. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. LURAY CAVERN, PAGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 453 in breadth. Crossiug- the Ramble by a deep trench cut through the travertine floor and the cave chiy, tlie party stood on the edge of IMuto's Chasui, a rift 500 feet h)ng, 70 feet deep, and 10 to 50 feet across, and with lighted candles in front of them sought to penetrate the darkness. Fifty candles combine their ineffectual fires to dissipate the gloom, but they only serve to indicate the locality
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. LURAY CAVERN, PAGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 453 in breadth. Crossiug- the Ramble by a deep trench cut through the travertine floor and the cave chiy, tlie party stood on the edge of IMuto's Chasui, a rift 500 feet h)ng, 70 feet deep, and 10 to 50 feet across, and with lighted candles in front of them sought to penetrate the darkness. Fifty candles combine their ineffectual fires to dissipate the gloom, but they only serve to indicate the locality of their possessors. Here is the awe-inspiring spot in all the cave. There is greater beauty, richer variety of form and color in many places, but no view stirs the sense of dreadful mystery like that from the balustrade of Pluto's Chasm. Fol- lowing the guides down a long, rocky descent, which bears away to the right past the edge of the chasm, the party reached the bottom of this dark chamber. From this point a fine view is obtained of the Specter, a tall snow-white stalagmite, looming up in the darkness in a very ghostly manner. This is a cul de sac, and it is necessary to retrace one's steps to. The Fish Market. the Fish Market before making a new departure. Indeed, the astonish- ing fact was that the whole cavern occupies such a small area. In Mam- moth Cave one can walk more than ten continuous miles without doub- ling on his tracks. At Luray the chambers branch off in most fantastic form about the entrance until one is entirely bewildered. Again, in Luray Cave there are no contracted squeezes, no crawling, no break- neck climbings, no miry pools, but one may get about with almost as much ease as in the open Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Smithsonian Institution. Board of Rege
Size: 1791px × 1395px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithsonianinstitutio, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
