For a short time I gazed on that lovely scene, and
examined the chances to reach it, but a great gulf intervened that
we had no means of spanning, and I called to the men to lower me
down. Approaching the bottom one of the walls trended in towards me
and I stepped upon solid ground close to the wall, which half way
up seemed fifty feet away. The opening above now looked like a
small pale moon, and the next man who came dangling down to join us
looked no bigger than a toy soldier. Gradually our eyes became
accustomed to the twilight, and by the time our party was increased
to six men, I could see quite distinctly.
"The room runs directly into the mountain and is about ninety feet
high, and where we landed it proved to be twenty feet wide. It
extended in both directions, but much the farthest towards the
right hand. The outer room is encrusted in fine white water
formations. It forms a Gothic ceiling from which hang pendant at
all places brilliant and sparkling stalactites; some being of
immense size and length, from ten to twenty-five feet. Others are
not so large but are brilliant. We created a flood of artificial
light with dozens of candles and lamps; and then and not until
then, could we see the slope and contour of the roof.
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