CUTTRISS : NOTES ON THE CAVES OF YORKSHIRE. 441 
up the mountain side, struggling with a large quantity of tackle, 
for another attempt on the pot-hole. This was no easy task, the 
goods weighing about 3 cwt., consisting of some 200 feet of rope- 
ladders, 1,700 feet of strong ropes, two large flare-lamps, with 
a quantity of paraffin, two complete sets of telephone apparatus, 
various pulley-blocks, tools, candles, and a miscellaneous assort- 
ment of other necessary articles. At six o'clock next morning we 
were at the mouth of the chasm, and the descent commenced. 
The first 70 feet present no special difficulties, and can be 
climbed without the aid of a rope. Here the first ladder was 
fixed to facilitate the descent to a ledge named the Bridge 
Platform, about 100 feet from the surface, where a natural arch 
of rock spans the water gulley. To this platform all the tackle 
had to be lowered, as it formed the main working level. Bay- 
light not penetrating further, one of the large flare-lamps was 
let down still further into the hole. The rope-ladders were now 
lowered and made fast on the Bridge, and Messrs. T. Booth, 
W. Parsons, J. W. Swithenbank, and myself in turn climbed 
down, through two waterfalls, to the bottom of the main chasm, 
235 feet from the surface. Mr. C. Scriven, who was in charge 
of the work on the Bridge, then lowered the ladders bodily to 
where we were, and three of the party continued the descent, 
while I remained to maintain communication with those above 
by means of the telephone, and do other necessary work. The 
task of waiting for several hours, alone and wet to the skin, was 
not an agreeable one, and I was glad when, about eleven o'clock, 
Parsons returned with the good news that the bottom had been 
reached and Rowten Pot conquered at last. It was now my 
turn to go forward, and after negotiating two more waterfalls 
and three ladder climbs, followed by a descent down a tortuous 
passage, I stood at last on the very bottom, 365 feet below the 
surface, and more than 20 feet below the bottom of "the valley 
itself at that point. The lowest portion consists of a series of 
short passages, having several feet of water in them, and paved 
with well-worn stones. From the clean, waterworn appearance 
of the rocks and the small size of the passages, they must rapidly 
