398 
we pulled a few of them out, and half 
a dozen accompanied me home in a 
box. They are now enjoying more 
civilized quarters in the National 
Zoological Park in Washington. 
It was a unique situation to stand 
there in the center of the antecham- 
ber, while the guide felled a tall tree, 
with which to enable me to proceed 
down in the real cave. Around me 
these strikingly marked reptiles 
moved about in the recesses of the 
wall, disturbed by the unusual pres- 
ence of man, and a dozen or more 
small owls glided noiselessly through 
the air from side to side to find safer 
and darker resting places. The floor 
of the cavity was a soft black soil, ac- 
cumulation of decayed leaves; and 
the turning over of a few loose rocks 
revealed some large centipedes, a 
scorpion and several cockroaches and 
spiders. 
The guide returned with a tall, 
slim, branchless, trunk, 30 feet long, 
on which I was to clamber down in 
the real cave; but when we sent it 
down the opening it disappeared en- 
tirely and without any sound. I be- 
gan to dispair of being able to inves- 
tigate farther down. To tell the 
truth I had some feeling of relief 
in thus escaping, with honor saved. 
that uninviting darkness. However, 
the guide had more sense of responsi- 
bility, having contracted to enable me 
to go down in the cave itself. He 
was already engaged in felling an- 
other taller tree; and he did not rest 
until he had fastened 2 together 
and plunged them down the aperture. 
That time they reached bottom leav- 
ing some 5 feet of the trunk exposed, 
which meant that the hole was _ be- 
tween 40 and 50 feet deep. Then he 
indicated with what I thought a ma- 
licious smile, that he had done his 
part and it was up to me. [I could 
find no excuse to escape, so down I 
went, candle, matches and revolver in 
my pockets and my insect net between 
my teeth. 
Once down I found myself in a 
RECREATION. 
huge chamber into the depths of 
which the light from my candle only 
penetrated slightly. However, I could 
realize that I stood on the highest 
part of the floor, and that this de- 
clined on all sides. Far away to the 
right I saw the sparkle of water. The 
floor consisted of tons of guano, the 
accumulated excrements of centuries 
from the millions of bats inhabitating 
the cave and now clinging in immense 
clusters under the roof. 
The guano was covered, more than 
an inch deep, with red mites; a strug- 
gling, moving mass of animal life. 
which soon covered my shoes and 
leggings. The fermentation of this 
enormous mass of guano created an 
almost unbearable heat and _ stench, 
which- made a prolonged stay impos- 
sible. Besides I dared not walk many 
steps for fear of falling into some 
bottomless hole or being buried in 
some soft part of the manure. It is 
essential on such an exploration that 
there be 2, tied together, so that if 
one slips in the unknown darkness, 
the other can haul him up again. 
That part of his mission my friend 
above had not realized. I had to 
content myself with what I could ob- 
serve near my tree trunk, which lI 
had no desire to leave under the cir- 
cumstances. 
The wall next to which I stood — 
was covered with pupariums of flies, — 
the larvze of which fed in the manure. — 
Countless little black gnats swarmed 
around my candle and other flies were 
caught in my net. 
I fired a shot from my revolver, 
to disturb the bats, and the result 
was startling. As the large flocks 
dislodged and flew to deeper, distant 
galleries, an astonishing multitude of 
their parasites fell from them and 
their roosting place and came down 
over me like a thick rain, extinguish- 
ing my candle and darkening the light 
from the entrance above me. Large 
and minute, winged and unwinged, 
they lodged in my hair and mustache 
and clothing. Being an entomologist. 
__E_—_ 
