he coldness of its
air.

It is an appalling spectacle,--how dark, how dismal, how dreary.
Descending some thirty feet down rather rude steps of stone, you are
fairly under the arch of this "nether world"--before you, in looking
outwards, is seen a small stream of water falling from the face of the
crowning rock, with a wild faltering sound, upon the ruins below, and
disappearing in a deep pit,--behind you, all is gloom and darkness!

Let us now follow the guide--who, placing on his back a canteen of
oil, lights the lamps, and giving one to each person, we commence our
subterranean journey; having determined to confine ourselves, for this
day, to an examination of _some_ of the avenues on this side of the
rivers, and to resume, on a future occasion, our visit to the fairy
scenes beyond. I emphasize the word _some_ of the avenues, because no
visitor has ever yet seen one in twenty; and, although I shall attempt
to describe only a few of them, and in so doing will endeavor to
represent things as I saw them, and as they impressed me, I am not the
less apprehensive that my descriptions will appear as unbounded
exaggerations, so wonderfully vast is the Cave, so singular its
formations, and so unique its characteristics.

At the place where our lamps were lighted, are to be seen the wooden
pipes which conducted the water, as it fell from the ceiling, to the
vats or saltpetre hoppers; and near this spot too, are interred the
bones of a _giant_, of such vast size is the skeleton, at least of
such portions of it as remain. With regard to this giant, or more
properly skeleton, it may be well to state, that it was found by the
saltpetre workers far within the Cave years ago, and was buried by
their employer where it now lies, to quiet their superstitious fears,
not however before it was bereft of its head by some fearless
antiquary.

Proceeding onward about one-hundred feet, we reached a door, set in a
rough stone wall, stretched across and completely blocking up the
Cave; which was no sooner opened, than our lamps were extinguished by
the violence of the wind rushing outwards. An accurate estimate of the
external temperature, may at any time, be made, by noting the force of
the wind as it blows inward or outward. When it is very warm without,
the wind blows outwards with violence; but when cold, it blows inwards
with proportionate force. The temperature of the Cave, (winter and
summer,) is invariably the same--59 deg. Fahrenh