152 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
given to the noise, as though it had struck in a small 
pipe and been forcibly ejected. The noise then for a 
moment ceased, and the old man beckoned us to fol- 
low quickly, as he plunged into the ravine and scram- 
bled over great rocks and across a roaring brook. 
It was long after midnight when he finally stopped 
at the side of a great rock, against which was built a 
low cabin, the sides of logs, the roof of thatch. To 
gain entrance we were obliged to penetrate a deep 
thicket of low trees which completely screened it. As 
the light from the torches revealed the dingy interior, 
I involuntarily shrank back and thought wistfully of 
the comfortable cave we had so lately left. Resigning 
myself to the bed made for me, I was soon wrapped 
in slumber. 
The old man, who had disappeared, re-appeared in 
the morning with a good repast, —yams, iguana, and 
land crabs —but all doz/ed. This circumstance, to- 
gether with the absence of fire, led me to investigate 
his cuisine; and, if the reader has not already antici- 
pated it, I can tell how this poor Carib utilized the 
forces of nature and made them do his bidding. Fol- 
lowing him to the ravine, I saw, in a small opening 
in the ground whence issued puffs of steam accom- 
panied by loud reports, the source of all the noises 
of the preceding night. Near this steam-escape was 
another hole whence the water bubbled up and over, 
flowing off in a hot stream. Into this boiling spring 
my friend lowered a tannier-root fastened at the end 
of alialine. The tannier is, when boiled, of greater 
consistency than a potato, else he would have lost his 
breakfast. In a few minutes the vegetable was com- 
pletely cooked, and he drew it out. Meat he lowered 
