120 



was twelve English feet long, eight ,wide, and five high, 

 the manger, in which they sat squatting against the wall, 

 was no more than three feet four inches broad. 



19- May we not impute to earthquakes, those huge 

 cavities in the earth, which are found in several parts of 

 England? Such is Poole's-Hole, about half a mile from 

 Button, in Derbyshire, said to have been the refuge of 

 one Poole, a noted robber. It is at the foot of a moun- 

 tain : its entrance is low and narrow ; but it presently 

 opens into a broad and lofty concavity, of above a mile 

 in length. The water dropping from the roof, congeals 

 into a kind of crystal, and forms a thousand surprising 

 figures. Here is also a large clear stone, resembling 

 alabaster, which the queen of Scots, when here, called 

 her pillar, and it still goes by that name. Along 

 the middle a stream of water falls among the rocks, 

 which loudly echoes through the vault. The most 

 striking thing is, the height of the arch, and the spangled 

 roof resembling fret-work. And indeed the drops of 

 water, which, petrifying as they fall, form isicles, re- 

 sembling crystal above, and pyramids hardened into 

 stone below, have a surprising effect from the light of 

 the candles ; the hanging drops dazzling the eyes, as if 

 this mighty arch was covered with diamonds. 



Elden-Hole is a frightful chasm in the middle of a 

 field, fifty or sixty feet long, and about twenty broad. 

 But how deep it is could never be discovered, notwith- 

 standing all the attempts that have been made. Mr. 

 Cotton endeavoured to fathom it with a line of six- 

 teen hundred yards; but in vain. Some suppose these 

 to have been passages, whereby the waters of the de- 

 luge returned from the surface of the earth to the great 

 abyss. 



There is another effect of subterraneous fires, which 

 has been generally imputed to quite different causes. 

 The Giant's Causeway, in Ireland, and all other strong 

 concretions of the same kind, where pillars are formed 



