18 



A HISTORY OF 



but little hills, have their fissures in propor- 

 tion to their greatness. In some places they 

 are a mile wide, and deep in proportion ; and 

 there are some others, that, running under 

 ground, in extent resemble a province. 



Of this kind also is that cavern called El- 

 denhole, in Derbyshire, which Dr. Plott 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 im- 

 measurable cavern runs perpendicularly down- 

 ward ; 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, fall- 

 ing and striking against the sides of the ca- 

 vern, producing a sound that resembles distant 

 thunder, dying away as the stone goes deeper. 



Of this kind also is that dreadful cavern 

 described by ^Elian ; his account of which the 

 reader may not have met with. b "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 un- 

 known. Neither the natives, nor the curious 

 who visit it, are able to tell how it was first 

 made, or to what depths it descends. The 

 Indians continually drive thither great multi- 

 tudes of animals, more than three thousand at 

 a time, of different kinds, sheep, horses, and 

 goats : and, with an absurd superstition, force 

 them into the cavity, from whence they never 

 return. Their several sounds, however, are 

 heard as they descend ; the bleating of sheep, 

 the lowing of oxen, and the neighing of horses, 

 issuing up to the mouth of the cavern. Nor 

 do these sounds cease, as the place is con- 

 tinually furnished with a fresh supply." 



Phil. Trans, vol. ii. p. 370 



There are many more of these dreadful 

 perpendicular fissures in different parts oi 

 the earth ; with accounts of which Kircher, 

 GafFarellus, and others, who have given histo- 

 ries of the wonders of the subterranean world, 

 abundantly supply us. The generality of 

 readers, however, will consider them with less 

 astonishment when they are informed of their 

 being common all over the earth; that in 

 every field, in every quarry, these perpendi- 

 cular fissures are to be found, either still 

 gaping, or filled with matter that has acci- 

 dentally closed their interstices. The inat- 

 tentive spectator neglects the inquiry, but 

 their being common is partly the cause that 

 excites the philosopher's attention to them; 

 the irregularities of nature he is often content 

 to let pass unexamined ; but when a constant 

 and a common appearance presents itself, 

 every return of the object is a fresh call to 

 his curiosity ; and the chink in the next quarry 

 becomes as great a matter of wonder as the 

 chasm in Eldenhole. Philosophers have long, 

 therefore, endeavoured to find out the cause 

 of these perpendicular fissures, which our own 

 countrymen, Woodward and Ray, were the 

 first that found to be so common and univer- 

 sal. Mr. Buffbn supposes them to be cracks 

 made by the sun, in drying up the earth, 

 immediately after its emersion from the 

 deep. 



The heat of the sun is very probably a prin- 

 cipal cause ; but it is not right to ascribe to 

 one only, what we find may be the result of 

 many. Earthquakes, severe frosts, bursting 

 waters, and storms tearing up the roots of 

 trees, have, in our own times, produced them ; 

 and to this variety of causes we must, at pre- 

 sent, be content to assign those that have 

 happened before we had opportunities for 

 observation. 



b yEliani Var. Hist. lib. xvi. cap. 16. 



