A small
aperture led to the interior of this wonderful congelation, the walls of
which were nearly 2 feet thick; the floor, sides, and roof were smooth
and slippery, and their figures were reflected from floor to ceiling
and from side to side in endless repetition. The inside of this chilly
abode was divided into several compartments of every fantastic shape: in
some the glittering icicles hung like curtains from the roof; in others,
the vault was smooth as glass. Beautifully brilliant were the prismatic
colours reflected from the varied surface of the ice, when the torches
flashed suddenly upon them as they passed from cave to cave. Around,
above, beneath, everything was of solid ice, and being unable to stand
on account of its slippery nature, they slid, or rather glided,
mysteriously along the glassy surface of this hall of spells. In one of
the largest compartments the icicles had reached the floor, and gave the
idea of pillars supporting the roof.
The cavern in which this marvellous mass of ice stood, branched off into
numerous galleries, one of which led the party to a sloping platform of
rapidly increasing steepness, where they were startled by the
reappearance of the naked foot-prints, passing down the slope.
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