3I2 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



and an average of four in breadth, crowded with results of crystallization and metallic 

 colouring, infinite as tlu- varied forms of water, from the filmiest summer cloud or the 

 thinnest steam, to solid arctic ice! More spires here than Merlin gave to Camelot, 

 more icicles than ever hung from any palace of the Neva ; and on the floor are terraced 

 Hardens of jewels, arid in broad parterres, ranks of tiny stalagmites like armies of fairy 

 fi Bluing-men. What a contrast to pass from them all, and to see set upon a hill in a 

 high-arched cavern beyond, another solitary white column, bearing the name of "Lot," looking 

 back at his lost wife over all these treasures! A remark made here by one of Lot's 

 wife's sex is not unworthy of record " I am glad something has been done to him at last." 



In a little cavern near by are a strange collection of crystals flashing like gems in 

 the rays of the lamp they are called " The Queen's Jewels." Down the main avenue 

 are " Selina's Cave" and "The Josephine Grotto" grand with huge columns, festooned 

 with "shawls," "curtains," and many-formed and many-tinted marble draperies, stalactites, 

 crystal-clear, snowy white, and of all the shades between transparent apricot and deep- 

 toned terra cotta ; after which "The Mystery," a cavern set high in the wall, with spikes 

 and spicules, with tiny columns and quaint figures in infinite variety cast, spun, woven, 

 hewn from plastic crystal and alabaster. Hardly is it passed when there come dazzling 

 flashes from " The Diamond Wall," and beyond is seen the mystic " Bridal Veil," bearing 

 an actual resemblance to a fall of lace sprinkled with tiny jewels. It is solid marble- 

 marble that has actually flowed out of the heart of the hills more handiwork of the 

 gnomes, those marvellous earth-forces. How masterfully, yet how imperceptibly they toil ! 



"The Crystal Palace" and "The Garden Palace" are rich with radiant gems, with 

 spires and pendants of all the hues with which cave experience makes us familiar, and 

 " The Gem of the West " is held by the custodian to be also the gem of the Caves. 

 This marvellous formation hangs somewhat as an orchid on a garden wall. It might 

 well be imagined to have grown as a flower. A broad shell-like back, shaped some- 

 what as the body of a stag-horn fern, projects about three feet, and terminates on its 

 outer edge in a perfect semi-circle of transparent fringe. From its base droop crystal 

 pendants transparent as ice, brilliant as diamonds, fine as threads of spun glass some 

 three feet in length and stout as the largest icicles, others three inches and as fine as 

 needles. There was never a chandelier in any palace of the world to compare with it, 

 never ornament or treasure manufactured by man's hand that would not seem insignifi- 

 cant when placed beside it. It is beyond doubt a gem of the whole world one of the 

 treasures which a jealous Nature very rarely yields to mortal eyes. ' 



"The Fairy's Retreat" beyond, a cavern of crystals, a mile and a half from the 

 entrance, is accepted for the present as the termination of this remarkable cave. 

 Returning by way of the long wooden stairs and stepping out from "The Arch," the sweet- 

 ness and light of the outer world are felt in the odour of countless snow-white blooms 

 hanging in festoons from the verdant greenery of the Creek. They completely cover the 

 heads of some of the tallest trees, and droop in long tendrils to the rich and varied 

 fern-growth about the edge of the rapidly-flowing water ; for the Creek springs to light 

 again here from its hidden currents in the Caves, and brawls along a merry half-mile to 

 a bare rock-face fifteen feet in height. There, of course, is the fall the gathered waters 

 leap into a broad, deep pool below, making music which fills all the air around. 



