This grotto is one of the most beautiful in the Pyrenees, and presents
to the visitor a succession of vast halls with roofs that are curved
like a dome, or are in the form of an ogive, or are as flat as a
ceiling. It is easy to explore these halls, for the floor is covered
with a thick stalagmitic stratum, and is not irregular as in the
majority of large caves.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--SECTION OF THE GROTTO OF GARGAS.]

Upon entering through the iron gate at the mouth of the grotto, one
finds himself in Bear Hall, wherein a strange calcareous concretion
offers the form of the carnivorous animal after which the room is
named. This chamber is about 80 feet in width by 98 in length. We
first descend a slope formed of earth and debris mostly derived from
the outside. This slope, in which are cut several steps, rests upon a
hard, compact, and crystalline stalagmitic floor. Upon turning to the
right, we come to the Hall of Columns, the most beautiful of all. Here
the floor bristles with stalagmites, which in several places are
connected with the stalactites that depend from the ceiling. This room
is about 50 feet square. After this we reach the Hall of Crevices, 80
feet square, and this leads to the great Hall of Gargas, which is
about 328 feet in length by 80, 98, and 105 in width. In certain
places enormous fissures in the vault rise to a great height. Some of
these, shaped like great inverted funnels, are more than 60 yards in
length. The grotto terminates in the Creeping Hall. As its name
indicates, this part of the cave can only be traversed by lying flat
upon the belly. It gives access to the upper grotto through a narrow
and difficult passage that it would be possible to widen, and which
would then allow visitors to make their exit by traversing the