The times., 1899-02-19
WASHINGTON, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 49, 1S99-SXTEEN PAGE

7 "
plorer Be that it it may, it is worth TAX
ing good deal OF trouble TO get glimpse
| of these caverns.
| 1t would seem an easy matter to go oply
3 miles from Cuba's second city find the
/ man who claims to own the caves, and
| persuade him for a money consideration
| to take you down through the passages he
| has opened. But he or she who expects TO
| do easily anything the least little bit out
of the common in Cuba has clearly reck-
| oned without the host.
| In the first place, 1t is well-nigh impossi-
| bic nowadays TO secure any sort of convey
ance for the short trip Most OF the horses
| that were not taken possession of by one
army or the other and worked TO DEATH
| died of starvation, or were eaten for meat
| during the war, ard the few cabmen of
| Matanzas find plenty of employment with
| in city limits without rislsing their de-
| crepit vehicles over the stony country
| roads. To go on foot, or without ample
! escort. is not to be thought of in these un-
! settled times of desperate poverty and
/ numerous footpads. Finally, thanks to the
governor of the province, who lent us his
| own volante and borrowed saddle horses
| from his personal friends, our party was
enabled to visit the caves in tolerable COM
| fort.
We chose what is known as Belle Vista
| beautiful View way to Bella Mar. in
stead of the shorter cut up the steep hi J.
side The road is lined for some distance
| by once handsome residences. Grecian,
Moorish and Italian in architecture. al
| with imposing facades ornamented with
| verandas and colonades in marble. stone
| and wrought iron. But most Of these for
/ mer abodes of wealth are now deserted,
| their titled owners dead or returned to
| Spain and silence and decay hangs over
| all. The melancholy impression prc6Iced
by so much departed grandeur is happily
| dispelled when the boulevard abruptly
ends at the shore of the bay and wide
marine view is suddenly unfolded. After
swinging along for some time close to the
gentle surf that washes 4 silvery beach, on
the other hand green banks shadowed by
| graceful palms and gradually s.oping TO
| the verdure-clad hills, the road takes a
! sharp turn to the eastward. And such a
road-the dry bed of mountain torrent,
| winding and stony, to the top OF the plR-
| teau.
The Tale of Discovery.
AT last the Cave House is reached-a
| ramshackle frame building erected over a
hole in the ground, and The e we found
waiting the Chinese proprietor and two of
his servants who act as gt.ides. The for
mer explained, in excellent Castilian. that
years ago, while clearing yam patca.
Tumbling boulder out Of the way, they
were astoniGhed to see it slide through q
thicket and disappear WITH strange rever-
berations into the depths OF the earth.
They fed in alright calling upon the
saints TO protect them, imagining that the
gate to the Internal regions had been brok-
en- open. Curiosity led the landowner to
investigate and he followed the path made
ba oil linz ctr tn INN
lar chamber out OF which many narrow
passages led to unknown regions in total
darkness beyond. Every subsequent explo-
ration has disclosed freshswonders. Many
miles of tunnels, wiGding in and out
among the coral foundations of the island,
have been marked in some manner known
to the guides, tbut the upinitiated would
probably get lost in the labyrinth; and
there is reason to believe that only small
part of the chain OF caves has yet been
seen by mortal eyes.
Before going down into thc bowels of the
earth, you should divest yourself Of super
fuous clothing, coats, shawis, vests, ETC.,
because IL is excessively warm in the inner
depths; and on coming out. unless you
have some extra garments to put on, the
great change of temperature is likely to
produce a chill. which may end in tedious
calentura the local fever. which is worse
row opening down you climb into
well, by steps cut into the porous rock, the
cimmerian darkness relieved a few feet
ahead By the guides. each carrying two
tallow dips. while the proprietor, similarly
equipped, brings up the rear of the process
sion. Formerly lanterns were set at inter-
walls along the winding passages, but these
disappeared during the four years when no.
body WIS allowed to enter.
Urbap Soma antarprisinp
developed this curiosity. shop of nature,
and the world comes trooping this way to
see 1t. electric lights will -il'nmine the
whole interior disclosing the wonders of
stalactites and stalagmites- crystal lichens,
sheets Of delicate tracery like the finest
lace, magnificent columns and arches, and
other strange formations.
At the foot of the stairs you cross
wooden bridge, over what abysses can
only be imagined in the darkness-and
presently you enter the Gothic Temple"
where thousands of weird shapes stand on
every side like a company of ghosts and
millions of beautiful crystals merge in the
gloom of unexplored depth beyond.
Subterrancnn Wonders.
Place the candle behind any Of these
crystal columns. and its Transparency pro-
duces an indescribably lovely effect. the
colors varying from purest white to amber.
sea green. violet, and rose. While this
temple far surpasses in richness and splen-
dor the temple of the same name in Ken
tuckys Mammoth Cave, it does not equal
it in size and solemn grandeur, being only
about 800 feet long by l5O feet wide But
there are many other Chambers In this
Titan suite. 1000 feet underground all
peopled with figures that become in turn
Snomes and fairies, as the light falls upon
them. Some OF the more prominent OBJ
jects have been named, such as "Colum-
bus mantle" the Guardian Spirit the
Sacred Altar the Virgins Cloak" and
the Fountain of Snow" Water Is falling
everywhere, sometimes in single drops at
intervals. In other places pattering steadi-
ly like summer shower
There are pools and lakelets of unknown
depth. in which the water is icy cold not
withstandlng the warm, close atmosphere
and cascades In crystal which look as IA
rushing roaring torrent might II suddenly
frozen. The fantastic and curious figures
are as endless as the drops of water which
formed them in the slow course of ages
Some suggest pagan deities others the lit
tie old man of the mountain whom Rip
Van Winkle saw. and others Egyptian
mummies-eXcept that these are hundreds
of centuries older than Egypt itself. MANY
OF the columnar formations resemble palm
trees, though they antedate the palms
above ground by geological era or two:
and others might readily support some vast
temple OF the underworld, and when right
ly touched they give forth clear, musical
sounds.
Il second series of caverns, of even great
er wonders, is far deeper in the earth and