New-York tribune., 1903-05-17

roverberate through the great hollow dome like
the shrieks of lost souls. They f1utter round
our heads almost extinguishng lights with
the beating of their wings.
Standing the edge of the balcony we drop
pebbles over the brink to ascertain what step
in the dark would mean. BY counting the
seconds that elapse before hear them land
calculate that the floor of the chamber is
nearly hundred feet beneath US. By throw
ing stones in various directions we learn that
in a great Cathedral-ke apartment. One
missile strikes a slender stalactite, which breaks
off and crashes into the depths with a deafening
sound
by retracing steps a little way we find
a winding staircase that leads to the floor of
the great grotto. fashlight set off here
veals a magnifcently arched dome No cathe-
dral or fretted vault ever raised by the hand
OF man had more elaborate carvings or more
delioateIy tinted walls than this subterranean
palace Strange serpentine forms like petrl-
fed snakes and lizards of divers kinds are in
Crusted in the walls In beds of moSsl1ke ex-
cre-cences of many hues. Rich mosaics cover
the walls and pillars at various points to as
great height our feeble lights will permit us
TO gaze Many of these seem to be set as regu-
larry rs if constructed on a geometric plan.
Clusters of stalacttes resembling huge icicles
hang from the roof, and are met in some places
by stalagmites forming columns shaped like an
hourglass by the fusion of their points There
are curtains, columns, pillars and pilasters as
white as aIabaster. A candle placed behind the
thinner ones shines through them with an opal
escent light There are pyramids Of stalagmites
crusted over with corallike substance, rang
ing in shade from pale pink to a creamy white
Some of these piles of the form and color
Of huge caulfowers; others resemble yucca
palms in bloom
we pass into another grotto which name
Statuary' Hail. on account Of the many remark
able figures it contains The first object to at
tract attention is a white elephant twenty feet
high and of as stately appearance as any tusker
in the royal stables of Siam. He is in the act
Of stepping over a fallen column The only
thing lacking to make the statue complete is
the proboscis which has been broken off by a
falling stalactite and lies in front of him. Near
the elephant Iordly eagle is perched lofty
pedestal, the proud bird apparently being mon
arch Of all he surveys in this underground
world. There many more strange shapes in
this grotto carved as it were, by the hand of
nature out of translucent stone On a low
table stands an ola (water cooler) with a
cracked lid. 1t evidently hasn't had any water
in if since the days of Noahs flood. A beau
tiful miniature temple stands in little grotto
all by itself. 1t is white Parian marble
and almost transparent Its many columns
regularly set the pillars of a Grecian
portico- 1t has q f1uted dome of wondrous sym
metry.
'I throw a lasso UP decvity and catch
short stout post set the edge of a terrace
We crawl up the rope, and at the top more
marves of natures handiwOrk. Before
stretches a gallery ornamented with eX-
qusitelv delicate tracery of lime crystals that
sparkle in the light of the candles like ho~ frost
in the sun The floor is as level and SIN : as
q billiard table From the roof hang nnu-