They brought
gunboats and took them in sections to it,
the province of Cottabato there are two
lakes which feed the Rio Grande river
They are united during the rainy season.
when the whole country is flooded.
The Zone of the Moros.
Mindanao Is in Mohammedan land. 1t is
the zone of the Moros, and its people are
far different from those which 1 have de-
scribed living in the northern part of the
Philippines. The archipelago may be d.
vided into three zones, according to the
predominant races which inhabt 1t. The
northern zone embraces Luzon and its
nsighboring islands. Here live the Fill
pinos with whom we have been waging
war, and Of whom the world knows most.
They are the Tagals, Tagalos, or Tagalogs.
The names all mean the same and are used
Unfortunately. The Tagals are perhaps