(_For the Mirror_.)
This cave is said to have taken its title from a notorious robber of
that name, who being declared an outlaw, found in this hole a refuge
from justice, where he carried on his nocturnal depredations with
impunity. Others insist that this dismal hole was the habitation of a
hermit or anchorite, of the name of Pool. Of the two traditions, I
prefer the former. It is situated at the bottom of _Coitmos_, a lofty
mountain near Buxton. The entrance is by a small arch, so low that you
are forced to creep on hands and knees to gain admission; but it
gradually opens into a vault above a quarter of a mile in length, and as
some assert, a quarter of a mile high. It is certainly very lofty, and
resembles the roof of a Gothic edifice. In a cavern to the right called
Pool's Chamber, there is a fine echo, and the dashing of a current of
water, which flows along the middle of the great vault, very much
heightens the wonder.
On the floor are great ridges of stone--water is perpetually distilling
from the roof and sides of this vault, and the drops before they fall
produce a very pleasing effect, by reflecting numberless rays from the
candles carried by the guides. They also form their quality from
crystallizations of various flakes like figures of fret work, and in
some places, having long accumulated upon one another, into large
masses, bearing a rude resemblance to various animals.
In the same cavity is a column as clear as alabaster, called _Mary Queen
of Scots'_ column, because it is said she reached so far; beyond which
is a steep ascent for nearly a quarter of a mile, which terminates in a
hollow in the roof, called the Needle's-eye, in which, when the guide
places his candle, it looks like a star in the firmament. You only
wonder when you get out how you attained such an achievement. W.H.H.
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