the assistant police magistrate of Westbury holds a court
twice in a week. About 15 miles from Deloraine, in the Western
Mountains, are situated the great caves, which, in extent and beauty,
perhaps equal subterranean wonders of more celebrity. They have not
often been visited; but those who have seen them describe them as being
extremely grand and beautiful. The entrance of the principal cave, which
is considerably more than two miles in length, is in the limestone rock,
at the upper extremity of a narrow ravine, down which flows the stream
which issues from the mouth of the cave, and extends throughout its
whole length. The opening is thirty feet high, and fifty or sixty in
width. At a considerable distance from the entrance light is admitted by
two openings in the roof, the only ones throughout the whole extent of
the cave, and when these are passed the full beauty of the scene breaks
upon the view of the visitor. Stalactites of every form, hang like
icicles from the roof; some presenting the appearance of inverted cones,
others that of glistening semi-transparent tubes, about the thickness of
a pipe stem, and several yards in length. In some parts, the
stalactites, meeting with their opposite stalagmites, form pillars in
appearance supporting a roof of immense height. In other places they
assume the form of elegant and flowing drapery thrown over the huge
rocks that project from the sides of the cavern. The fringes of this
drapery, when struck by any hard substance, give forth a ringing sound,
and every variety of note, high or low, according to their respective
lengths. The floor is covered with stalagmites of every form, and it
sparkles as if paved with diamonds. If the visitor extinguish his torch,
myriads of glow-worms are seen to cover the roof and walls, emitting a
faint blue light, and making the surrounding stalactites appear like
spectres in the gloom. As the spectator proceeds, new objects of wonder
appear. In some places the stalactites, shooting out in all directions,
into innumerable small fibres, appear like fret-work along the roof; in
others like masses of elegant drapery, extending fold above fold, to the
height of thirty or forty feet, from the floor to the roof. Near the
entrance of the cave they are of a grey or brownish color, but in the
interior they are of a pure white. There are several chambers, some of
great beauty, which branch off from the main passage, and have been
formed by the rivulet