Having no
eyes, they were naturally undisturbed by the light, so the candle could
be held close to the water for a satisfactory examination of the happy
creatures.
They bore a striking resemblance to minnows, although a few were larger,
and it is claimed that four or five inches are sizes not unusual, but
they happened not to be on exhibition. Even dipping a hand into the
water in their midst occasioned no alarm, and they might have been
caught by dozens.
The guide now loudly called that he had fears of the twine being cut on
the sharp edges of rock, and that cutting off all possibility of the
boat's return, which being sufficiently reasonable, explorations were
indefinitely suspended, and a landing soon made. The camera and
flash-light were then prepared for taking a view, and a point of light
being needed to work by the nephew was asked to sit in the boat with his
candle, to which he readily consented; but judging from the developed
picture it may be doubted if his pleasure at the time was extremely
keen.
On leaving the cave the guide said it would not be necessary to return
to the upper end of the Gulf in order to reach the surface, as the
ascent could be made in another place; and leading the way to the left
of the entrance he started up the nearly perpendicular wall, more than
two hundred feet high, by a sort of "blind trail" that would have caused
a mountain sheep to sigh for wings, but it was very beautiful.
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