THE EARTH g, 



singing, were redoubled to an astonishing loudntss ; and upon the 

 firing of a gun, the noise and reverberations were almost deafening. 

 In the midst of this grand amphitheatre rose a concretion of about fif- 

 teen feet high, that, in some measure, resembled an altar ; from which 

 taking the hint, we caused mass to be celebrated there. The beauti- 

 ful columns that shot up round the altar, appeared like candlesticks ; 

 and many other natural objects represented the customary ornaments 

 of this sacrament. 



" Below even this spacious grotto there seemed another cavern ; 

 down which I ventured with my former mariner, and descended about 

 fifty paces by means of a rope. I at last arrived at a small spot of level 

 ground, where the bottom appeared different froir that of the amphi- 

 theatre, being composed of soft clay, yielding to the pressure, and in 

 which I thrust a stick to about six feet deep. In this however, as 

 above, numbers of the most beautiful crystals were formed ; one 

 of which particularly resembled a table. Upon our egress from this 

 amazing cavern, we perceived a Greek inscription upon a rock at the 

 mouth, but so obliterated by time, that we could not read it. It seem- 

 ed to import that one Antipater, in the time of Alexander, had come 

 thither ; but whether he had penetrated into the depths of the cavern, 

 he does not think fit to inform us." 



Such is the account of this beautiful scene, as communicated in a 

 letter to Kircher. We have another, and a more copious description 

 of it, by Tournefort, which is in every body's hands ; but I have 

 given the above, both because it was communicated by the first dis- 

 coverer, and because it is a simple narrative of facts, without any rea- 

 soning upon them. According to Tournefort's account, indeed, we 

 might conclude, from the rapid growth of the spars in this grotto, that 

 it must every year be growing narrower, and that it must in time 

 be choked up with them entirely ; but no such thing has happen- 

 ed hitherto, and the grotto at this day continues as spacious as we 

 ever knew it. 



This is not a place for an inquiry into the seeming vegetation of those 

 stony substances, with which this and almost every cavern are incrust- 

 ed ; it is enough to observe in general, that they are formed by an 

 accumulation of that little gritty matter, which is carried thither by the 

 waters, and which in time acquires the hardness of marble. What 

 in this place more imports us to know is, how these amazing hollows 

 in the earth came to be formed. And I think, in the three instances 

 above mentioned, it is pretty evident, that their excavation has been 

 owing to water. These, finding subterraneous passages under the earth, 

 and by long degrees hollowing the beds in which they flowed,, the 

 ground above them has slipped down closer to their surface, leaving the 

 upper layers of the earth or stone still suspended : the ground that 

 sinks upon the face of the waters forming the floor of the cavern ; the 

 ground, or rock, that keeps suspended, forming the roof: and indeed 

 there are but few of these caverns found without water, either wilhio 

 iiem, or near enough to point out their formation. 



