A HISTORY OF 



figures, that by strong imaginations have been 

 likened to men, lions, and organs. At the 

 farthest part of this cavern rises a stream of 

 water, well stored with fish, large enough to 

 turn a mill, and which discharges itself near 

 the entrance. 



Penpark-hole, in Gloucestershire, is almost 

 as remarkable as the former. Captain Sturmy 

 descended into this by a rope, twenty-five 

 fathoms perpendicular, and at the bottom 

 found a very large vault in the shape of a 

 horse-shoe. The floors consisted of a kind 

 of white stone enamelled with lead ore, and 

 the pendant rocks were glazed with spar. 

 Walking forward on this stony pavement, 

 for some time, he came to a great river, twenty 

 fathoms broad, and eight fathoms deep ; and 

 having been informed that it ebbed and 

 flowed with the sea, he remained in this 

 gloomy abode for five hours, to make an ex- 

 act observation. He did not find, however, 

 any alteration whatsoever in its appearance. 

 But his curiosity was ill requited ; for it cost 

 this unfortunate gentleman his life : imme- 

 diately after his return he was seized with an 

 unusual and violent headach, which threw 

 him into a fever, of which he died soon after. 



But of all the subterranean caverns now 

 known, the grotto of Antiparos is the most 

 remarkable, as well for its extent as for the 

 beauty of its sparry incrustations. This ce- 

 lebrated cavern was first discovered by one 

 Magni, an Italian traveller, about an hundred 

 years ago, at Antiparos, an inconsiderable 

 island of the Archipelago." The account he 

 gives of it is long and inflated, but upon the 

 whole amusing. " Having been informed," 

 says he, " by the natives of Paros, that in the 

 little island of Antiparos, which lies about two 

 miles from the former, of a gigantic statue 

 that was to be seen at the mouth of a cavern 

 in that place, it was resolved that we (the 

 French consul and himself) should pay it a 

 visit. In pursuance of this resolution, after 

 we had landed on the island, and walked 

 about four miles through the midst of beau- 

 tiful plains, and sloping woodlands, we at 

 length came to a little hill, on the side of 



Kircher Mund. sub. 112. I have translated a part of 

 Kircher's description, rather than Tournefort's, as the 

 latter was written to support an hypothesis. 



which yawned a most horrid cavern, that with 

 its gloom at first struck us with terror, and 

 almost repressed curiosity. Recovering the 

 first surprise, however, we entered boldly ; 

 and had not proceeded above twenty paces, 

 when the supposed statue of the giant pre- 

 sented itself to our view. We quickly per- 

 ceived, that what the ignorant natives had 

 been terrified at as a giant, was nothing more 

 than a sparry concretion, formed by the water 

 dropping from the roof of the cave, and by 

 degrees hardening into a figure that their 

 fears had formed into a monster. Incited by 

 this extraordinary appearance, we were in- 

 duced to proceed still farther, in quest of 

 new adventures in this subterranean abode. 

 As we proceeded, new wonders offered them- 

 selves; the spars formed into trees and 

 shrubs presented a kind of petrified grove; 

 some white, some green ; and all receding in 

 due perspective. They struck us with the 

 more amazement, as we knew them to be mere 

 productions of Nature, who, hitherto in soli- 

 tude, had, in her playful moments, dressed 

 the scene as if for her own amusement. 



" But we had as yet seen but a few of the 

 wonders of the place; and were introduced 

 only into the portico of this amazing temple. 

 In one corner of this half-illuminated recess, 

 there appeared an opening of about three 

 feet wide, which seemed to lead to a place 

 totally dark, and that, one of the natives as- 

 sured us, contained nothing more than a reser- 

 voir of water. Upon this we tried, by throwing 

 down some stones, which rumbling along the 

 sides of the descent for some time, the sound 

 seemed at last quashed in a bed of water. In 

 order, however, to be more certain, we sent 

 in a Levantine mariner, who, by the promise 

 of a good reward, with a flambeaux in his 

 hand, ventured into this narrow aperture. 

 After continuing within it for about a quarter 

 of an hour, he returned, carrying some beau- 

 tiful pieces of white spar in his hand, which 

 art could neither imitate nor equal. Upon 

 being informed by him that the place was 

 full of these beautiful incrustations,! ventured 

 in once more with him for about fifty paces, 

 anxiously and cautiously descending by a 

 steep and dangerous way. Finding, however, 

 that we came to a precipice which led into 

 a spacious amphitheatre, if I may so call it. 



