ATLAS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
INTRODUCTION.
ORIGIN OF ATLAS.
Treasury Department.
Office U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Washington, D. C. December, 1899.
Shortly after the Philippine commissioners reached Manila it was learned that a series of maps, covering the more important islands of the archipelago, was being prepared at the Jesuit Observatory under the supervision of the director, Rev. José Algue, S. J.
An inspection of such of the maps as already had been completed satisfied the commission that they were superior to anything hitherto published. It was learned that the Jesuit Fathers planned to make the series quite complete, but that they had no very definite ideas as to when the work would be completed or how the maps would be published eventually.
The commission conceived the idea of securing their cooperation in the preparation of a comprehensive atlas of the archipelago, and with this end in view asked them to submit a tentative list of maps. The request was promptly complied with. After some discussion the series here published was decided upon, and an arrangement was entered into whereby it should be completed and become the property of the commission by August 15. 1899.
It is an interesting fact that the technical work was executed wholly by native Philippine draftsmen. It was carried on under the immediate supervision of Rev. José Algue, S. J., director of the Manila Observatory.
The entire absence of accurate surveys of many of the islands was necessarily a serious drawback, but the Jesuits spared no pains in securing all available data, and verified them by consultation with members of the other religious orders, as well as with old residents, travelers, and explorers. To the admirable work of their own Order is due practically all of our present knowledge of the interior of Mindanao.
While strictly accurate maps can never be prepared until the necessary surveys have been made, it is believed that this atlas fairly represents the present state of geographic knowledge of the Philippine Archipelago, and that it embodies a large amount of new information.
At the suggestion of the Philippine commission and of the Department of State, and in view of its usefulness as a preliminary compilation, it was decided to publish the maps through the agency of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Owing to the contradictions involved in the arbitrary scale and projection of the original drawings, some of the maps were redrawn at the Coast and Geodetic Survey Office. It was also deemed timely to append the statistical information which follows this introduction and to give an interpretation of the conventional signs used on the maps.
Henry S. Pritchett,
Superintendent.
