THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIOTHE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO.
The height of the "Studio" is about 18 feet. Thisatelieris a marvel of beauty. There are in it two temples of the most lovely kind. Large masses of splendid stalactites hang from the roof. On the walls are columns profusely decorated with coral and tracery and bosses, and carvings which could be imitated only by the most cunning workmanship. Near the centre is a large stalactitic mass, most graceful in shape, with numerous appendages; and underneath appear several stalagmites. Some of them have been partially destroyed, but one, which touches the enormous mass of stalactites above, remains intact. Near to this is a splendid column, richly embellished. The walls are profusely adorned with elaborate configurations, which are supposed to represent architectural "studies," from which the cave derives its name. Most of the formation is white or light grey; but in some of the recesses there is rich colouring. Each chamber has its own distinctive attractions, and contains many objects which challenge special admiration. Massive grandeur is set off with the most delicate and fragile beauty. Stalagmites are not numerous here, but one about eight feet in height, and two inches in diameter at the base, tapers off gradually towards the roof until it becomes as attenuated as the thin end of a fishing-rod. The stalactitic formation hangs in ponderous grotesquely-shaped concretions, some of which extend from the roof nearly to the floor, and many of the stalactites which decorate the stalactitic formation are perfect in shape and purity. The choicest portions of the Architect's Studio are fenced off with galvanised wire rope on iron standards.
Ascending a flight of 10 steps out of the Architect's Studio the course is south-west about 30 yards to the Bone Cave. The way is difficult, a portion of the journey having to be performed on hands and knees. The cave, which runs north and south, is about 10 feet high, 150 feet long, and from 5 to 30 feet wide. In the middle of it is a passage only partially explored. The Bone Cave is guarded by iron rods and wire netting. Bunches of stalactites hang from the roof, and the floor is strewn with bones, covered with a thick coating of lime formation. There are also bones embedded in the floor. Some of the formations on the floor are very peculiar, consisting of small curiously-shaped pieces fitted together at remarkable angles, and yet capable of being taken to pieces like triplicate kernels pressed together in one nutshell. A large proportion of the stalactites are quite transparent and decorated with small sharp points, and some formations among the coral are as lovely as fine marine mosses, which they resemble. In the midst are numerous unexplored recesses, which, when the light penetrates, are seen to hold hundreds of fine stalactites, crystal and opaque. The objects of beauty in the Bone Cave retain their colour, because they cannot be handled by that class of visitors who fancy that they can see only with their fingers. On the walls are specimens of delicate fretwork, and on the floor as well as on the top of rocky ledges, stalagmites lavishly ornamented. Although not as grand as the Architect's Studio, this is a very fine cave, and additional interest attaches to it in consequence of the fossil bones it contains. The adjacent chambers cannot be explored without destroying some of the well-known beauties of the cavern.
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From the Bone Cave to the Margherita Cave is about 130 yards, travelling north-east to the top of the first 10 steps, then east into the Architect's Studio, and then north about 30 yards. The Margherita Cave varies from 10 to 20 feet in height, and is from 10 to 15 feet wide. It is remarkable chiefly for the magnitude and beauty of its stalactitic formation, the best portions of which are fenced off with iron rods and wire netting. The formations are nearly all of the same general character. Although there are many changes in detail, the typical pattern is observed everywhere in the midst of infinite variety, just as in a fugue choice snatches of melody sound forth in the clear treble, skip away in the mellow tenor, roll forth in the deep bass, and then dart about Will-o'-the-wisp-like all through the composition, without ever getting out of harmony. It is a grand chamber full of stately concords and charming effects of light and shade.
Hard by is another chamber with masses of beautiful stalactites, and, on a pinnacle, a figure appears about the height of the Venus de Medici, robed in drapery of white, slightly suggestive of the binary theory of feminine attire, and with a peculiar curvature denominated the "Grecian bend." The bend is unmistakable. There is just a suspicion of the "divided skirt," and the attitude is easy and graceful, the Grecian bend notwithstanding. The upper part of the body from the waist has no "boddice aptly laced," but becomes gradually mixed indiscriminately with other kinds of beauty, which, although they may "harmony of shape express," do not in the sense indicated by Prior become "fine by degreesand beautifully less." Admirers of classic beauty may be inclined to regard the incompleteness of the figure as "fine by defect and delicately weak." There are some stalagmites on the sloping bank of formation, which runs down to the wire netting and is finished off at each extremity by two massive stalactitic pillars.
The Margherita Cave received its name in honour of the wife of Lieut.-Colonel Cracknell, Superintendent of Telegraphs. Col. Cracknell visited the caves in 1880, and on the 22nd July illuminated this and some other portions with the electric light. The Margherita was the first of the underground chambers in which flashed its brilliant rays.
In the absence of facilities for generating electricity by means of the now well-known dynamo machine, Colonel Cracknell had recourse to primary batteries, and adopted the form known as the Maynooth or Callan cell, the elements of which were cast iron and zinc in solutions of nitric and sulphuric acid.
It was not an easy task to unload and carry up the iron cell battery and the apparatus into the cave, as each set of six cells weighed 96 lbs. The whole, together with the acids and the electric light apparatus, exceeded 15 cwts. The battery, however, was soon made ready, and to the admiration of all present Cave Margherita was illuminated by the electric light. A photographic apparatus was then placed in position, the plates were exposed, and in 15 minutes the first negatives were produced, and said to be all that could be desired.
It is satisfactory to learn that arrangements are almost complete for the permanent lighting of the caves by electricity. Lieutenant-Colonel Cracknell proposes to illuminate them in sections, containing each, say, 25 incandescent lamps, and when one section has been thoroughly explored the lamps therein will be cut off and those in the next section brought into operation, and so on until the whole of the interior has been examined. It is intended that Swan's incandescent lamp of 20-candle power shall be used.
The electricity is to be generated by a small Edison dynamo, with which accumulators of the Elwell-Parker type will be kept charged, so that at all times there will be a supply available for lighting the lamps. It has not yet been determined whether to use steam or water power, but it is thought likely that sufficient of the latter may be secured in the vicinity of the caves to work a turbine, and thus produce the necessary energy.
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Leaving the Margherita Cave by a descent of five steps, and travelling north-west about ten yards through a festooned hall, the Helena Cave opens to view. It was named in 1880. Helena is the prenomen of Mrs. Hart, whose husband accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel Cracknell on his visit to the caves, and took photographs of some of the chambers, when for the first time they were illuminated by electricity. Mr. Hart was connected with the photographic branch of the Government Printing Office. The pictures then produced, although large and fairly good, are not equal to some more recent photographs taken when the chambers were illuminated by the magnesium light.
The Helena Cave is about 60 yards long, 15 to 20 feet high, and varies in width from 20 to 50 feet. For stalactitic splendour it will bear comparison with the most magnificent of the caves. There are columns like the trunks of stately trees, covered with rough formation resembling coarse bark. Coralline masses droop laden with myriads of cells. In the recesses are stalactites perfect in shape—crystal, and alabaster set off by others coloured like ferruginous sandstone. Lovely grottoes and decorated rock ledges abound. In one or two instances joined stalactites and stalagmites form pillars with bunches of formation all about them like stony efflorescence. Several steps lead into a recess, the floor of which contains basins made by the action of water.
The formation throughout is remarkable for its lavish ornamentation and purity. Among the grand cornices is one weighing about half a ton,formed in such a manner as to resemble great bunches of grapes, like those brought from Eschol by the Hebrew spies to illustrate their report on "the promised land." In other parts are small clusters like vine produce growingen espalier. It seems as though in these subterranean sunless bowers nature had by some subtle process striven to reproduce in stone the fruits and flowers of the sunned surface, clothing them in pure white and sombre grey, and endowing them with charms as sweet and mutely eloquent as the fragrance of the Cestrum nocturnum, or the cold beauty of a night cactus bloom which caresses the moonbeams or wantons in the stellar light.
This place, full of enchanted grottoes and elfin palaces, gives, perhaps, the best illustration of the plan, so uniform and yet so diverse, on which these limestone mountains have been honeycombed into galleries, "high overarch'd with echoing walks between," and caverns large and small, from cathedral spaciousness to the minimised dimensions of the tiniest chamber in the finest coralline structure. Their infinite gradation may be fairly described by certain well-known lines, and substituting the word "caves" for the name of the most lively insects of the genus pulex—
Big caves have little cavesAnd lesser caves about 'em;These caves have other caves,And soad infinitum.
Big caves have little cavesAnd lesser caves about 'em;These caves have other caves,And soad infinitum.
The most remarkable feature hereabouts is a piece of formation called "The Madonna." It is supposed to represent a woman carrying an infant, which rests on her right arm. The left arm hangs loosely by her side, and the right knee is bent as in the act of walking. The head bears less resemblance to that of one of the favourite creations of the Old Masters than it does to the anterior part of a Russian bear. A pyramidal mound about four feet high forms a pedestal for the figure, which is about two feet six inches from crown to sole. A sculptor with mallet and chisel might in an hour or two convert it into a representationof loveliness, but at present it is only a veiled beauty. Visitors have to imagine all those witcheries and feminine perfections portrayed by great artists who have made "The Madonna and Child" a life study.
THE HELENA CAVETHE HELENA CAVE.
The best view of this cave is that looking south-east with "My Lady" in the centre. The stalactites show to great advantage, and as the manifold charms brought into bold relief by the magnesium light disappear, and the sable goddess "from her ebon throne, stretches forth her leaden sceptre," the sensation produced is one of pleasant bewilderment. The deep gloom which follows celestial brightness enshrouds the glorious scene. The pageant fades away as did the celebrated palace which Potemkin reared for his Imperial Mistress. It was made of blocks of ice. The portico was supported by Ionic pillars, and the dome sparkled in the sun, which had just strength enough to gild, but not to melt it. "It glittered afar like a palace of crystal and diamonds, but there came one warm breeze from the south, and the stately building dissolved away until none were able to gather up the fragments." So it is with these underground wonders. They are brought into bold relief, and gilded by the brilliant light of the magnesium lamp. It is extinguished, and the gorgeous palaces and solemn temples suddenly become like "stuff which dreams are made of."
Another beautiful feature in the Helena Cave is a formation under a mass of stalactites which hang from the roof and drop water on to a jutting rock below. On a corner of this shoulder is a huge epaulette, and underneath are some elegantly-shaped brackets. Still farther down is an enormous richly decorated mass, flanked by shell pattern formation. The base rock rests on a mound of limestone gracefully curved, and the intervening spaces are filled with myriads of ornate specimens. Some distance above the floor is a bold rock with a sharply cut under-surface like the sounding-board of a pulpit hung with stalactites. Here are also terraces like miniatures of the celebrated White Terraces of New Zealand, with basins, the sides of which are graced with a formation which at onetime was pure white, but the lower portions of which are now discoloured. The upper part, however, still retains its pristine purity and loveliness. The terraces approaching The Grotto are stained by the tramping of feet. About halfway up is a handsome stalagmite of fine proportions. This chamber is grandly impressive, and remarkable for its charming variety of formation, as well as for its graceful contours.
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At the point of exit from the Helena Cave there is a descent of four steps. Then it is necessary to ascend 14 steps north-north-east on the way to the right-hand branch of the Imperial Cave. From the top of the steps the distance to the junction is about 80 yards. On the left side of the passage, at the foot of the lower steps in the left-hand branch, is a drive down into the gallery of the right-hand branch, the fall being about 70 feet. It was by being lowered down this hole that the cave-keeper found that portion of the right-hand branch which extends from the shaft to the junction of the two branches. This perilous part is railed off with two wires supported on iron standards let into the rock. At a point 22 yards north, on the passage to the Grotto Cave, at an angle, is a drop of 100 feet into the right-hand branch of the Imperial Cave.
Sitting on a thin shell of limestone, on the right-hand side, the visitor may pitch a stone into a hole 10 inches by 14 inches, and hear it strike the bottom of the black depth. He may thrust his candle down to arm's length underneath the mineral crust, and (if he be in a very cheerful vein) fancy he is peering into the Infernal Regions, over which he rests on a thin and fragile screen. From this point the Grotto Cave is south-south-west about 50 yards. Precautions have been taken against accident at this spot. Iron standards are let into the rock, and there are double wires stayed back to the walls of the cave. It is intended to make it still more secure on the lower side by a netting of three inch wire, on one and a quarter inch iron standards, from four to six feet high.
Where the rock has been cut to make the passage wide enough, the steps are wet, and there is a little basin always full of bright water of a bluish tint. A false step here might precipitate a sight-seer into an almost perpendicular hole, some idea of the depth of which may be formed by casting a stone down, and listening to its striking against the sides, until after the lapse of several seconds the sound of its contact with the floor rises like a feeble voice, still further subdued by distance. Descending five steps, a good sight is obtained of the Grotto Cave. It is 25 feet high in places, and about 10 feet wide, with passages in all directions. It runs south-south-east and north-north-west, and is full of interesting vaults and crypts, over which Nature seems to have cast a mystic spell. For alluring charms, fantastic combinations, and disposition of matter, no comparison can be found between it and the most artistic grottoes built by human hands. One grotto is roofed with delicately white and richly-traced formation, studded with stalactites of rare splendour. Here is a delicate white shaft piercing the dome; there a stalagmite within half-an-inch of the stalactite above. A broken pillar suggests either an accident or a barbaric act; near to it is a perfect column, which, in the dim light, seems like a figure emerging from the cave. Close inspection reveals imitations of coral and seaweed, curved stalactites, and filagree work of the most intricate design. Little flakes of lime, like snow, at the back of the grotto, sparkle like twinkling stars.
Another grotto, in the centre of the cave, is made entirely by large stalactites, set off with small ones. Some are covered with filaments about the thickness of ordinary sewing-cotton; others seem as though they were covered with beautiful mosses. Many of the pendants are richly wrought and extremely graceful. The upper stalactites are covered with thicker filaments like twine and pack-thread. A third grotto is remarkable chiefly for a splendid cornice or buttress projecting from a pillar. It is as grand, though not as ornate, as similarformation in the Margherita Cave. It was named on the 10th March 1881, and its designation is appropriate.
Near the exit is a marvellous grotto, at the entrance to which is a massive stalagmitic pillar, five feet in diameter, meeting the end of a stalactite about 15 feet long. The back of the stalagmite constitutes a separate grotto of stalactites and shell-pattern formation. Near to it is a remarkable rock, covered with cauliflower-shaped masses of limestone. It is known as the Cauliflower Rock—thechoufleurof the gnomes who guard the unfathomable caves of Jenolan. In yet another grotto, at the rear of the main pillar, is a beautiful canopy, with thin stalactites, straight like walking-canes, and others thin as straws, crystal and opaque. There are also many contorted stalactites and other eccentricities in stone. A little iron ladder makes it easy to descend into this cave of so many beautiful grottoes on gracefully undulating foundations. Near the point of departure is a dangerous spot, for the proper guarding of which arrangements are being made. Adjacent is a considerable quantity of red clay covered with smooth white formation, and fractures of rock round about sparkle with crystals.
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THE LUCINDA CAVETHE LUCINDA CAVE.
After travelling a few yards south from the grottoes the visitor arrives at the Lucinda Cave. The hall is from 5 to 15 feet wide and from 6 to 25 feet high. The approach to the cave is through limestone rocks. The path has a gentle slope, and in some places the walls are besprinkled with a white substance like wool. Near the centre of the passage is a hole in the roof partly lined with formation which sparkles like a starlit sky. A little farther on is a descent of four steps through a passage, the walls of which glitter with great brilliancy.
About 25 yards from the Lucinda Cave, south-south-west, is a magnificent spectacle. The roof is densely crowded with stalactites of every type of beauty. On each side are crevices of dazzling splendour, and on the floors of which brilliants have been showered like hail. The largest remain in the centre, and the corners and other remote places are heaped with diamond drift. In one place in the lower cave is a bank made of formation washed from the hall above, thickening to the base at an angle of about 40°, and studded with cave gems. Between the jewelled floors and the superincumbent rocks are stalagmites of pure white calcareous alabaster. At the end of this passage are three steps, which it is necessary to ascend in order to reach the Lucinda Chamber, which was discovered on the 7th February, 1881, and is named after the wife of the curator of the caves.
The Lucinda Cave is from 10 to 25 feet high, from 50 to 70 feet wide, and about 90 feet long. Its entrance junctions with the steps to Katie'sBower. To reach the Lucinda Cave from the junction, the visitor passes over a level floor, like cement, about 12 feet in length. This cave is remarkable for its scenic grandeur. The spectator stands in mute admiration, and gazes upon the magnificent sight like one who is spellbound. The beauty is Brobdignagian in its proportions. The figures are all colossal. There are immense stalactites and stalagmites of every hue. An enormous mass of formation droops from the ceiling to the summit of a stalagmitic mound upon which it rests. It is like a series of suddenly congealed waterfalls, and the groundwork below is gracefully rippled on the outer surface, and fringed with stalactites. The mound previously mentioned rests upon another of larger size, of equally graceful contour, and besprent with brilliants which sparkle like immense diamonds. To the right is a cascade of formation which has trickled and solidified from rock to rock and from ledge to ledge in graceful curves from the roof to the floor.
Those who have seen water arrested by congelation on an extensive weir, and rendered opaque by hoar, can form a tolerably correct idea of the kind of beauty here represented in stone. To the left of the frozen waterfall is a bower of sparkling substances, and at its extremity is a recess, from the farthest visible point of which can be seen magnificent clusters of stalactites, of rich and varied colouring. This bower is more chastely beautiful than any ever possessed by Oriental potentate. The walls on the left side are richly draped with sheets of formation of uniform thickness, hanging from the roof like shawls or scarves. This mineral drapery is opaque, striped and flecked with russet and reddish brown, and edged with white as pure as virgin snow. It is guarded by a fence of iron rods and galvanised wire; consequently it is impossible to make a close and minute examination of its interior, but the general effect is fascinating. In one of the recesses is a terraced rock covered with reddish formation, like a cascade, which certainly is not less beautiful than were the Pink Terraces of Rotomahana. A little beyond thecascade the same kind of formation ornaments a massive pillar, which constitutes one of the principal features of the cave.
In the foreground is a hall which leads to an unexplored region below, and the entrance to which is guarded by a fence to prevent accidents. The floor is curiously formed by a series of basins, the rims of which are shaped into every variety of curve and indentation, running in and out like frilling, not with regular curved lines like escallops, but representing in miniature the waterlines of a quiet harbour with large bays and pretty inlets and creeks and reaches, without a single straight line. The edges of these basins are about two inches in height, covered on the outside by sparkling limestone, like delicate coral, thickening towards the floor. Inside the formation is still more beautiful, with coralline matter of the same general character swelling out to the most graceful concavity. There is perfection in every segment, and in every tiny cell lurks tremulous light.
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Taking a course between the parallel fences of wire-netting, and travelling about 25 yards, the Jewel Casket is seen on the western side of the cave. It extends about 20 feet due south, and is about two feet six inches high by about six feet wide. It does not contain any new type of beauty, but rather represents a collection of the most enchanting cave splendours. Even the stalactites and stalagmites are overlaid with ornamentation. It is a focus of dazzling brilliancy.
Returning to the junction, there is a descent by steps south-west into "Katie's Bower," which is the last chamber in the left-hand branch of the Imperial Cave. Forty-three of these steps are like cement, 10 are cut in the solid rock, and 19 are of wood. On the left-hand side, at the foot of the staircase, is a hole 70 feet deep. To the north of the entrance, at the top of the wooden steps, is a remarkable formation suggestive of a Chinese pagoda, waxy-amber-and-flesh-coloured. To the left is a beautifully-formed dome, with convexities of pure white, sparkling all over as though it were studded with diamonds cut with large facets. At the bottom of the dome are numerous stalactites, resting on a curved rock coated with the same material. It is like a richly bejewelled throne with a grand canopy suspended from the roof by a large stalactite. It contains many hundredweight of formation, and is about three yards from end to end of the curve. It is ornamented with filagree work and stalactites of the most curious and beautiful kinds,and on the upper surface are some handsome stalagmites. At the rear of this splendid canopy, set with precious stones, is a recess with a sparkling floor.
KATIE'S BOWERKATIE'S BOWER.
Having descended some steps to the south-east, and ascended 30 others through a broken part of the subterranean region, the visitor will find much to admire in Katie's Bower. It is about 250 feet long, 5 to 30 feet high, and from 15 to 25 feet wide. Its direction is from north-west to south-east. The north-west end is very rough, with a rocky floor. The beauties of the Bower are located to the south and south-east. There are on the one side alabaster pillars, on the other is formation. Immediately over the arch is a deposit of red clay, which has imparted a rich colour to the huge stalactites which hang from the roof. The light of the candles is flashed back by glittering crystals. The floor, which forms the entrance to the Bower, is carpeted with glistening alabaster. Descending 14 steps into the Bower there is a fountain full of lime-water, and a plate suitably inscribed conveys the information that Katie's Bower was discovered on the 7th February, 1881, by Jeremiah Wilson (guide), C. Webb, H. Fulton, C. West, J. Bright, E. Webb, E. T. Webb, J. Thompson, W. H. Webb, E. Bowman, W. Thompson, J. McPhillamy, R. Thompson, J. Webb, and S. Webb. The before-mentioned gentlemen were the first to enter the Bower after its discovery. They had rendered valuable assistance to the guide, and were well rewarded for all their trouble by the consciousness that they had participated in opening to the public a new and charming scene in this western wonderland. The stalactites and formation at the mouth of the cave are pure alabaster.
It should be here stated that this Bower was named in honour of a daughter of the Hon. E. Webb, M.L.C., of Bathurst, who at various times has interested himself in regard to the caves, and sister of the Messrs. Webb whose names appear on the tablet, and who supplied ladders and ropes to the curator, and otherwise assisted him in his explorations. It is a grand cavern, with massive pillars and large stalactites, and elaboratealabaster structures, more remarkable for richness of detail than the most wonderfully-constructed Oriental temple. The dome commences near the roof with a conical mass of brilliant formation, from which depend many fine stalactites, which rest on a solid mass, and seem to hold it suspended. This second mass of formation is ornamented with stalactites like frozen jets of water. And so the process is continued again and again, until the points of the lowest stalactites rest on a white mass level with gracefully-curved and coloured rocks, which descend with elegant contours to the bottom of the Bower. The same kind of wonderful fabrication is repeated at the sides of the principal figure. Some of the flooring is as rich and pure as that of the Jewel Casket. It is a marvel of intricate grandeur, and has the advantage of having been well preserved. From the alabaster stalagmite in front, to the most delicate lime drapery on the walls, there is no prominent "mark of the beast." The cads of the period have not been permitted to perform their favourite ceremony of the laying on of hands.
It would be useless to speculate as to the time the caves in this branch "took in building." It defies all calculation. Apparently the process of formation is finished. There is no dripping from the stalactites. There may be, however, in wet weather; but it seems as though the creative action had given way to the hardening process. It is suggestive of that portion of "King Solomon's Mines" in which H. R. Haggard has a clever and somewhat caustic conceit respecting stalactitic growth. On his way through the enormous cave leading to Solomon's Treasure-house, he was enchanted with the gigantic pillars, which looked like ice, and which sprang in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof. "Others again," he says, "were in process of formation. On the rock floor there was in these caves what looked exactly like a broken column in an old Grecian temple, whilst high above, depending from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. And even as we gazed we could hear the process going on, for presently with a tiny splash adrop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the column below. On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and in these cases it would form an interesting calculation to discover how long at that rate of dripping it would take to form a pillar, say 80 feet high by 10 in diameter. That the process was, in at least one instance, incalculably slow, the following instance will suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars, we discovered a rude likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of the Egyptian gods, doubtless the handiwork of some old-world labourer in the mine. This work of art was executed at about the natural height at which an idle fellow, be he Phœnician workman or British cad, is in the habit of trying to immortalise himself at the expense of Nature's masterpieces, namely, about five feet from the ground; yet at the time that we saw it, which must have been nearly 3,000 years after the date of the execution of the drawing, the column was only eight feet high, and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a 1,000 years, or an inch and a fraction to a century." This is a very good satire upon the presumption of some modern disciples of the illustrious Cocker. A botanist may, by its concentric zones, tell the years of an exogenous plant; a bucolic sage may judge the age of horned cattle by counting their horny rings; but to tell the æons of a stalagmite is more difficult than the accurate compilation of a feminine census. Arithmetical calculations on such a subject would probably be received with as much confidence as phrenological evidence of the character and habits indicated by bumps on the head of the Great Sphinx at Ghizeh.
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Having thus completed his inspection of the left-hand branch of the Imperial Cave, the visitor returns to the junction, passing through all the chambers previously noticed in it excepting the Architect's Studio and the Bone Cave, and proceeds to explore the still more wondrous and beautiful works in the right-hand branch.
The first object of interest in the right-hand branch of the Imperial Cave is the Subterranean River, which runs at the bottom of a fearful chasm about 50 yards from the point where the two branches bifurcate. After having wandered through marble halls and crystal palaces, and bowers where "rural fays and fairies dwell," the course seems rather gloomy. But attention is attracted by some curiously-shaped nodules, like those found in a part of the Arch Cave, and by basins with thin laminated sides slightly corrugated. These specimens reveal the secret of the construction of the pretty reticulated mounds, which give such a charming effect to several of the most regularly formed features of the caves. To complete the process, the sharp parallel lines which form a succession of little equidistant ridges require only to be smoothed off by a gently flowing film of water, and to receive a coat of colouring derived from clay or oxide of iron. This part of the branch, therefore, should not be passed through hurriedly, for it is instructive.
THE UNDERGROUND RIVER AND ITS REFLECTIONS.THE UNDERGROUND RIVER AND ITS REFLECTIONS.
The road is fairly good, although the arching is low. Those parts, the narrowness of which formerly made progress difficult, have been enlarged, but a pretty natural bridge has been carefully preserved. The halt is at the end of a wire ladder bent over a cliff, which forms one side of an immense gulf, where perpetual darkness broods. Here the visitor has a more ungraceful task to perform than that of the cursed serpent, for he must recline face downwards and "progress backwards" until he assumes the form of an obtuse angle, with one line over the precipice. Then he has to use his legs pretty much as an octopus uses its tentacles, to gain a footing on the ladder, which descends about 50 feet on the chasm side of the angle. Having found the first rung he feels happy, but not sufficiently hilarious to slide like a lamplighter. He grips the side wires carefully, takes heed to his steps, and goes down slowly. When he has descended a little way, the dim candle-lights above appear to be far distant, and when he is 20 or 30 steps down they look like glowworms. The journey, however, is not perilous to persons who possess a fair share of agility and nerve. It is frequently performed by ladies, of whom the guide is specially careful, preceding them and keeping just below them on the ladder. As this is, perhaps, the most interesting of all the cave sights, it is desirable that some easy mode of descent should be provided, such as a skip like those employed in mines, or a lift made by machinery to work as easily and effectively as those which ascended and descended at will in the subterranean world inhabited by "the coming race." It was, perhaps, some such place as this which suggested to Bulwer Lytton the chasm down which his nameless hero descended to the bottom of an abyss illuminated with a diffused atmospheric light, soft and silvery as from a northern star; where he found lakes and rivulets which seemed to have been curbed into artificial banks, some of pure water, and some which shone like pools of naphtha; where the birds piped in chorus, and where he made the acquaintance of the An people and the Gy-ei, who moved throughthe air without effort, who had for servants automata always obedient, and totally ignorant of the eight-hours system, and whose religion had these two peculiarities: "Firstly, that they all believed in the creed they professed; and, secondly, that they all practised the precepts indicated by the creed."
Underground rivers appear to be natural to limestone caves. The reason of their existence is to be found in the fact that the mountains in which they are formed are, in geological parlance, "dykes." They must not be confounded with old river beds, such as are encountered by miners—where the surface of the earth has been raised by deposits of alluvium, or where the geological condition of things has been changed by volcanic action. These cave rivers have all been formed by water finding the lowest attainable level in its passage to the sea, and by the solid limestone rocks which have barred its direct course, and have been undermined by its subtle but persistent action. The fluid, dammed back by the mountains, has simply obeyed the laws of gravitation and accumulated force, as evidenced in the trickling silvery thread which follows the course of ant-tracks; in the laughing rill which makes its bed among the pebbles; in the babbling brook which leaps to the swelling river; and in the mighty torrent whose strength and velocity proclaim the majesty of hydraulic power. In all parts of the world where limestone dykes and caves exist, it is reasonable to expect to find subterranean rivers. The eye of the seer can follow the water drips—
"Down through caverns and gulfs profound,To the dreary fountain-headOf lakes and rivers underground."
"Down through caverns and gulfs profound,To the dreary fountain-headOf lakes and rivers underground."
He can see them again when the rain is done—
"On the bridge of colours seven,Climbing up once more to heaven,Past the setting sun."
"On the bridge of colours seven,Climbing up once more to heaven,Past the setting sun."
But the underground rivers found in caves perform vagaries outside the sweet imaginings of the poet and the prevision of the seer. Farfrom the beaten track they turbulently force their way through recesses and tunnels and pockets of the earth, before they are again warmed with sunshine, and glow in the harmonious colours which form the Bow of Promise.
The Rev. Richard Taylor, in his "Te ika a maui," refers to interesting caves near Mokau (New Zealand), in some of which bones of the moa have been discovered. About a mile from Pukemapau he came to a limestone range, and entered a large cave called Tanaureure. At the bottom of a chasm he found a fine crystal spring, about a foot or so deep, but appears not to have been particularly inquisitive as to whence the water came or whither it went.
A little distance up one of the tributaries of the Rewa River, in Fiji, is a crystal streamlet which flows on towards a lofty ridge, near to which it sinks into the earth. At the mouth of a dark cavern can be heard the roaring. It is a grand expansive excavation, but
"Dark as was chaos ere the infant sunWas roll'd together, or had tried his beamsAthwart the gloom profound."
"Dark as was chaos ere the infant sunWas roll'd together, or had tried his beamsAthwart the gloom profound."
The water rushes through narrow chasms as through a race, collects in a large pool, and flows through a distant outlet, marked by a speck of light, like a tiny star.
At the Weathercote Cave, in Yorkshire, a stream swallowed up by a rocky mouth is thus described by Walter White in his book entitled "A Month in Yorkshire":—
"The rocks are thickly covered in places with ferns and mosses, and are broken up by crevices into a diversity of forms, rugged as chaos. A few feet down, and you see a beautiful crystalline spring in a cleft on the right, and the water turning the moss to stone as it trickles down. A few feet lower, and you pass under a natural bridge formed by huge fallen blocks. The stair gets rougher, twisting among the big, damp lumps of limestone, when suddenly your guide points to the fall at the farther extremity of the chasm. The rocks are black, the place is gloomy, imparting thereby a surprising effect to the white rushing column of water. A beck running down the hill finds its way into a crevice in the cliffs, from whichit leaps in one great fall of more than 80 feet, roaring loudly. Look up: the chasm is so narrow that the trees and bushes overhang and meet overhead; and what with the subdued light and mixture of crags and verdure, and the impressive aspect of the place altogether, you will be lost in admiration."To descend lower seems scarcely possible, but you do get down, scrambling over the big stones to the very bottom, into the swirling shower of spray. Here a deep recess, or chamber, at one side, about eight feet in height, affords good standing ground, whence you may see that the water is swallowed up at once, and disappears in the heap of pebbles on which it falls."
"The rocks are thickly covered in places with ferns and mosses, and are broken up by crevices into a diversity of forms, rugged as chaos. A few feet down, and you see a beautiful crystalline spring in a cleft on the right, and the water turning the moss to stone as it trickles down. A few feet lower, and you pass under a natural bridge formed by huge fallen blocks. The stair gets rougher, twisting among the big, damp lumps of limestone, when suddenly your guide points to the fall at the farther extremity of the chasm. The rocks are black, the place is gloomy, imparting thereby a surprising effect to the white rushing column of water. A beck running down the hill finds its way into a crevice in the cliffs, from whichit leaps in one great fall of more than 80 feet, roaring loudly. Look up: the chasm is so narrow that the trees and bushes overhang and meet overhead; and what with the subdued light and mixture of crags and verdure, and the impressive aspect of the place altogether, you will be lost in admiration.
"To descend lower seems scarcely possible, but you do get down, scrambling over the big stones to the very bottom, into the swirling shower of spray. Here a deep recess, or chamber, at one side, about eight feet in height, affords good standing ground, whence you may see that the water is swallowed up at once, and disappears in the heap of pebbles on which it falls."
In the Wombeyan Caves, near Taralga, in this colony (New South Wales), there is a similar phenomenon. The mountain in which the caves are formed dams, at right angles, a valley of considerable length. On the one side a creek flows into a hole underneath the "Wombeyan Church"—a name given to the principal entrance. This shallow hole is filled with large boulders and less bulky water-worn stones, through which the water instantly filters and disappears. The suction is perceptible if a hand or foot be placed in the basin. On the other side of the mountain the water, running at a considerable distance below the surface, can be seen through an orifice. Farther on, about three-quarters of a mile from the mountain side, the stream bubbles up like a fountain, and reminds the visitor of antique pictures representing the rush of water from rock-smitten Horeb.
The most gigantic of underground river wonders are to be found in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, where the Echo River is navigable for three-quarters of a mile, where the Roaring River raises its liquid voice, where Lake Lethe soothes to forgetfulness, and where there is a veritable Styx with a nineteenth century Charon. But although everything about that cave is colossal, it cannot surpass Jenolan in its deep emotional effects, or in the admiration it evokes. Indeed, in these respects an American visitor, familiar with the Mammoth Cave, has given the palm to Jenolan.
Having descended the 50-feet ladder, the foot of which is clamped to a bare rock, the excursionist watches the guide hopping gleefullydown, with candles in one hand and paraphernalia in the other. He then peers into the darkness to find the river, and is led along a gradual slope of about ten feet, when he comes to its margin without recognising it, and would possibly soon be up to his knees in it if he were not warned by his cicerone. It is apparently motionless, as smooth as a mirror, and so clear that at first it is difficult to believe there is any water there at all. You see the sand and pebbles and rocks at the bottom, but do not perceive the fluid which covers them.
The river is about 10 feet wide, and from 12 to 18 inches deep. The length visible is about 60 yards. The overhanging rocks range from 5 or 6 feet to 70 feet in height. From one end of the river comes a sweet soothing sound, made by water-friction. This proves the existence of a considerable current, but the fluid is so limpid and smooth that the eye cannot detect its motion. It is demonstrated, however, in another way. The curator cuts little sections of sperm candle, and, after lighting the wick, floats them on the river, whereupon they immediately begin to glide down the stream, the course of which is nearly south-east. The effect is extremely pretty. Not only are the lights themselves sharply mirrored below, but there is a perfect reflection of the rocks above. Near the tunnel by which the water emerges N.N.W. is a mass of overhanging formation, duplicated in a natural mirror. The bed of the watercourse is dark, being covered chiefly with mud and grit and a few water-worn pebbles. The rocky walls are of limestone—white and black. Up the channel N.W., about 40 yards, is a good crossing-place—not in old Charon's boat, but by means of an ordinary deal plank. On the other side of the river is a ledge of rocks with pebble drift concreted with a substance somewhat resembling the cement in which diamonds are found, and the pebbles, although larger, are of the same shape and blackness as those commonly associated with the luminous gems found in their natural state at Kimberley, in South Africa, or in the Tenterfield district of New South Wales.
On turning the light of the magnesium lamp up the river, its rocky ledges are seen to be ornamented with stalactites and formation perfectly mirrored in the water, which is about 600 feet from the surface, and about 50 below the level of the Cave House in the centre of the valley. Never had river more romantic barriers. Human imagination could not conceive a freak of nature more wildly grand or mysteriously beautiful. There are large ornamented pillars near delicately-tinted formation, drooping from overhanging rocks, like pensile boughs of weeping willow. Some of the twigs skim the surface of the stream, and others are bathed in it. Beyond is a water-hole about 40 feet long, and from 16 to 20 feet wide. Because of its wonderful clearness, it is difficult to judge of its depth; but it has been tested to the extent of five feet, and probably at the extreme point where the water flows from the tunnel it may be six or seven feet deep. The effect of the brilliant light is superb. The ornamentation on the roof of the tunnel is reflected and transposed in the mirror below, each reflected stalactite having the appearance of a twin stalagmite rising from the river bed, which may be traversed for about 150 yards.
Nearly six months ago the caretaker placed in this river twenty young carp from Bathurst. Some of them were enticed from their cavernous resting-places by the bright rays of the lamp, and appeared to be tolerably vivacious and in fair condition. They seem to have all they require except the solar rays; but what is life without sunshine! They ought to be scientifically observed, for there is a theory that in three generations of darkness they will become blind. This has been the fate of the fishes in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and it is stated that their blindness is the result of a law of Nature, which does not continue to supply organs or powers which have ceased to be necessary. Dr. Forwood, in his history of the Mammoth Cave, says:—"The fishes are of a peculiar species, and are of a class known as viviparous, which give birth to their young alive, and do not deposit eggs after themanner of most other fishes. They have rudiments of eyes, but no optic nerve, and are, therefore, incapable of being affected by any degree of light.... It has been proved that these eyeless fishes prey upon each other. In shape they somewhat resemble the common catfish, and rarely exceed eight inches in length." Professor Silliman published the following in his "Journal" for May 1851:—"Of the fish there are two species, one of which has been described by Dr. Wyman in theAmerican Journal of Science, and which is entirely eyeless. The second species of the fish is not colourless like the first, and it has external eyes, which, however, are found to be quite blind. The crawfish, or small crustacea, inhabiting the rivers with fish are also eyeless and uncoloured; but the larger-eyed and coloured crawfish, which are abundant within the caves, are also common at some seasons in the subterranean rivers, and so also, it is said, the fish of the Green River are to be found in times of flood in the rivers of the Caves." Dr. Forwood gives also the following quotations, on the authority of Professor Agassiz, an eminent naturalist in the department of ichthyology:—
"The blind fish of the Mammoth Cave was for the first time described in 1842 in the 'Zoology of New York,' by Dr. Dekay, part 3rd, page 187, under the name of 'Amblyopsis spelæus,' and referred, with doubt, to the family of 'Siluridæ,' on account of a remote resemblance to my genus Cetopsis. Dr. J. Wyman has published a more minute description of it, with very interesting anatomical details, in vol. xlv. of the 'American Journal of Science and Arts,' 1843, page 94."In 1844, Dr. Tellkampf published a more extended description, with figures, in 'Müller's Archiv' for 1844, and mentioned several other animals found also in the Cave, among which the most interesting is the crustacean which he calls 'Astacus pellucidus,' already mentioned, but not described, by Mr. Thompson, President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. Both Thompson and Tellkampf speak of eyes in these species, but they are mistaken. I have examined several specimens and satisfied myself that the peduncle of the eye only exists; but there are no visible facets at its extremity, as in other crawfish."Mr. Thompson mentions, further, crickets, allied to 'Phalangopsis longipes,' of which Tellkampf says that it occurs throughout the Cave. Of spiders, Dr. Tellkampf found two eyeless, small white species, which he calls 'Phalangodes armata' and 'Anthrobia monmouthia'; flies, of the genus 'Anthomyia'; a minute shrimp, called by him 'Triura cavernicola'; and two blind beetles; 'Anophthalmus tellkampfii' ofErichson, and 'Adelops hirtus;' of most of which Dr. Tellkampf has published a full description, and figures in a subsequent paper, inserted in Erichson's 'Archiv,' 1844, p. 318."The infusoria observed in the Cave resemble 'Monas Kolpoda,' 'Monas socialis,' and 'Bodo intestinalis,'—a new Chilomonas, which he calls 'Ch. emarginata,' and a species allied to 'Kolpoda cucullus.'"As already mentioned, Dekay has referred the blind fish, with doubt, to the family of Siluridæ. Dr. Tellkampf, however, establishes for it a distinct family. Dr. Storer, in his 'Synopsis of the Fishes of North America,' published in 1846, in the 'Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,' is also of opinion that it should constitute a distinct family, to which he gives the new name of 'Hypsæidæ,' page 435. From the circumstance of its being viviparous, from the character of its scales, and from the form and structure of its head, I am inclined to consider this fish as an aberrant type of my family of Cyprinodonts."
"The blind fish of the Mammoth Cave was for the first time described in 1842 in the 'Zoology of New York,' by Dr. Dekay, part 3rd, page 187, under the name of 'Amblyopsis spelæus,' and referred, with doubt, to the family of 'Siluridæ,' on account of a remote resemblance to my genus Cetopsis. Dr. J. Wyman has published a more minute description of it, with very interesting anatomical details, in vol. xlv. of the 'American Journal of Science and Arts,' 1843, page 94.
"In 1844, Dr. Tellkampf published a more extended description, with figures, in 'Müller's Archiv' for 1844, and mentioned several other animals found also in the Cave, among which the most interesting is the crustacean which he calls 'Astacus pellucidus,' already mentioned, but not described, by Mr. Thompson, President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. Both Thompson and Tellkampf speak of eyes in these species, but they are mistaken. I have examined several specimens and satisfied myself that the peduncle of the eye only exists; but there are no visible facets at its extremity, as in other crawfish.
"Mr. Thompson mentions, further, crickets, allied to 'Phalangopsis longipes,' of which Tellkampf says that it occurs throughout the Cave. Of spiders, Dr. Tellkampf found two eyeless, small white species, which he calls 'Phalangodes armata' and 'Anthrobia monmouthia'; flies, of the genus 'Anthomyia'; a minute shrimp, called by him 'Triura cavernicola'; and two blind beetles; 'Anophthalmus tellkampfii' ofErichson, and 'Adelops hirtus;' of most of which Dr. Tellkampf has published a full description, and figures in a subsequent paper, inserted in Erichson's 'Archiv,' 1844, p. 318.
"The infusoria observed in the Cave resemble 'Monas Kolpoda,' 'Monas socialis,' and 'Bodo intestinalis,'—a new Chilomonas, which he calls 'Ch. emarginata,' and a species allied to 'Kolpoda cucullus.'
"As already mentioned, Dekay has referred the blind fish, with doubt, to the family of Siluridæ. Dr. Tellkampf, however, establishes for it a distinct family. Dr. Storer, in his 'Synopsis of the Fishes of North America,' published in 1846, in the 'Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,' is also of opinion that it should constitute a distinct family, to which he gives the new name of 'Hypsæidæ,' page 435. From the circumstance of its being viviparous, from the character of its scales, and from the form and structure of its head, I am inclined to consider this fish as an aberrant type of my family of Cyprinodonts."
The effect of long-continued darkness upon visual organs has had some remarkable illustrations. At one time an idea prevailed in America that caves possessed certain curative properties, and afflicted people remained in them; but the absence of light proved disastrous to many. It is recorded that those patients "who remained in the cave three or four months presented a frightful appearance. The face was entirely bloodless, eyes sunken, and pupils dilated to such a degree that the iris ceased to be visible, so that, no matter what the original colour of the eye might have been, it soon appeared black."
This subterranean river offers a fine opportunity for scientific observation well worthy to be embraced by some Australian naturalist. In the vicinity of the river is to be noticed one of the few signs of decay to be found in the caves—a portion of shell pattern formation shows evidence of mouldering, and appears like a mere skeleton. When the visitor has ascended the ladder and safely negotiated the angle at the top, he feels that he has witnessed the most interesting place to be found in the western wonderland; and when he fishes for a compliment to his agility, and is reminded of the graceful forms that occasionally ascend and descend in much better style, he immediately recalls a Patriarch's dream, and thinks the ladder ought to be named after Jacob.