THE FOSSIL BONE CAVE.
About 15 yards north-west from the Lurline Cave is the Fossil Bone Cave. To reach this cavern it is necessary to ascend 12 steps. It is scarcely less beautiful than the Lurline Cave. The lime formation represents pensile boughs of weeping-willow, garlands of flowers, and stalactites covered with all kinds of floral decorations. Here also are some fine "shawl" formations hanging from the rocks. One of them is called "The Gong," because it produces a sonorous note similar to that of the Chinese instrument which is superseding the dinner-bell, and challenging its title to be regarded as "the tocsin of the soul." On a sloping side of the floor are some forms distinctive in shape and colour, and resembling a lot of small potatoes shot down indiscriminately. The wonder is how in such a place they could have been so formed and isolated. Here is an oblique cavern, at the bottom of which a bone of some large animal lies embedded in the limestone formation like a type in a matrix. At one time it was doubted whether this, which appeared to be bone, was really an osseous substance, but subsequent examinations have proved that it is bone. A fracture of the rock has shown that the outer part of the bone is compact, and the inner part cellular. It is beautifully white, and, as the formation about is brownish, the phosphate can be readily distinguished from the carbonate of lime. On the roof above the Fossil Bone Cave is a rare stalactite about 20 feet in length, and by the side of the tomb of the unknown animal—which may have been anything from a diprotodon to a dingo—is a splendid monumental stalagmite. The cave is about 50 feet high, and 50 feet in length and breadth. The roof is of a light cream colour, and has brown stalactites of perfect shape. The side rocks are magnificently draped. Numerous splendid columns like white marble, and sheets of stalactitic growth, excite wonder and admiration.