The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1831-12-21
A SUBTERRANEAN VISIT.
Ertract Of d Letter TO the Editor of the La
dies Journal of Literature-and Science,
baltimore, dated .,r.4 Z

n ,,,,,u PARIS, July 81, 1881.
WIN vou not he little surprised to hear
nat Yesterday, in the full possession Of life,
.ea''h' ana my usual quantum of reason-be
ieSS OF ihore-l actually visited, in CON-
' Pahy win my husband two ladies, and sew
eIal gentiemen-what place do you think !?
; you VIII never guess, and may as well out
WIN II at once he Lo,cer Regions Stare
not ye lovers OF the marvellous, should this
assertion ever meet your view, but listen 10
sion.
"eassembled about o'clock in the morn
ing al the Royal Observatory, situated in St.
'anes r suburbs IN the highest part of the
IE' ne ounce was built, they tell me,
IVY Lonis AVI, IN 1867, and takes its name
i,0in is having been the residence ofmath-
e,iiat'ciahs' appointed by the king 10 make
DISSERTATIONS ahn Improvements IN astrono-
my. 1t is built of stone. and 90 admirable
arched that neither wool nor iron are en-
pioyed In the whole building. The heirht
is about so or 80 feet, anil AT the ion there
Is beautiful platform, which commands an.
excellent view of Paris and its enyirons.
IraP doors are placed perpendicularIy one
exactly above the other, in the different
noors, and when these are open. persons at
the bottom of the subterraneous rave above
mentloned-which by the way leads from
THIS edlfice--caR distinguish stars very clear
ly at monday. This cavern is called the
quarry, and notwithstanding it extends un-
der the greater part of the city, few, am
told, even OF those who constantly reside mt
Parls. are at all acquainted with it, or give
themselves any trouble, from the danger
they are IN OF some day breaking through.
! About y, our guides heinz ready, and all
hands equipped, each with wax candle, we
descended by steps, to the depth Of three
hundred and sixty feetl Did ever Won visit
the Slmshury mines in Connecticut? new
er did, but have heard of those who have
and much did | sympathise with them ms
we made our descent. The Newoaters
were not so classical, however, as to have
marble steps, hut performed their under
ground movements by help of wooden lad
uefs' we depended on no snch totterinr
supporters, but, except perhaps some little
danger of falling to the bottom. we found
; things remarkably convenient. Having once
landed-if landing it might be called-we
found the path rather narrow at first hnt
soon we entered large and spacious streets,
marked with names the same AS in the citv
advertisements and bills were pasted on The
walls; and here and there were stalls where
men were selling refreshments, so that il
had quite rity-like appearance. The
height OF the roof is a bout nine or ten feet
though IN some parts it is murh higher. In
many places there is water constantly drop-
ping from it, which congeals Immediately.
and forms kind of transparent stone. moi
so line and clear, however, as rock crystal.
Every few rods was prop ofimmense stones
, set IN mortar, reaching from the floor. which
was solid rock, to the roof, which was of the
same durable material. After traversInp
about two miles, we again descended sew
ernl steps, but we found it so cold and damn
that we were fearful Of being obliged 10 re.
trace orr steps. As we pursued our on
ward way, however, we soon entered kind
OF saloon, cut out of the rock, which was il
6 Illuminated with great taste. At one end
was immature representation of some of
the principal forts in the Indies. with fortif-
cations, drawhridges, &c. Cannon were
painted, with couple Of soldiers at each,
ready to fire. Sentines were placed at diff
tefent parts OF the garrison, particularly be-
fore the Governors house; and regiment
OF armed men was drawn Up in another place
with their general in front. The whole was
made up of kind Of clay which the place
affords, and the light which was thrown up
on 1t, gave it very ingenious, and, / sup
pose, w"r-like effect. We did not appre-
bend much danger. however, from the SOL
diery or their cannon, as they were not one
OF them able 10 move limit. On one side
Of this saloon was long table furnished
with cold tongue. bread and butter, and
some excellent wine-these articles were
not OF clay hut the real vegetable and ami
NAL production. took hearty draught of
tn aIlo
proceeded on our journey about two miles
farther, which brought us to another flight
OF steps, leading up to the town. We all
assembled accordingly, and found ourselves
safe at the Val de Craze, near the Benedic-
tine convent, without one of the party hav-
! ing suffered the least accident. 1t was the
opinion of our guides. that we had walked
about five or six miles under ground. We
had been absent from the surface of the
earth four hours. Though there was, no
doubt, some danger attending our rash ex-
pediton-as some were pleased to call it
yet we were all in excellent spirits, and
highly delighted with the novelty Of the
scene all, however, concluded that for a
place of residence we should prefer an up
per region. 1t was regretted by us that We
had not taken thermometer and barome-
ter down with us, to ascertain the tempera-
ture and weight of the air. Certain it is,
however, it was much colder than on the
surface of the earth, and in some places we
found respiration more difficult; but this
might, in some measure, have been owing
to the number of persons and wax lights
Our guides told MS that formerly there were
several openings into the quarries, but a
present there, are only the two Fhave men
toned, viz: the Observatory and the Val dt
Grace, and these are kept constantly lock
ed, except when opened to admit strangers
We have since learned that the illumination
: and refreshments were prepared on our az
4 count. We have also learned that man,
years ago, it was inhabited by famous gan!
of robbers, who infested the country bn
/ of its origin very little can be aseertaiued
: 1t appears, however, that for the first build
ing of Paris, it was necessary to dig tn
I stone in the envrons, and as the city wa
, enlarged, it was insenshly built on thes
d qnarries, so that all you see without is es
: sentially wanting within, for the foundatio
. is completely undermined"
q EPITApH Is LLASFAIR CHURcH-YARD, NoRT
WALES.
Life is fsh-pond as we plainly see
n God is the fisherman, the fishes we;
: Awhile he condescends With us to NAV