376 TOBACCO CULTURE, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
they, from filaments taken from the leaves of the efuana,~ 
make cambric of a texture much finer than that of France; 
and they also manufacture coarse strong cloth for sails, and 
ropes and cables of all dimensions ; they tan and dress leather 
and skins to perfection; they manufacture coarse earthen 
ware, and forge and polish arms of various kinds; they build 
ships of heavy tonnage, and also light and neat boats ; and at 
Manilla they frame and finish-off beautiful carriages; they 
are also very clever workers in gold, silver, and copper; and 
the Indian women are specially expert in needlework, and in 
all kinds of embroidery. 
“The island of Luzon is the largest of the Philippines, and 
extends from north to south for the length of about six 
degrees. It is divided throughout its whole extent by a 
chain of mountains, which in general owe their formation to 
voleanic eruptions. In the provinces of Laguna and Batan- 
gas there is the high mountain called Maijai, one of the lofti- 
est in Luzon, which is beyond doubt an ancient crater; on 
the summit a little lake is found, the depth of which cannot 
be measured. At some period the lava that then flowed 
from the summit towards the base, in the neighborhood of the 
town of Nacarlan, covered up immense cavities, which are 
now recognizable by the sonorous noise of the ground for a 
great extent ; and sometimes it happens that, in consequence 
of an inundation or an earthquake, this volcanic crust is in 
some places broken, and exposes to the view enormous 
caverns, which the Indians call ‘the mouths of hell.’ In the 
district about the town of San Pablo, which is situated on 
the mountain, are found great numbers of little circular lakes 
and immense heaps of rotten stones, basalt, and different 
descriptions of lava, which show that all these lakes are 
nothing else than the craters of old volcanoes. Altogether 
the soil to the southward, in the province of Albai, is com- 
pletely volcanic, and the frequent eruptions of the volcano 
bearing that name may, as the natives say, be attributed to 
the same cause as the earthquakes so often felt in the island 
of Luzon. Over almost the whole of these mountains, where 
fire has played so conspicuous a part, there isa great depth 
of vegetable earth, and they are covered with a most splendid 
vegetation. Their declivities nourish immense forests and 
fine pastures in which grow gigantic trees—palm trees, rat- 
tans, and lianas of a thousand kinds, or gramineous plants 
of various sorts, particularly the wild sugar cane, which rises 
to the height of from nine to twelve feet from the ground; 
