24 EXCUKSIONS ABOUT CAEACAS. 



descended into a valley through which rushed a broad, 

 rapid torrent, on whose opposite bank, directly in our 

 front, rose a perpendicular wall of limestone, in tlie face of 

 Avhich, fifteen feet from the base, was the entrance to the 

 Cave of Encantado. Clambering up the cliff, we found our- 

 selves within a large, irregular, arched chamber, adorned 

 with beautiful stalactic formations. Diverging from this 

 chamber, are dark, contracted passage-ways, leading to 

 smaller apartments, the principal of which we entered, often 

 obliged to crawl xxpon hands and knees to gain admittance. 

 Swarms of bats, disturbed by our intrusion within their 

 haunts, hovered around us, making the place hideoiis with 

 their unearthly screechings. Shooting one of the creatures 

 only tended to arouse the others the more, while the deaf- 

 ening report of our gun, reverberating through the 

 cavern, fell Avith stunning effect upon our ears. Having 

 explored the cave, we dismissed our guide, purposing to 

 remain through the night, and return to Caracas on the 

 following day. We spent the night within the cave, where 

 iipon our rocky beds, softened by wild-canes, we, undis- 

 turbed by our companion bats and owls, enjoyed a rest, 

 free from the fleas of Petare. 



Our visit to Encantado afforded us a most glorious 

 harvest of plants, the first gathering for our tropical her- 

 barium. Not a single species was familiar ; yet some 

 were so closely allied to A'arieties in our own land as to 

 pleasantly recall many a botanical ramble there. Our re- 

 turn-trip also introduced us to several interesting prod- 

 ucts of the mountain valley of Caracas, among which 

 was the pineapple. There is, perhaps, no production of 

 the tropics which is so generally and deservedly esteemed 

 by the people of the North as this ; yet of none have they 

 such vague ideas, as to manner of growth and propaga- 

 tion. The pineapple-plant [Ananassa sativa) is indi- 

 genous to tropical America, growing wild in the forests. 



