When they had satisfied their curiosity concerning the weaving process they continued their walk, and soon found themselves outside the village, and in the midst of a banana-field. It was Fred's turn now to write something, and accordingly he set down a brief description of the banana plant as he saw it in the Philippine Islands: [Illustration: THE BANANA.] "The trunk of the banana plant is formed of leaves placed one above another, and cannot properly be called a tree, as it does not contain any woody fibre. It rises from eight to twelve feet high, and spreads out near the top into leaves five or six feet long. The flower rises from the middle of these leaves, and also the spike that holds the fruit; the latter is called the 'regime,' and sometimes has a hundred or more bananas clinging to it. "Before the fruit is ripe the spike is cut, and soon becomes fit for use. The part of the plant which is in the earth is a sort of large root, and from it there will be successively thirty or more shoots, each one containing its bunch of fruit. As the shoots are of different ages, a single plant contains fruit in all conditions of growth, some ripening while other bunches are just beginning to form. Consequently, every two or three weeks throughout the year a bunch may be cut, and it does not require a very large field to support a man. A good many people eat little else than rice and bananas, and if a man is very poor, he can get along with wild bananas that he gathers in the forest, though he is liable to find it monotonous living." CHAPTER IX. AN EXCURSION AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.--RETURN TO MANILLA.--AN EARTHQUAKE, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. Our friends were back from the hot springs in good time in the afternoon, and the next day they proceeded with their own boat to make farther excursions in Luzon. We will let Frank and Fred tell the story, which they did in a letter that left Manilla by the next mail. After describing the experiences already recorded, the letter ran as follows: "When we left Jala-jala we went farther up the lake and over to the other side, so as to make a journey in the mountains, and among the native inhabitants. Mr. Segovia said that the farther we went into the interior the wilder and more primitive would we find the people, but that their manners and customs were generally much alike. The Spanish officials are scattered all over the country, and every town and village has its alcalde or mayor, who is elected by the people, but must be approved by the governor. The larger towns and villages have Spanish alcaldes, but in the smaller places the officials are native, and sometimes very ignorant. An alcalde, whether Spanish or native, considers himself a very important personage, and when dressed in his best clothes and out for a walk his appearance is quite comical. [Illustration: AN ALCALDE AND HIS CONSTABLE.]