A MISADVENTURE. 221 



an equal number of negroes. The negroes pulled 

 the boat, and the whites encouraged the negroes, and 

 withal we made a very satisfactory voyage. Having 

 secured the boat a little way from shore, we marched 

 up the slope toward the summit. Our host had pro- 

 vided a substantial breakfast, to be eaten at the cave, 

 and the men staggered under divers kinds of nourish- 

 ment contained in bottles with wired corks, a tub of 

 ice and other necessaries. 



Soon the bushes grew so thickly that we were 

 obliged to " cutlass " our way, and took turns in cut- 

 ting out a path with the great, sword-like knives of 

 the blacks. It was hot, weary work, and we made 

 slow progress. C. started up a great iguana, quite 

 five feet in length, which was basking on the rocks. 

 Part of our party got lost in the thick growth, and this 

 delayed us so that it was well toward noon when we 

 arrived at the ridge and felt the cool breezes from the 

 east. 



After a light lunch, we scattered down the cliffs in 

 search of the cave. A whoop from one of our attend- 

 ants drew us half-way down the precipice, where we 

 were introduced to a deep fissure-like hole in the rock, 

 hidden by trees. Crawling carefully over the loose 

 rock, three hundred feet above the surf beating at the 

 base of the cliff, we entered the cave and prepared to 

 explore it. A glance showed that it was not large nor 

 deep, and we soon found that it led in only a hundred 

 feet before the crevice grew so narrow that it could 

 not be followed ; but we were satisfied that it led 

 down to the sea as we could distinctly hear the boom- 

 ing of the waves. 



Along each side of the cavern were hollows, evi- 



