R1f> MANILLA. 



The old bath-house is a singular-looking place, being built on the 

 hill-side, in the old Spanish style, with large balconies, that are en- 

 closed in the manner already described, in speaking of the houses in 

 Manilla. It is beautifully situated, and overlooks the baths and lake. 

 The baths are of stone, and consist of two large rooms, in each of 

 which is a niche, through which the hot water passes. This building 

 is now in ruins, the roof and floors having fallen in. 



Banos is a small village, but contains a respectable-looking stone 

 church, and two or three houses of the same material. Here the 

 party found a difficulty in getting on, for the alcalde could not speak 

 Spanish, and they were obliged to use an interpreter, in order to com- 

 municate with him. Notwithstanding this, he is a magistrate, whose 

 duty it is to administer laws written in that language. Finding they 

 could not succeed even here in procuring guides or horses, they deter- 

 mined to remain and explore Mount Maquiling, the height of which is 

 three thousand four hundred and fifty feet, and in the mean time to 

 send for their bancas. 



The next day they set out on their journey to that mountain, and 

 the first part of their path lay over a gentle ascent, through cultivated 

 grounds. Next succeeded an almost perpendicular hill, bare of trees, 

 and overgrown with a tall grass, which it was difficult to pass 

 through. 



Such had been the time taken up, that the party found it impossible 

 to reach the summit and return before dark. They therefore began to 

 collect specimens ; and after having obtained a full load, they returned 

 late in the afternoon to Banos. 



The mountain is composed of trachytic rocks and tufa, which are 

 occasionally seen to break through the rich and deep soil, showing 

 themselves here and there, in the deep valleys which former volcanic 

 action has created, and which have destroyed the regular outline of the 

 cone-shaped mountain. The tufa is generally found to form the gently- 

 sloping plains that surround these mountains, and has in all probability 

 been ejected from them. Small craters, of some two hundred feet in 

 height, are scattered over the plains. The tufa is likewise exposed to 

 view on the shores of the lake ; but elsewhere, except on a few bare 

 hills, it is entirely covered with the dense and luxuriant foliage. The 

 tufa is generally of a soft character, crumbling in the fingers, and in it 

 are found coarse and fine fragments of scoria, pumice, &c. The layers 

 are from a few inches to five feet in thickness. 



In the country around Banos, there are several volcanic hills, and on 

 the sides of Mount Maquiling are appearances of parasitic cones, 

 similar to those observed at the Hawaiian Islands ; but time and the 



