240 GLIMPSES OF NATURE. 



stalagmites, which bear a close likeness to the pipes 

 of an organ. Through grotto after grotto we pass 

 now seeing the limestone wrought into the semblance 

 of flags, in the Salle du Trophee, which has an arch 

 over a hundred feet high, and now beholding the 

 magnesium light of the guide reflected in a thousand 

 sparkling coruscations of light and colour from the 

 sides of the caves. 



Later on, winding steps lead us to the Salle du 

 Dome, and we find ourselves in a vault 200 feet or 

 more in height. Below the ledge on which we stand, 

 rolls in darkness the river. Away up and beyond us 

 is a mystic arch, as distant from us as the topmost 

 seat in the gallery of a large theatre is from the stage ; 

 and at the top of the arch is a mass of stalagmitic 

 rock, called Pluto's Throne. Now, the guide, torch 

 in hand, mounts away upwards to the throne. Your 

 eye follows him as he leaps from peak to peak like 

 some weird spirit, and finally, as he rests on the throne 

 torch in hand, he has lost everything that is human in 

 aspect, and appears from afar as the sombre guardian 

 and king of the nether world. 



Below us, another guide dives down into the depths, 

 and by the light of his torch shows us the black river 

 flowing silently on. On this veritable Styx we all 

 embark in two huge boats, and the plash of the oars 

 sounds weird and strange in the caves. Ahead of us, 

 at last, we perceive a curious pale-green light, resem- 

 bling moonlight, but with a colour such as Luna's rays 

 never possess ; and a few strokes of the oars bring us 

 out into the light of a glorious summer's afternoon, 

 after our two hours' travel through the earth. There 

 is a walk of half a mile or so back to the hotel, and 

 finally we board the diligence arid trundle back to 



