in 1897 were only $10,000,000 and its
exports $20,000,000) is the Philippine Islands. Its present meagre
foreign trade represents only an average purchase of about one dollar
per inhabitant, and an average sale of two dollars per inhabitant for
the largest archipelago in the world, and one of the richest in soil and
natural resources. The bulk of these exports were hemp, sugar, and
tobacco; and, strange as it may seem, the United States received 41 per
cent. of her hemp and 55 per cent. of her sugar for the year 1897,
notwithstanding the fact that we had not one commercial firm doing
business in that whole vast domain.

The city of Iloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island of
Panay, and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has an
excellent harbor, and the surrounding country is very productive, having
extensive plantations of sugar, rice, and tobacco. The population of
Iloilo is only 12,000, but there are a few larger towns in the district,
of which it is the seaport. Though the city at spring tides is covered
with water, it is said to be a very healthful place, and much cooler
than Manila.

The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of the
same name, is a well-built town, and has a population of about 13,000.
From this point the bulk of the hemp for export comes.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ISLANDS.

It is impossible to speak of the other islands in detail. Seven of the
group average larger than the State of New Jersey; Luzon is as extensive
as Ohio, Mindanao equals Indiana; and, as we have stated before, about
four hundred of them are inhabitable, and, like Java, Borneo, and the
Spice Islands, all are rich in natural resources. They are of a volcanic
origin, and may be described in general as rugged and mountainous. The
coasts of most of the islands are deeply indented by the sea, and the
larger ones are well watered by streams, the mouths of which afford good
harbors. Many of the mountainous parts abound in minerals. Mr. Karuph,
President of the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in May, 1898, addressed a
letter to Hon. John Hay, at that time our ambassador to England, in
which he declares that the Philippines will soon come prominently
forward as a new center of the world's gold production. "There is not a
brook," says Mr. Karuph, "that finds its way into the Pacific Ocean
whose sands and gravel do not pan the color of gold. Many valuable
deposits are close to deep wa