Defcription of the Grotto at Swatara, by the Rev. PETER 
Miter, of Ephrata; communicated by Wituiam 
BarTON, E/quire. 
Read March ¢¢. 
7, 1783. 
S the courfe of my letter now tends this 
way, I muft remind you, if ever you 
fhould publifh a natural hiftory of Pennfylvania, not to 
confign to oblivion that very curious petrifying cavern, of 
which, left you fhould not have feen it already, I fhall 
give fome defcription. 
“ Tt is fituate on the eaft fide of Swatara, clofe to the: 
river. Its entrance is very fpacious, and there is fome-. 
what of a defcent towards the other extremity ; infomuch 
that I fuppofe the furface of the river is rather higher than 
the bottom of the cave. The upper part is like an arched 
roof, of folid lime-ftone rock, perhaps twenty feet thick.. 
On entering, are found many apartments, fome of them 
very high, like the choir of a church. There is, as it 
were, a continual] rain within the cave, for the water drops 
inceflantly from the roof upon the floor; by which, and 
the water petrifying as it falls, pillars are gradually form- 
ed to fupport the roof. I faw this cave about thirty years 
gO, and obferved above ten fuch pillars, each fix inches 
in diameter and fix feet high; all fo ranged that the place — 
inclofed by them refembled a fan@uary in a Roman church: 
And I can affure you, that no royal throne ever exhibited 
more grandeur, than the delightful profpe& of this /u/us 
nature. Satisfied with the view of this, we difcovered the: 
refemblances of feveral monuments, incorporated into the 
walls, as if the bodies of departed heroes were there de-- 
pofited. Our guide then conducted us to a place, where, 
he: 
