way lessened by
the Chinese, who took to yelling in their own jargonic syllables.

After the terrible night of November 29 they thought all was over,
when again several columns of smoke appeared, and the priest went off
to the Sanctuary of Cagsaysay, where the prior was. Taal was entirely
abandoned, the natives having gone in all directions away from the
lake. On November 29 and 30 there was complete darkness around the
lake vicinity, and when light reappeared a layer of cinders about
five inches thick was seen over the lands and houses, and it was
still increasing. Total darkness returned, so that one could not
distinguish another's face, and all were more horror-stricken than
ever. In Cagsaysay the natives climbed on to the housetops and threw
down the cinders, which were over-weighting the structures. On November
30 smoke and strange sounds came with greater fury than anything
yet experienced, while lightning flashed in the dense obscurity. It
seemed as if the end of the world was arriving. When light returned,
the destruction was horribly visible; the church roof was dangerously
covered with ashes and earth, and the chronicler opines that its not
having fallen in might be attributed to a miracle! Then there was
a day of comparative quietude, followed by a hurricane which lasted
two days. All were in a state of melancholy, which was increased when
they received the news that the whole of Taal had collapsed; amongst
the ruins being the Government House and Stores, the Prison, State
warehouses and the Royal Rope Walk, besides the Church and Convent.

The Gov.-General sent food and clothing in a vessel, which was nearly
wrecked by storms, whilst the crew pumped and baled out continually
to keep her afloat, until at length she broke up on the shoals at
the mouth of the Pansipit River. Another craft had her mast split by
a flash of lightning, but reached port.

With all this, some daft natives lingered about the site of the town
of Taal till the last, and two men were sepulchred in the Government
House ruins. A woman left her house just before the roof fell in
and was carried away by a flood, from which she escaped, and was
then struck dead by a flash of lightning. A man who had escaped from
Mussulman pirates, by whom he had been held in captivity for years,
was killed during the eruption. He had settled in Taal, and was held
to be a perfect genius, for he could mend a clock!

The road from Taal to Balayan was impassa