Hill, I>rodrick, and Rule — The Mitchelstown Caves. 241 



right, traverse a small stream-bed between high banks of clay and 

 presently arrive at the entrance, which is unmistakably marked by a 

 fractured stalactite pillar perched on the edge of a steep slope of clay 

 and mud. 



To reach the "Western Chamber, you turn sharply to the right under 

 a low archway, and, surmounting a steeply inclined slope, at once emerge 

 upon the floor of this huge hall. 



The Eastern Chamber. 



The most striking feature on entering the Eastern Chamber is the 

 fractured stalactite pillar referred to above, which faces you on emerging from 

 the tunnel. This pillar (PL XVII., fig. 2) is perched on the edge of a steep 

 clay slope, which ends abruptly 50 feet down in a deep pool of still water 

 formerly known as "The Eiver." From the present appearance of this 

 pillar it would seem that at some far-off period the mud-bank on which 

 its base still rests slipped downwards, probably owing to the undermining 

 action of the water belov\^, and that consequently the pillar was fractured 

 horizontally across. Water percolating from the roof has subsequently 

 repaired this break in a manner exactly analogous to the way a neglected 

 or badly set bone is mended in the human frame. " Callus " has been 

 thrown out on either side of the fracture, so that now continuity is 

 restored. Further evidence of this slipping is apparent close by, where a 

 second great stalactite pillar has been not only fractured but thrown 

 down. This prostrate pillar, which is the size of a tree trunk, has sub- 

 sequently been sealed firmly down to the bank on which it rests by 

 stalagmitic deposit, so that now it is immovable. 



The Eastern Chamber is the largest and most impressive vault in either 

 cavern. Measured from the fractured stalactite to its extreme end, its 

 total length is nearly 130 yards ; its floor, which is covered with a thick, 

 tenacious, and slippery clay, slopes at an angle of about 35°, whilst 

 the roof is about 40 feet in height, converging towards the bottom of the 

 slope to within 2 or 3 feet of the floor, and ending in unplumbed depths 

 of still water. The whole dimensions of this Chamber are on so vast a 

 scale that it is impossible to estimate, in any sense, its true size, even by 

 the aid of magnesium light. 



A rough track, along which the explorer may pass, not without danger 

 on account of the steep slope and the slippery mud, runs across the 

 centre of the floor. Above and below this, the chamber extends into 

 apparently illimitable darkness. Reference to the sketch-plan will perhaps 



