196 REPORT— 18G0. 



the walls of the crypt, was the " writing " of which John Farr had spoken. 

 This proved to be a series of initials and dates, amounting, probably, to up- 

 wards of a hundred, inscribed on the Stalagmite. Amongst the dates arc 

 those of 1744, 1728, 1702, and 1618. In several cases the scribes cut the 

 figure of a square, and inscribed their initials within it. 



Inscriptions in more accessible parts of the Cavern have long been well 

 known. The most famous is the following in the " Cave of Inscriptions :" — 

 " Eobert Hedges of Ireland, Feb. 20, 1688," which there is good reason to 

 believe is really as old as it professes to be, thus rendering it not imxiroba- 

 ble that those discovered in the crypt are genuine also. 



In looking at those dates, it seems impossible to abstain from reflecting on 

 the facts that they are cut on the upper surface of a mass of stalagmite up- 

 wards of 12 feet thick, in a locality where the drip is unusually copious ; 

 and that two and a half centuries have failed to precipitate an amount of 

 calcareous matter sufficient to obliterate incisions which at first were proba- 

 bly not more than an eighth of an inch in depth. 



It is scarcely necessary to observe that if the Stalagmite had been entirely 

 broken up, as was at first intended, the inscriptions would have been de- 

 stroyed with it ; or that the discovery of them confirmed the decision to re- 

 move no more of the nether surface of the floor than would suffice to give 

 the workmen sufficient height for their labour. 



The Lalce. — As the workmen advanced steadily towards the south-west, 

 every step rendered it more and more probable that a passage would be laid 

 open, leading out of the South-west Chamber in the precise direction of the 

 Lake, and thus furnished an additional motive for tunnelling beneath the 

 floor, in order that the Lake-basin might be preserved. 



The removal of the Breccia, and of that part of the Stalagmite immediately 

 above it, disclosed the fact, with which, indeed, the Superintendents were 

 already familiar, that stalagmite is by no means impervious to water. In- 

 creased proximity to the Lake rendered this not only more and more patent, 

 but augmented the difficulty of blasting the mass, and caused the labour to 

 be one of great discomfort. It was therefore found necessary to tap the 

 Lake to allow the water to escape. As soon as it was sufficiently dry, the 

 workmen were directed to remove and examine carefully such deposits as 

 might be found lying on the Stalagmitic Floor of the basin. They proved to 

 be, first, or uppermost, the Modern Floor of Stalagmite ; second, the ordinary 

 Cave-earth, beneath which was the Old Crystalline Stalagmite of great 

 thickness. 



The Stalagmitic Floor, overlying the Cave-earth, was from 10 to 12 inches 

 thick. It was finely laminated, and was soil-stained throughout ; but, ex- 

 cept at the ends of the basin and along its northern side, where portions of 

 it remained in situ in a coherent but brittle condition, it was everywhere 

 resolved into an almost impalpable paste, which, on being subjected to hy- 

 drochloric acid, rapidly effervesced and left very little residuum. A heap of 

 this paste thrown outside the Cavern has, on exposure to the weather, hard- 

 need into a coherent mass. 



In this pulpy mass were found numerous objects, none of which were of 

 much interest, as the following list shows : — 



1. Extemporized wooden candlesticks, such as are commonly used by 

 those who visit the Cavern. 



2. Pieces of candle. 



3. Stems and bowls of clay tobacco-pipes, one of the former being un- 

 usually large. 



