52 



THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



Cavite, situated on the extreme point of a tongue 

 of land, wliich projects into the beautiful and much- 

 frequented bay of Manilla, and cuts off a part of 

 it, is the most unfavourable station for a traveller, 

 who, during his short stay in Lu9on, intends to 

 employ his time in examining the nature of the 

 country. The tongue of land, and the finely-cul- 

 tivated banks of the bay up to Manilla, belong to 

 civilized man. Between the houses and villages 

 you see only rice-fields, gardens, and plantations, 

 in which grow the plants of botli the Indies. 



We had an opportunity to make only one excur- 

 sion, of eight days, into the interior, to Taal, and 

 the volcano, of the same name, in the Laguna de 

 Bonborig. The military escort accompanying us, 

 which was a mark of Spanish pomp, was very 

 troublesome, and increased tlie expenses of a jour- 

 ney where only a guide would have been requisite 

 among the mild and hospitable Tagalese. The 

 island of Lu9on is every where liigh and mountain- 

 ous ; the highest summits do not seem, however, 

 to exceed the woody region. Three volcanoes rise 

 from it : first, in the north, the Aringuay, in the 

 territory of the Ygorrotes, in the province of Ilocos, 

 which, on the 4th of January, 1641, broke out at 



