THE EARTH. 51 



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 Eldenhole, 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 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, fall- 

 ing 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 described by ./Elian ; his 

 account of which the reader may not have met with.t " In the coun- 

 try 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 hor- 

 rid place, are as extensive as they are unknown. 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 multitudes of animals, more than three thousand at a time, of dif- 

 ferent kinds, sheep, horses, and goats ; and, with an absurd supersti- 

 tion, force them into the cavity, from whence they never return. 

 Their several sounds, however, are heard as they descend ; the bleat 

 ing 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 continually furnished with a fresh supply." 



There are many more of these dreadful perpendicular fissures in 

 different parts of the earth ; with accounts of which Kircher, GafFa- 

 rellus, and others who have given histories of the wonders of the sub- 

 terranean world, abundantly supply us. The generality of readers, 

 however, will consider them with less astonishment, when they are in- 

 formed of their being common all over the earth ; that in every field, 

 in every quarry, these perpendicular fissures are to be found, either 

 still gaping, or filled with matter that has accidentally closed their in- 

 terstices. The inattentive spectator neglects the inquiry, but their 

 being common is part.V the cause that excites the philosopher's at- 

 tention to them ; the irregularities of nature he is often content to let 

 pass unexamined ; but when a constant and common appearance pre- 

 sents 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, en- 

 deavoured 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 universal. -Mr. Buffbn supposes them to be cracks 

 made by the sun, in drying up the earth immediately after its emer 

 sion from the deep. The heat of the sun is very probably a princi- 

 pal 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, pro 



* Phil. Trans, vol. ii. p. 370. f .Elian, Var. Hist. lib. x\\. cap. 16. 



