i 326 



Excursion to the mountains. 



MANILLA. 



Excursion to the mountains. 



hear that they had really been to the summit, and 

 had accomplished in twenty-four hours what he 

 had deemed a labour of three days. He quickly 

 attended to their wants, the first among which was 

 dry clothing ; and as their baggage had unfortu- 

 nately been left at Santa Cruz, the wardrobe of 

 the rotund padre was placed at their disposal. 

 Although the fit was rather uncouth on the spare 

 forms of our gentlemen, yet his clothes served the 

 purpose tolerably well, and were thankfully made 

 use of. During their absence, Mr. Sturges had 

 been much amused with the discipline he had 

 witnessed at the hands of the Church, which here 

 seem to be the only visible ruling power. Two 

 young natives" had made complaint to the padre 

 that a certain damsel had entered into vows or en- 

 gagements to marry both : she was accordingly 

 brought up before the padre, Mr. Sturges being 

 present. The padre first lectured her most 

 seriously upon the enormity of her crime, then in- 

 flicted several blows on the palm of her out- 

 stretched hand, again renewing the lecture, and 

 finally concluding with another whipping. The 

 girl was pretty, and excited the interest of our 

 friend, who looked on with much desire to inter- 

 fere, and save the damsel from the corporeal pun- 

 ishment, rendered more aggravated by the dispas- 

 sionate and cool manner in which it and the lecture 

 were administered. In the conversation which 

 ensued, the padre said he had more cases of the 

 violation of the marriage vow, and of infidelity, 

 than any other class of crimes. 



After a hearty breakfast, or rather dinner, and 

 expressing their thanks to the padre, they rode 

 back to Santa Cruz, where they arrived at an 

 early hour, and at 9 P.M. they embarked in their 

 bancas for Manilla. 



In the morning they found themselves, after a 

 comfortable night, at Banos. Here they took 

 chocolate with the padre, to whom Mr. Sturges 

 had a letter, who informed them that the other 

 party had left the place the evening before for 

 Manilla. 



This party had proceeded to the town of Baia, 

 where they arrived at daylight on the loth. Baia 

 is quite a pretty place, and well situated; the 

 houses are clean and comfortable, and it possessed 

 a venerable stone church, with towers and bells. 

 On inquiring for the padre, they found that he 

 was absent, and it was in consequence impossible 

 for them to procure horses to proceed to the Vol- 

 cano de Taal. They therefore concluded to walk 

 to the hot springs at Banos, about five miles dis- 

 tant. Along the road they collected a number of 

 curious plants. Rice is much cultivated, and fields 

 of it extend to some distance on each side of the 

 road. Buffaloes were seen, feeding and wallowing 

 in the ditches. 



At Banos the hot springs are numerous, the 

 water issuing from the rock over a considerable 

 surface. The quantity of water discharged by 

 them is large, and the whole is collected and con- 

 ducted to the bathing-houses. The temperature of 

 the water at the mouth of the culvert was 180. 



The old bath-house is a singular-looking place, 

 being built on the hill-side, in the old Spanish 

 style. It is beautifully situated, and overlooks the 

 baths and lake. The baths are of stone, and con- 

 sist of two large rooms, in each of which is a niche, 

 through which the hot water passes. This build- 



ing is now in rums, the roof and floors having 

 fallen in. 



Banos is a small village, but contains a respect- 

 able-looking stone church, and two or three houses 

 of the same material. Here the party found a 

 difficulty in getting on, for the alcalde could not 

 speak Spanish, and they were obliged to use an 

 interpreter, in order to communicate with him. 

 Notwithstanding this, he is a magistrate, whose 

 duty it is to administer laws written in that lan- 

 guage. Finding they could not succeed even here 

 in procuring guides or horses, they determined to 

 remain and explore Mount Maquiling, the height 

 of which is three thousand four hundred and 

 fifty feet, and in the mean time to send for their 

 bancas. 



The next day they set out on their journey to 

 that mountain, and the first part of their path lay 

 over a gentle ascent, through cultivated grounds. 

 Next succeeded an almost perpendicular hill, bare 

 of trees, and overgrown with a tall grass, which it 

 was difficult to pass through. 



Such had been the time taken up, that the party 

 found it impossible to reach the summit and return 

 before dark. They therefore began to collect 

 specimens: and after having obtained a full load, 

 they returned late in the afternoon to Banos. 



The mountain is composed of trachytic rocks 

 and tufa, which are occasionally seen to break 

 through the rich and deep soil, showing them- 

 selves here and there, in the deep valleys which 

 former volcanic action has created, and which have 

 destroyed the regular outline of the cone-shaped 

 mountain. The tufa is generally found to form the 

 gently-sloping plains that surround these moun- 

 tains, and has in all probability been ejected from 

 them. Small craters, of some two hundred feet in 

 height, are scattered over the plains. The tufa is 

 likewise exposed to view on the shores of the lake; 

 but elsewhere, except on a few bare hills, it is 

 entirely covered with the dense and luxuriant 

 foliage. The tufa is generally of a soft character, 

 crumbling in the fingers, and in it are found coarse 

 and fine fragments of scoria, pumice, &c. The 

 layers are from a few inches to five feet in thick- 

 ness. 



In the country around Banos, there are several 

 volcanic hills, and on the sides of Mount Maqui- 

 ling are appearances of parasitic cones, similar to 

 those observed at the Hawaiian Islands; but time 

 and the foliage have so disguised them, that it 

 is difficult to determine exactly their true cha- 

 racter. 



I regretted exceedingly that the party that set 

 out for the Lake de Taal was not able to reach it, 

 as, from the accounts I had, it must be one of the 

 most interesting portions of the country. It lies 

 nearly south-west from Manilla, and occupies an 

 area of about one hundred and twenty square miles. 

 The Volcano de Taal is situated on an island near 

 the centre of it, and is now in action. The cone 

 which rises from its centre is remarkably regular, 

 and consists for the most part of cinders and scoria. 

 It has been found to be nine hundred feet in eleva- 

 tion above the lake. The crater has a diameter of 

 two miles, and its depth is equal to the elevation: 

 the walls of the crater are nearly perpendicular, so 

 much so that the descent cannot be made without 

 the assistance of ropes. At the bottom there are 

 two small cones. Much steam issues from the 



