2i8 I N A G U A 



to darkness blinded me and some time passed before I could 

 see. Presently in the light of the flash I could discern a low 

 winding tunnel that vanished in the distance. 



iMoving forward, I found the ceiling becoming lower and 

 lower until I had to drop on my knees and crawl. The floor 

 was covered with a brownish, half-moist loam which smelled 

 hke ammonia. It was guano, the decomposed droppings of 

 thousands of bats accumulated through the centuries. The loam 

 was several feet thick. The fumes were stifling and the air 

 seemed dank and heavy. There was a sudden clatter at my side 

 and I swung the flash in time to see an orange colored land 

 crab scuttle into a hole in the rocks. Presently the walls began 

 to widen again and I emerged into a big dark open space. The 

 floor at my feet dropped away for six or seven feet, and in the 

 dim light I could see a large pool of black water. The pool was 

 bitter salt. Everything on this island was steeped in salt, even 

 the caves. The reflections of the flash cast eerie lights over the 

 stained walls. Fifteen or twenty feet above my head the ceiling 

 soared away into the distance, supported by tall limestone pil- 

 lars covered with green mineral. Ghostly stalactites hung from 

 the roof and great shadowy holes went off in all directions. 



I turned the flash into one of these recesses. Far up near the 

 top hung a living portiere of bats. They stirred restlessly, opened 

 their wings and shut them again with a noise that sounded like 

 the swishing of cloth. The air became suddenly filled with a 

 chorus of high-pitched voices, shrill falsetto squeakings and 

 rustlings. These echoed back and forth under the vaulted arches, 

 rising and falling in waves of sound that diminished eerily in 

 the distance. Feeling around the floor I picked up a stone and 

 flung it against the walls. It clattered back and forth, echoing 

 hollowly, and fell with a loud splash into the water. Instantly 

 the cave became alive. With a thunderous throbbing a thousand 

 wings beat the air at once as the bats poured out of their hiding 



