Page:Once a Week, Series 1, Volume II Dec 1859 to June 1860.pdf/123

110 more than once, and finally drove them out of his dominions. It is on one of his less fortunate encounters that the miracle of the chasm is founded. The two caverns before mentioned formed holds of refuge for the people from the same or even an earlier period, and in the seventeenth century Töster relates, that during the wars of 1660 the Tátars enticed the refugees from their hiding-place by fraud, and carried them away prisoners. The cave on the right face of the gulf is called Balika, or, in the Transylvanian tongue, “Bajkavár,” from “Var,” a fortress, and the ancient usage of the cave as a place of strength. Besides these principal caverns, there are several smaller ones, which probably have never been explored, and it was long a belief among the inhabitants of the district, that in some were deposited barrels of gold, treasures of the ancient refugees, and still concealed by a magical charm which closed the rock at the approach of an exploring foot. It was probably in the hope of discovering a portion of this hidden wealth, that on the 13th August, 1780, Janos Kis, a chimney sweeper, descended into one of the caves, provided with ropes and iron hooks; but his enterprise was unsuccessful, for he never returned to upper air, and since that time none have been so bold as to repeat his trial. M.