Evening star., 1926-10-03
Sunken Rocks and Sweeping Waves {

| for a stay of some days. Our host was
Mr.. David Basanta, who from first
| to last was in every sense our guide,
philosopher and friend.
The prospect of securing some qua
| charos was declared to be by no
| means fiattering. nor the time par
| ticularly auSpicious. The cave In
which the birds live fs cut low down
in the foot of the rocky precipice
which forms the north wall of
Huecos Island. and runs down sheer
into 60 fathoms of water.
The water is blue and deep and 1t
is the beating pillows of the Atlantic
itself that dash against those rocky
walls. The guacharO cave can be
entered from the sea only, by boat,
and, owing to it's exposed situation,
1t Is at all times dangerous to enter
or to leave When the sea Is rough
the cave is inaccessible.
Mr. BaSanta regarded the object OF
our visit with noticeable disfavor. be-
cause, being his guests, he felt in a
measure responsible.
Can ye swim?" he asked, after
pondering deeply.
ooh. yes"
Both of ye?'
"Yes. Che1 swims fine; l swim we'll
enough"
But have we got to swim for
them?" asked practical Chet.
Maybe ye might need to swim for
yourselves" answered Basanta, and
then to steady our nerves he con-
tinued, reminiscently:
-Four or five years ago party of
colored fellows went to the cave to
get lot of young birds for their oil.
They didn't come back, and when
their friends finally went in search
of them. a smashed boat and one
dead body tossing against the rocks
was all that was left of party OF
four"
Good gosh" said Chet, very low.
Purely as a friendly act, and in
scorn of the money we were able to
offer, Mr. Basanta consented to take
us to the cave and enter, If possible.
But everything depends upon the
weather." he said impressively. And
in the smallest morning hour, when
human vitality is at low tide, l lay
wide awake in my hammock. I lis
tened to the waves tumbling on the
beach within 40 feet of the house and
had the horrors. l saw the broken
boat and the dead man pounding
against the rocks as clearly as in a
photograph.
Early in the morning (of the last
day of February we set out in
small but stanch Whaleboat, manned
by two athletic negroes, and steered
by Mr.. Basanta. We pulled west
ward along the south shore of MonoS
Island, went out with the tide through
the Boca Huevos or Egg Mouth,
and took our course on the open sea
along the perpendicular cliffs Of Hue
VoS Island.
HALF' an hours pulling on blue
L water brought us to where a bite
had been taken out of the cliff, and
had left a tiny bay, half circled with
rugged walls of limestone rock that
rose a hundred feet sheer above the
waves that doomed against their base.
Basanta looked north and east.
measuring the waves with a practiced
eye. and finally said:
Wen try it, but if the wind fresh
ems while we're inside We'll be in
fix"
Entering this little bay. the oars
men stripped to the waist, seeing
which, Chet and l threw off our car
fridge bags and made ready to swim If
necessary.
Along the foot of the rocky wall
were masses of rugged rock, which
had fallen from above and lay there
half submerged. with the waves roll
ing over them, hidden one moment
and exposed the next. But where Is