ians had described as a mesa, or
table. This had been a great item in all the accounts, and was
described as made by hand and highly polished. It was simply a huge
block of rude stone, the top of which happened to be smooth, but
entirely in a state of nature. Beyond this we passed into a large
opening of an irregular circular form, being what had been described to
us as a plaza. Here the Indians stopped and flared their torches. It
was a great vaulted chamber of stone, with a high roof supported by
enormous stalactite pillars, which were what the Indians had called the
columns, and though entirely different from what we had expected, the
effect under the torchlight, and heightened by the wild figures of the
Indians, was grand, and almost repaid us for all our trouble. This
plaza lay at one side of the regular path, and we remained in it some
minutes to refresh ourselves, for the closeness of the passage and the
heat and smoke were becoming almost intolerable.

Farther on we climbed up a high, broken piece of rock, and descended
again by a low, narrow opening, through which we were obliged to crawl,
and which, from its own closeness, and the heat and smoke of the
torches, and the labour of crawling through it, was so hot that we were
panting with exhaustion and thirst. This brought us to a rugged,
perpendicular hole, three or four feet in diameter, with steps barely
large enough for a foothold, worn in the rock. We descended with some
difficulty, and at the foot came out upon a ledge of rock, which ran up
on the right to a great height, while on the left was a deep, yawning
chasm. A few rude logs were laid along the edge of this chasm, which,
with a pole for a railing, served as a bridge, and, with the torchlight
thrown into the abyss below, made a wild crossing-place; the passage
then turned to the right, contracting to about three feet in height and
the same in width, and descending rapidly. We were again obliged to
betake ourselves to crawling, and again the heat became insufferable.
Indeed, we went on with some apprehensions. To faint in one of those
narrow passages, so far removed from a breath of air, would be almost
to die there. As to carrying a man out, it was impossible for either of
us to do more than drag himself along, and I believe that there could
have been no help from the Indians.

This passage continued fifty or sixty feet, when it doubled on itself,
still contracted as before, and still rapidly descen