Page images
PDF
EPUB

he marvelled at the crash, and called this "exploring the cave." Will it be believed, that there is scarce a tangible beauty in the cave, but has been more or less defaced? Yet such is the case. Multitudes go there to feast and dance and make riot; and the work of centuries is shivered by a thoughtless blow. But whoever goes there for the love of beauty, will find the place a temple, and will linger beneath its arches, to wonder and adore. It was soon after mid day that I entered the cave on my second visit; and having abundance of time, I examined its beauties at leisure, and took time to receive the full impression from every form of grandeur. The chamber which is seen from the landing, is entered below, between a row of stalagmites, which look like the broken pillars of a temple a small area of the floor is perfectly smooth, though all around rocks are piled in the utmost confusion. The arch above may be seventy feet. This place I called my chapel; the profound silence, and my utter loneliness, added to the impression from such a magnificent temple, filled me with awe. Yet it soon became pleasant to sit there. "Enter; its grandeur overwhelms thee not; And why? it is not lessened; but thy mind, Expanded by the genius of the spot, Has grown colossal, and can only find A fit abode wherein appear enshrined Thy hopes of immortality."

[ocr errors]

I remained there I know not how long, forgetful of everything that did not harmonize with the imposing creations around me, and listening to the tinkling sound of water, dropping from the roof into a little pool near by. For a few moments the silence is absolute: a flash in the air from a falling drop, a quiver on the face of the pool, and a pure, silvery tone floats upon the still air until its vibrations touch the great arch above, and the voice of the cavern gives solemn response. Listen; there is another; silence again, and now another thus age after age have those drops been falling, and their music the only sound telling that the hand of the Almighty was at work hewing this temple from the living rock. For an hour of true freedom; and to feel all that can be felt from magnificence of form, and solemnity of sound, visit this temple alone.

We pass now to different scenes, and other impressions. The confusion of the central part of the cave, gave me enough to think of in finding my way. Determined to reach the remotest chamber, I went into every recess until I found the right passage. This was no easy matter; but as every bye passage led somewhere, and I wished to see all, I felt neither disappointment nor fatigue. By sticking some bits of lighted candles on the cliffs here and there, I felt sure of my retreat, and was thus free to think only of progress. At length I found myself in the extreme part of

the cavern. The chamber was small and dungeonlike. Placing my torch in a recess in another apartment, having first marked well the way, and counted the steps, I returned to this gloomy den, to learn the impression from absolute silence, and utter darkness and solitude; for though no person was with me the gleam of a taper in this abyss of darkness, was a ministering spirit. There I sat ; not one ray of light, not the faintest conceivable sound, nor any motion whatever in the air. It seemed as though the rocks were my body, and my spirit was imbedded in them; thinking, but powerless to act; feeling, but bereft of all affinities. The idea was awful, and creeping back to my torch I could but exclaim, hail holy light!

On returning to the centre of the cavern, I noticed bits of candles scattered everywhere over the rocks. What could these mean? They must be the remains of a former illumination. Capital thought! They were soon gathered, and with some mud from a pool, stuck upon the tops of stalagmites, on the points of projecting rocks near the floor, and away up on the pinnacles of the cliffs. I had an illumination all to myself. What were the palaces of monarchs to splendor like this? Standing upon a huge rock, fringed with stalactites, overlooking the obstructions of the floor, I could gaze through several apartments sufficiently lighted to reveal their grandeur. There was no unity, however, in the view, and the impression was constantly changing. Now I was amid the ruins of a mighty city. These massive fragments, these broken columns, arches, turrets and winding passages, and this majestic pillar as yet untouched by time, bespoke the power, elegance and skill of a lost people. Then all at once, the place was Pandemonium. These white stalagmites were the "princely dignities;" the countless stalactites, sparkling in the vault above, "from the arched roof Pendant by subtle magic."

seemed like

"many a row

Of starry lamps and blazen cressets, fed
With Naphtha and Asphaltus, yielding light
As from a sky."

The little flames, gleaming starlike, row above row, became

"The incorporeal spirits, who to smallest forms Reduced their shapes immense

and here was the "throne of royal state" where"Satan exalted sat."

Alas for my 66 proud imaginations," these "Demigods on golden seats" one by one began to go out, and soon finding myself quite alone, and with but a single light to guide me, I thought it best to make for upper air.

Once more the breath of heaven, and night too! The stars looking earnestly from their azure deep, the quivering of the leaves - the

[graphic][merged small]
[graphic]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[graphic][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »