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I'lhiiM 1)) Diau C. Worcester 
IvATER : the: 1904 CRATER FILLED WITH WATER 
my town of Taal ; nothing' was left of it 
except the walls of the church and con- 
vento. All the rest, the government 
house, the walks of the rope factory, the 
warehouses, everything was buried be- 
neath a layer of stones, mud, and ashes 
more than 10 spans thick; only here and 
there could be seen an upright post, the 
only remnant of a comfortable dwelling. 
I went down to the river and found it 
completely filled up, with a boat belong- 
ing to the alcalde and many of private 
persons buried in the mud. After in- 
credible efiforts I finally succeeded in un- 
earthing, in what had once been the 
church and sacristy, the chests which 
contained the sacred vestments and ves- 
sels. Nearly all of them were demol- 
ished by the rocks and beams which had 
fallen upon them and filled with foul- 
smelling mud that had ruined or disfig- 
ured their contents. With the aid of 
some natives of Bauang I likewise re- 
covered some property from among the 
ruins of the convento. 
"Twelve persons are known to have 
perished — some carried away by the 
waves of the lake, others crushed be- 
neath their collapsing houses. Thus the 
beautiful town of Taal remains a de- 
serted wilderness and reduced to the ut- 
most misery, while once it was one of 
the richest and most flourishing places. 
In the villages to the west of the lake, 
which were the greater and better part, 
all the houses have either collapsed under 
the load of material which had been piled 
upon them or have disappeared com- 
pletely, swept away by the waves, which 
in these places were so violent that they 
dug three ditches or channels, too wide 
and deep to be forded, and thus rendered 
impassable the road which joins the town 
with Balayan. In other parts of the lake 
shore have likewise opened many cracks 
and occurred very extensive slides. The 
worst of all is that the mouth of the 
river Pansipit having been blocked, the 
lake is rising and invading the towns of 
Lipa and Tanauan, both being on the 
lowest level and inundating their build- 
ings. All the animals of whatever kind 
have perished, some by being buried, 
others by drowning, the rest by starving. 
327 
