ON Kent's cavern, Devonshire. 199 



of the cavern termed by Mr. MacEnery " The Long Arcade," and sometimes 

 " The Comdor " *, and that they had expended about ten weeks' work on it f. 

 The exploration of this great thoroughfare has been the work of the entire 

 period since that date, and it is still in progress. 



The Arcade commences in the south-west corner of the " Sloping Chamber," 

 and, after a length of about 252 feet, in a west-south-westerly direction, and 

 almost in a straight line, terminates in the " Cave of Inscriptions," or " Cul-de- 

 sac." Its height is variable — being in one place not quite 10, and in others 

 upwards of 20 feet, the measurements being taken from the bottom of the 

 excavation made by the Committee. The roof and walls are much fretted and 

 honeycombed, except at one part not far within the entrance, where the fall 

 of a very large block of limestone in comparatively recent times has left edges 

 tolerably sharp and angular. 



Omitting blocks of limestone here and there, the surface of the deposit in 

 the Arcade when the Committee commenced its exploration presented but few 

 inequalities ; and when they had completed their excavation to the uniform 

 depth of 4 feet below the under surface of the Stalagmitic Floor, and up to the 

 distance of 134 feet from the entrance, the bottom of their section was no more 

 than 40 inches above that at the commencement — a mean rise of no more than 

 1 in 40. At the point just specified, however, the passage was almost entirely 

 closed with a vast mass of limestone in situ, covered in places by thick accu- 

 mulations of stalagmitic matter, and rising to the roof apparently from the 

 limestone bottom of the Arcade. The only opening in it was a narrow 

 aperture adjacent to the right or northerly wall ; and to gain this it was 

 necessary to climb to the height of 8 or 9 feet. It proved to be about 6 feet 

 high, to have a floor of limestone, with occasional stalagmitic incrustations, 

 extending for a length of fuUy 20 feet ; whilst very near the entrance, on the 

 left or southerly side, was the elliptical mouth of a smoothly eroded tunnel, 

 measuring 30 inches in horizontal and 27 in vertical diameter, and having 

 the aspect of a watercourse. Beyond this tunnel, and also on the left side, 

 lay in wild confusion several very large masses of limestone, which had fallen 

 from the roof obviously in remote times ; and beyond these the deposit of 

 Cave-earth again presented itself, but at a higher level than before. 



Assuming the tunnel just mentioned to have been a watercourse, the stream 

 issuing from it must have had a sudden fall of several feet ; and it may not, 

 perhaps, be without interest to state that on excavating the deposits in the 

 Arcade, deep pot-holes were found in the right wall of the cavern, having the 

 position and character such a fall would have produced. The tunnel, fuUy 

 60 feet long, terminates in a branch of the cavern known as '' The Laby- 

 rinth," and in one part of its course is so small as to render it somewhat 

 difficult for even a small man to force his way. It has long been known as 

 " The Little Oven ; " and when the cavern was visited by merely the idly 

 curious, it was regarded as an achievement to have made its passage. 



One of the results of the work during the last twelve months has been to 

 show that the great mass of limestone, which, as already stated, almost com- 

 pletely closed the Arcade, extended downwards, not to the limestone floor, 

 but merely to the level of the earthy deposits which choked up the passage 

 beneath. The 'loose and confusedly grouped blocks of limestone already 

 spoken of have been blasted and taken out of the cavern ; the blocked-up 

 passage has been reopened and is now the common thoroughfare ; the mass 

 of rock overhead has been dignified with the name of " The Bridge," and 

 the excavation has been completed far beyond it. 



* See Trans. Devon. Assoc, vol. iii. p. 235 (1869). t Erit. Assoc. Eeport, 1872, p. 44. 



