12 C AG AY AN SULU. [chap. 



own. Immediately above iis a gap in the cliff revealed the 

 probable position of the second lake, and scrambling up by an 

 ascent so steep that, but for the jungle, it would have been im- 

 practicable, we found ourselves on a knife edge of rock dividing 

 the two craters. The scene was a very curious one, and we could 

 realise at once the delight of Admiral Keppel on his discovery of 

 such an extraordinary natural curiosity. The second lake, though 

 of somewhat smaller size, is more perfectly circular than the 

 western one, and though its southern wall is only a few yards 

 distant from the beach, the sea has, as yet, left it unbroken. The 

 level of the water, which is perfectly fresh, must be fully forty feet 

 above the sea, and but for the lessened height of the surrounding 

 walls the second lake is almost an exact reproduction of the first. 

 Our only disappointment was that owing to the denseness of the 

 vegetation we could obtain no photograph giving any idea of the 

 extraordinary scene that lay before us. 



We scrambled down again in considerably less time than we 

 had taken over the ascent, and row^ed round to the sea side with 

 the intention of hauling our " Berthon " boat through the jungle and 

 launching it on the second lake. But after a hard struggle we had 

 to relinquish the idea; the heat and dense tangle of creepers 

 proving too much for us. The view from the southern side was 

 even more striking than that we had first obtained, though limited 

 by the masses of foliage which, combined with the steepness of the 

 cliffs, prevented our descent to the water's edge. Opposite to where 

 we stood the almost perpendicular crater wall was hidden by 

 enormous creepers, but to our left the deep gap by which we had 

 ascended from the western lake stood out bare and rocky, the cliffs 

 rising a hundred feet or more above the little pass. The water 

 below us lacked the deep sapphire blue of the other basin. We 

 watched its unruffled surface in vain for any trace of the crocodiles 

 which are said by the natives to haunt it in abundance. 



Our search for shells and beetles was rather unproductive. Of 

 the former only some common species and a single valve of a huge 



