Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/421

 of an enormous goat, which was the terror of all the Indians until some one broke off and carried away its head.

Next is the Sala del Muerto, or Saloon of the Dead, because in it was found the skeleton of a man partially covered with a crystalline deposit. The Saloon of the Palm, El Tronca de la Palma, contains a glorious stalagmite of a palm white as alabaster, and thence a flight of natural steps lead into the Saloon of the Cauliflowers, or the Chandeliers. In the Organ Gallery, Sala de los Organos, there is "an amphitheatre with regular

benches, surmounted by a great organ, whose pipes, when struck, give forth a deep sound." And—it has been declared by every one who has been there—all these glorious galleries are adorned by nature's hand with objects of such beauty that no description can do them justice.

Forms of bewildering beauty greet the gaze of the explorer everywhere, and to one who delights in the strange and weird, the trip to Cacahuamilpa, difficult though it is, would be an extremely profitable undertaking. Guides can be obtained at the neighboring village, with various colored lights and fireworks to