SEPtJLCHRAL CAVE. 215 



About three o'clock we set off for Wat- 

 cheta, and scampered over an agreeable 

 plain; which, if art lent a hand to finish 

 what nature has commenced, might be 

 made most beautiful. We passed the small 

 village of Ubat6, chiefly inhabited by hus- 

 bandmen of the plain ; and during the ride, 

 our friend informed us that there was a 

 large sepulchral cave in this plain, near the 

 Parrochia de la Mesa, where formerly In- 

 dians had been buried, and some pieces of 

 gold had been found. No one has, however, 

 yet attempted to wash the whole of the 

 earth contained in the cave, so as to ob- 

 tain all the gold and emeralds which the 

 Indians generally interred with their dead. 

 Senor Flores likewise informed us, that 

 during the heavy rains, a stream of water 

 that passes through Suta yields particularly 

 fine emeralds, some larger than a pigeon's 

 egg, brought down from the interior by the 

 mountain-torrent. 



