Camarines Norte is also mountainous, and there is not much cultivation, only a little rice and hemp. The population is very sparse, and the inhabitants are mostly employed (when they do anything) in washing for gold at Mambulao, Paracale, and other places on the Pacific coast. If they strike a pocket, or get a nugget, they go on the spree till they have spent it all and can get no more credit, and then unwillingly return to work. Camarines Sur possesses a wide expanse of fertile soil in the valley of the River Bicol, in which are the Lakes of Buhi and Bato, and the Pinag of Baao. The Bicol rises in the province of Albay and runs through the whole length of Camarines Sur, generally in a north-westerly direction, running into the great Bay of San Miguel. It is navigable for small vessels up to the town of Nueva Cáceres. Alligators abound here. A gap in the coast range gives access to this valley from the port of Pasacao. The ground is level for leagues around, yet from this plain two extinct volcanoes rear their vast bulk, the Ysarog, 6500 feet high, and the Yriga, nearly 4000 feet high. Camarines Sur contains more than five times as many inhabitants as Camarines Norte, although not very different in area. Their principal occupation is the cultivation of the extensive rice lands. They also produce some hemp and a little sugar. Large quantities of rice are exported to Manila, to Albay, and to Bisayas. Cattle are raised in the island of Buriás, which belongs to this province; it also produces some palm sugar. This province is much richer than either Tayabas or Camarines Norte. The province of Albay is the southernmost and easternmost part of Luzon, and is one of the richest and most beautiful regions of that splendid island. The northern part, which commences at Punta Gorda on the Bay of Lagonoy, is similar to the neighbouring Camarines Sur, as is also the western part, about the shores of Lake Bato. A little to the southward, however, the gigantic Mayon rears its peak 8000 feet into the sky. The symmetry of this wondrous cone is but feebly rendered by the photograph. Some of the most violent eruptions of this remarkable volcano are mentioned under another heading in the Appendix. On this volcanic soil, with the life-giving heat of the sun tempered by frequent rains, the vegetable kingdom flourishes in the utmost luxuriance. Tree-ferns, lianas, orchids, palms grow vigorously. On the mountain slopes the Musa textilis, or abacá plant, finds its most congenial habitat. Little rice is grown, the inhabitants being mostly engaged in the more remunerative occupation of planting and preparing this fibre. A description of the manner of its preparation, with photographs of the growing plants and of the apparatus for cleaning the fibre, will be found under the description of the Vicols.