The Washington times., 1901-10-21

! Batanes and Bnbuyancs, Northern
Limit of American Jurisdiction i'm
the Enst-VoIcnnic in Original
People Isolated From the World
From official material compiled in the
! Division of Insular Affairs of the War
| Department, abstract has been pre-
| pared concerning two groups of islands
! in the channel of commerce connecting
the waters of the Pacific and China seas,
| which occupy the position of outposts Gu
! the northern limits of the United States
possessions in the far East 'Thc Ba-
tanes the northern of the two groups OF
| islands, lie $50 nautical, or l73 statute
miles off Cape EnganO. the promontory
which termir ates the northeastern coas,
| of Luzon. The Babuyanes the southern
group, lie about midway between these
two points.
The Tre1ty of Peace between the United
| States and Spain, describing the limits of
! the possessions thus acquired, designates
| the northern line to pass through the
middle of the nayigab!e channel of Bashi.
| from the 11Sth to the 127th meridians of
! longitude east of Greenwich" About
twenty-three minutes south of this line
! lifts the rocky summit of the most north
]
channel to the southwark, within United
| States Jurisdiction, and connecting the
same seas, are the Babuyanes, or Five
| Islands,
| A steamer pointing her course from San
| Francisco about southwest by west. after
traversing 200 nautical miles, would find
! herself in port at Honolulu. Resuming
| her voyage along the parallel of q de
/ grees 30 minutes north, due west 400
miles. 4 huge rock. rising directly before
. her, would be her landmark of entrance
/ to the Bashi. or Channel of Boundary.
/ This is also the extreme northern land of
the Philippine archipelago. This rock, so
| important to navigators and convenient
as a resting place for birds of the sea,
is known on the chart as Y Ami. one of
the Batanes group. To navigators ap-
preaching the coast of Asia the rock is
of great significance. From it they point
their courses to Hongkong. on the main
land Of China, about 462 nautical miles
north by west; also to Manila, by the
northern route in a southerly course 422
nautical miles. and to Singapore about
southwest 1850 nautical miles. Steamers
bound eastward from the same rock lay
their course to Yokohama. northeast 2.556
nautical miles; to the United States, via
Honolulu, as already mentioned; to
Guam, United States, east southeast. 14GO
nautical miles, and to Apia, via Guam,
f,4Q0 nautical miles.
The nearest foreign soil is Formosa, or
the island of Taiwan. in 1895 ceded to
Japan as one of the results of the war
with China. II lies ninety-three miles
northwest of YAmi. 125 miles northwest
by north of San Domingo de Basco, the
chief town Of the group, and 5-2 miles
almost due north Of Manila, along the
west coast of LuZon.
The physical characteristics Of both
groups indicate not only volcanic origin,
but activity of comparatively recent
date. AT the entrance to the port of San
Pic Quinto a boiling spring shows evil
dence of subterrdnean force. Among the
Dldacs rocks, upon which the United
States steamship Charleston became a
wreck, is an active volcano, and on the
larger islands are volcanic submits 245O
to 500 feet high. In the midst of these
elevations are valleys of great fertility,
with soping plains covered with luxliri-
ant vegetation.
The climate of all the islands is salub-
rtous the mean temperature ranging in (
the vicinity Of IS degrees. The area of /,
the TWO groups comprising thirtyeight (
islands is go square miles, with an aggre- /
gate population Of 1889.
The history Of the inhabitants is .
wrapped in mystery. Their relations. lin ,
guistically, woulI indicate a long isola- /
ton The little which is known of them (
suggests descent from the settlements of {
the piratical Chinese chieftains who were .
the scourge Of the Islands off the Asiatic
coast when the first Europeans arrived
and who continued TO be SO until very
recent years.
Santo Domingo de Basco, in Batan, and
Fu&a, In the Babuyanes, are the chief
harbors. The inhabitants, owing to the
strong currents and the tempestuous
ocean which surrounds them. have but lit
tie communication with the mainland
There is no civil government, Spain never
having formally established authority on Z
the islands. on January 10 1909. the Uni !
ted States ship Princeton took formal
possession at San Domingo de BascO, the
capital Since that time this port has
been one OF :h- cruising stations for tbs. :
United States Navy.
On the larger islands yams. sweet pota- /
toes, corn, onions, garlic, rice sugar :
cane, potatoes. wheat and vegetables are /
grown SuCceSsfullv A fine variety of sand I
stone is the only mineral known Owing
TO the heavy winds OF the sea, the Islands
are but sparsely iimbered. Among the
fruits, pineapples and grapes are specially
noteworthy for their excellent quality
The chief Industry is the raising OF cat
tie, hogs from which Babuyanes takes its
udmeD, and goats and horses. The lat
ter, on account Of their size and merits
are IN great demand throughout the
archipelago. The manufacture of lard
and cocoanut oil is also important. From
the suEarcInc is distilled large quantities
Of drink known locally as ''palec."
Fishing also gives employment to a num-
Der of the Inhabitants along the coast.
The experience Of the wrecked crew OF
the United States ship Charleston, during
their camp 1T San Pho Quinto on the
Island of CamiguiH. of the Babuyanes
the natives. In return for their assistance
n large number of tools and unueeded ar
ticles were turned over to them by the
wrecked men.