Picturesque Ireland : a literary and artistic delineation of the natural scenery, remarkable places, historical antiquities, public buildings, ancient abbeys, towers, castles, and other romantic and attractive features of Ireland . t of the cavern,and you have a vivid sug-gestion of some demoniac re-gion. Standing on the rockyfoundation in, and with the cave lit up from the interior, the effect is—if lessstartingly sensational—not less picturesquely attractive. Farther west, between Port Coon and the Bush-foot-strand, is Dunkerry Cave,with which, for grandeur, no cave in Antrim can compare. It
Picturesque Ireland : a literary and artistic delineation of the natural scenery, remarkable places, historical antiquities, public buildings, ancient abbeys, towers, castles, and other romantic and attractive features of Ireland . t of the cavern,and you have a vivid sug-gestion of some demoniac re-gion. Standing on the rockyfoundation in, and with the cave lit up from the interior, the effect is—if lessstartingly sensational—not less picturesquely attractive. Farther west, between Port Coon and the Bush-foot-strand, is Dunkerry Cave,with which, for grandeur, no cave in Antrim can compare. It is accessible onlyfrom the ocean, between two mural ridges of jet-black basalt. Passing this roof-less vestibule you enter the cave through a grand and striking portico twenty-sixfeet wide ; and float beneath the dome, sixty-five feet over high-water mark. Itsextent into the land has not been ascertained, owing to the contraction of thesides to a mysterious cleft, through which the waves are heard rolling and roar-ing to a dark, deep distance ; recalling the strikingly imaginative lines of RossWallace on other Caves where banished gods might find Night large enough to hide their crownless heads. Meditations in Bush Mill. The lofty dome and walls, so far as observable, are overspread with a cover-ing of green confervse, which suggests the idea that it might have been scooped 168 PICTURESQUE IRELAND. out of solid emerald. A crimson zone of marine plants, some six feet in breadthabove the surface of the water, surrounds and adorns it ; adding to the richnessof effect. Not the least thrilling circumstance of a visit to this remarkable cave,is produced by the motion of the water. It is easily observable that the swellof the ocean along this coast is at all times ponderously heavy—massive andvast in its surging motion as though continually testing the strength of the cliffsthat confront it. As wave after wave rolls into the cave, the water rises withsuch an apparentl
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidpicturesquei, bookyear1885
