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Article ACCOUNT OF PENPARK-HOLE, ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of Penpark-Hole,
when you speak loud ; and if thoroughly illuminated , mast have a very beautiful appearance . The water which , when I was there at both times , totally covered the bottom , was of an oval form , and as sweet , clear , and good , as any I ever drank , and in many places between seven and ei ght fathom deep ; but in August 1762 , it was found not more than one fathom : so that in a dry season j you may ( as I am informed ) safely walk round
the sides . And notwithstanding , when I visited this p lace a second time , it was at least twenty feet perpendicular lower than when I first went there , as it is supposed , upon the most just calculation , to sink about ten inches in a day and a ni ght . I could not perceive the least appearance of the two prominent rocks , as mentioned by Captain Collinswho visited this lace in Sept . 1682 .
, p By this gentleman's account it appears , there , are some caverns in the largest chasm , which , when I was there , were filled with water , and consequently not discernable . Perhaps , when the place is free from that inconveniency , it may exhibit a very different appearance from what it did when I was there , and may be of much larger dimensions .
As I was determined during my stay , which was about an hour and 2 half , to view the place attentively , 1 made one of the men row a floating stage ( launched whilst I was there ) with several candles on it , which burnt perfectly clear , twice round the cavern , so that I had a tolerable view of every part of it . —At the further end , about eight feet above the water , ( when ! was first there ) is a cave , which I suppose to be the same as mentioned by Captain Sturmey , who visited this
p lace in 166 9 ; the entrance into which is about ten feet broad , and five high , and very much resembles the mouth of a large oven . , A gentleman who has traversed it almost to the end , assured me , it was nearly as long , as the large one below , but much narrower . Having by this time sufficiently gratified my curiosity , I began to think , to use the words of a great and ancient poet , of once more revisiting " The roddie Lemes of Dale . " I found the ascent far more difficult than the descent , and was struck with horror at the sight of the rugged rocks I had just passed . In my passage up , I was greatly
slafljned by being thrown on my back , in a place where the rock was almost directly perpendicular over the water , but soon recovered myseli > though not without difficulty , and was very thankful when I had once more put my feet on terra firma , and had a si g ht of my anxious friends and acquaintance , who flocked round me , as if I had been a being risen from the subterranean world ; and laughed very heartily , when they saw the dirty condition I was in , and the very grotesque
figure I made with a large collier ' s hat , jacket and trowsers , and my handkerchief bound round my head . I shall now take leave for ' the present of this dismal place , ' with the following remark , viz . Should any one be desirous of seeing yawning , caverns , dreadful precip ices , pendant rocks , and deep water , rendered still more tremendous by a few faintglimmering rays of light-reflected from its surface ( which had passed through the crannies above ) than ^ f obscured by total d & rkness . ; let him descend , and take a survey of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of Penpark-Hole,
when you speak loud ; and if thoroughly illuminated , mast have a very beautiful appearance . The water which , when I was there at both times , totally covered the bottom , was of an oval form , and as sweet , clear , and good , as any I ever drank , and in many places between seven and ei ght fathom deep ; but in August 1762 , it was found not more than one fathom : so that in a dry season j you may ( as I am informed ) safely walk round
the sides . And notwithstanding , when I visited this p lace a second time , it was at least twenty feet perpendicular lower than when I first went there , as it is supposed , upon the most just calculation , to sink about ten inches in a day and a ni ght . I could not perceive the least appearance of the two prominent rocks , as mentioned by Captain Collinswho visited this lace in Sept . 1682 .
, p By this gentleman's account it appears , there , are some caverns in the largest chasm , which , when I was there , were filled with water , and consequently not discernable . Perhaps , when the place is free from that inconveniency , it may exhibit a very different appearance from what it did when I was there , and may be of much larger dimensions .
As I was determined during my stay , which was about an hour and 2 half , to view the place attentively , 1 made one of the men row a floating stage ( launched whilst I was there ) with several candles on it , which burnt perfectly clear , twice round the cavern , so that I had a tolerable view of every part of it . —At the further end , about eight feet above the water , ( when ! was first there ) is a cave , which I suppose to be the same as mentioned by Captain Sturmey , who visited this
p lace in 166 9 ; the entrance into which is about ten feet broad , and five high , and very much resembles the mouth of a large oven . , A gentleman who has traversed it almost to the end , assured me , it was nearly as long , as the large one below , but much narrower . Having by this time sufficiently gratified my curiosity , I began to think , to use the words of a great and ancient poet , of once more revisiting " The roddie Lemes of Dale . " I found the ascent far more difficult than the descent , and was struck with horror at the sight of the rugged rocks I had just passed . In my passage up , I was greatly
slafljned by being thrown on my back , in a place where the rock was almost directly perpendicular over the water , but soon recovered myseli > though not without difficulty , and was very thankful when I had once more put my feet on terra firma , and had a si g ht of my anxious friends and acquaintance , who flocked round me , as if I had been a being risen from the subterranean world ; and laughed very heartily , when they saw the dirty condition I was in , and the very grotesque
figure I made with a large collier ' s hat , jacket and trowsers , and my handkerchief bound round my head . I shall now take leave for ' the present of this dismal place , ' with the following remark , viz . Should any one be desirous of seeing yawning , caverns , dreadful precip ices , pendant rocks , and deep water , rendered still more tremendous by a few faintglimmering rays of light-reflected from its surface ( which had passed through the crannies above ) than ^ f obscured by total d & rkness . ; let him descend , and take a survey of