has stood before these objects with romantic names, it occurs to him that the fancy of the narrator has quite as much to do with the matter as the resemblance of the objects. But all such doubt vanishes in the presence of creations which call forth spontaneously from all beholders the same exclamations. It was so in this chamber. The long, white, trailing masses of alabaster suggested the same idea to all, and the absolute, starless night of shade on every side helped to complete the illusion. Just beyond the Bridal Chamber is Giant Hall, where beauty gives place to wonderthe loveliness of Grecian finesse to the overpowering sense of Egyptian massiveness. Among the objects of special interest at this point are Titania's Veil and Diana's Bath, and, just beyond, the Saracen's Tent. The last-named object attracted a great deal of attention, and vividly recalled the pictures of crusading times, wherein the conical tent with its ample folds is decorated with the armorial devices of the occupant and surmounted by his banner.

The Saracen's Tent.

The next object of interest is the Cathedral, with its fantastic frescoe and stone organ. From the ceiling and walls depend thin sheets of stalactite of various lengths, which, upon being struck, give forth tones of great softness and effect. The impression made upon the party wandering through these dark abysses, when Mr. Campbell, without previous warning, played a familiar air, will hardly be forgotten.

There is nothing more beautiful in the cave than these scarfs, shawis,

lambrequins--what shall we call them-of translucent calcite, some white as snow, others impregnated with the impurities of the soil above, falling in graceful folds, fringed with a thousand patterns, and so thin that a candle held behind one of them reveals all the structure within. With much

regret the visitor sees the curtain fall upon this enchanted spot, but his sense of novelty is redoubled as he passes on to the Fallen Column, strangely misnamed. Once it hung from the lofty ceiling above, in company with many others, a ponderous mass over 50 feet long, at least 14 feet in its greatest diameter, and weighing about 400 tons. The entire

collection of these immense stalactites at this portion of the cavern resembles a great inverted forest of blasted trunks. The only spot in all the abyss where a sense of danger and utter helplessness seizes the explorer is when he stands beneath these magnificent stalactites, weighing over 500 tons each, held to the roof only by their own cohesion, and capable of falling, as evidenced by the prostrate giant before him. This feeling quickly subsides, however, when, upon closer inspection, he sees the fluted sides of the fallen one supporting long rows of secondary stalactites which indicate that perhaps centuries have elapsed since the crash of its downfall reverberated through these lonely halls. Drooping over the column to the right is the Angel's Wing, a formation of alabaster whiteness, nearly 10 feet high by 7 wide, and flecked all over with feather-like wrinkles. Truly one may be pardoned for giving his fancy loose rein, as he here beholds in this wing drooping over a fallen stalactite an emblem of the flight of centuries.

The Throne Room and the Throne, Chapman's Lake, the Tower of Babel, and Katie's Secret pass quickly in review as the path leads on to the Giants' Hall, the chef d'œuvre of this fairy underworld. On the verge of a towering cliff the beholder faces this chamber of wonders. Stretching away to the right is a seemingly interminable row of prodig ious, glittering columns. They rise from out the depths of shade and are lost in the overhanging gloom. The magnesium light successfully combats these hosts of darkness and drives them into the alcoves and recesses above, beneath, and on either side, revealing forms of giant dimensions, weird outline, and infinite variety of ornament. Many feet below are the Chimes,-long sheeted stalactites, which on being vi brated give forth a deep, tremulous peal of varied tone.

The Empress Columns, the Sultana, the Double Columns, the Frozen Cascade, the Chalcedony Cascade, and the Hanging Rock being passed and admired, the scene opens into the Amphitheater, a large high-ceiled rotunda which has been tightly floored and fitted up with seats and chandeliers for a ball-room. Here on special occasions the citizens of Luray assemble to "chase the glowing hours with flying feet." Around the amphitheater are the Tombs of the Martyrs, Cinderella, and an endless number of robed and spangled heroes and heroines as yet unnamed. An ascent of two long flights of stairs leads from this rotunda to Campbell's Hall, an oblong chamber, about 200 feet in the long diameter and 50 feet high. The chief attraction of this room is the rich variety of coloring in the stalactites, including red, yellow, black, white, blue, gray, brown, with an infinite number of intermediate shades.

The returning path leads through the Bridal Chamber, where at least one couple sought their introduction into the mysteries of wedded love. Near at hand is the hollow column, a cylinder of great size, which rises from the floor and disappears through the ceiling as a stove-pipe. The column is hollow, as its name implies, a stream of water having worn away the center, through which, by means of a rope, an ascent can be made to a chamber nearly 60 feet above.

Passing onward the visitor stops for a few moments to admire what seems to be the retreating form of a lady in full party toilet. Her head is just hid by the jamb of the distant doorway; but rounded shoulders, delicate arms, shapely waist, and long, flowing skirt and train, profusely ornamented, all are there. The proprietors have named this the Ladies' Toilet, but some of the Smithsonian party suggested the title "Cinderella leaving the Ball." The path leads hence across Pluto's Chasm, by the Bridge of Sighs, to a rift bearing the grim title of Skeleton Gulch.

Here, 110 feet below the mouth of the Chasm, in the bottom of a narrow trench, are the bones of what appears to have been a human being. The vandalism of former visitors made the proprietor rather shy of the exploring party; but as far as could be made out a man or woman lost in the cave had wandered to the edge of Pluto's Chasm, and, falling over, had here become entombed. Most of the bones are concealed by the tufaceous floor which has formed over them, but protruding through and above this are to be seen the head of a femur with an inch or two of the vertebral column, two or three small pointed projections resembling teeth, and a portion of a third bone undetermined. It was absolutely impossible to gain any information concerning these bones which would be of scientific value.

The ground passed over is only one-fourth of the cave accessible, with but little trouble, to visitors; and yet the fleeting hours invite return and compel a speedy retreat.

It is a matter of profound regret that the peculiar combination of untoward circumstances precluded a more scientific examination of the Luray Cavern. It is quite certain that the work could be thoroughly done with little cost if the same party could have proper facilities another season. The daze of first impressions being off, there would be no hindrance to genuine work. An electric light should be used in place of the magnesium wire, and bearings, distances, and elevation carefully noted.

Comparing this great natural curiosity with others of the same class, it is safe to say that there is probably no other cave in the world more completely and profusely decorated with stalactitic and stalagmitic ornamentation than that at Luray. So abundant is this decoration that in only a small portion of the whole interior is unadorned rock visible. Here in this dark studio of nature are reproductions of all those objects which are wont to fill the mind with pleasure, wonder, or alarm— crystal fountains, spouting geysers, cascades, flower gardens, gems which are the crown jewels of nature set off against a background of velvet darkness, cathedrals gorgeously sculptured and frescoed, chimes and deep-toned organs, thrones, spectral beings, terrestrial, celestial, and infernal-objects whose multiplicity variety and splendor would exhaust the whole literature of mythic and fairy lore, in providing names for their infinite diversity of beauty. The indications are that the work was done with comparative rapidity, and the present dryness is suffi cient evidence that the process has nearly ceased. Indeed, with the exception of a few spots where there is a slight percolation of water from above, and a few where the gathering into pools allows the crystalliza. tion of the salts of lime, the atmosphere is all too dry for the deposition of lime carbonate. The cessation of the production of stalactites after the chambers had received their finishing touches was doubtless due to a change of condition of the land in the neighborhood, causing the draining away into deeper channels of the surface water. This change probably resulted from the further deepening of the bed of the neighboring stream, after the greater part of the ornamentation had been completed. These circumstances indicate some degree of geological antiquity for the Luray Cavern. Hence a date as early as the Tertiary period has been suggested, but there is no apparent reason why it may not be supposed to have originated in one of the Mesozoic periods. In any case we may safely assume that the Luray Cavern long antedates the pristine man, although one of his descendants paid a fatal visit here long before Mr. Stebbins.

The obscurity of the aperture through which it was discovered by its present proprietors (1878) would naturally suggest that its existence could not have been previously known. The discovery of parts of a skeleton of man or of some large vertebrate, mostly embedded in tufaceous carbonate of lime, at the bottom of a chasm, shows that it was at one time of easier access; indeed, it is affirmed that former owners