of Cebu. The surrounding
country, which is level and fertile, is traversed by several good
carriage roads. The port, formed by the north-west shore of the island
of Mactan, is well protected from violent winds, and in front of it
stands a picturesque Spanish fort. The streets are wide and regularly
laid out. The government buildings are fairly good, and the church
buildings very fine. Cebu is an episcopal see, and the palace of the
bishop, although small, is widely known for its interior decorations.
The Augustinian church is famous for its so-called miraculous image of
Santo Nino. The Recoleto monastery and the seminary of San Carlos are
worthy of mention. The cathedral was finished toward the end of the
eighteenth century. The San Jose hospital here was founded by one of the
religious orders. There was a leper hospital in the outskirts of the
city until 1906, when a leper colony was established on the island of
Culion. Commercially, Cebu is the second city of the Philippines. Hemp,
tobacco, sugar and copra are the most important exports. In addition to
the trade with foreign ports, an important domestic commerce is carried
on with Manila, Bohol, Negros and northern Mindanao. Salt, pottery and
fabrics of silk, sinamay, hemp and cotton are manufactured, and sugar
sacks are woven in considerable quantity. The island of Cebu is known
for its excellent mangoes and for the rare cornucopia-shaped sponges,
called Venus's flower basket (_Euplectella aspergillum_), found here.
Historically Cebu is famous as the scene of Magellan's landing in 1521.
A cross, said to be the one first erected by him, is still preserved in
the cathedral. The great explorer lost his life in the neighbouring
island of Mactan; a monument marks the place where he was killed. The
first Spanish settlement in the Philippines was established at Cebu in
1565, and from that year to 1571 it was the capital of the colony. The
city is unincorporated. The language is Cebu-Visayan.

CECCO D'ASCOLI (1257-1327), the popular name of FRANCESCO DEGLI STABILI,
a famous Italian encyclopaedist and poet--Cecco being the diminutive of
Francesco, and Ascoli, in the marshes of Ancona, the place of the
philosopher's birth. He devoted himself to the study of mathematics and
astrology, and in 1322 was made professor of the latter science at the
university of Bologna. It is alleged that he entered the service of Pope
John XXII. at Avignon, and that he cultivated the acquaint