ANTIPARO S'. 
which is very awful and agreeable. Our burgeon, myfelf, 
and four paffengers, attended by fix guides-with lighted 
torches, entered this cavern about eight o’clock in the 
morning, in the middle of Auguft. We had not gone 
twenty yards in tills cavity when we loft all light of day¬ 
light : but, our guides going before us with lights, we 
entered into a low narrow kind of alley, furrounded every 
way with Hones, all glittering like diamonds by the light 
cf our torches ; the whole being covered and lined through¬ 
out with final! cryftals, which gave a thoufand various 
colours by their different reflections. This alley grows 
lower and narrower, till at length one can fcarcely get 
along it. At the end of this paffage we were each of us 
prefented with a rope to tie about our middles ; which, 
when we had done, our guides led us to the brink of a moll 
horrible precipice. The defcent was quite fteep, and 
the place dark and gloomy. We could fee nothing, in 
fhort, but fome of our guides with torches in a milerabie 
dark place, at a vaft diftance below us. The dreadful 
depth of this place, and the horror of the defcent through 
a ir.iferable darknefs into it, made me look hack to the 
lane of diamonds, if I may fo call it, through which we 
had jull pa!fed ; and I could not but think 1 was leaving 
heaven, to defcerid into the infernal regions. The hope 
of fomething fine at my journey’s end, tempted tr.e, how¬ 
ever, to trull myfelf to the rope, and to let myfelf down. 
After about two minutes dangling in this polture, not 
without much pain as well as terror, I found myfelf iafe 
at the bottom ; and our friends all followed the example. 
When we had congratulated each other on our fare de- 
fcent, I was inquiring where the grotto, as they called it, 
was. Our guides, fhaking their heads, told us, we had a 
great way to that yet; and led us forward about thirty 
yards under a roof of ragged rocks, in a fcene of terrible 
darknefs, and at a valt depth from the furface of the 
earth, to the brink of another precipice, much deeper and 
more terrible than the former. Two of the guides went 
down here with their torches firft ; and by their light we 
could fee, that this paffage was not fo perpendicular in¬ 
deed as the other, but lay in a very fteep flant, with a 
llippery rock for the bottom ; vaft pieces of rough rugged 
rocks jutting out in many places on the right hand, in 
the defcent, and forcing the guides fonfetimes to climb 
over, fometimes to creep under, and foinetimes to go round 
them ; and on the left, a thoufand dark caverns, like fo 
many monftrous wells, ready, if a foot Ihould llip, to 
fwallow them up for ever. We ftood on the edge to fee 
thefe people delcend before us; and were amazed and ter¬ 
rified to fee them continue defcending till they appeared 
at a monftrous and frightful depth. When they were at 
the bottom, they called out to us ; and we, trembling 
and quaking, began to defcend after them. We had not 
gone thirty'feet down, w'hen we came to a place where 
the rock was perfectly perpendicular ; and a vaft cavern 
feemed to open its mouth to fwallow us up on one fide, 
while a wall of rugged rock threatened to tear us to pieces 
on the other. I was quite dilheartened at this terrible prof- 
peft, and declared 1 would go back ; but our guides af- 
lured us there was no danger ; and, the reft of the com¬ 
pany refoiving to lee the bottom now they were come fo 
far, I would not leave them: fo on we went to a corner 
where was placed an old llippery and rotten ladder, which 
hunp- down clofe to the rock ; and down this, one after 
another, we at length all defcended. When we reached 
the bottom, we found ourfeives at the entrance of ano¬ 
ther paffage, which was terrible enough indeed ; but in 
this there was not wanting fomething of beauty. This 
was a wide and gradual delcent; at the entrance of which 
one of our guides feated himfelf on his breech, and began 
to Hide down, telling us we muftdo the fame. We could 
difcover, by the light of his torch, that this paffage was 
one of the nobleft vaults in the world. It is about nine 
feet high, feven wideband has for its bottom a fine green 
gloffy marble. The walls and arch of the roof being as 
fmooth in moil; places as if wrought by art, and made of 
a fine gliftering red-and-white granite, fiipported here and 
there with columns of a deep blood-red ihining porphyry, 
made, with the reflection of the lights, an appearance not 
to be conceived. This paffage is at leait forty yards long, 
and of a fteep defcent. Our guides could here keep oil 
each fide of us; and, what with the prodigious grandeur 
and beauty of the place, our eafy travelling through it, 
and the diverfion of now and then running over one ano¬ 
ther whether we would or not, made this the plealanteit 
part of our journey. When we had entered this paffage, 
I imagined we Ihould at the bottom join the two guides 
we had firft fentdown : but, alas ! when we were got there 
we found ourfeives only at the mouth of another precipice, 
down which we defcended a fecond ladder not much bet¬ 
ter than the former. I could have admired this place alfo, 
would my terror have fuffered me; but the dread of fall¬ 
ing kept all my thoughts employed during my defcent. 
I could not but obferve, however, as my companions were 
coming down after me, that the wall, if I may fo call it, 
which the ladder hung by, was one mafs of blood-red 
marble, covered with white fprigs of rock-cryftal as long 
as my finger, and making, with the glow of the purple 
from behind, one continued immenfe ftieet of amethyfts. 
From the foot of this ladder we Hided on our bellies 
through another fnallovv vault of poliflied green-and-vvhite 
marble, about twenty feet; and, at the bottom of this, 
joined our guides. Here we all got together once again, 
and drank iome rum, to give us courage before v,-e pro¬ 
ceeded any further. After this fhort refrefhment, we pro¬ 
ceeded by a ftraight but llanting paffage, of a rough, hard, 
and fomewhat coarfe, ftone, full of a thoufand ftrange 
figures of fnakes rolled round, and looking as if alive ; 
but in reality as cold and'hard as the reft of the ltone, 
and nothing but fome of the ftone itfelf in that fliape. We 
walked eafily along this defcent fer near ioo yards, when 
we law two pillars feemingly made to lupport the roof 
from falling in : but in reality it was no Inch thing ; for 
they were very brittle, and made cf a fine glittering yel¬ 
low marble. When we had paffed thefe about zoo yards, 
we found ourfeives at the brink of another very terrible 
precipice: but this our guides allured us was the laft; and, 
there being a very good ladder to go down by, vve readily 
ventured. At the bottom of this fteep wall, as I may 
call it, we found ourfeives for fome way upon plain even- 
ground ; but, after about forty yards walking, were pre¬ 
fented by our guides with ropes again, which we faftened 
about our middles, though not to be fwung down by, but 
only for fear of danger, as there are lakes and deep waters 
ail the way from hence on the left hand. With this pre¬ 
caution we entered the laft alley ; and horrible work it 
was indeed to get through it. All was perfectly horrid 
and difmal here: the fides and roof of the paffage were of 
black ftone ; and the rocks in our way were in fome 
places fo fteep, that we were forced to lie ail along on our 
backs, and Hide down ; and fo rough, that they cut our 
clothes and bruifed us in paffing. Over our heads, there 
was nothing but ragged black rocks, fome of them look¬ 
ing as if they were every moment ready to fail in upon us; 
and on our left hand the light of our torches (bowed us 
continually the furfaces of dirty and miferably-looking 
lakes of water. If I had heartily repented of my expedi¬ 
tion before, here I was all in a cold fweat, and fairly gave 
myfelf over for loft; heartily curling all the travellers that 
had written of this place, that they had deferibed it fo as 
to tempt people to fee it, and never told us of the hor¬ 
rors that lay in the way. In the midftof thefe reflections,. 
and in the very difmaleft part of the cavern, on a fudden 
we had loft four of our fix guides. What was my terror 
on this occafion ! The place was a thoufand times darker 
and more terrible for want of their torches; and X 
expelled no other but every moment to follow them 
into fome of thefe lakes, into which I doubted not but 
they were fallen. The remaining two guides laid all they 
could, indeed, to cheer us up ; and told us we (hould fee 
the other four againToon, and that we were near the end 
of 
