[Leyte.] The island of Leyte, between 9° 49' and 11° 34' N., and
124° 7' and 125° 9' E. Gr., is above twenty-five miles in length,
and almost twelve miles broad, and contains one hundred seventy
square miles. As I have already remarked, it is divided from Samar
only by the small strait of San Juanico. The chief town, Tacloban or
Taclobang, lies at the eastern entrance of this strait, with a very
good harbor and uninterrupted communication with Manila, and has
consequently become the chief emporium of trade to Leyte, Biliran,
and South and East Samar. [188]
[Obliging Spanish officials.] The local governor likewise showed me
much obliging attention; indeed, almost without exception I have,
since my return, retained the most agreeable remembrances of the
Spanish officials; and, therefore, if fitting opportunity occurred,
I could treat of the improprieties of the Administration with greater
impartiality.
[Locusts.] In the afternoon of the day after my arrival at Tacloban, on
a sudden there came a sound like the rush of a furious torrent; the air
became dark, and a large cloud of locusts swept over the place. [189]
I will not again recount that phenomenon, which has been so often
described, and is essentially the same in all quarters of the globe,
but will simply remark that the swarm, which was more than five hundred
feet in width, and about fifty feet in depth, its extremity being
lost in the forest, was not thought a very considerable one. It caused
vigilance, but not consternation. Old and young eagerly endeavored to
catch as many of the delicate creatures as they could, with cloths,
nets, and flags, in order, as Dampier relates, "to roast them in
an earthen pan over fire until their legs and wings drop off, and
their heads and backs assume the color of boiled crabs;" after which
process he says they had a pleasant taste. In Burma at the present day,
they are considered as delicacies at the royal court. [190]
[Plan for their extermination.] The locusts are one of the greatest
plagues of the Philippines, and sometimes destroy the harvest of entire
provinces. The Legislación Ultramarina (iv. 504) contains a special
edict respecting the extirpation of these devastating pests. As soon
as they appear, the population of the invaded localities are to be
drawn out in the greatest possible numbers, under the conduct of the
authorities, in order to effect their destruction. The most approved
means for the attainment of this object are set forth in an official
document referring to the adoption of extraordinary measures in cases
of public emergency; and in this the locusts are placed midway between
sea-pirates and conflagrations. Of the various means that have been
contrived against the destructive creatures, that, at times, appear
in incredible numbers, but have been as frequently ineffectual as
otherwise, only a few will be now mentioned. On April 27, 1824,
the Sociedad Economica determined to import the bird, the martin
(Gracula sp.), "which feeds by instinct on locusts." In the autumn
of the following year the first consignment arrived from China; in
1829 a second; and in 1852 again occurs the item of $1,311 for martins.
[Tacloban to Tanauan.] On the following day I proceeded with the
priest of Dagami (there are roads in Leyte) from Tacloban southwards
to Palos and Tanauan, two flourishing places on the east coast. Hardly
half a league from the latter place, and close to the sea, a cliff
of crystal lime rock rises up out of the sandy plain, which was level
up to this point. It is of a greyish-green quartzose chlorite schist,
from which the enterprising Father had endeavored, with a perseverance
worthy of better success, to procure lime by burning. After an ample
breakfast in the convent, we proceeded in the afternoon to Dagami,
and, on the next day, to Burauen. [191]
[A pleasing people.] The country was still flat. Coco-groves and
rice-fields here and there interrupted the thick forest; but the
country is thinly inhabited, and the people appear more cheerful,
handsomer, and cleaner than those of Samar. South of Burauen rises
the mountain ridge of Manacagan, on the further slope of which is a
large solfatara, which yields sulphur for the powder manufactory in
Manila, and for commerce. A Spanish sailor accompanied me. Where the
road passed through swamp we rode on carabaos. The pace of the animals
is not unpleasant, but the stretching across the broad backs of the
gigantic carabaos of the Philippines is very fatiguing. A quarter of an
hour beyond Burauen we crossed the Daguitan, which flows south-west to
north-east, and is a hundred feet broad, its bed being full of large
volcanic blocks; and, soon after, a small river in a broad bed; and,
some hundred paces farther, one of a hundred and fifty feet in breadth;
the two latter being arms of the Burauen. They flow from west to east,
and enter the sea at Dulag. The second arm was originated only the
preceding year, during a flood.
[The height of hospitality.] We passed the night in a hut on
the northern slope of the Manacagan, which the owner, on seeing
us approach, had voluntarily quitted, and with his wife and child
sought other lodgings. The customs of the country require this when
the accommodation does not suffice for both parties; and payment for
the same is neither demanded nor, except very rarely, tendered.
[Up the Manacagan.] About six o'clock on the following morning we
started; and about half-past six climbed, by a pleasant path through
the forest, to the ridge of the Manacagan, which consists of trachytic
hornblende; and about seven o'clock we crossed two small rivers flowing
north-west, and then, by a curve, reached the coast at Dulag. From the
ridge we caught sight, towards the south, of the great white heaps
of débris of the mountain Danan glimmering through the trees. About
nine o'clock we came through the thickly-wooded crater of the Kasiboi,
and, further south, to some sheds in which the sulphur is smelted.
[Sulphur.] The raw material obtained from the solfatara is bought in
three classes: firstly, sulphur already melted to crusts; secondly,
sublimated, which contains much condensed water in its interstices;
and thirdly, in the clay, which is divided into the more or less
rich, from which the greatest quantity is obtained. Coconut oil,
which is thrown into flat iron pans holding six arrobas, is added to
the sulphurous clay, in the proportion of six quarts to four arrobas,
and it is melted and continually stirred. The clay which floats on
the surface, now freed from the sulphur, being skimmed off, fresh
sulphurous clay is thrown into the cauldron, and so on. In two or
three hours six arrobas of sulphur, on an average, may be obtained
in this manner from twenty-four arrobas of sulphurous clay, and,
poured into wooden chests, it is moulded into blocks of about four
arrobas. Half the oil employed is recovered by throwing the clay
which has been saturated with it into a frame formed by two narrow
bamboo hurdles, placed at a sharp angle. The oil drops into a sloping
gutter of bamboo which is placed underneath, and from that flows into a
pot. The price of the sulphur at Manila varies between [Prices.] $1.25
and $4.50 per picul. I saw the frames, full of clay, from which the
oil exuded; but the operation itself I did not, unfortunately, then
witness, and I cannot explain in what manner the oil is added. From
some experiments made on a small scale, therefore under essentially
different conditions, and never with the same material, it appeared
that the oil accelerates the separation of the sulphur, and retards
the access of the air to the sulphur. In these experiments, the sulphur
contained in the bottom of the crucible was always colored black by the
separation of charcoal from the oil, and it was necessary to purify it
by distillation beforehand. Of this, however, the smelters at Leyte
made no mention, and they even had no apparatus for the purpose,
while their sulphur was of a pure yellow color.
[Hot spring.] Some hundreds of paces further south, a hot spring
(50° R.), [192] twelve feet broad, flows from the east, depositing
silicious sinter at its edges.
[A solfatara.] As we followed a ravine stretching from north to south,
with sides one hundred to two hundred feet in height, the vegetation
gradually ceased, the rock being of a dazzling white, or colored by
sublimated sulphur. In numerous places thick clouds of vapor burst from
the ground, with a strong smell of sulphurated water. At some thousand
paces further, the ravine bends round to the left (east), and expands
itself to the bay; and here numerous silicious springs break through
the loose clay-earth, which is permeated with sulphur. This solfatara
must formerly have been much more active than it is now. The ravine,
which has been formed by its destruction of the rock, and is full
of lofty heaps of débris, may be one thousand feet in breadth, and
quite five times as long. At the east end there are a number of small,
boiling quagmires, which, on forcing a stick into the matted ground,
send forth water and steam. In some deep spots further west, grey,
white, red, and yellow clays have been deposited in small beds over
each other, giving them the appearance of variegated marls.
[Petrifying water] To the south, right opposite to the ridge which
leads to Burauen, may be seen a basin twenty-five feet broad, in a
cavern in the white decomposed rock, from which a petrifying water
containing silicious acid flows abundantly. The roof of the cavern is
hung with stalactites, which either are covered with solid sulphur,
or consist entirely of that substance.
[Danan solfatara.] On the upper slope of the Danan mountain, near
to the summit, so much sulphur is deposited by the vapors from the
sulphurated water that it may be collected with coconut shells. In
some crevices, which are protected against the cooling effects of
the atmospheric air, it melts together in thick, brown crusts. The
solfatara of Danan is situated exactly south of that below, at
the end of the ravine of the Kasiboi. The clay earth, from which
the silicic acid has been washed out by the rains, is carried into
the valley, where it forms a plain, the greater part of which is
occupied by a small lake, Malaksan (sour), slightly impregnated with
sulphuric acid. Its surface, which, by reason of the very flat banks,
is protected against the weather, I found to be about five hundred
paces long and one hundred broad. From the elevation of the solfatara,
a rather large fresh-water lake, surrounded by wooded mountains, is
seen through a gap, exactly south, which is named Jaruanan. The night
was passed in a ruined shed at the south-east of the lake Malaksan;
and on the following morning we climbed the south side of the mountain
ridge and, skirting the solfatara of the Danan, arrived in an hour
and a half at lake Jaruanan.
[Jaruanan Lake.] This lake, as well as the Malaksan, inspires
the natives with superstitious fear on account of the suspicious
neighborhood of the solfatara, and therefore has not been profaned by
either mariner, fisher, or swimmer, and was very full of fish. For the
purpose of measuring its depth, I had a raft of bamboos constructed;
and when my companions saw me floating safely on the lake, they
all, without exception, sprang into it, and tumbled about in the
water with infinite delight and loud outcries, as if they wished
to indemnify themselves for their long abstinence; so that the raft
was not ready before three o'clock. The soundings at the centre of
the basin, which was, at the southern edge, steeper than on the
north, gave thirteen brazas, or over twenty-one meters of depth;
the greatest length of the lake amounted to nearly eight hundred
varas (six hundred and sixty-eight meters), and the breadth to about
half as much. As we returned in the evening, by torchlight, over the
crest of the mountain to our night-quarters at the lake, we passed
by the very modest dwelling-place of a married pair. Three branches,
projecting outwards from the principal trunk of a tree, and lopped at
equal points, sustained a hut of bamboos and palm-leaves of eight feet
square. A hole in the floor formed the entrance, and it was divided
into a chamber and ante-chamber, and four bamboo poles supported,
above and below, two layers of bamboos, one of which furnished a
balcony, and the other a shop in which betel was sold.
[To Dulag.] The day after my return to Burauen an obliging Spanish
merchant drove me through the fertile plain of volcanic sand, on
which rice, maize, and sugar-cane were cultivated, to Dulag, which
lies directly to the west, on the shore of the tranquil sea. The
distance (according to Coello three leagues) hardly amounts to two
leagues. From this place, Point Guiuan, the south point of Samar,
appears like an island separated from the mainland, and further south
(N. 102° 4' to 103° 65° S.) Jomonjol is seen, the first island of the
Archipelago sighted by Magellan on April 16, 1521. At Dulag, my former
companion joined us in order to accompany us on the journey to the
Bito Lake. The arrangement of transportation and of provisions, and,
still more, the due consideration of all the propositions of three
individuals, each of whose claims were entitled to equal respect,
occupied much time and required some address. We at length sailed
in a large casco (barge) southwards along the coast to the mouth
of the river [Up Mayo River.] Mayo, which, according to the map and
the information there given, is said to come from the Bito Lake. We
proceeded upwards in a boat, but were informed at the first hut that
the lake could be reached only by making a long circuit through swampy
forest; when most of our party proposed to return. Various reasons
besides the want of unanimity in the conduct of our adventure, which
had proceeded thus far, delayed our arrival at Abuyog until eleven
o'clock at night. In the first place, on our way, we had to cross a
small branch of the Mayo, and after that the Bito River. The distance
of the latter from Abuyog (extravagantly set down on Coello's map)
amounts to fourteen hundred brazas, according to the measurement of
the gobernadorcillo, which is probably correct. [193]
[An unpromising road.] The following day, as it rained heavily, was
employed in making inquiries respecting the road to the Bito Lake. We
received very varied statements as to the distance, but all agreed
in painting the road thither in a discouraging light. A troublesome
journey of at least ten hours appeared to us to be what most probably
awaited us.
[Bito Lake.] On the morrow, through a pleasant forest road, we reached
in an hour the Bito River, and proceeded in boats, which we met
there, up the river between flat sandy banks covered with tall cane
and reeds. In about ten minutes, some trees fallen right across the
stream compelled us to make a circuit on land, which in half an hour
brought us again to the river, above the obstacles. Here we constructed
rafts of bamboo, upon which, immersed to the depth of half a foot,
the material being very loosely adjusted, we reached the lake in ten
minutes. We found it covered with green confervae; a double border
of pistia and broad-leaved reed grasses, six to seven feet high,
enclosing it all round. On the south and west some low hillocks rose
up, while from the middle it appeared to be almost circular, with a
girdle of forest. Coello makes the lake much too large (four instead
of one square mile), and its distance from Abuyog can be only a little
over a league. With the assistance of a cord of lianas tied together,
and rods placed in a line, we found its breadth five hundred and
eighty-five brazas or nine hundred and seventy-seven meters, (in the
broadest part it might be a little over one thousand meters); and the
length, as computed from some imperfect observations, one thousand
and seven brazas (sixteen hundred and eighty meters), consequently
less than one square mile. Soundings showed a gently inclined basin,
eight brazas, or over thirteen meters, deep in the middle. I would
gladly have determined the proportions with more accuracy; but want of
time, the inaccessibility of the edge of the bank, and the miserable
condition of our raft, allowed of only a few rough measurements.
[A forest home.] Not a trace of human habitations was observable
on the shore; but a quarter of an hour's distance from the northern
edge we found a comfortable hut, surrounded by deep mud and prickly
calamus, the tenants of which, however, were living in plenty, and
with greater conveniences than many dwellers in the villages. We were
very well received and had fish in abundance, as well as tomatoes,
and capsicum to season them with, and dishes of English earthenware
out of which to eat them.
[Snaring swine.] The abundance of wild swine had led the settlers
to invent a peculiar contrivance, by which they are apprised of
their approach even when asleep, and guided to their trail in the
darkness. A rope made of strips of banana tied together, and upwards
of a thousand feet in length, is extended along the ground, one end
of which is attached to a coconut shell, full of water, which is
suspended immediately over the sleeping-place of the hunter. When a
pig comes in contact with the rope, the water is overturned by the
jerk upon the sleeper, who, seizing the rope in his hand, is thereby
conducted to his prey. The principal employment of our hosts appeared
to be fishing, which is so productive that the roughest apparatus
is sufficient. There was not a single boat, but only loosely-bound
rafts of bamboo, on which the fishers, sinking, as we ourselves did
on our raft, half a foot deep, moved about amongst the crocodiles,
which I never beheld in such numbers and of so large a size as in
this lake. Some swam about on the surface with their backs projecting
out of the water. It was striking to see the complete indifference
with which even two little girls waded in the water in the face of
the great monsters. Fortunately the latter appeared to be satisfied
with their ample rations of fish. Four kinds of fish are said to be
found in the lake, amongst them an eel; but we got only one. [194]
[A secret still.] Early on the following morning our native attendants
were already intoxicated. This led to the discovery of another
occupation of the settlers, which I do not hesitate to disclose
now that the Government monopoly has been abolished. They secretly
distilled palm-brandy and carried on a considerable trade in it; and
this also explained to me why the horrors of the road to the Mayo River
and to Abuyog had been painted in such warm colors. [195] We returned
on our rafts to the place where we had found them, a distance of
about fifteen hundred feet; and onwards, through wild cane with large
clusters of flowers (Saccharum sp.), sixteen feet high, east by north,
we got to our boats, and then to the bar, whence, after a march of an
hour and a half, we reached Abuyog. From Abuyog we returned by water to
Dulag, and by land to Burauen, where we arrived at night, sooner than
our hostlers had expected, for we caught them sleeping in our beds.
[Tobacco prohibition.] Not long ago much tobacco was cultivated in this
country, and was allowed to be sold to the peasantry under certain
conditions; but recently it was forbidden to be sold, except by the
Government, who themselves determined its value at so very low a rate
that the culture of tobacco has almost entirely ceased. As the tobacco
company, however, had already erected stores and appointed collectors,
the knowing ones rightly foresaw that these steps would be followed by
compulsory labor, even as it occurred in other places. The east coast
of Leyte is said to be rising while the west is being destroyed by the
sea, and at Ormog the sea is said to have advanced about fifty ells
[196] in six years.