One of the most remarkable and largest caverns known is that of Antiparos, a description of which is given by M. de Tournefort. We enter a rustic cavern about thirty feet broad, divided by some natural pillars; between two of which, on the right, the ground is on a gentle slope, and then becomes more steep to the bottom, about twenty feet; this is the passage to the grotto, or internal cavern, which is very dark, and cannot be entered without stooping and the assistance of torches. We then descend an horrible precipice by the assistance of a rope, fastened at the entrance, into another still more frightful, the borders of which are very slippery, with dark abysses on the left. By the assistance of a ladder we pass a perpendicular rock, and then continue to go through places somewhat less dangerous: but when we think ourselves in a safe path, we are stopped short by a tremendous obstruction, and are obliged to crawl on our hands and knees, or slide on our back, the length of a large rock, and then descend by a ladder. When we are at the bottom of the ladder, we still have to stumble over pieces of rocks for some time, and then we reach the celebrated grotto. It is computed to be three hundred fathoms deep from the surface of the earth, appears to be forty fathoms high by fifty broad. It is filled with large beautiful stalactites of various forms, as well from the roof of the vault as on the bottom.[AG] [AG] See the Voyage de Levant, page 188, and also Remarks in a Journey from Paris to Constantinople, which contains a copious description of this astonishing phenomenon. In part of Greece called Livadia (the Achaia of the ancients) there is a large cavern in a mountain which was formerly famous for the oracles of Trophonius; it is between the lake Livadia and the adjacent sea; at the nearest part it is about forty miles; and there are forty subterraneous passages across the rock, through which the waters flow.[AH] [AH] See Gordon's Geography, 1733, page 179. In all countries which produce sulphur, volcanos, and earthquakes, there are caverns. The ground of most of the Archipelago islands is cavernous; the islands of the Indian ocean, principally that of the Malacca's, appear to be supported by vaults and cavities. The land Azores, the Canaries, the islands of Cape de Verd, and in general almost every small island, is in many parts hollow and cavernous; because these islands are, as we have observed, only points of mountains where considerable ebullitions are made, either by the action of volcanos, of the water, of frosts, or other injuries of the weather. In the Cordeliers, where there are many volcanos, and where earthquakes are frequent, there are also a great number of caverns.