.

There were many bundles containing lace, but for the most part this was
so mouldy and musty, that it came to pieces with very little pulling, so
we threw it aside. Then we came upon quite an armoury of swords,
daggers, and pistols; but as most of them were much rusted, we only
selected a few of the better preserved ones, and left the rest.

Among those we kept were three pairs of pistols, one pair of which were
a marvel of workmanship. The barrels were of silver, and engraved all
over with fruit and flowers, while the stocks of ivory were also carved
in every part, and were quite perfect, not even discoloured like the
wood work in the pit. They were wrapped in soft leather, and enclosed in
a velvet case which was in a somewhat discoloured and decayed state, but
still in a sufficiently whole form to preserve the pistols intact.

Several swords I kept for decorative purposes, and also some of the huge
flintlock pistols.

The bottom of the treasure-hole was filled with bundles of what had once
been costly garments of silk, velvet, satin, cloth with gold braid, and
wonderfully fine linen; but these were now useless, for time had quite
spoiled them. Among these raiments of a bygone age were a number of
copes, chasubles, stoles, and such-like ecclesiastic raiment; there was
also a beautifully worked mitre, and as these were in good condition we
kept them. Their preservation was evidently owing to their being
contained in a bullock's hide, which was sewn together apparently by the
sinews of the same animal.

Then we came upon a whole pile of sashes, and breeches, and boots, and
goodness knows what in the way of wearing apparel, all in a state of dry
rot; in fact, they made such a dust that we ascended to _terra firma_
for a few minutes to get it out of our throats.

We now appeared to have cleared the place, but what of the "petite
fees"? Had we seen them or what were they? To make sure we had secured
everything, we cleared the hole completely out, and in doing so luckily
saw the end of a box protruding from the side of the treasure chamber. A
kind of cave or tunnel had been made for the reception of this chest,
and it was a wonder we did not miss seeing it altogether.

No doubt it contained the "petite fees," whatever they were; but to our
astonishment it was so heavy we could not move it. We therefore set to
work, and cleared away the surrounding earth, and by dint of hard
tugging in the confined space, we at lengt