SUBTERRANEOUS CHAMBERS. 227 



at the mouth, and apparently so deep on sounding 

 it with a stone, that Don Simon wished to ex- 

 plore it 



The next morning he came to the ruins with In- 

 dians, ropes, and candles, and we began immediately 

 with one of those on the platform before the Casa 

 del Gobernador. The opening was a circular hole, 

 eighteen inches in diameter. The throat consisted 

 of five layers of stones, a yard deep, to a stratum of 

 solid rock. As it was all dark beneath, before de- 

 scending, in order to guard against the effects of im- 

 pure air, we let down a candle, which soon touch- 

 ed bottom. The only way of descending was to 

 tie a rope around the body, and be lowered by the 

 Indians. In this way I was let down, and almost 

 before my head had passed through the hole my feet 

 touched the top of a heap of rubbish, high directly 

 under the hole, and falling off at the sides. Clam- 

 bering down it, I found myself in a round chamber, 

 so filled with rubbish that I could not stand upright. 

 With a candle in my hand, I crawled all round on 

 my hands and knees. The chamber was in the 

 shape of a dome, and had been coated with plas- 

 ter, most of which had fallen, and now encumbered 

 the ground. The depth could not be ascertained 

 without clearing out the interior. In groping about 

 I found pieces of broken pottery, and a vase of 

 terra cotta, about one foot in diameter, of good 

 workmanship, and having upon it a coat of enamel, 

 which, though not worn off, had lost some of its 



