Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/195

 well as sixteen tons of the same rubbish cast into it every day for three or four years, without any sensible lessening of its depth or apparent contraction of its size. Indeed many facts concur to prove, that it is connected with the Castleton cave; and naturalists are now of opinion, that the whole country from hence to Elden-Hole exhibits a series of caverns, extensive and profound, uniting with each other, and thus becoming joint partakers of whatever either of them may receive. A conveyance apparently perilous, but perfectly secure, is formed over the chasm we have described, by a strong wooden frame- work, through which the water passes. Beyond this the level continues about two thousand feet further; but as the effect of a second approach to the abyss (which must be again taken in returning) is much lessened by the prior visit, and as nothing occurs worth observation in the remaining half, we found we had extended our voyage to no purpose to the termination of this last wonder of the Peak.

R. W.