Notice of Sketches of Naval Life. 335 



Mr. Jones visited the long celebrated grotto in the island 

 of Antiparos, and the following passages are cited from his 

 account of the excursion. 



" Antiparos is about seven miles in length, narrow, and sepa- 

 rated from Paros by a channel, one mile in its narrowest part." 



" The grotto is on the Southern side of the Island, facing the 

 South-West : our approach was from the North-Fastward : we 

 crossed the ridge of a high, bare eminence ; then descending a 

 little, and turning, had the entrance before us. A large cavern 

 yawned, with the giant, an immense stalagmite ; and the whole 

 nearly as the book tells us. This is fifteen feet high, forty feet 

 wide, and thirty deep : but this is not the grotto : it is only the 

 vestibule. At the back part of this cavern, we descended a little, 

 and then halted before a hole, dark and silent, down which we 

 were to descend. While we were preparing to enter, noises 

 began to issue from it, and a light to glimmer; and then a mid- 

 shipman from the North Carolina emerged, pale and sick with 

 the damps and fatigue. The cave seems to be now frequently 

 visited, and the Greeks have a rope and ladders prepared, for 

 which they charge : but the former is weak, and we were cau- 

 tioned against trusting ourselves to it, as near a dozen would 

 have to cling to it at a time. They made ours fast to a stalag- 

 mite at the entrance, and passing in, we saw no more of them ; 

 but, after a while, were informed that all was ready : so we 

 lighted our tapers, and clinging to the rope with our right hand, 

 began the descent. No one thought of danger; for directly 

 after entering, one of the grandest sights opened upon us, that 

 eyes have ever seen. At first we heard hammering, and voices 

 within, without being able to tell whence they proceeded : but 

 soon a cave of vast dimensions presented itself, its ceiling cover- 

 ed with stalactites, and its sides glittering with spar. A party 

 from the North Carolina was below, and as they were scattered 

 in every direction, and every one had a light, we were able to 

 see at one view the whole extent of this immense chamber : 

 our party added very much to the effect, as they were seen, by 

 the dim lights they bore, descending along its side. The lower 

 part of the descent was effected by a rope ladder : after this, 

 we passed over some slippery rocks, and found ourselves at the 

 bottom. On our right, was a slanting chasm, which we avoided 

 by passing over a heap of earth towards the left ; and then 

 found ourselves in the most brilliant part of the grotto. The 

 spar, in many places, had been injured by visitors, but it is still 

 exceedingly beautiful. Its purity is without a speck or shade : 

 it is very clear, and its fracture of dazzling brightness : those 

 parts that are protected from the air, are covered with shining 



