Near Strelitz, an inconsiderable village in Upper Hungary, is a most
wonderful cavern, in the middle of a large mountain. The aperture which
fronts the south, is eighteen fathoms high, and eight broad; and
consequently wide enough to receive the south wind, which generally
blows here with great violence. Its subterraneous passages consist
entirely of solid rock, stretching away farther south than has yet been
discovered. As far as it is practicable to go to, the height is found to
be fifty fathoms, and the breadth twenty-six. But the most unaccountable
singularity in the cavern is, that in the heart of winter, the air is
warm on the inside; and when the heat of the sun without is scarce
supportable, is freezing cold within. When the snows melt in the spring,
the inside of the cave, where the surface is exposed to the south sun,
it emits a pellucid water, which congeals immediately as it drops, by
the extreme cold, the icicles are of the bigness of a large cask; and,
spreading into ramifications, form very odd figures: the very water that
drops from the icicles on the ground, which is sandy, freezes in an
instant. It is observable also, that the greater the heat is without,
the more intense is the cold within; and in the dog-days, all parts are
covered with ice. In autumn, when the nights grow cold, and the diurnal
heats abate, the ice in the cave begins to dissolve, insomuch, that by
winter no more ice is to be seen, the cavern then becomes perfectly dry
and of a mild warmth. At this time it is surprising to see the swarms of
flies and gnats, also bats and owls, and even of hares and foxes, that
make this place their winter retreat, till in the beginning of spring,
it again grows too cold for them.
[[Source:
Original: A New System of Geography (volume 2 of 6: Hungary, Turkey,
Spain etc.) by A. F. Busching, pg. 62-63 under Szélitze.
Translation: Murdoch 1762.
Possible Sources:
Town and Country Magazine 1769.
Weekly Miscellany, March 31, 1777.
Notes:
The site is in modern Slovakia, 5 miles west of “Caschaw”
(Ger. Kaschaw) or “Cassovia” (Kassa, Košice).]]
* * * * *
* * * *