that we needed not Stoughton's bitters to provoke an appetite. Having
discussed a few glasses of excellent Hock, we left the Bacon Chamber,
which is a pretty fair representation of a low ceiling, thickly hung
with canvassed hams and shoulders; and proceeded to the Bandit's Hall,
up a steep ascent of twenty or thirty feet, rendered very difficult,
by the huge rocks which obstructed the way and over which we were
forced to clamber. The name is indicative of the spot. It is a vast
and lofty chamber, the floor covered with a mountainous heap of rocks
rising amphitheatrically almost to the ceiling, and so disposed as to
furnish at different elevations, galleries or platforms, reaching
immediately around the chamber itself or leading off into some of its
hidden recesses. The guide is presently seen standing at a fearful
height above, and suddenly a Bengal light, blazes up, "when the rugged
roof, the frowning cliffs and the whole chaos of rocks are refulgent
in the brilliant glare." The sublimity of the scene is beyond the
powers of the imagination.




CHAPTER VIII.

Mammoth Dome--First Discoverers--Little Dome--Tale of a Lamp--Return.


From the Bandit's Hall, diverge two caves; one of which, the left,
leads you to a multitude of domes; and the right, to one which, _par
excellence_, is called the Mammoth Dome. Taking the right, we arrived,
after a rugged walk of nearly a mile, to a platform, which commands an
indistinct view of this dome of domes. It was discovered by a German