562 
STALACTITES. 
soon, and that we were near the end of our journey. 
I do not know what effect this might have upon 
the rest of my companions, but I assure you I be- 
lieved no part of the speech but the last, which I 
expected every moment to find fulfilled in some 
pond or precipice. Our passage was by this time 
become very narrow, and we were obliged to crawl 
on all fours over rugged rocks ; when in an instant, 
and in the midst of these melancholy apprehen- 
sions, I heard a little hissing noise, and saw my- 
self in utter, and not to be described, darkness. 
Our guides called indeed cheerfully to us, and told 
us that they had accidentally dropped their torches 
into a puddle of water, but we should soon come to 
the rest of them, and they would light them again; 
and told us there was no danger, and we had no- 
thing to do but to crawl forward. I cannot say but 
I was amazed at the courage of these people, who 
were in a place where, I thought, four of them had 
already perished, and from whence we could none 
of us ever escape, and determined to lie down and 
die where I was. 
u Words cannot describe the horror or the ex- 
treme darkness of the place. One of our guides, 
however, perceiving that I did not advance, came 
up to me, and clapping his hand firmly over my 
eyes dragged me a few paces forward. While I 
was in this strange condition, expecting every mo- 
ment death in a thousand shapes, and trembling to 
think what the guide meant by this rough pro- 
ceeding, he lifted me at once over a great stone, set 
