the night in a rancho,
in order next day to visit a solfatara which was said to be a day's
journey further; but my companions were so exhausted by fatigue that
they asked for at least a few hours' rest.

[Ferns and orchids.] On the upper slope I observed no palms with the
exception of calamus; but polypodies (ferns) were very frequent, and
orchids surprisingly abundant. In one place all the trees were hung,
at a convenient height, with flowering aerids; of which one could have
collected thousands without any trouble. The most beautiful plant
was a Medinella, of so delicate a texture that it was impossible to
preserve it.

[Carbonic acid spring.] Within a quarter of an hour north-east
of Uacloy, a considerable spring of carbonic acid bursts from the
ground, depositing abundance of calcareous sinter. Our torches were
quickly extinguished, and a fowl covered with a cigar-box died in
a few minutes, to the supreme astonishment of the Igorots, to whom
these phenomena were entirely new.

[Farewell to mountaineers.] On the second day of rest, my poor hosts,
who had accompanied me back to Uacloy, still felt so weary that they
were not fit for any undertaking. With naked heads and bellies they
squatted in the burning sun in order to replenish their bodies with
the heat which they had lost during the bivouac on the summit; for
they are not allowed to drink wine. When I finally left them on the
following day, we had become such good friends that I was compelled
to accept a tamed wild pig as a present. A troop of men and women
accompanied me until they saw the glittering roofs of Maguiring,
when, after the exchange of hearty farewells, they returned to their
forests. The natives whom I had taken with me from Goa had proved
so lazy and morose that nearly the whole task of making the path
through the forest had fallen upon the Igorots. From sheer laziness
they threw away the drinking water of which they were the porters;
and the Igorots were obliged to fetch water from a considerable
distance for our bivouac on the summit. In all my troublesome marches,
I have always done better with Cimarrons than with the civilized
natives. The former I have found obliging, trustworthy, active and
acquainted with localities, while the latter generally displayed the
opposite qualities. It would, however, be unjust to form a conclusive
opinion as to their comparative merits from these facts; for the
wild people are at home when in the forest; what