where was his camera? It had seemed a Herculean labour to bring that
much-enduring instrument down to the 300-foot level, but he declared
that the task was not superhuman, and, furthermore, he was determined
to do it. He could not do it alone, however; that was obvious. The
expedition, therefore, came down out of the stalactite gallery. Two
went through the water-chute, two remained just outside it, to assist
in the last and most dangerous stage of the transportation. We waited
a long time; in fact, we had leisure enough to explore an interesting
side gallery whilst the others made their way to and from the head
of the Well. At last their welcome shout was heard. Standing in the
water, with light held low under the arch, we caught sight of a hand,
and then of a wading and much-crumpled-up man, lugging the camera,
which he kept out of the foaming water with admirable skill. We grabbed
it, and put the precious instrument in a place of safety; ten minutes
later the flashlight was at work, taking our breath away with its
gorgeous revelations. The photographer had his troubles even here,
though not such as to be compared with those of the water caverns
we had recently traversed, where at this moment two of our party,
following us down, were engaged in photographing the canyons and the
falls, under difficulties that few cameras have ever been confronted
with. Here there was no marble pavement suitable to the splendours
of the walls; nothing for the camera to stand on but an inch or two
of slippery ledge, with a depth of mud in the middle that none of us
cared to fathom. The only place that could be found at one spot for the
flashlight was the top of my unfortunate head, which I generously put
at the photographer's disposal. On it was laid a piece of stone, on
which the gun-cotton was spread and sprinkled with the powder, which,
when it went off, made me shut both eyes for fear of the shower of
sparks, and so I missed the glorious blaze of light that illumined the
cavern.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE OF STALACTITE CHAMBER, SWILDON'S HOLE.
_Photo by Bamforth, Holmfirth._]
[Illustration: STALACTITE CURTAINS, SWILDON'S HOLE.
_Photo by Bamforth, Holmfirth._]
These stately columns, soaring vaults, and sweeping marble draperies
were strangely out of proportion to the narrowness of the place. But
now the sinuous aisle broadened out, and the style of the architecture
was changed entirely. We were at the junction chamber where, in the
remote past, two big streams came down from the yawning passages to
the left and right, and met here, probably as the main stream of the
cavern. The roof is a spacious dome, hung with resplendent candelabra.
But the unique feature of the place, the thing that impresses itself on
the memory as one of the most dazzling creations of the wonder-working
calcite, is the stalagmite bridge. Bridge, I say, but it is more than
a bridge, for its complicated arches support a beautiful piazza, with
a huge array of dripstone terraces, crystal basins, massive pedestals,
and obelisks of stalagmite, which all but fills the chamber and extends
some distance up the alcoves behind. Standing on one of the great
hemispheres of dripstone, one could put one's head among the pendulous
shafts above, and see how each was marvellously twisted, moulded, and
fantastically embossed and gemmed with flashing crystals. The splash
formation covered everything beneath the roof, save portions of the
polished floor, with millions of tiny spicules. We had to move about
cautiously, not only for fear of doing damage, but to avoid gaping
pitfalls in the bridge, the surface of which was smooth as ice.
[Illustration: STALACTITE CHAMBER, SWILDON'S HOLE.
_Photo by Bamforth, Holmfirth._]
Whilst we were at work photographing a distant shout was heard, and
soon the two men who had followed us down arrived at the big chamber.
But our party was again reduced to its original four by the departure
of two other members, who were to go back by the aquatic route in order
to pick up certain articles that had been deposited on the way down. We
ourselves hoped to get to the surface by another and a drier course.
At the previous exploration two men had missed the rest of the party,
and found their way, after divers adventures, through the ramifications
of the cavern, to what they described as a great stalactite chamber,
which was presumably our gallery. When they reached it, however, no
one was there, nor any trace of human presence; either the explorers
had finished their work and departed, or the pair had missed their way
altogether. It was believed that they had come down to this very spot
by the gallery joining this one on the north, and we purposed following
that passage out. But this, as we presently discovered, was all wrong.
Two of us now went off on an exploring trip into the great passage
running west. At once we encountered a series of huge obstructions.
This passage was of the usual rift pattern, and, save for holes and
crevices between, was wholly blocked up by large masses of tumbled
rocks. One of us climbed to the top of the Cyclopean pile, whilst I
attempted to make my way along at the middle height, but eventually
found it easier to crawl through the culverts and water-gaps,
regardless of mud and wet. Even among the piled-up rocks there were
charming little nooks adorned with rich incrustations. When the rocks
ended the open tunnel began to ascend rapidly; then, after a while, we
came to another tunnel joining it on the north. This, though smaller,
was the more important passage; the other shortly came to an end in
a lofty grotto, bountifully tapestried with curtains and tassels of
stalactite. We climbed the northern passage, through several brilliant
displays of incrustation, and reached a level approximately 70 feet
below the surface, by aneroid; there we could get no farther. But,
unknown to ourselves, we had brought back important information.
We had noticed mysterious bits of string at two points in this series.
When we reported the discovery to the two men left behind, they at once
saw its significance. The two men whose route down to the stalactite
chamber had caused so much perplexity had used a ball of string to mark
their way out--these were the relics. Our casual trip had, perhaps,
saved us from a night of blind wandering in the unknown branches of the
great tunnel on the north. All being in readiness for our departure, we
now proceeded to take up this providential thread. It was not an easy
task. Often not an inch of string remained undecayed for many hundreds
of feet together, and often we nosed the walls and floor, eagerly but
in vain, for droppings of candle grease left by our predecessors.
The way was dry, that was a relief, after six or seven hours in wet
clothes; but it was a tighter squeeze than the other, and the sharpness
of the turns was often aggravated by a portcullis of crystals on our
backs, and a _cheval de frise_ of stalagmite spear-heads against our
stomachs. All the while we wondered whether we should really find the
exit, or whether we should have to return and undertake the canyons
after all. Mr. Balch compared our task of finding the desired exit
to an attempt to ascend from the mouth of a river to some unknown
point upon one of its tributaries, with nothing to indicate which way
to take. This puts the position clearly enough, I think. There was
no string to be found in the higher parts. At last the man in front
disappeared feet foremost through the ugliest hole we had yet seen, out
of which the noise of waters sounded ominously. A cheering cry came
back to us; he had found the rift, where we had descended seven hours
ago into the route through the canyons. A few more yards of determined
wriggling, and the candle left by the other two men hove in sight. We
found they had got out two hours ago. The stars were shining from a
clear sky, and a keen frost was on the fields, but the excitement and
the success of our adventure were stimulant enough to keep out the cold.
E. A. B.
THE GREAT CAVERN AT CHEDDAR
The ultimate goal of our researches at Cheddar has been the discovery
of the underground river-course. Not many yards below the entrance to
Gough's, or the Great Cavern, a large body of water wells up at the
foot of a cliff, spreading out into a beautiful mere, half encircled
by crags; flows on thence through the village, performing a great deal
of industrial work on its way; and, finally, proceeds a mile or two
farther as the Cheddar Water, to join its brother, the Axe, which has
a similar origin. But less is known about the darksome course of the
Cheddar Water than about the stream flowing out of Wookey Hole. With
its tributaries, it has doubtless been the principal agent in the
formation, not only of the caves, but also of the famous Cheddar gorge,
which bears every evidence of having been produced by the gradual
destruction of a series of caverns. Yet this important stream has
actually not been met with hitherto at any single point of its course
underground, and we have anything but complete information as to its
sources on the uplands of Mendip. The owners of the Great Cavern, the
Messrs. Gough Brothers, tell me that they intend to blast away about
10 feet of rock immediately overlying the exit of the river. When the
stream is very full, water often bursts forth here from cracks and
joints several feet above the normal level, and they imagine that
there must be a chamber of some height just within. This, however,
in my opinion, is not a necessary inference, since every cavity and
crevice behind the outlet would at such times be heavily charged with
water, under pressure, and the large cavities might be a long way back.
It is curious that the water in a low tunnel recently discovered in
Cox's Cavern, which lies some distance from Gough's, and at a lower
level, rises and falls in unison with the movements of the water-level
of the river outside, although that always remains 10 feet higher.
Cox's Cavern is occasionally flooded, yet the water never rises to a
point within 10 feet of the river level. Obviously the subterranean
connection must be of a complicated and roundabout form.
At the time of my first serious attempt to explore the caves of
Cheddar, when our party contained Dr. Norman Sheldon, Mr. J. O.
Morland, and Mr. Harry Bamforth, two of whom have not since been able
to join us in Somerset, I had not the advantage of knowing Mr. H. E.
Balch, and we were utterly unaware of the great work he had been doing
in the cave region adjoining Wells. On the other hand, we received
invaluable assistance from the brothers Gough, who are not only
proprietors of show caves, but take a sincere interest in underground
exploration. Their father, who died in 1902, was the discoverer of the
caverns that bear his name, and was actively at work pushing his way
farther and farther into the rocky bosom of the hill up to the year of
his death, at a good old age.
[Illustration: STALAGMITE PILLARS IN GOUGH'S GREAT CAVERN.
_Photo by Gough, Cheddar._]
[Illustration: THE PILLARS OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, GOUGH'S CAVES, CHEDDAR.
_Photo by Gough, Cheddar._]
The Great Cavern was discovered in 1898. The parts open to visitors
extend in a generally easterly direction for some 600 yards, and
consist of natural chambers and passages, connected here and there
by artificial tunnels. We began work early in the morning, carrying
into the cavern a large quantity of ropes, ladders of wood and rope,
and plenty of illuminants, including a 2000-candle-power limelight,
which with its lens or condenser is one of the most valuable aids in
subterranean work. Many openings are seen overhead and in the walls
of the cavern as the visitor advances, some of which end abruptly,
whilst others lead into small grottos and galleries. One of the most
conspicuous chimneys, or perpendicular caves, has at its base a
peculiar staircase of stalagmitic basins, formed by the deposits of
a calcareous spring that is now dried up. These basins are known as
the "Fonts." Our conductors had been in the habit of climbing about
50 feet up this lofty chasm, over the crust of stalagmite, and a wire
rope had been fixed to assist visitors in ascending to a broad, deep
ledge. Above this point the rocks were much steeper. No one had ever
succeeded in seeing the top, and at first we thought it would be
impossible to ascend any higher without some sort of apparatus. We sent
for a ladder, and meanwhile Dr. Sheldon and I tried to clamber over
the jutting arch of rock that formed the first obstacle--a cave-pitch
in a gully or chimney we should call it in climbing parlance. To our
surprise, we succeeded in reaching the continuous channel or gutter
above it, which ascended at a high angle, with sheer walls to right
and left, and the other side of the huge shaft overhanging it. The
holds were shallow and slippery, and with one hand grasping a candle we
found the ordinary difficulties of a rock-climb multiplied enormously.
Half-way up my candle went out, but my companion was now well ahead,
and I groped my way after him with confidence. When a shout from below
announced that the ladder had been hoisted up to the platform above the
"Fonts" we were within a few yards of the top. At a height of 120 feet
(by the aneroid) above this platform and of 170 feet above the floor
of the cavern we found the shaft completely blocked up with débris and
clay. We were in a subterranean pot, or swallet, of large dimensions,
formed in remote ages by a big stream, which had worked through its
Limestone bed, and continued its path at a deeper level. Whether this
was the main stream that now flows in an unknown course hundreds of
feet below, or only a tributary, it is at present impossible to tell.
Mr. Bamforth's limelight was now projected up the chasm, revealing
grand masses of superincumbent rock on the farther side, whilst the
view downwards, past our friends into the dark bottom of the pit, was
very curious. Roping ourselves together for the descent, we kept near
each other for fear of a slip, and took the utmost precautions not to
dislodge any stones on the heads of those underneath. The limelight
was a great advantage, although many dark reaches had to be carefully
inspected with a taper before we could secure foothold. When we got to
the critical bit at the bottom we found the ladder placed ready for us.
Not far from the entrance to the "Fonts" is the mouth of a low passage
on the other side, with a hole at the far end of it, that our guides
thought must communicate with the underground river which, they
conjecture, has its channel not far below this spot. We crawled into
this burrow and fixed ourselves in the confined space round the black
pit, which we found, by throwing in stones, had water in it. With a
rope round my waist I climbed down the fissure, whose sides were of
sharply corrugated rock though they looked like wet clay. About 30 feet
down the hole grew so narrow that I could not turn round; I could just
reach the water with my foot, but found that it was quite a small pool.
Another "well," nearer the cave mouth, was explored after our further
operations had been carried out. It was situated at the extremity of
another burrow, but was much larger in circumference. Steadied by the
rope, I climbed to the bottom and found a large pool of great depth
about 30 feet below the edge. No current was perceptible, and its
connection with running water is hardly probable. Some years later,
a perfect skeleton of a man was exhumed from the clay beneath the
stalagmite in this burrow; accompanying it were numerous flint flakes.
Some peculiarities indicate that the find was that of a man of early
Neolithic age. It is shown by the Gough Brothers at the entrance of
their cave.
While some of the party were photographing the "show place," a lofty
dome-shaped cavern with its sheet of stalagmite poured over the cliff
like a petrified waterfall, two of us retraced our steps from "St.
Paul's," as this beautiful sight is nicknamed, to the branch leading to
the other principal shows. "Solomon's Temple" is a wonderful grotto,
walled, roofed, and floored with gleaming white and ivory calcite, and
set at the top of another great fall of stalagmite which has flowed
on and on in a gentle stream and covered the floor of a lofty cavern
with dimpling waves of crystal. Nor are these all its attractions, for
on turning round the spectator sees on the opposite cliff a broad and
voluminous sheet of stalagmite, rippling down, spouting and foaming
over the rocks like a waterfall, but still as marble and white as
frozen snow. We had seen all these things before, however, and were
anxious to move on to new ground again.
[Illustration: ORGAN PIPES, GOUGH'S CAVES, CHEDDAR.
_Photo by Gough, Cheddar._]
[Illustration: A STALAGMITE FALL, GOUGH'S CAVE, CHEDDAR.
_Photo by M. Martel._]
In the fork between the main passage and this big cavern is a large
irregular opening, with disorderly blocks of Limestone heaped up on
its floor. We picked our way across these, and at a height of 40 feet
reached the edge of an abrupt rock some four yards high. We dropped
over on to an earthy floor, and going a little farther found ourselves
in a domical chamber with three low exits. First of all exploring
that on our left, we had a look at a slanting shaft filled with a
"ruckle" of big shattered blocks wedged insecurely, above which are
two small chambers incrusted with stalagmite, but with no apparent
exit. We climbed down again, and tried the third opening. It led
through a series of caves and narrow clefts into a larger chamber,
all maintaining the same easterly direction, and there we found two
possible ways onward. The first of these brought us in a few moments
to the brink of a steep cliff, which seemed to be one wall of a
considerable cavern. We preferred to wait for the limelight before
venturing to let a man down into this unknown abyss, and meanwhile
to examine the other passage. A few minutes' crawling brought us to
a great pit, which sounded very deep when we threw in some fragments
of rock. Apparently it was the chasm that had been described to us as
300 feet deep by one of our guides who had descended part of the way.
We approached the edge with respect, and as a preliminary step let
down a rope ladder into the upper part, which is strangely twisted. At
a depth of 20 feet I found a possible landing-place; the second man
joined me, and by dint of careful manoeuvring the third got down to
the same spot. With an 80-foot rope tied on, I now explored the next
section of the chasm, and was delighted to find that there was just
enough rope to reach a slope of big rocks at the bottom. A little more
scrambling brought me into a vast chamber, the floor of which was piled
up with enormous blocks, while the lowest part seemed to offer two
possible routes onwards. One of these proved to be a mere hollow, but
the other was evidently the channel of a stream, and apparently led
onwards into further caves. But the roof was extremely low, and it was
quite impossible to wriggle through. One of my companions, who had now
joined me, also failed to squeeze through the opening, and we decided
to leave it until the hole could be enlarged with pick and shovel.
The alleged 300 feet was found by aneroid to be exactly 100 feet. In
a corner of this lofty cavern was a steep fissure which seemed to be
well worth exploring. The bottom half of it was completely walled in
by an enormous flake of Limestone that had come down from the roof,
and looked as if a touch would send it tumbling on the heaps of rock
at the bottom of the cave. We scrambled up the fissure at the back of
this, and reached a promising gallery; but, to our disgust, this was
entirely blocked up with clay and mud at the top, and it was impossible
to proceed. Gaining the summit of the huge Limestone flake, we lit up
the cave with magnesium wire, and were deeply impressed by its height
and the grandeur of the shattered crags bristling on walls, roof,
and floor. Everything was black, save one long, dripping cascade of
stalagmite on the wall over against us; its unsullied whiteness shone
weirdly out of the gloom as the fierce light fell on it. Just at that
moment voices were heard, and from a rent in the rocky wall in front
the intolerable beam of the searchlight came right in our faces. The
remainder of the party had followed us up, and reached the spot where
we had first looked over into the deep chasm. Revealed in all its
extent by this penetrating light, the cave reminded us strongly of
the enormous chamber that we had explored a few months earlier in the
lowest part of the Blue John Mine in Derbyshire. On the way back one of
the acetylene lamps fell down the pit by which we had entered, and was
completely smashed. With no other mishap, we made our way through the
tortuous passages and amongst the chaos of tumbled rock masses back to
the cavern under "Solomon's Temple."
Two of us explored the openings above "St. Paul's" a few days later. A
30-foot ladder was placed against the corner of the stalagmite fall,
and a yard or two of scrambling took us to the top. On the left was an
ascending vault, with openings to right and left. Taking the latter
to begin with, we found it gradually trend downhill and dwindle away
into a series of holes scarcely big enough to let a human body pass.
Squeezing through with a good deal of trouble, I reached a flattish
cave with a floor of rock and stalagmite all cracked and fissured.
The whole of this part seemed to have been shivered by some large
movement of the rocky strata. One of the fissures gave entrance to a
passage underneath the floor; but this speedily narrowed, and when
it was impossible to get farther I found myself right underneath my
companion, who was holding my rope and paying it out as I advanced
from his original position in the outer passage. No other exit being
discoverable on this side, we crossed to the passage on the right, and
after a few yards of crawling under a depressed roof we found ourselves
on the largest expanse of stalagmite either of us had ever met with.
It had flowed down from fissures high up on our left and spread over
a wide, rocky slope; it had then contracted and poured over a cliff
immediately on our right. We still kept the rope taut, and moved about
cautiously, for the crystalline floor was extremely slippery, and the
cliff immediately beneath us would have made the slightest accident
serious. A broad flat roof of rock overhung the floor of stalagmite
closely, and was covered with thin pipes and reeds of stalactite. We
soon ascertained that we had returned by a different route to the crown
of the petrified cascade in "St. Paul's," although a craggy partition
separated us from our route up the ladder. We explored the edges of
this huge surface of stalagmite, which we could not measure, having no
better light to guide us than a few tapers, but which could not be much
less than 100 feet wide. Where the deposits came down through crevices
at the top they had settled in jewelled and diapered masses of the most
fantastic patterns. Our situation was, however, too precarious for
lingering in this strange spot, and without another man to back one up
it was impossible to explore the hole at the top. We gave up our quest
reluctantly and returned towards our ladder, incrusted from head to
foot with the thick, plastic clay. A convenient knob of stalagmite
enabled us to give the rope a hitch whilst we scrambled down to the top
of our ladder.
One other passage from the main cavern was explored, with a curious
cluster of vertical cavities near its extremity. The end of the
passage was coated in every direction with tinted deposits, among
which we noticed beautiful specimens of the branching stalactites
that were called _anemolites_ by the explorers of the Blue John
caverns, who thought they had acquired their abnormal shapes through
the irregularity of evaporation caused by air currents. I climbed 30
or 40 feet up one of the openings in the roof, whilst Dr. Sheldon
explored another. At the top we found no exits big enough to afford
a man passage. A wider cavity in the middle of the roof looked more
promising. A ladder was adjusted, but fell short; but my companion,
with considerable risk of a dangerous fall, clambered up to the rocky
slope and over the piles of jagged blocks that well-nigh filled it.
This too failed to afford us a passage, and the daring climber had
great difficulty in coming down, being forced to thread the rope and
let himself down on it to the ladder. During the operation a flake of
rock came hurtling down and hit the ladder, but luckily did nothing
worse than smash a rung. These cavities in the roof were extremely
interesting, and no doubt are connected together and have a common
origin in some neighbouring fissure or waterway.
FIVE CAVERNS AT CHEDDAR