OF GIBRALTAR. 1.1 



bling for some time over stalagmites, and stooping to 

 avoid knocking my head against the stalactites, I 

 arrived at a deep opening, at the top of which was 

 fastened (round a large stalagmite), one end of a 

 rope ladder, of which merely the two or three first 

 steps were visible ; the only light I had was a piece 

 of wax candle which could not shed its rays far 

 around me so that I could not see the top of the 

 cave ; we were not able to have torches on account 

 of the smoke. How far down the ladder reached, I 

 could not tell, but the descent seemed to me to be of 

 an immense depth. Sometimes the ladder was lying so 

 close to the rock, that I had some difficulty in put- 

 ting my feet on the steps, and at others hanging 

 quite loosely over some deep chasm. I at last put 

 my feet again on the firm rock, and after a great deal 

 more scrambling downwards, reached a small opening 

 at the base of what appeared to be an immense wall 

 of solid rock ; here my further progress was arrested 

 as it would not have been possible for me to have 

 gone through it in the dress I had on. The name of 

 " Corkscrew" has been given to this place, from its 

 narrow and tortuous form. You are obliged to hold 

 your arms over your head to enable you to squeeze 

 yourself through, but that there is an opening some- 

 where, there can be little doubt, as the air blows 

 up quite freshly, and sometimes extinguishes the 

 lights." 



There are several other caves of smaller dimen- 

 sions with more or less of the same stalactitic and 

 stalagmitic formations ; the principal ones are M artiii's 



