Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/176

The successive steps taken in changing the judicial system are of great interest, and illustrate in a conspicuous manner the adaptability of American legal institutions to the greatest of our new possessions.

Until January 1, 1906, Spanish will be the official language of all the courts, and after that English; meanwhile the supreme court and courts of first instance may in any case order a duplicate record of a case in the English language whenever, in the opinion of the court, the public convenience and the interest of the litigant parties will be promoted thereby. This is a fortunate settlement of a difficult question, and is equally fair to the English and Spanish speaking lawyers, besides preventing the resentment which would have followed had English been forcibly imposed on the people by operation of law.

Although Spain had jurisdiction over these islands for more than three centuries, little topographic information had been acquired regarding them, except such as was of a very general character. The coasts were badly mapped and in many places are now known to have been miles out of position. The coast charts, made from Spanish surveys, are so inaccurate as to be, on the whole, worse than useless to mariners, while of the interior of the larger islands little was known except what could be seen from the sea. Many maps of the archipelago have been published embodying the knowledge which had been acquired both during the days of the Spanish jurisdiction and in more recent times, but they are all very much of the same character.

Since American occupation much exploration and surveying have been done. Wherever military operations have extended, surveys have been made and maps prepared. In this way there have been produced maps covering a large part of Luzon, including the entire central portion of that island. Maps have been made of several of the Visayan Islands. The operations against the Malanao Moros have resulted in a map of Lake Lanao and its surroundings in Mindanao. The island of Jolo has been mapped.

The great work of charting the coasts and harbors of the Philippines was commenced three years ago by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, working in cooperation with the Philippine government, and progress is being made in the preparation of accurate and trustworthy charts of these dangerous coasts.

The entire archipelago is mountainous or hilly. In the islands of Luzon, Negros, and Mindanao are broad plains and level valleys, but in general there is comparatively little level land. Tropic vegetation extends high up on the slopes and covers the lesser mountains and hills. Thus the ruggedness of a mountain region is softened into rounded outlines. The mountain scenery is everywhere beautiful, but rarely appeals to the eye with the element of grandeur.

The archipelago is, for the most part, of volcanic origin. It contains twelve volcanoes which have been in eruption within historic times, and scores which are extinct or quiescent. Most of the surface of the islands is floored with volcanic rocks and ash. In northern Luzon there are, however, large areas underlain by metamorphic rocks, granites, schists, and the like; and several islands, notably Cebu and Bohol, are covered with a veneer of coral limestone. The occurrence of these coral limestones of very recent disposition, at various places in the archipelago and at great altitudes, as in Benguet province at a height above sea of 5,000 feet, shows that great oscillations of level have occurred at times geologically very recent. Of these oscillations there are other abundant evidences in the existence of