Bkodrick — The Marble Arch Caves, County Fermanagh. 187 



of unknown depth. Twenty feet along this fissure there is a pebble beach, 

 immediately beyond which the water becomes very deep, the walls also closing 

 in, so that further exploration in that direction is impossible. The walls of 

 the fissure come together at a point about 10 feet beyond this beach, 

 and, being composed of smooth limestone, are unclimbable, although they do 

 not meet above within the illuminating power of magnesium riljbon. 



Within 40 yards of the top of the Monastir Cliff, on the limestone 

 plateau, is a pot-hole, which goes by the local name of PoUbwee (the Yellow 

 Cave). This is situated in a small enclosure and is overgrown by trees. 

 M. Martel refers to it, but states that he had insufficient time at his disposal 

 to explore it. It consists of an opening at the bottom of a small hollow some 

 6 feet deep; the opening measures about 15 feet from north to south, and is 

 about 3 feet in width. A vertical drop of 67 feet, which can only be 

 descended by the use of rope-ladders, ends at the upper end of the floor of a 

 fair- sized chamber. This floor is composed of an exceedingly steep slope of 

 mud and stones, which ends at a depth of 100 feet below the surface, in a 

 deep, still pool of water, from which there is apparently no exit. As this 

 pool stands at about 20 feet higher level than the water in the Monastir 

 Cave, it has probably no connexion with it, except possibly in times of flood. 

 Although ladders were not required for the descent of this slope, considerable 

 care was needed in descending it, as it was so steep that any stone which was 

 dislodged rolled into the water below, so that it was at once found that it 

 was not safe for anyone to descend it without the assistance of a rope. From 

 a point about two -thirds of the way down this slope, which runs in a southerly 

 direction is a passage on the right-hand side, 60 feet long and 4 feet wide. 

 This passage has been formed by the wearing away of a calcite vein, and ends 

 in a shaft which runs upwards for a height of about 30 feet, while below a 

 hole of about 1 feet deep ends in a shallow pool of water. At a point 

 immediately above the large pool of water, daylight can be seen filtering 

 through rocks which obscure a small hole in the depression in which the 

 main shaft is situated. 



Still further across the plateau, in the direction of Marble Arch, is an 

 opening in the moor about 80 feet in diameter : three sides of this are 

 perpendicular ; but the fourth consists of a series of natural steps which can 

 be climbed down. The floor of this pot-hole, which is called Pollnagapple 

 fthe Hole of the Horses), is composed of large boulders on which grow a 

 profusion of ferns and garlic, interlaced with the trunks of trees which have 

 fallen from the cliffs above. At the bottom of the eastern cliff is a wide, low 

 arch which leads into the base of a chamber at least 40 feet in height. The 

 diameter of this chamber is small, but it is still well worth a visit ; the floor 

 slopes steeply upwards, and both it and the walls are coated with a brilliantly 



