TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 915 



mountain, called Heber, or Kafoun Herge. He went iut<J the cave and was never 

 eeen again ; and the cave was closed up with stones and lime, and cannot be found 

 hy men. There is a prophecy that when it is opened, the world will be changed.' 



That time arrived a hundred years ago, when an earthquake exposed a vast 

 mummy cave. At the far end of it is an opening in the face of a perpendicular 

 cHff, which is hundreds of feet above the sea. 



The Guanches must have had a similar tradition as to that cave, as it is called 

 now (no one knows why) ' the cave of Herke.' 



It is evident why Hercules remained in that cave. He went into it as a mummy. 



How was it that this secret cave, closed ages ago, was known to the Susi, and 

 «ven the fact that there was an opening in it that ' looked out towards the sea '? 



It is difficult to suppose that this stoiy is not a historical tradition. It must 

 have been known to the Romans that Hercules sailed from the Mountain of Iron 

 when they named it ' the promontory of Hercules ' ; and the Guanches must have 

 heard that he was buried in a secret mummy cave in Teneriife when they called it 

 ■* the cave of Herke.' 



3 M 2 



