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the spot where he stopped, though the cavern 

 reached farther. The remembrance of this fact 

 was preserved in the convent of Caripe, without 

 the exact period being noted. The bishop had 

 provided himself with great torches of white 

 wax of Castille. We had torches composed only 

 of the bark of trees, and native resin. The thick 

 smoke which issued from these torches, in a 

 narrow subterranean passage, hurts the eyes^ 

 and obstructs the respiration. 



We followed the course of the torrent to go 

 out of the cavern. Before our eyes were daz- 

 zled with the light of day, we saw, without the 

 grotto, the water of the river sparkling amid the 

 foliage of the trees that concealed it. It was 

 like a picture placed in the distance, and to 

 which the mouth of the cavern served as a 

 frame. Having at length reached the entrance, 

 and seated ourselves on the bank of the rivulet, 

 we rested after our fatigues. We were glad to 

 be beyond the hoarse cries of the birds, and to 

 leave a place where darkness does not offer 

 even the charm of silence and tranquillity. We 

 could scarcely persuade ourselves, that the name 

 of the Grotto of Caripe had hitherto remained 

 unknown in Europe*. The guacharoes alone 



* We have reason to be surprised, that Father Gili, au- 

 thor of the Saggio di Storia Americana (Tom. 4, p. 414), did 

 not mention it, though he had in his possession a manuscript 

 composed in 1780 at the convent of Caripe. I gave the 



