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About 20 yards north from the ladder to the underground river is the entrance to the Fossil Bone Cave. Here is a stratum of coffee-coloured slatey substance in layers like those of the Wianamatta shale. It is so soft that a gentle touch is sufficient to pulverise it. It is slightly honeycombed, and its outer surface is covered with imitations of delicate lichens. In this cave there is not anything in the shape of a stalagmite, except an empty brandy bottle on a little shelving rock, and that would be generally regarded as a bad substitute. For æsthetic as well as for other reasons, it would be better to keep such "stalagmites" out of the caves. On the top of a large rock is a mass of "washdirt," 14 inches deep, with "headings" of about the same dimensions. Some experienced diggers say they never saw more promising stuff. During the yellow fever from which so many suffered a few years ago, companies were floated on the strength of "claims" equally delusive. Proverbially, "auriferous ground" is deceitful, and this "washdirt," which looks rich enough to make a prospector's eyes sparkle with delight, has proved to be as worthless as a lying prospectus. A portion of it was washed, but did not show the colour of gold. It remains, however, an object of interest, and may serve to teach a useful lesson.
There are in this cave solid limestone rocks above and below. The roof is about 500 feet beneath the surface of the mountain. In the bed of the cavern are many fossil bones. Some appear to be remains of native dogs. In various rocks are clusters of bat bones. A very noticeableosseous object is the vertebra of a bird with one side-bone. There is no trace of the other. There are also many large bones, the cylindrical cavities of which are filled up with formation. Some of these bones are deposited about eight feet from the bottom of the cave. On one ledge is a heap of bones, large and small. Some of them are very fine specimens. The height of this cave is about 15 feet, and its breadth from 8 to 15 feet.
Travelling from the passage leading to the Fossil Bone Cave N.N.W. about 40 yards, and passing through a cutting N.W. about 30 yards, the visitor comes to "The Sparkling Rock." A cutting, five feet by two feet, forms the entrance to a spacious hall, where is seen the Sparkling Rock, large and shelving. The principal portion of it is slightly coloured, but the lower part is beautifully white. It is hung with large stalactites and fleecy pendants. Some of the formation resembles sheepskins, with the woolly side outwards, thrown negligently over the ledges. From this point the course runs west about 30 yards through a hall from 20 to 25 feet high, and from 15 to 20 feet wide, and thence north about 40 yards to the Crystal Rock.
About 14 yards west from the Sparkling Rock, and by a road wide enough for a coach and four, there is a large upward shaft of about 100 feet to the Grotto Cave, which, as previously stated, is between the Helena and the Lucinda caves in the left-hand branch. Here the tourist gets a good idea of the way in which the two branches of the Imperial Cave are situated with regard to each other. The right-hand branch is the lower series. The left-hand branch is higher up in the interior of the mountain, and to the south-east, with the exception of the Grotto Cave, which is immediately overhead, and about 100 feet from the Sparkling Rock.
On the left-hand side of the passage, and about 25 yards from the Crystal Rock, is a very pretty grotto of formation, with an overhanging ornamental mass like a canopy. Up above, about 40 feet, is the opening to an unexplored cave, the mouth of which is composed of solid shiningrock, with white stalactites. There are also, round about, coloured stalactites varying in length from an inch to a couple of feet. The remainder of the passage is lofty and rugged.
Not far from the entrance to the Crystal Rock is the bottom of the shaft down which the curator was lowered from the Coral Cave (a sub-cavern of the Elder Cave) into the Imperial, and on the wall this memorable event is duly recorded. Here we read:—"These caves were discovered by Jeremiah Wilson." Then follows a list of the names of persons who lowered the fearless curator down the black hole: "Alfred Whalan, Thomas A. Gread, Jeremiah F. Cashin, Joseph Read, Nicholas Delaney, Ralph T. Wilson, Thomas Pearson, Heinrich Neilzet, and William Read." They were named "Wilson's Imperial Caves" on February 16, 1879. From this spot the Sparkling Rock is about 15 yards N.N.E. It is about 25 feet wide and about 18 feet high. Stalactitic formation descends from an angle in the roof, and rests on four or five finely coloured terraces which glitter all over as though they were covered with spangles. To the left of these terraces is a large basin with coral sides and a rim composed of three or four layers of shell-shaped pattern overlapping like fish scales, the rows being a little way apart from each other, and the intervening spaces filled with formation. The bottom of the basin is covered with very delicate ornamentation, deposited by water which has soaked through to a lower level. In the background is another rock, covered with similar formation, fringed with stalactites, and stalactites also descend to it from the roof.
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About 30 yards from the Sparkling rock is the Shawl Cave. It is approached through a passage from six to eight feet high and two to four feet wide, containing numerous small but pretty grottoes. The Shawl Cave is very interesting. To the left of the entrance is a grotesque pillar with little domes of snowy whiteness and masses of stalactite. The cave is about 25 feet long, 15 feet high, and from 12 to 15 feet wide. It contains three magnificent "shawls." One is 14 feet long, 18 inches deep, and one-sixth of an inch thick, and in the blending of colours represents tortoise-shell. The other two are not quite as large as the first-mentioned. They are straw-coloured, varied with rich brown. They hang at right angles from the side of a convex sloping roof, and the colouring runs from end to end in parallel lines, but the bands of colour vary in depth. For instance, the first piece of the shawl—say one inch and a half from the roof—may be pure white formation, of lime, or carbonate of lime coloured with oxide of iron which gradually becomes paler and paler. The next two inches may be light yellow, spotted with brown. The next strip may be fox-colour, and so on, until the design is completed. For the most part, the cave "shawls" are of uniform thickness, like sheets of opaque glass slightly corrugated transversely. The opposite wall is nearly perpendicular. At each end of the cave is a grotto. One is low down and gloomy-looking; the other lofty, going up into the roof and full of formation, some of which is like frost work. The stalactites are immense. From the further wallare sloping terraces, gradually enlarging towards the base underneath the hanging shawls. There are also some remarkable clumps of formation. One is like a giant's foot; another resembles the skull of a wolf, or of some other animal related to the canine tribe.
About seven yards north from the Shawl Cave is a cavern 20 feet broad, 30 yards long, and from 12 to 14 feet high, the principal object in which is "The Lady's Finger." Under a shelving rock fringed with stalactites of all the prevailing colours, and almost every variety of shape, the "finger" forms the extremity of a stalagmite about 12 inches high, and similar in figure to a feminine forearm in a sleeve, with coral trimmings. The forearm is white, and the chubby hand is of a waxy-looking flesh colour. The thumb and the index finger point upward. According to the Talmud, "man is born with his hands clenched, and dies with his hands wide open;" in reference to which one of the Rabbinical sages remarks—"Entering life he desires to grasp everything; leaving the world, all that he possessed has slipped away." This hand with the lady's finger, however, is not grasping, and it points upwards. The modern science of chiromancy, according to A. R. Craig, M.A., in his interesting book "Your Luck is in Your Hand," divides hands into seven classes: "1. The hand elementary, or hand with a large palm; 2. The hand necessary, or spatulated; 3. The hand artistic, or conical; 4. The useful or square hand; 5. The philosophical, or knotted hand; 6. The psychological, or pointed hand; 7. The mixed hand." It would be difficult to class the hand with "the lady's finger" in any of the foregoing divisions, and it would puzzle one skilled in palmistry, and who regards the human hand as a mirror of the mind, to use it even in the way phrenologists use the casts of bull-necked, animal-headed felons. The index finger is long, the pollex (thumb) is short; the medius (middle) is wanting, and so are the annularis (ring finger) and the auricularis (little finger), "so named by the Romans because of its utility in cleansing the ear." The visitor, therefore, mustnot expect to find here a hand like a model of perfection on a Greek statue; but he will see a remarkable alabaster extremity, sufficiently well formed to be called "the lady's finger." The rocky bank, which is coloured with several shades of brown, and veined with formation, is also flecked with white, like snow. At one end of the cave the view closes with long-sparkling stalactites—those nearest being brown and flesh-coloured. Behind them is pure white formation which sets off to great advantage the beautifully-tinted stalactites sparsely scattered about the cave. The other end of the cavern gradually tones off to sombre rocks of grey and brown.
At the end of the Lady's Finger Cave is a charming grotto, and, above, the rocks are like fine coral in various shades of red and grey. Inside the grotto are stalagmites thick at the base and with elegant stalactites resting on them. Some are pure white, and others are covered with fine tracery. In front is a perfect stalactite which descends to within an inch of a perfect stalagmite just underneath it, and aptly illustrates the process of their growth. On the floor are pretty hillocks of somewhat dismal-looking matter which, on close inspection, is seen to be made of coralline figures and sparkling crystal atoms. In the foreground is a fine stalagmite, fitted all over with minute coral. This group, protected by wire netting, is specially interesting because it is unblemished. All round the approaches are little bunches of stalactites like epaulettes.
After travelling west about nine yards, ascending five steps, and then proceeding 14 yards north, the tourist arrives at a cave containing a very conspicuous column called "Lot's Wife."
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The alabaster pillar called "Lot's Wife" stands in solitary grandeur within a gloomy cave. Its sombre surroundings are in harmony with the tragic old-world history recalled by the central figure. The nimble thought skips over ages and ages, and in the "mind's eye" appear the rich plains of Siddim and the flowing Jordan, and the fugitives and the lava, and the terrible climax. As the Biblical record of the catastrophe is supposed to teach the folly of disobedience on the part of wives, and the perils of hankering after doubtful pleasures, the pillar which recalls it may be contemplated with advantage by newly-married couples, now that the caves are becoming a favourite resort of honeymooners. Perhaps in time to come there may be religious services and solemnisation of matrimony in these fantastic subterranean caverns. It is related by Dr. Forwood, that a romantic marriage took place in the Gothic chapel of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, "which family interference prevented occurringonthe earth." He says: "The fair lady, whose lover was opposed by her parents, in a rash moment promised them that she would never marry her betrothed 'on the face of the earth.' Afterwards, repenting of her promise, but being unable to retract and unwilling to violate it, she fulfilled her vow to her parents as well as to her lover by marrying him 'under the earth.'"
How far the pillar in the caves is like that mentioned in the Book of Genesis it is impossible to say, because the latter has been neither minutely described nor photographed. Josephus, the great historian ofthe Wars and Antiquities of the Jews, and who was not born until about 2,000 years after Lot's departure from Sodom, says he saw it. His words are: "When Lot went away with his two maiden daughters—for those who were betrothed to them were above the thoughts of going, and deemed that God's words were trifling—God then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire with its inhabitants.... But Lot's wife continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, and being too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, although God had forbidden her to do so, was changed into a pillar of salt." And, he adds, "for I have seen it, and it remains to this day." It is to be regretted that he did not describe the pillar itself.
A century later Irenæus bore testimony to the existence of the pillar, and spoke of its lasting so long "with all its members entire." This would lead to the inference that the original pillar retained the shape of a female figure. If it did, then in this respect there is no similarity between the Pillar of Warning on the Dead Sea plain and the pillar in the Jenolan Caves. The latter is a pretty round column, about five feet four inches high, rounded off irregularly at the top, and built up in sections, which show separate growths, like divisions in the stem of a cabbage-tree palm, or the joints of a bamboo. It is probable, therefore, that there is not the slightest resemblance between the two pillars. Bishop Patrick thinks that some of the storm which overwhelmed the Cities of the Plain overtook Lot's wife, "and falling upon her as she stood staring about, and minded not her way or guide, suddenly wrapped her body in a sheet of nitro-sulphurous matter, which, congealing into a crust as hard as stone, made her appear, they say, as a pillar of salt, her body being candied in it."
It is about 3,800 years since the disobedient "help-meet" of the Oriental squatter was fixed like a fly in amber, as a solemn warning to recalcitrant spouses for all time. Had the first drip then fallen on to the mound in the Jenolan Caves where now stands "Lot's Wife"? Query.The Jenolan pillar is evidently of slow growth. Each joint, which looks something like fine tallow, may, as the curator facetiously puts it, represent a century of "dripping." In this respect it is unlike the historic pillar whose name it bears. Dr. Kitto, in his very interesting "Daily Biblical Illustrations," says in reference to the latter: "From the nature of the case, and from the peculiarly bituminous and saline character of the locality through which this phenomenon was produced, we must not expect to discover many parallel instances which might be quoted in illustration. Accordingly we find that the illustrative parallels which have been diligently sought out by the old commentators have rarely any real bearing on the subject, being for the most part accounts of people frozen to death and long preserved in that condition uncorrupted in the Boreal regions, or else of persons suffocated and then petrified by the mineral vapours of the caves in which they were hid, or otherwise of persons 'turned to stone,' and found generations after standing in the postures wherein they found their death. The only instance we have met with which seems appropriate, and which rests on the authority of a contemporary of fair credit, is related by Aventinus, who states that in his time about 50 country people, with their cows and calves, were, in Carinthia, destroyed by strong and suffocating saline exhalations which arose out of the earth immediately upon an earthquake in 1348. They were by this reduced to saline statues or pillars, like Lot's wife, and the historian tells us that they had been seen by himself and the Chancellor of Austria."
It was, perhaps, some such incident as this which gave to Mr. Haggard the idea as to how the Kukuana people from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. He first of all described Twala, the last of the Kukuana kings, as in a limestone cave, with his head perched upon his knees and his vertebræ projecting a full inch above the shrunken flesh of the neck. "Then," he says, "the whole surface of the body was covered by a thin glassy film caused by the dripping of lime-water. The body was beingtransformed into a stalactite." The antecedent kings were ranged around a table in this wonderful cave, and the author continues:—"A look at the white forms seated on the stone bench that ran around that ghastly board confirmed this view. They were human forms indeed, or rather had been human forms; now they were stalactites [stalagmites?]. This was the way in which the Kukuana people had from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. They petrified them. What the exact system was, if there was any, beyond placing them for a long period of years under the drip, I never discovered; but there they sat, iced over and preserved for ever by the silicious fluid. Anything more awe-inspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties, wrapped in a shroud of ice-like spar, through which the features could be dimly made out (there were 27 of them, the last being Ignosi's father), and seated round that inhospitable board, with Death himself for a host, it is impossible to imagine. That the practice of thus preserving their kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the number, which, allowing for an average reign of 15 years, would, supposing that every king who reigned was placed here—an improbable thing, as some are sure to have perished in battle far from home—fix the date of its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back. But the colossal Death who sits at the head of the board is far older than that, and, unless I am much mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who designed the three colossi. He was hewn out of a single stalactite [stalagmite?], and, looked at as a work of art, was most admirably conceived and executed." There is nothing suggestive of anything so hideous as this in the Jenolan Caves. "Lot's wife," as she appears there, is as straight down as a "Shaker," without the slightest suspicion of artificial "improvement." Nor does the pillar correspond with the result of more recent discovery made by an American expedition to the Dead Sea, and in reference to which Dr. Kitto says:—"The course of their survey could hardly fail to bring under notice every marked objectupon either shore, and one they did find, an obviously natural formation, which—or others in former times like it—might readily be taken by persons unaccustomed to weigh circumstances with the precision we are now accustomed to exact, for the pillar of Lot's wife. Among the salt mountains of Usdum (an apparent transposition of Sodom), on the west side of the kind of bay which forms the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, the party beheld, to their great astonishment, while beating along the shore, a lofty round pillar, standing, apparently detached from the general mass, the head of a deep, narrow, and abrupt chasm. They landed, and proceeded towards this object over a beach of soft slimy mud, encrusted with salt, and at a short distance from the water, covered with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. The pillar was found to be of solid salt, capped with carbonate of lime,cylindrical in frontandpyramidal behind." The italics are the Doctor's. It is not novel to say that history repeats itself; but it is questionable whether among the fashionable inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain in the days of Lot the modern crinolette was a feminine artifice of that Worthless time. According to the Koran, Lot's wife, Waila, was in confederacy with the men of Sodom, and used to give them notice when any strangers came to lodge with him "by a sign of smoke by day and of fire by night." In this regard the pillar at Jenolan may be regarded as a warning, and not as suggestive of anything, except, perhaps, the lesson conveyed by the Apocrypha, in the Book of Wisdom x. 7, where there is a reference to Lot's wife, "Of whose wickedness even to this day the west land that smoketh is a testimony, and plants bearing fruits that never come to ripeness; and the standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul." Is it not a pity that so beautiful a column in the most wonderful caves ever made by Nature should have been associated with so much that is off-colour? True, it is itself a little crooked and irregular, but these characteristics are accounted for by its peculiar formation. It has not been produced in the ordinary wayby drippings from one stalactite, but, contrary to rule, owes its origin and development to two small stalactites in the roof. Consequently, its growth has been continually warped. It is, however, a beautiful feature of the Imperial Cave, and may teach many useful lessons to persons of observation andnous.
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THE CRYSTAL CITYTHE CRYSTAL CITY.
From "Lot's Wife" to "The Crystal Cities" is about 20 yards north, through a hall from 9 to 15 feet high. On the right-hand side is a concrete wall, which rises about 12 inches from the floor, to protect the "Cities" from dust raised by the tramping of feet. At the end of this concrete wall is a descent of two steps, which brings visitors in full view of the exquisitely beautiful cave, in which there is a group of dazzling Lilliputian cities, whose buildings are of crystallized lime. The streets appear to be thronged with minute figures
"—— no bigger than an agate stoneOn the forefinger of an alderman."
"—— no bigger than an agate stoneOn the forefinger of an alderman."
The sight recalls the Man Mountain and the wonderful Land of Lilliput, upon which Lemuel Gulliver was cast, where cavalry exercised on the palm of his hand, and infantry marched 24 abreast between his legs, which were stretched out like those of a colossus. Imagination can supply the Palace of Belfaborac in the metropolis of Lilliput, surrounded by myriads of tiny statuettes, representing the kingdom in which raged no less than six rebellions, excited by an imperial decree that eggs should be broken only at the smaller end, whereas it had been from time immemorial an article of faith that they should be broken only at the larger end, and notwithstanding that their book of faith and morals required only that all true believers should break their eggs at the "convenient end." There is no evidence in these crystal cities, however, of any rival factions corresponding to the "Big-endians"and the "Little-endians" of Lilliput. The figures are crowded together like masses of people before a hustings or at a cricket match, and the effect is passing strange. They have been formed by water which has been retained for a time in natural basins and then gradually percolated through the floor, possibly to enter into the composition of crystal cities in other sparkling caves. In this respect they resemble the basins previously described. The crystallization formed in still water, or in water which moves only downwards, passing slowly through the floor as through a dripstone, is always characterized by extreme delicacy and elaboration. The contrast between the "Lot's Wife" crypt and this is as great as the distinction between the Dead Sea and the Garden of Eden; between Gustave Doré's illustrations of Purgatory and Paradise; between Milton's L'Allegro and his Il Penseroso; between the Pink and White Terraces which until recently were the delight of New Zealand tourists, and the eruptive mask of scoria which now covers their charms.
In this remarkable cave several distinctive features are presented. The central horizontal line is well defined by an overhanging ledge, from which hang some splendid stalactites. Several of them are of extraordinarily large size, elegant form, and delicate colour. One, of pure white, on the left-hand side of the cave, rests on the head of a sturdy stalagmite which has grown from the middle of a mass of rocks, sloping down to the base. A little to the right are two twin stalactites, caricatures of the stretched out scraggy legs of some very-long-cold-and-hungry man, and the most prominent central figures of the ledge are two conical pieces tapering off to fine points, like mammoth icicles. Above this ledge the formation of lime on the dark rugged wall and roof resembles fleecy clouds in an angry sky. Below, running back into the mountain, are the Crystal Cities, fenced in with corrugated sparkling walls coped with shell-formation. A little beyond is another wall of a similar kind, also gracefully curved in obedience to naturallaws, for Nature loves curves and wages perpetual war against straight lines. In the distance are five or six other mural divisions. The central one is gracefully bent like the letter S, but not quite so much rounded at the ends. Between the outer wall and the rest is an open pear-shaped space, in which are four small domes and two conspicuous figures. The principal of these is "The Queen's Statue," a pleasing stalagmitic form of pure alabaster, about 20 inches in height, and standing on a pedestal of white, shading off to brown. It does not require much imaginative power to see in this image a representation of some royal personage clad in ermine robes. The proportions are good, and the pose is exceedingly graceful. Near to the Queen's Statue is another notable stalagmitic object, formed in three sections, indicating periods of rest between. First there is a foundation of white limestone formation. Then there is a columnar growth of a few inches, with a distinct joint between it and the base. Superposed is a dome-shaped summit, not unlike the back of a human head of that kind which phrenologists call "intellectual;" and between this and the lower portion is another well-defined joint at the nape of the neck. It is peculiar, but not regal, in appearance. The topographical aspect of the Crystal Cities is something like that presented by a bird's-eye view of a piece of country, in which everything is much foreshortened, as in the case of the Katoomba Colliery and mining township in the depths of the Kanimbla valley, when seen from a cliff 1,000 feet overhead. Giant eucalypti are dwarfed to the proportions of pot plants. Tall tree ferns resemble starfish. Stalwart workmen are reduced to pigmies, and the railway seems like the double line at the foot of an account in a ledger. The various walls in the cave are supposed to encompass separate cities. The old English idea of a "city" is an incorporated place, with a cathedral and a bishop. In America all incorporated towns with a mayor and aldermen are spoken of as cities. But modern cities are not walled like those in the caves.The latter accord more with ancient cities which were intramural. For "cities" are ancient. Cain built one. Walled cities were numerous in the land of Canaan. But from the Cities of the Plain to the Apocalyptic City of Gold, with foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones, it would be difficult to imagine anything more brilliant and sparkling than the Crystal Cities of the Jenolan Caves.
Passing from the Crystal Cities to "The Show-room," about 20 yards north, several charming features present themselves for admiration, among which are conspicuous a glittering cascade, terraces of warm brown colour, reticulated; and also a pure white, delicately-made shawl hanging from the roof. The height of the crypt is about four feet, and its breadth 12 feet. The floor is mitred at the side, and between the shell borders are little forests of figures. Some elegant Doric shafts extend from the floor to the roof, which is adorned by many sparkling stalactites. The Show-room itself is a marvel of beauty. Its name indicates that it is a place of splendid exhibits, and it is appropriate. The cavern is 12 feet high, 12 feet wide, and about 40 yards long. Some of its principal features are remarkable for their elegance, and the most striking figure is distinguished by classic grace. It is a stalactite of purest white, seven or eight feet long, and from a little distance seems as smooth and round as though it had been turned in a lathe. It tapers very gradually, and its termination, which is thickened a little, rests on a stalagmite equally symmetrical, but formed in sections, each layer—of which there are about a dozen—indicating separate periods of formation and times of rest. This peculiar stalagmite stands on a dome marked by similar lights and shades. It is the centre of many varieties of cave ornamentation. For the most part the stalagmites are dumpy and poor, but there are numerous shelving platforms hung round with gorgeous stalactites, and above them are pieces of intricate formation, both floral and coral, of different classes of excellence. There are magic haunts and silent chambers withcoruscations like twinkling stars on a "moon-deserted night." Nature has cast over the whole of this cave a spell of exquisite beauty.
THE SHOW-ROOMTHE SHOW-ROOM.
Near to the Show-room is the cave of "The Grand Stalactites." It is only about 10 feet by 13 feet, but its massive grandeur is so impressive that the pleasure it produces is "akin to pain." Some of the stalagmites are enormous. Their summit is lost in the masses of huge stalactites which depend from the roof, and they rest on beautiful brown terraces and mounds, covered with scintillating reticulation. The elephantine stalagmites, like the stalactites which hang between and about them, and in several instances descend nearly to their base, are of dazzling whiteness. The massive pillars are so close together that the intervening spaces look like columns of jet, and thus we have "buttress and buttress alternately framed of ebon and ivory." The majesty of this cave haunts you. When the magnesium lamp is extinguished and thick darkness once more casts its veil over the magnificent scene, the vision of beauty dwells in the mind like a memory which stirs the depths of the soul.
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A few paces only from "The Show-room" is "The Fairies' Bower," rich in grotesque lines and mystic crypts, in the purity of the formation which decorates it, and in delicacy of tints and shades. In the midst is a peculiarly-shaped stalactitic pillar resting on a dome, and which may be regarded as the Pixies' trysting-place. Then there are the "Diamond Walls," covered with millions of gems, each of which, as it flashes through the gloom, sparkles like "a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear," or, like the very obtrusive French paste "drops" which, on her "Sunday out," light up the auricular organs of Mary Jane. It is noticeable that the walls are not of the formation which is diamantiferous. There is nothing suggestive of the diamond beds on the banks of the Ganges, the gem mines of Brazil, the rich fields of South Africa, or even the more recently-discovered diamond-bearing districts of Bingera, Mudgee, or New England, in New South Wales. There is not any gravel-drift, and the reflected light displays neither diamantine lustre nor play of colours; but, nevertheless, there is great brilliancy. It suggests, however, not so much the glories of the Koh-i-noor or the splendours of the Orloff, in the Russian Imperial sceptre, as the glitter of spangles on the dress of the acrobat.
North-west from the diamond walls is a gallery to the Selina Cave. Midway, or about 20 yards from the junction at the diamond walls, is "Cook's Grotto," named after Mr. Samuel Cook, of Marrickville. It isa lovely nook, with stalactites of rare purity and beauty. This grotto is about five feet high and from 2 to 10 feet wide. In front is a conical sloping rock with a waxy-looking reticulated surface; and the grotto itself is filled with stalactites as white as the foam of an ocean billow dashed upon the rocks of an iron-bound coast. Between two of the principal stalactites is a fine "shawl" or "scarf," made of the purest meerschaum. Over the Grotto is some pretty formation, and round about are many coloured stalactites, which make a striking contrast. To the left is a splendid alabaster stalagmite, semi-transparent, like camphor, and the little stalactites above, from which it has been formed, are of similar character, being slightly opalescent, and without any stellar reflection of light.
The Selina Cave, 30 yards north of Cook's Grotto, is about 20 feet high, 20 yards long, and 25 feet wide. It is named in honour of the wife of the Hon. E. B. Webb, M.L.C., of Bathurst, and in recognition of the interest in the caves taken by the Webb family from time to time. The walls are heavily laden with ornament. There is on the right hand side a lavish supply of variously-coloured stalactites. A large mass of formation has flowed from the fore part of the ceiling to the left, and assumed all sorts of graceful and fantastic shapes, until it reaches a shell pattern composite dwarf wall on the floor, about a foot thick at the base, and thinning off to about an inch at the top. The best of the stalactites are objects of great curiosity on account of the peculiar way in which they are embellished by small gnarled and twisted projections, and protuberances like miniature stalactitic Protea in every conceivable kind of tortuosity. In front of the cave is a magnificent stalagmite called "Lot." It is about 18 feet high and two feet in diameter, and may be supposed to represent the Patriarch after his capture by the confederate monarchs who made war against the Kings of the Cities of the Plain. It is rather large, but then it is recorded—"there were giants in those days." It is not on record why this particular column is called "Lot." Perhaps it wasthought that the briny tears shed by the son of Haran on account of the loss of his wife would be sufficient to make a second pillar of salt of similar dimensions. The roof opening into the cave is adorned with stalactites, and on the floor there are besides "Lot" two other remarkable stalagmites, which may be taken to represent members of his family. In shape they are probably quite as representative as Noachian figures of Mesdames Shem, Ham, and Japhet, that give variety to the contents of those wonderful arks which are supposed to convey to the juvenile mind the principal incidents associated with the Deluge. The roof opening into the cave is adorned with splendid stalactites, and among these is a beautiful white "shawl." The floor is composed partly of handsome basins, on the bottom and sides of which is elegant crystallization. In one corner of the roof some rich colouring sets off pure snowflakes done in lime. Among the stalactites and stalagmites are some exceedingly grotesque figures. There is also a little tablet, "Selina Cave, Feb. 7, 1881."
THE MYSTERYTHE MYSTERY.
From the "Selina Cave" to "The Mystery" is about 25 yards north. In the gallery leading to this wondrous cavern may be noticed a number of small testaceous shells resembling those of cockles, embedded in the walls. The cave itself is rightly named, because of the wonder it excites by its sublimity. The spectator is first fascinated by its magnificence, and then puzzled to account for the many peculiarities and eccentricities of form which present themselves. It is an enigma. Some of the conformations appear more like the expression of vagrant fancies than the result of inanimate natural forces. Florid stalactites and floriferous rocks have become almost commonplace objects, and the visitor by this time is nearly satiated with limestone beauty; but here he finds new marvels written in mystic characters, which can be deciphered only by long andpatient study. The cavern is about 12 feet high, from 8 to 20 feet wide, and about 20 yards in length. It consists of two parts. On one side is an immense mass of delicate white and rich cream-coloured formation, with numerous giant stalactites, which in purity rival virgin snow. Smaller stalactites in great profusion, are of the most perfect whiteness. But in the midst of the masses of formation are most wonderfully-contorted tubes and threads and thousands of fine lines, some like hairs and others like spun glass. There is filagree work of the mostrecherchékind. Some of the threads are as fine as the filaments of a spider's web, but twisted and turned in a more subtle manner. Some of the stalactites are decorated in the same mysterious way, their hirsute covering being partly pellucid and partly opaque. On the other side of the cave is a similar wonder, which still further illustrates the mysterious operations of nature, and shows with what affluence she can adorn, and how fertile are her resources.
NELLIE'SNELLIE'S GROTTO.
About 10 yards north-west from "The Mystery" is "Nellie's Grotto," named in honour of Mrs. Carruthers, of Sydney, who visited the cave shortly after its discovery. This grotto varies from one to five feet in height, and is about 20 feet from end to end. Its beauty is bold and striking. Its chief features are taken in at a glance, and its general effect is unique. In the foreground on the right hand side is a pillar of great thickness and apparent strength, standing on a gracefully waved and rippled mound. About half of this column is stalagmitic, and was formed at different rates of speed, as may be noticed from its uneven bulk and the shape of the sections which enlarge upwards. Each succeeding portion belongs to a separate epoch commencing on a smaller circumference, until it imitates in shape its predecessor; and then the process is again repeated. The stalagmitic part of the pillar ends at about the centre of the column, and is out of the perpendicular,like the leaning tower of Pisa. From the shape of the upper section, it seems as though three or four stalactites of about equal thickness, but of various lengths, had been closely cemented together. Altogether this pillar is a very bold and beautiful object. At the other end of the grotto are two columns composed in a somewhat similar manner, but of much smaller dimensions. They also rest on blocks of formation, and are surrounded by a number of splendid stalactites, some of which descend half way and others to the base. Between these two extremities, there are on the floor about a dozen little cones of white matter like sugar-loaves, but not so smooth. On four of them rest the points of magnificent tapering stalactites, straight from the roof of the grotto, and in a line with these and the two extreme columns are stalactites of various lengths, some plain and some richly ornamented. The interior of the grotto is also enriched with similar kinds of beauty. A little distance away to the left is to be seen on another bold rocky ledge a second series of small stalactites, suggestive of the commencement of another grotto similar to that which now wins so much admiration. There is also a very remarkable stalagmitic formation which resembles a wax candle burning before a shrine of Purity. It is with reluctance that the tourist turns from this lovely grotto and wends his way towards "The Vestry." He feels as though he could hardly refrain from taking a last fond look, even though he should run the risk of being converted into a limestone pillar.
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About 25 yards north of Nellie's Grotto is "The Vestry," a cavern about 12 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 20 feet in length. It is called The Vestry, because of its propinquity to some very fine cathedral-like architecture, and not because any minister requires it to robe himself in, or because it is used for the meetings of any parochial assembly. This Vestry runs east and west, and there is here a large area of unexplored caves. Indeed, it may be said that there are in almost every part of the mountain openings which indicate the possibility of the existence of new and lovely caverns. It is also probable that in process of time it will be found that all the principal chambers are connected by passages which by a little enlargement may make intercavernous communication complete between all the best known caves. That this is likely may be gathered from an incident which occurred a few months ago. There were then at the Cave House four black cats, slightly marked with white. On being petted, the playful animals would not only purr their thanks, but also follow like dogs. One day the most venturesome of them went with a party into the Lucas Cave, and travelled with them a considerable distance before it was missed, and then it was thought that it had returned to the daylight. In the evening, however, it was not in its accustomed place on the hearthrug, and about the middle of the following day it was discovered in the Imperial Cave on the other side of the Grand Arch!The attention of the party was attracted by the doleful cries of the animal, which had by that time realised the fact that it had lost itself in a dangerous place. Some doubt might have existed as to the identity of the cat found in the Imperial with that lost in the Lucas Cave, had it not been that with the party that took it in were two boys, who had carried it now and then, and permitted its extremities once or twice to come in contact with their lighted tapers. They were able to identify it by "the drips of sperm on its back, its burnt whisker, and the singe on the tip of its tail!" Thus a very interesting fact was established which but for the accidental brandings would have been doubtful. The visitor returns to the Fairies' Bower and the Grand Stalactites junction; and about 20 yards north-west from the junction he arrives at the Crystal Palace, which is fenced in by wire-netting in order to protect its marvellous grandeur from that class of sightseers who appear to be unable to look at anything except they can place their unwashed paws upon it—in which case impressions are mutual.
There are three distinct types of beauty in this Palace—the simple, the compound, and the elaborately complex. The simple forms are extremely massive. To call them "pretty" would be to convey an entirely erroneous idea of their quality. The stalagmitic features are immense. One of them is a gigantic pillar, built up in sections from an enormous basement on a rocky mound, over which it has flowed like milk-white lava. About a foot or so above the crest of the rock it is several feet thick, and at one time its upper surface formed a disc or table. On this flat top was gradually formed another white mass of somewhat smaller proportions, tapering towards the top, or second platform, from which rises another stalagmitic section, expanding from the base, and this process is repeated to the very summit, so that the beautiful white pillar has a serrated appearance. For unsullied whiteness and peculiarity of structure it will bear favourable comparison with the most remarkable pillars in the cave. Near to it is another pyramidal-shapedmass of even greater bulk, which tapers as it rises towards the stalactitic formation, and harmonises with it in grandeur.
From the right hand side of the base another and smaller stalagmite rears its head, and immediately above it, and to the right of it, are masses of formation hanging like stalactites of various lengths, and bound together in solid but graceful combination. Farther still to the right is an immense stalactite, shaped like the body of a kingfish minus its tail. The floor of this part of the Palace is also very attractive, by reason of its graceful curves and undulations, and miniature rippled terraces. The more complex part of the Palace to the left begins with a magnificent piece of shawl formation, from the lower end of which depends a splendid stalactite. The shawl is draped at an angle of about 22½ degrees, and in a line with its principal portion the wall is hung with marvellous stalactites, one of which is of great length, and clear as crystal. Then there is a cavernous place, from the shades of which emerge rounded masses of white formation, fringed with myriads of stalactites. From behind these the same kind of ornamentation is repeated again and again until a ledge of rocks is reached, which slopes down to a marvellously beautiful stalagmite several feet high, and which rises from the floor immediately underneath the stalactite at the end of the shawl before mentioned.
The general impression left by this part of the Palace is that its grandeur is different from that which distinguishes other portions of the caves, but it would be as difficult to say in what the peculiarity consists as it would be to describe the general appearance presented by different turns of a kaleidoscope. The most intricate part of the Palace is distinctive enough to leave a separate memory. The wall is covered with masses of brilliantly white formation, with stalactites all about them, some short, some long, some tapering like icicles, some straight like pipe-stems; most of them pellucid, and some like iridescent glass. Some of the "shawls" are delicately tinted, and present acharming appearance. There are deep brown and delicate fawn-coloured banks, which seem as though they were covered with a stony network. Little caves at the sides are partly filled with drifts of glistening snow. Some of the ledges are covered with white stucco, with delicate fringes. Many of the stalactites are charged with water, and the drops coquette with the light and rival the glitter on the walls. There are stately and elegant shafts of alabaster from floor to ceiling, coloured stalactites and stalagmites nearly meeting. At every glance the eye is pleased with new and curious forms and rich combinations of colour. Masses of the formation are fringed with contorted threads and pipes, and on the foreground are some curiously-shaped masses like snow, with delicate frost work and projections like frosted hairs all over their surface. These are for the most part opaque, but the predominant features are crystal.
The distance from the Crystal Palace to the Jewel Casket is about 15 yards north-west, through a hall about 25 feet high and about 15 feet wide. The Casket itself is a horizontal fissure in the rocks, about 8 feet by 12, filled with brilliants of various hues. Its splendour is enchanting. Overhanging stalactites guard the Casket, and form as it were bars of alabaster, opal and crystal, and through the spaces may be seen many different varieties of crystallization. The floor is carpeted with jewels, set off with sparkling masses like frozen snow. Some of the gems are white like diamonds, some coloured like cairngorms, and other varieties of rock crystal of even more delicate tints, and numbers of them are clear and translucent. Some of the ornamentation is of a rich brown. The impression produced is that nothing could possibly be more brilliant and entrancing than this rich casket; and yet, remembering how many times previously he has come to the same conclusion and subsequently found he had miscalculated the magnificence still in reserve, the visitor hesitates to accept the Jewel Casket as thene plus ultraof cave magnificence. Then there is theBridal Veil, about 10 feet by 2 feet—a wonderful piece of delicate tracery imitating fine lace—notécru, but white as the fairest emblem of a blameless life. Here are numerous terraces in deep brown and fawn colour covered with spangles which glitter like broken-up moonbeams on the wavelets of a summer sea or the phosphorescence which, in the wake of a ship, mocks the stars. The Flowering Column comes next—a huge mass of formation 25 feet high, branching off into all sorts of shapes graceful and grotesque. It is about eight feet wide in the centre, of a rich brown colour shading off to a brighter and lighter hue. This pillar is covered with remarkable little figures like flowers natural and fanciful, and near to it is a series of imitation cascades in regular sequence which simulate so much natural force that they might be taken as an illustration in lime of "how the waters come down at Lodore." These cataracts or waterfalls are now for the most part dry; but at one time the supply of liquid or semi-liquid limestone, of which they are formed, must have been very abundant.