THE BUA CAVE. 463 



SO deeply notched on the southern side, that I 

 could look directly up into the crater from the coti- 

 troleur''s residence in the valley. The sharp lime- 

 stone needles, on the east side of the valley, also 

 were more distinct. They were only three miles 

 away, and yet I counted no less than twenty sepa- 

 rate peaks in a straight line, at right angles with my 

 vision, in fifteen degrees along the horizon. Looking 

 up from the village of Bua toward Mount Sago, the 

 view has a charming ideal effect — such as one might 

 expect to see in a composite painting, where wonder- 

 ful details of scenery from different localities are 

 harmoniously combined. 



April Sd. — At 6 a. :m. went with the controleur 

 and rajah, and about forty natives, to a large cave 

 west of Bua, in the limestone range that forms the 

 western boundary of the valley. Coming to a small 

 stream that flows out of this chain, we followed its 

 course upward, until we found it issuing from be- 

 neath a high arch that opened into a large cavern. 

 Here the strata of the limestone were more distinct 

 than I have seen elsewhere. They have a dip of 

 about 20° west, their strike being northwest and 

 southeast, the general direction of the chain. Im- 

 mediately within the arch the roof of the cave rose 

 into a dome, apparently more than one hundred feet 

 hisrh at the centre. Flocks of swallows had made 

 this their building-place, and, disturbed by the smoke 

 of our torches, they made the cavern resound with 

 their sharp chirping. On the walls were many 

 stalactites that closely resembled the luxuriant or- 

 chids and parasites of tropical forests, as if Nature 



