The Jenolan caves: an excursion in Australian wonderland

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

^A oy^?^.

THE JENOLAN CAVES.

THE

TENOLAN CAVES:

*.'

EXCURSION

AUSTRALIAN WONDERLAND.

BY SAMUEL COOK.

ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY-FOUR PLATES AND MAP.

EYRE & SPOTTISWOODE,

LONDON— GREAT NEW STREET, FLEET STREET, E.G.

1889.

. . , • p

\

:DU

130

PREFACE.

THE following- historical and descriptive account of the Jenolan
(formerly called the Fish River) Caves was written for the
Sydney Morning Herald. By the kind permission of the proprietors of
that journal (Messrs. John Fairfax and Sons) and, at the request of
numerous correspondents, it is now republished. The author is con-
scious, however, that neither tongue, nor pen, nor pictorial art can
convey an adequate idea of the magnificence and exquisite beauty
of these caves. Words are too poor to express the feelings of admi-
ration and awe which are experienced by those who wander through
the marvellous subterranean galleries embellished with myriads of
graceful and fantastic forms of purest white alternating with rich
colour and delicate tints and shades. Of all the caves in New South
Wales those at Jenolan are the most beautiful, and well-travelled
men admit that they are unrivalled in any other part of the world
As they are so little known this book may be interesting, and serve
to give some impression concerning geological transformations and the
slow processes of Nature in the production of works at once grand,
ornate, and unique.

The illustrations are from photographs by Messrs. Kerry and Jones
of Sydney, who have generously permitted the author to make selections
from their beautiful and extensive series of cave pictures.

483058

LIU S£T8

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGR

How THE CAVES WERE DISCOVERED - 13

CHAPTER II.

THE APPROACH TO THE CAVES - 17

CHAPTER III.
THE EXTERNAL FEATURES OF THE CAVES — THE GRAND ARCH 20

CHAPTER IV.
THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE 33

CHAPTER V.

THE NIGHT CAVES - 39

CHAPTER VI.
THE NETTLE CAVE - 43

CHAPTER VII.
THE ARCH CAVE - 48

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CARLOTTA ARCH - 55

CHAPTER IX.
THE ELDER CAVE

CHAPTER X.
THE LUCAS CAVE— THE Music HALL— THE SHAWL CAVE 65

x THE JENOLAN CAVES.

CHAPTER XL PAGE

THE EXHIBITION — THE BROKEN COLUMN — THE JEWEL CASKET —

JUDGE WINDEYER'S COUCH — THE UNDERGROUND BRIDGE - 73

CHAPTER XII.

THE LURLINE CAVE — THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE — THE SNOWBALL

CAVE ... 83

CHAPTER XIII.
THE BONE CAVES 88

CHAPTER XIV.

THE IMPERIAL CAVE — THE WOOL SHED AND THE GRAVEL PITS —

THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO — THE BONE CAVE 92

CHAPTER XV.

THE MARGHERITA CAVE - 99

CHAPTER XVI.
THE HELENA CAVE - 102

CHAPTER XVII.
THE GROTTO CAVE - 108

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE LUCINDA CAVE - 1 1 3

CHAPTER XIX.

KATIE'S BOWER - - 116

CHAPTER XX.

THE RIGHT-HAND BRANCH OF THE IMPERIAL CAVE — THE SUBTER-
RANEAN RIVER - 122

CHAPTER XXI.

THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE, THE SPARKLING ROCK, AND THE CRYSTAL

ROCK _ - 133

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER XXII. PM;K

THE SHAWL CAVE - 136

CHAPTER XXIII.
LOT'S WIFE 139

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CRYSTAL CITIES — THE SHOW-ROOM AND THE GRAND STALACTITES- 147

CHAPTER XXV.

THE FAIRIES' BOWER — THE SELINA CAVE — THE MYSTERY —

NELLIE'S GROTTO 154

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE VESTRY, THE JEWEL CASKET, THE BRIDAL VEIL, AND THE

FLOWERING COLUMN - - 163

CHAPTER XXVII.

How CAVES ARE MADE — THE WORK OF AGES - 168

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE GARDEN PALACE — THE STALAGMITE CAVE AND THE GEM OF

THE WEST • 174

CHAPTER XXIX.
THE FAIRIES' RETREAT — THE QUEEN'S DIAMONDS 181

CHAPTER XXX.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS — CAVES UNEXPLORED i s \

CHAPTER XXXI.
CONCLUSION - 189

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE CORAL GROTTO - frontispiece
THE GRAND ARCH ENTRANCE To face page 20

THE GRAND ARCH — LOOKING EAST ., 25

CAMP CREEK „ 29

THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE - ,, 33

THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE „ 37

THE NETTLE CAVE ,, 43

THE ARCH CAVE - „ 48

THE CARLOTTA ARCH ,, 55

THE LUCAS CAVE - ,, 65

THE SHAWL CAVE ,, 71

THE BROKEN COLUMN ,, 74

THE UNDERGROUND BRIDGE „ 81

THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO ,, 97

THE HELENA CAVE „ 102

THE LUCINDA CAVE „ 113

KATIE'S BOWER - ,, 1 16

THE UNDERGROUND RIVER AND ITS REFLECTIONS - ,,122

THE CRYSTAL CITY ,, 147

THE SHOW-ROOM ,, 150

THE MYSTERY - ., 156

NELLIE'S GROTTO - „ 161

THE ALABASTER COLUMN - ,.174

THE GEM OF THE WEST ,, 179

MAP OF THE DISTRICT At end of book.

THE JENOLAN CAVES.

CHAPTER I.

HOW THE CAVES WERE DISCOVERED.

THE Jenolan Caves contain some of the most remarkable and beau-
tiful objects in Australian wonderland. They are formed in a
limestone " dyke," surrounded by magnificent scenery, and hide in their
dark recesses natural phenomena of rare interest to the geologist, as well
as of pleasurable contemplation by non-scientific visitors ; while in and
about them the moralist may find

" tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,

Sermons in stones, and good in everything."

To see these caves once is to create a lifelong memory. The pink
and the white terraces of New Zealand, which before the recent eruptions
attracted so many tourists, did not excel in splendour the caves at
Jenolan. But it is common for people to go abroad to admire less
interesting things than are to be found within easy distance of their
starting point, and which, if they were a thousand miles away, would
probably be regarded as worthy of a special pilgrimage. There are
persons living two or three leagues from the caves who have never seen
them, and who, if they embraced the opportunity for inspection, would
possibly regard them with the kind of wonder with which they would
gaze upon the transformation scene at a pantomime. And yet the most
frequent entry in the visitors' book is that the caves are "grand beyond

14 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

expectation," and in some of their principal features " indescribably
beautiful."

The first of these caves was discovered in 1841 by James Whalan, who
lived on the Fish River, near what is now the Tarana Railway Station.
Having been robbed by a man named M'Ewan, he accompanied a police
officer in search of the desperado, and tracked him to the romantic spot
which forms the centre of the cave reserve, where he was captured.

It is possible that some of these caves were known previously to out-
laws, who found in them a secure and convenient hiding-place when
hotly pursued. But the visit of Whalan on the occasion of the capture
of M'Ewan first brought them into public notice. The name of the bush-
ranger is given to the creek which plays an important part in connection
with the caves. One of the principal features received its name from the
captor, and another — the Bow Cave — is called after some stolen bullock-
bows found therein. They were then known as the " Fish River Caves,"
or as the " Binda Caves." They were called the Fish River Caves
because they were in what was then regarded as the " Fish River
District," and not very far from the Fish River post-office. They were
called the " Binda Caves " after a station about nine miles distant to the
northward. And so they were indifferently known until the month of
August, 1884, when their designation was officially changed to "Jenolan"
— that being the name given by Sir Thomas Mitchell (Surveyor-General
of New South Wales) to the mountain from which is named the parish
within which the caves are situated.

The change of nomenclature was recommended on the ground that
the then existing names were infelicitous and misleading, — the caves
being not upon the Fish River, but upon a different watershed, separated
from it by the main dividing range of the colony. The time was considered
appropriate for remedying the mistake, because a map of the parish of
Jenolan was then in course of preparation, and would shortly be litho-
graphed and issued to the public. The official correspondence on this

HOW THE CAVE'S WERE DISCOVERED. 15

subject discloses the fact that "Binda" was first thought of as a good
official name, and then " Bindo ;" but the former was found to be the name
of a post town between Yass and Goulburn, and the latter the name of
a village and a mountain nine miles north of the caves, and, like the Fish
River, on the west side of the dividing range.

Some exception was taken to the proposed change. It was urged that
the name "Jenolan" was already applied to a mountain in the Capertee
district; but to this it was replied that the mountain called "Jenolan,"
seven or eight miles from the caves in an easterly direction, was marked
on Sir Thomas Mitchell's engraved map of the central portion of New
South Wales, whilst the other was not so defined — showing precedence
in point of time and importance ; and, further, that the orthography of
the two names is different, the one being spelt "Jenolan" and the other
" Geenowlan " — the former being the name of the parish in which the
caves are situated, and the latter the name of a peak near Capertee,
in the county of Roxburg. So it was finally determined to change the
name of the caves to "Jenolan," and in August, 1884, they were gazetted
accordingly. Such a change could not have taken place without incon-
venience and some misconception. Recently inquiries have been made as
to whether the "Jenolan Caves" are newly-discovered wonders, or old
friends under a new designation ?

For about a quarter of a century after the discovery by Whalan, little
notice was taken of the caves. They were regarded by a few who knew
about them as remarkable freaks of nature, but allowed to remain unex-
plored until some of their hidden beauties were so disclosed as to rouse
the enthusiasm of the present curator — Mr. Jeremiah Wilson — to whom,
for his daring, energy, and patient investigation the public are greatly
indebted. When their fame began to be bruited about, the number of
visitors increased, and among them were Goths and Vandals who did not
scruple to remove many a crystal gem from the still unfathomed caves.
It became evident that unless something were promptly done to secure

i6 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

these newly-found treasures to the public, and protect them from ruth-
less hands, their magnificence would soon be destroyed, and the people
deprived of a possession which should be a source of delight and instruc-
tion to succeeding generations, and excite the admiration of tourists
from all parts of the world. The Government did the right thing when
it prevented the acquisition by private individuals of the caves and a
large area of land around them. It would have been better had the
dedication to the public been made earlier.

The Gazette notice reserving from conditional purchase land about the
caves with a view to their preservation, bears date 2nd October, 1866,
and has appended to it the signature of the late J. Bowie Wilson, who
was then Secretary for Lands in the Martin Ministry. The area specially
protected is. six and a quarter square miles in the county of Westmore-
land, and near to it are some important forest reserves.

The official correspondence from 1866 to the present time is not very
interesting, having reference principally to suggested improvements ; it
is very bulky, and shows that a large amount of official interest has been
taken in the subject ; but the money expended and the work accomplished
indicate that hitherto Government and Parliament have had but a faint
idea of their obligations in regard to the Jenolan Caves.

CHAPTER II.

THE APPROACH TO THE CAVES.

THERE are several routes to the caves. That commonly chosen is
by way of Tarana, a small township 120 miles from Sydney by rail,
and 2,560 feet above the level of the sea. The train journey is through
interesting1 country. Leaving- behind the new western suburbs with their
elegant villas, stately mansions, and well-kept gardens, the traveller arrives
at Parramatta with its quaint old church, its fine domain with sturdy English
oaks of magnificent growth, its glimpses of river, its old King's School,
and its many evidences of change from the old to the new.

From Parramatta (which is but 14 miles from Sydney), to Penrith, there
are farms, and dark-leaved orange groves sweet-scented and laden with
golden fruit; villages and townships and little homesteads where peace
and contentment seem to reign; orchards and cultivated fields with rich
brown soil on the hill sides ; fine horses, splendid cattle, and cottages
with troops of sturdy children. At Penrith, 34 miles from Sydney and
88 feet above sea-level, the country is flat, and the Nepean River which
flows in graceful contour is spanned by a magnificent iron bridge sup-
ported on four massive piers of solid masonry. The train speeds across
the Emu plains which are walled in by the Blue Mountains, so-called on
account of the azure haze which covers them as with a bridal veil and
is to the everlasting hills what the bloom is to the peach. Scaling the
mountain side by a zigzag road, which is one of the " show " works of
the colony illustrative of engineering audacity, in the course of a few
miles the train climbs to an elevation of 700 feet. At Bloxland's platform,
42 miles from Sydney, the altitude is 766 feet above sea-level.

1 8 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

The name ol Bloxland recalls the fact that it was not until 1813 that a
route across the Blue Mountains was discovered. Near to the railway line
is the track found by Wentworth, Bloxland, and Lawson, over what had
theretofore been regarded as an impassable barrier range to the west-
ward of Sydney. On speeds the train, still rising- and rising, and revealing
a series of views remarkable for grandeur and the sylvan monotony of the
gum tree, until at Katoomba platform, 66 miles from Sydney, the elevation
is 3,350 feet above sea-level. And so the journey continues past abrupt
rocks, gloomy gorges, sparkling waterfalls, rocky glens, bold bluffs, leafy
gullies, fairy dells and vernal valleys, until it descends the Great Zigzag
into Lithgow, falling about 700 feet in less than five miles ! Lithgow is
96 miles from Sydney, and although the Blue Mountains have been passed,
the altitude is still about 3,000 feet. Lithgow is a busy place, apparently
destined to become a manufacturing centre. There are already in the
vicinity numerous coal mines, potteries, and other works. From this point
to Tarana the country varies from agricultural and pastoral to rugged
scenery.

The distance from Tarana to the caves is 35 miles, which has to be
traversed by coach or on horseback. At present the ordinary course is
to take coach on the arrival of the train at Tarana and drive to Oberon
the same evening. The road is good, the district agricultural, and the
scenery agreeable. The course from Oberon to the caves is through a
less settled country, and for a considerable distance through unsettled
primeval " bush," occupied chiefly by the wallaby, the opossum, the
bandicoot, many varieties of the parrot kind that flaunt their gaudy
plumage in the sunlight, and the native pheasant or lyre bird (Menura
superba) which is a veritable mimic. The country is broken and
mountainous and in winter the temperature is low, with cutting winds
and severe frosts ; in summer the heat is fervent. These silent forces
in conjunction with brawling mountain torrents have been large factors
in the production of the natural phenomena which are to be found in

THE APPROACH TO THE CAVES. 19

the valley dammed by the limestone " dyke " in which the caves are
formed.

The approach to the Jenolan Caves at the end of the route via Tarana
is remarkable for its construction and gradient, as well as for the mag-
nificent scenery which surrounds it. All the way from Oberon the land
rises, until an altitude of 4,365 feet above sea-level is attained. Then
there is a gradual downward grade, until what is called "The Top Camp"
is reached, shortly after which the traveller arrives at a part of the range
which he traverses by five zigzags, and descends about 500 yards in a
total length of road five chains less than three miles ! This thoroughfare
is made by cutting into the mountain side ; and although with a well-
appointed conveyance and careful driving it is safe enough, inexperienced
travellers feel a sense of relief when the journey is concluded, and they
are set down at the Cave House below, which, notwithstanding that it
is in the lowest depth of a mountain recess, is still nearly 2,500 feet above
sea-level. Any feeling of nervousness, however, is superseded by a sense
of the grandeur of the view. If an occasional glance is given at the steep
declivity, and a thought occurs as to what would be the consequence of
a mishap, the attention is immediately diverted to some new magnificence
in the wildly beautiful panorama, the sight of which alone would almost
compensate for so long a journey.

On the return trip, when portly gentlemen ascend on foot this very
steep zigzag they pause occasionally to contemplate the beauties of nature
and estimate the advantages of pedestrian exercise. Perhaps, also, when
they have made the same observation two or three times, they begin to
think it possible to carry pedestrian exercise to excess, and that a wire
tramway would be convenient. Still, at a second or third glance, they
get an excellent idea of the course of the limestone ridge, and a better
understanding of the operations of Nature in the excavation of the caves
and the production of the wonderful formations they contain.

CHAPTER III.

THE EXTERNAL FEATURES OF THE CAVES.

THAT portion of the limestone dyke in which the caves are found
runs six miles north and south ; and the Grand Arch and the
Devil's Coachhouse — the two principal " day caves " — are formed right
through the mountain, near the centre, in an easterly and westerly direc-
tion. On the one side M'Ewan's Creek flows towards the Devil's Coach-
house, and on the other side is a natural watercourse leading to the
Grand Arch, which is only a few yards distant from it. Bearing in
mind how the watercourses converge towards these two central caves,
and with what force, in times of heavy rain, the floods scour them, a good
understanding may be obtained of the mechanical causes of the enormous
excavations which- excite amazement as well as admiration. If a visit
be paid in winter, when the frost is sharp and the ground is " hoar with
rime ; " when every bough and every blade of grass is covered with
congealed dew and adorned with forms of crystallisation which rival
the rarest beauties of the caves ; when rocks are split and crumbled by
sudden alternations of heat and cold ; there will be abundant illustration
of the effect of water and light, and the variation of temperature in
causing geological transformation. Limestone is not soluble in water
without the addition of carbonic acid. An exploration of the caves, how-
ever, shows that the mountains are not composed entirely of limestone,
but that other substances constitute part of their bulk. The principal
causes of the formation of the " day caves," the Grand Arch and the
Devil's Coach-house, are the mechanical action of water and the variation
of temperature. As regards the interior caves, where night reigns
supreme, chemical combination has played a more important part. But

THE GRAND ARCH — L.OOKI NG EAST.

THE GRAND ARCH. 25

the effect of water power is everywhere observable in graceful contours,
caused by continuous motion, or in stony efflorescence, produced by inter-
mittent humidity or dryness of the atmosphere. The action of the former
is the more marked and striking1, the latter more elaborate, and micro-
scopically beautiful. The hygrometric condition of the caves is recorded
in lovely forms, which lend enchantment to ornate bowers, sparkling
grottoes, and fairy cities.

THE GRAND ARCH.

The Grand Arch runs east and west, and is about 150 yards in
length, 60 feet high, and 70 feet wide at its western end. The eastern
end is 80 feet high, and about 200 feet wide. Its proportions and
outline are gloomily impressive, and rather awe-inspiring. It is like the
portico to some great castle of Giant Despair. The eastern end is a
marvel of natural architecture, and the wonder is how so spacious a
roof can remain intact under a weight so enormous. The rugged
walls are varied by many peculiar rocky formations. On the northern
side is "the Lion," shaped in stone so as to form a fair representation
of the monarch of the forest. " The Pulpit " and " the Organ Loft "
are suggestive of portions of some grand old cathedral. Adjacent
is " the Bacon Cave," where the formations represent " sides," like
so many flitches in the shop of a dry salter. The roof is hung with
enormous honeycombed masses of limestone, whose sombre shades
deepen to blackness in numerous fissures and crannies and cavernous
spaces. As seen from the floor the roof appears to be covered with
rich bold tracery, engraved by Herculean hands. Near the basement
are huge rocky projections, with deep recesses, which for ages have
been the retreat of rock wallabies. Near the eastern entrance, lying
on the ground, is a gigantic block of limestone, weighing from 1,500
to 2,000 tons, and which at some remote period fell, and tilted half

B 2

26 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

over. This is evident from the stalactite formation which remains on it.
Ascending- the precipitous masses on the south-eastern side of the
eastern entrance over rocks which are, on the upper surface, as smooth
as glazed earthenware, a position is attained from which the magnitude
of the ornaments of the roof can be estimated. It is then perceived
that what, viewed from the floor of the archway, seemed like natural
carving in moderately bold relief, are pendant bodies of matter extend-
ing downwards 10 to 15 feet, and of enormous bulk. Along the walls
of the arch are caves running obliquely into the mountain 10, 15, and
20 feet, and the bottom of which is thick with wallaby "dust." Out of
these caves are passages which enable the marsupials to pass from one
rocky hall to another until they find a secure refuge in some obscure and
sunless sanctuary. The wallaby dust resembles mosquito powder. Perhaps
it would be equally efficacious. It is not improbable that the floors of
these caves represent a moderate fortune. The explorer sinks over his
boot tops in the fine pulverised matter, which, however, is not odoriferous,
and is void of offence if a handkerchief be used as a respirator.
The presence of this substance, and the oxidisation of its ammonia,
probably account for the saltpetre in the crevices of adjacent rocks,
although not absolutely necessary to the result, because, in the absence
of such accessories, it is an admitted chemical fact that nitrifiablo
matter is not commonly absent from limestone. In the Mammoth Cave
of Kentucky saltpetre manufacture was carried on to a great extent by
lixiviation from 1812 to 1814, and during the Civil War a principal factor
in the manufacture of gunpowder was obtained from the same source.
Up amongst the rocks, midway between the floor and the roof of the
eastern entrance to the Grand Arch, in the midst of the wallaby drives,
and near to a haunt of the lyre bird, the present curator of the
caves had his sleeping-place for 20 years. There he strewed his bed
of rushes or of grasses and ferns and mosses; and certainly neither
Philip Quarll nor Robinson Crusoe had ever a more magnificent dormi-

CAMP CREEK.

THE GRAND ARCH. 29

tory. Near to it is a sepulchral-looking place, which, before the Cave
House was erected, was reserved for strong-minded lady visitors, and
fenced off with a tent-pole and a rug. Farther on is a series of
rocks, where bachelors could choose for pillows the softest stones in
the arch and dream of angels. All these historic places are pointed
out by way of contrast to the state of things now existing, and which,
perhaps, in turn will form as great a contrast to the state of things
20 years hence.

From this part of the archway a much better view of the Pulpit, the
Lion, and the Organ Loft can be obtained than is possible from the floor.
Their massiveness is brought out with great effect. The stalactites and
stalagmites which form the organ pipes taper with remarkable grace,
and are set off by the shadows in the recesses which vary from twilight
grey to the darkness of Erebus. Over all are ponderous masses of blue
limestone, with immense convexities filled with perpetual gloom. The
rocks leading to the caves, the upper part of which is smooth as
glass, owe their polish to their long use by wallabies as a track to and
from their favourite haunts. Here and there may be detected in the
" dust " on the floor the footprint of the native pheasant. There may
also be seen and felt boulders and rugged rocks lying about in strange
disorder.

Leaving the Grand Archway by the eastern end, the excursionist
descends, through a rocky defile interlaced with foliage, into a dry, stony
creek, about which are growing some very rare ferns, as well as some
which are common, but nevertheless beautiful, and also some handsome
native creeping plants. From this point may be seen the pinnacle
which rises over the archway to an altitude of about 500 feet. About
50 yards down this dry creek, and about 20 yards below the junction of
the roads from the Grand Archway to the Devil's Coach-house, is " The
Rising of the Water." Here among the rocks in the bed of the
creek the water bursts out of the ground like a sparkling fountain of

30 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

considerable volume, and " gleams and glides " atong a romantic dell
"with many a silvery waterbreak." And if it does not "steal by lawns
and grassy plots," or yet by " hazel covers," or " move the sweet forget-
me-nots that grow for happy lovers," it does here and there " loiter round
its cresses." Its banks are so steep that its course cannot be easily
followed for any great distance, but, without much difficulty, it may be
traced until it flows over a rocky ledge into a deep pool, where there is
a wire ladder for the convenience of bathers. Thence it chatters on to
the River Cox, whence it enters the Warragamba, which joins the Nepean
a few miles above Penrith, and about 50 miles below the Pheasant's Nest.
It does not, therefore, enter into the Sydney water supply, but passes
through the Hawkesbury to the ocean.

V'$fSH

THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE.

( 33 )

CHAPTER IV.

THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE.

THE road from the Grand Arch to the Devil's Coach-house is devious
and uneven, with occasional fissures in the ground indicating
the entrance to new subterranean marvels. To the right is the mouth
of a cave yet unnamed and unexplored. A little farther on, high up in
the rocky wall which connects the two converging mountains of lime-
stone, is the Carlotta Arch, which resembles a Gothic window in the
grand ruins of some venerable monastic pile, fretted and scarred by
centuries of decay. Almost immediately after passing the line of the
Carlotta Arch, the visitor arrives at the Devil's Coach-house, which runs
nearly north and south. It is an immense cave, whose proportions are
better gauged than those of the Grand Arch, because the light flows in,
not only from the ends, but also from the roof. At a height of some
200 feet, it has a large orifice in the dome, fringed with stately trees,
the fore-shortening of which from their base upwards is very peculiar
as seen from the bottom of the cave. On the floor are strewn about
rocks of black and grey marble, smoothed and rounded by attrition, and
weighing from a few pounds to many hundredweight. In flood-time
the storm-waters dash these rocks against each other with tremendous
force, and the roaring of the torrent resounds like thunder through the
cave. In such wild seasons blocks of stone a ton weight or more are
moved a considerable distance. The walls are partly composed of black
marble with white veins, and some of the boulders on the floor contain
marks of fossil shells.

The most magnificent view of the Devil's Coach-house is from the
interior of the cave near the northern entrance, from which the rise of
the arch appears to be upwards of 200 feet. Its roof is fringed with

34 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

stalactites, and the outlook is into a wildly romantic gully. Stalactites
are suspended from the sides of the entrance, and in several places
there are stalagmites covered with projections like petrified sponge,
while near to them are formations resembling masses of shells commonly
found on rocks by the seaside. Some of these combinations might be
examined for hours, and yet leave new and interesting features to be
discovered. Small pellucid drops glisten at the ends of the stalactites,
illustrating the process of their formation. The large stalactites on
the roof and small stalagmites on ledges near the floor of the cave,
and vice versd, afford a practical illustration of the theory that where
water flows most freely the stalagmites are largest, and where it flows
most reluctantly the stalactite formation is the most magnificent.

From an inspection of these two kinds of cave ornamentation it is
seen that, whereas the former are porous and free from central tubes,
sometimes running in a straight line and sometimes obliquely, the latter
are solid, being formed by lamination and not by accretions of matter
conveyed through small interior ducts to external points. This cave
may appropriately be called the Marble Hall. Portions of the walls are
graced with a " formation " from the limestone rocks above, the stucco
having flowed in shapes both grotesque and arabesque. Some of the
interstices are filled with stalactites and stalagmites of various colours
and proportions. Many stalactites on the roof of the mouth of the cave
are said to be from 12 to 15 feet long. All around are entrances to
numerous interior spaces adorned with stalactites of the most delicate
hues. Some are tinged with various gradations of blue; others are of
salmon colour, and delicate fawn. Others again are sober grey, and
white shaded with neutral tint. The rocks are decorated with little
patches of moss, from rich old gold to living green. The harmony of
colour is marvellous, and the combined effect unique. Nature herself
has so painted and ornamented the cave as to give a lesson to professors
of decorative art. The vision of rocky beauty grows upon the imagi-

THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE DEVIL'S COACH-HOUSE.

THE DEVILS COACH-HOUSE. 37

nation of the observer until at last it seems like a new revelation of the
enchanting effects which can be produced by natural combination.

To the artist this cave presents attractions of a kind not to be
found in any other of the wonderful caves of Jenolan, although com-
monly it receives small attention from visitors, who recognise its grand
proportions, but are impatient to witness the more elaborate and brilliant
features in the hidden recesses of the mountain.

Why this spacious cavern should be called the Devil's Coach-house
(except on the lucus a non lucendo principle) few would divine. The
name of his Satanic majesty is often associated with horses and horse-
racing, but not generally with coaches and coach-houses. In this con-
nection, however, it is necessary to observe class distinctions. The
cavern is not sufficiently monstrous to be used by Milton's personification
of the rebellious archangel, nor sufficiently hideous for Burns's " Auld
Clootie," with hoofs and horns. Coleridge's devil or Southey's devil
(as illustrated in " The Devil's Thoughts " of the one, and " The Devil's
Walk " of the other) was neither too grand nor too ignoble to notice
coach-houses. But then, he was a sarcastic fiend, for when he " saw
an Apothecary on a white horse ride by on his vocations," he " thought
of his old friend Death in the Revelations " — which was rather severe
on the pharmacist. But leaving the man of drugs —

" He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,

A cottage of gentility ;
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
Is pride that apes humility."

The cottage at the caves is not particularly " genteel " in appearance.
The coach-house is large enough to hold almost as many horses as were
kept by Solomon, and as many chariots as were possessed by Pharaoh,
and at one end it is " double ; " but there was no thought of Pharaoh,
or Solomon, or Coleridge, or Southey when it was named.

It was not because this huge place was considered big enough to
be the Devil's Coach-house that it was called after the Devil, nor because

38 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

it was thought to be a suitable place for Satan to " coach " his disciples
in; nor had the person who named it any intention of paying- a compli-
ment to poetic genius. It was called the Devil's Coach-house for reasons
similar to those which created the nomenclature of the numerous Devil's
Pinches and Devil's Peaks, Devil's Mills and Devil's Punchbowls, in
various parts of the world. Captain Cook more than a century ago
gave the name of the Devil's Basin to a harbour in Christmas Sound,
on the south side of Tierra del Fuego, because of its gloomy appear-
ance— it being surrounded by "savage rocks," which deprive it of the
rays of the sun. For similar reasons, perhaps, the name of the Devil's
Coach-house was given to this interesting portion of the Jenolan Caves,
which are surrounded by mountains and "savage rocks," and from
which the rays of the sun are excluded, except during a few hours
per day. In winter the sunshine does not glint on to the roof of the
cave house till about 10, and at about 2 in the afternoon the valley is
wrapped in shade.

It is 45 or 46 years since James Whalan came suddenly upon
the mouth of this cave, and it so impressed him with its rugged
grandeur and weirdness that when he returned home he reported that
he had been to the end of the world, and had got into the Devil's
Coach-house. So by that term it is still called, although it has been
since named the Easter Cave, because of a visit by some distinguished
member of the Government service during Easter, which in New South
Wales is now as favourite a holiday time as it was when kept as a
festival in honour of the Goddess of Light and Spring. For a short
period in the afternoon one end of the cave is flooded with the warm
beams of the sun. Then it is at its best, and, as the enamoured hand
of fancy gleans " the treasured pictures of a thousand scenes," so, after
the bright rays have disappeared, and the cave is seen in the shade or
by "the pale moonlight," its beauties change from hour to hour, like
shadows on the mountains or the cloud glories of an autumn sunset.

( 39 )

CHAPTER V.

THE NIGHT CAVES.

THE " day " caves of Jenolan, although grandly picturesque, are but
slightly typical of the interior caverns. As the few bars of harmony
dashed off by way of prelude to an intricate musical composition prepare
the ear for the movement which is to follow, so an inspection of the
external caves trains the faculty of observation for the ready appreciation
of the more elaborately beautiful objects in the dark recesses of the
enchanted mountain. The contrast between the two is as marked as
the difference between the costly pearls of a regal diadem and the rough
exterior of the shells which first concealed them.

To explore the " night " caves it is necessary to be furnished with
artificial light, and each excursionist is provided with a candle fitted into
a holder, the handle of which is like the barrel of a carriage lamp, and
immediately underneath the flame is, a saucer-shaped guard with the edge
turned inwards, so as to catch the drips from the sperm. By means of
this arrangement the lights may be presented at almost any angle
without doing injury to the caves, except in regard to the smoke, which
although slight, is nevertheless in degree perilous to the wondrous
purity of the formations. The principal features of the "night" caves are
illuminated by the magnesium light, which is rich in chemical rays and
burns with great brilliancy. There should not be allowed in the caves
any colorific or other light which would cause smoke by imperfect com-
bustion, or emit volatile substances likely to change the interior hues.
If their pristine beauty — or as much of it as remains — is to be preserved,
the caves ought to be illuminated by electricity, which will neither affect
the temperature nor soil the most delicate of Nature's handiwork. The

40 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

smoke of candles in a quiescent atmosphere like that of the caves, cannot
fail, in process of time, to have a deleterious effect. Years ago, in the
Wingecarribee country, there were some fairy gullies. The sides were
flanked with sassafras columns, the roofs were covered with branches
interlaced by creepers that excluded the sunbeams, and on the banks of
the creeks which trickled through the centre were tree-ferns of marvellous
beauty. Their perfect fronds were lovely — their growth prodigious ; but
that in which their charm chiefly lay was their unexampled delicacy of
colour. When the natural shade was removed, and they were subject
to wind, and rain, and dust, they became commonplace. They grew like
other tree-ferns, and were ranked with ordinary things. So with the
caves. Their wondrous beauty and attractiveness are found in their
freedom from defilement. In their illumination there should be neither
smoke nor heat, and it is a question whether within their precincts incense
ought to be burned, even to King Nicotine.

THE NETTLE CAVE.

( 43 )

CHAPTER VI.

THE NETTLE CAVE.

THE Nettle Cave is for the most part a place of twilight. If visitors
are incautious in approaching1 it they will soon come to the con-
clusion that it has been properly named, for all around are fine clumps
of herbaceous weeds with sharp tubular hairs upon vesicles filled with
irritating fluid. The sting of a nettle and the sting of an adder resemble
each other, but are yet dissimilar. The adder strikes his tubular fang
into his prey, but the nettle victim impinges upon the tubular hair which
communicates with the acrid vesicle.

The Nettle Cave is reached by climbing 170 feet to the left of The
Grand Arch, and if in the ascent the visitor be invited to smell a plant
with alternate leaves and racemes of not very conspicuous flowers, it
would be well for him to decline with thanks. There are some rough
cut steps leading to this cave, and on one side is a galvanised wire rope
supported by iron stanchions let into the rocks, which makes the ascent
tolerably safe. The road runs between two bluff rocks, which for a con-
siderable distance rise almost perpendicularly, and then curve so as to
form a segment of a circle some 150 feet overhead. The cave is barred
from wall to wall by a light iron gate sufficient to prevent improper
intrusion, not ponderous enough for a penal establishment, but sufficiently
pronounced to suggest Richard Lovelace's lines —

" Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage ;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage."

Descending some of the rough stones and winding along a footpath,
the tourist descends into a chamber below a magnificent series of rocks
covered with beautiful " formation " from the dripping roofs above. This

44 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

is called " The Willows," because of the resemblance it bears to the
graceful and beautiful appearance of the Salix babylonica, on which in
the olden time captive Israelites hung their harps and "wept when they
remembered Zion." The entrance to this cave is circuitous. First there
are some rocky steps to be climbed, and then the road winds through
avenues of " willow " formation up to the summit. From this point about
60 or 70 feet down is a funnel-shaped declivity resembling the mouth
of an extinct volcano. In some respects it is like the " Blow Hole " at
Kiama (a natural fountain, inland, fed by ocean waves which force their
way through a water-worn tunnel). Undoubtedly that also is one of the
wonders of the world, but some time since it was utilised by the local
corporation as a receptacle for dead horses and defunct cattle ! From
this declivity in the Nettle Cave the visitor naturally shrinks, being dubious
as to where his remains would be found if he were to make an uncertain
step. In his timorous progress, however, his attention is soon arrested
by some splendid stalagmites to the left of the hellish-looking vacuity.
One of the most noble is about four feet in diameter at the base, and from
12 to 14 feet high, covered with curiously-shaped ornamentation, and
having minute stalactites projecting from the sides. All about it are
nodules of delicate fretwork, as lovely as the coral of the ancient sea
out of which this mountain was made millions of years ago. On the apex
is a gracefully-tapered cone ; and hard by is a small stalagmite covered
with prickles as sharply defined as those of the echinus. All around are
limestone pictures of surpassing loveliness. There is not much variety
of colour, but the formation is infinite in its variety. It is intended to
have the hideous and perilous-looking volcanic funnel previously mentioned
guarded by wirework, which is necessary to ensure the complete safety
of sightseers. If an unfortunate wight were to trip, he might fall a
distance of about 70 feet, and be shot without ceremony into the Devil's
Coach-house. One remarkable stalagmite in the vicinity of this infernal
shaft is shaped like a hat, and another is like a gigantic mushroom. The

THE NETTLE CAVE. 45

floor of the cave is thin, and when stamped upon vibrates in imitation
of an earthquake wave. Stalactites in rich profusion depend from the
roof, and here and there are clumps of bats, clinging together like little
swarms of bees. The stalactites are tipped with drops of lime-water
clear as crystal at the lowest point, and becoming gradually opaque.
It is also noticeable that while the drops at the ends of the stalactites
appear to be perfectly still globular bodies, their molecules seem to be
in perpetual motion. The opaque part of the drops thickens until it
resembles sperm, and then the gradation is almost imperceptible until
it unites with the solid formation. All around are curiously-shaped
drives, one of which has been explored until it communicates with the
Imperial Cave. It is not an inviting entry, for it is low and narrow, and
has sharp stalactites on the roof. The floor is covered with very fine
dust, about the eighth of an inch thick, which, however, seems not to
rise, and when struck with a hammer the sound is like a blow struck
upon a carpet, and the dull thud reverberates in the caverns below.

From the end of the cave, looking towards the mouth, the appearance
is particularly wild. The stalagmites in front resemble prisoners in
some castle keep, and the part of the cave farther on, upon which the
light falls, near to the barred entrance, makes the interior shade seem
more gloomy. There is one remarkable pillar about 10 feet in diameter
from the floor to the roof of the cave ; and seeing that it is about 30 feet
in height, and has been made by the constant dripping of lime-water,
visitors may speculate as to its age, and statisticians may estimate the
number of drips required for its creation. Along the sides of the cave
are beautiful pillars. Some are like trunks of trees, gnarled and knotted,
and some like elaborately-carved columns. There are grottoes and
alcoves, and terraces formed by runs of water; Gothic arches and
Etruscan columns, carvings of most cunning elaboration, and stalactites
more noticeable for their massiveness than for their grace. There
are narrow chasms descending into blackness, through which future

46 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

discoveries may be made. On the water-formed terraces are numerous
stalagmites resembling congewoi and other zoophytes. It seems as
though Nature had fashioned the cave after a kaleidoscopic view of the
most remarkable objects in marine and vegetable life. At the end
of this section the roof rises, and is pierced by an inverted pinnacle.
The walls are composed of masses of stalactite formation, imperfectly
developed by reason of pressure. Near at hand liquid substances have
fallen, and petrified so rapidly as to resemble streaks of lava which
had suddenly cooled and formed cords and ligaments like grand muscles
and tendons.

The eastern end of the cave runs into the Devil's Coach-house, about
1 20 feet above the coach-house floor. The opening is very beautiful,
being ornamented with columns and pinnacles, and the view from this
point to the interior of the cave is unexampled. Scores of breaches in
the roof and sides can be seen leading to other marvellous places —
there being cave upon cave and innumerable changes of formation upon
the ground. In rocky basins the debris is largely composed of minute
bones. The " remains " may be taken up by handfuls. The teeth of
bats and native cats — the vertebrae of marsupials and snakes — the wing-
bones of birds, and other fragments of the animal world are mixed
together in a mammoth charnel-house, whose grandeur could hardly be
surpassed by the most costly and artistically designed mausoleum.

The Ball Room — an upper storey of the Nettle Cave — is reached
by mounting twenty-nine steps cut into the rock. Near the eastern
entrance are two stalactitic figures fashioned like vultures about to
engage in combat. All around the little plateau of Terpsichore are
huge stalagmites, resembling domes, crowded together and pressing
into one another. Some are set off with stalactites; others are honey-
combed. Thence the direction is still upwards, and the ascent is made
by means of about 50 wooden steps, with a guard rail on each
side. The formations are striking and graceful. Pointing upward is a

THE NETTLE CAVE. 47

gauntleted hand and forearm of a warrior of the olden time. There
are representations of bewigged legal luminaries and bearded sages
like Old Father Christmas or Santa Claus. Some of the columns
which support the archway have tier upon tier of stalactites, drooping
so as to counterfeit water flowing from a fountain, alternating with
stalactite formation like boughs of weeping willow. One prominent
stalagmite is like the back of a newly-shorn sheep, with shear-marks
in the wool. On the western side is a figure like that of an orator in
the act of exhortation. The forehead is bald, long white locks are
flowing on to the shoulders, one arm is upraised, and the pose gives an
idea of earnestness and force. In front, just below the bust, is a reading
desk of stone, the outer edge of which is fringed with stalactites. From
this place are steps leading to the arch. They are safe and convenient.
Underneath them is still to be seen the wire ladder formerly used to
pass from the Nettle Cave to the Arch Cave, and it is easy to understand
the trepidation of nervous visitors when they were swaying about on
it in mid-air over the dark abyss below. After resting for a moment in
the midst of a stalagmitic grotto, the visitor ascends some stone steps
towards the Grand Arch, proceeds through a beautiful cavern with
Norman and Doric pillars, composed almost entirely of stalagmites, and
enters the Arch Caves, which were so called because at that time they
were accessible only through the Carlotta Arch. They are now, as
previously described, approached through the Nettle Cave by means
of the wooden staircase, which was built about three years a^o.

48

CHAPTER VII.

THE ARCH CAVE.

THE Arch Cave runs north-westerly from the line of road to the
Carlotta Arch, and has a gradual descent. It is about a hundred
yards long-, and in some places about half a chain wide. The roof is
decked with beauty ; the floor is covered with dust. There is now but
one complete column in the centre, and that is formed by a stalactite
which extends in a straight line from the roof to the floor. It is
surrounded by a number of other magnificent pendants of a similar
kind, more or less ornate, and crowded together in rich profusion.
Some of them have grown until they nearly touch bold rocks which
jut out from the walls, and the spaces between the larger cylindrical
forms are filled by stalactites of various lesser lengths, some of which
are figured so as to represent festoons of flowers. The complete pillar
tapers from the upper to the lower end. For about two-thirds of the
way down it is compounded of several stalactitic lines ; the remainder
is a simple shaft with irregular surface. To the right of it is a
marvellous piece of formation like the head of a lion with the forelegs
and the hoofs of a bull, posed so as to resemble Assyrian sculpture.

At one time there were in this cave five pillars as perfect as the
one which remains, but in 1860 they were destroyed by a Goth from
Bathurst. There are numerous columns of dimensions not so great
along the sides of the cave, and at every step appear fresh objects of
admiration. Some of the stalactites are resonant, and so is the floor,
which, on the thinnest portion, responds imitatively to the tramping
of feet. In a passage on the right hand side is a stalactite which the

THE ARCH CAVE.

THE ARCH CAVE. 51

cave-keeper has carefully watched for 18 years, in order to form some
idea as to the rate of stalactitic growth. He has always found a drop
of water clinging- to the lowest surface as though it were ready to
fall, and yet during the whole term of 18 years the actual addition to
the solid stalactite has been only half-an-inch in length, of a thickness
equal to that of an ordinary cedar-covered lead pencil. It is evident,
from observation of other portions of this cave, that some formations
have been created in a manner less slow. Still, it is probable there are
stalactites the growth of which has been more gradual than the one
subjected to special scrutiny.

The entrance furnishes an illustration of damage done by careless
visitors years ago, and of the necessity for constant care to preserve the
caves from destruction. When this cavern was first opened to the public
the floor was white as snow. It is now black and greasy, as well as
dusty. The change has been brought about by the pattering of feet
encased in soiled boots, and by drips from candles and torches used before
the present lighting arrangements were adopted. Some of the stalactites
have their lower portions damaged in a similar way. But, worse still, an
elaborate and very attractive specimen, resembling cockscomb, has been
damaged by fracture, and made incomplete by unauthorised appropria-
tion. The porosity of some of the rocks can here be readily distinguished.
Their surface is like that of pumice stone. In dry weather the walls
are sparkling; in wet seasons they are moist and dull. At the far end
of the cave the floor is covered with little indurated lumps with carved
surfaces. They are all similar in shape, and vary in bulk from the size
of quandong seeds or nuts, of which bracelets are sometimes made, to
that of a mandarin orange. Perhaps they were fabricated on the roof
and became detached. It is hardly possible they could have been
formed where they lie without being joined together in a solid mass.

Here perfect silence reigns. It is so profound as to be almost
painful, and the darkness is so dense that when the candles are

c 2

52 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

extinguished the visitor can pass a solid object before his eyes without
the shadow of a shade being- perceptible. It is not suggestive of the

darkness which —

" Falls from the wings of Night
Like a feather that is wafted downwards
From an eagle in its flight."

Nor yet of "the trailing garments of the Night" sweeping "through
her marble halls." There is nothing to give the idea of action. Solitary
confinement for 24 hours in such a "separate cell" would drive some
men mad. At the end of the cave is a mass of stalactites, through
which is a passage leading to "The Belfry," where are some large
stalactites, three of which, when struck with a hard substance, sound
like church bells. One of them has a deep tone, equivalent to C natural.
The others do not vibrate so as to produce perfect notes according to
musical scale, nor are their sounds either rich or full.

THE CARLOTTA ARCH.

( 55 )

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CARLOTTA ARCH.

ON returning to the mouth of the Arch Cave, the tourist proceeds
towards the Carlotta Arch— so named in honour of a daughter of
the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, Mr. P. F. Adams, who visited
the caves 10 or 12 years ago, and has always taken an interest in their
exploration and preservation. Ascending some stone steps, guarded
by galvanised wire, an excellent view of the Ball Room to the eastward
is obtained. The steps make access easy. Previously the rocks were
slippery, in consequence of the polish given to them by the feet of
marsupials, and the return journey was accomplished by holding on to
a rope, and sliding down the glassy surface.

The entrance to the Carlotta Arch is protected by a wire railing,
about 35 feet by 8 or 10 feet. Passing through the iron gate, the
visitor finds himself on a little platform. Hundreds of feet below is
a gully, rippling at the bottom of which is a rill of water, which
sings as it goes, and whose melody, softened by distance, is pleasant
as the hum of bees or the carolling of birds. Above is a hoary
rock, rugged and bare, with the exception of some clumps of lilies
which flourish and bloom in its inaccessible clefts. From this point
the tourist ascends the Nettle Rocks for about 60 or 70 feet. Some
steps are to be cut here, and certainly they are much needed, for at
present the journey is very toilsome and difficult. From the end of
the protected portion to the summit — 70 or 80 feet— the acclivity may
be comfortably surmounted by ordinarily active people. The Carlotta
Arch is about 100 feet high and about 70 feet wide, with an interior

56 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

fringe of stalactites. The picture seen through it is exceedingly grand,
including majestic trees and romantic gullies, huge mountains and
immense rocks, with bold escarpments. The walls of the arch are
pierced like a fortress. Its entire superstructure represents the union
of two mountains by a natural bridge, clad with trees and shrubs and
creeping plants which trail gracefully down its sides. On the summit
are eucalypti, and conspicuous amongst them is an iron guard for the
protection of passengers going over the viaduct. About half-way up
this track from the arch to the bridge (which is the concluding portion
of the new road from Mount Victoria), a good view can be obtained
of M'Ewan's Creek, where the water has broken through the hills,
leaving the limestone rocks and caves sometimes on the one side and
sometimes on the other for a distance of three miles up the valley
running northerly. To the westward is the Zigzag, leading to the cave-
house by the route from Tarana, and from which can be obtained the
grandest view en route from Oberon to Jenolan. Here, after having
spent an hour or two in the caves, it is pleasant to bask in the golden
sunshine and watch the gaudy parrots flit by. From this point to the
northward the limestone is visible to its full extent till it is overlapped
by higher mountains. It is about three miles in length, by a maximum
of half a mile in width. Immediately to the south the limestone dyke
is covered, but it crops up again about seven miles distant, and con-
tinues on the surface for 15 to 20 miles, in the direction of Goulburn.
Near to what is called the Gallery (the approach to the bridge over
the arch) is an old gum tree, growing right over the centre of
the Devil's Coach-house, and 500 feet above the gullies, which can be
seen by looking over the precipice. If it were a blue gum tree,
" and nothing more," it would be as uninteresting as the " yellow
primrose by a river's brim " was to Peter Bell. As a specimen of its
kind this tree is a failure; but it happens to be in the centre of the
cave reserve, and the " blaze " on it bears the mark, " F 69." From

THE CARLOTTA ARCH. 57

this point the reserve extends two and a half miles east and west by
five miles north and south, and is certainly one of the most wonderful
areas dedicated to the public.

In the rocks near to the Centre Tree is an orifice called "The
Devil's Hole." It pierces the mountain obliquely, but without much
deviation from a straight line, and a stone thrown down it takes,
according1 to its weight, from nine to twelve seconds to find a resting-
place on the floor of the Devil's Coach-house ! This is an experiment
which should not be tried without precaution, and then only under
official sanction, otherwise some serious accident may occur. It would
be well to erect notice-boards at this and several adjacent places,
warning persons not to cast stones into the caverns, for the whole
mountain is full of holes and caves and drives. A piece of rock cast
heedlessly into a crevice or perforation in one cave might mean death
to a tourist in lower cavernous regions, and there is neither medical
man nor coroner within convenient distance. From the bridge (which
is guarded by wire ropes) on the western side, the visitor looks down
on the Elder Cave ; the Zigzag is in front, and below is the sylvan
valley from which the " ermin'd frost " has been thawed, and which
now " laughs back the sun." To the eastward are in view of the
spectator the Nettle and Arch Caves gate, the south entrance to the
Devil's Coach-house, and the waterfall to the Cave River. In the
distance can be discerned a place known as Oaky Camp, or M'Ewan's
Camp, which is of interest in connection with bushranging episodes of
the olden time. From the highest point of the hill over the Grand
Archway the cave-house can be seen nestling in the valley 500 feet
below. Perched upon this pinnacle, with terrible depths on each side
and awe-inspiring grandeur at every turn, the beholder is apt to realise
how very small is the space he fills in the economy of Nature, how
inadequate is language to express deep emotions of the mind, and
how marvellous are the works of the Creator !

CHAPTER IX.

THE ELDER CAVE.

ON leaving- the Carlotta Arch and the bridge, the visitor — mentally
gratified, physically tired, and conscious that his perceptive
faculties have been somewhat strained — rejoices that the cave-house is
conveniently near, so that he can promptly ensconce himself in an easy-
chair and meditate upon the charming scenes upon which his eyes have
feasted. If he be unusually robust he may economise the return journey
by taking a peep at the Elder Cave, which lies just off his homeward
course. It derives its name from the elder trees which grow about it
and conceal its entrance, which is at the bottom of a " ragged " shaft
similar to that described in the tragedy of "Titus Andronicus," whose
authorship is disputed, but which Samuel Phelps and others have no
doubt was written by Shakespeare. It resembles the " subtle hole "
where Bassianus lay imbrued " all of a heap like a slaughtered lamb."
But that was near an alder, and not an elder, tree ; and, so far as is
known, the pit which leads to the Elder Cave has no associations so
tragic as those which are inseparable from the horrible brutalities of
" Titus Andronicus." Its mouth is not covered with " rude growing
briars," nor are there upon the leaves " drips of new-shed blood as fresh
as morning dew distilled on flowers." On the contrary, it is a rather
cheerful-looking pit, filled up with foliage like an arborescent bouquet
in an enormous natural vase. For a long time its cavity was completely
obscured by the leafy covering, and it was first entered by climbing
along a branch level with the surface of the ground, and descending
the trunk of the tree to the bottom of the well. There are several elders

THE ELDER CAVE. 9

in the pit, which, being1 unusually moist, is favourable to their growth,
and they bear splendid cymes of cream-coloured flowers and black
berries suggestive of spiced home-made wine.

The Elder Cave was found by Mr. Wilson in 1856, but it has not
had much attention bestowed upon it, probably because its beauties have
been eclipsed by later discoveries. The first part consists of some
rather large chambers connected by small passages, rough inside, and
difficult to explore. All are pretty, and one, named "The Chapel,"
contains stalactites called " shawls," on account of their resemblance to
ladies' vestments so designated. One of these is about five feet long by
six inches deep, and a quarter of an inch thick. Half of it is of glassy
clearness. The floor is of ornate formation. The next chamber is
called the " Coral Cave." It is difficult of access. The way for about
100 yards varies from only two to four feet from floor to ceiling. Nearly
at the end is a hole about 12 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, containing
fossil bones. From floor to roof the formation is grand. There are a
few fine stalagmites, but the chief beauty is in the stalactitic growth.
Many of the stalactites hang from the lowest shelving rock to the floor,
and form an alabaster palisade. Immense bunches of snow-white lime-
stone droop from the roof, and one unusually large conical mass tapers
off until it connects with the apex of a pyramidal block on the floor. In
contrast with these ponderous specimens are numerous straw-like glassy
tubes. Portions of the floor are covered with beautiful coral.

Near the mouth of this Pit Cave is an aperture of special interest,
because it is the entrance to the shaft at the bottom of which, on the
1 6th February 1879, the intrepid curator discovered the Imperial Cave,
which is one of the most magnificent opened to the public. He made
three separate attempts before he was able to bottom this deep black
hole. On the first occasion he was lowered into it at the end of a rope,
and when all the line had been paid out was dangling in mid-air at
the end of his tether. When he was let down a second time with a

60 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

longer cord it was found to be deficient, and the cave-keeper was still
suspended in ebon space. The second failure made him still more
resolute. He did not believe that the black hole into which he had
descended was the bottomless pit, and so he tried again to fathom its
inky depths, and at a distance of 90 feet from the surface alighted
upon the rocky floor of what is now called the Imperial Cave.

Cave exploration is not what would be commonly regarded as a
pleasant pastime. It requires a lissom body, plenty of physical strength,
and a strong nerve to worm along narrow passages, without any certainty
of being able to reach a turning-place, and with the risk of being so
wedged in as to make retreat impossible. A stout heart is necessary
to enable a man to descend to unknown depths of blackness from mouths
of fearsome pits, close proximity to which makes one's flesh creep. A
fracture of the rope or the falling of a piece of rock might give the
explorer his quietus. A somewhat sensational illustration of this kind
of peril is given in Griffin's " Studies in Literature." The eldest son of
George D. Prentice, one of the sweet singers of the New World, deter-
mined to fathom the maelstrom of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
A long rope of great strength was procured, and with a heavy fragment
of rock attached to it, like a stone at the end of a kellick rope, it was
let down and swung about to clear the course of loose stones. "Then
the young hero of the occasion, with several hats drawn over his head
to protect it as far as possible against any masses falling from above,
and with a light in his hand and the rope fastened around his body,
took his place over the awful pit, and directed the half-dozen men, who
held the end of the rope, to let him down into the Cimmerian gloom.
Occasionally masses of earth and rock whizzed past, but none struck
him. On his way, at a distance of 100 feet, the spray caused by a
cataract which rushed from the side down the abyss nearly extinguished
his light. One hundred and ninety feet down he stood on the bottom
of the pit. Returning to the mouth of the cave the pull was an

THE ELDER CAVE. 61

exceedingly severe one, and the rope, being ill-adjusted around his
body, gave him the most excruciating pain. But soon his pain was
forgotten in a new and dreadful peril. When he was 90 feet from the
mouth of the pit and 100 from the bottom, swaying and swinging in
mid air, he heard rapid and excited words of horror and alarm above,
and soon learned that the rope by which he was upheld had taken fire
from the friction of the timber over which it passed. Several moments
of awful suspense to those above, and still more awful to him below,
ensued. To them and to him a fatal and instant catastrophe seemed
inevitable. But the fire was extinguished with a bottle of water belonging
to himself, and then the party above, though almost exhausted by their
labour, succeeded in drawing him to the top. He was as calm and self-
possessed as upon his entrance into the pit ; but all of his companions,
overcome by fatigue, sank down upon the ground, and his friend, Pro-
fessor Wright, from over-exertion and excitement, fainted, and remained
for some time insensible. The young adventurer left his name carved
in the depths of the maelstrom — the name of the first and only person
that ever gazed upon its mysteries."

The keeper of the Jenolan Caves has had many experiences quite as
thrilling as that of the son of George D. Prentice, who, some time after
his descent into the maelstrom, fell in the conflict between the Northern
and the Southern States of the American Union. The curator has
hundreds of times wormed his way in the darkness through narrow
drives and descended black holes of unknown dimensions by means of
ropes and ladders. He has burrowed about like a rabbit, squeezing
through small apertures, occasionally having his clothes torn off him by
stalactites, and his knees wounded by miniature stalagmites, and his sides
abrased by the sharp corners of projecting rocks. When being lowered
by ropes he has run the risk of being brained by falling dlbris. For-
tunately, he has been preserved from serious injury, and is still as lithe
as a ferret. Christopher Columbus made wonderful maritime discoveries

62 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

in the Western hemisphere, and Captain Cook distinguished himself in
the Southern seas, but neither the bold Genoese nor the stout-hearted
Yorkshireman who thrice circumnavigated the globe could have thrown
more earnestness into his work than has been displayed by the sub-
terranean explorer at Jenolan, of whom it may be said, without prejudice
to his good name, that he has done more underground engineering than
any " road-and-bridge " member of the Legislative Assembly, performed
more turning and twisting than the most slippery Minister of the Crown
who has ever held a portfolio in New South Wales, and found secluded
chambers enough to permit every political or social Adullamite — "every
one that is in distress, and every one that is in debt, and every one that is
discontented" — to have a little cave of his own. As the visitor has to be
guided by the curator through labyrinthine passages as intricate as the
most puzzling mazes of Crete or Egypt, in order to see fairy grottoes,
crystal cities, jewel caskets, coral caves, and mystic chambers which he
has discovered, it may be here recorded that Mr. Jeremiah Wilson was
born in Ireland, near Enniskillen, that he was three years old when he
came to New South Wales, 43 years ago, and that his family have lived
continuously near Oberon. His first visit to Jenolan was with a party
of excursionists. He has ever since taken a romantic interest in the
caves, and from the time of his appointment as cave-keeper in 1867
until now his enthusiasm for exploratory work appears to have never
flagged.

CHAPTER X.

THE LUCAS CAVE.

THE Lucas Cave presents, in grand combination, almost every type
of subterranean beauty to be found in the natural limestone caves
of Jenolan. It rivals the Imperial Cave, which, however, is commonly
regarded as the more attractive, and displays a more dazzling magni-
ficence than that which characterises either the Arch or the Elder Cave.
The approach to the Lucas Cave is by a zigzag path from the valley,
leaving the high Pinnacle Rock to the left hand. The route is not diffi-
cult to agile people, but the road would be greatly improved by the
cutting of suitable steps. On gaining the top of the ridge the waterfall is
in front. To the left are rocks rising like a vast citadel to a height of
900 feet, at the summit of which are immense cliffs with deep gorges
between them. The distance is too great to enable the visitor to discern
their geological composition. Some of them seem as though they had
been shaped by human hands in the time of the Pharaohs. They remind
one of the enormous stones in the Great Pyramid of Egypt, or the
massive blocks in the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and the lime-
stone ridges suggest the mighty Nile which runs through similar ranges.
These elevated pinnacles and chasms are favourite resorts of marsupials.
Wallabies may be seen leaping from rock to rock and peering out
from the crevices. As they are not molested they afford visitors ample
opportunity to watch their graceful movements. The distance from the
top of the ridge to the mouth of the cave is about 100 yards, with a
fall of 60 feet. The descent in some places is so steep as to make
it difficult in dry seasons. In wet weather it is dangerous, the rocks
being covered with slippery clay.

66 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

The grand cavern, called the " Lucas Cave," was so named in
recognition of valuable services rendered by the Hon. John Lucas, M.L.C.,
who, from the 8th December 1864, until the dissolution of Parliament
on the 1 5th December 1869, represented in the Legislative Assembly
the electorate of Hartley, in which Jenolan is situated. He used his
influence to obtain the dedication of the reserve, and make provision
for the care and improvement of the caves. It was on his recom-
mendation that the present cave-keeper was appointed to the office of
curator. His foresight and activity are suitably commemorated by the
association of his name with objects of beauty, the fame of which is
now spread throughout the whole civilised world.

The opening to the Lucas Cave is very massive, and has a rather
steep fall of about 12 feet from the pathway to the floor of the cavern.
The entrance is about 30 feet wide and 25 feet high. The roof of the
portico is ornamented by rocks, which in shape and colour appear to be
in keeping with the gloomy-looking tunnel beyond. The overhanging
masses are honeycombed and convoluted in a remarkable manner, and
thin off to points like stalactites. The curved, tapering forms are in
groups of various dimensions, drooping in folds like those of loosely-
fitting garments. They represent not " formation," but the original
rock, out of the crevices of which the softer portions and earthy sub-
stances have been extracted by the ordinary operations of Nature. To
the left of the archway is a bulky convoluted pillar, rising from the
surrounding blocks and boulders to the uppermost part of the portico,
and to the right of the archway is a fine piece of stalagmite formation
about 10 feet in height. In the centre, immediately behind it, is a large
stalactite, and near by an extensive patch which looks like conglomerate
of lime and pebbles. On the outer walls are flowering shrubs and
creeping plants, including one which bears a strong resemblance to
the climbing fig (Ficus stipulata), which clothes with pleasant verdure
many any ugly wall in and about Sydney. The rock colouring is

THE LUCAS CAVE. 67

especially fine and beautifully shaded all the way from the broad day-
light to the beginning of the interior blackness, which is somewhat
sharply defined by a fringe of stalactites like the vertical bars of a
portcullis.

The immediate entrance to this cave is begrimed with dust. A few
yards onward there is an iron gate. The guide opens it and carefully
locks in his visitors, who light their candles and proceed by a down-
ward path. The descent is about 80 feet, partly by steps cut zigzag
fashion, and then on a sloping floor covered with debris. There is a
marked difference in the temperature, which is many degrees higher
than that of the outward air, and several degrees warmer than the
interior of the Arch and Nettle Caves. Small flies surprise the excur-
sionists by the suddenness of their appearance, and by the narrow
limits of their habitat. They live in the zone between daylight and
darkness. In the region of perpetual night the only signs of animated
nature are clusters of bats. The lighted candles serve to make the
surrounding darkness more pronounced.

Where the rays of light pierce through the night to its rocky
boundary indistinct, irregular lines can be seen like the ribs of a
skeleton, and it is easy to conjure up all sorts of uncanny shapes, from
hobgoblins to anthropophagi. The only sounds audible, or apparently
audible, are the quickened respiration and the throbbing of the heart.
When the voice is raised its effect is strange, and there is no responsive
echo. Darkness and silence dwell together. After spending a few
seconds — or minutes — in their company, the curator lights his mag-
nesium lamp, and the visitor finds himself in the precincts of " The
Cathedral," in the centre of which is a large stalagmite. The roof
rises to a height of about 300 feet, 70 feet loftier than Canterbury
Cathedral or Notre Dame, and within 100 feet of the altitude of St.
Paul's ! The walls are composed of limestone, terraced with tier upon
tier of stalagmites brought into bold relief by the gloom of innumerable

68 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

fantastically-shaped recesses. The preacher is Solitude ; his theme is
"Awful Stillness." Wandering- through the nave to the south, the
visitor walks over caves not yet opened, but the existence of which can
be proved by dropping- little pebbles into dark recesses and listening- to
the percussion on floors more or less remote. In an aisle of the Cathe-
dral leading- to the Music Hall, there is another grandly-arched cavern
with a steep descent into an abysmal depth. Here on the one side
are numerous stalactites, white as virgin snow, and on the other similarly-
shaped formations of carbonate of lime tinged with oxide of iron —
some of them so deeply as to present the colour of a boiled lobster's
crust. This is a favourite clustering place for bats, and numbers of
these membranous-winged quadrupeds may be seen snoozing together
on the roof.

THE MUSIC HALL.

By means of a wire ladder the excursionist descends still deeper into
the bowels of the earth. He then goes farther down by 18 or 20 steps,
cut in a clayey substance, to the vestibule of the Music Hall. Some of
the stalagmites are stained with clay. They have evidently been used
as steadying-posts by visitors who had previously placed their hands
on the red earth when working their way down the declivity where the
steps are now formed. The other stalagmites away out of reach are
white and glistening. The approach to the Music Hall, which was
discovered in the summer of 1860, is low. The passage to it is about
35 yards long. The floor is composed entirely of " formation," and at
the sides are numerous columns of different colours. The Music Hall
itself is about 12 feet in height, and runs out at the end to about
two feet. It is called the " Music Hall " because of its very fine acoustic
properties. A weak voice raised in song or oratory sounds full and
sonorous. This hall encloses a secret which architects of public buildings

THB SHAWL- CAVE.

THE SHAWL CAVE. 71

might covet, and the wonder is how such tonic effects are produced in
a chamber which presents so many obstructions to the waves of sound.
The floor contains a series of basins, curiously shaped by the water
which has been retained in them, until it has escaped by percolation to
form stalactites and stalagmites at some lower level. The edges of
these shallow reservoirs are sharply defined and gracefully moulded.
The formation of the walls is extremely delicate. Some of it is white
and some like yellow coral. The roof has been slightly defaced by
certain nineteenth century cads. In various places the " mark of the
beast," in lampblack, has been produced by holding candles near to
the ceiling and moving them about gradually, and the sooty hiero-
glyphics remain unto this day as an evidence of vanity and folly. The
floor, which was once like alabaster, is now soiled by the tramping of
feet. But, notwithstanding these defects, the Music Hall is still very
beautiful.

THE SHAWL CAVE.

Returning to the main passage, the tourist descends 41 steps,
and enters the Shawl Cave, a magnificent chamber, the roof of which
slopes at an angle of about 43 degrees. Into one side the " formation "
of carbonate of lime has floated like lava in volumes, and presents the
appearance of a suddenly congealed cascade. All the adjacent rocks
are covered with fine sheets of formation, white and coloured, and
hanging in graceful folds. On a far-off wall is more formation of a
similar kind, projecting from a perpendicular rock, and variegated with
superb tracery and colouring. The " shawls " hang parallel to each other.
They gradually increase from six inches to three feet in depth, in a
lateral length of from 12 to 15 feet, and at a distance appear as though
they had been placed on the wall by an artist ; but when the light is
put behind them it is seen that they are independent, slightly corrugated,

72 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

semi-transparent slabs of equal thickness and graduated widths. Of
this kind of formation, however, more magnificent specimens are to
be found in the Imperial Cave. In another part of this cavern are
large detached blocks of formation, which sparkle like diamonds all
over the lines of fracture. They are in wild disorder, as though they
had been hurled about in some Titanic conflict. The stalactites here
are of different character from those found in the other caves, being
composite and covered with ornamentation of various kinds. The lower
rocks, too, are rippled and chequered like wicker-work, and resemble
the formation of the Pink Terraces of Rotomahana, which were destroyed
by lava from a volcano in 1886. The roof is about 100 feet high, and
the sides of the cave are formed of massive ledges, over which a limey
substance has flowed in large masses and assumed elegant shapes
fringed with stalactites. Near this place is a hole which goes down to
the bottom of another cave. It has not yet been fully explored, but it
has been ascertained that its depth is about 120 feet, with a clear
pool at the bottom. A stone thrown down it is heard to strike two or
three times, and finally splash in the liquid crystal.

( 73

CHAPTER XL

THE EXHIBITION.

AT the western end of the Shawl Cave, and on its southern wall,
is a remarkable formation denominated "The Butcher's Shop."
Experts in the preparation of animal food have discovered in this strong-
resemblances to sides of beef, joints, and " small goods " covered with
a reticulum like the netted membrane sometimes thrown over meat
exposed for sale. One would hardly expect to find anything aesthetic
about such a display. As a realistic production, however, it will bear
favourable comparison with some so-called works of art which show
how much humour a jocular sculptor can cut into a piece of cold stone.
In its bearing upon gastronomy, exception might be taken to one or
two of the joints, which suggest veal that has been " spouted," and an
excess of adipose matter ; but upon the whole the " shop " may be
regarded as a not unpleasing representation of a chamber filled with
chilled meat.

Leaving the unromantic stall and ascending seven steps under a
roof about 90 feet high, the cave-walker ambulates towards the Exhibi-
tion, which is approached by 12 wooden steps, leaving- to the right a
beautiful formation like a frozen waterfall of from 20 to 25 feet. These
steps have pendant from them fungi of the most delicate kind, some
resembling eider-down, hanging in flossy masses from underneath the
cross pieces. This fungoid growth affords evidence of dampness
destructive to the timber, which ought to be replaced by more durable
material. It is satisfactory to know that specifications have been
prepared and tenders forwarded to the Department for this work. It
will be more satisfactory to learn that prompt action has been taken in

D 2

74 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

regard to them, and that they have not been simply docketed and
smothered in some obscure pigeon-hole.

The road to The Exhibition is rather rough, there being large masses
of angular rocks on either side, and the pathway itself is somewhat
rugged. The entrance to the Bride's Cave is to be seen down a rocky
declivity of about 30 feet. The gallery leading to this chamber is only
about 12 inches by 18 inches. The cave itself is about six feet high, and
hung around with drapery of alabaster. The ceiling is of coral forma-
tion, and the floor pure white. Farther on to the left is another chamber,
the entrance to which is pretty, but difficult of access. It is from
6 inches to 10 feet high. There is beautiful formation in one part from
the ceiling to the floor. Some of it is like straws, as clear as glass, and
a portion of the floor sparkles as though it were set with diamonds.

The Exhibition is of large proportions, being about 250 feet each
way, but its height ranges only from 5 to 20 feet. Its floor is reached
by nine steps. From the centre of the Exhibition the entrance to the
Bride's Chamber is on the right. To the left is a broken column,
which at one time was sound from the floor to the roof, but which has
been fractured apparently by the sinking of the rock on which the
stalagmitic portion rests. The separation is slight, and there is a slight
departure from the right line.

THE BROKEN COLUMN.

To the eastward are several interesting stalactites. One repre-
sents a black fellow's " nulla-nulla," another a lady and child, another
the palm of a hand blackened by candle smoke. On the south side
is a spacious platform like the stage of a theatre — the front, about
40 feet wide, is supported by two columns. The height is about
1 8 feet, and across the top is a curtain of formation representing
drapery gracefully arranged, with a fringe of little sparkling stalactites.
On each side of this is a smaller entrance similarly adorned and as

THE BROKEN COLUMN.

THE JEWEL CASKET. 77

exquisitely beautiful. The floor of the stage is about 15 feet deep, and
the curved ceiling1 about 40 feet from the drop curtain to the floor.
This is as it appears at a distance. On nearer approach it is perceived
that the pillars are uneven, and marked with formations of various
kinds. That which seemed like a stage becomes an irregular cavern,
with immense rocks lying about in great disorder. When the Exhibition
is illuminated by the magnesium light, some beautiful red and white
stalactites are disclosed, glittering like dewdrops in the sunlight, and
also some exceedingly pretty stalagmites. This chamber was called
"The Exhibition" on account of the variety of its specimens. It
contains stalactites and stalagmites, white and coloured — variegated
shawls — sombre marble and sparkling rocks, clusters of formation, and
elephantine masses of carbonate of lime in shapes which prove how
much more subtle than professors of art is Nature herself. At the
south end a cave slopes down, and there are boulders and debris
stained with iron, as well as other indications of great soakage and
percolation.

THE JEWEL CASKET.

Eastward, about 40 feet, is the "Jewel Casket." On the way to it
are openings to numerous unexplored caves. Affixed to an immense
block of limestone are some 30 or 40 shawl-pattern formations of
various sizes, which give forth musical sounds when struck with a
hard substance, and which, with a little practice, could be played upon
like a mammoth harmonicon. En route from the Exhibition to the
Jewel Casket, although the passage has not been so dry for twenty
years, the rocks are covered with moisture, and the lime can be scraped
off like soft soap. From the Exhibition there is a descent eastward
of about IOO feet along the gallery, which is somewhat narrow, but the
roof of which is covered with pretty stalactites. Near the entrance to
the Casket is a remarkable reticulated rock. The descent is by 23

78 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

steps east, and then proceeding north about five yards the Jewel
Casket is reached.

The Jewel Casket is at the end of a very remarkable cave. Its
ceiling is marvellously beautiful. The walls and ridges on each side
sparkle like gems of the first water. Some of the rocks are covered
with virgin white, and some are delicately coloured. The entrance to
the Casket itself is very small, being only about 15 inches by 8. Its
upper portion is of glistening rich brown, and slopes in varied graceful
folds down to the bed rock. When the magnesium light reveals the
splendour of the interior it is seen that the Casket stretches away to
a considerable distance; the floor is covered with white and amber
brilliants and snowy coruscating flakes of dazzling purity. Here are
clusters of cave diamonds, opals, and pearls, with delicate fawn-coloured
jewels scattered about promiscuously. Rich and rare are the gems
this Casket contains, and exclamations of delight are evoked when their
charms burst upon the view like a vision of fairyland. Neither tongue
nor pen, nor photographic art nor pencil-sketch, can ever do full justice
to this natural treasury of beautiful things.

JUDGE WINDEYER'S COUCH.

Leaving the Jewel Casket, the visitor proceeds in a northward
direction along a passage, from the Exhibition to "The Hall to the
Bridge." There is an ascent of 13 steps west, and then the way
to the Hall is under a low archway, through which it is necessary to
proceed on hands and knees. Through this archway is a little cavern,
something like the Jewel Casket, with a floor of diamond drift and
delicate coral. At the top of the steps the Hall runs north-west. Then
the way lies down a gradual slope of rough rocks to the head of
1 8 steps, with a wire rope on the right hand side. At the top of
the steps near to the Jewel Casket and in the Hall to the Bridge is
a piece of formation like an upholstered sofa, which has been named

THE UNDERGROUND BRIDGE.

JUDGE WINDEYERS COUCH. 81

"Judge Windeyer's Couch," because it is said that the learned Judge
sat on it when he visited the caves. Its surface is of a rich reddish
brown, and may have suggested the celebrated woolsack which, in the
days of "good Queen Bess," was introduced as the Lord Chancellor's
seat in commemoration of the Act to prevent the exportation of wool
which was at that time as important an element in England's prosperity
as it is at present to the well-being of Australia. In the Hall beautiful
formation is seen. A large rock, with shawl-pattern appendages
and other ornamentation, is specially attractive. Another represents
a miniature Niagara, done in stone. The features are varied by
splendid stalactites, from pure white to rich brown. The formation on
the wall is like frozen fountains. The bottom consists of huge rocks,
angular and rugged, with immense flags of limestone. About 10 yards
from the Bridge is " Touch-me-not " corner, with a grotto quite out of
reach, but of the interior of which, when the light is flashed into it, a
splendid view can be obtained. The stalactites are perfectly shaped
and beautifully pure. Some of them are as white as snow, some are
opaline, and others are tinged with mineral colours. The floor has
many stalagmites and sparkling formations like a jewelled carpet, which
falls from the entrance a little distance down the wall in graceful brown
folds fringed with russet stalactites. Here the Hall is very spacious,
being about 120 feet across, and the roof rises from 10 to 50 feet. It
has on it some of the most beautiful stalactites in the caves, many of
them being of unsullied white. To the left, high up on the side of the
Hall, is a piece of pure lime formation like a lace shawl, the apparent
delicate network of which is an object of special interest, if not of envy,
to the fair sex.

THE UNDERGROUND BRIDGE.

The Underground Bridge is not a brilliant achievement in engineer-
ing, but seems to be well constructed and safe, which is an important

82 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

consideration ; for, although it is so many hundred feet below the
summit of the mountain, and yet down so low as to be on the same level
as the foundations of the Cave House in the adjacent valley, it spans a
black yawning gulf, at the extremity of which, 50 feet still farther down,
is a clear pool of water 20 feet deep ! The Bridge is about 42 feet
long. It has wire girders and uprights, with stanchions and handrails,
and a wooden deck, which, by-the-bye, needs some repair, for several
of the planks are broken. The passage is made increasingly secure by
galvanised wire netting stretched along the lower part of the Bridge on
both sides. The rocks which form the boundary of the immense chasm
spanned by the Bridge are of enormous size, and the scene from this
point is remarkable for sublimity rather than for what is commonly
called beauty. Near the roof is an immense recess, filled with huge
stalactites and mammoth pieces of formation, which have floated over
the bottom and formed graceful ornamentation for the cavern below.
And so the process is repeated from the top of the immense chamber,
near the roof, down to the rugged walls immediately round the Bridge.
Even on the rocks which surround the abyss similar wondrous decorations
are lavishly bestowed. The clear-headed and sure-footed guide descends
from one jutting rock to another and yet another, until he approaches
a row of remarkable stalactites which can be just discerned through the
gloom. This group is called "The Piano/' because of the resonant
qualities of its separate parts. Each stalactite gives out a note. The
notes vary in quality and pitch, but most of them are imperfect. As
stalactites they are very fine, but as melodious instruments they are
frauds. They refuse to harmonise, and their music is about as entrancing
as that of a discordant "upright grand," mounted on one leg and
played with a handle.

CHAPTER XII.

THE LURLINE CAVE.

SEVENTY or eighty yards from the Underground Bridge is the
Lurline Cave. The course is south-west, through a curved gallery
with 53 steps in different flights, and two archways — one like loveliness
when "adorned the most," and the other formed by an ornate mass
of stalactites.

The Lurline Cave is justly regarded as one of the most charming
chambers in the group. The coup d'ceil is magnificent. It does not
need any close examination to find that it has some distinctive features
which show that, although there is no aqueous accommodation for the
queen of the water nymphs, whose name it bears, the appellation of
this portion of the Lucas Cave cannot, etymologically at least, be
considered as a lucus a non lucendo. There are the " coral bowers " and
cells to which Rudolph was transported ; the " halls of liquid crystal,
where the water lilies bloom ; " there is the cool grot in which the Water
Queen dwelt ; there is the rock on which she sat " when all was silent
save the murmur of the lone wave, and the nightingale that in sadness
to the moon telleth her lovelorn tale ; " there is Rhineberg's magic
cave, with its " wedges of gold from the upper air ; " there are the
distant recesses to which Lurline sent the gnome while she restored to
life her mortal affinity. With such surroundings it is easy to reproduce,
link by link, the rosy chain which enthralled the German Count and
" The Daughter of the Wave and Air."

84 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

Or, to take the more rollicking- version by " Thomas Ingoldsby,
Esq." Here is " a grand stalactite hall," like that which rose above and
about the impecunious " Sir Rupert the Fearless," when he followed to
the bottom of the Rhine the dame whose —

" Pretty pink silken hose cover'd ankles and toes ;
In other respects she was scanty of clothes ;
For so says tradition, both written and oral,
Her one garment was loop'd up with bunches of coral."

Where —

" Scores of young women diving and swimming,

* * * *

All slightly accoutred in gauzes and lawns,
Came floating about him like so many prawns,"

and where their queen, Lurline, lost her heart and her plate, and,
according to the same reverend author, her cajoler, whose disastrous
fate inspired the moral —

" Don't fancy odd fishes ! Don't prig silver dishes !
And to sum up the whole in the shortest phrase I know,
Beware of the Rhine, and take care of the Rhino ! "

The floor is covered with hemispherical mounds or domes for the
naiads to recline on. The outer wall is composed of formations ranged
in festoons of stalactites — not smooth and transparent, but opaque
white, and marked with all the wonderful elaboration which characterises
zoophytic work in the coral reefs of the Southern seas. This cave
contains several sub-caves, each of which has special charms, and the
turning of some of the arches is marvellously graceful. One of the
recesses is filled with stalactites which look like groups of seaweed.
The coral is russet and cream colour and saffron, and there are honey-
combed rocks varying in shade from vandyck brown to chrome yellow.
Some of the stalactites in the interior sub-caves are transparent.
Whichever way the eye is turned it encounters submarine grottoes of
fantastic shape, decorated with imitations of algae. If it were only at
the bottom of the Rhine instead of thousands of feet above sea-level, it

THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE. 85

would seem natural as well as beautiful, but here its existence is simply
a wonder, and the sensation produced is fairly described by the last
word in the marriage service of the Church of England. Still, " when
Mother Fancy rocks the wayward brain," it is easy to associate with it
denizens of the deep, and people it with naiads, or with Undines, who
were supposed to marry human beings, and, in certain conditions, become
endowed with human souls. The cave is about 15 feet high, and from
15 to 20 feet broad. Some of the coralline ledges at the sides are
remarkably handsome, and many of the stalactites are from six to eight
inches in diameter. The cavern is elegant in its proportions, highly
favoured in regard to stalactite growth, graceful in contour, and rich
in colouring.

THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE.

About 15 yards north-west from the Lurline Cave is the Fossil
Bone Cave. To reach this cavern it is necessary to ascend 12
steps. It is scarcely less beautiful than the Lurline Cave. The lime
formation represents pensile boughs of weeping-willow, garlands of
flowers, and stalactites covered with all kinds of floral decorations.
Here also are some fine " shawl " formations hanging from the rocks.
One of them is called "The Gong," because it produces a sonorous
note similar to that of the Chinese instrument which is superseding the
dinner-bell, and challenging its title to be regarded as " the tocsin of
the soul." On a sloping side of the floor are some forms distinctive in
shape and colour, and resembling a lot of small potatoes shot down
indiscriminately. The wonder is how in such a place they could have
been so formed and isolated. Here is an oblique cavern, at the bottom
of which a bone of some large animal lies embedded in the limestone
formation like a type in a matrix. At one time it was doubted whether
this, which appeared to be bone, was really an osseous substance, but

86 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

subsequent examinations have proved that it is bone. A fracture of the
rock has shown that the outer part of the bone is compact, and the
inner part cellular. It is beautifully white, and, as the formation about
is brownish, the phosphate can be readily distinguished from the
carbonate of lime. On the roof above the Fossil Bone Cave is a rare
stalactite about 20 feet in length, and by the side of the tomb of the
unknown animal — which may have been anything from a diprotodon to
a dingo — is a splendid monumental stalagmite. The cave is about
50 feet high, and 50 feet in length and breadth. The roof is of a light
cream colour, and has brown stalactites of perfect shape. The side
rocks are magnificently draped. Numerous splendid columns like white
marble, and sheets of stalactitic growth, excite wonder and admiration.

THE SNOWBALL CAVE.

About 40 yards through a hall, running north-east of the Fossil Bone
Cave, is the Snowball Cave, which is about 9 feet high, 25 or 30 feet
long, and from 6 to 10 or 12 feet wide. It runs north-north-east. Its
distinctive feature is that its roof and a portion of its walls are covered
with little white masses like snowballs. Some of the patches of
carbonate of lime stick to the walls in isolated discs, and others are
massed as though snowballs had been thrown at a mark, and a number
of them had stuck close together. Some of the stalactites in this
chamber have been formed by the upward pressure of water, and
assume many tortuous shapes. An interesting feature of this portion of
the caves is the existence of a number of stalactites which show how
readily vibration is communicated from one to another. The visitor
puts his finger to the end of a stalactite, and when an adjacent one
is struck so as to make it sound, it is perceptible that the vibration of
the sounding stalactite is communicated to its silent neighbour.

THE WALLABY BONE CAVE, 87

There is one more chamber to visit in the Lucas Cave. To reach
it the visitor ascends four steps, and travels north-west about 14 yards
to the head of a wire ladder, which he descends to a place directly
underneath the Snowball Cave, and then he goes down the steps into
the Wallaby Bone Cave, over the entrance to which is a very pretty
cluster of stalagmites, from 6 inches to 18 inches long, and varying
from the thickness of a straw to three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
The floor is covered with wallaby bones, and in the immediate vicinity
are quantities of osseous breccia.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE BONE CAVES.

THE Bone Caves are intensely interesting-, and a considerable
amount of attention has been paid to them by scientists. In
1867, Professor Owen, when writing- to the Colonial Secretary, said that
the natural remains obtained from the limestone caves of Wellington
Valley in 1832, "revealed the important and sugg-estive fact that the
marsupial type of structure prevailed in the ancient and extinct as well
as in the existing- quadrupeds of Australia." Seventeen years ago there
was an expedition to the Wellington Valley Bone Caves. Parliament
voted £200 for the purpose, and an investigation was made by Mr.
Gerard Krefft, who at that time was curator of the Australian Museum,
and Dr. Thompson. They obtained many valuable and rare specimens,
some of which were said to be quite new to science, consisting of the
remains of mammals, birds, and reptiles. The largest bones and teeth
discovered were of a size equal to those of a full-grown elephant.
They were remains of diprotodons and nototheriums, gigantic marsupials
now extinct.

The Wellington Valley Caves were discovered by Sir Thomas
Mitchell more than 50 years ago. From them no fewer than 2,100
specimens of fossil remains were presented to the British Museum.
When the result of the exploration was forwarded to Professor Owen, he
said that the conclusion was very much what might have been naturally
looked for, and that the only disappointment he felt was the absence of
human remains and works. Ten years ago an attempt was made to
obtain the co-operation of the neighbouring colonies in the work ot
thoroughly exploring the caves of the western and southern districts and

THE BONE CAVES. 89

Australian rivers. The proposition originated with the Agent-General
for New South Wales, Professor Owen, and Sir George Macleay, but
the adjacent colonies did not see their way to participate, whereupon our
Cabinet decided to do the work without extraneous aid, and £600 was
voted by Parliament for the service of 1882. At an earlier stage
Professor Liversidge had written to the Colonial Secretary, transmitting
the following extract from a letter he had received from Professor
Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., of Owens College, Manchester : — " Would
the Government of New South Wales undertake the systematic explora-
tion of the wonderful caves which are in the colony, and which certainly
ought to be explored ? Not only is there a certainty of adding to the
great marsupials which have been obtained, but there is a great chance
of finding proof that man was living at the same time as the extinct
animals, as he has already been found in Europe and Asia. I should
expect to find a very low form of the aborigine. Such an inquiry would
be of a very great interest to us here in England, who are digging at
the caves all over Europe, and the duplication which would be obtained
would enable the trustees of the Australian Museum to increase their
collections largely by exchanges."

The minutes of the meetings of the trustees of the Australian
Museum show that in 1881 a committee, consisting of Dr. Cox, Mr.
Wilkinson, and Professor Liversidge, was appointed for the manage-
ment of the exploration of caves and rivers, and it was decided that
the following caves should, if possible, be examined in the order as
written : — Wellington Caves, Cowra, or Belubula Caves, Abercrombie,
Wollombi, Fish River (now Jenolan), Wombean, Wallerawang, Cargo,
Yarrangobilly, Murrumbidgee, Kempsey. The Coodradigbee caves were
also included, and from them was taken a great quantity of bones of
small animals, with a number of jaw, thigh, hip, and shin bones of some
animals of the kangaroo family. The smaller bones were those of mice,
bats, birds, and marsupials. In the Wellington breccia cave a shaft

go THE JENOLAN CAVES.

was sunk, and on the 2Oth September, 1881, Mr. E. P. Ramsay, curator
of the Museum, reported, among- other things, the following : — " A great
number of interesting- bones have already been obtained from this
shaft, but the mass of 35 feet of bone breccia which we passed through
shows that we have here a larg-e field for exploration. From this
shaft we have obtained bones of the following animals, besides a great
number of small bones yet undetermined — Diprotodon, macropus, palor-
chestes, sthenurus, procoptodon, protemnodon, halmaturus, thylacinus,
bettongia, sarcophilus, phascolomys, dasyurus, phalangista, pteropus (?),
bats, rodents (mus), a few lizards' bones, and a few vertebrae of lizards
and snakes."

Other caves also were explored, but it was found that the bones
obtained from them were of recent origin. It is a question whether it
would not be desirable to make still further investigations. The osseous
breccia — where it exists — appears to be similar in all the caves.
There are rifts and pits and chambers where animals have retired to
die, and where from time to time their bones have been formed into
cement with the liquefied rock, which in process of time has again
hardened and become a solid compound of bone and stone.

In the southern room on the first floor of the Sydney Museum is a
large collection of bones from the Wellington and other caves. These
remains have been collected during the last four or five years under
the direction of Mr. Ramsay, the curator. They are chiefly the bones
of marsupials. There are not among- them any fossil remains which
indicate the presence of man in Australia at any very remote period.
Some of the principal bones are those of extinct marsupials, and are
important from a scientific point of view. They include bones of the
following- animals (species extant) found in the Wellington caves : — The
thylacinus (Tasmanian tiger), sarcophilus (Tasmanian devil), mastacomys
(a rodent), hapalotis albipes, and mus lineatus (New South Wales).
Other important fossil remains in the Museum are those of the thyla-

THE BONE CAVES. 91

coleo (two species), diprotodon, procoptodon, protemnodon, palorchestes,
macropus titan, nototherium, phascolomys. There are not in the
Sydney Museum any bones from the Jenolan Caves — which, however,
contain many interesting1 remains of the animal world, — because the
search for them would involve the destruction of attractive features. For
these reasons attention was given to the Wellington Caves, whose
beauties were not likely to receive further disfiguration than they have
already suffered.

From the Wallaby Bone Cave the visitor returns to the Fossil Bone
Cave, and ascends a wire ladder which is about to be replaced by an
iron staircase. As he mounts this wire-rope ladder, which is 76 feet
long and not " stayed," he feels the necessity for some better means
of communication. From the top to the Cathedral is about 25 yards
south-east. A large portion of the cave north-west from this point has

•

not been explored. There are five or six different branches, one of
which runs out to daylight at a small aperture (14 inches by 18 inches)
over the rise of the water below the Grand Archway and the Devil's
Coach-house. The distance from here through the Cathedral to the
entrance gate is about 70 yards, up two flights of steps. There is a
gradual ascent to the steps, and the final flight of 41 brings the excur-
sionist to the gate and to the sunshine. He will be glad to rest awhile
before entering the Imperial Cave, which is the grandest of them all.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE IMPERIAL CAVE.

THE Imperial Cave is graced with myriads of lovely objects. Dark-
ness brooded over them for ages, as drip by drip and atom by
atom they were formed into things that charm and shine in chambers
whose walls are " clad in the beauty of a thousand stars." There are
underground gullies terrible enough to be the home of Apollyon, with
legions of goblins ; and strangely radiant elfin palaces where Titania
might be supposed to reign, and Robin Goodfellow carry on his frolic-
some pranks. In the year 1879, when the cave-keeper (Mr. Wilson)
discovered this magnificent series of caverns, he was lowered down a
distance of 90 feet through Egyptian darkness. As this mode of access
was neither cheerful nor easy, nor free from danger, he determined, if
possible, to find a less inconvenient and perilous approach to the cave.
After two years of patient investigation he accomplished his heart's
desire. The orifice which has been converted into the present entrance
was at first, for a distance of 19 feet, only 14 inches by 15 inches, but the
curator worked his way through it, caterpillar fashion, with a light in one
hand and a hammer in the other, knocking off the rough formation, and
widening the aperture from time to time until he made communication
free from difficulty. Throughout this splendid cave there are many
places where similar efforts, accomplished with equal success, have
added largely to the safety and convenience of visitors, who reap the
fruits of the heroic work performed by the brave explorer, whose
best years have been spent in rendering accessible to the public the
marvellous beauties of the Jenolan Caves.

THE WOOL SHED. 93

From the accommodation house the way to the Imperial Cave is
through the Grand Arch, on the northern side of which, at the eastern
end, are two wooden staircases. The first springs from the floor of the
arch amidst immense blocks of stone irregularly disposed. It has 21
steps, and a handrail on each side. This terminates at the summit of
a pile of limestone rocks, the uppermost of which forms a platform
guarded by iron stanchions and a galvanised wire rope. From this
platform there is another flight of 21 steps to the portico of the cave—
a plain archway, the floor of which is 50 feet higher than the floor of the
cave-house. The entrance is guarded by a light iron gate.

THE WOOL SHED AND THE GRAVEL PITS.

About 35 yards from the entrance to the Imperial Cave, northward,
and thence about 30 yards east, is "The Wool Shed." The approach
to it is narrow and low. In some places it has been formed by blasting,
and in others by excavation through a red, sandy substance underneath
the limestone. It widens as the Wool Shed is approached. In the floor
is a hole going down to the former entrance to the cave, now closed
by a stone wall. The Wool Shed is about 20 feet wide, 15 feet high,
and 70 feet long. The formation over a large part of the walls and
roof resembles the fleeces of sheep, hanging about and spreading over
the shelving rocks in all directions. There is one pelt which suggests
the " Golden Fleece " torn by Jason from the tree trunk in the poison
wood guarded by the huge serpent spangled with bronze and gold, and
which was soothed to slumber by the magic song of Orpheus. The
surroundings are as strange as those of the lonely cave where dwelt
Cheiron the Centaur, who taught the leader of the Argonauts " to wrestle
and to box, and to hunt, and to play upou the harp." But perhaps,
after all, it may be only an indifferent limestone representation of a

£ 2

94 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

fellmongering establishment. The woolly skins and scraps are mirrored
on the retina. The impressions produced by the sense of vision depend
not upon the optic nerve, but upon the imagination. Simply as a
spectacle, however, the Wool Shed is curious and entertaining. The
blocks of stone near to the base are for the most part plain, and the
floor is broken and rugged.

Descending 12 steps, and passing through a tunnel five feet six inches
by two feet, the visitor stands at the junction of the right and the left
hand branches of the cave. Here formerly the passage was only
14 inches by 15 inches. The larger opening was made by blasting1, and
the material blown from the solid rock has been packed away in
recesses at the side of the hall, which, at the junction of the two
branches, widens out considerably, but does not present any specially
interesting features. The right hand branch runs north-west, and the
left hand branch runs south-west. Taking the south-west branch first,
after travelling- about 10 yards the visitor comes to "The Gravel Pits,"
which he reaches by ascending- a mound with 13 steps. There are
two pits of gravel. One of them is about 12 feet deep and the other
about 15 feet. In the rocks overhead are bones distinctly visible,
owing to the earthy matter having- fallen away from them. Some of
these bones are large. There are shelving rocks about six feet from
the floor. The sides of one of the Gravel Pits are oblique, but the other
pit, which is railed off, is round and perpendicular. It could hardly
have been more symmetrical had it been made by a professional well-
sinker. This spot, although perhaps uninteresting to a mere sightseer,
cannot fail to attract the attention of g-eologists. Ascending two flights
of stairs with 14 steps each, the excursionist attains a height of about 40
feet above the Gravel Pits in a north-westerly direction. Between the two
flights of steps the ground is sloping, and the walls hold a considerable
portion of drift, the pebbles of which are large and tinged with oxide
of iron. This passage leads to the Margherita Cave, and from it a

THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO.

THE ARCHITECTS STUDIO. 97

tunnel branches off towards the "Architect's Studio." This is a very
pretty vestibule, about 30 yards in length, and bearing- south-east. At
first it rises several feet by steps, and later on there is a descent of five
steps throug-h masses of stalactites, and past a beautiful pillar.

THE ARCHITECT'S STUDIO.

The height of the "Studio" is about 18 feet. This atelier is a
marvel of beauty. There are in it two temples of the most lovely kind.
Large masses of splendid stalactites hang- from the roof. On the walls
are columns profusely decorated with coral and tracery and bosses, and
carvings which could be imitated only by the most cunning workmanship.
Near the centre is a large stalactitic mass, most graceful in shape, with
numerous appendages ; and underneath appear several stalagmites.
Some of them have been partially destroyed, but one, which touches
the enormous mass of stalactites above, remains intact. Near to this is
a splendid column, richly embellished. The walls are profusely adorned
with elaborate configurations, which are supposed to represent architec-
tural "studies," from which the cave derives its name. Most of the
formation is white or light grey; but in some of the recesses there is
rich colouring. Each chamber has its own distinctive attractions, and
contains many objects which challenge special admiration. Massive
grandeur is set off with the most delicate and fragile beauty. Stalag-
mites are not numerous here, but one about eight feet in height, and
two inches in diameter at the base, tapers off gradually towards the
roof until it becomes as attenuated as the thin end of a fishing-rod.
The stalactitic formation hangs in ponderous grotesquely-shaped con-
cretions, some of which extend from the roof nearly to the floor, and
many of the stalactites which decorate the stalactitic formation are
perfect in shape and purity. The choicest portions of the Architect's
Studio are fenced off with galvanised wire rope on iron standards.

98 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

THE BONE CAVE.

Ascending a flight of 10 steps out of the Architect's Studio the
course is south-west about 30 yards to the Bone Cave. The way is
difficult, a portion of the journey having to be performed on hands and
knees. The cave, which runs north and south, is about 10 feet high,
150 feet long, "and from 5 to 30 feet wide. In the middle of it is a
passage only partially explored. The Bone Cave is guarded by iron
rods and wire netting. Bunches of stalactites hang from the roof, and
the floor is strewn with bones, covered with a thick coating of lime
formation. There are also bones embedded in the floor. Some of the
formations on the floor are very peculiar, consisting of small curiously-
shaped pieces fitted together at remarkable angles, and yet capable of
being taken to pieces like triplicate kernels pressed together in one
nutshell. A large proportion of the stalactites are quite transparent and
decorated with small sharp points, and some formations among the coral
are as lovely as fine marine mosses, which they resemble. In the midst
are numerous unexplored recesses, which, when the light penetrates, are
seen to hold hundreds of fine stalactites, crystal and opaque. The objects
of beauty in the Bone Cave retain their colour, because they cannot be
handled by that class of visitors who fancy that they can see only with
their fingers. On the walls are specimens of delicate fretwork, and on
the floor as well as on the top of rocky ledges stalagmites lavishly
ornamented. Although not as grand as the Architect's Studio, this is a
very fine cave, and additional interest attaches to it in consequence of
the fossil bones it contains. The adjacent chambers cannot be explored
without destroying some of the well-known beauties of the cavern.

( 99 )

CHAPTER XV.

THE MARGHERITA CAVE.

FROM the Bone Cave to the Margherita Cave is about 130 yards,
travelling- north-east to the top of the first 10 steps, then east
into the Architect's Studio, and then north about 30 yards. The
Margherita Cave varies from 10 to 20 feet in height, and is from 10 to
15 feet wide. It is remarkable chiefly for the magnitude and beauty
of its stalactitic formation, the best portions of which are fenced off with
iron rods and wire netting. The formations are nearly all of the same
general character. Although there are many changes in detail, the
typical pattern is observed everywhere in the midst of infinite variety,
just as in a fugue choice snatches of melody sound forth in the clear
treble, skip away in the mellow tenor, roll forth in the deep bass, and
then dart about Will-o'-the-wisp-like all through the composition, without
ever getting out of harmony. It is a grand chamber full of stately con-
cords and charming effects of light and shade.

Hard by is another chamber with masses of beautiful stalactites, and,
on a pinnacle, a figure appears about the height of the Venus de Medici,
robed in drapery of white, slightly suggestive of the binary tneory of
feminine attire, and with a peculiar curvature denominated the "Grecian
bend." The bend is unmistakeable. There is just a suspicion of the
"divided skirt," and the attitude is easy and graceful, the Grecian bend
notwithstanding. The upper part of the body from the waist has no
" boddice aptly laced," but becomes gradually mixed indiscriminately
with other kinds of beauty, which, although they may " harmony of shape
express," do not in the sense indicated by Prior become " fine by degrees

100 THE JE 'NOLAN CA VES.

and beautifully less." Admirers of classic beauty may be inclined to
regard the incompleteness of the figure as "fine by defect and delicately
weak." There are some stalagmites on the sloping- bank of formation,
which runs down to the wire netting- and is finished off at each extremity
by two massive stalactitic pillars.

The Margherita Cave received its name in honour of the wife of
Lieut.-Colonel Cracknell, Superintendent of Telegraphs. Col. Cracknell
visited the caves in 1880, and on the 22nd July illuminated this and some
other portions with the electric light. The Margherita was the first of
the underground chambers in which flashed its brilliant rays.

In the absence of facilities for generating- electricity by means of
the now well-known dynamo machine, Colonel Cracknell had recourse
to primary batteries, and adopted the form known as the Maynooth or
Callan cell, the elements of which were cast iron and zinc in solutions
of nitric and sulphuric acid.

It was not an easy task to unload and carry up the iron cell battery
and the apparatus into the cave, as each set of six cells weighed c)6Ibs.
The whole, together with the acids and the electric light apparatus,
exceeded 15 cwts. The battery, however, was soon made ready, and to
the admiration of all present Cave Margherita was illuminated by the
electric light. A photographic apparatus was then placed in position,
the plates were exposed, and in 15 minutes the first negatives were
produced, and said to be all that could be desired.

It is satisfactory to learn that arrangements are almost complete for
the permanent lighting of the caves by electricity. Lieutenant-Colonel
Cracknell proposes to illuminate them in sections, containing each, say,
25 incandescent lamps, and when one section has been thoroughly
explored the lamps therein will be cut off and those in the next section
brought into operation, and so on until the whole of the interior has
been examined. It is intended that Swan's incandescent lamp of 2O-candle
power shall be used.

THE MARGHER1TA CAVE. 101

The electricity is to be generated by a small Edison dynamo, with
which accumulators of the Elwell-Parker type will be kept charged, so
that at all times there will be a supply available for lighting the lamps.
It has not yet been determined whether to use steam or water power,
but it is thought likely that sufficient of the latter may be secured
in the vicinity of the caves to work a turbine, and thus produce the
necessary energy.

( 102 )

CHAPTER XVI.

THE HELENA CAVE.

E~A.VING the Margherita Cave by a descent of five steps, and
travelling- north-west about ten yards through a festooned hall, the
Helena Cave opens to view. It was named in 1880. Helena is the
prenomen of Mrs. Hart, whose husband accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel
Cracknell on his visit to the caves, and took photographs of some of
the chambers, when for the first time they were illuminated by electricity.
Mr. Hart was connected with the photographic branch of the Govern-
ment Printing Office. The pictures then produced, although large and
fairly good, are not equal to some more recent photographs taken when
the chambers were illuminated by the magnesium light.

The Helena Cave is about 60 yards long, 15 to 20 feet high, and
varies in width from 20 to 50 feet. For stalactitic splendour it will bear
comparison with the most magnificent of the caves. There are columns
like the trunks of stately trees, covered with rough formation resembling
coarse bark. Coralline masses droop laden with myriads of cells. In
the recesses are stalactites perfect in shape— crystal, and alabaster set
off by others coloured like ferruginous sandstone. Lovely grottoes and
decorated rock ledges abound. In one or two instances joined stalactites
and stalagmites form pillars with bunches of formation all about them
like stony efflorescence. Several steps lead into a recess, the floor of
which contains basins made by the action of water.

The formation throughout is remarkable for its lavish ornamentation
and purity. Among the grand cornices is one weighing about half a ton,

THE HELENA CAVE.

THE HELENA CAVE. 105

formed in such a manner as to resemble great bunches of grapes, like
those brought from Eschol by the Hebrew spies to illustrate their report
on "the promised land." In other parts are small clusters like vine
produce growing- en espalier. It seems as though in these subterranean
sunless bowers nature had by some subtle process striven to reproduce
in stone the fruits and flowers of the sunned surface, clothing them in
pure white and sombre grey, and endowing them with charms as sweet
and mutely eloquent as the fragrance of the Cestrum nocturnum, or the
cold beauty of a night cactus bloom which caresses the moonbeams or
wantons in the stellar light.

This place, full of enchanted grottoes and elfin palaces, gives, per-
haps, the best illustration of the plan, so uniform and yet so diverse, on
which these limestone mountains have been honeycombed into galleries,
" high overarch'd with echoing walks between," and caverns large and
small, from cathedral spaciousness to the minimised dimensions of the
tiniest chamber in the finest coralline structure. Their infinite gradation
may be fairly described by certain well-known lines, and substituting
the word " caves " for the name of the most lively insects of the genus

pulex —

Big caves have little caves

And lesser caves about 'em ;
These caves have other caves,

And so ad infinitum.

The most remarkable feature hereabouts is a piece of formation
called " The Madonna." It is supposed to represent a woman carrying
an infant, which rests on her right arm. The left arm hangs loosely by
her side, and the right knee is bent as in the act of walking. The
head bears less resemblance to that of one of the favourite creations
of the Old Masters than it does to the anterior part of a Russian bear.
A pyramidal mound about four feet high forms a pedestal for the figure,
which is about two feet six inches from crown to sole. A sculptor with
mallet and chisel might in an hour or two convert it into a representa-

106 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

tion of loveliness, but at present it is only a veiled beauty. Visitors have
to imagine all those witcheries and feminine perfections portrayed by
great artists who have made "The Madonna and Child" a life study.

The best view of this cave is that looking south-east with "My Lady"
in the centre. The stalactites show to great advantage, and as the mani-
fold charms brought into bold relief by the magnesium light disappear,
and the sable goddess " from her ebon throne, stretches forth her
leaden sceptre," the sensation produced is one of pleasant bewilderment.
The deep gloom which follows celestial brightness enshrouds the glorious
scene. The pageant fades away as did the celebrated palace which
Potemkin reared for his Imperial Mistress. It was made of blocks of
ice. The portico was supported by Ionic pillars, and the dome sparkled
in the sun, which had just strength enough to gild, but not to melt it.
" It glittered afar like a palace of crystal and diamonds, but there came
one warm breeze from the south, and the stately building dissolved away
until none were able to gather up the fragments." So it is with these
underground wonders. They are brought into bold relief, and gilded
by the brilliant light of the magnesium lamp. It is extinguished, and
the gorgeous palaces and solemn temples suddenly become like "stuff
which dreams are made of."

Another beautiful feature in the Helena Cave is a formation under a
mass of stalactites which hang from the roof and drop water on to a
jutting rock below. On a corner of this shoulder is a huge epaulette,
and underneath are some elegantly-shaped brackets. Still farther down
is an enormous richly decorated mass, flanked by shell pattern formation.
The base rock rests on a mound of limestone gracefully curved, and the
intervening spaces are filled with myriads of ornate specimens. Some
distance above the floor is a bold rock with a sharply cut under-surface
like the sounding-board of a pulpit hung with stalactites. Here are also
terraces like miniatures of the celebrated White Terraces of New Zealand,
with basins, the sides of which are graced with a formation which at one

THE HELENA CAVE. 107

time was pure white, but the lower portions of which are now discoloured.
The upper part, however, still retains its pristine purity and loveliness.
The terraces approaching- The Grotto are stained by the tramping- of feet.
About halfway up is a handsome stalagmite of fine proportions. This
chamber is grandly impressive, and remarkable for its charming variety
of formation, as well as for its graceful contours.

( io8

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GROTTO CAVE.

AT the point of exit from the Helena Cave there is a descent of
four steps. Then it is necessary to ascend 14 steps north-north-
east on the way to the right-hand branch of the Imperial Cave. From
the top of the steps the distance to the junction is about 80 yards. On
the left side of the passage, at the foot of the lower steps in the left-
hand branch, is a drive down into the gallery of the right-hand branch,
the fall being about 70 feet. It was by being lowered down this hole
that the cave-keeper found that portion of the right-hand branch which
extends from the shaft to the junction of the two branches. This
perilous part is railed off with two wires supported on iron standards
let into the rock. At a point 22 yards north, on the passage to the
Grotto Cave, at an angle, is a drop of 100 feet into the right-hand
branch of the Imperial Cave.

Sitting on a thin shell -of limestone, on the right-hand side, the visitor
may pitch a stone into a hole 10 inches by 14 inches, and hear it strike
the bottom of the black depth. He may thrust his candle down to arm's
length underneath the mineral crust, and (if he be in a very cheerful
vein) fancy he is peering into the Infernal Regions, over which he rests
on a thin and fragile screen. From this point the Grotto Cave is south-
south-west about 50 yards. Precautions have been taken against acci-
dent at this spot. Iron standards are let into the rock, and there are
double wires stayed back to the walls of the cave. It is intended to
make it still more secure on the lower side by a netting of three inch wire,
on one and a quarter inch iron standards, from four to six feet high.

THE GROTTO CAVE, 109

Where the rock has been cut to make the passage wide enough, the
steps are wet, and there is a little basin always full of bright water of
a bluish tint. A false step here might precipitate a sight-seer into an
almost perpendicular hole, some idea of the depth of which may be
formed by casting a stone down, and listening to its striking against
the sides, until after the lapse of several seconds the sound of its con-
tact with the floor rises like a feeble voice, still further subdued by
distance. Descending five steps, a good sight is obtained of the Grotto
Cave. It is 25 feet high in places, and about 10 feet wide, with passages
in all directions. It runs south-south-east and north-north-west, and is
full of interesting vaults and crypts, over which Nature seems to have
cast a mystic spell. For alluring charms, fantastic combinations, and
disposition of matter, no comparison can be found between it and the
most artistic grottoes built by human hands. One grotto is roofed with
delicately white and richly-traced formation, studded with stalactites of
rare splendour. Here is a delicate white shaft piercing the dome; there
a stalagmite within half-an-inch of the stalactite above. A broken pillar
suggests either an accident or a barbaric act ; near to it is a perfect
column, which, in the dim light, seems like a figure emerging from the
cave. Close inspection reveals imitations of coral and seaweed, curved
stalactites, and filagree work of the most intricate design. Little flakes
of lime, like snow, at the back of the grotto, sparkle like twinkling
stars.

Another grotto, in the centre of the cave, is made entirely by large
stalactites, set off with small ones. Some are covered with filaments
about the thickness of ordinary sewing-cotton ; others seem as though
they were covered with beautiful mosses. Many of the pendants are
richly wrought and extremely graceful. The upper stalactites are
covered with thicker filaments like twine and pack-thread. A third
grotto is remarkable chiefly for a splendid cornice or buttress project-
ing from a pillar. It is as grand, though not as ornate, as similar

no THE JENOLAN CAVES.

formation in the Margherita Cave. It was named on the loth March
1 88 1, and its designation is appropriate.

Near the exit is a marvellous grotto, at the entrance to which is a
massive stalagmitic pillar, five feet in diameter, meeting the end of a
stalactite about 15 feet long. The back of the stalagmite constitutes a
separate grotto of stalactites and shell-pattern formation. Near to it is
a remarkable rock, covered with cauliflower-shaped masses of limestone.
It is known as the Cauliflower Rock — the choufleur of the gnomes who
guard the unfathomable caves of Jenolan. In yet another grotto, at the
rear of the main pillar, is a beautiful canopy, with thin stalactites, straight
like walking-canes, and others thin as straws, crystal and opaque. There
are also many contorted stalactites and other eccentricities in stone. A
little iron ladder makes it easy to descend into this cave of so many
beautiful grottoes on gracefully undulating foundations. Near the point
of departure is a dangerous spot, for the proper guarding of which
arrangements are being made. Adjacent is a considerable quantity of
red clay covered with smooth white formation, and fractures of rock
round about sparkle with crystals.

THE LUCINDA CAVE.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LUCINDA CAVE.

A?TER travelling" a few yards south from the grottoes the visitor
arrives at the Lucinda Cave. The hall is from 5 to 15 feet wide
and from 6 to 25 feet high. The approach to the cave is through lime-
stone rocks. The path has a g-entle slope, and in some places the walls
are besprinkled with a white substance like wool. Near the centre of
the passage is a hole in the roof partly lined with formation which
sparkles like a starlit sky. A little farther on is a descent of four steps
through a passage, the walls of which glitter with great brilliancy.

About 25 yards from the Lucinda Cave, south-south-west, is a magni-
ficent spectacle. The roof is densely crowded with stalactites of every
type of beauty. On each side are crevices of dazzling splendour, and
on the floors of which brilliants have been showered like hail. The
largest remain in the centre, and the corners and other remote places
are heaped with diamond drift. In one place in the lower cave is a
bank made of formation washed from the hall above, thickening to the
base at an angle of about 40°, and studded with cave gems. Between
the jewelled floors and the superincumbent rocks are stalagmites of
pure white calcareous alabaster. At the end of this passage are three
steps, which it is necessary to ascend in order to reach the Lucinda
Chamber, which was discovered on the 7th February, 1881, and is named
after the wife of the curator of the caves.

The Lucinda Cave is from 10 to 25 feet high, from 50 to 70 feet wide,
and about 90 feet long. Its entrance junctions with the steps to Katie's

H4 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

Bower. To reach the Lucinda Cave from the junction, the visitor passes
over a level floor, like cement, about 12 feet in length. This cave is
remarkable for its scenic grandeur. The spectator stands in mute admi-
ration, and gazes upon the magnificent sight like one who is spellbound.
The beauty is Brobdignagian in its proportions. The figures are all
colossal. There are immense stalactites and stalagmites of every hue.
An enormous mass of formation droops from the ceiling to the summit
of a stalagmitic mound upon which it rests. It is like a series of
suddenly congealed waterfalls, and the groundwork below is gracefully
rippled on the outer surface, and fringed with stalactites. The mound
previously mentioned rests upon another of larger size, of equally
graceful contour, and besprent with brilliants which sparkle like immense
diamonds. To the right is a cascade of formation which has trickled
and solidified from rock to rock and from ledge to ledge in graceful
curves from the roof to the floor.

Those who have seen water arrested by congelation on an extensive
weir, and rendered opaque by hoar, can form a tolerably correct idea
of the kind of beauty here represented in stone. To the left of the
frozen waterfall is a bower of sparkling substances, and at its extremity
is a recess, from the farthest visible point of which can be seen mag-
nificent clusters of stalactites, of rich and varied colouring. This bower
is. more chastely beautiful than any ever possessed by Oriental potentate.
The walls on the left side are richly draped with sheets of formation of
uniform thickness, hanging from the roof like shawls or scarves. This
mineral drapery is opaque, striped and flecked with russet and reddish
brown, and edged with white as pure as virgin snow. It is guarded by a
fence of iron rods and galvanised wire ; consequently it is impossible to
make a close and minute examination of its interior, but the general
effect is fascinating. In one of the recesses is a terraced rock covered
with reddish formation, like a cascade, which certainly is not less beau-
tiful than were the Pink Terraces of Rotomahana. A little beyond the

THE LUC IN DA CAVE. 115

cascade the same kind of formation ornaments a massive pillar, which
constitutes one of the principal features of the cave.

In the foreground is a hall which leads to an unexplored region below,
and the entrance to which is guarded by a fence to prevent accidents.
The floor is curiously formed by a series of basins, the rims of which
are shaped into every variety of curve and indentation, running in and
out like frilling', not with regular curved lines like escallops, but repre-
senting in miniature the waterlines of a quiet harbour with large bays
and pretty inlets and creeks and reaches, without a single straight line.
The edges of these basins are about two inches in height, covered on
the outside by sparkling limestone, like delicate coral, thickening to-
wards the floor. Inside the formation is still more beautiful, with coralline
matter of the same general character swelling- out to the most graceful
concavity. There is perfection in every segment, and in every tiny cell
lurks tremulous light.

F 2

CHAPTER XIX.

KATIE'S BOWER.

TAKING a course between the parallel fences of wire-netting-, and
travelling about 25 yards, the Jewel Casket is seen on the western
side of the cave. It extends about 20 feet due south, and is about two feet
six inches high by about six feet wide. It does not contain any new type
of beauty, but rather represents a collection of the most enchanting-
cave splendours. Even the stalactites and stalagmites are overlaid with
ornamentation. It is a focus of dazzling brilliancy.

Returning to the junction, there is a descent by steps south-west into
" Katie's Bower," which is the last chamber in the left-hand branch of
the Imperial Cave. Forty-three of these steps are like cement, 10 are
cut in the solid rock, and 19 are of wood. On the left-hand side, at
the foot of the staircase, is a hole 70 feet deep. To the north of the
entrance, at the top of the wooden steps, is a remarkable formation
suggestive of a Chinese pagoda, waxy-amber-and-flesh-coloured. To
the left is a beautifully-formed dome, with convexities of pure white,
sparkling- all over as though it were studded with diamonds cut with
large facets. At the bottom of the dome are numerous stalactites,
resting on a curved rock coated with the same material. It is like a
richly bejewelled throne with a grand canopy suspended from the roof
by a large stalactite. It contains many hundredweight of formation, and
is about three yards from end to end of the curve. It is ornamented
with filagree work and stalactites of the most curious and beautiful kinds,

MW,1 m

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( ^ '«•'/ /r

/ • i1'' r i/J7

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KATIE'S BOWER.

KATIE'S BOWER. ng

and on the upper surface are some handsome stalagmites. At the rear
of this splendid canopy, set with precious stones, is a recess with a
sparkling- floor.

Having descended some steps to the south-east, and ascended 30
others through a broken part of the subterranean region, the visitor will
find much to admire in Katie's Bower. It is about 250 feet long, 5 to
30 feet high, and from 15 to 25 feet wide. Its direction is from north-
west to south-east. The north-west end is very rough, with a rocky floor.
The beauties of the Bower are located to the south and south-east. There
are on the one side alabaster pillars, on the other is formation. Imme-
diately over the arch is a deposit of red clay, which has imparted a
rich colour to the huge stalactites which hang from the roof. The light
of the candles is flashed back by glittering crystals. The floor, which
forms the entrance to the Bower, is carpeted with glistening alabaster.
Descending 14 steps into the Bower there is a fountain full of lime-
water, and a plate suitably inscribed conveys the information that Katie's
Bower was discovered on the 7th February, 1881, by Jeremiah Wilson
(guide), C. Webb, H. Fulton, C. West, J. Bright, E. Webb, E. T. Webb,
J. Thompson, W. H. Webb, E. Bowman, W. Thompson, J. M'Phillamy,
R. Thompson, J. Webb, and S. Webb. The before-mentioned gentlemen
were the first to enter the Bower after its discovery. They had rendered
valuable assistance to the guide, and were well rewarded for all their
trouble by the consciousness that they had participated in opening to the
public a new and charming scene in this western wonderland. The
stalactites and formation at the mouth of the cave are pure alabaster.

It should be here stated that this Bower was named in honour of a
daughter of the Hon. E. Webb, M.L.C., of Bathurst, who at various times
has interested himself in regard to the caves, and sister of the Messrs.
Webb whose names appear on the tablet, and who supplied ladders and
ropes to the curator, and otherwise assisted him in his explorations. It
is a grand cavern, with massive pillars and large stalactites, and elaborate

120 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

alabaster structures, more remarkable for richness of detail than the most
wonderfully-constructed Oriental temple. The dome commences near the
roof with a conical mass of brilliant formation, from which depend many
fine stalactites, which rest on a solid mass, and seem to hold it suspended.
This second mass of formation is ornamented with stalactites like frozen
jets of water. And so the process is continued again and again, until the
points of the lowest stalactites rest on a white mass level with gracefully-
curved and coloured rocks, which descend with elegant contours to the
bottom of the Bower. The same kind of wonderful fabrication is repeated
at the sides of the principal figure. Some of the flooring is as rich and
pure as that of the Jewel Casket. It is a marvel of intricate grandeur,
and has the advantage of having been well preserved. From the alabaster
stalagmite in front, to the most delicate lime drapery on the walls, there
is no prominent " mark of the beast." The cads of the period have not
been permitted to perform their favourite ceremony of the laying on of
hands.

It would be useless to speculate as to the time the caves in this branch
" took in building." It defies all calculation. Apparently the process of
formation is finished. There is no dripping from the stalactites. There
may be, however, in wet weather; but it seems as though the creative
action had given way to the hardening process. It is suggestive of that
portion of " King Solomon's Mines " in which H. R. Haggard has a
clever and somewhat caustic conceit respecting stalactitic growth. On
his way through the enormous cave leading to Solomon's Treasure-house,
he was enchanted with the gigantic pillars, which looked like ice, and
which sprang in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof.
" Others again," he says, " were in process of formation. On the rock
floor there was in these caves what looked exactly like a broken column
in an old Grecian temple, whilst high above, depending from the roof,
the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. And even as we gazed
we could hear the process going on, for presently with a tiny splash a

KATIE'S BOWER. 121

drop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the column below,
On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and
in these cases it would form an interesting- calculation to discover how
long- at that rate of dripping- it would take to form a pillar, say 80 feet
high by 10 in diameter. That the process was, in at least one instance,
incalculably slow, the following' instance will suffice to show. Cut on one
of these pillars, we discovered a rude likeness of a mummy, by the head
of which sat what appeared to be one of the Egyptian gods, doubtless
the handiwork of some old-world labourer in the mine. This work of
art was executed at about the natural height at which an idle fellow, be
he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in the habit of trying to im-
mortalise himself at the expense of Nature's masterpieces, namely, about
five feet from the ground; yet at the time that we saw it, which must
have been nearly 3,000 years after the date of the execution of the
drawing, the column was only eight feet high, and was still in process
of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a 1,000 years,
or an inch and a fraction to a century." This is a very good satire upon
the presumption of some modern disciples of the illustrious Cocker. A
botanist may, by its concentric zones, tell the years of an exogenous
plant ; a bucolic sage may judge the age of horned cattle by counting
their horny rings ; but to tell the aeons of a stalagmite is more difficult
than the accurate compilation of a feminine census. Arithmetical cal-
culations on such a subject would probably be received with as much
confidence as phrenological evidence of the character and habits indicated
by bumps on the head of the Great Sphinx at Ghizeh.

( 122 )

CHAPTER XX.

THE RIGHT-HAND BRANCH OF THE IMPERIAL CAVE.

HAVING thus completed his inspection of the left-hand branch
of the Imperial Cave, the visitor returns to the junction, passing
through all the chambers previously noticed in it excepting the Architect's
Studio and the Bone Cave, and proceeds to explore the still more
wondrous and beautiful works in the right-hand branch.

THE SUBTERRANEAN RIVER.

The first object of interest in the right-hand branch of the Imperial
Cave is the Subterranean River, which runs at the bottom of a fearful
chasm about 50 yards from the point where the two branches bifurcate.
After having wandered through marble halls and crystal palaces, and
bowers where "rural fays and fairies dwell," the course seems rather
gloomy. But attention is attracted by some curiously-shaped nodules,
like those found in a part of the Arch Cave, and by basins with thin
laminated sides slightly corrugated. These specimens reveal the secret
of the construction of the pretty reticulated mounds, which give such a
charming effect to several of the most regularly formed features of the
caves. To complete the process, the sharp parallel lines which form a
succession of little equidistant ridges require only to be smoothed off by
a gently flowing film of water, and to receive a coat of colouring derived
from clay or oxide of iron. This part of the branch, therefore, should
not be passed through hurriedly, for it is instructive.

THE SUBTERRANEAN RIVER. 125

The road is fairly good, although the arching is low. Those parts,
the narrowness of which formerly made progress difficult, have been
enlarged, but a pretty natural bridge has been carefully preserved. The
halt is at the end of a wire ladder bent over a cliff, which forms one
side of an immense gulf, where perpetual darkness broods. Here the
visitor has a more ungraceful task to perform than that of the cursed
serpent, for he must recline face downwards and "progress backwards"
until he assumes the form of an obtuse angle, with one line over the
precipice. Then he has to use his legs pretty much as an octopus uses
its tentacles, to gain a footing on the ladder, which descends about
50 feet on the chasm side of the angle. Having found the first rung
he feels happy, but not sufficiently hilarious to slide like a lamplighter.
He grips the side wires carefully, takes heed to his steps, and goes
down slowly. When he has descended a little way, the dim candle-lights
above appear to be far distant, and when he is 20 or 30 steps
down they look like glowworms. The journey, however, is not perilous
to persons who possess a fair share of agility and nerve. It is frequently
performed by ladies, of whom the guide is specially careful, preceding
them and keeping just below them on the ladder. As this is, perhaps,
the most interesting of all the cave sights, it is desirable that some easy
mode of descent should be provided, such as a skip like those employed
in mines, or a lift made by machinery to work as easily and effectively
as those which ascended and descended at will in the subterranean
world inhabited by " the coming race." It was, perhaps, some such
place as this which suggested to Bulwer Lytton the chasm down which
his nameless hero descended to the bottom of an abyss illuminated with
a diffused atmospheric light, soft and silvery as from a northern star;
where he found lakes and rivulets which seemed to have been curbed
into artificial banks, some of pure water, and some which shone like
pools of naphtha; where the birds piped in chorus, and where he made
the acquaintance of the An people and the Gy-ei, who moved through

126 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

the air without effort, who had for servants automata always obedient,
and totally ignorant of the eight-hours system, and whose religion had
these two peculiarities : " Firstly, that they all believed in the creed they
professed ; and, secondly, that they all practised the precepts indicated
by the creed."

Underground rivers appear to be natural to limestone caves. The
reason of their existence is to be found in the fact that the mountains
in which they are formed are, in geological parlance, "dykes." They
must not be confounded with old river beds, such as are encountered by
miners — where the surface of the earth has been raised by deposits of
alluvium, or where the geological condition of things has been changed
by volcanic action. These cave rivers have all been formed by water
finding the lowest attainable level in its passage to the sea, and by the
solid limestone rocks which have barred its direct course, and have been
undermined by its subtle but persistent action. The fluid, dammed
back by the mountains, has simply obeyed the laws of gravitation and
accumulated .force, as evidenced in the trickling silvery thread which
follows the course of ant-tracks; in the laughing rill which makes its
bed among the pebbles; in the babbling brook which leaps to the
swelling river; and in the mighty torrent whose strength and velocity
proclaim the majesty of hydraulic power. In all parts of the world
where limestone dykes and caves exist, it is reasonable to expect to
find subterranean rivers. The eye of the seer can follow the water

drips —

' ' Down through caverns and gulfs profound,
To the dreary fountain-head
Of lakes and rivers underground."

He can see them again when the rain is done —

" On the bridge of colours seven,
Climbing up once more to heaven,
Past the setting sun."

But the underground rivers found in caves perform vagaries outside
the sweet imaginings of the poet and the prevision of the seer. Far

THE SUBTERRANEAN RIVER. 127

from the beaten track they turbulently force their way through recesses
and tunnels and pockets of the earth, before they are again warmed
with sunshine, and glow in the harmonious colours which form the Bow
of Promise.

The Rev. Richard Taylor, in his " Te ika a maui," refers to interest-
ing caves near Mokau (New Zealand), in some of which bones of the
moa have been discovered. About a mile from Pukemapau he came
to a limestone range, and entered a large cave called Tanaureure. At
the bottom of a chasm he found a fine crystal spring, about a foot or
so deep, but appears not to have been particularly inquisitive as to
whence the water came or whither it went.

A little distance up one of the tributaries of the Rewa River, in
Fiji, is a crystal streamlet which flows on towards a lofty ridge, near to
which it sinks into the earth. At the mouth of a dark cavern can be
heard the roaring. It is a grand expansive excavation, but

' ' Dark as was chaos ere the infant sun
Was roll'd together, or had tried his beams
Athwart the gloom profound."

The water rushes through narrow chasms as through a race, collects
in a large pool, and flows through a distant outlet, marked by a speck of
light, like a tiny star.

At the Weathercote Cave, in Yorkshire, a stream swallowed up by
a rocky mouth is thus described by Walter White in his book entitled
" A Month in Yorkshire " : —

"The rocks are thickly covered in places with ferns and mosses, and are broken
up by crevices into a diversity of forms, nigged as chaos. A few feet down, and
you see a beautiful crystalline spring in a cleft on the right, and the water turning
the moss to stone as it trickles down. A few feet lower, and you pass under a
natural bridge formed by huge fallen blocks. The stair gets rougher, twisting
among the big, damp lumps of limestone, when suddenly your guide points to the
fall at the farther extremity of the chasm. The rocks are black, the place is
gloomy, imparting thereby a surprising effect to the white rushing column of water.
A beck running down the hill finds its way into a crevice in the cliffs, from which

128 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

it leaps in one great fall of more than 80 feet, roaring loudly. Look up : the chasm
is so narrow that the trees and bushes overhang and meet overhead ; and what
with the subdued light and mixture of crags and verdure, and the impressive
aspect of the place altogether, you will be lost in admiration.

" To descend lower seems scarcely possible, but you do get down, scrambling
over the big stones to the very bottom, into the swirling shower of spray. Here a
deep recess, or chamber, at one side, about eight feet in height, affords good standing
ground, whence you may see that the water is swallowed up at once, and disappears
in the heap of pebbles on which it falls."

In the Wombean Caves, near Taralga, in this colony (New South
Wales), there is a similar phenomenon. The mountain in which the
caves are formed dams, at right angles, a valley of considerable length.
On the one side a creek flows into a hole underneath the "Wombean
Church" — a name given to the principal entrance. This shallow hole
is filled with large boulders and less bulky water-worn stones, through
which the water instantly filters and disappears. The suction is per-
ceptible if a hand or foot be placed in the basin. On the other side
of the mountain the water, running at a considerable distance below
the surface, can be seen through an orifice. Farther on, about three-
quarters of a mile from the mountain side, the stream bubbles up like
a fountain, and reminds the visitor of antique pictures representing the
rush of water from rock-smitten Horeb.

The most gigantic of underground river wonders are to be found
in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, where the Echo River is navigable
for three-quarters of a mile, where the Roaring River raises its liquid
voice, where Lake Lethe soothes to forgetfulness, and where there is a
veritable Styx with a nineteenth century Charon. But although everything
about that cave is colossal, it cannot surpass Jenolan in its deep
emotional effects, or in the admiration it evokes. Indeed, in these
respects an American visitor, familiar with the Mammoth Cave, has
given the palm to Jenolan.

Having descended the 5O-feet ladder, the foot of which is clamped
to a bare rock, the excursionist watches the guide hopping gleefully

THE SUBTERRANEAN RIVER. 129

down, with candles in one hand and paraphernalia in the other. He
then peers into the darkness to find the river, and is led along- a gradual
slope of about ten feet, when he comes to its margin without recognising
it, and would possibly soon be up to his knees in it if he were not
warned by his cicerone. It is apparently motionless, as smooth as a
mirror, and so clear that at first it is difficult to believe there is any
water there at all. You see the sand and pebbles and rocks at the
bottom, but do not perceive the fluid which covers them.

The river is about 10 feet wide, and from 12 to 18 inches deep.
The length visible is about 60 yards. The overhanging rocks range
from 5 or 6 feet to /o feet in height. From one end of the river
comes a sweet soothing sound, made by water-friction. This proves
the existence of a considerable current, but the fluid is so limpid and
smooth that the eye cannot detect its motion. It is demonstrated,
however, in another way. The curator cuts little sections of sperm
candle, and, after lighting the wick, floats them on the river, whereupon
they immediately begin to glide down the stream, the course of which
is nearly south-east. The effect is extremely pretty. Not only are the
lights themselves sharply mirrored below, but there is a perfect reflection
of the rocks above. Near the tunnel by which the water emerges N.N.W.
is a mass of overhanging formation, duplicated in a natural mirror. The
bed of the watercourse is dark, being covered chiefly with mud and
grit and a few water-worn pebbles. The rocky walls are of limestone —
white and black. Up the channel N.W., about 40 yards, is a good
crossing-place— not in old Charon's boat, but by means of an ordinary
deal piank. On the other side of the river is a ledge of rocks with
pebble drift concreted with a substance somewhat resembling- the
cement in which diamonds are found, and the pebbles, although larger,
are of the same shape and blackness as those commonly associated
with the luminous gems found in their natural state at Kimberley, in
South Africa, or in the Tenterfield district of New South Wales,

130 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

On turning the light of the magnesium lamp up the river, its rocky
ledges are seen to be ornamented with stalactites and formation per-
fectly mirrored in the water, which is about 600 feet from the surface,
and about 50 below the level of the Cave House in the centre of the
valley. Never had river more romantic barriers. Human imagination
could not conceive a freak of nature more wildly grand or mysteriously
beautiful. There are large ornamented pillars near delicately-tinted
formation, drooping from overhanging rocks, like pensile boughs of
weeping willow. Some of the twigs skim the surfa'ce of the stream,
and others are bathed in it. Beyond is a water-hole about 40 feet long,
and from 16 to 20 feet wide. Because of its wonderful clearness, it is
difficult to judge of its depth ; but it has been tested to the extent of
five feet, and probably at the extreme point where the water flows from
the tunnel it may be six or seven feet deep. The effect of the brilliant
light is superb. The ornamentation on the roof of the tunnel is reflected
and transposed in the mirror below, each reflected stalactite having
the appearance of a twin stalagmite rising from the river bed, which
may be traversed for about 150 yards.

Nearly six months ago the caretaker placed in this river twenty
young carp from Bathurst. Some of them were enticed from their
cavernous resting-places by the bright rays of the lamp, and appeared
to be tolerably vivacious and in fair condition. They seem to have all
they require except the solar rays ; but what is life without sunshine !
They ought to be scientifically observed, for there is a theory that in
three generations of darkness they will become blind. This has been
the fate of the fishes in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and it is stated
that their blindness is the result of a law of Nature, which does not
continue to supply organs or powers which have ceased to be necessary.
Dr. Forwood, in his history of the Mammoth Cave, says : — " The fishes
are of a peculiar species, and are of a class known as viviparous, which
give birth to their young alive, and do not deposit eggs after the

THE SUBTERRANEAN RIVER. 131

manner of most other fishes. They have rudiments of eyes, but no optic
nerve, and are, therefore, incapable of being affected by any degree
of light. ... It has been proved that these eyeless fishes prey upon
each other. In shape they somewhat resemble the common catfish,
and rarely exceed eight inches in length." Professor Silliman published
the following in his "Journal" for May 1851 : — "Of the fish there are two
species, one of which has been described by Dr. Wyman in the American
Journal of Science, and which is entirely eyeless. The second species of
the fish is not colourless like the first, and it has external eyes, which,
however, are found to be quite blind. The crawfish, or small Crustacea,
inhabiting the rivers with fish are also eyeless and uncoloured; but the
larger-eyed and coloured crawfish, which are abundant within the caves,
are also common at some seasons in the subterranean rivers, and so
also, it is said, the fish of the Green River are to be found in times of
flood in the rivers of the Caves." Dr. Forwood gives also the following
quotations, on the authority of Professor Agassiz, an eminent naturalist
in the department of ichthyology : —

"The blind fish of the Mammoth Cave was for the first time described in 1842
in the 'Zoology of New York,' by Dr. Dekay, part 3rd, page 187, under the name
of ' Amblyopsis spelaeus,' and referred, with doubt, to the family of ' Siluridae,' on
account of a remote resemblance to my genus Cetopsis. Dr. J. Wyman has pub-
lished a more minute description of it, with very interesting anatomical details,
in vol. xlv. of the 'American Journal of Science and Arts,' 1843, page 94.

"In 1844, Dr. Tellkampf published a more extended description, with figures,
in ' Miiller's Archiv ' for 1844, and mentioned several other animals found also in
the Cave, among which the most interesting is the crustacean which he calls
' Astacus pellucidus,' already mentioned, but not described, by Mr. Thompson,
President of the Natural History Society of Belfast. Both Thompson and Tellkampf
speak of eyes in these species, but they are mistaken. I have examined several
specimens and satisfied myself that the peduncle of the eye only exists ; but there
are no visible facets at its extremity, as in other crawfish.

" Mr. Thompson mentions, further, crickets, allied to ' Phalangopsis longipes,' of
which Tellkampf says that it occurs throughout the Cave. Of spiders, Dr. Tellkampf
found two eyeless, small white species, which he calls ' Phalangodes armata ' and
' Anthrobia monmouthia'; flies, of the genus 'Anthomyia'; a minute shrimp, called
by him ' Triura cavernicola'; and two blind beetles; ' Anophthalmus tellkampfiii ' of

132 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

Erichson, and ' Adelops hirtus ; ' of most of which Dr. Tellkampf has published a
full description, and figures in a subsequent paper, inserted in Erichson's ' Archiv,'
1844, p. 318.

" The infusoria observed in the Cave resemble ' Monas Kolpoda,' ' Monas socialis,'
and ' Bodo intestinalis,' — a new Chilomonas, which he calls ' Ch. emarginata,' and
a species allied to ' Kolpoda cucullus.'

"As already mentioned, Dekay has referred the blind fish, with doubt, to the
family of Siluridae. Dr. Tellkampf, however, establishes for it a distinct family.
Dr. Storer, in his 'Synopsis of the Fishes of North America,' published in 1846, in the
'Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,' is also of opinion that it
should constitute a distinct family, to which he gives the new name of ' Hypsaeidae,'
page 435. From the circumstance of its being viviparous, from the character of its
scales, and from the form and structure of its head, I am inclined to consider this
fish as an aberrant type of my family of Cyprinodonts."

The effect of long-continued darkness upon visual organs has had
some remarkable illustrations. At one time an idea prevailed in America
that caves possessed certain curative properties, and afflicted people
remained in them ; but the absence of light proved disastrous to many.
It is recorded that those patients "who remained in the cave three or
four months presented a frightful appearance. The face was entirely
bloodless, eyes sunken, and pupils dilated to such a degree that the
iris ceased to be visible, so that, no matter what the original colour of
the eye might have been, it soon appeared black."

This subterranean river offers a fine opportunity for scientific obser-
vation well worthy to be embraced by some Australian naturalist. In
the vicinity of the river is to be noticed one of the few signs of decay
to be found in the caves — a portion of shell pattern formation shows
evidence of mouldering, and appears like a mere skeleton. When the
visitor has ascended the ladder and safely negotiated the angle at the
top, he feels that he has witnessed the most interesting place to be
found in the western wonderland; and when he fishes for a compliment
to his agility, and is reminded of the graceful forms that occasionally
ascend and descend in much better style, he immediately recalls a
Patriarch's dream, and thinks the ladder ought to be named after Jacob.

( 133 )

CHAPTER XXI.

THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE, THE SPARKLING ROCK, AND
THE CRYSTAL ROCK.

ABOUT 20 yards north from the ladder to the underground river is
the entrance to the Fossil Bone Cave. Here is a stratum of coffee-
coloured slatey substance in layers like those of the Wianamatta shale.
It is so soft that a gentle touch is sufficient to pulverise it. It is slightly
honeycombed, and its outer surface is covered with imitations of delicate
lichens. In this cave there is not anything in the shape of a stalagmite,
except an empty brandy bottle on a little shelving rock, and that would
be generally regarded as a bad substitute. For aesthetic as well as for
other reasons, it would be better to keep such " stalagmites " out of the
caves. On the top of a large rock is a mass of "washdirt," 14 inches
deep, with " headings " of about the same dimensions. Some experienced
diggers say they never saw more promising stuff. During the yellow fever
from which so many suffered a few years ago, companies were floated
on the strength of "claims" equally delusive. Proverbially, "auriferous
ground" is deceitful, and this "washdirt," which looks rich enough to
make a prospector's eyes sparkle with delight, has proved to be as
worthless as a lying prospectus. A portion of it was washed, but did
not show the colour of gold. It remains, however, an object of interest,
and may serve to teach a useful lesson.

There are in this cave solid limestone rocks above and below. The
roof is about 500 feet beneath the surface of the mountain. In the bed
of the cavern are many fossil bones. Some appear to be remains of

native dogs. In various rocks are clusters of bat bones. A very notice-

o

134 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

able osseous object is the vertebra of a bird with one side-bone. There
is no trace of the other. There are also many large bones, the cylindrical
cavities of which are filled up with formation. Some of these bones are
deposited about eight feet from the bottom of the cave. On one ledge is
a heap of bones, large and small. Some of them are very fine specimens.
The height of this cave is about 15 feet, and its breadth from 8 to 15 feet.

Travelling from the passage leading to the Fossil Bone Cave N.N.W.
about 40 yards, and passing through a cutting N.W. about 30 yards, the
visitor comes to "The Sparkling Rock." A cutting, five feet by two feet,
forms the entrance to a spacious hall, where is seen the Sparkling Rock,
large and shelving. The principal portion of it is slightly coloured, but
the lower part is beautifully white. It is hung with large stalactites and
fleecy pendants. Some of the formation resembles sheepskins, with the
woolly side outwards, thrown negligently over the ledges. From this
point the course runs west about 30 yards through a hall from 20 to
25 feet high, and from 15 to 20 feet wide, and thence north about 40 yards
to the Crystal Rock.

About 14 yards west from the Sparkling Rock, and by a road wide
enough for a coach and four, there is a large upward shaft of about
100 feet to the Grotto Cave, which, as previously stated, is between the
Helena and the Lucinda caves in the left-hand branch. Here the tourist
gets a good idea of the way in which the two branches of the Imperial
Cave are situated with regard to each other. The right-hand branch
is the lower series. The left-hand branch is higher up in the interior
of the mountain, and to the south-east, with the exception of the Grotto
Cave, which is immediately overhead, and about 100 feet from the
Sparkling Rock.

On the left-hand side of the passage, and about 25 yards from the
Crystal Rock, is a very pretty grotto of formation, with an overhanging
ornamental mass like a canopy. Up above, about 40 feet, is the opening
to an unexplored cave, the mouth of which is composed of solid shining

THE SPARKLING ROCK. 135

rock, with white stalactites. There are also, round about, coloured
stalactites varying- in length from an inch to a couple of feet. The
remainder of the passage is lofty and rugged.

Not far from the entrance to the Crystal Rock is the bottom of the
shaft down which the curator was lowered from the Coral Cave (a sub-
cavern of the Elder Cave) into the Imperial, and on the wall this
memorable event is duly recorded. Here we read : — " These caves were
discovered by Jeremiah Wilson." Then follows a list of the names of
persons who lowered the fearless curator down the black hole : " Alfred
Whalan, Thomas A. Gread, Jeremiah F. Cashin, Joseph Read, Nicholas
Delaney, Ralph T. Wilson, Thomas Pearson, Heinrich Neilzet, and
William Read." They were named " Wilson's Imperial Caves " on
February 16, 1879. From this spot the Sparkling Rock is about 15
yards N.N.E. It is about 25 feet wide and about 18 feet high.
Stalactitic formation descends from an angle in the roof, and rests on
four or five finely coloured terraces which glitter all over as though
they were covered with spangles. To the left of these terraces is a
large basin with coral sides and a rim composed of three or four
layers of shell-shaped pattern overlapping- like fish scales, the rows
being a little way apart from each other, and the intervening1 spaces
filled with formation. The bottom of the basin is covered with very
delicate ornamentation, deposited by water which has soaked through
to a lower level. In the background is another rock, covered with
similar formation, fringed with stalactites, and stalactites also descend
to it from the roof.

G 2

136

CHAPTER XXII.

THE SHAWL CAVE.

A3OUT 30 yards from the Sparkling- rock is the Shawl Cave. It
is approached through a passage from six to eight feet high and
two to four feet wide, containing numerous small but pretty grottoes.
The Shawl Cave is very interesting-. To the left of the entrance is a
grotesque pillar with little domes of snowy whiteness and masses of
stalactite. The cave is about 25 feet long, 15 feet high, and from 12 to
15 feet wide. It contains three magnificent "shawls." One is 14 feet long,
1 8 inches deep, and one-sixth of an inch thick, and in the blending of
colours represents tortoise-shell. The other two are not quite as large
as the first-mentioned. They are straw-coloured, varied with rich brown.
They hang at right angles from the side of a convex sloping roof, and
the colouring runs from end to end in parallel lines, but the bands of
colour vary in depth. For instance, the first piece of the shawl — say
one inch and a half from the roof — may be pure white formation, of
lime, or carbonate of lime coloured with oxide of iron which gradually
becomes paler and paler. The next two inches may be light yellow,
spotted with brown. The next strip may be fox-colour, and so on, until
the design is completed. For the most part, the cave " shawls " are of
uniform thickness, like sheets of opaque glass slightly corrugated trans-
versely. The opposite wall is nearly perpendicular. At each end of
the cave is a grotto. One is low down and gloomy -looking ; the other
lofty, going up into the roof and full of formation, some of which is
like frost work. The stalactites are immense. From the further wall

THE SHAWL CAVE. 137

are sloping- terraces, gradually enlarging- towards the base underneath
the hanging- shawls. There are also some remarkable clumps of for-
mation. One is like a giant's foot; another resembles the skull of a
wolf, or of some other animal related to the canine tribe.

About seven yards north from the Shawl Cave is a cavern 20 feet
broad, 30 yards long, and from 12 to 14 feet high, the principal object
in which is "The Lady's Finger." Under a shelving rock fringed with
stalactites of all the prevailing colours, and almost every variety of
shape, the "finger" forms the extremity of a stalagmite about 12 inches
high, and similar in figure to a feminine forearm in a sleeve, with
coral trimmings. The forearm is white, and the chubby hand is of a
waxy-looking- flesh colour. The thumb and the index finger point up-
ward. According- to the Talmud, "man is born with his hands clenched,
and dies with his hands wide open ; " in reference to which one of the
Rabbinical sages remarks — " Entering- life he desires to grasp every-
thing; leaving- the world, all that he possessed has slipped away."
This hand with the lady's finger, however, is not grasping, and it
points upwards. The modern science of chiromancy, according to A. R.
Craig, M.A., in his interesting book "Your Luck is in Your Hand,"
divides hands into seven classes : " I. The hand elementary, or hand
with a large palm ; 2. The hand necessary, or spatulated ; 3. The hand
artistic, or conical; 4. The useful or square hand; 5. The philosophical,
or knotted hand; 6. The psychological, or pointed hand; 7. The mixed
hand." It would be difficult to class the hand with "the lady's finger"
in any of the foregoing divisions, and it would puzzle one skilled in
palmistry, and who regards the human hand as a mirror of the mind,
to use it even in the way phrenologists use the casts of bull-necked,
animal-headed felons. The index finger is long, the pollex (thumb) is
short; the medius (middle) is wanting, and so are the annularis (ring
finger) and the auricularis (little finger), "so named by the Romans
because of its utility in cleansing the ear." The visitor, therefore, must

138 THE JE NOLAN CAVES.

not expect to find here a hand like a model of perfection on a Greek
statue ; but he will see a remarkable alabaster extremity, sufficiently
well formed to be called "the lady's finger." The rocky bank, which
is coloured with several shades of brown, and veined with formation,
is also flecked with white, like snow. At one end of the cave the view
closes with long- sparkling stalactites — those nearest being brown and
flesh-coloured. Behind them is pure white formation which sets off to
great advantage the beautifully-tinted stalactites sparsely scattered about
the cave. The other end of the cavern gradually tones off to sombre
rocks of grey and brown.

At the end of the Lady's Finger Cave is a charming grotto, and,
above, the rocks are like fine coral in various shades of red and grey.
Inside the grotto are stalagmites thick at the base and with elegant
stalactites resting on them. Some are pure white, and others are
covered with fine tracery. In front is a perfect stalactite which de-
scends to within an inch of a perfect stalagmite just underneath it, and
aptly illustrates the process of their growth. On the floor are pretty
hillocks of somewhat dismal-looking matter which, on close inspection,
is seen to be made of coralline figures and sparkling crystal atoms. In
the foreground is a fine stalagmite, fitted all over with minute coral.
This group, protected by wire netting, is specially interesting because
it is unblemished. All round the approaches are little bunches of
stalactites like epaulettes.

After travelling west about nine yards, ascending five steps, and then
proceeding 14 yards north, the tourist arrives at a cave containing a
very conspicuous column called "Lot's Wife."

( 139 )

CHAPTER XXIII.

LOT'S WIFE.

THE alabaster pillar called " Lot's Wife " stands in solitary grandeur
within a gloomy cave. Its sombre surroundings are in harmony
with the tragic old-world history recalled by the central figure. The
nimble thought skips over ages and ages, and in the " mind's eye "
appear the rich plains of Siddim and the flowing Jordan, and the
fugitives and the lava, and the terrible climax. As the Biblical record
of the catastrophe is supposed to teach the folly of disobedience on the
part of wives, and the perils of hankering after doubtful pleasures, the
pillar which recalls it may be contemplated with advantage by newly-
married couples, now that the caves are becoming a favourite resort of
honeymooners. Perhaps in time to come there may be religious services
and solemnisation of matrimony in these fantastic subterranean caverns.
It is related by Dr. Forwood, that a romantic marriage took place in
the Gothic chapel of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, "which family
interference prevented occurring on the earth." He says : " The fair lady,
whose lover was opposed by her parents, in a rash moment promised
them that she would never marry her betrothed 'on the face of the earth.'
Afterwards, repenting of her promise, but being- unable to retract and
unwilling to violate it, she fulfilled her vow to her parents as well as to
her lover by marrying him ' under the earth.' "

How far the pillar in the caves is like that mentioned in the Book of
Genesis it is impossible to say, because the latter has been neither
minutely described nor photographed. Josephus, the great historian of

140 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

the Wars and Antiquities of the Jews, and who was not born until about
2,000 years after Lot's departure from Sodom, says he saw it. His words
are : " When Lot went away with his two maiden daughters — for those
who were betrothed to them were above the thoughts of going1, and
deemed that God's words were trifling- — God then cast a thunderbolt
upon the city, and set it on fire with its inhabitants. . . But Lot's wife
continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, and being
too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, although God had for-
bidden her to do so, was changed into a pillar of salt." And, he adds,
"for I have seen it, and it remains to this day." It is to be regretted
that he did not describe the pillar itself.

A century later Irenseus bore testimony to the existence of the pillar,
and spoke of its lasting so long "with all its members entire." This
would lead to the inference that the original pillar retained the shape
of a female figure. If it did, then in this respect there is no similarity
between the Pillar of Warning on the Dead Sea plain and the pillar in
the Jenolan Caves. The latter is a pretty round column, about five feet
four inches high, rounded off irregularly at the top, and built up in sections,
which show separate growths, like divisions in the stem of a cabbage-
tree palm, or the joints of a bamboo. It is probable, therefore, that
there is not the slightest resemblance between the two pillars. Bishop
Patrick thinks that some of the storm which overwhelmed the Cities of
the Plain overtook Lot's wife, " and falling upon her as she stood staring
about, and minded not her way or guide, suddenly wrapped her body in
a sheet of nitro-sulphurous matter, which, congealing into a crust as hard
as stone, made her appear, they say, as a pillar of salt, her body being
candied in it."

It is about 3,800 years since the disobedient "help-meet" of the
Oriental squatter was fixed like a fly in amber, as a solemn warning to
recalcitrant spouses for all time. Had the first drip then fallen on to
the mound in the Jenolan Caves where now stands " Lot's Wife " ? Query.

LOT'S WIFE. 141

The Jenolan pillar is evidently of slow growth. Each joint, which looks
something like fine tallow, may, as the curator facetiously puts it, repre-
sent a century of "dripping." In this respect it is unlike the historic
pillar whose name it bears. Dr. Kitto, in his very interesting "Daily
Biblical Illustrations," says in reference to the latter : " From the nature
of the case, and from the peculiarly bituminous and saline character of
the locality through which this phenomenon was produced, we must not
expect to discover many parallel instances which might be quoted in
illustration. Accordingly we find that the illustrative parallels which have
been diligently sought out by the old commentators have rarely any real
bearing on the subject, being for the most part accounts of people frozen
to death and long- preserved in that condition uncorrupted in the Boreal
regions, or else of persons suffocated and then petrified by the mineral
vapours of the caves in which they were hid, or otherwise of persons
' turned to stone,' and found generations after standing in the postures
wherein they found their death. The only instance we have met with
which seems appropriate, and which rests on the authority of a con-
temporary of fair credit, is related by Aventinus, who states that in his
time about 50 country people, with their cows and calves, were, in
Carinthia, destroyed by strong and suffocating saline exhalations which
arose out of the earth immediately upon an earthquake in 1348. They
were by this reduced to saline statues or pillars, like Lot's wife, and
the historian tells us that they had been seen by himself and the
Chancellor of Austria."

It was, perhaps, some such incident as this which gave to Mr. Haggard
the idea as to how the Kukuana people from time immemorial preserved
their royal dead. He first of all described Twala, the last of the Kukuana
kings, as in a limestone cave, with his head perched upon his knees and
his vertebrae projecting a full inch above the shrunken flesh of the neck.
"Then," he says, "the whole surface of the body was covered by a thin
glassy film caused by the dripping of lime-water. The body was being-

142 THE JENOLAN CA V£S.

transformed into a stalactite." The antecedent kings were ranged around
a table in this wonderful cave, and the author continues : — " A look at
the white forms seated on the stone bench that ran around that ghastly
board confirmed this view. They were human forms indeed, or rather
had been human forms; now they were stalactites [stalagmites?]. This
was the way in which the Kukuana people had from time immemorial
preserved their royal dead. They petrified them. What the exact system
was, if there was any, beyond placing- them for a long period of years
under the drip, I never discovered; but there they sat, iced over and
preserved for ever by the silicious fluid. Anything more awe-inspiring
than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties, wrapped in a
shroud of ice-like spar, through which the features could be dimly
made out (there were 27 of them, the last being Ignosi's father), and
seated round that inhospitable board, with Death himself for a host, it
is impossible to imagine. That the practice of thus preserving their
kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the number,
which, allowing for an average reign of 15 years, would, supposing that
every king who reigned was placed here — an improbable thing, as some
are sure to have perished in battle far from home — fix the date of its
commencement at four and a quarter centuries back. But the colossal
Death who sits at the head of the board is far older than that, and,
unless I am much mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who
designed the three colossi. He was hewn out of a single stalactite
[stalagmite ?], and, looked at as a work of art, was most admirably
conceived and executed." There is nothing suggestive of anything so
hideous as this in the Jenolan Caves. "Lot's wife," as she appears
there, is as straight down as a " Shaker," without the slightest suspicion
of artificial "improvement." Nor does the pillar correspond with the
result of more recent discovery made by an American expedition to the
Dead Sea, and in reference to which Dr. Kitto says : — " The course of
their survey could hardly fail to bring under notice every marked object

LOT'S WIFE. 143

upon either shore, and one they did find, an obviously natural formation,
which— or others in former times like it — might readily be taken by
persons unaccustomed to weigh circumstances with the precision we are
now accustomed to exact, for the pillar of Lot's wife. Among the salt
mountains of Usdum (an apparent transposition of Sodom), on the west
side of the kind of bay which forms the southern extremity of the Dead
Sea, the party beheld, to their great astonishment, while beating along
the shore, a lofty round pillar, standing, apparently detached from the
general mass, the head of a deep, narrow, and abrupt chasm. They
landed, and proceeded towards this object over a beach of soft slimy
mud, encrusted with salt, and at a short distance from the water, covered
with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. The pillar was found to
be of solid salt, capped with carbonate of lime, cylindrical in front and
pyramidal behind." The italics are the Doctor's. It is not novel to say
that history repeats itself; but it is questionable whether among the
fashionable inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain in the days of Lot
the modern crinolette was a feminine artifice of that Worthless time.
According to the Koran, Lot's wife, Waila, was in confederacy with the
men of Sodom, and used to give them notice when any strangers came
to lodge with him "by a sign of smoke by day and of fire by night."
In this regard the pillar at Jenolan may be regarded as a warning, and
not as suggestive of anything, except, perhaps, the lesson conveyed by
the Apocrypha, in the Book of Wisdom x. 7, where there is a reference
to Lot's wife, " Of whose wickedness even to this day the west land that
smoketh is a testimony, and plants bearing fruits that never come to
ripeness ; and the standing pillar of salt is a monument of an un-
believing soul." Is it not a pity that so beautiful a column in
the most wonderful caves ever made by Nature should have been
associated with so much that is off-colour ? True, it is itself a little
crooked and irregular, but these characteristics are accounted for by
its peculiar formation. It has not been produced in the ordinary way

144 THE JENOLAN CA V£S.

by drippings from one stalactite, but, contrary to rule, owes its origin
and development to two small stalactites in the roof. Consequently,
its growth has been continually warped. It is, however, a beautiful
feature of the Imperial Cave, and may teach many useful lessons to
persons of observation and nous.

( 147 )

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CRYSTAL CITIES— THE SHOW-ROOM AND THE GRAND

STALACTITES.

FROM "Lot's Wife" to "The Crystal Cities" is about 20 yards
north, throug-h a hall from 9 to 15 feet high. On the right-
hand side is a concrete wall, which rises about 12 inches from the floor,
to protect the "Cities" from dust raised by the tramping- of feet. At
the end of this concrete wall is a descent of two steps, which brings
visitors in full view of the exquisitely beautiful cave, in which there is a
group of dazzling- Lilliputian cities, whose buildings are of crystallized
lime. The streets appear to be thronged with minute figures

" no bigger than an agate stone

On the forefinger of an alderman."

The sight recalls the Man Mountain and the wonderful Land of
Lilliput, upon which Lemuel Gulliver was cast, where cavalry exercised
on the palm of his hand, and infantry marched 24 abreast between
his legs, which were stretched out like those of a colossus. Imagina-
tion can supply the Palace of Belfaborac in the metropolis of Lilliput,
surrounded by myriads of tiny statuettes, representing the kingdom in
which raged no less than six rebellions, excited by an imperial decree
that eggs should be broken only at the smaller end, whereas it had
been from time immemorial an article of faith that they should be
broken only at the larger end, and notwithstanding that their book of
faith and morals required only that all true believers should break
their eggs at the "convenient end." There is no evidence in these
crystal cities, however, of any rival factions corresponding to the "Big-

148 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

endians " and the " Little-endians " of Lilliput. The figures are crowded
together like masses of people before a hustings or at a cricket match,
and the effect is passing1 strang-e. They have been formed by water
which has been retained for a time in natural basins and then gradually
percolated through the floor, possibly to enter into the composition of
crystal cities in other sparkling caves. In this respect they resemble
the basins previously described. The crystallization formed in still
water, or in water which moves only downwards, passing slowly through
the floor as through a dripstone, is always characterized by extreme
delicacy and elaboration. The contrast between the " Lot's Wife " crypt
and this is as great as the distinction between the Dead Sea and the
Garden of Eden ; between Gustave Dora's illustrations of Purgatory and
Paradise; between Milton's L' Allegro and his II Penseroso; between
the Pink and White Terraces which until recently were the delight of
New Zealand tourists, and the eruptive mask of scoria which now covers
their charms.

In this remarkable cave several distinctive features are presented.
The central horizontal line is well defined by an overhanging ledge,
from which hang some splendid stalactites. Several of them are of
extraordinarily large size, elegant form, and delicate colour. One, of
pure white, on the left-hand side of the cave, rests on the head of a
sturdy stalagmite which has grown from the middle of a mass of rocks,
sloping down to the base. A little to the right are two twin stalactites,
caricatures of the stretched out scraggy legs of some very-long-cold-
and-hungry man, and the most prominent central figures of the ledge
are two conical pieces tapering off to fine points, like mammoth icicles.
Above this ledge the formation of lime on the dark rugged wall and
roof resembles fleecy clouds in an angry sky. Below, running back
into the mountain, are the Crystal Cities, fenced in with corrugated
sparkling walls coped with shell-formation. A little beyond is another
wall of a similar kind, also gracefully curved in obedience to natural

THE CRYSTAL CITIES. 149

laws, for Nature loves curves and wages perpetual war against straight
lines. In the distance are five or six other mural divisions. The
central one is gracefully bent like the letter S, but not quite so much
rounded at the ends. Between the outer wall and the rest is an open
pear-shaped space, in which are four small domes and two conspicuous
figures. The principal of these is "The Queen's Statue," a pleasing
stalagmitic form of pure alabaster, about 20 inches in height, and
standing on a pedestal of white, shading off to brown. It does not
require much imaginative power to see in this image a representation
of some royal personage clad in ermine robes. The proportions are
good, and the pose is exceedingly graceful. Near to the Queen's
Statue is another notable stalagmitic object, formed in three sections,
indicating periods of rest between. First there is a foundation of
white limestone formation. Then there is a columnar growth of a few
inches, with a distinct joint between it and the base. Superposed is
a dome-shaped summit, not unlike the back of a human head of that
kind which phrenologists call " intellectual ; " and between this and the
lower portion is another well-defined joint at the nape of the neck.
It is peculiar, but not regal, in appearance. The topographical aspect
of the Crystal Cities is something like that presented by a bird's-
eye view of a piece of country, in which everything is much fore-
shortened, as in the case of the Katoomba Colliery and mining town-
ship in the depths of the Kunimbla valley, when seen from a cliff
1,000 feet overhead. Giant eucalypti are dwarfed to the proportions
of pot plants. Tall tree ferns resemble starfish. Stalwart workmen
are reduced to pigmies, and the railway seems like the double line
at the foot of an account in a ledger. The various walls in the cave
are supposed to encompass separate cities. The old English idea of
a "city" is an incorporated place, with a cathedral and a bishop. In
America all incorporated towns with a mayor and aldermen are spoken
of as cities. But modern cities are not walled like those in the caves.

150 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

The latter accord more with ancient cities which were intramural.
For "cities" are ancient. Cain built one. Walled cities were numer-
ous in the land of Canaan. But from the Cities of the Plain to the
Apocalyptic City of Gold, with foundations garnished with all manner
of precious stones, it would be difficult to imagine anything- more
brilliant and sparkling- than the Crystal Cities of the Jenolan Caves.

Passing- from the Crystal Cities to " The Show-room," about 20 yards
north, several charming- features present themselves for admiration,
among1 which are conspicuous a glittering- cascade, terraces of warm
brown colour, reticulated ; and also a pure white, delicately-made
shawl hanging from the roof. The height of the crypt is about four feet,
and its breadth 12 feet. The floor is mitred at the side, and between
the shell borders are little forests of figures. Some elegant Doric
shafts extend from the floor to the roof, which is adorned by many
sparkling stalactites. The Show-room itself is a marvel of beauty. Its
name indicates that it is a place of splendid exhibits, and it is appro-
priate. The cavern is 12 feet high, 12 feet wide, and about 40 yards
long. Some of its principal features are remarkable for their elegance,
and the most striking figure is distinguished by classic grace. It is a
stalactite of purest white, seven or eight feet long, and from a little
distance seems as smooth and round as though it had been turned in
a lathe. It tapers very gradually, and its termination, which is thickened
a little, rests on a stalagmite equally symmetrical, but formed in sections,
each layer — of which there are about a dozen — indicating separate
periods of formation and times of rest. This peculiar stalagmite stands
on a dome marked by similar lights and shades. It is the centre
of many varieties of cave ornamentation. For the most part the
stalagmites are dumpy and poor, but there are numerous shelving
platforms hung round with gorgeous stalactites, and above them are
pieces of intricate formation, both floral and coral, of different classes
of excellence. There are magic haunts and silent chambers with

THE SHOW-ROOM

THE SHOW-ROOM. 153

coruscations like twinkling- stars on a " moon-deserted night." Nature
has cast over the whole of this cave a spell of exquisite beauty.

Near to the Show-room is the cave of "The Grand Stalactites."
It is only about 10 feet by 13 feet, but its massive grandeur is so
impressive that the pleasure it produces is "akin to pain." Some
of the stalagmites are enormous. Their summit is lost in the masses
of huge stalactites which depend from the roof, and they rest on beau-
tiful brown terraces and mounds, covered with scintillating reticulation.
The elephantine stalagmites, like the stalactites which hang between
and about them, and in several instances descend nearly to their
base, are of dazzling whiteness. The massive pillars are so close
together that the intervening spaces look like columns of jet, and thus
we have "buttress and buttress alternately framed of ebon and ivory."
The majesty of this cave haunts you. When the magnesium lamp
is extinguished and thick darkness once more casts its veil over the
magnificent scene, the vision of beauty dwells in the mind like a
memory which stirs the depths of the soul.

( 154 )

CHAPTER XXV.

THE FAIRIES' BOWER.

A FEW paces only from " The Show-room " is " The Fairies'
Bower," rich in grotesque lines and mystic crypts, in the purity
of the formation which decorates it, and in delicacy of tints and
shades. In the midst is a peculiarly-shaped stalactitic pillar resting
on a dome, and which may be regarded as the Pixies' trysting--place.
Then there are the "Diamond Walls," covered with millions of gems,
each of which, as it flashes through the gloom, sparkles like "a rich
jewel in an Ethiop's ear," or, like the very obtrusive French paste
"drops" which, on her "Sunday out," light up the auricular organs of
Mary Jane. It is noticeable that the walls are not of the formation
which is diamantiferous. There is nothing suggestive of the diamond
beds on the banks of the Ganges, the gem mines of Brazil, the rich
fields of South Africa, or even the more recently-discovered diamond-
bearing districts of Bingera, Mudgee, or New England, in New South
Wales. There is not any gravel-drift, and the reflected light displays
neither diamantine lustre nor play of colours; but, nevertheless, there
is great brilliancy. It suggests, however, not so much the glories of the
Koh-i-noor or the splendours of the Orloff, in the Russian Imperial
sceptre, as the glitter of spangles on the dress of the acrobat.

THE SELINA CAVE.

North-west from the diamond walls is a gallery to the Selina Cave.
Midway, or about 20 yards from the junction at the diamond walls, is
" Cook's Grotto," named after Mr. Samuel Cook, of Marrickville. It is

THE SELINA CAVE. 155

a lovely nook, with stalactites of rare purity and beauty. This grotto is
about five feet high and from 2 to 10 feet wide. In front is a conical
sloping- rock with a waxy-looking reticulated surface ; and the grotto
itself is filled with stalactites as white as the foam of an ocean billow
dashed upon the rocks of an iron-bound coast. Between two of the
principal stalactites is a fine "shawl" or "scarf," made of the purest
meerschaum. Over the Grotto is some pretty formation, and round about
are many coloured stalactites, which make a striking contrast. To the
left is a splendid alabaster stalagmite, semi-transparent, like camphor,
and the little stalactites above, from which it has been formed, are of
similar character, being slightly opalescent, and without any stellar
reflection of light.

The Selina Cave, 30 yards north of Cook's Grotto, is about 20 feet
high, 20 yards long, and 25 feet wide. It is named in honour of the wife
of the Hon. E. B. Webb, M.L.C., of Bathurst, and in recognition of the
interest in the caves taken by the Webb family from time to time. The
walls are heavily laden with ornament. There is on the right hand side
a lavish supply of variously-coloured stalactites. A large mass of forma-
tion has flowed from the fore part of the ceiling to the left, and assumed
all sorts of graceful and fantastic shapes, until it reaches a shell pattern
composite dwarf wall on the floor, about a foot thick at the base, and
thinning off to about an inch at the top. The best of the stalactites are
objects of great curiosity on account of the peculiar way in which they
are embellished by small gnarled and twisted projections, and pro-
tuberances like miniature stalactitic Protea in every conceivable kind of
tortuosity. In front of the cave is a magnificent stalagmite called " Lot."
It is about 1 8 feet high and two feet in diameter, and may be supposed
to represent the Patriarch after his capture by the confederate monarchs
who made war against the Kings of the Cities of the Plain. It is rather
large, but then it is recorded—" there were giants in those days." It is
not on record why this particular column is called " Lot." Perhaps it was

H 2

156 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

thought that the briny tears shed by the son of Haran on account of the
loss of his wife would be sufficient to make a second pillar of salt of
similar dimensions. The roof opening- into the cave is adorned with
stalactites, and on the floor there are besides "Lot" two other remark-
able stalagmites, which may be taken to represent members of his
family. In shape they are probably quite as representative as Noachian
figures of Mesdames Shem, Ham, and Japhet, that give variety to the
contents of those wonderful arks which are supposed to convey to the
juvenile mind the principal incidents associated with the Deluge. The
roof opening into the cave is adorned with splendid stalactites, and
among these is a beautiful white "shawl." The floor is composed
partly of handsome basins, on the bottom and sides of which is
elegant crystallization. In one corner of the roof some rich colouring
sets off pure snowflakes done in lime. Among the stalactites and
stalagmites are some exceedingly grotesque figures. There is also a
little tablet, " Selina Cave, Feb. 7, 1881."

THE MYSTERY.

From the "Selina Cave" to "The Mystery" is about 25 yards north.
In the gallery leading to this wondrous cavern may be noticed a number
of small testaceous shells resembling those of cockles, embedded in the
walls. The cave itself is rightly named, because of the wonder it excites
by its sublimity. The spectator is first fascinated by its magnificence,
and then puzzled to account for the many peculiarities and eccentricities
of form which present themselves. It is an enigma. Some of the con-
formations appear more like the expression of vagrant fancies than the
result of inanimate natural forces. Florid stalactites and floriferous rocks
have become almost commonplace objects, and the visitor by this time
is nearly satiated with limestone beauty; but here he finds new marvels
written in mystic characters, which can be deciphered only by long and

THE MYSTERY.

NELLIE'S GROTTO. 161

patient study. The cavern is about 12 feet high, from 8 to 20 feet wide,
and about 20 yards in length. It consists of two parts. On one side is
an immense mass of delicate white and rich cream-coloured formation,
with numerous giant stalactites, which in purity rival virgin snow. Smaller
stalactites in great profusion, are of the most perfect whiteness. But in
the midst of the masses of formation are most wonderfully-contorted tubes
and threads and thousands of fine lines, some like hairs and others like
spun glass. There is filagree work of the most recherche kind. Some
of the threads are as fine as the filaments of a spider's web, but twisted
and turned in a more subtle manner. Some of the stalactites are
decorated in the same mysterious way, their hirsute covering being
partly pellucid and partly opaque. On the other side of the cave is a
similar wonder, which still further illustrates the mysterious operations
of nature, and shows with what affluence she can adorn, and how fertile
are her resources.

NELLIE'S GROTTO.

About 10 yards north-west from "The Mystery" is "Nellie's Grotto,''
named in honour of Mrs. Carruthers, of Sydney, who visited the cave
shortly after its discovery. This grotto varies from one to five feet in
height, and is about 20 feet from end to end. Its beauty is bold and
striking. Its chief features are taken in at a glance, and its general
effect is unique. In the foreground on the right hand side is a pillar
of great thickness and apparent strength, standing on a gracefully waved
and rippled mound. About half of this column is stalagmitic, and was
formed at different rates of speed, as may be noticed from its uneven
bulk and the shape of the sections which enlarge upwards. Each
succeeding portion belongs to a separate epoch commencing on a
smaller circumference, until it imitates in shape its predecessor; and
then the process is again repeated. The stalagmitic part of the pillar
ends at about the centre of the column, and is out of the perpendicular,

162 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

like the leaning- tower of Pisa. From the shape of the upper section,
it seems as though three or four stalactites of about equal thickness,
but of various lengths, had been closely cemented together. Altogether
this pillar is a very bold and beautiful object. At the other end of
the grotto are two columns composed in a somewhat similar manner,
but of much smaller dimensions. They also rest on blocks of formation,
and are surrounded by a number of splendid stalactites, some of which
descend halfway and others to the base. Between these two extremities,
there are on the floor about a dozen little cones of white matter like
sugar-loaves, but not so smooth. On four of them rest the points of
magnificent tapering stalactites, straight from the roof of the grotto,
and in a line with these and the two extreme columns are stalactites
of various lengths, some plain and some richly ornamented. The
interior of the grotto is also enriched with similar kinds of beauty. A
little distance away to the left is to be seen on another bold rocky
ledge a second series of small stalactites, suggestive of the commence-
ment of another grotto similar to that which now wins so much admira-
tion. There is also a very remarkable stalagmitic formation which
resembles a wax candle burning before a shrine of Purity. It is with
reluctance that the tourist turns from this lovely grotto and wends his
way towards " The Vestry." He feels as though he could hardly refrain
from taking a last fond look, even though he should run the risk of
being converted into a limestone pillar.

163

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE VESTRY, THE JEWEL CASKET, THE BRIDAL VEIL, AND
THE FLOWERING COLUMN.

A5OUT 25 yards north of Nellie's Grotto is "The Vestry," a cavern
about 12 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 20 feet in length. It is
called The Vestry, because of its propinquity to some very fine cathedral-
like architecture, and not because any minister requires it to robe
himself in, or because it is used for the meetings of any parochial
assembly. This Vestry runs east and west, and there is here a large
area of unexplored caves. Indeed, it may be said that there are in
almost every part of the mountain openings which indicate the possi-
bility of the existence of new and lovely caverns. It is also probable
that in process of time it will be found that all the principal chambers
are connected by passages which by a little enlargement may make
intercavernous communication complete between all the best known
caves. That this is likely may be gathered from an incident which
occurred a few months ago. There were then at the Cave House four
black cats, slightly marked with white. On being petted, the playful
animals would not only purr their thanks, but also follow like dogs.
One day the most venturesome of them went with a party into the
Lucas Cave, and travelled with them a considerable distance before it
was missed, and then it was thought that it had returned to the day-
light. In the evening, however, it was not in its accustomed place
on the hearthrug, and aoout the middle of the following day it was
discovered in the Imperial Cave on the other side of the Grand Arch !

164 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

The attention of the party was attracted by the doleful cries of the
animal, which had by that time realised the fact that it had lost itself
in a dang-erous place. Some doubt might have existed as to the identity
of the cat found in the Imperial with that lost in the Lucas Cave, had
it not been that with the party that took it in were two boys, who had
carried it now and then, and permitted its extremities once or twice
to come in contact with their lighted tapers. They were able to identify
it by " the drips of sperm on its back, its burnt whisker, and the singe
on the tip of its tail ! " Thus a very interesting fact was established
which but for the accidental brandings would have been doubtful. The
visitor returns to the Fairies' Bower and the Grand Stalactites junction;
and about 20 yards north-west from the junction he arrives at the
Crystal Palace, which is fenced in by wire-netting- in order to protect
its marvellous grandeur from that class of sightseers who appear to be
unable to look at anything except they can place their unwashed paws
upon it — in which case impressions are mutual.

There are three distinct types of beauty in this Palace — the simple,
the compound, and the elaborately complex. The simple forms are
extremely massive. To call them "pretty" would be to convey an
entirely erroneous idea of their quality. The stalagmitic features are
immense. One of them is a gigantic pillar, built up in sections from
an enormous basement on a rocky mound, over which it has flowed
like milk-white lava. About a foot or so above the crest of the rock
it is several feet thick, and at one time its upper surface formed a disc
or table. On this flat top was gradually formed another white mass
of somewhat smaller proportions, tapering- towards the top, or second
platform, from which rises another stalagmitic section, expanding from
the base, and this process is repeated to the very summit, so that the
beautiful white pillar has a serrated appearance. For unsullied whiteness
and peculiarity of structure it will bear favourable comparison with the
most remarkable pillars in the cave. Near to it is another pyramidal-

THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 165

shaped mass of even greater bulk, which tapers as it rises towards the
stalactitic formation, and harmonises with it in grandeur.

From the right hand side of the base another and smaller stalagmite
rears its head, and immediately above it, and to the right of it, are
masses of formation hanging like stalactites of various lengths, and
bound together in solid but graceful combination. Farther still to the
right is an immense stalactite, shaped like the body of a kingfish minus
its tail. The floor of this part of the Palace is also very attractive, by
reason of its graceful curves and undulations, and miniature rippled
terraces. The more complex part of the Palace to the left begins with
a magnificent piece of shawl formation, from the lower end of which
depends a splendid stalactite. The shawl is draped at an angle of
about 22^ degrees, and in a line with its principal portion the wall
is hung with marvellous stalactites, one of which is of great length,
and clear as crystal. Then there is a cavernous place, from the shades
of which emerge rounded masses of white formation, fringed with
myriads of stalactites. From behind these the same kind of ornamenta-
tion is repeated again and again until a ledge of rocks is reached,
which slopes down to a marvellously beautiful stalagmite several feet
high, and which rises from the floor immediately underneath the
stalactite at the end of the shawl before mentioned.

The general impression left by this part of the Palace is that its
grandeur is different from that which distinguishes other portions of
the caves, but it would be as difficult to say in what the peculiarity
consists as it would be to describe the general appearance presented
by different turns of a kaleidoscope. The most intricate part of the
Palace is distinctive enough to leave a separate memory. The wall
is covered with masses of brilliantly white formation, with stalactites all
about them, some short, some long, some tapering like icicles, some
straight like pipe-stems ; most of them pellucid, and some like iridescent
glass. Some of the "shawls" are delicately tinted, and present a

1 66 THE JENOLAN CAVES,

charming- appearance. There are deep brown and delicate fawn-
coloured banks, which seem as though they were covered with a stony
network. Little caves at the sides are partly filled with drifts of
glistening- snow. Some of the ledges are covered with white stucco,
with delicate fringes. Many of the stalactites are charged with water,
and the drops coquette with the light and rival the glitter on the walls.
There are stately and elegant shafts of alabaster from floor to ceiling,
coloured stalactites and stalagmites nearly meeting. At every glance
the eye is pleased with new and curious forms and rich combinations
of colour. Masses of the formation are fringed with contorted threads
and pipes, and on the foreground are some curiously-shaped masses
like snow, with delicate frost work and projections like frosted hairs
all over their surface. These are for the most part opaque, but the
predominant features are crystal.

The distance from the Crystal Palace to the Jewel Casket is about
15 yards north-west, through a hall about 25 feet high and about
15 feet wide. The Casket itself is a horizontal fissure in the rocks, about
8 feet by 12, filled with brilliants of various hues. Its splendour is
enchanting. Overhanging stalactites guard the Casket, and form as
it were bars of alabaster, opal and crystal, and through the spaces
may be seen many different varieties of crystallization. The floor is
carpeted with jewels, set off with sparkling masses like frozen snow.
Some of the gems are white like diamonds, some coloured like cairn-
gorms, and other varieties of rock crystal of even more delicate tints,
and numbers of them are clear and translucent. Some of the orna-
mentation is of a rich brown. The impression produced is that nothing
could possibly be more brilliant and entrancing than this rich casket;
and yet, remembering how many times previously he has come to the
same conclusion and subsequently found he had miscalculated the
magnificence still in reserve, the visitor hesitates to accept the Jewel
Casket as the ne plus ultra of cave magnificence. Then there is the

THE FLOWERING COLUMN. 167

Bridal Veil, about 10 feet by 2 feet — a wonderful piece of delicate
tracery imitating- fine lace — not hru, but white as the fairest emblem of
a blameless life. Here are numerous terraces in deep brown and fawn
colour covered with spang-les which glitter like broken-up moonbeams
on the wavelets of a summer sea or the phosphorescence which, in the
wake of a ship, mocks the stars. The Flowering Column comes next
— a huge mass of formation 25 feet high, branching off into all sorts of
shapes graceful and grotesque. It is about eight feet wide in the centre,
of a rich brown colour shading off to a brighter and lighter hue. This
pillar is covered with remarkable little figures like flowers natural and
fanciful, and near to it is a series of imitation cascades in regular
sequence which simulate so much natural force that they might be
taken as an illustration in lime of "how the waters come down at
Lodore." These cataracts or waterfalls are now for the most part dry;
but at one time the supply of liquid or semi-liquid limestone, of which
they are formed, must have been very abundant.

—

168

CHAPTER XXVII.

HOW CAVES ARE MADE— THE WORK OF AGES.

r 1 ^HERE remain now to be described but four of the caves ordinarily
jL 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 im-
possible 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 pro-
jections. 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

MORE CAVES. 169

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 repre-
senting 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."

The next chamber is about 14 feet by 12 feet, at the end of a slight
declivity as white as snow. It is in the form of an ordinary retort, and
is succeeded by another chamber of somewhat similar contour, the
principal ornamentation being on the floor. Thence the course is
upwards, and the most attractive formation is from the roof. The
stalactites are in clusters, and for the most part small. Some of them
are like twigs, but clear as a limpid stream. Here also are stalagmites
about nine inches high, formed on the ends of huge rocks. In addition
to these are other smaller stalagmites near to a hole about 14 feet
deep, and on the floor are fossil remains. In this hole are passages

I ;o THE JEN 0 LAN CA VES.

unexplored. Hard by is a pretty " shawl " hang-ing from the roof, and
beyond it a rock about three feet high, the edge of which is covered
with a fine substance like down, which, when blown upon, flies about
like the winged seeds of thistles. Descending1 from this cavern, about
10 yards through a narrow passage, there is a steep fall of nearly 10 feet,
which leads to a chamber, the roof of which is about 10 feet high. On
the rig-ht hand side of this cave are some very white shawl pattern
formations and stalactites, and to the left are fine shawls, clear as glass,
from four to eight feet long, and from 6 to 12 inches deep. Just
beyond is a crisp, velvety floor, like that which characterises a chamber
previously described, but not of the same colour. This floor is in some
parts very red, as though it had been coloured with clay, and other
parts are like glass stained with red ochre. The stalactites are thin,
and formed in all sorts of peculiar shapes. The floor is uncommon,
being of a piebald character, appearing as though buckets of solution
of lime had been cast upon it, in the midst of some large stalactites
that give character to the cave, which is about 40 feet by 40 feet.
Passing on you come to a pretty chamber ornamented with stalactites,
composed mostly of yellow crystal. The cave then runs nobody at
present knows where. There are unexplored chambers all around. This
cave is named after the Government geologist, and is to be known as
the Wilkinson Cave.

Mr. C. S. Wilkinson has contributed some valuable matter to Cave
literature. His account of the Jenolan Caves, written for the Government,
contains several beautiful passages bearing upon the physical and chemical
agencies at work in the formation of limestone caverns. And here it
may be interesting to refer to one or two other authorities also on the
same subject. Dr. Wright, an American scientist, says, " There can be
no doubt that the solvent action of water holding carbonic acid in
solution " is the primary agency concerned in the formation of limestone
caves. "Limestone," he says, "is not soluble in water until it combines

HOW CAVES ARE MADE. 171

with an additional proportion of carbonic acid, by which it is transformed
into the bicarbonate of lirne. In this way the process of excavation is
conducted until communication is established with running- water, by which
the mechanical agency of that fluid is made to assist the chemical. Little
niches and recesses, which seern to have been chiselled out and polished
by artificial means, were formed in this manner; for when these points
are strictly examined, a crevice will be observed at the top or at the
back of them, through which water issued at the time of their formation,
but which has been partially closed by crystals of carbonate of lime or
gypsum." Dr. Wright, referring to the different conditions and different
periods of cave formation, says : — " The sulphate of lime, which is known
under the name of gypsum, plaster of Paris, selenite, alabaster, etc.,
exerts a much greater influence in disintegrating rock than the sulphate
of soda. The avenues in which gypsum occurs are perfectly dry, differing
in this respect from those that contain stalactites. When rosettes of
alabaster are formed in the same avenue with stalactites, the water
which formed the latter has for ages ceased to flow, or they are situated
far apart, as the former cannot form in a damp atmosphere."

Mr. Wilkinson also alludes to separate periods of formation in con-
nection with the Jenolan Caves. He says : — " There appear to have been
two distinct periods during- which stalactitic growth formed ; one of
comparatively remote age, and very local in character, being chiefly
confined to the caves known as the Lurline and Bone Caves; and
another but recent and still in operation. The older growth is essen-
tially of a stalactitic type, and the stalactites are remarkably thick,
though in one or two cases a huge stalagmite is to be seen. The
newer growth exhibits every fantastic and beautiful form known, from
the thin hollow reed and transparent veil to the snow-white dome stalag-
mites, the crystal-fringed pool, the wave-lined floor, and the crooked-
fringed shapes that are turned in all directions." But there is one
passag-e in Mr. Wilkinson's account which takes us far beyond the time

172 THE JENOLAN CA VES.

when the limestone mountains were formed, and describes a complete
circle of natural transmutation and reproduction, and which may be
appropriately quoted in connection with the cave which bears his name.
Here it is : — " First, the decaying- vegetation of some ancient forest is
invisibly distilling- the g-as known as carbonic acid; then a storm of
rain falls, clearing the air of the noxious gas, and distributing a thousand
streamlets of acid water over the surrounding country, and which, as it
drains off, not only wears the rocks it passes over, but dissolves them
in minute quantities, especially such as contain much lime, and then,
laden with its various compounds, flows off to the distant sea, where
reef corals, lying in fringing banks round the coast, are slowly absorb-
ing the lime from the water around them, and building the fragile
coatings that protect them during life. Slowly as the land sinks the
coral bank increases in height, for reef corals can only live near the
surface of the water; and soon a considerable thickness has been
obtained; while below the upper zone of live corals lies a vast charnel-
house of dead coral coverings ; then comes a change ; suitable temperature,
or some other essential condition, fails, killing out all the corals, and
through long ages other deposits accumulate over them, gradually
crushing and consolidating the coral bank into a firm rock. At last a
convulsion of the earth's crust brings it up from the buried depth in
which it lies, leaving it tilted on its edge, but still, perhaps, below the
surface of the ground ; rain, frost, and snow slowly remove what covers
it, until it lies exposed again to the sunlight, but so changed that but
for the silent but irresistible testimony of the fossil forms of which it is
composed, it were hard to believe that this narrow band of hard grey
rock was once the huge but fragile coral bank glistening in the bright
waters with a thousand hues. And now the process is repeated; the
decaying vegetation of the surrounding forest produces the carbonic
acid, the rains spread it over the ground, which is now the most
favourable for being dissolved, and the consequence is that the acid

HOW CAVES ARE MADE. 173

water saturates itself with the limestone rock, and whenever the least
evaporation takes place, has to deposit some of its dissolved carbonate
of lime in one of the many stalactitic forms, before it can flow off to
the sea and distribute its remaining- contents to fresh coral banks. Thus
the old coral reef melts away far inland, and the lime that formed the
coatings of its corals is again utilised for the same purpose. What a
simple succession of causes and effects, and yet before the circle is
completed long- ages of time have come and gone; and what a fine
example of the balance between the waste and reproduction that takes
place in Nature ! " And thus the diurnal motion of the earth and its
annual journey round the solar circle, as well as the repetitions of
history, have impressive geological analogies. How many hearts have
begun to beat — how many have throbbed with passion and ambition,
and waxed cold as an extinct volcano in the years required to form a
small stalactite ? How many ages have come and gone since the
Jenolan Caves were coral reefs in the azure sea?

( 174 )

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE GARDEN PALACE— THE STALAGMITE CAVE AND THE
GEM OF THE WEST.

THE "Garden Palace," about 14 yards north from the Flowering-
Column, is remarkable for the beauty of its proportions and
the charming1 grace of its arches and dome. It has on the left hand
side a magnificent stalactite descending from the roof, and coming
to a fine point on the top of a stalagmite, which rises a short
distance from the floor. There are also many other stalactites and
stalagmites of rare proportions. Near to it is a fascinating little
crypt that can be peered into from a small aperture in the wall of
the passage, which is here about 25 feet wide and 14 feet high.
This part of the " Palace " is about 4 feet by 4 feet 6 inches and
about 10 inches high. There is no association about this portion to
vividly recall the elegant building which adorned the Inner Domain,
or even the grandeur of its ruins, which the fierce flames could not
consume. It is simply a charming little peepshow filled with the most
dainty specimens of crystallization, the purest stalactites, and the most
elaborate decoration. In front is a stalagmite called the "Prince's
Statue/' Most of the stalactites are transparent. The stalagmites
are white as snow, and some of them sparkle with an external coat-
ing like hoar-frost. There are small globular pieces covered with
tubular spikes, like those of the echinus, but as fine as the stings
of bees or the antennae of butterflies. In the centre is a little colour
ot a roseate hue, and the most prevalent forms resemble transparent

ESS*

THE ALABASTER COLUMN.

THE GEM OF THE WEST.

THE GEM OF THE WEST. 179

flowers and plants which rival the skill of the glass-blower, and sur-
pass the most delicate work of the artificer in gold and silver. This
crypt is like a dreamland treasure-house filled with spoils of art
and fancy.

The Stalagmite Cave and the "Gem of the West" are about
30 yards north of the Garden Palace, through a hall about 12 feet
high and 14 feet wide. The stalagmites are magnificent, and the
walls are adorned with glittering formation of delicate tracery. There
are some fine specimens of stalactites, and the distance between two
of them has been carefully measured with a view to accurate obser-
vation as regards the rate of future growth. Not far from these
are some remarkable stalagmites, formed on and about a sugarloaf-
shaped mound. The uppermost one, which appears incomplete — not
having yet received its apex — is composed of five sections. Another
close by is formed of eight or nine sections, and one lower down of
about the same number of distinct portions. Like some other stalag-
mites already described, their individual sections represent separate
periods of formation and of rest.

One of the most beautiful of the large stalagmites in the caves
is the Alabaster Column.

The " Gem of the West " is in every respect worthy of its name.
It is one of the most attractive caves in the series, and calls forth
expressions of delight the moment it is illuminated by a magnesium
lamp. It is carefully protected by wire netting, and retains all its pristine
loveliness. It occupies but a small space, being seven or eight feet
high by about five feet wide. There is a considerable amount of for-
mation on the roof, extending down the wall to the ledge of a rock,
the flat under-surface of which forms the roof of the cave. From it
descend numbers of stalactites of various lengths, as clear as crystal.
In between these are numerous small glass-like ornaments, and here
and there are little rifts filled with a substance like drifted snow and

I 2

i8o THE JENOLAN CAVES.

sleet. The stalactites are not all clear; some of them resemble
alabaster, and their shapes are very grotesque. Many are straight
as reeds ; some are bulbous, and several are combinations of straight
pipe and bulb. A few have grown obliquely, but many of the smaller
ones are contorted in the most extraordinary manner. On the other
side is a formation like a miniature Niagara, with "wild shapes for
many a strange comparison," and forms of exquisite beauty.

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear. "

But ocean caves do not contain anything more pure and captivating
than the splendours of the Gem of the West.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE FAIRIES' RETREAT.

IT is about 40 yards north-east from the Gem of the West to the
Fairies' Retreat. The passage is from 8 to 20 feet high and
from 6 to 14 feet wide, and rather damp. The visitor ascends a short
ladder to a rocky ledge, where there is a small opening and a narrow
passage, along which he has to wriggle his way in a recumbent
posture and with his feet foremost. Long before he has reached the
immediate entrance to the Retreat he begins to think Puck has led
him a "pretty dance," and he has gained some idea of the least
pleasant sensations incident to cave exploration. When he has com-
pleted the journey in a doubled-up posture, and is placed in an
attitude scarcely less uncomfortable, curved like a boomerang, he feels
as though he would give the world to be able to stretch himself.
But a slight pressure upwards reminds him of the superincumbent
mountain, and so he feels like a prisoner with billions of tons above
him and the rocky base below. He begins to grow hot, and would give
anything to be in a place capacious enough to enable him to expand
and breathe freely. However, the lamp is turned on, and for a
moment or two he is lost in admiration of the scene. He might
fancy himself Sindbad in the Diamond Valley, or think that the cave-
keeper possessed the lamp of Aladdin, or that he had come upon
enchanted land. This Retreat extends S.E. about 20 yards. Its
entrance is about 2 feet by 20 inches at the embouchure, and it widens
a little towards the end. It is about four feet wide and three feet

182 THE JENOLAN CAVES.

high, and is filled with glittering cave gems and alabaster flowers,
and myriads of figures which sparkle with brilliants. But what are the
brightest jewels and the choicest flowers to ease of body and mental
serenity? Many of the fair sex have visited this Retreat, carefully
tutored and assisted by the curator. It may be appropriately and
pleasantly inspected by agile sylphs and dapper little men who affect
a contempt for muscular development and insist upon being gauged
by Dr. Watts's standard, but ladies who are massive and gentlemen
who are portly and plethoric will, when making their exit, caterpillar
fashion, think it very absurd that so splendid a spectacle should have
so mean and inconvenient an approach.

THE QUEEN'S DIAMONDS.

After seeing the Fairies' Retreat there remains but one other sur-
prise, and that is "The Queen's Diamonds." These are in a casket
easily accessible, and the opening to which is about three feet wide by
one foot high. The jewel case itself is about four feet wide, three feet
deep, and 12 feet long. When the light is turned into it the brilliancy
of the scene is perfectly dazzling. The prismatic formations are won-
derful, and the blaze of magnificence mocks the descriptive power of
either pen or pencil. It is "labyrinth of light" which appeals to the
imagination with rare force. Edgar A. Poe worked up an excellent
sensation in his story of " The Gold Bug." The way in which Mr.
William Legrand became possessed of the scarabaeus with scales of
bright metallic lustre, and of the scrap of paper which contained
mysterious directions leading to hidden piratical plunder by Kidd,
is not more interesting to the general reader than cryptography is
to the student. The enthusiastic way in which the curator speaks of
this cave and its distance and measurements recalls to memory the
exciting incidents connected with the death's-head, the gold bug
dropped through its eye-socket, the taping of the distance from the

THE QUEEN'S DIAMONDS. 183

fall of the scarabaeus to the hidden wealth, the hurried digging, and
the discovery of thz buried treasure. "As the rays of the lantern fell
within the pit, there flashed upwards a glow and a glare from a con-
fused heap of gold and of jewels that absolutely dazzled our eyes."
The feeling produced in that case was exhaustion from excitement;
but the sensation caused by a glance at the brilliance of the Queen's
Diamonds is one of intense gratification. It is a most vivid and
lustrous spectacle. The crystals are in clusters grouped together like
the petals of flowers, and these flower-shaped forms combine with
others of a similar kind, and constitute elaborate floral masses. They
are much more difficult to decipher than was the cryptography left by
the pirate Kidd. As Brewster puts it, " though the examination of
these bodies has been pretty well pursued, we can form at present
no adequate idea of the complex and beautiful organization of these
apparently simple bodies" Of the 1,500 or more different crystals
known to science, nearly half are composed of carbonate of lime, but
" The Queen's Diamonds " are certainly among the rarest. The crys-
tallized forms in the caves are very numerous. Some of them are
irregular, on account of the substance not having been sufficiently
divided before its deposition, or because of inadequate space or
insufficient repose, but for the most part they are regular and perfect
of their kind. None, however, are more regularly formed or more
pronounced than "The Queen's Diamonds." It would be difficult to
describe their geometric shape. The separate fragments of each cluster
vary from about an inch to a fraction thereof. They are like three-
sided prisms, tapering to points at the ends. The edges are sharp
as knives from the centre to the upper point; but from the centre to
the end which is joined to others, the sharp edge is replaced by a
smooth surface, as though a cut had been made with a razor. The
upper ends of these prisms are clear as glass ; the lower ends are a
little cloudy. The brilliancy of the combination is marvellous.

CHAPTER XXX.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS.

WHEN the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she
went to Jerusalem with a great train, with camels that bore
spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones, and fully
satisfied the curiosity commonly attributed to her sex. She proved
the wisdom of the far-famed monarch, admired his house and its
appointments, the apparel of his servants, the attendance of his
ministers, and the magnificence of his daily table ; and, according to
Josephus, she said: "As for the report, it only attempted to persuade
our hearing, but did not so make known the dignity of the things
themselves as does the sight of them, and being present among
them. I, indeed, who did not believe what was reported by reason
of the multitude and grandeur of the things I inquired about, do see
them to be much more numerous than they were reported to be."
Or, as the verdict of " the Queen of the South " is given in the
Authorized Version of the Old Testament, " I believed not the words
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was
not told me." A similar testimony will be borne by most visitors
in regard to the magnificence of the Jenolan Caves, and "the multi-
tude and grandeur" of the objects which excite surprise or challenge
admiration at almost every step. Jenolan is a veritable wonderland,
as well as a most interesting geological study. It presents features

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS. 185

sufficiently sublime to touch the deepest chords of the human heart:
forms sufficiently graceful to charm the artist; situations affording
novel material for the romancist; configurations, transmutations, and
fascinations to move the soul of the poet; and vast, silent cathedrals
which inspire a feeling1 of devotion, for —

"Nature, with folded hands, seems there
Kneeling at her evening prayer. "

Some of the best photographs which have been taken of the most
prominent features of the caves give an idea of their grandeur, but
it is only a poor one. They convey no impression of their delicate
sheen and dazzling1 beauty, of the gradations of tint and colour ; of
the mystic crypts and charming1 contours. A good photograph may
aid those who have seen the caves to fill in details, but even to the
most imaginative person who has not had the pleasure of a personal
inspection it cannot possibly convey anything1 like an adequate sense
of the thousand and one charms which elude both the photographer
and the artist. There is as much difference between the pictorial
illustration and the reality as there is between a vacant stare and an
eye filled with lovelight and sparkling1 recognition. And the same
remark will apply in greater or lesser degree to verbal description.
Words are altogether too poor, and it may be folly to attempt to
describe the indescribably beautiful. Among the numerous inscrip-
tions in the cave book, a visitor has given his judgment upon this
point very bluntly. He says, without periphrasis or euphemism — "The
man who would attempt to describe these caves is a fool." Still, these
articles as they appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, have at least
brought the caves prominently before the public, and perchance in their
present form may be of use to future visitors.

On leaving the Cimmerian gloom of the Imperial Cave, and emerg-
ing into the clear daylight, the sensation is strange, for after being two
or three hours entombed in the heart of the limestone mountains, the

186 THE JENOLAN CA VES. .

darkness seems as natural as night. It is joyous, however, to be back
again in the sunshine, and to find that —

" There is a tongue in every leaf,
A voice in every rill."

CAVES UNEXPLORED.

And as you glance once more along the limestone mountain ridge
you wonder what hidden beauties yet remain to be revealed. To the
north from the Devil's Coach-house numerous caves are known to exist,
and it is probable that some of them may present features more remark-
able than any yet discovered. The creek, which runs quietly along, has
on its way some oblique outlets before it sinks into the earth, and recalls,
with its surroundings, the pleasure-place of Kubla Khan, —

" Where Alf the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to the sunless sea."

The first of these caves is very deep, with a steep ascent. The
curator has penetrated it to a depth of 160 feet. He was lowered into
one shaft 100 feet perpendicular, and found in it a number of interesting
bones, which he sent to the museum of the Department of Mines in
Sydney. One of them resembled the tusk of a tiger, and was thought
to be too large to have been in the jaw of any Australian animal
extant. The next known cave is called the " Glass Cave," on account
of the transparent beauty of its adornments, which are equal to those of
the Imperial Cave. The third is unexplored, but there is reason to
believe that it is very extensive. The fourth, which seems to run south-
ward, is also unexplored. Some time ago the curator was lowered into
it, a depth of 80 feet, but he has not been able to make any examination
of its interior. Next is the Mammoth Cave, so called because of its
vast chambers. One of these is estimated to be upwards of 300 feet
high, loo feet long, and 100 feet wide. It contains a large amount of

UNEXPLORED CAVES. 187

formation, the prettiest portions of which are about 200 feet from the
floor. The roof is so high that the magnesium lamp is hardly strong
enough to bring it into view. There is a very long and wide chamber
leading from this towards the south, with a large number of "drops"
of from 100 to 150 feet, many of them unexplored. The length of this
chamber is about 10 chains — that is, one-eighth of a mile. From this
the curator was lowered into another chamber of vast proportions, and
from 60 to i (X) feet deeper down, through solid limestone. At the end
of its undulating floor he came to a river about six feet wide and nine
inches deep, the water of which was running in a strong stream. Round
about are many little caverns full of bones. The next is the Bow Cave,
to which reference has previously been made. It is a small cavern,
and, as has already been explained, there were found in it six bullock
bows, together with two harrow pins, and a pair of hinges ; supposed
to have been "planted" there by M'Ewan, the bushranger, about the
year 1839. This cave has about it numerous small drives not yet
explored. Farther on is a pretty cave, running, with a gentle slope,
two or three hundred yards into the mountains, and containing numerous
chambers and water-holes. Five or six of these chambers only have
been explored, and they contain some very handsome stalactites.
Farther on are two or three other caves, to the entrance of which only
the curator has been. Above all these caves a strong stream of water
sinks suddenly into the ground. It is believed that this feeds the
river in the Mammoth Cave, and afterwards flows into the Imperial,
and comes to the surface again in Camp Creek, on the other side of
the limestone range, where it bursts up suddenly from between the
boulders, as though there were underneath them a broken 42-inch city
water-pipe.

On the south side of the Grand Arch are several known caves. The
curator has been lowered about 100 feet into one of small dimensions,
with a large chamber from it, containing many sonorous stalactites of

1 88 THE JENOLAN CAVES,

large proportions, as well as much elaborate formation. Next to this
is a cavern called the Specimen Cave. It is about 20 feet deep,
with a large number of bones on the floor, which has been broken
away. The fracture shows that it was largely composed of red clay.
The broken face is full of bones. This cave would be worth special
examination, because it is believed many of the bones belonged to
animals which have disappeared from New South Wales. Farther on
is a cave into which, five years ago, the curator was lowered about
240 feet. At a still greater distance, three miles from the Cave House,
is a cave, with a strong stream of water flowing out of it. That is the
farthest limestone visible on this side of the mountain. The stream
sinks into the ground at a short distance after it leaves the mouth of
the cave. It is believed that this water runs underneath all the caves
on the south side into the Lucas Cave, and is not seen again until it
re-appears under "The Bridge." The range of limestone rocks seen
from the Cave House extends north and south five-and-a-half or six
miles. At each end water in considerable volume sinks into the earth
suddenly and re-appears in caves near the centre of the valley; the
northern stream flowing through the Imperial Cave, and the southern
through the Lucas Cave. Both streams come to the surface in Camp
Creek, and chatter away towards the sea.

CHAPTER XXXI.

CONCLUSION.

THE journey from Sydney to the Caves is long and expensive, but
the route is interesting- all the way. Thirty-six miles from, the
city after crossing the Emu Plains and the magnificent bridge over the
Nepean at Penrith, 87 feet above sea-level, the train begins to climb
the mountain range, and after travelling 52 miles it attains an altitude
of 3,658 feet. The first zigzag up Lapstone Hill brings into view a
splendid panorama, and, notwithstanding the disregard of railway sur-
veyors for fine scenery when it is placed in the balance against
economical construction, there are many glorious glimpses to be
obtained from the carriage windows during the journey between Sydney
and Tarana. If the traveller has time to stop en route he will find much
to interest him round about Lawson and Katoomba, Blackheath and
Mount Victoria. The great Zigzag into the Lithgow valley is one of
the most remarkable feats of engineering in the world. There is a
fall of about 230 yards in five miles of running. Even after this sudden
descent the country is still very elevated, and at Tarana, where it is
necessary to take coach for the Caves, it is upwards of 2,500 feet above
the level of the sea.

The train which leaves Sydney at 9 o'clock in the morning arrives
at Tarana at 4.15 in the afternoon. By coach or buggy from Tarana
the little agricultural township of Oberon — distant about 18 miles— can
be approached comfortably the same evening. At Oberon there is a

THE JENOLAN CA VES.

well-kept hotel, which reminds one of the best village hostelries in
the old country. Here it is customary to stay the night. Bidding good
morning to your host after a moderately early breakfast, you can drive
to the door of the Cave House just in time for lunch.

The road from Tarana to Oberon is well made and metalled, and
with a pair of good horses you can travel at a spanking pace. From
Oberon to the Caves the road is also good, but not so wide as that
from Tarana to Oberon. A considerable portion of it may be described
in fact as an excellently kept bush track. The road down the Zigzag
is, as already mentioned, a trial to the nerves of timid people. It is
much too narrow, and ought to be widened by cutting still farther into
the mountain side, building up the retaining wall more substantially,
and paying greater attention to drainage. A cable tramway would
then make the transit easy and pleasant.

A light railway to Oberon would probably give as good a return as
nine-tenths of the mileage on our railways, and if the tramway from
there to the Caves would not pay immediately it would ultimately create
settlement and traffic, and in the meantime be an important factor in
increasing the traffic on the 140 miles of railway leading to it from
Sydney.

Until a short time ago the Caves were completely cut off from
rapid communication with the outer world, but now they are in tele-
phonic communication with the telegraph system of the colony.

PRINTED BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE,

Her Majesty's Printers,
DOWNS PARK ROAD, HACKNEY.

Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

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MAR 3 1954

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