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THE DEVIL'S COACH HOUSETHE DEVIL'S COACH HOUSE.
The road from the Grand Arch to the Devil's Coach House is devious and uneven, with occasional fissures in the ground indicating the entrance to new subterranean marvels. To the right is the mouth of a cave yet unnamed and unexplored. A little farther on, high up in the rocky wall which connects the two converging mountains of limestone, is the Carlotta Arch, which resembles a Gothic window in the grand ruins of some venerable monastic pile, fretted and scarred by centuries of decay. Almost immediately after passing the line of the Carlotta Arch, the visitor arrives at the Devil's Coach House, which runs nearly north and south. It is an immense cave, whose proportions are better gauged than those of the Grand Arch, because the light flows in, not only from the ends, but also from the roof. At a height of some 200 feet, it has a large orifice in the dome, fringed with stately trees, the fore-shortening of which from their base upwards is very peculiar as seen from the bottom of the cave. On the floor are strewn about rocks of black and grey marble, smoothed and rounded by attrition, and weighing from a few pounds to many hundredweight. In flood-time the storm-waters dash these rocks against each other with tremendous force, and the roaring of the torrent resounds like thunder through the cave. In such wild seasons blocks of stone a ton weight or more are moved a considerable distance. The walls are partly composed of black marble with white veins, and some of the boulders on the floor contain marks of fossil shells.
The most magnificent view of the Devil's Coach House is from the interior of the cave near the northern entrance, from which the rise of the arch appears to be upwards of 200 feet. Its roof is fringed withstalactites, and the outlook is into a wildly romantic gully. Stalactites are suspended from the sides of the entrance, and in several places there are stalagmites covered with projections like petrified sponge, while near to them are formations resembling masses of shells commonly found on rocks by the seaside. Some of these combinations might be examined for hours, and yet leave new and interesting features to be discovered. Small pellucid drops glisten at the ends of the stalactites, illustrating the process of their formation. The large stalactites on the roof and small stalagmites on ledges near the floor of the cave, andvice versâ, afford a practical illustration of the theory that where water flows most freely the stalagmites are largest, and where it flows most reluctantly the stalactite formation is the most magnificent.
From an inspection of these two kinds of cave ornamentation it is seen that, whereas the former are porous and free from central tubes, sometimes running in a straight line and sometimes obliquely, the latter are solid, being formed by lamination and not by accretions of matter conveyed through small interior ducts to external points. This cave may appropriately be called the Marble Hall. Portions of the walls are graced with a "formation" from the limestone rocks above, the stucco having flowed in shapes both grotesque and arabesque. Some of the interstices are filled with stalactites and stalagmites of various colours and proportions. Many stalactites on the roof of the mouth of the cave are said to be from 12 to 15 feet long. All around are entrances to numerous interior spaces adorned with stalactites of the most delicate hues. Some are tinged with various gradations of blue; others are of salmon colour, and delicate fawn. Others again are sober grey, and white shaded with neutral tint. The rocks are decorated with little patches of moss, from rich old gold to living green. The harmony of colour is marvellous, and the combined effect unique. Nature herself has so painted and ornamented the cave as to give a lesson to professors of decorative art. The vision of rocky beauty grows upon the imaginationthe observer until at last it seems like a new revelation of the enchanting effects which can be produced by natural combination.
To the artist this cave presents attractions of a kind not to be found in any other of the wonderful caves of Jenolan, although commonly it receives small attention from visitors, who recognise its grand proportions, but are impatient to witness the more elaborate and brilliant features in the hidden recesses of the mountain.
Why this spacious cavern should be called the Devil's Coach House (except on thelucus a non lucendoprinciple) few would divine. The name of his Satanic majesty is often associated with horses and horse-racing, but not generally with coaches and coach-houses. In this connection, however, it is necessary to observe class distinctions. The cavern is not sufficiently monstrous to be used by Milton's personification of the rebellious archangel, nor sufficiently hideous for Burns's "Auld Clootie," with hoofs and horns. Coleridge's devil or Southey's devil (as illustrated in "The Devil's Thoughts" of the one, and "The Devil's Walk" of the other) was neither too grand nor too ignoble to notice coach-houses. But then, he was a sarcastic fiend, for when he "saw an Apothecary on a white horse ride by on his vocations," he "thought of his old friend Death in the Revelations"—which was rather severe on the pharmacist. But leaving the man of drugs—
"He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,A cottage of gentility;And the Devil did grin, for his darling sinIs pride that apes humility."
"He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,A cottage of gentility;And the Devil did grin, for his darling sinIs pride that apes humility."
The cottage at the caves is not particularly "genteel" in appearance. The coach-house is large enough to hold almost as many horses as were kept by Solomon, and as many chariots as were possessed by Pharaoh, and at one end it is "double;" but there was no thought of Pharaoh, or Solomon, or Coleridge, or Southey when it was named.
THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE DEVIL'S COACH HOUSETHE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE DEVIL'S COACH HOUSE.
It was not because this huge place was considered big enough to be the Devil's Coach House that it was called after the Devil, nor becauseit was thought to be a suitable place for Satan to "coach" his disciples in; nor had the person who named it any intention of paying a compliment to poetic genius. It was called the Devil's Coach House for reasons similar to those which created the nomenclature of the numerous Devil's Pinches and Devil's Peaks, Devil's Mills and Devil's Punchbowls, in various parts of the world. Captain Cook more than a century ago gave the name of the Devil's Basin to a harbour in Christmas Sound, on the south side of Tierra del Fuego, because of its gloomy appearance—it being surrounded by "savage rocks," which deprive it of the rays of the sun. For similar reasons, perhaps, the name of the Devil's Coach House was given to this interesting portion of the Jenolan Caves, which are surrounded by mountains and "savage rocks," and from which the rays of the sun are excluded, except during a few hours per day. In winter the sunshine does not glint on to the roof of the cave house till about 10, and at about 2 in the afternoon the valley is wrapped in shade.
It is 45 or 46 years since James Whalan came suddenly upon the mouth of this cave, and it so impressed him with its rugged grandeur and weirdness that when he returned home he reported that he had been to the end of the world, and had got into the Devil's Coach House. So by that term it is still called, although it has been since named the Easter Cave, because of a visit by some distinguished member of the Government service during Easter, which in New South Wales is now as favourite a holiday time as it was when kept as a festival in honour of the Goddess of Light and Spring. For a short period in the afternoon one end of the cave is flooded with the warm beams of the sun. Then it is at its best, and, as the enamoured hand of fancy gleans "the treasured pictures of a thousand scenes," so, after the bright rays have disappeared, and the cave is seen in the shade or by "the pale moonlight," its beauties change from hour to hour, like shadows on the mountains or the cloud glories of an autumn sunset.
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The "day" caves of Jenolan, although grandly picturesque, are but slightly typical of the interior caverns. As the few bars of harmony dashed off by way of prelude to an intricate musical composition prepare the ear for the movement which is to follow, so an inspection of the external caves trains the faculty of observation for the ready appreciation of the more elaborately beautiful objects in the dark recesses of the enchanted mountain. The contrast between the two is as marked as the difference between the costly pearls of a regal diadem and the rough exterior of the shells which first concealed them.
To explore the "night" caves it is necessary to be furnished with artificial light, and each excursionist is provided with a candle fitted into a holder, the handle of which is like the barrel of a carriage lamp, and immediately underneath the flame is a saucer-shaped guard with the edge turned inwards, so as to catch the drips from the sperm. By means of this arrangement the lights may be presented at almost any angle without doing injury to the caves, except in regard to the smoke, which although slight, is nevertheless in degree perilous to the wondrous purity of the formations. The principal features of the "night" caves are illuminated by the magnesium light, which is rich in chemical rays and burns with great brilliancy. There should not be allowed in the caves any colorific or other light which would cause smoke by imperfect combustion, or emit volatile substances likely to change the interior hues. If their pristine beauty—or as much of it as remains—is to be preserved, the caves ought to be illuminated by electricity, which will neither affect the temperature nor soil the most delicate of Nature's handiwork. Thesmoke of candles in a quiescent atmosphere like that of the caves, cannot fail, in process of time, to have a deleterious effect. Years ago, in the Wingecarribee country, there were some fairy gullies. The sides were flanked with sassafras columns, the roofs were covered with branches interlaced by creepers that excluded the sunbeams, and on the banks of the creeks which trickled through the centre were tree-ferns of marvellous beauty. Their perfect fronds were lovely—their growth prodigious; but that in which their charm chiefly lay was their unexampled delicacy of colour. When the natural shade was removed, and they were subject to wind, and rain, and dust, they became commonplace. They grew like other tree-ferns, and were ranked with ordinary things. So with the caves. Their wondrous beauty and attractiveness are found in their freedom from defilement. In their illumination there should be neither smoke nor heat, and it is a question whether within their precincts incense ought to be burned, even to King Nicotine.
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THE NETTLE CAVETHE NETTLE CAVE.
The Nettle Cave is for the most part a place of twilight. If visitors are incautious in approaching it they will soon come to the conclusion that it has been properly named, for all around are fine clumps of herbaceous weeds with sharp tubular hairs upon vesicles filled with irritating fluid. The sting of a nettle and the sting of an adder resemble each other, but are yet dissimilar. The adder strikes his tubular fang into his prey, but the nettle victim impinges upon the tubular hair which communicates with the acrid vesicle.
The Nettle Cave is reached by climbing 170 feet to the left of The Grand Arch, and if in the ascent the visitor be invited to smell a plant with alternate leaves and racemes of not very conspicuous flowers, it would be well for him to decline with thanks. There are some rough cut steps leading to this cave, and on one side is a galvanised wire rope supported by iron stanchions let into the rocks, which makes the ascent tolerably safe. The road runs between two bluff rocks, which for a considerable distance rise almost perpendicularly, and then curve so as to form a segment of a circle some 150 feet overhead. The cave is barred from wall to wall by a light iron gate sufficient to prevent improper intrusion, not ponderous enough for a penal establishment, but sufficiently pronounced to suggest Richard Lovelace's lines—
"Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage;Minds innocent and quiet takeThat for an hermitage."
"Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage;Minds innocent and quiet takeThat for an hermitage."
Descending some of the rough stones and winding along a footpath, the tourist descends into a chamber below a magnificent series of rocks covered with beautiful "formation" from the dripping roofs above. Thisis called "The Willows," because of the resemblance it bears to the graceful and beautiful appearance of theSalix babylonica, on which in the olden time captive Israelites hung their harps and "wept when they remembered Zion." The entrance to this cave is circuitous. First there are some rocky steps to be climbed, and then the road winds through avenues of "willow" formation up to the summit. From this point about 60 or 70 feet down is a funnel-shaped declivity resembling the mouth of an extinct volcano. In some respects it is like the "Blow Hole" at Kiama (a natural fountain, inland, fed by ocean waves which force their way through a water-worn tunnel). Undoubtedly that also is one of the wonders of the world, but some time since it was utilised by the local corporation as a receptacle for dead horses and defunct cattle! From this declivity in the Nettle Cave the visitor naturally shrinks, being dubious as to where his remains would be found if he were to make an uncertain step. In his timorous progress, however, his attention is soon arrested by some splendid stalagmites to the left of the hellish-looking vacuity. One of the most noble is about four feet in diameter at the base, and from 12 to 14 feet high, covered with curiously-shaped ornamentation, and having minute stalactites projecting from the sides. All about it are nodules of delicate fretwork, as lovely as the coral of the ancient sea out of which this mountain was made millions of years ago. On the apex is a gracefully-tapered cone; and hard by is a small stalagmite covered with prickles as sharply defined as those of the echinus. All around are limestone pictures of surpassing loveliness. There is not much variety of colour, but the formation is infinite in its variety. It is intended to have the hideous and perilous-looking volcanic funnel previously mentioned guarded by wirework, which is necessary to ensure the complete safety of sightseers. If an unfortunate wight were to trip, he might fall a distance of about 70 feet, and be shot without ceremony into the Devil's Coach House. One remarkable stalagmite in the vicinity of this infernal shaft is shaped like a hat, and another is like a gigantic mushroom. Thefloor of the cave is thin, and when stamped upon vibrates in imitation of an earthquake wave. Stalactites in rich profusion depend from the roof, and here and there are clumps of bats, clinging together like little swarms of bees. The stalactites are tipped with drops of lime-water clear as crystal at the lowest point, and becoming gradually opaque. It is also noticeable that while the drops at the ends of the stalactites appear to be perfectly still globular bodies, their molecules seem to be in perpetual motion. The opaque part of the drops thickens until it resembles sperm, and then the gradation is almost imperceptible until it unites with the solid formation. All around are curiously-shaped drives, one of which has been explored until it communicates with the Imperial Cave. It is not an inviting entry, for it is low and narrow, and has sharp stalactites on the roof. The floor is covered with very fine dust, about the eighth of an inch thick, which, however, seems not to rise, and when struck with a hammer the sound is like a blow struck upon a carpet, and the dull thud reverberates in the caverns below.
From the end of the cave, looking towards the mouth, the appearance is particularly wild. The stalagmites in front resemble prisoners in some castle keep, and the part of the cave farther on, upon which the light falls, near to the barred entrance, makes the interior shade seem more gloomy. There is one remarkable pillar about 10 feet in diameter from the floor to the roof of the cave; and seeing that it is about 30 feet in height, and has been made by the constant dripping of lime-water, visitors may speculate as to its age, and statisticians may estimate the number of drips required for its creation. Along the sides of the cave are beautiful pillars. Some are like trunks of trees, gnarled and knotted, and some like elaborately-carved columns. There are grottoes and alcoves, and terraces formed by runs of water; Gothic arches and Etruscan columns, carvings of most cunning elaboration, and stalactites more noticeable for their massiveness than for their grace. There are narrow chasms descending into blackness, through which futurediscoveries may be made. On the water-formed terraces are numerous stalagmites resembling congewoi and other zoophytes. It seems as though Nature had fashioned the cave after a kaleidoscopic view of the most remarkable objects in marine and vegetable life. At the end of this section the roof rises, and is pierced by an inverted pinnacle. The walls are composed of masses of stalactite formation, imperfectly developed by reason of pressure. Near at hand liquid substances have fallen, and petrified so rapidly as to resemble streaks of lava which had suddenly cooled and formed cords and ligaments like grand muscles and tendons.
The eastern end of the cave runs into the Devil's Coach House, about 120 feet above the coach-house floor. The opening is very beautiful, being ornamented with columns and pinnacles, and the view from this point to the interior of the cave is unexampled. Scores of breaches in the roof and sides can be seen leading to other marvellous places—there being cave upon cave and innumerable changes of formation upon the ground. In rocky basins thedébrisis largely composed of minute bones. The "remains" may be taken up by handfuls. The teeth of bats and native cats—the vertebræ of marsupials and snakes—the wing-bones of birds, and other fragments of the animal world are mixed together in a mammoth charnel-house, whose grandeur could hardly be surpassed by the most costly and artistically designed mausoleum.
The Ball Room—an upper storey of the Nettle Cave—is reached by mounting twenty-nine steps cut into the rock. Near the eastern entrance are two stalactitic figures fashioned like vultures about to engage in combat. All around the little plateau of Terpsichore are huge stalagmites, resembling domes, crowded together and pressing into one another. Some are set off with stalactites; others are honeycombed. Thence the direction is still upwards, and the ascent is made by means of about 50 wooden steps, with a guard rail on each side. The formations are striking and graceful. Pointing upward is agauntleted hand and forearm of a warrior of the olden time. There are representations of bewigged legal luminaries and bearded sages like Old Father Christmas or Santa Claus. Some of the columns which support the archway have tier upon tier of stalactites, drooping so as to counterfeit water flowing from a fountain, alternating with stalactite formation like boughs of weeping willow. One prominent stalagmite is like the back of a newly-shorn sheep, with shear-marks in the wool. On the western side is a figure like that of an orator in the act of exhortation. The forehead is bald, long white locks are flowing on to the shoulders, one arm is upraised, and the pose gives an idea of earnestness and force. In front, just below the bust, is a reading desk of stone, the outer edge of which is fringed with stalactites. From this place are steps leading to the arch. They are safe and convenient. Underneath them is still to be seen the wire ladder formerly used to pass from the Nettle Cave to the Arch Cave, and it is easy to understand the trepidation of nervous visitors when they were swaying about on it in mid-air over the dark abyss below. After resting for a moment in the midst of a stalagmitic grotto, the visitor ascends some stone steps towards the Grand Arch, proceeds through a beautiful cavern with Norman and Doric pillars, composed almost entirely of stalagmites, and enters the Arch Caves, which were so called because at that time they were accessible only through the Carlotta Arch. They are now, as previously described, approached through the Nettle Cave by means of the wooden staircase, which was built about three years ago.
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The Arch Cave runs north-westerly from the line of road to the Carlotta Arch, and has a gradual descent. It is about a hundred yards long, and in some places about half a chain wide. The roof is decked with beauty; the floor is covered with dust. There is now but one complete column in the centre, and that is formed by a stalactite which extends in a straight line from the roof to the floor. It is surrounded by a number of other magnificent pendants of a similar kind, more or less ornate, and crowded together in rich profusion. Some of them have grown until they nearly touch bold rocks which jut out from the walls, and the spaces between the larger cylindrical forms are filled by stalactites of various lesser lengths, some of which are figured so as to represent festoons of flowers. The complete pillar tapers from the upper to the lower end. For about two-thirds of the way down it is compounded of several stalactitic lines; the remainder is a simple shaft with irregular surface. To the right of it is a marvellous piece of formation like the head of a lion with the forelegs and the hoofs of a bull, posed so as to resemble Assyrian sculpture.
At one time there were in this cave five pillars as perfect as the one which remains, but in 1860 they were destroyed by a Goth from Bathurst. There are numerous columns of dimensions not so great along the sides of the cave, and at every step appear fresh objects of admiration. Some of the stalactites are resonant, and so is the floor, which, on the thinnest portion, responds imitatively to the tramping of feet. In a passage on the right hand side is a stalactite which thecave-keeper has carefully watched for 18 years, in order to form some idea as to the rate of stalactitic growth. He has always found a drop of water clinging to the lowest surface as though it were ready to fall, and yet during the whole term of 18 years the actual addition to the solid stalactite has been only half-an-inch in length, of a thickness equal to that of an ordinary cedar-covered lead pencil. It is evident, from observation of other portions of this cave, that some formations have been created in a manner less slow. Still, it is probable there are stalactites the growth of which has been more gradual than the one subjected to special scrutiny.
The entrance furnishes an illustration of damage done by careless visitors years ago, and of the necessity for constant care to preserve the caves from destruction. When this cavern was first opened to the public the floor was white as snow. It is now black and greasy, as well as dusty. The change has been brought about by the pattering of feet encased in soiled boots, and by drips from candles and torches used before the present lighting arrangements were adopted. Some of the stalactites have their lower portions damaged in a similar way. But, worse still, an elaborate and very attractive specimen, resembling cockscomb, has been damaged by fracture, and made incomplete by unauthorised appropriation. The porosity of some of the rocks can here be readily distinguished. Their surface is like that of pumice stone. In dry weather the walls are sparkling; in wet seasons they are moist and dull. At the far end of the cave the floor is covered with little indurated lumps with carved surfaces. They are all similar in shape, and vary in bulk from the size of quandong seeds or nuts, of which bracelets are sometimes made, to that of a mandarin orange. Perhaps they were fabricated on the roof and became detached. It is hardly possible they could have been formed where they lie without being joined together in a solid mass.
THE ARCH CAVETHE ARCH CAVE.
Here perfect silence reigns. It is so profound as to be almost painful, and the darkness is so dense that when the candles areextinguished the visitor can pass a solid object before his eyes without the shadow of a shade being perceptible. It is not suggestive of the darkness which—
"Falls from the wings of NightLike a feather that is wafted downwardsFrom an eagle in its flight."
"Falls from the wings of NightLike a feather that is wafted downwardsFrom an eagle in its flight."
Nor yet of "the trailing garments of the Night" sweeping "through her marble halls." There is nothing to give the idea of action. Solitary confinement for 24 hours in such a "separate cell" would drive some men mad. At the end of the cave is a mass of stalactites, through which is a passage leading to "The Belfry," where are some large stalactites, three of which, when struck with a hard substance, sound like church bells. One of them has a deep tone, equivalent to C natural. The others do not vibrate so as to produce perfect notes according to musical scale, nor are their sounds either rich or full.
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THE CARLOTTA ARCHTHE CARLOTTA ARCH.
On returning to the mouth of the Arch Cave, the tourist proceeds towards the Carlotta Arch—so named in honour of a daughter of the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, Mr. P. F. Adams, who visited the caves 10 or 12 years ago, and has always taken an interest in their exploration and preservation. Ascending some stone steps, guarded by galvanised wire, an excellent view of the Ball Room to the eastward is obtained. The steps make access easy. Previously the rocks were slippery, in consequence of the polish given to them by the feet of marsupials, and the return journey was accomplished by holding on to a rope, and sliding down the glassy surface.
The entrance to the Carlotta Arch is protected by a wire railing, about 35 feet by 8 or 10 feet. Passing through the iron gate, the visitor finds himself on a little platform. Hundreds of feet below is a gully, rippling at the bottom of which is a rill of water, which sings as it goes, and whose melody, softened by distance, is pleasant as the hum of bees or the carolling of birds. Above is a hoary rock, rugged and bare, with the exception of some clumps of lilies which flourish and bloom in its inaccessible clefts. From this point the tourist ascends the Nettle Rocks for about 60 or 70 feet. Some steps are to be cut here, and certainly they are much needed, for at present the journey is very toilsome and difficult. From the end of the protected portion to the summit—70 or 80 feet—the acclivity may be comfortably surmounted by ordinarily active people. The Carlotta Arch is about 100 feet high and about 70 feet wide, with an interiorfringe of stalactites. The picture seen through it is exceedingly grand, including majestic trees and romantic gullies, huge mountains and immense rocks, with bold escarpments. The walls of the arch are pierced like a fortress. Its entire superstructure represents the union of two mountains by a natural bridge, clad with trees and shrubs and creeping plants which trail gracefully down its sides. On the summit are eucalypti, and conspicuous amongst them is an iron guard for the protection of passengers going over the viaduct. About half-way up this track from the arch to the bridge (which is the concluding portion of the new road from Mount Victoria), a good view can be obtained of McEwan's Creek, where the water has broken through the hills, leaving the limestone rocks and caves sometimes on the one side and sometimes on the other for a distance of three miles up the valley running northerly. To the westward is the Zigzag, leading to the cave-house by the route from Tarana, and from which can be obtained the grandest viewen routefrom Oberon to Jenolan. Here, after having spent an hour or two in the caves, it is pleasant to bask in the golden sunshine and watch the gaudy parrots flit by. From this point to the northward the limestone is visible to its full extent till it is overlapped by higher mountains. It is about three miles in length, by a maximum of half a mile in width. Immediately to the south the limestone dyke is covered, but it crops up again about seven miles distant, and continues on the surface for 15 to 20 miles, in the direction of Goulburn. Near to what is called the Gallery (the approach to the bridge over the arch) is an old gum tree, growing right over the centre of the Devil's Coach House, and 500 feet above the gullies, which can be seen by looking over the precipice. If it were a blue gum tree, "and nothing more," it would be as uninteresting as the "yellow primrose by a river's brim" was to Peter Bell. As a specimen of its kind this tree is a failure; but it happens to be in the centre of the cave reserve, and the "blaze" on it bears the mark, "F 69." Fromthis point the reserve extends two and a half miles east and west by five miles north and south, and is certainly one of the most wonderful areas dedicated to the public.
In the rocks near to the Centre Tree is an orifice called "The Devil's Hole." It pierces the mountain obliquely, but without much deviation from a straight line, and a stone thrown down it takes, according to its weight, from nine to twelve seconds to find a resting-place on the floor of the Devil's Coach House! This is an experiment which should not be tried without precaution, and then only under official sanction, otherwise some serious accident may occur. It would be well to erect notice-boards at this and several adjacent places, warning persons not to cast stones into the caverns, for the whole mountain is full of holes and caves and drives. A piece of rock cast heedlessly into a crevice or perforation in one cave might mean death to a tourist in lower cavernous regions, and there is neither medical man nor coroner within convenient distance. From the bridge (which is guarded by wire ropes) on the western side, the visitor looks down on the Elder Cave; the Zigzag is in front, and below is the sylvan valley from which the "ermin'd frost" has been thawed, and which now "laughs back the sun." To the eastward are in view of the spectator the Nettle and Arch Caves gate, the south entrance to the Devil's Coach House, and the waterfall to the Cave River. In the distance can be discerned a place known as Oaky Camp, or McEwan's Camp, which is of interest in connection with bushranging episodes of the olden time. From the highest point of the hill over the Grand Archway the cave-house can be seen nestling in the valley 500 feet below. Perched upon this pinnacle, with terrible depths on each side and awe-inspiring grandeur at every turn, the beholder is apt to realise how very small is the space he fills in the economy of Nature, how inadequate is language to express deep emotions of the mind, and how marvellous are the works of the Creator!
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On leaving-the Carlotta Arch and the bridge, the visitor—mentally gratified, physically tired, and conscious that his perceptive faculties have been somewhat strained—rejoices that the cave-house is conveniently near, so that he can promptly ensconce himself in an easy-chair and meditate upon the charming scenes upon which his eyes have feasted. If he be unusually robust he may economise the return journey by taking a peep at the Elder Cave, which lies just off his homeward course. It derives its name from the elder trees which grow about it and conceal its entrance, which is at the bottom of a "ragged" shaft similar to that described in the tragedy of "Titus Andronicus," whose authorship is disputed, but which Samuel Phelps and others have no doubt was written by Shakespeare. It resembles the "subtle hole" where Bassianus lay imbrued "all of a heap like a slaughtered lamb." But that was near an alder, and not an elder, tree; and, so far as is known, the pit which leads to the Elder Cave has no associations so tragic as those which are inseparable from the horrible brutalities of "Titus Andronicus." Its mouth is not covered with "rude growing briars," nor are there upon the leaves "drips of new-shed blood as fresh as morning dew distilled on flowers." On the contrary, it is a rather cheerful-looking pit, filled up with foliage like an arborescent bouquet in an enormous natural vase. For a long time its cavity was completely obscured by the leafy covering, and it was first entered by climbing along a branch level with the surface of the ground, and descending the trunk of the tree to the bottom of the well. There are several eldersin the pit, which, being unusually moist, is favourable to their growth, and they bear splendid cymes of cream-coloured flowers and black berries suggestive of spiced home-made wine.
The Elder Cave was found by Mr. Wilson in 1856, but it has not had much attention bestowed upon it, probably because its beauties have been eclipsed by later discoveries. The first part consists of some rather large chambers connected by small passages, rough inside, and difficult to explore. All are pretty, and one, named "The Chapel," contains stalactites called "shawls," on account of their resemblance to ladies' vestments so designated. One of these is about five feet long by six inches deep, and a quarter of an inch thick. Half of it is of glassy clearness. The floor is of ornate formation. The next chamber is called the "Coral Cave." It is difficult of access. The way for about 100 yards varies from only two to four feet from floor to ceiling. Nearly at the end is a hole about 12 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, containing fossil bones. From floor to roof the formation is grand. There are a few fine stalagmites, but the chief beauty is in the stalactitic growth. Many of the stalactites hang from the lowest shelving rock to the floor, and form an alabaster palisade. Immense bunches of snow-white limestone droop from the roof, and one unusually large conical mass tapers off until it connects with the apex of a pyramidal block on the floor. In contrast with these ponderous specimens are numerous straw-like glassy tubes. Portions of the floor are covered with beautiful coral.
Near the mouth of this Pit Cave is an aperture of special interest, because it is the entrance to the shaft at the bottom of which, on the 16th February 1879, the intrepid curator discovered the Imperial Cave, which is one of the most magnificent opened to the public. He made three separate attempts before he was able to bottom this deep black hole. On the first occasion he was lowered into it at the end of a rope, and when all the line had been paid out was dangling in mid-air at the end of his tether. When he was let down a second time with alonger cord it was found to be deficient, and the cave-keeper was still suspended in ebon space. The second failure made him still more resolute. He did not believe that the black hole into which he had descended was the bottomless pit, and so he tried again to fathom its inky depths, and at a distance of 90 feet from the surface alighted upon the rocky floor of what is now called the Imperial Cave.
Cave exploration is not what would be commonly regarded as a pleasant pastime. It requires a lissom body, plenty of physical strength, and a strong nerve to worm along narrow passages, without any certainty of being able to reach a turning-place, and with the risk of being so wedged in as to make retreat impossible. A stout heart is necessary to enable a man to descend to unknown depths of blackness from mouths of fearsome pits, close proximity to which makes one's flesh creep. A fracture of the rope or the falling of a piece of rock might give the explorer his quietus. A somewhat sensational illustration of this kind of peril is given in Griffin's "Studies in Literature." The eldest son of George D. Prentice, one of the sweet singers of the New World, determined to fathom the maelstrom of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. A long rope of great strength was procured, and with a heavy fragment of rock attached to it, like a stone at the end of a kellick rope, it was let down and swung about to clear the course of loose stones. "Then the young hero of the occasion, with several hats drawn over his head to protect it as far as possible against any masses falling from above, and with a light in his hand and the rope fastened around his body, took his place over the awful pit, and directed the half-dozen men, who held the end of the rope, to let him down into the Cimmerian gloom. Occasionally masses of earth and rock whizzed past, but none struck him. On his way, at a distance of 100 feet, the spray caused by a cataract which rushed from the side down the abyss nearly extinguished his light. One hundred and ninety feet down he stood on the bottom of the pit. Returning to the mouth of the cave the pull was anexceedingly severe one, and the rope, being ill-adjusted around his body, gave him the most excruciating pain. But soon his pain was forgotten in a new and dreadful peril. When he was 90 feet from the mouth of the pit and 100 from the bottom, swaying and swinging in mid air, he heard rapid and excited words of horror and alarm above, and soon learned that the rope by which he was upheld had taken fire from the friction of the timber over which it passed. Several moments of awful suspense to those above, and still more awful to him below, ensued. To them and to him a fatal and instant catastrophe seemed inevitable. But the fire was extinguished with a bottle of water belonging to himself, and then the party above, though almost exhausted by their labour, succeeded in drawing him to the top. He was as calm and self-possessed as upon his entrance into the pit; but all of his companions, overcome by fatigue, sank down upon the ground, and his friend, Professor Wright, from over-exertion and excitement, fainted, and remained for some time insensible. The young adventurer left his name carved in the depths of the maelstrom—the name of the first and only person that ever gazed upon its mysteries."
The keeper of the Jenolan Caves has had many experiences quite as thrilling as that of the son of George D. Prentice, who, some time after his descent into the maelstrom, fell in the conflict between the Northern and the Southern States of the American Union. The curator has hundreds of times wormed his way in the darkness through narrow drives and descended black holes of unknown dimensions by means of ropes and ladders. He has burrowed about like a rabbit, squeezing through small apertures, occasionally having his clothes torn off him by stalactites, and his knees wounded by miniature stalagmites, and his sides abrased by the sharp corners of projecting rocks. When being lowered by ropes he has run the risk of being brained by fallingdébris. Fortunately, he has been preserved from serious injury, and is still as lithe as a ferret. Christopher Columbus made wonderful maritime discoveriesin the Western hemisphere, and Captain Cook distinguished himself in the Southern seas, but neither the bold Genoese nor the stout-hearted Yorkshireman who thrice circumnavigated the globe could have thrown more earnestness into his work than has been displayed by the subterranean explorer at Jenolan, of whom it may be said, without prejudice to his good name, that he has done more underground engineering than any "road-and-bridge" member of the Legislative Assembly, performed more turning and twisting than the most slippery Minister of the Crown who has ever held a portfolio in New South Wales, and found secluded chambers enough to permit every political or social Adullamite—"every one that is in distress, and every one that is in debt, and every one that is discontented"—to have a little cave of his own. As the visitor has to be guided by the curator through labyrinthine passages as intricate as the most puzzling mazes of Crete or Egypt, in order to see fairy grottoes, crystal cities, jewel caskets, coral caves, and mystic chambers which he has discovered, it may be here recorded that Mr. Jeremiah Wilson was born in Ireland, near Enniskillen, that he was three years old when he came to New South Wales, 43 years ago, and that his family have lived continuously near Oberon. His first visit to Jenolan was with a party of excursionists. He has ever since taken a romantic interest in the caves, and from the time of his appointment as cave-keeper in 1867 until now his enthusiasm for exploratory work appears to have never flagged.