452 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S18. 



turnal birds ; they believe, that 

 the souls of theirancestors sojourn 

 in the deep recesses of the cavern. 

 ** Man," say they, " should avoid 

 places which are enlightened nei- 

 ther by the Sun (Zis), nor by the 

 Moon CNiina)." To go and join 

 the guacharoes, is to rejoin their 

 fathers, is to die. The magicians 

 (piaches) and the poisoners (mo- 

 rons) perform their nocturnal 

 tricks at the entrance of the 

 cavern, to conjure the chief of 

 the evil spirits (ivoroMamo). Thus 

 in every climat^ the first fictions 

 of nations resemble each other, 

 those especially which relate to 

 two principles governing the 

 world, the abode of souls after 

 death, the happiness of the vir- 

 tuous, and the punishment of the 

 guilt}% The most different and 

 most barbarous languages present 

 a certain number of images, which 

 are the same, because they have 

 their source in the nature of our 

 intellect and our sensations. Dark- 

 ness is every where connected 

 with the idea of death. The 

 Grotto of Caripe is the Tartarus 

 of the Greeks ; and the guacha- 

 roes, which hover over the rivu- 

 let, uttering plaintive cries, re- 

 mind us of the Stj-gian birds. 



At the point where the river 

 forms the subterraneous cascade, 

 a hill covered with vegetation, 

 which is opposite the opening of 

 the grotto, presents itself in a very 

 picturesque manner. It appears 

 at the extremity of a straight pas- 

 sage, 240 toises in length. The 

 stalactites, which descend from 

 the vault, and which resemble 

 columns suspended in the air, 

 display themselves on a back- 

 ground of verdure. Tlie opening 

 of the cavern appeared singularly 



contracted, when we saw it about 

 the middle of the day, illumined 

 by the vivid light reflected at once 

 from the sky, the plants, and the 

 rocks. The distant light of day 

 formed somewhat of magical con- 

 trast with the darkness, that sur- 

 rounded us in those vast caverns. 

 We discharged our pieces at a 

 venture, wherever the cries of the 

 nocturnal birds, and the flapping 

 of their wings, led us to suspect, 

 that a great number of nests were 

 crowded together. After several 

 fruitless attempts, Mr. Bonpland 

 succeeded in killing a couple of 

 guacharoes, which, dazzled by 

 the light of the torches, seemed 

 to pursue us. This circumstance 

 afforded me the means of drawing 

 this bird, which hitherto had re- 

 mained unknown to nataralists. 

 We climbed, not without some 

 difficulty, the small hill whence 

 thesubterraneous rivulet descends. 

 We saw, that the grotto was per- 

 ceptibly contracted, retainingonly 

 forty feet in height ; and that it 

 continued stretching to the north- 

 east, without deviating from its 

 primitive direction, which is pa- 

 rallel to that of the great valley 

 of Caripe. 



In this part of the cavern, the 

 rivulet deposes a blackish mould, 

 very like the matter, which in the 

 grotto of Muggendorf, in Fran- 

 conia, is called the earth of sacri- 

 jice.* We could not discover, 

 whether this fine and spongy 

 mould fall through the cracks, 

 which communicate with the sur- 

 face of the ground above ; or be 

 washed down by the rainwater, 



* Opfer-erde oPthe cavern of Hole 

 Berg (mountain pierced entirely 

 through). 



that 



