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the ash may be followed by a vertical drop of several feet. At 

 such places it is narrowed in proportion, and we passed through 

 canyons where it was necessary to walk sidewise, while the 

 canyon walls were twenty feet high on either side. As the 

 canyon approaches base level, its curving sides and the location 

 of gravel deposits in the bottom, show that it has begun to 

 meander. At this stage, the canyon which we explored was 

 two hundred feet wide at the bottom, and the vertical sides 

 were at least a hundred feet high. Exit from such a canyon is 

 impossible, and the explorer must follow it to one end or the 

 other. 



The rim of the crater is exceedingly narrow. The inner wall 

 is quite precipitous, of rough rocks in contorted strata, while 

 the outer is also very steep. The two meet at such a sharp 

 angle that one must watch every step. The crater is about 

 a mile and a half across, and the crater lake at the bottom 

 over half a mile in diameter. With some difficulty we made 

 our way to the bottom, finding the whole interior of the crater 

 absolutely without vegetation, and with an odor strongly sug- 

 gestive of a chemical laboratory. The temperature of the water 

 in the lake was about blood heat, or a little warmer, while that 

 of the air was certainly not much less. 



Dr. Gates has prepared a careful description of the vegetation 

 of the island, which gives a much fuller account than possible 

 here. In general it may be said, that practically all of the 

 vegetation has colonized on the island after the eruption, that 

 the chemical nature of the ash and the proximity of the mainland 

 has permitted a more rapid development than on Krakatoa, 

 where the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen seemed to be a pre- 

 requisite, and that wind has been the chief agent in the immi- 

 gration. With the proximity of Taal to botanical centers at 

 Los Banos and Manila and its comparative accessibility, it 

 should be observed at frequent intervals, and should offer in- 

 teresting conclusions concerning the post-volcanic development 

 of vegetation. 



The natives have a superstition that the eruption was caused 

 by an old man who lived in the crater lake, and who was very 



