KATIE'S BOWER.
Taking a course between the parallel fences of wire-netting, and
travelling about 25 yards, the Jewel Casket is seen on the western side
of the cave. It extends about 20 feet due south, and is about two feet
six inches high by about six feet wide. It does not contain any new type
of beauty, but rather represents a collection of the most enchanting
cave splendours. Even the stalactites and stalagmites are overlaid with
ornamentation. It is a focus of dazzling brilliancy.
[Illustration: KATIE'S BOWER.]
Returning to the junction, there is a descent by steps south-west into
"Katie's Bower," which is the last chamber in the left-hand branch of
the Imperial Cave. Forty-three of these steps are like cement, 10 are
cut in the solid rock, and 19 are of wood. On the left-hand side, at the
foot of the staircase, is a hole 70 feet deep. To the north of the
entrance, at the top of the wooden steps, is a remarkable formation
suggestive of a Chinese pagoda, waxy-amber-and-flesh-coloured. To the
left is a beautifully-formed dome, with convexities of pure white,
sparkling all over as though it were studded with diamonds cut with
large facets. At the bottom of the dome are numerous stalactites,
resting on a curved rock coated with the same material. It is like a
richly bejewelled throne with a grand canopy suspended from the roof by
a large stalactite. It contains many hundredweight of formation, and is
about three yards from end to end of the curve. It is ornamented with
filagree work and stalactites of the most curious and beautiful kinds,
and on the upper surface are some handsome stalagmites. At the rear of
this splendid canopy, set with precious stones, is a recess with a
sparkling floor.
Having descended some steps to the south-east, and ascended 30 others
through a broken part of the subterranean region, the visitor will find
much to admire in Katie's Bower. It is about 250 feet long, 5 to 30 feet
high, and from 15 to 25 feet wide. Its direction is from north-west to
south-east. The north-west end is very rough, with a rocky floor. The
beauties of the Bower are located to the south and south-east. There are
on the one side alabaster pillars, on the other is formation.
Immediately over the arch is a deposit of red clay, which has imparted a
rich colour to the huge stalactites which hang from the roof. The light
of the candles is flashed back by glittering crystals. The floor, which
forms the entrance to the Bower, is carpeted with glistening alabaster.
Descending 14 steps into the Bower there is a fountain full of
lime-water, and a plate suitably inscribed conveys the information that
Katie's Bower was discovered on the 7th February, 1881, by Jeremiah
Wilson (guide), C. Webb, H. Fulton, C. West, J. Bright, E. Webb, E. T.
Webb, J. Thompson, W. H. Webb, E. Bowman, W. Thompson, J. McPhillamy, R.
Thompson, J. Webb, and S. Webb. The before-mentioned gentlemen were the
first to enter the Bower after its discovery. They had rendered valuable
assistance to the guide, and were well rewarded for all their trouble by
the consciousness that they had participated in opening to the public a
new and charming scene in this western wonderland. The stalactites and
formation at the mouth of the cave are pure alabaster.
It should be here stated that this Bower was named in honour of a
daughter of the Hon. E. Webb, M.L.C., of Bathurst, who at various times
has interested himself in regard to the caves, and sister of the Messrs.
Webb whose names appear on the tablet, and who supplied ladders and
ropes to the curator, and otherwise assisted him in his explorations. It
is a grand cavern, with massive pillars and large stalactites, and
elaborate alabaster structures, more remarkable for richness of detail
than the most wonderfully-constructed Oriental temple. The dome
commences near the roof with a conical mass of brilliant formation, from
which depend many fine stalactites, which rest on a solid mass, and seem
to hold it suspended. This second mass of formation is ornamented with
stalactites like frozen jets of water. And so the process is continued
again and again, until the points of the lowest stalactites rest on a
white mass level with gracefully-curved and coloured rocks, which
descend with elegant contours to the bottom of the Bower. The same kind
of wonderful fabrication is repeated at the sides of the principal
figure. Some of the flooring is as rich and pure as that of the Jewel
Casket. It is a marvel of intricate grandeur, and has the advantage of
having been well preserved. From the alabaster stalagmite in front, to
the most delicate lime drapery on the walls, there is no prominent "mark
of the beast." The cads of the period have not been permitted to perform
their favourite ceremony of the laying on of hands.
It would be useless to speculate as to the time the caves in this
branch "took in building." It defies all calculation. Apparently the
process of formation is finished. There is no dripping from the
stalactites. There may be, however, in wet weather; but it seems as
though the creative action had given way to the hardening process. It is
suggestive of that portion of "King Solomon's Mines" in which H. R.
Haggard has a clever and somewhat caustic conceit respecting stalactitic
growth. On his way through the enormous cave leading to Solomon's
Treasure-house, he was enchanted with the gigantic pillars, which looked
like ice, and which sprang in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the
distant roof. "Others again," he says, "were in process of formation. On
the rock floor there was in these caves what looked exactly like a
broken column in an old Grecian temple, whilst high above, depending
from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. And even
as we gazed we could hear the process going on, for presently with a
tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the
column below. On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three
minutes, and in these cases it would form an interesting calculation to
discover how long at that rate of dripping it would take to form a
pillar, say 80 feet high by 10 in diameter. That the process was, in at
least one instance, incalculably slow, the following instance will
suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars, we discovered a rude
likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of
the Egyptian gods, doubtless the handiwork of some old-world labourer in
the mine. This work of art was executed at about the natural height at
which an idle fellow, be he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in the
habit of trying to immortalise himself at the expense of Nature's
masterpieces, namely, about five feet from the ground; yet at the time
that we saw it, which must have been nearly 3,000 years after the date
of the execution of the drawing, the column was only eight feet high,
and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a
foot to a 1,000 years, or an inch and a fraction to a century." This is
a very good satire upon the presumption of some modern disciples of the
illustrious Cocker. A botanist may, by its concentric zones, tell the
years of an exogenous plant; a bucolic sage may judge the age of horned
cattle by counting their horny rings; but to tell the aeons of a
stalagmite is more difficult than the accurate compilation of a feminine
census. Arithmetical calculations on such a subject would probably be
received with as much confidence as phrenological evidence of the
character and habits indicated by bumps on the head of the Great Sphinx
at Ghizeh.