THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 57 



quakes, alternated in frightful succession. Taal, 

 lying at that time on the banks of the Laguna, 

 and several villages, were totally ruined and over- 

 thrown. The mouth of the volcano was too con- 

 fined for such eruptions ; it widened considerably, 

 and a second opened, which likewise threw up lire 

 and mud. Nay, even more, the fire broke out in 

 several places in the Laguna, at a considerable 

 depth below the surface of the water, which boiled 

 up. The earth opened in many places, and a deep 

 gulf yawned particularly wide, extending far in 

 the direction to Calanbong. The mountain con- 

 tinued to smoke a long time. There have since 

 been eruptions, though with decreasing violence. 



The beautiful forests which clothe, in luxuriant 

 verdure, the mountains and a part of the country, 

 extend to the sea, into which the mangroves and 

 other trees hang down. We have had but a cur- 

 sory view of these forests, in a trodden path, and 

 have not penetrated far enough into them, to be 

 able to give a proper description. The fig-tree 

 seemed to us to predominate. Several species rest 

 themselves, as mighty trees, on a singular net of 

 stems, and creeping plants, which twine round the 

 rocks, and spread themselves out over them. 

 Others rise with slender stems to an astonishing 

 height, and you perceive the enigmatical fruit on 

 the under branches of the trees, whose crown is 

 lost amid the verdant canopy of the forest. Some 

 species remain shrubby, and others twine. We 



