In the interior of the islands are magnificent forests of stately trees, splendid with luxuriant foliage and the glorious flora of the tropics. Here are gigantic creepers and gorgeous festoons,--the splendid parasites of this opulent clime. Luscious fruits in rich clusters hang from pendent boughs of myriad trees, inviting the passer-by to pluck. One that has never seen it, can form no idea of the splendor of such a tropical forest--teeming with all that is brilliant and grand in nature. It would seem as if the Creator had emptied the cornucopia of his gifts over this garden-spot of the world, making it a veritable Eden. There are many rivers throughout the islands,--some navigable. The Pasig river, in Luzon, empties into Manila Bay. Vessels drawing thirteen feet of water enter the Pasig river. In the same island, the Rio Grande de Cagayan is also navigable and runs through the Cagayan valley northward. It yearly overflows its banks. On them are the richest tobacco-districts in the colony. The Rio Grande de la Pampanga flows southward through the glorious valley of Pampanga, emptying by twenty mouths into Manila Bay. On the banks of this river are extensive rice-fields and sugar-cane plantations, and great forests; among them gleam numerous towns and villages, full of a thriving population. The Rio Agno, which flows southward, past the port of Dagupan and the Bicol river--which flows from Bato lake to the bay of San Miguel--is also in Luzon, and navigable. In Mindanao, the Rio Agusan cuts the island almost in two. It is navigable only a few miles. In Negros Island, the Danao is navigable. The Bay lake (Luzon)--Laguna de Bay,--is 25 miles long and 12 miles broad. It is higher than Manila, and its overflow is the Pasig river. In the centre of Bombon lake is an active volcano called Taal, which is no less famed in the history of the colony than is Vesuvius in the history of Naples. It has had many celebrated eruptions, some very destructive. In 1754 several towns were overwhelmed by a flood of burning lava, which was thrown as far as fifteen miles from the crater, causing great damage, even at that distance. It is said that cinders fell in Manila, 34 miles away. There was a smell of sulphur in the air for months; the lake was full of dead fish; and the earth, for miles, was heaped with burning lava and ashes. This eruption lasted nearly six months. The town of Taal was entirely destroyed, and most of the inhabitants perished. On that day darkness hung over the whole sky, and the air was full of cries and lamentations. It seemed as if the end of the world had come. The Mayon volcano, in Albay, has also had several destructive eruptions. Its crest is always fiery. In 1814, 2,500 natives were killed and wounded. During the last eruption, in 1888, fifteen lives were lost, and many cattle.