In the hope of
distracting them still further, we fired off our muskets, which awoke
echoes in that silent place the like of which had never been heard
before. Had we exploded a barrel of gunpowder, the sound of it would
not have been louder nor the concussion greater, than was caused by the
discharge of our firearms. Huge masses of stalactites fell from the
roof, while the air space around us became filled with bats, and flying
creatures with heads like foxes, disturbed from their slumbers by the
discharge of our guns. The flapping of their wings drove off the
hornets, and greatly aided us in our escape from a horrible death.
On reaching the entrance to the caves, where we arrived more dead than
alive from our adventure, we were met by those of our crew whom we had
brought with us, but were informed that our guides had returned to the
settlement. For this conduct the guides had offered no explanation.
They had said they were acting in accordance with directions given them
by Queen Barreto, and that, having brought us to the mouth of the
caves, their mission ended. We did not at the time attach much
importance to this desertion of us, being now well acquainted with the
path over the cliffs into the valley, opposite to which our ship lay at
anchor, so we did not anticipate any difficulty in returning.
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