MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



453 



that penetrates into the cavern. 

 It was a mixture of silex, alumin, 

 and vegetable detritus. We walked 

 in thick mud to a spot, where we 

 beheld with astonishment the pro- 

 gress of subterraneous vegetation. 

 The seeds, which the birds carry 

 into the grotto to feed their young, 

 spring up wherever they can fix 

 in the mould, that covers the cal- 

 careous incrustations. Blanched 

 stalks, with some half formed 

 leaves, had risen to the height of 

 . two feet. It was impossible to 

 ascertain the species of plants, 

 the form, colour, and aspect of 

 which had been changed by the 

 absence of light. Those traces of 

 organization amid darkness for- 

 cibly excited the curiosity of the 

 natives, in general so stupid, and 

 difficult to be moved. They ex- 

 amined them in that silent medi- 

 tation inspired by a place they 

 seemed to dread. It might be 

 thought, that these subterraneous 

 vegetables, pale and disfigured, 

 appeared to them phantoms ba- 

 nished from the face of the earth. 

 To me the scene recalled one of 

 the happiest periods of my early 

 youth, a long abode in the mines 

 of Freiberg, where I made expe- 

 riments on the eflects of blanch- 

 ing (etiolement),* which are very 

 diflerent, according as the air is 

 pure, or overcharged with hydro- 

 gen or azot. 



The missionaries, with all their 

 BUthority, could not prevail on 

 the Indians to penetrate farther 

 into the cavern. As the vault 

 grew lower, the cries of the gua- 



• Humboldt, Aphorismi ex Phy- 

 siologia chemica Plantarum (Flora 

 Friberg. subterranea, p. 181). 



charoes became more shrill. We 

 were obliged to yield to the pusil- 

 lanimity of our guides, and trace 

 back our steps. The appearance 

 of the cavern was indeed very 

 uniform. We find, that a bishop 

 of St. Thomas of Guiana had 

 gone farther than ourselves. He 

 had measured nearly 2500 feet * 

 from the mouth to the spot where 

 he stopped, though the cavera 

 reached farther. The remem- 

 brance of this fact was preserved 

 in the convent of Caripe, without 

 the exact period being noted. 

 The bishop had provided himself 

 with great torches of white wax 

 of Castille. We had torches com- 

 posed only of the bark of trees, 

 and native resin. The thick smoke 

 which issued from these torches, 

 in a narrow subterranean passage, 

 hurts the eyes, and obstructs the 

 respiration. 



We followed the course of the 

 torrent to go out of the cavern. 

 Before our eyes were dazzled with 

 the light of day, we saw, without 

 the grotto, the water of the river 

 sparkling amid the foliage of the 

 trees that concealed it. It was 

 like a picture placed in the dist- 

 ance, and to which the mouth of 

 the cavern served as a frame. 

 Having at length reached the en- 

 trance, and seated ourselves on 

 the bank of the rivulet, we rested 

 after our fatigues. We were glad 

 to be beyond the hoarse cries of 

 the birds, and to leave a place 

 where darkness does not offer 

 even the charm of silence and 

 tranquillity. We could scarcely 

 persuade ourselves, that the name 

 of the Grotto of Caripe had hi- 



* 960 varat. 



therto 



