174 CAVE. OF BEN LOMOND. Book I. 
land, where he once intended to establish a sugar planta- 
tion, christened it with that name. The same gentleman 
established another sugar plantation on the south-western 
side of the lagoon, and called it Cumberland Hall; but 
here, as well as at Ben Lomond, the project, when half 
realized, was given up, and a vast amount of money sacri- 
ficed. I visited the latter place also, and saw a very fine 
dwelling-house overgrown by the rank vegetation of several 
years ; and costly machinery cast away in an absolute 
wilderness. 
As we were once about seeing caves, we resolved to see 
that of Ben Lomond, and for that locality we accordingly 
steered. 
After a navigation of some hours we anchored in the 
shallow water of a bay, before a fine park-like savana, with 
pine-trees and palmettos, extending about a mile inland 
to the foot of a ridge of steep and thickly-wooded hills. 
One of them contained the cave we proposed to visit ; by 
an accident I was prevented from seeing its interior, and 
therefore can give no description of it. Some gentlemen 
belonging to our party were more fortunate, and, according 
to their relation, the cave contains all the wonders of sub- 
terranean scenery, such as stalactitic formations of fan- 
tastic shapes, large halls and narrow passages, shafts and 
tunnels leading up and down. For myself, while standing 
before the entrance, I discovered that the two boatmen, 
whom I believed to have continued on the beach, had 
followed us ; my family, who had remained there while 
I went to reconnoitre the approach to the cave, thus being 
left entirely alone and unprotected in an absolute wilder- 
ness. Without losing a moment, I hastened to join them. 
In the mean time heavy clouds had collected and a thun- 
derstorm was approaching. We had not time enough to 
