720 ON THE VOLCANO OF TAAL, 



It is no far-fetclied or unreasonable hypothesis, therefore, to 

 suppose that this has been the history of the volcano of Taal, and 

 this has been the way in which the lake of Bombon has been 

 formed. The broken sides of Mount Macolod and the other 

 portions of the lake all attest the violence of the catastrophe, while 

 the depth of the lake itself shows us something of the dimensions 

 of the mountain which sunk down. As I sailed round the bay in 

 the lake called the Seno de Lipa, I had a good opportunity of 

 closely examining the precipices at Punta Calinana, where the 

 structure of Mount Macolod is fully exposed. The strata are 

 disposed in such regular order and with such a uniform dip, that 

 one cannot resist the conclusion that we see in them a fragment of 

 the steep sloping walls of an immense volcanic cone. 



In order to examine and test the hypothesis more closely, I left 

 Point Caluit early in the day and coasted over to the opposite 

 shore, and then poled round the lake clo.se to the margin, except 

 Avhei-e it was too precipitous for the boatmen to do so. I passed 

 round the Punto de Lipa between Napayong Island and the shore. 

 I expected to see in the latter island some traces of the former 

 slope of the volcano continued in the stratified rocks visible here. 

 It will be seen, however, that Napayong Island owes its origin to 

 a former sub-lacustrine eruption within historical periods, and, of 

 course, subsequent to the disappearance of the ancient cone. 

 Howevei', I was not able to ascertain this in a satisfactory manner. 

 Many of the cliffs of Napayong are covered with a thick vegetation 

 of creeping vines and the usual tropical foliage. The clifis are 

 absolutely inaccessible, and I do not think it would be possible to 

 examine them satisfactoi-ily on both sides of the lake without a 

 considerable expenditure of time. My boatmen, who did not 

 relish exposing their canoe to the full force of the evening breeze, 

 wouldnotgive me the time I wished, so I had to content myself with 

 an examination of the rest of the coast from the island to San 

 Juan, on the north side of the laguna. All I saw was confirmatory 

 of the theory that the lake of Bombon now occupies the site of 

 a former and much larger volcano. I consider that the evidence 

 falls but little short of absolute proof, and that the height of 



