The mountainous portions of the country are for the most part in a state of nature, being covered with trees, and with brushwood; which in some places is so thick that I had to employ the Indians to cut a way through it with small billhooks which they kept for the purpose. In other parts, the tops of the tall trees form a mass so dense, that no ray ever shines through them. The ground on the sides of these mountains is always in a moist and slimy condition; and is the habitation of millions of leeches. In my first excursion to the mountains I observed the feet and legs of the Indians, who were cutting a path for me, covered with blood, and at first I fancied that they must have wounded themselves with the thorny shrubs which they were cutting. On inquiry, however, I found that it was the leeches that were doing the mischief, and in a very little time I had a good many specimens of their powers upon my own skin. There were two species, one a small linear one, and the other nearly round. "Whenever the former fixed upon the Indians, they invariably pulled it off, but they never interfered with the little round one. I found that the reason for this was, that the latter, if taken off by force, would leave a very painful wound; but that, if allowed to suck until it was full, it would drop off, of its own accord, and leave scarcely a mark; the other species might be taken off with impunity. At first, when they fixed themselves upon me, which they did through my stockings, I set to work to pull them off, without regard to species, although warned by the natives of the impropriety of doing so. In a short time my legs were covered with blood, and the wounds annoyed me with a kind of itching soreness for several days afterwards.
With the exception of the Orchids, the Philippines are not very rich in plants of an ornamental kind. As far as I had an opportunity of judging, the vegetation of Luzon bears a great resemblance to the island of Java and the other parts of the Malay Archipelago. The country is, however, very rich in birds and shells, and many of the land species of the latter are extremely valuable. Mr. Cuming, who is well known in this part of the world, made very large collections of them, and has already distributed them over the greater part of Europe and America.