TAAL VOLCANO AND ITS DESTRUCTIVE ERUPTION 
355 
again be allowed to exist on Bombon 
Lake. 
The official figures as to the number 
of dead and wounded have already been 
given, but as whole villages were wiped 
out of existence, and as the survivors in 
other villages were scattered, it neces- 
sarily follows that the exact number of 
persons who perished will never be 
known. 
photographer martin stili, 
undaunte;d 
Mr. Martin and his companions set 
out from Bahadero for Volcano Island 
in a partially crippled launch at i p. m. 
on the day of the eruption. Mr. Martin 
reached the crater rim at 3 p. m. and 
completed his remarkable series of pho- 
tographs, although the activity within the 
crater was still terrifyingly intense and 
the earth was constantly shaking under 
his feet. At 3 145 the party left. 
Fifteen minutes later there occurred a 
tremendous explosion (see pages 335, 
346, and 348), which again deluged the 
island with mud, while a black cloud of 
noxious fumes rolled down the slopes of 
the volcano to, and over, the neighbor- 
ing waters of the lake. 
Of this adventurous journey Mr. Mar- 
tin says : 
"At the time, it was my own opinion 
that absolutely no animal life could have 
withstood and lived through the erup- 
tion on the island ; it was completely 
devastated, not a blade of grass escap- 
ing. Large trees 8 inches in diameter 
were broken, leaving stumps of i foot 
or \y2 feet high. The ends of these 
stumps were shredded like whisk-brooms 
by the fall of sand and small stones 
driven by the force of the eruption. A 
large stone weighing not less than 600 
pounds was projected clear on top of 
the highest ridge. 
"A rock was found with its surface 
fused, giving it the appearance known as 
'bread-crust' ; the greatest diameter of 
this stone was one meter. But I did not 
see any fire or red-hot stones thrown up. 
The heat was possibly enough to fuse 
rock, but of course from Tanauan I could 
not see such things erupting, and while I 
was on the crater's rim there was nothing 
thrown up that could possibly be called 
'fiery.' The eruption consisted mainly 
of mud, and very wet mud at that. 
"The trees on the island were broken 
and were found lying in a direction radi- 
ating from the crater. The fall of the 
mud, though sufficient to break up all 
branches, was not sufficient to break the 
trunks, which were nevertheless torn off 
at I to I ^ feet from the ground. Such 
results were caused by the terrific explo- 
sions. 
"The whole island had also subsided 
about 8 to 10 feet. This is readily at- 
tested by the trees, which used to be on 
high ground and are now found several 
feet in the water. Such trees do not live 
in the water." 
Mr. Martin subsequently accompanied 
relief parties and also went with the men 
sent out by the Bureau of Science to in- 
vestigate the results of the seismic activi- 
ties which had accompanied the eruption, 
so that his series of photographs very 
fully covers both the eruption and its 
material effects in the surrounding coun- 
try. 
THE DEVASTATING BLAST PROM THE 
CRATER 
There has been much discussion as to 
the cause of the devastating blast from 
the crater, and as to the reason why its 
effect was so much more serious on the 
west coast of the lake than elsewhere. 
There is no doubt that an immense 
body of steam and gases, heavily charged 
with fine volcanic ejecta, swept down- 
ward and outward in all directions from 
the crater rim. It stripped Volcano 
Island bare of all vegetation ; caused a 
huge wave to extend outward over the 
surface of the lake; blew houses to bits; 
broke off many great forest trees ; bent 
saplings, bushes, bamboo, and tall grasses 
to the ground on the mainland ; and dealt 
instant death to every living creature 
fully exposed to its fury. The human 
beings who escaped owe their lives to the 
fact that they were blown into the lake, 
or were in especially protected spots. 
EXPERIENCES OE PRIVATE COUCH 
The few survivors within the zone of 
devastation were so overwhelmed by the 
