DERBYSHIRE. 
744 
yards than where he alighted. The diameter of this ca¬ 
vern he judged to be about fifty yards ; the top he could 
not trace with his eye, but had reafon to believe that it 
extended to a prodigious height ; for, when he was 
nearly at the top of one of the encrufled rocks, which 
was an elevation of at lead: twenty yards, he could then 
fee no inclofure of the dome, though of courfe he faw 
much farther than when he flood at the bottom. After 
climbing up a few loofe Hones on the fouth fide of the 
fecond cavern, he defcended again, through a fmall flit, 
into a little cave about four yards long and two yards 
high, which was lined throughout with a kind of fpark- 
ling ftalaflites of a fine deep yellow, with fome fmall 
ftaladtical drops hanging from the roof. He found a 
noble column, of about ninety feet .high, .of the fame 
kind of in.cruftation, facing the firft entrance. As he 
proceeded to the north, he came to a large (tone that was 
covered with the fame fubftance, and, under it, he found 
a hole two yards deep, that was uniformly lined with it. 
From the edge of this hole fprung a rocky afcent, doping 
like a buttrefs again!! the fide of the cavern, and confid¬ 
ing of vafl, folid, round, maffes, of the fame fubftance 
and colour; up this afcent he climbed to the height of 
about lixty feet, and got fomefine pieces of the ftalac- 
tites, which hung from the craggy Tides of the cavern 
that joined the projection he had afeended. When lie 
got down, which was not effected without confiderable 
difficulty and danger, he proceeded in the fame direction, 
and foon came to another pile of incruftations of a diffe¬ 
rent kind and colour, thefe being much rougher, and not 
tinged with yellow, but brown: at the top of this he 
found a fmall cavern, opening into the fide of the vault, 
which he entered, and where he faw immenfe drops of 
the ftalattites, hanging like ificles, from every part of 
the roof, fome of which were four or five feet long, and 
as thick as a man’s body. The greater part of the walls 
of this large cavern or vault, was lined with incruftations 
of three kinds : the firft was the deep yellow ftalaCtites; 
the fecond was a thin coating refembling a light ftone- 
coloured varnifh ; (this covered the lime-ftone, and re¬ 
flected the light of the candles with great fplendour ;) 
the third fort w’as a rough efflorefcence, every fhoot of 
which refembled a kind of rofe-flovver. He now returned 
through the arch which feparates the two vaults, re- 
afeending the dope of loofe (tones, which greatly leffen 
the magnificence of the entrance into the inner cavern. 
When he had again faftened the rope to his body, he 
gave the fignal to be drawn up, which he found much 
more dangerous and difficult than'to be let down; be- 
caufe his weight drew the rope between the fragments of 
the rock, where it entangled, and his body was continu¬ 
ally jarring againft the Tides, notwithftanding all the de¬ 
fence he could make with his hands ; the rope alfo 
loofened the (tones over his head, the fall of which he 
dreaded every moment, and, if any of them had fallen, 
he mu ft inevitably have perifiied. As he was oblig'd to 
afeend with his face towards the wall, he could not make 
any particular obfervations on the rocks that were be¬ 
hind or on each fide of him; he faw, however, under 
the projection of the rock where the paffage firft became 
narrow, the entrance of a cavern which feemed to pene¬ 
trate a great way,’ but he could not get into it. A gen- 
'tleman who lived on the fpot told Mr, Lloyd, after his 
return from this fubterranean expedition, that there was 
formerly, in the floor of the great cavern, near a large 
heap of ftones, the mouth of a fecond (haft, which had 
been covered by the miners; it was faid to have gone 
down a vaft depth farther, and to have had water at the 
bottom : this was probably the direction which the plum¬ 
met took let down by Mr. Cotton, as mentioned before. 
There is fome reafon to believe that this water is the con¬ 
tinuation of the fubterraneous ftream mentioned in the 
Peak cavern near Caftleton ; for a large quantity of grit- 
ftone is obferved to grow near Elden-hole, and none near 
Caftleton; and yet, at high floods, the river at Caftleton 
waflies great quantities of that grit-ftone, in fragments, out 
of the mouth of that cavern. There is alfo a commonly- 
received tradition, which confirms that opinion ; which 
is, that a goofe, loft down Elden-hole, was afterwards 
feen at the mouth of Caftleton cavern. Many (lories are 
told of fliocking accidents at this place ; cattle have fre¬ 
quently tumbled info it: but nothing can be more dread¬ 
ful than the acknowledgment of a villain, who, when on 
the fcaffold for the perpetration of fome other horrid 
deed, confeffed the having thrown an unfortunate tra¬ 
veller into it, whom he had robbed, after he had put 
himfelf under his guidance ! 
Mr. Pilkington, in his View of the prefent State of 
Derbyfhire, publifhed in 1789, deferibes a long feries of 
clefts and caverns which have been difeovered between 
Peak’s-hole and Elden-hole. His account is as follows : 
“ The entrance into thefe fubterraneous paffages is about 
four or five hundred yards weft of Peak’s-hole. It is by 
means of a fltaft fifty yards deep, which was funk about 
thirty years ago with a view of purfuing a vein of lead- 
ore. At the bottom, a fmall paftage formed by the hand, 
and fourteen yards long, leads to a cavern, in height 
about ten yards, and in diameter fourteen. When the 
miner firft broke into it, it appeared beautiful beyond 
defeription. Upon introducing a candle through the hole 
which he had made, he was (truck with aftonifhment. 
But when he entered the cavern, it in beauty exceeded 
his higheft expectations. The roof and fides were co¬ 
vered with water icle, almoft as white as fnow. But now 
it is in a great meafure dripped of this ornament by thofe 
who have pafted through it. On the fouth fide, a nar¬ 
row paftage opens fourteen yards long. It leads to an¬ 
other cavern, which from the entrance extends fouth- 
eaft, and is about ten yards high and forty wide. In the 
middle a fhaft has been funk which is about eight yards 
deep. This leads into a cavern about twelve yards in 
height. On one fide of it is a fmall natural paffage about 
fifty yards in length, which leads to a chafm in the rock 
fixteen yards deep and three yards wide. The defeent 
into it is by means of a chain. About four yards from 
the bottom of the chafm is another opening in the rock 
about fix yards in depth. Eight yards to the fouth of 
the place, where you alight, you defcend again about 
twelve yards, and at the fame diftance direClly forwards 
came into a cavern nearly round. Its height is twelve 
yards, and diameter height. From hence you enter a 
very narrow and low paffage, in which you are obliged 
to proceed upon your hands and knees. It was at firft 
formed by blading a chink in the rock. It runs in afer- 
pentine manner to the diftance of two hundred and fifty 
yards, though in a ftraight line it would not meafure 
quite half that length. At the extremity of this paffage 
you drop into a cavern, almoft circular, fixteen yards in 
height, and five in width. In this cavern two natural 
paffages open in different directions. That, into which 
you enter, is an hundred and twenty yards long, and two 
feet high ; and at the end you difeover another about an 
hundred and fifty long, fix feet high and two wide. This 
brings you to a deep gulf in tlje level, which has been 
driven from a place called the Wiriiards. In exploring 
thefe fubterraneous caverns, a vein of lead-ore was dif¬ 
eovered in the fituation at which we are now arrived. 
But the purfuit of it being interrupted by the quantity 
of water in its neighbourhood, to remedy this inconve¬ 
nience, a level was driven from the foot of the hill at the 
Winiards, which is now carried to the^diftance of mo: 
than half a mile. When you have proceeded about two- 
thirds of the way, you come to the gulf already mention¬ 
ed, which, when firft obferved, was thought to be un¬ 
fathomable. The furface of the water in it was then 
about two yards below that in the level, but this being 
turned into it, has raifed it to the fame height with it- 
felf. What is the exa6l depth of this gulf is not kuown; 
but, at the time I received my information, it was not 
filled up, though all the rock had been thrown in which 
had 
