therefore very properly reluctant to have them used. The reflection
from the shining walls is so strong, that lamplight is quite sufficient.
Moreover, these wonderful formations need to be examined slowly and in
detail. The universal glitter of the Lights is worthless in comparison.
From Rebecca's Garland you come into a vast hall, of great height,
covered with shining drops of gypsum, like oozing water petrified. In
the centre is a large rock, four feet high, and level at top, round
which several hundred people can sit conveniently. This is called
Cornelia's Table, and is frequently used for parties to dine upon. In
this hall, and in Wellington's Gallery, are deposits of fibrous gypsum,
snow-white, dry, and resembling asbestos. Geologists, who sometimes take
up their abode in the cave for weeks, and other travellers who choose to
remain over night, find this a very pleasant and comfortable bed.

Cornelia's Table is a safe centre, from which individuals may diverge on
little exploring expeditions; for the paths here are not labyrinthine,
and the hall is conspicuous from various neighboring points of view. In
most regions of the cave, it is hazardous to lose sight of the guide. If
you think to walk straight ahead, even for a few rods, and then turn
short round and return to him, you will find it next to impossible to do
so. So many paths come in at acute angles; they look so much alike; and
the light of a lamp reveals them so imperfectly, that none but the
practised eye of a guide can disentangle their windings. A gentleman who
retraced a few steps, near the entrance of the cave, to find his hat,
lost his way so completely, that he was not found for forty-eight hours,
though twenty or thirty people were in search of him. Parties are
occasionally mustered and counted, to see that none are missing. Should
such an accident happen, there is no danger, if the wanderer will remain
stationary; for he will soon be missed, and a guide sent after him. From
the hall of congealed drops, you may branch off into a succession of
small caves, called Cecilia's Grottoes. Here nearly all the beautiful
formations of the surrounding caves, such as grapes, flowers, stars,
leaves, coral, &c., may be found so low, that you can conveniently
examine their minutest features. One of these little recesses, covered
with sparkling spar, set in silvery gypsum, is called Diamond Grotto.
Alma's Bower closes this series of wonderful formations. As a whole,