The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14


self nor permit any enterprising private
person to do SO. although a good offer has
been made. You can't walk into the caves
as or. when you like. You must apply al
the official bureau, or go at the stated
hour-l0;SO a. Nor else submit. to Dc
feeeed by extra charges. l was fortunate
IN having the caves Illuminated by double
candle power-S.0G0 candles-while the elec-
trio arcs We've lighted in those parts OF
the great underground labyrinth which
expand into gigantic natural halls.
one enters at a big dark portal. which
might almost stand for Dante's entrance
INTO the inferno. A party of some five
and-twenty persons, mostly Germans
gather together and men in uniform. who
are stupid, ignorant and even incapable
of speaking plainly, take us In charge.
The bright outer world closes behind us
as the gates clang together. and we are
in mysterious world, which should be in
habted by gnomes and elves, a world OF
dark recesses, giant columns, halls OF
gloom and terror. where fantastic shapes
of all kinds reveal themselves in dim out
line to the beholder and where one mar
wells at the wonders wrought by the hand
of nature in the lower parts of the earth.
Water has accomplished this work. the
underground rivers sending forth stream
let's which perCoate through the rocks
and drop by drop, in the course of untold
ages, form these grand objects 1t takes
fourteen years to form a stone of the
thickness of a sheet of paper. so one may
guess at the millions of years in which
the caverns have been formed
A gloomy passage leads to a vast natu-
raj building known as the Bonn" because
it might easily be taken for a huge ca
thedral. AT its depths rushes an Ice cold
river, which makes the passenger over the
bridge that has been constructed shu9deI
as he looks down. A road has been made
all through by the government, and this
road is some miles long, the paths di-
verging and then reuniting, parties being
taken up one way and down the other.
One got the impression Of. passing along
the crypts and aisles of some gigantic
church of proportions never dreamed OF
by any earthly architect, and the groups
of candles shining at intervals in the
gloom added to this effect
BY the way, one passes all kinds of sin
gular objects which nature has made, re-
sembling natural and artificial objects
Here is a lion, there an elephant, agair
human head. Splendid natural pulpits
with glories of carving, crowded with fig
ures, reveal themselves. From Gothic
roofs, rich with ornaments, depend ban
ners as in a great church nave the ban
ners themselves the work of nature, rich
with color and borderings OF fancy pat
terms, which the guides lanterns show us
as we passed along. / never saw such
magical effects. All at once we emerge
into a gigantic hall, with a fiat surface
and huge columns all round. In this place
a great dance is held at every Whitsun-
tide festival. We pass on and find still
stranger effects. There is the virgin en-.
throned with crown and big inflated dress
just as we see her image in Catholic
churches Here is a single column, with
capitals of acanthus leaves. There, again
is a great organ. all the pipes carved by
natures cunning hand, and one almost
expects to hear the lyric" peal forth and
echo among the arches of the gigantic
aisles.
But the most impressive part of the cav
ems is that known as the calvary. A
steep winding path leads up its nights,
which is covered with what seems exactly
like the ruins of splendid temples, grand
er than ever reared by earthly architects.
l thought of Wordsworths' lines, "a will
derness of building it seemed a grand
array of "alabaster domes and silver
spires" One looked constantly for the
presence of superhuman beings; one in
stinctively turned ones head to see II
some towering form worthy of the place
were approaching to take vengeance on
the rash intruder who had penetrated into
this abode of the gods. Carved statues,
busts broken columns, marble capitals
slopes of the great hill enshrouded in
gloom. But ever and anon through this
gloom there cleaned the little bright
spllnters of quartz and mica shining like
diamonds, and on one mass of stone the
guides lantern flashed into view thou
sands on thousands of these shining
stones.
do not hesitate to say that a more
impressive and magnificent natural scene
than this calvary In the Adelsberg caverns
does not exist. 1t is wonderful, grand,
mysterious an the highest degree. After
this climax the rest seemed comparatively
commonplace, but we walked along
through the dim aisles, with their columns
and pedeslals and animals carved by ma
lures hand, the slow drip, drip of water
every now and then spashing on face or
coat, while the lights were gradually extn-
guished by the guides. who now followed
in our rear until we finally emerged
(again the Dante smile suggests itselD into
upper air, and left the vast deserted aisles
and halls to the mysterious genius of the
place. There are few English tourists to
be found in Austria at all, for the English
stick to certain well-defined routes. But II
they should come to this very attractive
and beautiful country let them not fail to
pay a visit to the wonderful caverns of
Adelsberg.