The Guardian-Mother continued on her course without encountering either typhoon or other tempest, and her passengers kept very comfortable under the awnings. The ship was in about 10° of north latitude and 110° of east longitude. She was sailing with the wind nearly dead ahead, and therefore the breeze was good on deck, and even in the cabins.

At the appointed hour the passengers were in their chairs in Conference Hall, two of them occupied by the siamangs, and the baby in the lap of Miss Blanche, who had become very much attached to the little creature. On the frame in front of the orang-outang was a complete map of the Philippine Islands, covering seventeen degrees of latitude, and ten of longitude, with enough of the seas around them to make their position clear to the audience.

Professor Giroud was introduced for this occasion as the speaker; and he was received with more than usual applause, for he had not occupied the rostrum as much as formerly, General Noury having been kept busy since his reappearance off Batavia. It may be said that after the rest of the day before the party were in excellent condition to be instructed.[251]

"We are sailing just now in comparatively shallow water; and just to the south of us there are innumerable shoals, with only from four to ten fathoms of water on them. If the water were entirely drained from the China Sea, the bottom would be like a hilly region; for these numerous shoals would be the tops of various elevations, and the same would be true of a less extent north of us. The portion of the sea over which we are now moving would appear to be a considerable valley. You all have imagination enough to see what I have described.

"All around the Philippines on the east and south the water is from two to four thousand fathoms deep; so that if the seas were dried up around them, these islands would appear like a number of irregular chains of mountains, and the highest peak would be over 10,000 feet above the present surface of the water.

"From north to south these islands extend about a thousand miles, and from east to west about half that distance, with the Sulu or Mindoro Sea four hundred miles across it in either direction, nearly enclosed within them; for the north-east coast of Borneo is part of its boundary on the south. As the commander mentioned at dinner last evening, there are over two thousand islands in the group; and leaving out those rocks and shoals which are not big enough for a man to stand upon, there are twelve hundred of them.

"On a map of the world, or even of Asia, the[252] Philippine Islands occupy but a small space, and in your school-days you have doubtless regarded them as of but little importance; but several of the islands are larger than any New England State, and two of them are as large as Virginia and Ohio, and nearly as large as New York and Pennsylvania. Luzon and Mindanao," and the professor pointed to them on the map, "the most northerly and the most southerly, have each about 40,000 square miles, and the area of all the islands is 116,000 miles. I think most of you could have no idea from your study of maps of the extent of the Philippines.

"Mindoro, the next island south of Luzon, has 9,000; and the others from 1,200 to 5,500. I shall not mention or describe them separately. We shall visit only Manila and the country near it, and you would not remember even the names of the islands over night. They are all mountainous and volcanic. The highest mountain is Apo, in Mindanao, which is 10,400 feet high, and there are others of 9,000 feet.

"The islands are volcanic, and therefore subject to earthquakes; and an instrument in Manila which indicates vibrations of the earth is said to be shaking about all the time. Several destructive ones are recorded in the past. In 1863 Manila was nearly destroyed by one, and the great southern island is especially liable to them.

"The mountain ranges mostly extend north and south; and there is space between them for some considerable rivers, as the Rio Grande in Luzon has[253] a course of 220 miles. The Agusan in Mindanao is navigable for 60 miles. In this island are several lakes, with rivers flowing from them. In addition to which are many lacustrine basins."

"Spare us, Professor!" exclaimed Uncle Moses.

"The word comes from lacus, Latin for lake, and applies here to such lakes as send their overflow to the sea or other lakes by streams made by the rush of water. But I don't use many such words, and I hardly expected a classical scholar to object," replied the professor.

"But I objected in behalf of several here who never studied Latin; and besides the overflow is entirely apart from the root of the word. But I am satisfied, and the commander may invite you to proceed," chuckled Brother Avoirdupois.

"On account of the high mountains and the abundant sea-breezes, though hot and moist, this group is not so unhealthy as most tropical islands and countries. The fevers of hot countries are here of the mild, intermittent kind"—

"What is intermittent, Professor?" asked Felix. "Is it the kind they don't have in Ireland?"

"I should say that it was."

"An intermittent fever, Felix, is one that comes and goes, like the old woman's soap," interjected Mrs. Blossom, the nurse; and everybody laughed to hear her say anything.

"The diseases most dreaded in these islands are consumption, dysentery, and anæmia"[254]—

"Mercy, Professor!" cried Mr. Woolridge.

"The reduction in the amount of blood in the system, and the condition resulting from this loss, is anæmia. Dr. Hawkes can explain it more fully," replied the professor.

"Not necessary," added the surgeon.

"As all over the Eastern Archipelago, there are two seasons, the wet and the dry, produced by the monsoons; but the irregularity of the surface variously modifies the result. For the southern and western sides of the mountains the south-west monsoons give the wet season, and the north-east the dry season, and vice versa. Manila is subjected by the influence of the south-west winds to rains from June to November, with dry weather the rest of the year.

"The temperature is about the same all the year round. The coolest month is December, when the glass stays at about 77°; and in May, the hottest month, at 86°. Of course there are days, and times of day, when the temperature is lower than the one, and higher than the other. The e............