his range of mountains reaches a height of three thousand four hundred
feet, intersected by precipitous ravines fifteen hundred feet in depth,
and by gulches scarcely excelled in our own Rocky Mountains. One is
reminded here most forcibly of the precipitous zigzag road at
Darjeeling, in India, which ascends toward the Himalayan range, and
which is nearly as remarkable as this example of Australian engineering.
We were told that this Zigzag Railroad of five miles more or less in
length cost three million dollars, and saw no reason to doubt it. In
working out some of the levels from the face of the precipitous and
rocky sides of the mountain, laborers were suspended by ropes from
holding-ground far above their heads, and very many of the cuttings were
accomplished under equally trying circumstances. As a piece of daring
and successful engineering there is nothing to equal it in the Southern
Hemisphere.

The subterranean temples and halls of limestone which constitute these
remarkable Fish River Caves are of vast extent, filled with many
intricate windings, galleries, and irregular passages, in which one
would inevitably be lost without an experienced and faithful guide. The
many apartments are known by special names, and there are several
singularly perfect archways whose exact proportions no architect could
improve. These caves present some of the most beautiful stalactites we
have ever seen, and in many prominent features they are considered to be
unique. Whole days of examination would not exhaust their variety. One
of the caves is of cathedral dimensions, having a height of five hundred
feet and a length and breadth according well with its altitude. Another
of the apartments is appropriately designated as the Menagerie, on
account of the peculiar shapes produced by the crystal-like formations,
from which the imagination can easily create various animals.

When lighted, these subterranean palaces form a gorgeous spectacle. One
peculiar division is called the Bell Tower, being a small chamber in
which are five or six stalactites hanging near together, and which when
struck give out rich metallic tones similar to a chime of bells. For
extent, variety, and beauty combined, these buried halls and chambers
have no equal so far as our experience goes, though they recall the
grotto of Adelsberg, near Trieste, which exhibits some similar features,
and also the subterranean caverns in the environs of Matanzas, Cuba. In
these F