THE CAVES AND POTHOLES AT ROCKWOOD. 247 



the prolongation of the former chamber, near where this was entered 

 dips downward, it is supposed a passage from it continues and likely 

 passes under this last floor. All through these darkened caverns a 

 good deal of mud was encountered. Watei* trickling down the sides 

 and dropping from the roof added to the gloom of these darkened 

 recesses, where daylight has never yet penetrated, and whose walls 

 dimly lighted by the flickering light of the lantern, presented a 

 somewhat weird, unattractive appearance. When the explorers 

 emerged from these inner recesses of darkness, their clothes presented 

 quite a changed appearance and indicated that much of their travelling 

 must have been done in a somewhat menial position, and that they 

 had been much associated with mud and water within. A little to 

 the left of the entrance to the main cave there is an opening, which 

 leads to another series of chambers, extending to a distance of 59 feet. 



At a point in the vicinity of the first narrow place in the main cave 

 there is a narrow passage leading into this series, in which the apart- 

 ments are not so complicated, and being dry are much more easily 

 examined. The first is some 25 feet long and 12 wide, narrowino' to 

 a passage into the second, 10 feet across, and opening into the main 

 cave. 



The general direction of the main cave is E. by S.E., to the narrow 

 portion, then S.E. by S. ; this course is maintained till the end is 

 I'eached. 



The roof through the whole series is exceedingly irregular, and the 

 floor in many parts covered with fragments of the rock, which have 

 fallen from the roof. Stalactites and stalagmites are found only in 

 the in)ier chambers, and the latter seem more common than the 

 former. Some may have formed in the outer, but have likely been 

 carried away by visitors. 



The diagrams before you will give a clear idea of the arrangement 

 of these subterranean passages and chambers, and their relative 

 position to each other. The whole series may be termed one cave, 

 consisting of six well defined caverns, and as a sort of expansion on 

 the sides of these four small ones. 



Potholes. 



Leaving the caves and clambering up the sides of one of the 

 quarries near by, you reach the summit of an apparent peninsula of 



