STALACTITES. 
363 
me down on my feet, and took his hand from be- 
fore my eyes. What words can describe at that 
instant my astonishment and transport ! instead of 
darkness and despair, all was splendor and mag- 
nificence before me ; our guides all appeared about 
us ; the place was illuminated with fifty torches, 
and the guides all welcomed me into the grotto of 
Antiparos. The four that were first missing, I now 
found had only given us the slip to get the torches 
lighted up before we came ; and the other two had 
put out their lights on purpose to make us enter out 
of utter darkness into this pavilion of splendor and 
glory. I am now come to the proper business of 
th is letter, which was to describe this grotto. But 
I must confess to you that words cannot do it. 
The amazing beauties of the place, the eye that sees 
them only can conceive. The best account I can 
give you, however, pray accept of. 
“ The people told us the depth of this place was 
485 yards. The grotto in which we now were is 
a cavern of 120 yards wide, and 113 long, and 
seems about 6 0 yards high in many places. These 
measures differ something from the accounts tra- 
vellers in general give us ; but you may depend 
upon them as exact, for I took them with my own 
hand. Imagine then with yourself, an immense 
arch like this, almost all over lined with fine and 
bright crystallized white marble, and illuminated 
with fifty torches, and you will then have some faint 
idea of the place I had the pleasure to spend three 
hours in. This, however, is but a faint description 
