Ordered to take station within 100 yards of a group of nipa huts close to the trail, Henrechon advanced and stood guard as the leader and his scout party first searched the surrounding deep grasses, then moved into the open area before the huts.
There are also areas of tidal wetland that are home to mangrove trees and saltwater palm or nipah.
About 100 sick and destitute people had been housed in an attap shed at the foot of Pearl's Hill when a fierce storm destroyed the shed, leaving them homeless.
Wood was used for trusses to support the roof, which originally was made of cogon grass and was later replaced with nipa.
The parish of Silay was established in 1776 and its first church was built of light materials: bamboo, cogon grass and nipa palm.