The Jenolan Caves: An Excursion in Australian WonderlandCook, Samuel
History
The Jenolan Caves: An Excursion in Australian Wonderland
Cook, Samuel
Australia -- Description and travel; Caves; Jenolan Caves (N.S.W.)
There remain now to be described but four of the caves ordinarily
frequented by visitors. These are "The Garden Palace," "The Stalagmite
Cave," "The Gem of the West," and "The Fairies' Retreat," with "The
Queen's Diamonds." But, as already intimated, it is impossible to
foretell what visions of loveliness may be disclosed by future
explorations. Quite recently the curator has wormed his way into another
splendid cave of large dimensions and great beauty. An opening of about
eight feet leads to a small chamber 14 feet wide and from four to eight
feet high. The floor is pure and sparkling. There are some very pretty
stalactites and pieces of formation hanging from the roof, with
transparent pipes and straws terminating in little hair-like
projections. From this cave there is a passage 10 inches by 14 inches
high and then 14 inches high by 10 inches wide, extending about 21 feet,
and opening on to a room with a floor of velvet-like coral. As the foot
rests on it the sensation resembles that produced by walking on a new
Brussels carpet, or stepping on a frosted lawn of buffalo grass, which
slightly crunches beneath the feet.
This cavern is about 25 feet by 35 feet, and from 2 feet to 10 feet
high. From it there is a fall of about 20 feet, opening into another
chamber, to the left of which is a pretty fimbriated tray, 10 feet by 12
feet, filled with little knobs of formation, with points so sharp that
any pressure of the hand would cause pain. These nodes and points are
almost as clear and spotless as the drops of a glass chandelier before
they have been converted into fly-walks. Then there is another tray or
basin with looped edges containing crystals which are a little "off
colour;" and yet another, with escalloped border and formation of a
milky hue--that is, pure milky--opaque white, not cerulean blue. This
basin is about 14 feet by 16 feet. The roof immediately over the basin
is like delicate coral. To the right is a sort of illusion representing
solidified water round about black limestone pebbles. This crystal has
been formed by a run of water from a rock, the summit of which is about
20 feet away, and which slopes down from the wall at an angle of about
45 degrees.
The sloping rock is beautifully reticulated and marked by curved lines,
which gradually diminish towards the base, where the formation changes
to nodules and curiously-formed, irregular combinations of the preceding
figures massed together. From the ceiling descend various formations of
cave decoration, some clear as the skin of a Mayfair beauty at her first
ball, others of a delicate fawn colour, and the remainder tinged with
oxide of iron. There is a range from the delicate lily of the valley to
the rough bronze of the muscular navvy, not to speak of the dusky brown
of the unwashed sundowner who arrives at a "station" when "the shades of
night are falling fast," and whose motto is not "Excelsior."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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