At the mouth of the cavern near the
entrance gradually forsook us, and when we had gone forward a few
steps farther, I was astonished by a sight which, of all other, I
here the least expected. I perceived to the right, in the hollow of
the cavern, a whole subterranean village, where the inhabitants, on
account of its being Sunday, were resting from their work, and with
happy and cheerful looks were sitting at the doors of their huts
along with their children.
We had scarcely passed these small subterranean houses when I
perceived a number of large wheels, on which on week days these
human moles, the inhabitants of the cavern, make ropes.
I fancied I here saw the wheel of Ixion, and the incessant labour of
the Danaides.
The opening through which the light came seemed, as we descended,
every moment to become less and less, and the darkness at every step
to increase, till at length only a few rays appeared, as if darting
through a crevice, and just tinging the small clouds of smoke which,
at dusk, raised themselves to the mouth of the cavern.
This gradual growth, or increase of darkness, awakens in a
contemplative mind a soft melancholy. As you go down the gentle
descent of the cavern, you can hardly help fancying the moment is
come when, without pain or grief, the thread of life is about to be
snapped; and that you are now going thus quietly to that land of
peace where trouble is no more.
At length the great cavern in the rock closed itself, in the same
manner as heaven and earth seem to join each other, when we came to
a little door, where an old woman came out of one of the huts, and
brought two candles, of which we each took one.
My guide now opened the door, which completely shut out the faint
glimmering of light, which, till then, it was still possible to
perceive, and led us to the inmost centre of this dreary temple of
old Chaos and Night, as if, till now, we had only been traversing
the outer courts. The rock was here so low, that we were obliged to
stoop very much for some few steps in order to get through; but how
great was my astonishment, when we had passed this narrow passage
and again stood upright, at once to perceive, as well as the feeble
light of our candles would permit, the amazing length, breadth, and
height of the cavern; compared to which the monstrous opening
through which we had already passed was nothing!
After we had wandered here more than an hour, as beneath a dark and
dusky sky, on a level, sandy soil, the rock gradually lowered
itself, and we suddenly found ourselves on the edge of a broad
river, which, from the glimmering of our candles amid the total
darkness, suggested sundry interesting reflections. To the side of
this river a small boat was moored, with some straw in its bottom.
Into this boat my guide desired me to step, and lay myself down in
it quite flat; because, as he said, towards the middle of the river,
the rock would almost touch the water.
When I had laid myself down as directed, he himself jumped into the
water, and drew the boat after him.
All around us was one still, solemn, and deadly silence; and as the
boat advanced, the rock seemed to stoop, and come nearer and nearer
to us, till at length it nearly touched my face; and as I lay, I
could hardly hold the candle upright. I seemed to myself to be in a
coffin rather than in a boat, as I had no room to stir hand or foot
till we had passed this frightful strait, and the rock rose again on
the other side, where my guide once more handed me ashore.
The cavern was now become, all at once, broad and high: and then
suddenly it was again low and narrow.
I observed on both sides as we passed along a prodigious number of
great and small petrified plants and animals, which, however, we
could not examine, unless we had been disposed to spend some days in
the cavern.
And thus we arrived at the opposite side, at the second river or
stream, which, however, was not so broad as the first, as one may
see across it to the other side; across this stream my guide carried
me on his shoulders, because there was here no boat to carry us
over.
From thence we only went a few steps farther, when we came to a very
small piece of water which extended itself lengthways, and led us to
the end of the cavern.
The path along the edge of this water was wet and slippery, and
sometimes so very narrow, that one can hardly set one foot before
the other.
Notwithstanding, I wandered with pleasure on this subterranean
shore, and was regaling myself with the interesting contemplation of
all these various wonderful objects, in this land of darkness and
shadow of death, when, all at once, something like music at a
distance sounded in mine ears.
I instantly stopped, full of astonishment, and eagerly asked my
guide what this might mean? He answered, "Only have patience, and
you shall soon see."
But as we advanced, the sounds of harmony seemed to die away; the
noise became weaker and weaker; and at length it seemed to sink into
a gentle hissing or hum, like distant drops of falling rain.
And how great was my amazement when, ere long, I actually saw and
felt a violent shower of rain falling from the rock, as from a thick
cloud, whose drops, which now fell on our candles, had caused that
same melancholy sound which I had heard at a distance.
