Читать книгу Beautiful Philippines: A Handbook of General Information онлайн

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The islands produce great quantities of sugar, hemp, copra, rice, corn and tobacco. They are capable of producing besides, and are actually beginning to produce, rubber, coffee, various food and medicinal products, and a multitude of raw materials for every purpose. There are also many hardwoods appropriate for elegant furniture in a variety of natural colors not yet seen in any market. There are mines of gold, copper and coal in operation. There are said to be creditable iron and oil deposits.

There are plenty of wonderful harbors for ships of heavy tonnage. The country is peaceful, the most peaceful perhaps in the world. A courteous and hospitable people greet the foreigner wherever he goes.

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Discovery The Philippines were discovered by Magellan in 1521. That discovery occasioned the first circumnavigation of the globe. Long before the discovery, however, the Islands were already known in the Orient, for they had commercial relations with China as early as the 13th century and with Japan, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Moluccas.