702 ON THE VOLCANO OF TAAL, 



of the boiling point of water. At the bottom of the crater the 

 soil is composed of detritus, which the rain has washed down from 

 the sides. Senor Centeno considers that the great steepness of 

 the north side shows that the volcanic activity ended in that 

 direction, at any rate it proves that it was greatest on that side. 



Ancient craters of Balantoc and Las Canas. — Between the 

 active volcano and Binintiang Malaki there is, as already stated, 

 another crater. It is much less elevated than the last, though 

 considerably wider. The whole is covered with abundant vegeta- 

 tion, and the rocks are much more decomposed than the last. 

 Moreover, there is not the slightest trace of any activity still 

 going on. It seems to belong to the very early history of 

 the volcanic activity in the island. Everything about it seems 

 to indicate an older crater. To the south of Balantoc and 

 separated by a deep watercourse about 40 ft. wide, is the curious 

 region already referred to as Las Canas. It consists of a number 

 of small craters close to oneanother or breaking-in upon one another, 

 and covering about 500 acres of ground. Two of these are larger 

 than the rest, with a diameter of four or five hundred yards, and 

 about 120 feet high. Their sides are very steep, covered with 

 hardened clay and vegetation at the base. To the west and north 

 west there are others of similar dimensions. To the north-east of 

 this region there is a fissure which is evidently due to weathering. 

 The interior walls of the cavities known as Las Canas ai* 

 extremely abrupt, and composed of cinders. To the north-west 

 there is a horse-shoe-shaped platform a little raised above the 

 level of the lake which forms the origin of a deep ban-anco 

 scooped out by the drainage of water in the rainy season. I quite 

 agree with Senor Centeno in attributing this kind of basin to 

 weathering, and not volcanic activity. For the rest we must 

 suppose that the portion of the island now described was at one 

 time, but not for long, an outlet for the volcanic disturbance 

 underneath. It is difficult to account for the history of all these 

 points of ejection, or the order in which they appeared, but they 

 are not difficult of explanation in a general way. Of course the 



