Adventures of a Young Naturalist
"It is the echo returning to our ears Sumichrast's answer," I hastened
to tell him. "They are in another chamber; you call them now!"
The boy, agitated, raised his voice. Immediately the dark vaults seemed
to repeat his words; and the sound increased, as it moved away, as if a
thousand persons, placed at intervals, were repeating some watch-word. A
sonorous "Hiou! hiou!" prevailed over the uproar, and the face of
l'Encuerado appeared on our right before the echo of the call had died
away.
"Come and see a beautiful church!" cried the Indian. "A church made of
diamonds, Chanito!"
We moved towards the entrance by an inclined passage, down the slope of
which we followed l'Encuerado. The distance between the walls gradually
increased, and soon we found ourselves in a vast hall studded with
stalactites; in it Sumichrast arranged the lighted torches.
The Indian was not far wrong; we might easily have fancied ourselves in
a Gothic cathedral. The wildest dreams could not picture a stranger,
more original, or more fantastic style of architecture. Never did any
painter of fairy scenes imagine any effects more splendid. Hundreds of
columns hung down from the roof and reached the ground below. It was a
really wonderful assemblage of pointed arches, lace-work, branchery, and
gigantic flowers. Here and there were statues drawn by nature's hand.
Lucien particularly remarked a woman covered with a long veil, and
stretching out over our heads an arm which a sculptor's chisel could
scarcely have rendered more life-like. There were also shapeless mouths,
monstrous heads, and animals, appearing as if they had been petrified,
in menacing attitudes. The illusion was rendered more or less complete
according to the play of the light; and many a strange shape was but
caught sight of for a moment, to as rapidly vanish.
While we were moving about the cave, some long needles, hanging from the
roof, touched our heads.
"They are stalactites," said I to the astonished Lucien. "The
rain-water, filtering through the mountain above, dissolves the
calcareous matter it meets with, and produces, when it evaporates, the
beautiful concretions you are now looking at."
"Here is a needle coming up from the ground."
"That is a stalagmite; it increases upward, and not downward like the
stalactites, through which, besides, a tube passes. Look up at that
beautiful needle, with a drop of water glittering at the end of it. That
liquid pearl, which has already deposited on the stalactite a thin layer
of lime, will fall down on the stalagmite, the top of which is rounded.
After a time the two needles will join, adding another column to the
grotto, which, in the course of time, will become filled up with them."
"Then do stones proceed from water?" asked Lucien, with a thoughtful
air.
"To a certain extent," I replied; "water holds in solution calcareous
matter, and, as soon as the liquid evaporates, stone is formed."
"According to this," interposed l'Encuerado, "the pebbles ought to melt
in the rivers."
"So they do; but they do not melt so easily as some things--sugar, for
instance. Don't you recollect that in the Rio Blanco the water is
almost like milk, and that it leaves a whitish coating on the branches,
and even on the leaves with which it comes in contact."
"That's true enough," replied the Indian, who had often wondered at the
petrifactions with which the banks of the White River abound.
"But the water that falls down here is quite clear," urged Lucien,
holding his torch close to a natural basin.
"But, nevertheless, it contains salts of lime in solution, the same, in
fact, as all water, particularly that from wells. And it is for this
reason that housekeepers will not use it; for it will not dissolve soap,
and hardens the vegetables that are cooked in it."
"Now do _you_ understand this?" asked l'Encuerado, addressing Lucien; "I
don't."
"Yes, I do, a little."
"Well, you are very fortunate! The other day stones were said to come
from the sun or moon, and fly about all covered with fire; now, they are
formed by water. Perhaps M. Sumichrast will tell us to-morrow that they
come from the wind."
The Indian then walked away, quite indignant; we followed him, smiling
at his anger, becoming more and more enchanted by the spectacle which
met our eyes. Unfortunately, our torches gave a very insufficient light,
and the thick smoke rapidly blackened the arches above us. A great
polished stone now impeded our passage, and compelled us to crawl. I
took the lead, and, passing through a kind of narrow corridor, made my
way into a small chamber. I raised a sudden exclamation; for five or six
skulls, symmetrically arranged, seemed to glare at me through their
empty orbits.
"Oh father!" cried Lucien, "are we in a cemetery?"
"Yes, my boy; I think this must be a Chichimec burial-place. This
nation, which preceded the Toltecs and Aztecs in Mexico, were in the
habit of depositing their dead in caverns."
Sumichrast examined a skull which he had picked up; its white and
perfect teeth showed that it must have belonged to a man who died young.
A few paces farther on five or six more skulls lay on the surface of the
ground; they were inclosed in by fine stalactites, and appeared as if
they were grinning at us through the bars of a dungeon.
For more than a thousand years, perhaps, these skulls had reposed in the
niches which had evidently been hollowed out on purpose for them. The
soil of the grotto had apparently risen at a subsequent period. What
revelations as to the ancient history of Mexico might be contained in
this cave! Without much difficulty, l'Encuerado broke through the upper
calcareous layer, and brought to light some loamy earth, out of which he
procured a small cup of baked clay. I then began digging; my fingers
soon touched some hard object; it was a small stone statuette. I had
scarcely loosened my discovery from the earth, before Lucien also
plunged his arm into the hole and brought out a little fancifully-shaped
tortoise, the tail of which had been used as a whistle. Enticed on by
these successes, we knelt down so as to break through a wider extent of
the calcareous stratum; but our torches began to burn palely, and the
close chamber, now filled with a thick smoke, was no longer bearable.
Sumichrast complained of humming in his ears, and I also felt
uncomfortable; so, much against our inclination, I gave the signal of
departure. The lamp was dying out, and was filling the outer chamber
with a nasty smell, which gave the finishing-stroke to our unpleasant
feelings. L'Encuerado and Lucien were the first to leave the cave; from
it I afterwards emerged with Sumichrast, both being quite blinded, when
we reached the open air, by the overpowering rays of the sun.
Shouts of laughter resounded on all sides; we had the appearance of
negroes, or rather of chimney-sweeps. It was no use thinking about
washing ourselves; the contents of our gourds were too precious; and
besides, there would not have been water sufficient. As there was water
in the cave, l'Encuerado offered to go in and fetch some; but the smoke
which escaped from the hole made me feel anxious, so, for the time, I
opposed the Indian's re-descending into it.
We were surprised at the time our exploration had lasted; it had taken
no less than four hours. Although we had made up our minds to continue
our journey on coming out of the cavern, the fatigue we felt, added to a
desire to have another look at the subterranean wonders, decided us to
put off our departure until the next day.
After resting an hour, we all set off to seek our dinner. I examined
with much curiosity the neighborhood of our encampment. The presence of
skulls in the cave proved that some Indian tribe had once inhabited this
locality; but as the Chichimec (or Chichiquimec, in the chapter-heading)
Indians constructed nothing but huts, time had, doubtless, obliterated
all trace of their former presence.
I can hardly describe the pleasure I felt in again viewing the woods,
the verdure, the insects, the flowers, and enjoying the light of the
sun. The interior of a cave, certainly, has the effect of producing
melancholy, attributable, no doubt, to the silence and darkness; for the
beautiful hall, radiant with stalactites, was but little likely to cause
sadness. The effect on Lucien's mind was of a serious character, and he
seemed never to be weary of asking questions.
"These natural hollows," said Sumichrast, "often occur in gypsum
mountains, but still more frequently in volcanic or calcareous masses.
Some, which are as old as the world itself, date from the earliest
upheavals of the surface of the globe, when the fused matter which
composes the centre of the earth broke through the scarcely
solidified crust, and, rushing upward, formed the mountain chains we now
see."
"Then the centre of the earth has been once in a liquid state?"
"It is so still, as is shown by volcanoes; but the period of great
catastrophes is past. The molten matter solidified on the surface, as it
became cool, and then water made its appearance, and transformed and
rendered habitable the thin crust on which we live, the thickness of
which is so inconsiderable when compared with the bulk of the globe."
"What is this molten matter composed of which is burning under our
feet?"
"The same substances which we see around us--granite, porphyry, and
basalts, which are called _igneous_ or _Vulcanian rocks_, as contrasted
with the _Neptunean rocks_, such as gypsum or lime, clay and sandstone,
the agglomeration of which is attributed to water. The science which
deals with these subjects is called _geology_, a study with which, some
day, you will be delighted."
"Then all Vulcanian rocks can be melted?"
"Yes, if they were subject to as great a heat as that existing in the
centre of the earth, which reaches an intensity at which the imagination
recoils. But to return to the subject of caves. Some have been produced
by the dissolving action of water. Thus, at some future date, the spring
which we saw gushing out from the fallen mountain might dry up or alter
its direction, and leave for the curiosity of future travellers the
sight of chambers full of stalactites such as we have inspected."
Our geological chat was interrupted by an exclamation from l'Encuerado,
who had just discovered a tree which the Mexicans call "the Tree of St.
Ignatius." Its fruit is of a brown color, with a woody husk, something
like small melons, which, as they hang on the tree, strike against one
another with a sharp sound. L'Encuerado informed Lucien that this fruit
is in the habit of bursting suddenly with a loud explosion, and that the
flat beans which they contain are much used as medicine.
Sumichrast led the way through the forest, where we were sheltered under
the tall trees. After a somewhat long ramble, during which we met with
nothing but magpies, I requested l'Encuerado to guide us back to our
bivouac. All of a sudden my friend enjoined silence; an opossum,
followed by five young ones, was coming near us on our left. The animal
indolently approached a tree of middling size, which it climbed, aided
by its prehensile tail. Its progeny crowded busily round the foot of the
tree, uttering plaintive cries. The opossum then came down again, and
scarcely had it put foot to the ground before its disconsolate family
rushed pell-mell into the maternal pouch. Thus loaded, the animal
climbed the tree more slowly, and sat herself quietly on one of the