our right, which conducted us down about fifteen feet into a narrow
pass, not more than five feet wide; this pass is the Labyrinth, one
end of which leads to the Bottomless Pit, entering it about fifty feet
down, and the other after various windings, now up, now down, over a
bridge, and up and down ladders, conducts you to one of the chief
glories of the Cave,--Gorin's Dome; which, strange to tell, was not
discovered until a few years ago. Immediately behind the ladder, there
is a narrow opening in the rock, extending up very nearly to the cave
above, which leads about twenty feet back to Louisa's Dome, a pretty
little place of not more than twelve feet in diameter, but of twice
that height. This dome is directly under the centre of the cave we had
just been traversing, and when lighted up, persons within it can be
plainly seen from above, through a crevice in the rock. Arrived at
Gorin's Dome, we were forcibly struck by the seeming appearance of
_design_, in the arrangement of the several parts, for the special
accommodation of visiters--even with reference to their number. The
Labyrinth, which we followed up, brought us at its termination, to a
window or hole, about four feet square, three feet above the floor,
opening into the interior of the dome, about midway between the bottom
and top; the wall of rock being at this spot, not more than eighteen
inches thick; and continuing around, and on the outside of the dome,
along a gallery of a few feet in width, for twenty or more paces, we
arrived at another opening of much larger size, eligibly disposed, and
commanding, like the first, a view of very nearly the whole interior
space. Whilst we are arranging ourselves, the guide steals away,
passes down, down, one knows not how, and is presently seen by the dim
light of his lamp, fifty feet below, standing near the wall on the
inside of the dome. The dome is of solid rock, with sides apparently
fluted and polished, and perhaps two hundred feet high. Immediately in
front and about thirty feet from the window, a huge rock seems