6o SEA FISH OF TRINIDAD 



is no record of its ever having been explored, altho' it is 

 popularly supposed that treasure was submerged here by 

 the buccaneers during the Spanish tenancy of the Colony. 



Looking from where we stood at the bottom of the ladder, 

 the first part that attracts our attention is the bit shown in 

 the first picture. It is high noon (for it is absolutely neces- 

 sary that the descent should be made at or about mid-day, 

 when the suA is directly overhead) , from the shaft overhead 

 the sunlight comes straight down, lighting up the large pool 

 of water, catching the reflection of the marvellous roof and 

 walls, and throwing the colours of green, blue, and glistening 

 white into its darkest comers. This pool is extremely deep, 

 but the water is so clear that wherever the light strikes, the 

 bottom can be seen most distinctly. Rocks of all sizes and 

 shapes lie below that clear water ; huge stalactites, presum- 

 ably unable to bear their own weight, have fallen in and lie 

 like marble mammoths, still, for not a ripple disturbs that 

 smooth, glistening surface, no living fish can be seen there, 

 probably because the outlets to the sea are too small ; no one 

 knows exactly even where the outlets are, but I personally 

 think there must be several, for close to the landing place 

 there is a tiny one, and on the south side between La Bor- 

 delle and Winn's Bay, there are two outlets that I have 

 reason to think are connected with the caves. That there is 

 connection with the sea there can be no doubt, for the water 

 is salt and pure, which latter quality it certainly would not 

 possess if the pool were stagnant and not continually re- 

 newed, and secondly, the depth varies with the tide. 



Caused doubtless by its formation and great size, sound 

 is carried far through the great silence, for it is the silence of 

 the dead, nothing to be seen or heard, not even the twittering 

 of the birds overhead, for are we not 80 ft. to 100 ft. from the 

 sunlight of the upper world ? 



Some of the stalactites and stalagmites are of large size, 

 and have acquired such different shapes that visitors from 

 time to time have named them after objects to which they 

 have seen a real or fancied resemblance, an example of which 

 is a prominent feature in our second illustration, which goes 

 under the name of "The Pulpit" ; further down in the dark- 



