The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-19 00:00:00

OUR SECOND DAY'S RAMBLE IN THE MAM-

MOTH CAVE.

To-day there were three grand points of the Cave
which we hoped to visit, namely, The Chief City, or
Temple, The Mammoth Dome, and The Fairy Grotto. We
entered about seven o'clock, after a capital breakfast at
the hotel, and passed over a good deal of the ground we
visited yesterday. We left Audribou's Avenue on our
left, came to the Church again, which we could not help
taking another look at, went on through the Main Cave,
passing the Giant's Coffin, coming to the Great Bend,
then entering again the Star-Chamber, through which we
passed, and came to the Salts Room ; here there are
layers of salts in the sides of the chamber, and from
the roof they hang in crystals. They taste very
pure, and not at all unpleasant, and are used
medicinally by the people in the neighbourhood of
the cave, when they can coax any of the guides to bring
them a supply. By kindling a fire in this apartment, or
putting all the lamps together so as to create a tolerable
heat, the salt comes down in flakes like a fall of fleecy
snow. As we trudge along the Main Cave (so called
because all the other avenues branch off from it), the
mind cannot but be filled with awe while contemplating
the wonders of this immense tunnel. It is as if we were
walking through the bed of a river, and the ceiling,
generally about aixty feet high, looks something like a
cloudy sky; indeed one part of it is called the Floating
Clouds. Soon, however, our ceiling becomes very low,
and our road very rough; we are compelled to crawl a
c ,nsiderable way on our hands and knees, and are not at
all displeased wham we reach thu Banquet Hall, for here
there is plenty of room to stand up, the ceding being 40
feet high arid the width of the apartment about 700 tee'.
We were very glad to sit down too, and Stephen Weill
to a -distance and lighled one of his Bengal lights, which
showed us the glories of this immense apartment. While
We Ivor() restuag here Stephen sang some negro songs

very well; a merry fellow is. Stephen, and has a good
voice. One of his ditties pleased us very much—it was
about " Uncle Ned, an old nigger who died long ago,
snd who had no wool on de top ob his head, de place where
de wool ought to grow." I sang my poor friend Rooke's
song of "My Boyhood's Home," from Amilie, and
then we resumed our journey, passing by two cataracts,
each of which falls about fifty feet. Our road was very
difficult, indeed, and exceedingly toilsome, notwith-
standing the fact that one can undergo a great deal more
fatigue in the cave than it is possible to do in the opes
air; but when we reached the point at which we were
aiming, our toils were amply repaid by the magnificence
of the Chief City, or Temple. This dome is 120 feet
high, the roof being of smooth solid rock; it is 300 feet
across, and 960 feet in length. In the middle of it is a
large heap of stones called the Mountain, up which we
clambered to see this immense area of darkness illumi-
nated. It is impossible to conceive anything more sublime
than this rocky hall, when lighted up by the Bengal;
and it is as impossible for words to convey to one who
has never seen it, the least idea of its magnificence. But
the light went out too soon. "Another Bengal! An.
other Bengal, Stephen!" was the cry that immediately
burst from every one. " Ah," said Stephen, " I knew
that would be the case." He then formed a light not
quite so brilliant as the Bengal, but which lasted longer,
and in whose softness there was more awe in con-
templating this vast place. We remained here
a long time, sometimes in dismal silence,
and sometimes breathing forth a sacred song, or one of
a serious character, for one of any other description
would have been quite out of place. Moore's " Oft in
the Stilly Night,' I sang very softly, but it sounded im-
mensely in the silence, and if I may judge of the effect
of it upon Stephen, it was very solemn, for he said it
made him cry. He sang us no more tugger songs till we
were fairly out of the Temple. We turned our steps
now towards the Fairy Grotto, the way to which is also
very difficult; a great deal of crawlicg again under low
ceilings, but which is generally got over very good-hu
mouredly, each one's mishaps causing a hearty laugh to
the others. When you reach the apartment you dis-
cover that it is not inaptly named the Fairy Grotto, and
are soon rapt in admiration of the beautiful stalactites
before you. The lamps are placed in the pillars and
other parts of the grotto, in the same way as at the
Gothic Chapel, and the effect is very fine. The stalac-
tites were once whiter than they are now, for the smoke
of the lamps has darkened them not a little. While ad-
miring the endless variety of stalactite beauties before
us, one cannot help feeling sorry that visitors should be
so barbarous as to break them off, for they but rarely
can get a rosette or anything else whole; they therefore
spoil the beauty of the grotto, without being able
to carry away a satisfactory trophy of their
destructive deeds. The stalactite formations are
still going on in the grotto, for the water
is constantly oozing through, and many a crystal drop
may be seen hanging from the end of the bunch of beau-
ties already formed. There are some thick massy pil-
lars, some stalactites and stalagmites not yet met—the
stalagmite is the formation on the ground, caused by the
dropping of the water from the stalactite, which hangs
as it were from the roof ; many of them are beautifully
and fantastically shaped, and the effect of the light
shining through them is rich in the extreme. After
feasting our eyes on this splendid scene, we left the So-
litary Cave, and entered again the Again Cave, and when
we got as far as the Giant's Coffin, we once more dived
down behind it into the Deserted Chambers, and passing
through the Wooden Bowl, we regained our dining-hall
of yesterday, and finding ourselves quite ready for a re-
past, we again dined here, and drank of the clear delici•
ous spring, and after a long rest and a chat, and some
music, we set out on our further travels. We soon came
to the Bottomless Pit, and our new-named St. Paul's
dome, and passing on entered the Vally of Humility, so
called from the visitor being obliged to stoop very much
while walking through it, for it is only about four -feet
high; a short avenue takes us to the Winding-Way,
otherwise called the Fat Ma u'a' Misery, a most extra-
ordinary freak of nature.lt is 109 yards long, and
about 15 inches broad, and of solid rock. It widens about
three feet from the ground, so that one has play for his
arms; but it keeps constantly winding, there being not
more than two or three feet straight at a stretch, and
must perplex very much any tolerably stout person who
ficds himself winding through it. Although it is called
" The Fat Man's Misery," yet it has sometimes proved
the fat woman's misery too, for a very stout lady, if
there is such a thing in the world, got into it once, and
stuck fairly. The appendix, to her quite unnecessary,
of a bustle, was squeezed out of existence ; and, in
winding her way, she nearly winded herself; she
breathed fast, but stuck faster; she, being so great, be-
cause greatly alarmed, and her friends were compelled
to haul her through till they get into Great Relief, which
the avenue at the end of the Winding Way is very ap
propriately called, and which she frankly confessed was
the greatest relief to her that the had ever in her life
explrienced. Its the avenue of Great Relief we saw the
point to which the river rose in January last, which is
fifty six feet above its usual level. In going along we
come to two routes, one which leads to the river, where
we intend going to morrow, and another to the Mam-
moth Dome, whither we now steer our course. We come
first, however, to the Bacon Chamber, another curious
freak of dame Nature; the ceiling is low, and has the
appearance of being hung with canvass-covered bacon
hams and shoulders, so curiously has the action of the
water formed these stones. There is another curious
formation in this chamber. In a part of the ceiling there
is the appearance ofa stratum having dropped out for about
20 feet, about one foot broad, and the same in.height, and
the vacuum is in the form of a serpent. Our next place to
gaze at is the Bandit's Hall, a wonderfully wild-looking
apartment of great magnitude, the &tor being covered
with rocks of vari,,us s.zes, that have evidently fallen
from the ceiling. It was like being among some wild
rocky mountains, with the sky far above us, and when
lighted up was a magnificent spectacle of wild, rugged
scenery. Now for the Mammoth Dome. We sincerely
hope it may be something worth looking at when we
get to it, for our way is the most difficult, tedious, and
toilsome that we have yet encountered; by this time,
however, we were getting quite expert at creeping, and
going sometimes in crab fashion, sideways on our hands
and feet. At last we emerge out of a hole, and find our-
selves standing on the brink of a precipice, and hear
the railing of water from a great height, and by the dim
glimmer of our lights we see that there is something be-
fore us awfully grand and stupendous, and this is the
Mammoth Dome! But we do not see it yet as we shall
see it. We must descend twenty feet by a crazy-looking
ladder, on which human foot has not been since last
summer, in order that we may see the dome in all its
glory. Well, we are down, and not a very easy task it
is to get down; and we are standing there enjoying a
kind of shower bath, while Stephen goes upon a
height to light up—and when he does light up we
forget the water that is showering down upon
us—we forget everything but the grand scene be-
fore us. We look on the vast space lighted up,
and we see the sides of this immense dome, or tower it
might be called, for it is nearly four hundred feet high,
fluted, polished, here pillars, there capitals of the most
elaborate description, as if the cunningest hand of the
cunningest craftsman had been there—ay, and has he not
been there? It is something like Gorin's Dome, which
we saw yesterday, but much larger. It may well be
called the greatest wonder of this wondrous place.
Stephen must give us another Bengal. Again we gaze
in astonishment at this unparalleled wonder, and see
beauties we did not see before. The light fades and
dies, and again deep impenetrable gloom holds its away.
We ascend the ladder to our old ledge of rock at the
mouth of the hole by which we must return, and feel
thankful when we find ourselves safely at the top of it,
take one last look at the dome, and then retrace our steps.
foundW hen
.a
tthtihs
edboomt
bottom-was
mw aosf
itiswcohvicehred in 1842 a
puzzled
the
finders lamp was
not
a little as to how it could have got there. Inquiry was
made of an old man wbo lives near the cave, and who
worked in it when a boy at the saltpetre factories, and
he remembers of a man being let down by a rope to look
for saltpetre, and that he dropped his lamp. What a situ-
ation to be in! Dangling at the end of a rope in the
dark, with perhaps a vacuum of 300 feet below him! We
now set eff for the mouth of the cave, and had to go over
the same rough ground we traversed before. Having
been nine hours under ground to-day, we were
very glad to see the light of -heaven again, and some o
our party were heartily tired.