to 126 deg.
30' east longitude.

The archipelago was discovered by Magellan on March 12, 1521, and named by
him the St. Lazarus Islands. The discoverer was a Portuguese, who had
sought service under Charles V. of Spain because he was ignored by the
court of his own country.

By the bull of Pope Alexander VI., of May 4, 1493, which was then
universally recognised as law, the earth was divided into two hemispheres.
All lands thereafter discovered in the Eastern Hemisphere were decreed to
belong to Portugal; all the Western to Spain.

The St. Lazarus Islands were well within Portugal's rights, but as the use
of the log and the variation of the compass were unknown, an error of
fifty-two degrees in longitude was made, and to Spain the islands were
given on the basis of that error.

By whom the name of Philippines was given to the archipelago it is
impossible to say. In 1567 it appears to have been used for the first
time.

The manufactures of the islands consist of silk, cotton, and pina fibres
cloth, hats, mats, baskets, ropes, coarse pottery, and musical
instruments.

The northern islands of the archipelago lie in the region of the typhoon,
and have three seasons,--the cold, the hot, and the wet. The first extends
from November to February or March, when the atmosphere is bracing rather
than cold. The hot season lasts from March to June, and the heat becomes
very oppressive before the beginning of the southerly monsoon.
Thunder-storms of terrific violence occur during May and June. The wet
season begins with heavy rains, known by the natives as "collas," and
until the end of October the downpour is excessive.

"Earthquakes are sufficiently frequent and violent in the Philippines to
affect the style adopted in the erection of buildings; in 1874, for
instance, they were very numerous throughout the archipelago, and in
Manila and the adjacent provinces shocks were felt daily for several
weeks. The most violent earthquakes on record in the Philippines occurred
in July, 1880, when the destruction of property was immense, both in the
capital and in other important towns of central Luzon."

Though situated in the equatorial region, the elevations of the mountains
give a range of climate that allows the production of a great variety of
valuable crops. Tobacco, sugar, hemp, and rice are the chief staples
produced. The swamps and rivers are infested with crocodiles, and the
dense woods with monkeys and serpents of many s