roof which enabled us to stand upright. This delight was immensely
increased when our candles showed us that the walls of this vertical
opening were profusely decorated with the most lovely forms of ice. The
first that we came under passed up out of sight; and in this, two solid
cascades of ice hung down, high overhead, apparently broken off short,
or at any rate ending very abruptly: the others did not pass so far
into the roof, and formed domes of very regular shape. In all three, the
details of the ice-decoration were most lovely, and the effect produced
by the whole situation was very curious; for we stood with our legs
exposed to the alternating cold currents, the remaining part of our
bodies being imbedded as it were in the roof; while the candles in our
hands brought out the crystal ornaments of the sides, flashing fitfully
all round us and overhead, when one or other of us moved a light, as if
we had been surrounded by diamonds of every possible size and setting.
One of the domes was so small, that we were obliged to stand up by turn
to examine its beauties; but in the others we all stood together. On
every side were branching clusters of ice in the form of club-mosses,
with here and there varicose veins of clear ice, and pinnacles of the
prismatic structure, with limpid crockets and finials. The pipes of ice
which formed a network on the walls were in some cases so exquisitely
clear, that we could not be sure of their existence without touching
them; and in other cases a sheet 4 or 6 inches thick was found to be no
obstruction to our view of the rock on which it was formed. In one of
the domes we had only one candle, and the bearer of this after a time
contrived to let it fall, leaving us standing with our heads in perfect
darkness; while the indistinct light which strayed about our feet showed
faintly a circle of icicles, hanging from the lower part of the dome,
the fringe, as it were, of our rocky petticoats.

In one of the lower parts of the cave, where darkness prevailed, and