But its stupendous size was the least of the wonders of the place,for,running in rows down its length were gigantic pillars of what looked like ice,but were,in reality,huge stalactites.It is impossible for me to convey any idea of the overpowering beauty and grandeur of these pillars of white spar,some of which were not less than twenty feet in diameter at the base,and sprang up in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof.Others again were in process of formation.On the rock floor there was in these cases what looked,Sir Henry said,exactly like a broken column in an old Grecian temple,while high above,depending from the roof,the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen.And even as we gazed we could hear the process going on,for presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the column below.On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes,and in these cases it would form an interesting calculation to discover how long,at that rate of dripping,it would take to form a pillar,say eighty feet high by ten in diameter.That the process was,in at least one instance,incalculably slow,the following instance will suffice to show.Cut on one of these pillars we discovered a rude likeness of a mummy,by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of the Egyptian gods,doubtless the handiwork of some old-world laborer in the mine.This work of art was executed at about the natural height at which an idle fellow,be he Phoenician workman or British cad,is in the habit of trying to immortalize himself at the expense of nature's masterpieces,namely,about five feet from the ground;yet at the time that we saw it,which must have been nearly three thousand years after the date of the execution of the drawing,the column was only eight feet high,and was still in process of formation,which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a thousand years,or an inch and a fraction to a century.This we knew because,as we were standing by it,we heard a drop of water fall.
Sometimes the stalactites took strange forms,presumably where the dropping of the water had not always been on the same spot.Thus,one huge mass,which must have weighed a hundred tons or so,was in the form of a pulpit,beautifully fretted over outside with what looked like lace.
Others resembled strange beasts,and on the sides of the cave were fan-like ivory tracings,such as the frost leaves upon a pane.
Out of the vast main aisle there opened here and there smaller caves,exactly,Sir Henry said,as chapels open out of great cathedrals.
Some were large,but one or two --and this is a wonderful instance of how Nature carries out her handiwork by the same unvarying laws,utterly irrespective of size -were tiny.One little nook,for instance,was no larger than an unusually big doll's house,and yet it might have been the model of the whole place,for the water dropped,the tiny icicles hung,and the spar columns were forming in just the same way.
We had not time,however,to examine this beautiful place as thoroughly as we should have liked to do,for unfortunately Gagool seemed to be indifferent to stalactites,and only anxious to get her business over.This annoyed me the more,as I was particularly anxious to discover,if possible,by what system the light was admitted into the place,and whether it was by the hand of man or of nature that this was done;also if it had been used in any way in ancient times,as seemed probable.However,we consoled ourselves with the idea that we would examine it thoroughly on our return,and followed on after our uncanny guide.
On she led us,straight to the top of the vast and silent cave,where we found another doorway,not arched as the first was,but square at the top,something like the doorways of Egyptian temples.
"Are ye prepared to enter the Place of Death?"asked Gagool,evidently with a view to making us feel uncomfortable.
"Lead on,Macduff,"said Good,solemnly,trying to look as though he was not at all alarmed,as indeed did we all except Foulata,who caught Good by the arm for protection.
"This is getting rather ghastly,"said Sir Henry,peeping into the dark doorway."Come on,Quatermain -seniores priores .Don't keep the old lady waiting!"and he politely made way for me to lead the van,for which I inwardly did not bless him.
Tap,tap,went old Gagool's stick down the passage,as she trotted along,chuckling hideously;and,still overcome by some unaccountable presentiment of evil,I hung back.
