the variegated cavern is reached—a large chamber, said to be upwards of 100 feet in height. But this is not the only large chamber that has been discovered through the labours of the miners. Some distance from this cavern is the one called "Lord Mulgrave's Dining Room"—a large cavity about 150 feet in height, and 60 feet in diameter. But the most beautiful of all the clambers is that called the "Crystallised Cavern," a large dome-shaped cavity, the height of which is estimated at 100 feet, and whose sides are adorned with numerous stalactites, that sparkle like stars when it is lighted up.
Another of the Peak mines is the Speedwell Mine, the gallery of which was originally excavated by a company of proprietors in search of lead ore. Access to the interior of this mine is obtained by descending about 104 steps, then by proceeding in a boat along a level or tunnel, the result of the miners' operations, to the Grand Cavern, a vast vaulted chamber, fashioned by natural forces in the heart of the mountain, the height of which has never been ascertained, but is supposed to exceed 500 feet, since rockets capable of ascending 450 feet have been sent up and have exploded and thrown out their coruscations as fully as if they had ascended beneath the vault of heaven. On one side of this chamber is an abyss which has never been fathomed. On the day that I visited it a vast body of water was pouring into it from some of the old workings, which precipitated itself into the chasm with the noise of thunder. This was owing to the rain having fallen almost incessantly for some days, as in the usual course of things visitors are able to throw stones down and hear them bound from side to side for some minutes.
The greatest of all the Peak caverns is the "Peak Cavern," or "Devil's Hole," the approach to which is through a ravine by the side of the stream which issues from the cavern. At the termination of this ravine there is a magnificent natural arch in the sold rock, 120 feet wide, and 42 feet high. The mode of progress in this cavern was formerly by a boat for short distances, but latterly, for the convenience of visitors, passages have been made by blasting the rock. After proceeding for some distance a large chamber, called the "Grand Saloon," is reached, about 220 feet square, and in some places 120 feet in height. Leaving this apartment by means of a steep and rugged pathway, the "Chancel" is reached, and then descending by another path the visitor arrives at the "Devil's Cellar." The other large chambers in this cavern are "Gloucester Hall" and "Great Tom of Lincoln," the latter being so designated from its having a regular concavity in the roof resembling the form of a bell.
On the eastern side of the Castle Hill runs Cave Dale, a rocky glen, in which the mountain limestone is well exposed. The approach to this narrow defile has rather a forbidding aspect, the entrance being by a cleft in the hillside not more than five feet wide, Passing this the dell widens out and gradually ascends for about a mile. As the visitor ascends towards the summit he passes on his way a singular column of toadstone, not unlike in appearance to the basaltic
