e chambers of death. In this manner we proceeded, now
descending thirty or forty feet--now ascending as high--now creeping on
our hands and knees, and now walking in large rooms--the habitations of
solitude. The mountain seems to be composed almost wholly of limestone,
and by this means the cave is lined throughout with the most beautiful
incrustations and stalactites of carbonated lime, which are formed by
the continual dripping of the water through the roof. These stalactites
are of various and elegant shapes and colours, often bearing a striking
resemblance to animated nature. At one place we saw over our heads what
appeared to be a _waterfall_ of the most beautiful kind. Nor could the
imagination be easily persuaded that it was not a reality. You could see
the water boiling and dashing down,--see its white spray and foam--but
it was all solid limestone.

Thus we passed onward in this world of solitude--now stopping to admire
the beauties of a single stalactite--now wondering at the magnificence
of a large room--now creeping through narrow passages, hardly wide
enough to admit the body of a man,--and now walking in superb
galleries, until we came to the largest room, called WASHINGTON HALL.
This is certainly the most elegant room I ever saw. It is about two
hundred and seventy feet in length, about thirty-five in width, and
between thirty and forty feet high. The roof and sides are very
beautifully adorned by the tinsels which Nature has bestowed in the
greatest profusion, and which sparkle like the diamond, while surveyed
by the light of torches. The floor is flat, and smooth, and solid. I was
foremost of our little party in entering the room, and was not a little
startled as I approached the centre, to see a figure, as it were, rising
up before me out of the solid rock. It was not far from seven feet high,
and corresponded in every respect to the common idea of a ghost. It was
very white, and resembled a tall man clothed in a shroud. I went up to
it sideways, though I could not really expect to meet a ghost in a place
like this. On examination I found it was a very beautiful piece of the
carbonate of lime, very transparent, and very much in the shape of a
man. This is called WASHINGTON'S STATUE--as if Nature would do for this
hero what his delivered country has not done--rear a statue to his
memory.

Here an accident happened which might have been serious. One of our
party had purposely extinguished his light, les