OR THE WIND-HOLE. 375 



is, nevertheless, very pretty; and the hill opposite to 

 which we now lie, rises in a precipice 200 feet above 

 our heads, its face being covered with climbing plants, 

 and the projections of the rocks covered with ferns 

 and other plants, among which I observed the bright 

 flowers of the beautiful and new yellow Rhododendron 

 Brookeanum, and the elegant fern-like foliage of a 

 large-leafed, stemless palm. 



The entrance to the cave is a large, curved fissure 

 in the rock ; the base of which is now a few inches below 

 the level of the river, so that I have drawn the boat 

 into the cave, and our fires for cooking are made on 

 a platform of the rock to the left of the entrance. This 

 part of the rock, as is that of all the limestone I have 

 seen in the country, has its surface in little ridges, like 

 that of the sand of the sea-beach, which is caused 

 by the rippling of the retiring tide. I was anxious 

 just to look into the cave, while my servant was pre- 

 paring my dinner, but having been told by the Malays, 

 none of whom had ever entered it, that it extended 

 a very long way into the country, that it had no outlet, 

 and that it was the habitation of dragons and bad 

 spirits, I had no intention of exploring it till the 

 morrow. Having lighted a little lamp I had with 

 me, and requested one of my men to follow, much against 

 his inclination, I followed the course of a little stream 

 which was flowing out of it, in the water- worn and 

 slippery bed of which I walked ; the channel being 

 very narrow, and the limestone rising on the left hand, 

 and a bed of alluvial soil on the right : this has been 



