INGLEBOROUGH CAVE. 31 



toil of discovery, at a distance of 702 yards from the mouth, the 

 explorers rested from their labours in a large and lofty irregular 

 grotto, in which they heard the sound of water falling in a still 

 more advanced subterranean recess. It has been ascertained, at 

 no inconsiderable personal risk, that this water falls into a deep 

 pool or linn at a lower level, beyond which further progress ap- 

 pears to be impracticable. In fact, Mr. James Farrer explored 

 this dark lake by swimming, a candle in his cap, and a rope 

 round his body. 



In this long and winding gallery, fashioned by nature in the 

 marble heart of the mountain, floor, roof and sides are every- 

 where intersected by fissures which were formed in the consoli- 

 dation of the stone. To these fissures and the water which has 

 passed down them, we owe the formation of the cave and its 

 rich furniture of stalactites. The direction of the most marked 

 fissures is almost invariably N.W. and S.E., and when certain 

 of these (which in my geological works I have called 'master 

 fissures') occur, the roof of the cave is usually more elevated, the 

 sides spread out right and left, and often ribs and pendants of 

 brilliant stalactite, placed at regular distances, convert the rude 

 fissure into a beautiful aisle of primaeval architecture. Below 

 most of the smaller fissures hang multitudes of delicate translu- 

 cent tubules, each giving passage to drops of water. Splitting the 

 rock above, these fissures admit or formerly admitted dropping 

 water. Continued through the floor, the larger rifts permit or 

 formerly permitted water to enter or flow out of the cave: by this 

 passage of water, continued for ages on ages, the original fis- 

 sure was in the first instance enlarged, by the corrosive action 

 of streams of acidulated water ; by the withdrawal of the streams 

 to other fissures, a diiferent process was called into operation. 

 The fissure was bathed by drops instead of streams of water, and 

 these drops, exposed to air-currents and evaporation, yielded up 

 the free carbonic acid to the air and the salt of lime to the rock. 

 Every line of drip became the axis of a stalactitical pipe from the 

 roof; every surface bathed by thin films of liquid became a sheet 



