26 



ALADDIN'S CAVE. 



IN my account of the destruction of the king- 

 cobras, I promised to relate a very strange ad- 

 venture that befell me at the old diamond mines 

 of Buwapatam. 



Permal led the way to the old pits, which were 

 situated on some rising ground a little way to the 

 east. He said there were several hundreds of 

 these pits extending over some miles of ground, 

 but that they were more numerous and larger just 

 at the spot we were now visiting. Mounds of 

 earth, probably excavated from the digging, marked 

 the mouth of each pit. A dense, thorny vegetation 

 grew around and overhung the entrance of the 

 shafts and concealed it from view, so that one 

 might easily stumble into one of these traps, or 

 pitfalls, which, indeed, they closely resembled. 

 Selecting one of the largest and best preserved 

 of the pits for examination, the Chentsu's axe 

 quickly cleared away the brushwood. A strong, 

 light rope, which I always carry on these expedi- 

 tions, was fastened to a stump, and I prepared 

 to descend the old mine, but, before doing so, I 

 threw in a wisp of lighted grass to test the condi- 

 tion of the air a very needful precaution and to 



