mbankment with gently-sloping sides,
intersected only by a small cleft which serves as an entrance, and
which shows, on its edges denuded of vegetation, the loose rapilli of
which the embankment is formed. The sides of this natural amphitheatre
tower more than a hundred feet above its flat base. A path runs east
and west right through the center. The northern half is studded with
cocopalm trees and cultivated plants; the southern portion is full of
water nearly covered with green weeds and slime. The ground consists
of black rapilli.
[Leaf imprints in lava.] From the Tigui-mere I returned to the
hacienda a bank formed of volcanic lava two feet in thickness
and covered with indistinct impressions of leaves. Their state of
preservation did not allow me to distinguish their species, but they
certainly belonged to some tropical genus, and are, according to
Professor A. Braun, of the same kind as those now growing there.
There are two more small lakes half a league to the south-east. The
road leading to them is composed of volcanic remains which cover the
soil, and large blocks of lava lie in the bed of the stream.
[Maycap Lake.] The first of the two, the Maycap Lake, is entirely
embanked with the exception of a small opening fitted with sluices
to supply water to a canal; and from its northern side, which alone
admits of an open view, the southern peak of San Cristobal may
be seen, about 73 deg. to the north-east. Its banks, which are about
eighty feet high, rise with a gentle slope in a westerly direction,
till they join Mount Maiba, a hill about 500 feet high. The soil,
like that of the embankments of the other volcanic lakes, consists
of rapilli and lava, and is thickly wooded.
[Lake Palakpakan.] Close by is another lake, Palakpakan, of nearly
the same circumference, and formed in a similar manner (of black
sand and rapilli). Its banks are from thirty to one hundred feet
high. From its north-western edge San Cristobal lifts its head 70 deg. to
the northeast. Its waters are easily reached, and are much frequented
by fishermen.
[Palm brandy.] About nine o'clock, a.m., I rode from Calauan to Pila,
and thence in a northeasterly direction to Santa Cruz, over even,
broad, and well-kept roads, through a palm-grove a mile long and a
mile and a half broad, which extends down to the very edge of the
lagoons. The products of these palm trees generally are not used
for the production of oil but for the manufacture of
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