148 



nearly a foot long. The flowers of both are partially hidden 

 beneath the foliage. Ipomoea pes-caprae has simple leaves, 

 while those of Ca^iavalia are compound. The leaflets of the 

 latter, however, resemble whole leaves of the former so closely 

 in shape, size, and venation, that we walked through the mats 

 for some minutes before we observed that there was a second 

 species at all. It made a most striking illustration of the fre- 

 quent tendency of unallied species of the same association to 

 present the same vegetative form. 



Back of the beach proper, the flat meadows are thickly 

 sprinkled with small rocks of remarkably uniform size, all 

 probably deposited there during some eruption of the volcano. 

 Most of them are heavy black lava, some with a mixture of a 

 red iron compound, but there are some of pumice as well. 

 Thickets of Acacia Farnesiana were coming up freely over these 

 meadows. Along the paths and at the base of the low hills 

 were mixed thickets of numerous species. 



A small stream which entered the lake here is bordered by 

 numerous plants of a tall aroid, apparently an Alocasia. Its 

 broad triangular leaves are a yard long, and clustered at the 

 summit of an erect caudex three or four feet high and ten inches 

 in diameter. The plants nearest the stream were being under- 

 mined by the meandering of the current, and plants still alive 

 may occasionally be washed down stream and into Bombon 

 Lake. One such plant was seen on the lake shore, still alive 

 and apparently in good condition, and there is no reason why 

 the species should not sometimes reach the shore of the volcanic 

 island and colonize there. 



There was considerable delay in arranging for our transpor- 

 tation by water across to the volcano. Part of that may be 

 attributed to the general habit of procrastination of the Filipino, 

 part to the difficulty of making our wants known, and part to 

 superstition. No one would venture on such a trip until 

 after the Americans had started. With us and our car- 

 gadores, or carriers, on the way, the students followed very 

 quickly. The native boat, or banca, is a dug-out, with single 

 or double outriggers of bamboo. It is very narrow, not exceeding 



