disguised, I could not
doubt that this fissure was artificial. A tunnel had been hewn through
the rock, and a mountain stream diverted into it. Indeed, on close
inspection, I saw that it was little more than a thin curtain of water,
partly concealing what looked like the entrance of a cave.

"A great deal of mist arose from it. But I could see that, beyond a
ducking, I had little to fear; and, stepping down into the bed of the
little stream which frothed and bubbled pleasantly about my bare legs, I
set my bundle on my head as the mendicant had done, and plunged through
the waterfall, into a place of delicious coolness.

"A strange greenish light prevailed here and directly before me I saw
a flight of stone steps leading upward through a tunnel in the rock. By
the light of a pocket torch with which I had provided myself, I began
to ascend the steps. These, as I have said, were hewn out of the solid
rock, and as they numbered something like seven hundred, the labour
expended upon the making of this extraordinary staircase must have been
stupendous.

"At first the character of the surrounding tunnel suggested that it was,
in part at least, a natural cavern. But as I mounted higher and
higher, solid masonry appeared in places, some of it displaying unusual
carvings, of a character with which I was quite unfamiliar. I concluded
that it was very ancient.

"I should explain, gentlemen, that this ascending tunnel zigzagged in
a peculiar fashion, which may have been due to the natural formation of
the volcanic rock, or may have been part of the design of the original
builder. I had ascended more than five hundred steps, and felt that a
rest would shortly be necessary, when I reached a sort of cavern, or
interior platform, from which seven corridors branched out like the
spokes of a wheel. The top of this place was lost in shadows, which the
ray of my torch failed to penetrate; and here I paused, setting down my
bundle and wondering what my next move should be.

"To the damp coolness of the lower stairs an oppressive heat had now
succeeded, and I became aware of a continuous roaring sound, which I
found myself unable to explain.

"Attached to a belt beneath my native dress I carried a Colt revolver;
and therefore, leaving my rifle and bundle in a corner of the cavern, I
selected one of these corridors more or less at random, and set out
to explore. This corridor proved to slope very gently upward from the
platform, and I c