The netherworld of Mendip : $b explorations in the great caverns of Somerset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and elsewhereBaker, Ernest A. (Ernest Albert)
Science
The netherworld of Mendip : $b explorations in the great caverns of Somerset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and elsewhere
Baker, Ernest A. (Ernest Albert)
Caves; Mendip Hills (England)
Conducted by the guide, we now descended the "Chimney" into the
tortuous passages leading to the "Scotchman's Cave," which lies under
O'Leary's. It is a small but very beautiful chamber, giving one the
idea that it has been hollowed out in a mountain of Parian marble. Now
we struck into the long series running east through "O'Callaghan's
Cave" to the farthest point yet reached. This was one of the principal
channels by which the ancient waters descended, from openings now
unknown and inaccessible, to the labyrinth of forsaken waterways we
had left behind. Our guide, who astonished us by the rapidity with
which he got over difficult ground, was unable to make very speedy
progress here. The ramifications are extremely hard to unravel, and he
had only been in this part twice before, in 1895 with M. Martel, and
twenty-five years earlier, as a boy, with his father. Eventually, after
many wanderings, we reached "Brogden's Cave," where hitherto all direct
progress had stopped. On the south side (not on the north, as shown
in the chart) is the "Chapel," which M. Martel rightly described as
the most beautiful thing in the whole cavern. It is an arched recess,
canopied with stalagmite of the purest and most delicate lustre.
Whilst my companion rested, I joined the guide, who was hunting for the
passage to a cave where his father had taken him thirty-five years ago.
We discovered the opening at last, and after wriggling and squirming
round innumerable twists and corners, we dropped over a low cliff,
beyond which a short wriggle brought us into a long and lofty cave,
magnificently walled and pillared with snowy calcite. Floor, walls,
and roof were a spotless white, wrought into intricate reliefs and
embroideries by the flow of the freakish stalagmite. The guide stated
that this was "Cust's Cave," and the one beyond, where our progress
stopped, he called the "Demon's Cave." M. Martel's chart shows a
"Cust's Cave" of a totally different shape and size, near the "River";
and, as there is no mention extant of any cave beyond Brogden's, I take
it that this, the real Cust's, was unknown to him. Unfortunately I had
followed the guide without bringing the plan or a compass, unaware
that we were going so far from the known parts of the cavern; and
now, to my disgust, the guide was unable to find the way out. Twice
he descended into a hole at our end of the cave, and emerged with the
intelligence, "It's not there, sir." We ransacked every opening in
wall and floor, but failed to hit on any exit whatever. The guide grew
alarmed, and rushed off to the farther end of the cave, wondering if
we had completely lost our sense of direction. He tried whistling; but
the hundreds of feet of rock between us and our companion were well
able to guard their ancient silence. Tired with these exertions, he
next proposed that we should put out the lights and rest for a while.
Whether his idea was to husband the only provisions we had, I could not
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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