Viewing page 12 of 85

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

(9)
of the ledge was exposed to the er[[strikethrough]]r[[/strikethrough]]oding effects of the elements. The eroded parts consisted of sand and not of chips or spauls as in the limestone caves ^[[(See p 5)]]. This sand falling to the floor, is in many places swept away by the same elemental influences that produced it, [[strikethrough]]and[[/strikethrough]]leaving the bed-rock of the caves to form the floor. In some places, protected from the wind and rain, this sand usually trodden [[strikethrough]]fine as[[/strikethrough]] ^[[to]] dust, is found to a depth from a few inches to one or two feet, but rarely or never more. The top of the eroded rock, and consequently the projecting cornice of the cavern is only about six or less feet from the surface of the plateau ablove, which is covered with ^[[forest]]trees [[strikethrough]]and forms part of the forest]]. Arrived at the end of the ledge, we descended by a ladder or steps 20 or 30 feet past the precipitous part and thence by paths to the [[strikethrough]]bottom[[/strikethrough]] ^[[mouth]] of the cavern where the floor sufficiently projects to form on its inside the floor of the cavern and on the outside the slope of the hill. Many pieces of rock, some of them of huge dimensions, had fallen in a promiscuous manner, making the floor very uneven and the pathway tortuous. We traveled along this ledge for its entire length, several