the latter.  Among the medicinal plants the most highly valued is the catbalonga seed.  Commerce is quite active in spite of the few means of communication and the dangerous coasts.  The island is visited yearly by tornadoes which devastate crops and cause much damage to agriculture.  The high mountains and thick forests of the interior are inhabited by a great number of savages who have sought refuge here.  The area is 4,699 square miles, and the population 200,753, distributed among 43 pueblos, 208 visitas, and 3 rancherias of subdued infieles.

The capital is Catbalogan, population of 6,459, situated on the harbor and bay of like name on the west of the island 338 miles from Manila, and is the residence of the politico-military governor.

The Jolo Archipelago, formed of some 160 islands, is situated southwest of Mindanao and south of Basilan.  It is bounded on the south by the Jolo Sea, on the northeast by Mindanao and on the west and southwest by Borneo.  The small islands are covered with mangroves, while the large ones have thick forests of good timber, and the natives raise rice, maize, and various alimentary roots, ambergris being found on the coasts.  The principal island, called Sulu, or Jolo (ch. 47, 48, 49, 50, p. 285), is occupied in a military way by the Spanish forces, whose chief, or governor, resides in the old capital, which has well-constructed and armed forts, a pier, etc.  By royal decree of November 13, 1877, the sultanship was transformed into a civico-military government.  The population consists of 500 aborigines, 612 Chinese traders, and 16,000 negroes.

Next to Luzon, the island of Mindanao is the most extensive and important of the Philippines.

By decree of July 30, 1860, the territorial division of this island was definitely established, and a civico-military government, under the denomination of Mindanao and adjacent islands, was created.  It is divided into eight districts.  The island is situated between Visayas on the north and Borneo on the south; it is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the island of Paragua, the Strait of Balabac, and Borneo.  The area is 16,595 square miles, and the population 611,300, of which 211,000 are Christians and the rest Mohammedans and Pagans.  It is very extensive and irregular in form, possessing high and extended mountain chains, which have not been entirely explored, and which are grown over with very rich woods.  It is inhabited almost throughout the interior by savages.  Its rivers, some of great volume, are as follows:  On the north coast and Butuan Bay, the Jabonga and Butuan:  on the Macajalar coast, the Cagayan; in Eligan Bay, the Malanao and others of minor importance; in the cove of Dapitan, the Palaven.