,Th, 
OTUBS OlOTTOEB At?D CAVBKNS. 
137 
caverns of Gibraltar are numerous, and several of 
i^fvj a great extent. The one more particularly de- 
V 5® ®^tention is called St. Michael’s Cave, situated on 
W part of the mountain. Its entrance is one 
» above the level of the sea, and is formed by 
>iO(i, '* of earth, which has fallen in at various pe- 
and which leads to a spacious hall, incrustcd with 
*tjl^ apparently supported in the centre by a large 
<if pillar. To this succeeds a long series of caves, 
'^ttlt access. The passages leading from the one to 
other 
are over precipices, which cannot be passed 
’^e ropes and scaling ladders. Several of 
''Ut tliree hundred feet beneath the upper one ; 
. **VV**«»W>* — , 
‘CIS depth the smoke of tlie torches carried by the 
MljuJ'^^l'ccoiiies so disagreeable, that the visitor is obliged 
- • ” be 
to give up the pursuit, and leave other caves 
In these cavernous recesses, the process and 
’lUilt,i'|°c of lire stalactites is to be traced, from the flimsy 
f suspended from the roof, to the robust 
® pillar, three feet in diameter, which rises from 
i) 
V 
ctof • and .seems intended by nature to support the 
f originated. 
'*tent s' forms which this matter takes in its dif- 
''^eiierv and directions, renders this subterraneous 
o’^tUrf ®‘’^‘^'ngly grotesque, and in some places beautifully 
The stalactites of these caves, when near 
L'citt the mountain, are of a brownish yellow 
N 'C descending towards the lower caves, they 
^ctknesB of their colour, which is by degrees 
T'*' 'vli c pale yellow. Fragments are broken oft’, 
*®Utifyp'' "'rought into different forms, and polished, are 
®^ceaked and marbled. 
K' '* a English' miles from Adlersberg, in Caml- 
^'’’arkable cavern, named St. Magdalen’s Cave. 
c'ng covered with stones and bushes, is 
tne great fatigue 
very 
tlte great fatigue it occasions is overbalanced 
-liK ’^^ction of seeing so extraordinary a cavern, 
descends into a hole, where tlie earth ap- 
laaV in for ten paces, when he reaches the 
Vl* ‘It a K resembles a fissure caused by an earth- 
* ^iiijj* *“Se rock. ' The torches are here lighted, tli« 
• extremely dark. This wonderful natural exca* 
