238 



GLIMPSES OF NATURE. 



the prettiest and most winsome of them all hailed from 

 the county of Cornwall, and from that fact made, I 

 suppose, an excellent underground explorer. 



When we did make a start, we were led a mile 

 through the fields and copses by a female guide, who 

 conducts visitors to see a rather interesting piece of 

 behaviour on the part of the river Lesse. Into a big 

 swallow-hole the river is seen to tumble, and is lost 



**& 35 Cave into which the Lesse disappears. 



to view. Not for a mile or so does it appear again, 

 calm and peaceful, as if nothing the worse for its 

 subterranean passage. Then back again you trudge 

 to the mouth of the grotto itself, where you hear an 

 official recitation by the master-guide to the effect that 

 you are to pay five francs per head, with an extra 

 half-franc if you desire a cannon-shot fired in the 

 exit cavern. Wise persons will not desire any such 



