designed of nature was and wider than any built by man but its size was the least of the wonders of the place for running in rows its length were gigantic pillars of what looked like ice but were in reality huge it is impossible for me to convey any idea of the overpowering beauty and grandeur of these pillars of white some of which were not less than twenty feet in at the base and sprang up in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof others again were in process of formation on the rock floor there was in these cases what looked sir henry said exactly like a broken column in an old temple while high above depending from the roof the point of a huge could be dimly seen and even as we gazed we could hear the process going on for presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far off on to the column below on some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes and in these cases it would form an in calculation to discover how long at that rate of dripping it would take to form a pillar say eighty feet high by ten in that the process was in at least one instance slow the following instance will suffice to show cut on one of these pillars we discovered a rude likeness of a by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of the egyptian gods doubtless the of some old world in the mine this work of art was executed at about the natural height at which an idle fellow be he workman or british is in the habit of trying to himself at the expense of nature s namely about five feet from the ground yet at the time that we saw it which have been nearly three thousand years after the date of the execution of the drawing the column was only eight feet high and was still in process of formation which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a thousand years or an inch and a to a century this we knew because as we were standing by it we heard a drop of water sometimes the took strange forms where th dropping of the water had not always been on the same spot thus one huge mass which must have weighed a hundred tons or so was in the form of a pulpit beautifully fretted over outside with what looked like lace others resembled strange beasts and on the sides of the cave were fan like ivory such as the frost leaves upon a pane out of the vast main aisle there opened here and there smaller exactly sir henry said as open out of great some were large but one or two � and this is a wonderful instance of how nature carries out by ic king solomon s mines her by the same laws utterly of size � were tiny one little nook for instance was no larger than an unusually big doll s house and yet it might have been the model of the whole place for the water dropped the tiny hung and the columns were forming in just the same way we had not time however to examine this beautiful place as thoroughly as we should have liked to do for unfortunately seemed to be indifferent to and only anxious to get her business over this annoyed me the more as i was particularly anxious to discover if possible by what system the light was admitted into the place and whether it was by the hand of man or of nature that this was done also if it had been used in any way in ancient times as seemed probable however we consoled ourselves with the idea that we would examine it thoroughly on our return and followed on after our guide on she led us straight to the top of the vast and silent cave where we found another doorway not arched the first was but square at the top something like the of egyptian temples are ye prepared to enter the place of death asked evidently with a view to making us feel uncomfortable lead on said good solemnly trying to look as though he was not at all alarmed as indeed did we all except who caught good by the arm for protection this is getting rather ghastly said sir henry peeping into the dark doorway come on don t keep the old lady waiting and by ic king solomon s mines he politely made way for me to lead the van for which i inwardly did not bless him tap tap went old s stick down the passage as she trotted along and still overcome by some unaccountable of evil i hung back come get on old fellow said good or we shall lose our fair guide thus i started down the passage and after about twenty paces found myself in a gloomy apartment some forty feet long by thirty broad and thirty high which in some past age had evidently been by hand labor out of the mountain this apartment was not nearly so well lighted as the vast cave and at the first glance all i could make out was a massive stone table running its length with a colossal white figure at its head and life sized white figures all round it next i made out a brown thing seated on the table in the centre and in another moment my eyes grew accustomed to the light and i saw what all these things were and i was out of it as hard as my legs would carry me i am not a nervous man in a general way and very little troubled with of which i have lived to see the folly but i am free 