Chapter VII: Part 7

Whilst my companion rested, I joined the guide, who was hunting for the passage to a cave where his father had taken him thirty-five years ago. We discovered the opening at last, and after wriggling and squirming round innumerable twists and corners, we dropped over a low cliff, beyond which a short wriggle brought us into a long and lofty cave, magnificently walled and pillared with snowy calcite. Floor, walls, and roof were a spotless white, wrought into intricate reliefs and embroideries by the flow of the freakish stalagmite. The guide stated that this was "Cust's Cave," and the one beyond, where our progress stopped, he called the "Demon's Cave." M. Martel's chart shows a "Cust's Cave" of a totally different shape and size, near the "River"; and, as there is no mention extant of any cave beyond Brogden's, I take it that this, the real Cust's, was unknown to him. Unfortunately I had followed the guide without bringing the plan or a compass, unaware that we were going so far from the known parts of the cavern; and now, to my disgust, the guide was unable to find the way out. Twice he descended into a hole at our end of the cave, and emerged with the intelligence, "It's not there, sir." We ransacked every opening in wall and floor, but failed to hit on any exit whatever. The guide grew alarmed, and rushed off to the farther end of the cave, wondering if we had completely lost our sense of direction. He tried whistling; but the hundreds of feet of rock between us and our companion were well able to guard their ancient silence. Tired with these exertions, he next proposed that we should put out the lights and rest for a while. Whether his idea was to husband the only provisions we had, I could not say; but at any rate the situation did look serious, since rescuers might have taken days to discover our position in this remote corridor, of whose very existence, probably, our guide was the only man in Ireland that knew anything. But where there is a way in, there is a way out, as I very well knew from several similar experiences; and after a pretty bad half-hour, we did manage to recover the trail, and got back to our friend, who had been completely mystified by our disappearance, and was almost as relieved as we by our return. After many hours of fatiguing work, we were glad to follow our guide back through the labyrinthine passages, by the most direct route to the open air.

Our chief regret was that we had relied too much on the completeness of previous surveys, and had not taken materials for correcting the map. We had secured many photographs of the earlier chambers, but had not taken the camera into the innermost cavities, where photography would be most profitable. M. Martel's dictum can still be endorsed that there is a great field for research in the Mitchelstown Cavern.

INDEX

Abergele, 123.

_Abîmes, Les_, 34, 39.

Adelsberg, 43, 162.

Albanets of Couvin (Belgium), 31.

Alfred (King), 3.

Alps, 43.

Anemolites, 90.

_Angels and Men_ (quotation), 45.

Antiquity of caverns, 18, 21, 25.

Apjohn (Dr.), 161.

Arragonite, 119, 124.

Arthur (King), 2.

Attrition, effect of, 29.

Avalon, Isle of, 2.

Aveline's Hole, 99, 103.

Aven de Vigne Close (Ardèche), 37.

Avignon, 33.

Axbridge, 106.

Axe, the river, 2, 3, 5, 7, 23, 25, 26, 27, 31, 36, 46, 57,
70, 82.

Badger Hole, 13, 23.

Bagshawe Cavern, 42, 93.

Balch (Mr.), 31, 36, 37, 48, 61, 71, 83, 101.

Bamforth (Mr. H.), 71, 83, 85, 100, 138.

Banwell Cave, 22, 28, 113.

Barnes (Mr.), 71.

Bath, 10, 69.

Bats, 54, 93, 125.

Bear, 14, 23, 24.

Beehive, 30.

Beehive Chamber, Lamb's Lair, 117.

Betsy Camel's Hole, 14.

Bishop's Lot Swallet, 8.

Bishop's Palace at Wells, 5.

Bison, 23, 24.

Blackdown, 3, 17, 99, 104.

Blackwater, 159.

Blue John Mine, 38, 88, 90.

Bonheur (Gard), 39.

Bos, 14.

Boule (M.), 31.

Bouvier (M.), 33.

Bowling Alley, 139.

Bramabiau (Gard), 39.

Bristol, 1, 2, 69.

Bristol Channel, 3.

Brogden's Cave, 166.

Brue, 2, 3.

Buckland (Dean), 33.

Bull Pit, 147, 148, 149.

Bunter Sandstone, 129.

Burrington, 17, 28, 42, 62, 97, 99, 102, 104.

Buxton, 29.

Cadbury, 3.

Calamine, 33.

Cales Dale, 154, 155, 156.

Camden's _Britannia_, 46.

Camelot, 3.

Canyon, 64, 65, 72, 73, 81, 150.

Carbonic acid (action of), 4.

Carboniferous or Mountain Limestone, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 26,
28, 29, 53, 106.

Cascades, 6.

Castle of Comfort, 17, 29.

Castleton, 37, 144, 157.

Causse de Gramat (Padirac), 40.

Cave-earth, 21.

_Cave Hunting_, 47.

Cave Man of Cheddar, 85, 86.

Ceiriog Valley, 133.

Cevennes, 37.

Chapel-en-le-Frith, 144.

Charterhouse, 17, 27, 97.

Cheddar, 3, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 82, 96.

Cheddar Water, 5, 82, 92.

Chokes, 9, 34, 63.

Clemens Alexandrinus, 45.

Clevedon, 4.

Coalpit Mine, 145.

Compton Bishop, 28, 106, 113.

Compton Martin, 25.

Copper, 33.

Coral Cave, 28, 105.

Corridors, 9.

Cotherstone Hill, 123.

Cows hounded over cliff, 24.

Cox's Cavern, 83, 92.

Cox's Hole, 10, 11.

Croft (Mr. J.), 138.

Crook's Peak, 110, 111.

Croscombe, 14.

Cross, 106.

Crosse (Andrew), 124.

Cust's Cave, 162, 164, 166.

Dangers of exploration, 41, 43.

Dargilan, 162.

Dawkins (Prof. Boyd), 23, 31, 33, 46, 99, 101, 102.

De Launey (M.), 31.

Deer, 14, 23, 24, 74.

Demon's Cave, 166.

Denny's Hole, 111.

Denudation, 2, 5.

Derbyshire, 1, 29, 42, 43, 44, 91, 138.

Devil's Hole, 47.

Devil's Punchbowl, 29.

Dinder Wood, 15.

Dolomitic Conglomerate, 12, 13, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 48,
53, 110.

Dovedale, 133.

Doveholes, 29.

Downside Monastery, 12.

Drayton, 47.

Dulcote, 2, 14.

East Harptree, 116.

Eastwater, 7, 8, 9, 30, 36, 37, 42, 48, 60, 70.

Ebbor, 3, 7, 13, 17, 29.

Elden Hill, 149.

Elden Hole, 38, 149, 150.

English Channel, 3.

Enmore, 123.

Eocene, 31.

Exeter, 1.

Exploration (dangers of), 41, 43, 72.

Extinct animals, 22, 23, 34, 74.

Fairy Slats, 12.

Fauna of caves, 33, 74.

Fissures, 5, 12, 27, 33, 39, 66, 73, 85, 87, 89, 94.

Flatholm, 4.

Fluor-spar, 33.

Fontaine de Vaucluse, 33.

Foreland, 1.

Foxe's Hole (Burrington), 99.

Fox's Hole (Compton Bishop), 110.

Frome, 1, 7, 27.

Frost (action of), 6.

Galtees, 159.

Gaping Ghyll, 35, 37.

Gautries Hill, 149.

Geological Survey, 25.

Giant's Hole, 144, 145, 151.

Gibson (Mr. James), 101, 104.

Glacial drift, 29, 31.

Glastonbury, 3.

Goatchurch Cavern, 42, 62, 99, 100, 104.

Golden Cap, 3.

Gough (Messrs.), 16, 19, 28, 82, 93, 106.

Grassington, 138.

Gravel, 8.

Great Cavern of Cheddar, 82, 83, 92.

Great Chamber of Lamb's Lair, 116.

Green How, 138.

_Grotten und Höhlen von Adelsberg, Die_, 34.

Gurney Slade, 27.

Gypsum, 33.

Han-sur-Lesse, 162.

Harptree, 18.

Harrington (Dr.) of Bath, 46.

Helln Pot, 37.

Hiley (Mr.), 70.

Hill (Dr.), 160.

Hillgrove, 7, 61, 70, 114.

Holwell, 27, 123, 124.

Hope, Dale of, 37.

Horse, 14.

Hyæna, 23, 24, 46.

Hyæna Den, 13, 22, 23, 24.

Hydrology, 33.

Ingleborough Cave, 35, 37.

Inscriptions, 22, 30.

Irish Elk, 23, 24.

_Irlande et Cavernes Anglaises_, 34.

Jackdaws, 54.

Jacob's Well, 140.

Jameson (Dr.), 160.

Joints, 5, 11, 13, 71.

Katavothra, 33.

Kent's Cavern, 30.

Kentucky, 43.

Keuper, 31.

Knockmealdown Mountains, 159.

Kyndwr Club, 138.

Labyrinths, 8, 9, 62.

Laibach, 33.

Lake village, 3.

Lamb's Lair, 30, 39, 115.

Lathkill Dale, 152, 153, 154.

Lathkill River, 156.

Lead, 33.

Leland, 46.

Lewsdon, 3.

Lias, 27, 28, 29.

Lion, 23, 24.

Llangollen, 133.

Long Hole, 19, 28, 97.

Long Kin Hole, 37.

Long Wood, 97.

Lower Limestone Shales, 2, 4, 5.

Loxton, 112, 113.

Mammoth, 23, 24.

Manifold, 150, 151.

Marble Arch, 42.

Marshall (Mr.), 11, 13.

Martel (Mons.), 17, 19, 30, 34, 37, 39, 57, 145, 160, 161, 164,
165, 167.

Master-joint, 34, 131.

Matlock, 104.

Mazauric (M.), 39.

McMurtrie (Mr. J.), 122.

Mendip plateau, 36.

Middle Hill, 147.

Mitchelstown Cave, 159.

Monyash, 153.

Morfa Rhuddlan, 131.

Morland (Mr. J. O.), 83.

Murray's Guide, 116, 122.

Natural wells, 18.

Neolithic barrows, 3.

Niagara (Gough's Caves), 30.

Nidderdale, 138.

North Hill, 3, 60.

O'Callaghan's Cave, 162, 165.

Offa's Dyke, 133.

Ogo, 45, 127.

Ogof, 45, 127.

Old Red Sandstone, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 26, 53, 60.

O'Leary's Cave, 161, 164.

Ookey, 45.

Oonakareaglisha, 159.

Outfit, 41, 62.

Padirac, 162.

Parrett, 3.

Peace of Wedmore, 3.

Peak, 34, 38, 39, 42, 47, 144, 159.

Peak's Hill, 147.

Peak's Hole, 145.

Peak's Hole (source of water of), 150.

Pen Hill, 2, 4, 60.

Percolating water, 6.

Percy's _Reliques_, 46.

Perryfoot, 145, 150.

Phelps, 106.

Phosphorites, 31.

Pilsdon, 3.

Pleistocene gravel, 28.

Pliocene, 29.

Plumley's Den, 100, 103, 104.

_Polyolbion_, 47.

Pot, 34, 84.

Pothole Cavern, 155, 156.

Potholes, 6, 68, 72.

Pottery, 21, 22, 58, 74.

Priddy, 7, 8, 17, 48, 60, 61, 98.

Primitive man, 13, 22, 24, 34, 47, 128.

Puttrell (Mr. J. W.), 138.

Quantocks, 123.

Quercy, 31.

Radstock, 27.

Radstock Coalfield, 10.

Rain (action of), 6.

Rakes, 33, 38.

Ravine formation, 19.

Ravines, 6, 20, 23.

Raymond, Walter, 98.

Red Deer, 23, 24.

Reindeer, 23.

_Reliquiæ Diluvianæ_, 33.

Revolving stones (action of), 6.

Rhaetic, 27, 31.

Rhinoceros, 24.

Rickford, 28, 102, 104.

Ricklow Cavern, 157.

Ricklow Dale, 153.

Risings (extent of flow), 17.

"Rock of Ages," 104.

Rock shelter, 15.

Roman Cave of Cheddar, 93, 95.

Roman mines, 97.

Romano-British pottery, 21, 22, 58, 74.

Rookham, 2, 28.

Rowberrow Farm, 17.

Rushup Edge, 144, 147.

Russet Well, 144, 145.

"S" bends, 65, 68.

St. Andrew's Well, 5, 28, 31.

St. Dunstan's Well, 10, 11.

St. George's Cave, 127, 130.

"St. Paul's," 86, 88.

St. Swithin's Hole, 7.

"Salle à Manger," 38.

Sand (action of), 6.

Sand Pit Hole, 8.

Schmidl (Dr. Adolph), 34.

Scotchman's Cave, 165.

Secondary Rocks, 5, 12, 18, 27, 28.

Sedgemoor, 3.

Severn, 4.

Shakeholes, 29.

Sheldon (Dr.), 83, 84, 90, 100.

Sheldon (Mr., of Wells), 17.

Shipham, 100.

Silt, 10, 11.

Siphons, 33, 34.

Skeheenarinky, 159.

Slater (Mr.), 71.

Smith (W. W.), 45.

Snowdonia, 130.

Société de Spéléologie, 34.

"Solomon's Temple," 86, 88.

Somerville (A. F.), 14, 15.

Sorgue, 33.

Sparrowpit, 144, 145.

Speedwell Mine, 38, 144.

Speleology, 32.

Spiders, 54.

Springs, 5, 11.

Spur and Wedge, 53, 56.

Squire's Well, 104.

Stalactites, 10, 76, 77, 80, 89, 118, 140, 142.

Stalagmite bridges, 78.

Steepholm, 4.

Stoke Lane, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Stratton-on-the-Fosse, 11.

Stump Cross Cavern, 138.

Subterranean streams, 6, 7, 8, 72.

Subterranean waterfalls, 72.

Swallets, swallow-holes, 1, 5, 7, 8, 12, 26, 27, 34, 60, 61, 84,
148.

Swildon's Hole, 7, 8, 36, 48, 61, 70.

Tanyrogo, 127.

Tennyson, 4.

Thornyash, 153.

Tideswell, 148.

Tindoul de la Vayssière (Aveyron), 40.

Tone, 3.

Torquay, 30.

Tower Rock, 14.

Traps, 34, 65.

Trias, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 106, 109, 110, 130.

Troup (Mr.), 21, 59, 70, 71.

_Two Men o' Mendip_, 98.

Ubley Farm, 98.

Undermining, 4, 6, 25.

Upper Langford, 105.

Van den Broeck, 31.

Vaucluse, 33.

Wastdale, 96.

Wavering Down, 106, 110.

Wedmore, 3.

Well (in Swildon's Hole), 73, 77.

Wells, 2, 5, 7, 8, 17, 26, 28, 29, 36, 83.

Wells Museum, 14.

West Riding, 34.

Weston-super-Mare, 16.

Wharfedale, 138.

Wightman (Mr. F.), 138.

Wild Boar, 23.

Wild Goat, 23.

Wild Horse, 23.

Willcox (Mr.), 30.

William of Worcester, 45.

Williams, (W. H. and G. D.), 152.

Wills Neck, 123.

Wind (action of), 6.

Winnats, 91, 144.

Wirral, 129.

Witch of Wookey, 46.

Wolf, 23, 24.

Wookey, 45.

Wookey Hole, 5, 7, 13, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 30, 31, 36, 37, 42,
43, 45, 52, 60, 70, 82, 127.

Woolly Rhinoceros, 23.

Wrington Vale, 115.

Yoredales, 144.

Yorkshire, 1, 10, 29, 35, 44.

Young's Cavern, 160.

_Printed by_ J. BAKER & SON, _Clifton_

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.