THE LURLINE CAVE.
Seventy or eighty yards from the Underground Bridge is the Lurline Cave.
The course is south-west, through a curved gallery with 53 steps in
different flights, and two archways--one like loveliness when "adorned
the most," and the other formed by an ornate mass of stalactites.
The Lurline Cave is justly regarded as one of the most charming chambers
in the group. The _coup d'oeil_ is magnificent. It does not need any
close examination to find that it has some distinctive features which
show that, although there is no aqueous accommodation for the queen of
the water nymphs, whose name it bears, the appellation of this portion
of the Lucas Cave cannot, etymologically at least, be considered as a
_lucus a non lucendo_. There are the "coral bowers" and cells to which
Rudolph was transported; the "halls of liquid crystal, where the water
lilies bloom;" there is the cool grot in which the Water Queen dwelt;
there is the rock on which she sat "when all was silent save the murmur
of the lone wave, and the nightingale that in sadness to the moon
telleth her lovelorn tale;" there is Rhineberg's magic cave, with its
"wedges of gold from the upper air;" there are the distant recesses to
which Lurline sent the gnome while she restored to life her mortal
affinity. With such surroundings it is easy to reproduce, link by link,
the rosy chain which enthralled the German Count and "The Daughter of
the Wave and Air."
Or, to take the more rollicking version by "Thomas Ingoldsby, Esq." Here
is "a grand stalactite hall," like that which rose above and about the
impecunious "Sir Rupert the Fearless," when he followed to the bottom of
the Rhine the dame whose--
"Pretty pink silken hose cover'd ankles and toes;
In other respects she was scanty of clothes;
For so says tradition, both written and oral,
Her _one_ garment was loop'd up with bunches of coral."
Where--
"Scores of young women diving and swimming,
* * * *
All slightly accoutred in gauzes and lawns,
Came floating about him like so many prawns,"
and where their queen, Lurline, lost her heart and her plate, and,
according to the same reverend author, her cajoler, whose disastrous
fate inspired the moral--
"Don't fancy odd fishes! Don't prig silver dishes!
And to sum up the whole in the shortest phrase I know,
Beware of the Rhine, and take care of the Rhino!"
The floor is covered with hemispherical mounds or domes for the naiads
to recline on. The outer wall is composed of formations ranged in
festoons of stalactites--not smooth and transparent, but opaque white,
and marked with all the wonderful elaboration which characterises
zoophytic work in the coral reefs of the Southern seas. This cave
contains several sub-caves, each of which has special charms, and the
turning of some of the arches is marvellously graceful. One of the
recesses is filled with stalactites which look like groups of seaweed.
The coral is russet and cream colour and saffron, and there are
honeycombed rocks varying in shade from vandyck brown to chrome yellow.
Some of the stalactites in the interior sub-caves are transparent.
Whichever way the eye is turned it encounters submarine grottoes of
fantastic shape, decorated with imitations of algae. If it were only at
the bottom of the Rhine instead of thousands of feet above sea-level, it
would seem natural as well as beautiful, but here its existence is
simply a wonder, and the sensation produced is fairly described by the
last word in the marriage service of the Church of England. Still, "when
Mother Fancy rocks the wayward brain," it is easy to associate with it
denizens of the deep, and people it with naiads, or with Undines, who
were supposed to marry human beings, and, in certain conditions, become
endowed with human souls. The cave is about 15 feet high, and from 15 to
20 feet broad. Some of the coralline ledges at the sides are remarkably
handsome, and many of the stalactites are from six to eight inches in
diameter. The cavern is elegant in its proportions, highly favoured in
regard to stalactite growth, graceful in contour, and rich in colouring.
THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE.
About 15 yards north-west from the Lurline Cave is the Fossil Bone Cave.
To reach this cavern it is necessary to ascend 12 steps. It is scarcely
less beautiful than the Lurline Cave. The lime formation represents
pensile boughs of weeping-willow, garlands of flowers, and stalactites
covered with all kinds of floral decorations. Here also are some fine
"shawl" formations hanging from the rocks. One of them is called "The
Gong," because it produces a sonorous note similar to that of the
Chinese instrument which is superseding the dinner-bell, and challenging
its title to be regarded as "the tocsin of the soul." On a sloping side
of the floor are some forms distinctive in shape and colour, and
resembling a lot of small potatoes shot down indiscriminately. The
wonder is how in such a place they could have been so formed and
isolated. Here is an oblique cavern, at the bottom of which a bone of
some large animal lies embedded in the limestone formation like a type
in a matrix. At one time it was doubted whether this, which appeared to
be bone, was really an osseous substance, but subsequent examinations
have proved that it is bone. A fracture of the rock has shown that the
outer part of the bone is compact, and the inner part cellular. It is
beautifully white, and, as the formation about is brownish, the
phosphate can be readily distinguished from the carbonate of lime. On
the roof above the Fossil Bone Cave is a rare stalactite about 20 feet
in length, and by the side of the tomb of the unknown animal--which may
have been anything from a diprotodon to a dingo--is a splendid
monumental stalagmite. The cave is about 50 feet high, and 50 feet in
length and breadth. The roof is of a light cream colour, and has brown
stalactites of perfect shape. The side rocks are magnificently draped.
Numerous splendid columns like white marble, and sheets of stalactitic
growth, excite wonder and admiration.
THE SNOWBALL CAVE.
About 40 yards through a hall, running north-east of the Fossil Bone
Cave, is the Snowball Cave, which is about 9 feet high, 25 or 30 feet
long, and from 6 to 10 or 12 feet wide. It runs north-north-east. Its
distinctive feature is that its roof and a portion of its walls are
covered with little white masses like snowballs. Some of the patches of
carbonate of lime stick to the walls in isolated discs, and others are
massed as though snowballs had been thrown at a mark, and a number of
them had stuck close together. Some of the stalactites in this chamber
have been formed by the upward pressure of water, and assume many
tortuous shapes. An interesting feature of this portion of the caves is
the existence of a number of stalactites which show how readily
vibration is communicated from one to another. The visitor puts his
finger to the end of a stalactite, and when an adjacent one is struck so
as to make it sound, it is perceptible that the vibration of the
sounding stalactite is communicated to its silent neighbour.
There is one more chamber to visit in the Lucas Cave. To reach it the
visitor ascends four steps, and travels north-west about 14 yards to the
head of a wire ladder, which he descends to a place directly underneath
the Snowball Cave, and then he goes down the steps into the Wallaby Bone
Cave, over the entrance to which is a very pretty cluster of
stalagmites, from 6 inches to 18 inches long, and varying from the
thickness of a straw to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The floor
is covered with wallaby bones, and in the immediate vicinity are
quantities of osseous breccia.