The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-08
GRoTTo OF THE DRAG0N
Natural Wonder I'm h Baiearic
Islands Said TO BE the Most Mar
vicious Cavern I'm the World.
New York Herald.


being the most mysterious OF them all.
This island. the largest OF the group. is
ffty-eight miles in length and forty-fve
miles at its greatest breadth. The coasts or
the north and west. facing the Spanish
peninsula. are lofty and steep. and in the
other direction low and shelving. The island
is very irregular and deeply indented- The
Spanish sailors and fishermen for years re-
garded Majorca with awe. 1t was once be-
Ieved 10 be the habitation OF fairies and
giants who had one eye. a glaring orb. in
the center OF the forehead. like that of
Polyphemus. slain by Ulysses. Many imagi-
native Mariners. in describing the beautiful
grotto. a part of which is now so well
known to tourists. declared that it led into
regions Internal and was guarded by a fiery
dragon. To this circumstance it probably
yves its name of Manacor, or Grotto of
the Dragon. According to anothe legend.
which may have a good basis in fact. the
grotto was the haunt of pirates who secured
the Spanish main and stored their
booty in the bowels OF the earth. TO which
the mighty cavern was supposed to be the
entrance.
Many adventurous men have explored tn"
Manacor Grotto in search Of this alleged
treasure. but it is not recorded that any
was ever found. Indeed. until very re-
Gently this cavern and the neighboring one
OF Arta remained unknown to the world.
Both enjoyed a great local celebrity. But as
they lay on the eastern coast, far from the
trodden highway Of travel, even the most
adventurous spirits among the oyager
from the great outside world left them
contemptuously alone.
There was Bayard Taylor, for example,
He was in Majorca in 1866. He published
an account of the Balearic islands in his
''Byways of Europe" Here is his candid
confession at the tail end OF the Majorca
chapter:
Il heard a great deal about a cavern on
the eastern coast of the island, beyond
Arta- 1t is called the Hermit's Cave, and
the people of Palma consider ii the prin-
cipal thing to be seen in all Majorca- Their
descriptions of the place. however. did not
inspire me with any very lively desire to
undertake n two days journey for the pur-
pose OF crawling on my belly through a
long hole and then descending a shaky rope
ladder for a hundred feet or more. When
one has performed these feats. they said,
he finds himself in an immense hall, sup
ported by stalactitic pillars, the marvels of
of the eastern part of the island been more
attractive | should have gone as far as
Arta- but L wished to meet the steamer
Minorca at Alcudia,. and there were but
two days remaining"
THE GROTTO OVERLOOKED. 4.
You see he does not even mention "the
GrottC OF the Dragon" Still more remiss
was the next Anglo-Saxon traveller who
trod in his footsteps. This was Charles T.
BidweIl. an Englishman. who spent several
months in the islands and published a book
about them-a book containing go duodec-
imo pages. Bidwell, at least, one might
have thought, would have taken the trou-
BILE to explore these local wonders. He.-
too, utterly ignores the Grotto Of the
Dragon and has a single short paragraph
about the other as "a celebrated grotto at
Arta, whose wonderful chambers are said
to be the most remarkable in the world"
In 1SS2 a certain Charles Wood was more
venturesome. He actually visited both
caves. But he only penetrated a short dis
tance into the bowels of the cave at Mana
cor. He made a more extended visit TO the
other. He came away with the impression
that MANAGER was q much overrated WON
der. bet that a due celebration OF Arta,s
beauties was utterly beyond the posSibili-
ties OF articUsate speech. He suggested the
probability, however, that the Arta and the
MANAGER caves were the same, or simply
two different openings or one monster won
derland that was concealed within the
bowels Of the earth.
Surely other travellers ought to have been
spurred on to act upon this hint and solve
the mystery thus suggested. But, strange
as. II may seem, no further effort in this
lAIlG was AALNAI u CIV NCChS ~ w
one, either native or foreign, mustered up
sufficient courage to penetrate the Manacor
an interminabIe length into Zimmerman
darkness and silence.
Then along came NJ. Martel, the intrepid
French explorer OF caverns. He is not
troubled with nervousness, nor frightened
by darkness and silence. He has rather a
p~enchant for bats and reptiles that flourish
I'm subterranean darkness, and would GER
tainly hobuob with any hobgoblin he hap
pened TO disturb. and want to know how he
got there and all about his genealogical
tree.
NJ. Martel has explored every cavern ever
heard of on the continent of Europe and of
many islands besides. He has tumb.ed down
precipices. sat down heavily and uninten-
tional,y i'm the dark upon sharp-pointed
stalagmites and swum for his life. in the
icy waters OF a deep underground river.
Therefore what NJ. Martel doesn't know
about caves and grottoeS isn't worth know
ing. Looking about, like Alexander. for
other worlds TO conquer. he bethought him
OF the Grotto of the Dragon and straight
way set out to explore il. After a protracted
sojourn therein he has just returned to
light and life. covered with slime and glory.
and declaring that never in all his expert
ence had be seen such wonders as those
disclosed by the neither depths of Manacor.
WONDERS UPON WONDERS.
He traversed nearly a mile of new gal
leries absolutely marvellous I'm their beauty
n construction. 1t was like fairyland.
Vending his way through tortuous pas
sages. in which natures cunning hand had
carved delicate ornamentation, he suddenly
found himself in a vast hall, and stood
amazed. Never had he seen such a beau
tiful sight. The arched roof was supported
by a superb colonnade of stalagmites OF the
delicacy of the finest porcelain. Some hung
pendant from the domelike roof. Others
rose from the ground to the height OF fifty
feet and more. forming innumerable pill
lars. some fiuted and beautiful. as If de-
signed by human genius, others modelled
like the shaft of a palm or an acanthus,
as II the Southern nature which produced
the foliage OF the soil above were also
adapted to it's hidden recesses. Sometimes
many united columns OF stalagmite stood
alone like a broken pillar. while in other
places rows of stalactite pillars punctured
with their fine points a richly pointed
dome. There were cathedral aisleS OF the
loveliest Gothic architecture, pulpits and
chapels and organs and galleries and
witches caldrons in bewildering beauty,
richness ard profusion.
TN the listt of the flaming torches the
limestone roof and floor. colonnades and
walls. g~littered With myriads OF seeming
diamonds. which reflected their brilliancy
with the sheen of the flames i'm the waters
OF the lake, until the effect was dazzling,
enhancing. overwhelming. When NJ. Mar
tel had gazed upon the scene until he could
gaze no longer, he set about investigating
the lake. First. he measured IL and found
It 20 be 1S0 meters in length. Next, he
sounded IL n the line showed that ii was
ten meters deep. Finally. he tasted the
water and found that 10 was salt. no doubt
through infiltrations OF sea water.
He then continued on. past the beautiful
co1onnades and into the galleries. only TO
ind that they ended at solid rock. He ex-
plored each one infinitely. in the hope that