This peak consists of a chain of high mountains in the county of Derby,
in England, and has been long celebrated, as well on account of its
mineral productions, and natural curiosities in general, as of what are
called its seven wonders. Six of these are natural, namely, Poole’s
Hole, Elden Hole, the Peak Cavern, or the Devil’s Hole, Mam Tor, St.
Ann’s Well, and the Ebbing and Flowing Well. Having described these, we
shall add a more recent discovery, that of the Crystallized Cavern,
which possesses an equal interest.
Poole’s Hole, lying about a mile to the westward of Buxton, is a vast
cavern formed by nature in the limestone rock, and was, according to
tradition, the residence of an outlaw, named Poole. The entrance is low
and contracted, and the passage narrow; but this widening, at length,
leads to a lofty and spacious cavern, from the roof of which stalactites
or transparent crystals, formed by the constant dropping of water laden
with calcareous matter, hang in spiral masses. Other portions of these
petrifactions drop and attach themselves to the floor, rising in cones,
and become what are termed stalagmites.
One of the dropping stalactites, of an immense size, called the Flitch
of Bacon, occurs about the middle of the cavern, which here becomes very
narrow, but soon spreads to a greater width, and continues large and
lofty until the visitor reaches another surprisingly large mass of
stalactite, to which the name of Mary Queen of Scots’ Pillar is given,
from the tradition that this unfortunate queen once paid a visit to the
cavern, and proceeded thus far into its recesses. As this pillar can not
be passed without some difficulty, few persons venture beyond it; nor
does it seem desirable, as, by proceeding thus far, a very competent
idea of the cavern may be formed. The path hitherto is along the side,
and at some hight from the bottom of the cavern; but to visit and
examine the interior extremity, it becomes necessary to descend a few
yards by very slippery and ill-formed steps. The path at the bottom is
tolerably even and level for about sixty feet, when an almost
perpendicular ascent commences, which leads to the extremity of the
fissure, through the eye of St. Anthony’s Needle, a narrow strait,
beyond which the steepness of the way is only to be surmounted by
clambering over irregular masses of rock. The cavern terminates nearly
three hundred feet beyond the Queen of Scots’ pillar. Toward the end is
an aperture through a projecting rock, behind which a candle is
generally placed, when any person has reached the extremity: when seen
at that distance, it appears like a dim star. The visitor returns along
the bottom of the cavern, beneath a considerable portion of the road by
which he entered; and, by thus changing the path, has an opportunity
better to ascertain the hight and width of the cavern in every part, and
to view other accumulated petrifactions, some of which are of a
prodigious size, and of an extraordinary form. In one part of this
passage is a fine spring of transparent water; and a small stream, which
becomes more considerable in rainy seasons, runs through the whole
length of the cavern. Its sound, in passing through this spacious and
lofty concavity, which resembles the interior of a Gothic cathedral, has
a fine effect. To the right, in a small cavern called Poole’s chamber,
is a curious echo.
The various masses of stalactical matter which are everywhere met with
in this natural excavation, and which reflect innumerable rays from the
lights carried by guides, are distinguished by the names of the objects
they are fancied most to resemble. Thus we have Poole’s saddle, his
turtle, and his woolsack; the lion, the lady’s toilet, the pillion, the
bee-hive, &c. It should be noticed, however, that the forms are
constantly varied by the percolation of the water through the roof and
sides of the rock. The subterraneous passage is nearly a half a mile in
length.