THE GARDEN PALACE—THE STALAGMITE CAVE AND THE GEM OF THE WEST.
The "Garden Palace," about 14 yards north from the Flowering Column, is remarkable for the beauty of its proportions and the charming grace of its arches and dome. It has on the left hand side a magnificent stalactite descending from the roof, and coming to a fine point on the top of a stalagmite, which rises a short distance from the floor. There are also many other stalactites and stalagmites of rare proportions. Near to it is a fascinating little crypt that can be peered into from a small aperture in the wall of the passage, which is here about 25 feet wide and 14 feet high. This part of the "Palace" is about 4 feet by 4 feet 6 inches and about 10 inches high. There is no association about this portion to vividly recall the elegant building which adorned the Inner Domain, or even the grandeur of its ruins, which the fierce flames could not consume. It is simply a charming little peepshow filled with the most dainty specimens of crystallization, the purest stalactites, and the most elaborate decoration. In front is a stalagmite called the "Prince's Statue." Most of the stalactites are transparent. The stalagmites are white as snow, and some of them sparkle with an external coating like hoar-frost. There are small globular pieces covered with tubular spikes, like those of the echinus, but as fine as the stings of bees or the antennæ of butterflies. In the centre is a little colour of a roseate hue, and the most prevalent forms resemble transparent flowers and plants which rival the skill of the glass-blower, and surpass the most delicate work of the artificer in gold and silver. This crypt is like a dreamland treasure-house filled with spoils of art and fancy.
The Stalagmite Cave and the "Gem of the West" are about 30 yards north of the Garden Palace, through a hall about 12 feet high and 14 feet wide. The stalagmites are magnificent, and the walls are adorned with glittering formation of delicate tracery. There are some fine specimens of stalactites, and the distance between two of them has been carefully measured with a view to accurate observation as regards the rate of future growth. Not far from these are some remarkable stalagmites, formed on and about a sugar-loaf-shaped mound. The uppermost one, which appears incomplete—not having yet received its apex—is composed of five sections. Another close by is formed of eight or nine sections, and one lower down of about the same number of distinct portions. Like some other stalagmites already described, their individual sections represent separate periods of formation and of rest.
THE ALABASTER COLUMN.
One of the most beautiful of the large stalagmites in the caves is the Alabaster Column.
THE GEM OF THE WEST.
The "Gem of the West" is in every respect worthy of its name. It is one of the most attractive caves in the series, and calls forth expressions of delight the moment it is illuminated by a magnesium lamp. It is carefully protected by wire netting, and retains all its pristine loveliness. It occupies but a small space, being seven or eight feet high by about five feet wide. There is a considerable amount of formation on the roof, extending down the wall to the ledge of a rock, the flat under-surface of which forms the roof of the cave. From it descend numbers of stalactites of various lengths, as clear as crystal. In between these are numerous small glass-like ornaments, and here and there are little rifts filled with a substance like drifted snow and sleet. The stalactites are not all clear; some of them resemble alabaster, and their shapes are very grotesque. Many are straight as reeds; some are bulbous, and several are combinations of straight pipe and bulb. A few have grown obliquely, but many of the smaller ones are contorted in the most extraordinary manner. On the other side is a formation like a miniature Niagara, with "wild shapes for many a strange comparison," and forms of exquisite beauty.
"Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear."
But ocean caves do not contain anything more pure and captivating than the splendours of the Gem of the West.
