, 1890-03-06
BENEATH THE EARTH.
Some Famous Underground
Water Courses,
AND MYSTERIOUS CREVICES
Large Rivers Which Abruptly
Plunge Into the Bowels Of
the Earth.
tsan Francisco Chronicle. !

tsan Francisco Chronicle.
The list of subterranean rivers Of
Importance Is being constantly added
10, and what used to be IA very limited
list has now become quite an ex.
tended one. 1t was only few days
ago that the dispatches gave an ac'
count Of the discovery of one OF
these streams I'm one of the Eastern
states, and its exploration for miles
in n canoe by the two adventurous
discoveries. According to the pub.
lishcd accounts, this stream Is even
more remarkable than that found
In the Mammoth cavein ntucky.
This latter flows distance of 300
feet beneath the earth's surface be-
tween banks about thirty eetapart,
and Is a volume of water forty feet
deep. Rolling on for about quar-
ter of mile II disappears in a bank
Of fine sand, yelled In both Its com
Ing and its going as the mystery
Of life itself. Less known, or
rather less written of, IL
the river Lys, which, on Its
entrance into Belgium, dashes
abruptly over precipice and is lost
TO sight for nearly half Al mile. The
Meuse also has a subterranean
course, extending to a distance of
six miles, while the River Dromme,
i'm Normandy, on nearing the sea,
plunges into hole thirty.nine feet
wide, known as the Pit OF Soucy,
from which it never reappears, ex-
cept in the form of new springs,
which are supposed to arise from the
lost waters. In Derbyshire, Eng
land, there are two small streams
called the Hamps and the Manifold.
Formed by the union Of several
small springs they How in the open
for IA short distance, and then turn
In close together under the face Of IA
hill range. Here they have made
for themselves a passage through
the solid earth and for
miles they flow underground,
each maintaining its own complete
individuality, until at length they
rc'emerge to the light by apertuns
only fifteen yardsapart, That their
waters never intermingle Is proved
by this experiment-that any float
ing body thrown In where the rivers
enter the underground passage
again reappears In the separate
river into which II has been thrown,
when the strange streams of water
issue into the light of day.
! A somewhat similar condition Of
| affairs Is said to exist about a little
Cornish lake called Dozmere, or
Dosmary pool, supposed TO be that
mere into which the good sword
Excalibar was thrown. IL has
neither visible outlet or inlet, bur IL
Is said that articles thrown into the
lake will reappear In Falmouth
harbor, which Il at least sixty mi les
away. There IL quite an Arthu rian
flavor of romance about this story,
it is true, but the thing is vouched
for ~ "A fact by several rcputab
"oldest inhabitants"
sometimes the conditions are re-
versed and the river, instead of d is
appearing before II reaches the sea,
comes from the seu and disappears
in the land. In the art icle In Ma
ture of January, 1856, entitled "Cu-
rlous Phenomenon in Cephalon Ia -
the writer says: "The sea runs into
the land I'm strong stream, turning
u water-whcel on the way, and dis
appears in the earth about leo yards
from the entrance. ] imugine,n say vs.
the contributor, "that the water
must be converted into steam, which
comes out either at Naples or Ceph-
alonia.n
This Is byno means the only seated
river, II appears, for very snOn after
the publication Of the above state
ment Ii was followed by another
from u New York gentleman,
who said that such were COM
mon in Mexico, where they
were known rs "Zanates." NV lille
/ passing through Nucatan in 1901
he writes, ~ saw a large river run
ming with torrential speed within n
natural tunnel not far from the sea-
shore and probably over one hun
dred feet below the surface of the
ocean. Its shaft-llke entrance was
adorned by picturesque old Span
ish well curb of stone, furnish he'd
with standards of fanclfully wrought
/ iron work. Nothing on the surface
indicated the existence of the vast
cavern under the monOtonou- and
Hat lowlnnds of the peninsula of Yu-
catan; and though not Il breath of
air stirred, the deafening roar of the
torrent under our feet could not he
/ perceived until we We're fully inside
the cavern. A rapid descent
brought lis to the level of the pumps
used for irrigating very
extensive ixtl plantation, and
from here we could see by
the light of our torches The
yellow foam of the waters upon the
underlined background Of the chasm
below. Descending still further the
full stream could be seen through n
wide flsstre in the limestone of the
cave. 1t had the rounded appear
nnce of stream flowing hori ION tai
ly under great pressure, ten or
twelve feet In diameter, and look ING
like gigantic black lclclc lying ON
it's side. The large volume of water
plunged with great swiftness into
an uneXplorcd and dark chamber
with terrific roar, producing noises
which resembled the hollow ech ocs
of heavy explosions heard now and
then above the perpetual rumbl ing
of the rushing water. The mout h
or entrance of the Alnatc was only
twenty-eight feet above the
level of the Gulf of Mexico,
aud as my barometer indicated de-
scent OF 10 feet, 1t meant that the
river was flowing III feet below the
level Of the sea. The manager of the
plantation near which was found
the subterranean stream informed
the writer that there We're many