THE EARTH. 55 



proportion ; and there are some others, that, run- 

 ning under ground, in extent resemble a pro- 

 vince. 



Of this kind also is that cavern called Elden- 

 hole, in Derbyshire ; which, Dr Plot tells us, was 

 sounded by a line of eight-and-twenty hundred 

 feet, without finding the bottom, or meeting with 

 water ; and yet the mouth, at the top, is not above 

 forty yards over.* This immeasurable cavern 

 runs perpendicularly downward ; and the sides of 

 it seem to tally so plainly as to show that they 

 once were united. Those who come to visit the 

 place, generally procure stones to be thrown into 

 its mouth ; and these are heard for several minutes, 

 falling and striking against the sides of the cavern, 

 producing a sound that resembles distant thunder, 

 dying away as the stone goes deeper. 



Of this kind, also, is that dreadful cavern de- 

 scribed by ^Elian ; his account of which the 

 reader may not have met with.t " In the country 

 of the Arrian Indians, is to be seen an amazing 

 chasm, which is called, The Gulf of Pluto. The 

 depth and the recesses of this horrid place are as 

 extensive as they are unknown. Neither the na- 

 tives, nor the curious who visit it, are able to tell 

 how it first was made, or to what depths it de- 

 scends. The Indians continually drive thither 

 great multitudes of animals, more than three thou- 

 sand at a time, of different kinds, sheep, horses, 

 and goats ; and, with an absurd superstition, force 

 them into the cavity, from whence they never re* 



* Phil. Trans, vol. ii. p. 370. 



f ^liani Var. Hist. lib. xvi. cap. 16. 



