Note 1 — From the Year 1638 to that of 1639

Tawi Tawi is the largest island of a group having the same name, in the extreme southwest of the Philippine Archipelago, nearly 700 miles distant from Manila. It contains over 100 islands, mostly very small; but five of these contain ten or more square miles of area. The island Tawi Tawi contains 187 square miles; its surface is one of fertile plains interspersed with forests, and broken by five peaks ranging from 736 to 1,941 feet in height. The islands are thinly populated (estimated at 1,815 fighting men) by Malayan tribes supposed to have migrated thither from Borneo—the Suluanos, Camucones, and Tirones. Navigation among the islands is difficult and dangerous, except for the small, light native craft; and they have been the hiding-places of pirates from the earliest times.