procure firewood to cook the
rice, thick branches were got out of the wood, and their comparatively
dry pith extracted with great labor. The lucifer-matches, too, were
so damp that the phosphorus was rubbed away in friction; but, being
collected on blotting-paper, and kneaded together with the sulphurous
end of the match-wood, it became dry and was kindled by friction. Not
a trace of solid rock was to be seen. All was obstructed by a thick
overgrowth from where the path ceased, and the ground covered with
a dense bed of damp wood-earth. The following morning was fine, and
showed a wide panorama; but, before I had completed my drawing, it
again became misty; and as, after several hours of waiting, the heavens
were overspread with thick rain-clouds, we set out on our return.

[Butterflies.] Numerous butterflies swarmed around the summit. We
could, however, catch only a few, as the passage over the cane-stubble
was too difficult for naked feet; and, the badly-stitched soles of
two pairs of new shoes which I had brought from Manila having dropped
off some time before I reached the summit, I was compelled to perform
the journey to Ligao barefoot.

[Native contempt for private Spaniards.] On the following day my
Spanish host went twice to the tribunal to procure the carabao carts
which were necessary for the furtherance of my collections. His
courteous request was unsuccessful; but the command of the parish
priest, who personally informed the Gobernadorcillo in his house,
was immediately obeyed. The Filipino authorities have, as a rule, but
little respect for private Spanish people, and treat them not seldom
with open contempt. An official recommendation from the alcalde is
usually effectual, but not in all the provinces; for many alcaldes do
hurt to their own authority by engaging the assistance or connivance of
the native magistrates in the furtherance of their personal interests.

[Giant bats.] I here shot some panikes, great bats with wings nearly
five feet wide when extended, which in the day time hang asleep from
the branches of trees, and, among them, two mothers with their young
sucking ones uninjured. It was affecting to see how the little animals
clung more and more firmly to the bodies of their dying parents,
and how tenderly they embraced them even after these were dead. The
apparent feeling, however, was only self-interest at bottom, for,
when their store of milk was exhausted, the old ones were treated
withou