PEAK CAVERNS, DERBYSHIRE. 59 



abyss, and disappeared from their eyes to be torn to atoms ; for such is the 

 fate of every thing that seeks the depths of the Maelstrom. The ship 

 glides along faster and faster, she begins to toss and roll uneasily in the 

 angry rapids that boiled around her, her race is nearly run. Terrible, 

 terrible moment ! The ship hurries on to her doom with mad impetuosity. 

 She is in the rapids ! she hurries along swift as a flash of fire. She is in 

 the whirl of water ! round, round, round she goes; her inmates catch 

 hold of her bulwarks and of each other ,to steady themselves. And now 

 fier bowsprit is under the waves, and a wild shriek of despair rise" into 

 the sky! The whirlpool, with greedy jaws, has sucked her under." 



The water of the whirlpool is said to be 40 fathom deep, and at ebb its 

 noise is as loud as a cataract. In 1645 it was so violently agitated by a 

 storm, that in Moskoe the houses were so shaken as to cause the stones to 

 fall to the ground. Fragments of vessels wrecked in the Maelstrom are 

 frequently seen on the coast, brought up by the return of the tide, their 

 edges mashed and jagged as with a saw, which would induce the belief 

 that the bottom is composed of sharp rocks. 



PEAK CAVERNS, DERBYSHIRE. 



No county in England possesses a greater variety of scenery than 

 Derbyshire, or presents more striking geographical contrasts, than its 

 northern and southern portions. The latter is a beautiful fertile district, 

 in no way distinguished from other midland counties, but the northern 

 part abounds with hill and dale, and the scenery is always romantic and 

 frequently even sublime. A chain of hills arises, which extends to the 

 borders of Scotland. Those hills are at first of small elevation, but being 

 in their progress piled on one another, they form very elevated ground in 

 the tract called " the High Peak." The mountains of the peak, although 

 inferior to those of Cumberland, constitute the loftiest and most consider- 

 able range in the midland regions of the kingdom. The highest points 

 are Axe-edge, which is 2,100 feet above the level of Derby, and 

 Kinder-scout, which is 1,000 feet higher than- the level of Buxton. About 

 700 eminences and 50 rocky caverns, dells and valleys, have been 

 enumerated in the region of the peak; the most celebrated is the " Peak 

 Cavern," sometimes called " Devil's Cave," and more frequently " Auld 

 Homey." 



This is situate inCastleton Dale; the dale is six miles long and nearly 



