POOL'S HOLE.
Pool's Hole is a cavern about a mile from Buxton, the entrance to which is so low that for the first twenty-five yards the visitor is unable to walk upright. "The fissure then widens into a spacious cavern, the roof of which displays spiral masses of stalactites, formed like icicles, by the dropping of water impregnated with calcareous matter. In other cases the water dropping on the floor constitutes masses of stalagmite, one of which, of great size, occurs nearly in the middle of the cavern, and is called the 'Flitch of Bacon.' The cavern is here narrow, but soon after again widens and continues to do so, until the visitor reaches a very large mass of stalactite called the 'Queen of Scots' Pillar,' tradition having recorded that Mary during her sojourn at Buxton advanced thus far into the cavern. Few strangers proceed beyond this point, as there is nothing sufficiently interesting to repay them for the trouble; and the cavern terminates at about 95 yards beyond the pillar above mentioned. The passage by which visitors return is for some distance under the road by which they enter; and here also various masses of stalactite occur, the forms of which are constantly undergoing transformation; and which are named from some fancied resemblance which they once bore to particular objects." The cavern is said to derive its name from an outlaw named Pool, who made it his abode.
ELDON HOLE.
Eldon Hole is a perpendicular cavern from sixty to eighty yards deep; the floor of which is about sixty-two yards deep nearest the mouth, but which shelves downwards.
BRADWELL CAVERN.
Bradwell Cavern between Castleton and Hope, is remarkable for the riches and beauty of its stalactites; from which it is sometimes called the crystallized cavern. As it is very easy of access, it is frequently visited, and its numerous grottoes have received the fanciful names of the "Music Chamber," the "Grotto of Paradise," the "Hall of State," &c. The Music Chamber is so called from the crystals which line its sides; and which take in one place so exactly the character of the pipes of an organ, that it is difficult to divest the mind of the idea of an organ of glass having been placed in the cave. The Grotto of Paradise appears studded with gems of various colours, particularly emeralds and rubies; and the Hall of State looks as if hung with gigantic chandeliers.
OTHER CAVERNS IN DERBYSHIRE.
These are numerous; but they contain little that is remarkable, except the Cumberland cavern, in which there is a grotto, "decorated with what is called the snow fossil, a petrifaction, which, in figure and colour, closely resembles snow when drifted into the cavities of a rock."
DUDLEY CAVERNS.
At Dudley there are caverns of two kinds, both of which abound in curious fossils, but both of which have been formed by the hand of man. They consist, in fact, of excavations which have been made in working the limestone; and these excavations in the dark caverns have not only been carried on entirely underground, but have led to the formation of a subterranean canal. What are called the light caverns are merely excavations open to the light of day, but with pillars left between to support the superincumbent surface. Both caverns, though formed artificially, are extremely curious and worthy of being explored, from the great quantity of fossils which they contain; and amongst others beautiful specimens of trilobites and stone lilies, some of which will be described in a subsequent part of this work.
CAVERNS IN OTHER PARTS OF ENGLAND.
There are numerous other caverns in different parts of England, but few of them contain anything remarkable, excepting Kirkdale Cave in Yorkshire, which is very interesting from the immense number of bones of elephants and hyænas found in it, together with those of the rhinoceros, and other animals which could not now live in a wild state in any part of Great Britain, and which are consequently supposed to be relics of the world before the Deluge. Wookey Hole is a cavern about 200 yards long, on the south side of the Mendip Hills, and Pen Park Hole is a cavern near Bristol, respecting which fearful tales were formerly told, which modern knowledge has dispelled. Streams of water run through both these caverns; as indeed is generally the case in all caverns of any magnitude.
SCOTCH CAVERNS.
These are less abundant than in England; as granite is the principal stone in the Scotch mountains; and the caverns which are found there, are generally only shallow openings in the side of a mountain. The most curious of the Scotch caverns are those formed by crystallization as at Staffa.
FINGAL'S CAVE.
Fingal's Cave in Staffa, one of the western islands of Scotland, is generally considered the grandest natural cavern in the world. The island of Staffa is very small, being scarcely a mile in length from north to south, and about half that extent from east to west. It is, in fact, a mere mass of lava and basalt, the latter forming the beautiful crystallizations which give the chief attraction to the place. The whole island appears to be supported on a number of pillars, which in some places are so low as to be almost on a level with the surface of the water, but in others rise to the height of one hundred and fifty feet; and it is from these pillars that the island takes its name, as the word Staffa signifies staffs or columns. The highest part of the line of the pillars is at the southern end of the island, and it is here that the celebrated natural excavation called Fingal's Cave is situated. It is a vast opening forty-two feet in width at the mouth, extending 227 feet in depth, and gradually diminishing from nearly 100 feet to about fifty feet in height, supported throughout on both sides by perpendicular columns of extraordinary regularity. "The opening is surmounted by a noble arch, and from this to the farther extremity of the cave, the roof extends in an unbroken surface, composed in some parts of smooth and unvariegated rock, in others of the ends of pillars stuck together in groups or bunches, with stalagmitic substances, which fill up the interstices, displaying a species of mosaic work of great regularity and beauty. On the west side the wall of pillars is thirty-six feet in height, but on the east, although the roof is of the same elevation, they spring from a much higher base, and are themselves only 18 feet high. Along this side is a narrow foot-path raised above the water, which covers the floor, along which it is possible for an expert climber to make his way to the farther end of the cave, although the attempt is rather hazardous. The proper and usual mode of viewing the cave, is by entering it in a boat, but even this can only be done with safety when the weather is tolerably calm. From the opening being so spacious, there is abundance of light to the extremity, and from the same cause, the waves, when there is a heavy sea, will come into it with great force. It is said, that there is, very far in the cave, a hole in the rock below the water, which makes a singularly agreeable sound on the flux and influx of the tide." The basaltic pillars of this cavern are of a greenish black hue, but between several of the pillars a yellowish lichen has formed, which gives the contrast of two strongly defined colours through nearly the whole extent. In some places lichens of various shades are to be found; but the predominant colours are those which have been already mentioned.
IRISH CAVERNS.
The principal of these is in Dunmore park near Kilkenny. It is sunk below the ground, and the opening to it is about 120 feet across, resembling a great pit or well, with trees and shrubs growing out of the sides. At the bottom of the pit the spar is of all shades, and very beautiful. There are knobs rising from the floor, and icicle-shaped cones hanging from the roof, so that the cave has been compared to the opened mouth of an enormous wild beast with teeth above and below. The cave has many turnings and windings, and as in the brook which runs through it, the bones of at least 100 human beings were once found, it is supposed that either in the time of the Civil War, or of some religious persecution, great numbers of persons took shelter in this dark hiding place, and there perished.
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.
The Giant's Causeway in the county of Antrim in the north of Ireland, appears to have been formerly a cave like that of Staffa; and though it is now partly destroyed, a curious mass of basaltic rocks, consisting of many hundred thousand columns, still remains. These columns are formed of several joints fitting closely into each other like vertebræ, and, generally speaking, each having five sides.
Image
The principal mass extends nearly 600 feet into the sea, as far as can be seen at low-water mark; but it has been supposed to reach to the opposite coast of Scotland, as there are some rocks of a similar kind which can be traced into the sea. The breadth of the causeway is in general from twenty to thirty feet, but it varies very much. The highest columns are nearly 300 feet above the level of the water, but at their termination they appear to sink into the sea. The most curious circumstance relating to this range of rocks is, that each column is composed of several stones, which, as before observed, are curiously fitted one into the other so closely as to leave no cavity between; each stone having one surface convex and the other concave; so that the projection on the one fits exactly the concavity of the other. Generally, the convex portion of the stone is upwards, so that the stone above it can only be displaced by raising it. The length of the stones between the joints differs, but in general each stone is from eighteen inches to two feet long.
There are basaltic columns similar to those of the Giant's Causeway in several of the mountainous parts of South America, one of which is figured by Humboldt. There are also columns of the same nature in India, and in various parts of Europe.
CAVERNS FOUND ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE.
These are so exceedingly numerous, particularly in the Tyrolese Alps, that it is quite impossible to give more than a slight idea of the most remarkable.
THE GROTTO OF ADELSBERG.
The cavern at Adelsberg is situated about half way between Laybach and Trieste, and the entrance to it is in the midst of most romantic scenery. The following account is abridged from a description given of the cavern by a visitor to it. The entrance is secured by a door, after passing which, the traveller proceeds through a gallery about a hundred paces long, which opens into a large and very lofty cavern. Beyond this, however, is one much larger, which forms a splendid hall fifty feet broad, seventy feet long, and of an enormous height. As this is the hall in which the neighbouring peasants celebrate annually the festival of their patron saint, the floor is made quite level, and there are a few wooden benches, and rustic chandeliers. These, however, appear paltry compared with the surpassing beauty of the stalactites with which nature has decorated the walls of the cavern. From this great hall, smaller caverns branch off in different directions; those to the left are numerous, spacious, and lofty; while the others, though smaller, are more varied and fantastic in their form. They reach an enormous distance, and about two leagues from the entrance there is a deep subterranean lake. It is impossible for any language to describe the magnificence and beauty of the stalactites in these caverns. In almost every part, long shining spars hang down like enormous icicles of dazzling brilliancy, and reflect the rays of light from the torches so as to look as if set with a thousand brilliant gems. In one place, the visitor appears to wander through the aisles of a Gothic cathedral, supported by columns of gigantic height, sometimes single, and sometimes clustered together as if fluted. In other places there are crystal cascades of the most dazzling brightness, one of which takes the form of folds of drapery, rows of pillars ornamented with festoons, triumphal arches, and a kind of throne surmounted by a coronet. Indeed, to use the words of Sir Humphry Davy, the whole scene looks like one produced by enchantment; and can "only be compared to a scenic representation of a temple or banquet hall for fairies or genii, such as those fabled in the Arabian romances."