o f thefueaverns, which examined By the light o f torches appeared
to referable .fo many' femicireular ear parabolical cupolas',
or, tg ufe. a left dignified’.comparifon, fo many immehfe. bells.
•The caverns in (CaleajreojiSv or more modem adventitious-mounta
in , dieir walls,, befides the texture, iandt ftratifibafiom
trifigd ntafine^/Of .other bndiss^whicJi are never found
in granite-jjr fimilar filipiqu?. ftones ! a .wonderful variety o f
glittering fpat cryftals ; aftd, in particular, incruftrations o f
^ovv^hitSf .fp^l Of; ftalaCtite, which either , form undulated
hangings on their tides, or icicles dripping from their rooft in
the fhape o f columns, pillars, &c. Thele are the' peculiar
gloyies^nd features o f the grotto o f Antiparos i I pats, oiver
the caverns, in flate and loofer grit-ftonc,: to dwell oneinftant
longer: on thofc -which are produced by volcanic .eruptions,
and chiefly by the contraction o f cooling lavas. They totally
differ in form and features from the.preceding, the forms
which thefe affume will rcfemble the apertures and bubbles
which are,found in other fcoria. j Some o f ; them which-are
found in Iceland will hold: numerous. flocks pf theep-; thejy
are tpread hundreds of fathoms in various branches under
ground, and. have ferved; formerly as ftrong holds and habita-
tions tp the rnftic heroes and warriors, whole names are highly
celebrated inthe! traditional hjftoly; and fongs of that country.
; EingaFs famous and magnificent grotto is large ftratum
of colunmar baiaJtes, in the ifle of Staffa, though probably
it neyer. was fit for habitation, and ftill lefs what fome philo*
fop^ers have.fuppofed it to.be, the prototype of the column.
That caverns inltheiloofer’chalk,. gfrit-ft'ori&f’and Beds1 Bf Hardened
• or. :tufei i*are. exeefediffgly flSiproVeable j
and- that - caverns; have! beeri inhabited-'artdi'Varibufly 'improved,
is, i:I. think,. undeniably evident, ’frdni^whatt; we- fee’and- read
|n the imonuptients andiai5tiqUki®?.of ',evefytpart; of! the world,
and' particul^dyifEpm. the. immerffe excavated work's1 in the
ifland of Salfette,, onjihe coaffc -of Malabar, and many* others.t
TH'meafyitalk nfJfpeeifioihifb&rtSEdr^rtfefltpmS: leaver®)
. Others b and:, requeft-’my.-riders, juft‘to''conflderf thatwhen •
enlarged: and improved natural. caveffi.s in Stocks and mountains
becaniei infufficiemt to die increafing.-numbers1 of- men
and families, their improvement and' enlargement, whatever
it might hake; been,, ntuflr InatUtally]hritig-* <M> imitations of
their formk, .by artificials1 excavations • df rocks,1* or artificial
grottos^ cavefns;-• and catacombs," by '.the piling up of loofe
and- moveable, siraturahftpnes and» daftly, *by the1 Compofi-
tion o f brick,: or I other artificial- imitations, o f natural ftonCS?
which of ■ eburfe' would, produce walls, hutfe, and houfes of
ftone, mud, or brick, and nearly, o f the fame form.
. One; natural inference may: and’ought* to be drawn from
what has been laid, that the! feVerah fpfecies of ftone buildings -
which have been brought more or lefs-to perfection, (I mean
the Egyptian, Hindoo, Moorith, and Gothic* architecture)
infteadiPf being copies of each.other-, are'actually and effen-
tially the fame; the fpontaneous produce of genius in differ
l a