THE HELENA CAVE.
Leaving the Margherita Cave by a descent of five steps, and travelling north-west about ten yards through a festooned hall, the Helena Cave opens to view. It was named in 1880. Helena is the prenomen of Mrs. Hart, whose husband accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel Cracknell on his visit to the caves, and took photographs of some of the chambers, when for the first time they were illuminated by electricity. Mr. Hart was connected with the photographic branch of the Government Printing Office. The pictures then produced, although large and fairly good, are not equal to some more recent photographs taken when the chambers were illuminated by the magnesium light.
The Helena Cave is about 60 yards long, 15 to 20 feet high, and varies in width from 20 to 50 feet. For stalactitic splendour it will bear comparison with the most magnificent of the caves. There are columns like the trunks of stately trees, covered with rough formation resembling coarse bark. Coralline masses droop laden with myriads of cells. In the recesses are stalactites perfect in shape—crystal, and alabaster set off by others coloured like ferruginous sandstone. Lovely grottoes and decorated rock ledges abound. In one or two instances joined stalactites and stalagmites form pillars with bunches of formation all about them like stony efflorescence. Several steps lead into a recess, the floor of which contains basins made by the action of water.
The formation throughout is remarkable for its lavish ornamentation and purity. Among the grand cornices is one weighing about half a ton, formed in such a manner as to resemble great bunches of grapes, like those brought from Eschol by the Hebrew spies to illustrate their report on "the promised land." In other parts are small clusters like vine produce growing en espalier. It seems as though in these subterranean sunless bowers nature had by some subtle process striven to reproduce in stone the fruits and flowers of the sunned surface, clothing them in pure white and sombre grey, and endowing them with charms as sweet and mutely eloquent as the fragrance of the Cestrum nocturnum, or the cold beauty of a night cactus bloom which caresses the moonbeams or wantons in the stellar light.
This place, full of enchanted grottoes and elfin palaces, gives, perhaps, the best illustration of the plan, so uniform and yet so diverse, on which these limestone mountains have been honeycombed into galleries, "high overarch'd with echoing walks between," and caverns large and small, from cathedral spaciousness to the minimised dimensions of the tiniest chamber in the finest coralline structure. Their infinite gradation may be fairly described by certain well-known lines, and substituting the word "caves" for the name of the most lively insects of the genus pulex—
Big caves have little caves
And lesser caves about 'em;
These caves have other caves,
And so ad infinitum.
The most remarkable feature hereabouts is a piece of formation called "The Madonna." It is supposed to represent a woman carrying an infant, which rests on her right arm. The left arm hangs loosely by her side, and the right knee is bent as in the act of walking. The head bears less resemblance to that of one of the favourite creations of the Old Masters than it does to the anterior part of a Russian bear. A pyramidal mound about four feet high forms a pedestal for the figure, which is about two feet six inches from crown to sole. A sculptor with mallet and chisel might in an hour or two convert it into a representation of loveliness, but at present it is only a veiled beauty. Visitors have to imagine all those witcheries and feminine perfections portrayed by great artists who have made "The Madonna and Child" a life study.
THE HELENA CAVE.
The best view of this cave is that looking south-east with "My Lady" in the centre. The stalactites show to great advantage, and as the manifold charms brought into bold relief by the magnesium light disappear, and the sable goddess "from her ebon throne, stretches forth her leaden sceptre," the sensation produced is one of pleasant bewilderment. The deep gloom which follows celestial brightness enshrouds the glorious scene. The pageant fades away as did the celebrated palace which Potemkin reared for his Imperial Mistress. It was made of blocks of ice. The portico was supported by Ionic pillars, and the dome sparkled in the sun, which had just strength enough to gild, but not to melt it. "It glittered afar like a palace of crystal and diamonds, but there came one warm breeze from the south, and the stately building dissolved away until none were able to gather up the fragments." So it is with these underground wonders. They are brought into bold relief, and gilded by the brilliant light of the magnesium lamp. It is extinguished, and the gorgeous palaces and solemn temples suddenly become like "stuff which dreams are made of."
Another beautiful feature in the Helena Cave is a formation under a mass of stalactites which hang from the roof and drop water on to a jutting rock below. On a corner of this shoulder is a huge epaulette, and underneath are some elegantly-shaped brackets. Still farther down is an enormous richly decorated mass, flanked by shell pattern formation. The base rock rests on a mound of limestone gracefully curved, and the intervening spaces are filled with myriads of ornate specimens. Some distance above the floor is a bold rock with a sharply cut under-surface like the sounding-board of a pulpit hung with stalactites. Here are also terraces like miniatures of the celebrated White Terraces of New Zealand, with basins, the sides of which are graced with a formation which at one time was pure white, but the lower portions of which are now discoloured. The upper part, however, still retains its pristine purity and loveliness. The terraces approaching The Grotto are stained by the tramping of feet. About halfway up is a handsome stalagmite of fine proportions. This chamber is grandly impressive, and remarkable for its charming variety of formation, as well as for its graceful contours.
