Brodrick — The MarhU Arch Caves ^ County Fermanagh, 191 



distance of about 45 yards from the Junction it widens into a chamber some 

 20 yards wide and 40 feet high. The greater portion of the floor of this 

 chamber is composed of a mass of boulders and sand sloping steeply up to 

 the left, and cemented together by, and coated with, a beautiful stalagmitic 

 deposit. At the upper end of this slope is a collection of exceptionally fine 

 stalactites, and also a mass of stalagmite some 5 feet in diameter rising in 

 terraces, each some 6 inches in height, which might have been made as a 

 model of some ancient fortress ; in the hollow of this were some very fine 

 specimens of ' cave pearls.' Close by, one member of the party found some 

 recent land-shells and twigs of trees. As the roof here runs to a considerable 

 height, and seems to be composed of jammed boulders, it is not unlikely that 

 some small holes may communicate with the surface at this point. 



From the top of this slope a low arch some 15 feet wide leads to a small 

 hole through which, by a drop of 12 feet, the floor of a fine fissure-cave is 

 reached. This cave is at least 30 feet high and 50 feet long; while its steeply 

 sloping mud floor leads down to a small hole through which the splash of 

 water can be heard when stones are dropped through. 



Keturning to the low level below the boulder slope, the passage continues 

 although more or less obstructed at various points, for a distance of 93 yards 

 from the Junction, where it opens into the " Pool Chamber." This consists 

 of a cave some 15 yards in diameter and about 20 feet high ; while its floor 

 is composed of a mass of boulders and sand sloping steeply down to a still 

 pool of water at its lowest point. 



This was the furthest point reached in this direction by M. Martel, and 

 also by our party in 1907. In 1908, however, by descending through a pot- 

 hole in the wood above a new way into the Pool Chamber was discovered. 

 This new way leads out from the Pool Chamber between large rocks, which 

 had appeared to entirely block the end of the cave. A low water-tunnel 

 runs from behind these boulders for a distance of 12 yards, where it is 

 blocked by a further mass of boulders. A narrow route leads spirally 

 upwards through these, till at a height of about 15 feet the floor of an 

 exceptionally fine chamber is reached. 



This chamber has a diameter of about 25 yards, while its roof forms a 

 beautiful arch, at about 80 feet above its lowest point ; the floor is composed 

 of enormous blocks of rock, some of which have a diameter of at least 20 feet ; 

 these, piled in inextricable confusion, rise at a very steep angle upwards to 

 the left, where a glimmer of daylight is faintly visible. This light comes 

 from the bottom of the pot-hole which was the first point of attack in the 

 1908 expedition. In the wood above Marble Arch is a fissure in the ground 

 some 10 feet long and 3 feet wide. A rope-ladder was needed for the 

 descent of this, so that its exploration was deferred from 1907 to 1908. 



E.I.A. PKOC, VOL. XXVII., SECT. B. [2 F\ 



