174 THE ADVENTURES OF 



the fallen rocks, we entered a chamber studded with stalactites, on 

 which Sumichrast's torches threw a light, and the walls of the 

 cave glittered as if they had been covered with crystal stars. 

 From the ground, from the roof, and from the walls, clusters of 

 variegated rays were reflected in every direction, as if emanating 

 from ten thousand diamonds. The beauty of this scene was quite 

 sufficient to dazzle far less enthusiastic spectators than we were. 

 But it was not long before a repulsive, oppressive, thick smoke 

 compelled us to move on, and a few paces through a passage 

 brought us into the centre of an immense hall, lighted by an 

 aperture into the open air. 



I joyfully hailed the blue sky, and then closely examining the 

 ground we were treading on, noticed that it was covered with 

 fragments of baked clay. Eemoving this, it was not long before 

 we came to a layer of damp charcoal. L'Encuerado went outside 

 and cut some branches, which, when pointed at the end, helped 

 us in our digging. After two hours of hard work, we succeeded 

 in laying bare more than a square yard of black and greasy 

 mould. 



Thoroughly exhausted, in spite of my curiosity being excited, 

 I was compelled to follow Sumichrast out of the cave in order to 

 breathe the fresh air. A fine rain was falling, and I was so 

 devoted to the idea of my excavation in the cave, that I was very 

 glad to use the state of the weather as a pretext for putting off 

 our departure to the next day. 



My companions had hardly recovered their breath before I 

 summoned them back to work. L'Encuerado, as the hole 

 became larger, was quite excited, and soon fancied that he 

 could perceive gold. The fact is, that every Indian believes that 

 all caves and grottoes contain unheard-of treasures, either the 

 work of nature or buried by man, and that these treasures are 

 guarded by some maUcious genius, who allows the searchers just 

 to catch a glimpse of the hidden riches, but never permits their 

 being carried away. 



"Don't laugh, Tatita," said the Indian to me, with a mysterious 

 air ; " especially just at this moment." 



He then went on to tell us that a friend of his, who was 



