248 THE ADVENTURES OF 



Shouts of laughter resounded on all sides; we had the 

 appearance of negroes, or rather of chimney-sweeps. It 

 was no use thinking about washing ourselves ; the contents 

 of our gourds were too precious ; and besides, there would 

 not have been water sufficient. As there was water in the 

 cave, 1'Encuerado offered to go in and fetch some ; but the 

 smoke which escaped from the hole made me feel anxious, 

 so, for the time, I opposed the Indian's re-descending into it. 



We were surprised at the time our exploration had last- 

 ed ; it had taken no less than four hours. Although we 

 had made up our minds to continue our journey on coming 

 out of the cavern, the fatigue we felt, added to a desire to 

 have another look at the subterranean wonders, decided us 

 to put off our departure until the next day. 



After resting an hour, we all set off to seek our dinner. 

 I examined with much curiosity the neighborhood of our 

 encampment. The presence of skulls in the cave proved 

 that some Indian tribe had once inhabited this locality ; but 

 as the Chichimec (or Chichiquimec, in the chapter-heading) 

 Indians constructed nothing but huts, time had, doubtless, 

 obliterated all trace of their former presence. 



I can hardly describe the pleasure I felt in again viewing 

 the woods, the verdure, the insects, the flowers, and enjoy- 

 ing the light of the sun. The interior of a cave, certainly, 

 has the effect of producing melancholy, attributable, no 

 doubt, to the silence and darkness ; for the beautiful hall, 

 radiant with stalactites, was but little likely to cause sad- 

 ness. The effect on Lucien's mind was of a serious charac- 

 ter, and he seemed never to be weary of asking questions. 



" These natural hollows," said Sumichrast, " often occur 

 in gypsum mountains, but still more frequently in volcanic 

 or calcareous masses. Some, which are as old as the world 

 itself, date from the earliest upheavals of the surface of the 

 globe, when the fused matter which composes the centre of 



