[Illustration:  A Philippine woman carrying water.]

On one of the islands there is a wonderful plant called the pitcher plant.  Its leaves are in the shape of pitchers.  Some of the pitchers have lids, and are large enough to hold a pint of water.

In the Philippines they raise coffee, bananas, sugar, tobacco, and cotton.  One of their most useful plants is the plant from which they get hemp for making ropes and cords.  This plant is called “ab’a-ca” by the people in the Philippines, and its hemp is called Manila hemp.

There is a great deal of rice grown in the Philippines.  Rice is the food that most of the people live on.

There are buffaloes in the Philippines.  The people use them for riding and for carrying loads.  They have also deer, goats, and hogs.

[Illustration:  A Buffalo at Work.]

In some parts of the islands they have a strange way of fishing.  They fill baskets with a kind of mixture in which they put poison.  Then they throw the baskets into the water.  The fish become stupid after eating the poison.  Very soon they rise to the top of the water, where the people catch them.

Manila is a large town with strong walls and a deep moat, or ditch, around it.  There are eight gates in the wall and bridges across the moat.

The men in Manila wear trousers and shirts; but they wear the shirts outside.  The women wear skirts with long trains, and waists with very full and flowing sleeves.  They wear scarfs or handkerchiefs around their necks, with two of the corners hanging down their backs.  They never wear hats.

[Illustration:  Women of Luzon.]

In a few of the islands there are schools, and the children learn to read and write; but in many other parts there are neither schools nor churches.  As the islands now belong to the United States, there will soon be many more schools, and the children will be able to learn everything that is taught in our schools.

BANGALA

Far away in Africa, near where the pygmies live, there is a great river called the Kongo.  The land on either side of this river for many miles is called the Kongo Valley.

There are hundreds of miles of great woods in this valley.  These woods are not like our woods.  They are very thick with vines and plants.  There are also a great many kinds of trees.

In the woods are birds with very bright colors.  There are birds called sunbirds.  Often green, yellow, scarlet, and purple feathers are found on these birds.  What a pretty sight it must be to see them flit about in the sun!

There are also many kinds of pretty flowers in the woods.  These flowers are as gay in color as the birds.

Many tribes of negroes live in the Kongo Valley.  They live in huts made of mats.  The mats are made of strong grass.  The grass is first twisted into cords.  Then the cords are braided into mats.