Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-25

semblance to that garment, yet if so ii Is
prim and ungraceful Other formations
&C uld better be called milady's ball dress
They are decollete and full of iriNs, out
they grace alabaster shoulders.
4 Strange Sensation.
Once. while we were cropping through
long passage. 1 had the strange sensation
of seeing a star in the distance. 1T had
the steel-like appearance which is given TO
the consultations in the clear blue skies of
the tropics. We had left midday behind US
when we entered the caves. / knew We
had come a long distance downward. and
if We We're emerging on the other side OF
the globe most likely 1t was night time
there. Though this was improbable, there
was the star set in some armament IL
glstened momentarily and then shone with
a steady light. l was beginning TO wonder
if my physical and mental senses had been
absorbed in the caVernous surroundings.
when the star went out. The guide had
shifted the candle which he had been bear
ing rigidly aloft. Its rays no longer con-
verged the star-shaped crystal across
which the water was gently flowing. That
was all.
The drops of water were falling every
where. In some parts of the cave it was
the single rain drop alone breaking the
silence. In others there was the regularity
and steadiness of rainy day I'm the
spring. There were pools underneath. into
which Justo sometimes fell, swearing at
his rnishap in choice Castilian. The novelty
of hearing a Chinaman a thousand feet
under ground swear in Spanish was di-
verting. But ii was soon forgotten in the
fresh experiences. ! drank of the water
from one of the basins followed out by the
processes of nature. 1t cool and re-
freshing. Some of the dark pools under
the shelving rocks, or turtle backs, looked
deliciously cool, yet ii is necessary TO
wriggle in and out of them like an eel,
and the experience is not worth the bother.
An American tourist once insisted on talk
ing bath in one of these pools. He came
wit lS flesh iur tad h., hal
been subjected 10 Russian knoudng.
Neither the Chinaman nor the Cuban has
seen Niagara Falls. Both of them showed
the falls to me in crystal. The similarity is
not marked. There are cascades. yet the
suggestion is more of natural dam across
some smoothly flowing stream than of
roaring cataract fnstantaneously concealed.
The idea of plunging, underground torrent
suddenly becoming frozen and ceaSing TO
move does not occur to the imaginatiO nor
is it thus that these crystal waterfalls have
been formed. 1t is different with the jag
Sed and rugged masses which suggest the
icebergs. With ,ner angles anu points and
corners they might have been swept down
by some subterreanean current. yet they do
not suggest an arctic region of caVerns for
they give no GOODNESS to the oppressiVely
warm and close atmosphere.
What the Guide Expects.
l had grown almost weary of these lights
when the Cuban guide paused before a
stalactite pillar. of the many which
span lfe space from lIS EARN ABOVE TO the
earth below, broad at each base and grad
ually tapering toward the middle like an
hour glass. 1t WAS not complete column.
for the ends Were not Joined. This was not
apparent to the eye. / tried to pass letter
between the approaching points, but could
not Then the envelope alone. with the
same result. Finally sheet of thin paper
was inserted The Cuban guide has been
watching this formation for many years.
He declares that he has seen the points
coming closer together, and that he will
live to see the column perfected by the ends
Joining in the middle. l do not know wheth-
er this is his ina gination or if the pro-
cess is rapid enough for human observation
to note its stages. How many seas have
trickled through the earth while the ele-
mentS held in solution by these water drops
have been forming this crystal pillar per
haps the scientist knows. Possibly the Gu
ban guide is in reality going to witness this
elimination of the ages.
The caves have an end somewhere or the
one We were IN has for finally we reached
a rampant of earth, which barred further
progress. So We retraced our wav noting
many marvels that had been imperfectly
appreciated in going forward. Having
never visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky
l cannot say how the caves of Ballamar
compare with it. but they are vastly dif-
ferent from the Luray caverns in Virginia
They have not the number of vaulted
chambers md the abrupt effects of Luray
In this respect they are more like great
underground tunnel sometimes straight
and sometimes winding. bat closely walled
in on either side. Often 1t is possible to
touch the walls. and it is impossible to
walk erect. Where the passage widens il
is not into great yaulted chambers and the
impression is not one of vastness.
In other respects there is greater variety
of interest than at Luray. We did not pen
citrate the cave which is called the GEM
etery, and | can only take its gloom and
grandeur en- hearsay. But of the infinite
variety and beauty of the crystalizations
it is impossible to write extraVaeautiy The
fantastic and curious figures which have
been wrought are as endless as the drops
of water that have formed them The
twelve apostles do not seem so much an
exercise of the Imagination when this
group is seen by dim candlelight, nor does
the virgins cloak in its spotless white
Eess. Some of the figures suggest pagan
deities. while others might be a concourse
of Egyptian mummies. except that they
are a few million years older than the
mummies. Some, too. might be the little
old men of the mountain whom Rip Van
Wrinkle saw. They look very solemn. Many
of these coIumnar formations resemble the
trunks of the palm trees. standing solitary
and alone. though i suppose they also an
tedate the palms by geological era or
two The most stately pillars are those
which might readily support a vast subter-
ranean temple. for they rest upon the
ground beneath and reach to the earth
above which forms the roof of the caves
When touched lightly they give forth clear
and musical tones.
A forked passageway leads to the en-