as talismans. If they were of no virtue, an old man remarked to me, the
Spaniards would not employ them so numerously. [99] The largest rancho
I visited was nominally under the charge of a captain, who, however,
had little real power. At my desire he called to some naked boys idly
squatting about on the trees, who required considerable persuasion
before they obeyed his summons; but a few small presents--brazen
earrings and combs for the women, and cigars for the men--soon put
me on capital terms with them.

[Mt. Iriga.] After a vain attempt to reach the top of the Iriga volcano
I started for Buhi, a place situated on the southern shore of the lake
of that name. Ten minutes after leaving Iriga I reached a spot where
the ground sounded hollow beneath my horse's feet. A succession of
small hillocks, about fifty feet high, bordered each side of the road;
and towards the north I could perceive the huge crater of the Iriga,
which, in the distance, appeared like a truncated cone. I had the
curiosity to ascend one of the hillocks, which, seen from its summit,
looked like the remains of some former crater, which had probably
been destroyed by an earthquake and split up into these small mounds.

[Advertising.] When I got to Buhi the friendly priest had it
proclaimed by sound of drum that the newly-arrived strangers wished
to obtain all kinds of animals, whether of earth, of air, or of water;
and that each and all would be paid for in cash. The natives, however,
only brought us moths, centipedes, and other vermin, which, besides
enabling them to have a good stare at the strangers, they hoped to
turn into cash as extraordinary curiosities.

[A church procession.] The following day I was the spectator of a
gorgeous procession. First came the Spanish flag, then the village