CHAPTER XI

[Change of season.] During the whole time I was confined to the house at Daraga, the weather was remarkably fine; but unfortunately the bright days had come to an end by the time I was ready to make a start, for the north-east monsoon, the sure forerunner of rain in this part of the Archipelago, sets in in October.  In spite, however, of the weather, I determined to make another attempt to ascend the mountain at Bulusan.  I found I could go by boat to Bacon in the Bay of Albay, a distance of seven leagues, whence I could ride to Gubat, on the east coast, three leagues further, and then in a southerly direction along the shore to Bulusan.  An experienced old native, who provided a boat and crew, had appointed ten o’clock at night as the best time for my departure.  Just as we were about to start, however, we were told that four piratical craft had been seen in the bay.  In a twinkling, the crew disappeared, and I was left alone in the darkness; and it took me four hours with the assistance of a Spaniard to find them again, and make a fresh start.  About nine o’clock in the morning we reached Bacon, whence I rode across a very flat country to San Roque, where the road leading to Gubat took a sharp turn to the south-east, and presently became an extremely bad one.  After I had passed Gubat, my way lay along the shore; and I saw several ruined square towers, made of blocks of coral, and built by the Jesuits as a protection against the [Moro pirates.] Moros, or “Moors”—­a term here applied to the pirates, because, like the Moors who were formerly in Spain, they are Mahometans.  They come from Mindanao and from the north-west coast of Borneo.  At the time of my visit, this part of the Archipelago was greatly infested with them; and a few days before my arrival they had carried off some fishermen, who were busy pulling their fish-stakes, close to Gubat.  A little distance from the shore, and parallel to it, ran a coral reef, which during the south-west monsoon was here and there bare at low tide; but, when the north-east wind blew, the waves of the Pacific Ocean entirely concealed it.  Upon this reef the storms had cast up many remains of marine animals, and a quantity of fungi, amongst which I noticed some exactly resembling the common sponge of the Mediterranean.  They were just as soft to the touch, of a dark brown tint, as large as the fist, and of a conical shape.  They absorbed water with great readiness, and might doubtless be made a profitable article of commerce.  Samples of them are to be seen in the Zoological Museum at Berlin.  As I went further on, I found the road excellent; and wooden bridges, all of which were in good repair, led me across the mouths of the numerous small rivers.  But almost all the arches of the stone bridges I came to had fallen in, and I had to cross the streams they were supposed to span in a small boat, and make my horse swim after me.  Just before I reached Bulusan, I had to cross a ravine several hundred feet deep, composed almost entirely of white pumice stone.