94 ADAMS. 



broken down, but there are some vents in the remnants of its walls. 

 The inactive small cone F of his description has disappeared. 



In 1904 Taal was reported to be in eruption and many people visited 

 it then and photographed it. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the 

 Interior, has some good negatives taken during this active period and 

 they furnish a better idea than descriptions of what took place during" 

 July, which, stated briefly, Avas as follows. 



Besides giving off a greater amount of steam and sulphurous v.apors 

 at all points where such actions had usually occurred, the new crater 

 formed in 1904 sent up great columns of vapor and intermittently ejected 

 mud and stones to a height of at least 150 meters. The activity of 

 this crater soon diminished and in December, 1905, its floor was covered 

 by a boiling lake. In March, 1907, the lake had disappeared. The 

 crater now contains some hot mud spots which are in a state of very 

 moderate agitation and give off but little steam and gas. The temporary 

 red lake in the southeastern part of the main crater floor seems to have 

 first been mentioned during the eruption of 1904. ;J 



Historic eruptions of Taal. — The following summary of the historic erup- 

 tions of Taal is taken from Centeno's monograph published in 1882. At the 

 time of the Spanish conquest, according to various ancient documents, the place 

 of activity of Taal (or perhaps better, a place of activity) was on the north- 

 western point of the island in a small cone, Bininting Malaqui. There are no 

 records of eruption from it, but in 1880, when it was visited by Centeno there 

 were some small vents of vapor and gas in its crater and one on the southeast 

 'border of its rim. There are now some similar phenomena at this cone, but 

 of diminished importance. 



In 1680 Taal is described as having occasional eruptions which destroyed 

 many fields on the island. At that time there were two vents, one of sulphur 

 and the other of green water. They are interpreted as being the yellow and 

 green lakes which exist to-day. 



In 1709-1715 eruptions produced some damage on the island. 



In 1716 there was an eruption accompanied by earthquakes, and a disturb- 

 ance in Taal Lake between the island and Mount Macalod. The waters of 

 the lake were so agitated that waves cut away the outer shore of the lake, 

 injuring the convento at Taal which was then situated on its border. There 

 are some sunken rocks in the lake between the volcano and Mount Macalod, 

 but whether or not they originated at the time of this eruption is not known. 



In 1731 there .was an eruption in Taal Lake east of the island, forming a 



3 In the article by R. F. Bacon, This Journal, Sec. A, (1907) 2, 115, on the 

 "Crater Lakes of Taal Volcano," the yellow lake of Centeno's description is called 

 the boiling crater lake. A temporary lake southeast of the yellow lake is referred 

 to as the yellow lake. Evidently the colors of the lakes vary from time to time. 



